Tonight, pan-fried boneless pork chops (thyme, salt & pepper) with sautéed cabbage with red wine vinegar, and steamed baby potatoes, tossed with butter & parsley.
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Today I had grilled gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata) and squid. They keep it simple here (like in cuisines that know better not to ruin it with too much spices, OR CURRY)… Just lemon juice, olive oil and a hint of garlic. (Got pics but I didn’t cook it so maybe I shouldn’t post them)
We were early and were the only ones there and the cook had a chat with us everytime he brought a dish to the table. That was rather nice of him. Took me to the kitchen to show me the sea creatures. We discussed what and how it was to be cooked, what would be included in the meal etc. He realised I had (sea)food knowledge and did not BS me. Bill was a grand total 24 euros for us two.
Posting from Thessaloniki, Greece. (sunny and warm here. Sorry to rub it in.)
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Cindy, as a home cook I’ve been cooking for more than half my life from old family recipes I have in my head, magazines, and my large cookbook collection. If you have an EYB account with your cookbooks listed and don’t use it regularly you’re missing a great opportunity to use what’s in your larder, and utilize those books for which you paid good money.
I go to EYB daily to find out what I’m going to cook with what I have. Even if I don’t find an exact recipe I Always get inspired to create my own food.
MariaCarmen listed some of the ways to educate yourself. But like anything else, if you want to cook just do it.
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WFD: Mussels! They’re finally here and we’re preparing Mussels Dijonnaise. It’s a delicious recipe that we last cooked the first of June and I’m so glad we will make it again. Very simply steamed with: ghee, onions, shallots, garlic, bay, thyme, white wine, 1/2 & 1/2, S & P; with a sauce of pan juices combined with Dijon mustard, served with chopped parsley over top, crusty bread at the ready. it’s yet another way to savour these sweet bivalves.
Last time it was really all we needed, with a martini first, natch. The mussels are very large. But, I do have a bit of apple-fennel slaw, a fresh fennel bulb, and caponata waiting in the wings if needed.
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Have you ever tried them with red curry and coconut milk? Total foodgasm. Enjoy your Moules.
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*ladled, not labeled
I’m just a regular home cook with no professional training and it indeed shows in all WFD photos I’ve posted or will ever post. My shitty phone camera doesn’t help. Must upgrade! As much as I enjoy the artfully arranged photos of meals, I enjoy the crap looking ones just as much.
I too wish I had more skill at throwing something together from what I have on hand. I’ve always been more of the type that decides what I will want first and then will go get the ingredients. I’m trying to change that by purchasing what looks good at the farmers market with no specific meal in mind and creating from there. Sure I still peruse through a bunch of recipes but at least it’s forcing me to think creatively about what I have on hand.
And just to make you feel better, here is a picture of what I had last night. Sure, it looks like vomit but it was pretty delicious.
Chicken in an onion feta sauce
Couscous with roasted vegetables, feta and chickpeas
Braised kale.
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You are one lucky ham, aren’t ya?
Hi Cindy, I’m a home cook who has always had an interested in making my own food. I don’t consider myself even a top home cook, but the people I cook for seem to like my food and I find cooking to be a relaxing hobby, so it works. One of my earliest memories is when I was in Junior High and the local paper printed a complete St. Patrick’s Day menu. I made my parents invite some of their Irish friends over so I could cook the menu for everybody. That being said, life happens and it can be really hard to make things happen in the kitchen once you have a full time job and other responsibilities.
The biggest thing that has helped me is to get in the habit of planning my menu and shopping once a week. I use an online tool that lets me drag and drop recipes and then generates a list on my phone that I take to the store with me. I’ve been doing it religiously for 2-3 years, and it still makes me feel awesome when the fridge is almost empty on Saturday because I’ve used everything up for the week. I actually wrote something about this on my blog because so many of my friends were asking how I managed to think of something new to cook every night.
Some of the highlights from that post are: Making double batches of things that can be used for leftovers. I like to stretch taco meat into tacos, enchiladas, and sometimes a salad. I also had to learn the hard way to focus on finding weekday friendly recipes for during the week and save my projects for the weekends. Once you get into the habit of making things you find ways to put new twists on it and make it different enough so that it doesn’t seem like repeating. Chicken can be baked with a variety of aromatics and spices to make it Mediterranean, Italian, or Asian. Frittata can be made with a great variety of leftovers.
I guess the tl;dr is the more you make it part of your regular schedule the easier it gets.
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One more week and I must get back to my (strict) workout routine but until then I only care about how much more I can enjoy my holiday.
Oink Oink
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Yup. I hear ya. Had a mightily decadent long w/end in Philly, and now must return to frugality…
Hello, nice to see you all! Not cooking tonight, dinner out with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, she always has a story so should be a fun night. Tomorrow is Haluski, which I actually learned about from someone on CH. I have a huge cabbage so chopping and sautéing lots of cabbage in bacon fat and butter and mixing with egg noodles and some sort of sausage. It’s a really good comfort food dish, and I always make way to much so lots of leftovers, and it freezes well.
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Gio – you’re absolutely right – two very good reasons to use EYB, especially since I’ve got all of my cookbooks entered.
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CindyJ, I think most of us are home cooks who just happen to be obsessive about food. Many of us have upped our plating skills over the months and years because it is so fun to share the results with this amazingly supportive WFD crowd – and of course because of the inspiring pics others here post! Take heart, this is not a competition, we all seek to up our games and get inspiration from one another.
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Pumpernickel – thanks for posting your photo; that actually looks like an interesting and well-balanced meal.
Stop it, Maria. You & the BF put together amazing plates!
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Kale & kabocha salad w/cannellini, roasted beets, crispy shaved brussels sprouts, pickled shallot, toasted squash seeds, chevre & pomegranate.
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Nope. Just love to cook, and I’ve learned what spices and herbs I like and what they go with. But I’m also cooking for just myself, so if I screw up, it’s only me for whom I have to make a PB&J. 
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Tonight I made one of my favorite things to cook. Fish! Excellent for a busy household with schedules that can vary greatly. Tonight I paired it with more of my favorite things. Shredded brussel sprouts and braised lentils. The lentils were made a couple of days ago for another dish so took no time to heat up. The sprouts also took little time with a sharp knife and or a mandoline. The fish is steelhead trout. Farmed but somewhat approved by SOS
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Sticky bourbon chicken thighs with cauli rice and Asian slaw. And CindyJ, just another home cook who loves to cook and discover new tasty dishes which is why I am here. 
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