Macaroni and Cheese: Picking favorites

When I was a child, if you asked me what my favorite food was, I definitely would have said macaroni and cheese. I loved the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese from the blue box that came with the powdered cheese beyond all reason, and nothing else would satisfy my cravings. As I grew older and my palate broadened, I reached the point where I ate too many things to really pick favorites, and then there came the point where something in my brain decided powdered cheese was unnatural, and thus macaroni and cheese fell out of favor with me. But, deep in my mind, there always has been that idealized notion of great mac and cheese.

Pancakes: breakfast of pretty cool guys

Not really the breakfast of champions, but it’s probably the best ‘get ready for a big day’ breakfast I can think of. Everyone has a recipe, this is my favorite. It’s my father’s variant, and it works straight, or with just about any fruit I can think of added in (about 3/4 – 1 cup of strawberries, blueberries, apple, peach, pear, or raspberries have been tried thus far). Today’s version was done with blueberry syrup, which is basically just taking the blueberries, adding them to a bit of pancake syrup, and then boiling it on low heat very slowly, releasing the blueberry flavor. Probably the best use of frozen garden blueberries this side of pie, but pancakes are amazing with no fruit and just a bit of butter.

Cucumber Salad: quick, easy, amazing

I like cucumbers quite a bit. I’ll eat them straight at salad bars. I think they’re just fantastic. However, an already good thing can be made that much better, with a few simple ingredients – this is a side salad I’ll serve with just about any fancy meal, especially Asian cuisine.

Quiche: Real men do eat it

At least, I’ve never seen a good reason for them not to. My introduction to quiche was actually made by a male chef, a friend of my parents who whipped up an absolutely amazing breakfast with fresh vegetables from his and his wife’s garden while my family was staying at his house when I was little. It stuck in my mind as a fluffy, delicious warm pie-like breakfast, and so I decided that quiche was a good idea all around. However, I don’t think I had quiche again until I got to college, where the cafeterias would roll out a version every so often which, while serviceable, just wasn’t the same. So, I decided that to get it right, I’d have to do it myself. Well, not exactly, but that sounds nice.

Pasta Alfredo – homemade doesn’t mean hard

It’s the last week of school for me right now, which means not a lot of time. Thus, I’ve been enjoying leftovers, but when those run out, I reach into the realm of quick meals. That term sounds like a pejorative, these days – referring to overly salty frozen TV dinners or other instant messes (not all frozen meals are bad – plenty are, though, and that’s a separate story anyway). This particular case, for me, meant pasta alfredo. Fancy restaurants will charge high prices for this meal, and while it’s never been vaunted as an Italian culinary peak, it’s never been fast food – you can buy jarred grocery store sauce, sure, but it’s not fast food. At any rate, I personally think it’s an absolutely fantastic meal… but that it’s so easy to make from scratch that there’s no good reason to eat it out or buy instant sauce, if you keep the ingredients about.

‘Red Shrimp’ – Old cookbooks and winging it

Shrimp are fantastic, and Chinese recipes tend to use them with fantastic, robust sauces – so when I do have the opportunity to cook shrimp, I often crack open a Chinese cookbook, pick a recipe, and then modify it to suit my moods and what’s on hand. This one came out pretty well.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Philosophy – but mostly cookies

Today was spring cleaning, and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies – a fairly regular occurrence, as they’re a favorite dessert, and they’re not too difficult, and the recipe I’ve got is basically perfect, as far as I’m concerned.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches: The recent past

This post covers a recent experience with an amazing variety of sandwich which I made right before starting this blog. I’d like to note that the picture contained within is semi-related, as this is before I started photo documenting meals for better records. It’s a shame, the sandwiches were colorful. (Edit 4/23)

Fried Rice: the right answer to any problem

The first website content post: An entry on an old favorite, which I’ve made more times than almost anything else I do that’s more complex than boiling water. Hit the jump for the original long, though sadly photoless post (which isn’t too bad, fried rice isn’t exactly the prettiest food.)

Starting out: An introduction

So I’ve got this shiny new blog, but if I don’t say what it is, how will anyone know? Without further dissembling, this is what The Cutting Board is.