Flavor.

One thing that I have noticed, since my cooking kick started, is how good food tastes when it's home made. I'm not talking about a burger or a steak, I'm talking about all the way down to the main ingredients. Today I really tore up the kitchen getting ready for our camping trip. I made some coleslaw, guacamole, peanut butter, mayonnaise and fresh burgers out of top sirloin.

I mean, I'm sure most people have made guac before, so that's not a huge deal. But have you made your own mayonnaise? It's really good and you can select what kind of mayo you want. Want a herb infused blend? Easy. Want some wasabi mayo? Easy. Does it allow for a long shelf life? Heck no. Why? Because you're taking out all the preservatives and other crap that keeps it good for long periods of time.

The peanut butter I made today is pretty good, although I have some room for improvement on the recipe. I added some locally produced honey that was made with bees who fed off local avocado trees, which added a nice flavor to it.

Have you ever had a freshly ground burger? I mean, I never know what is in the raw hamburger when I buy it. But by doing it this way, you can control what cuts you use and how much fat you allow to be in it. A NY Strip burger is especially tasty. The KitchenAid meat grinder works very well for this. I'm sure I could use my Cuisinart, like I do on a lot of other things, but this is one of those instances where I like the consistency that the KitchenAid produces.

Anyway, I challenge YOU to make a fresh meal out of nothing processed. Like my fettuccine from a post ago. Is it going to take you longer? Yup, sure is. But you add so much more pride, not to mention flavor, when you do it this way. Good luck!

Imperia Pasta Maker

Well, another tool (Said: Toy) for my kitchen: An Imperia Pasta Maker from Williams Sonoma. I love this little bugger! Yes, I could have gotten the fancy one that attached onto my KitchenAid stand mixer, but there was just no way in hell I was paying twice the price for the same thing. I already paid for the motor, why should I get nailed again? I like doing it by hand anyway, so that I can control the speed. I have fond memories of this pasta maker as my dad used to have one.

Anyways, making pasta isn't hard. ESPECIALLY if you have a KitchenAid or a Cuisinart. It's almost too easy. For a simple recipe, you can use 2 cups of all-purpose flour, a tablespoon of salt and three eggs. It doesn't get any simpler than that, really. It tastes SO much better than the store-bought stuff. Making sauce isn't much harder. Anyways, if you're interested in pasta, these little machines cost a whopping $69.95 and will be your new best friend. You can make lasagna noodles, spaghetti, angel hair and fettuccine.

Welcome!

Welcome to my nifty new blog. My name is Brian and I am a home cook currently located in Virginia, just outside of our nation's capital. I figured I'd share my successes and mishaps with whomever wants to read this because cooking should be fun. I'll be honest, I'll get the food from wherever I can get it from. I'm not one of those zealous cooks who will only buy from certain stores or only organic. If the food is available and it tastes good: I eat it.

As far as my experience goes: Very little.

As far as my gear goes: I have a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, an All-Clad Copper Core 12" fry pan and 4qt saute pan with lid and splatter guard and a Ruffoni risotto pan. My knives consist of a small collection of Wusthof Classics. Enough to get me by, I think. I don't have a lot of those random gadgets, but hey, I'm always willing to try them. I hope you enjoy this and I hope I get enough updates to keep people coming back!

-Brian