Breakfast experiment

Certain aspects were good but others not so much. The omelette was a spinach and green onion omelette with Pecorino Cheese on top. That part was good, not to bad, the cheese definitely saved it. The potatoes were good, the had a mediterranean blend of spices on them that I have used before. The spice combination is good, it gives a pleasant flowery taste to the meal, with a natural sweet flavor. The last item are lion's head mushrooms, which did not turn out good this time. I have made them before and they were good, but for this picture they are not the best.

Persian Rice and Chicken

As basic as it may be, but sometimes the most basic meals can be the best. The chicken was cooked in a tomato based sauce, with cumin, garlic and saffron. The carrots and potatoes were baked in a similar same sauce. The most important thing about this obviously is the sauce. Once it was finished it tasted just like my grandmother makes, which always brings a smile to the fast.

Ravioli Laboratory

Some of you may have already heard and most probably not, but I am looking to start a food truck and join the new craze of street food in the San Francisco area. More details are to come of this exciting new career, however for now I will be perfecting my menu. Here I have some shots of the first ravioli that I perfected which is a carrot ravioli. Also in the two pictures are the different sauces that I am experimenting with, to try and find what works best with the ravioli. The other picture is the actual creation of the ravioli's themselves which I have been able to shorten the amount of time it takes to make them. More ravioli are to come soon, both sweet and savory!

Spinach Green Onion & Ricotta cheese scramble with Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

So another great breakfast option, to kind of mix things up, I added some butter to the potatoes and cooked them on lower heat this time and got the results I have been looking for. One common mistake that people make with breakfast is that they try cooking everything on high heat, which is what will lead to all that smoke in your kitchen. When it comes to potatoes cooking on low heat will get you better results.

Kentucky Marinated Chicken and Paprika Potatoes & Carrots

So from first glance I already know that this type of dish requires a different plate to serve it in. Possibly even something not flat but bowl shaped, so that the juice doesn't go everywhere. The Chicken was cooked in a Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey BBQ sauce with lime juice, water, shallots and garlic over low heat. The important part though about cooking like this is making sure that the pan remains over low to medium heat. The Potatoes and carrots are done in my new favorite way. By making a simple sauce of butter, home made chicken stock, shallots and smoked Spanish paprika the flavor of the vegetables intensifies. On a side note I did make a very useful discovery, pertaining to carrots and smoked paprika. But before I go into it some people have been asking me the importance of certain spices and whether or not it really matters, like for example Smoked Paprika from Spain. I believe that it depends on who you are. Obviously if we are talking about something that is very expensive in your country to get, that I would say don't worry about it. However it does make a difference. Smoked Paprika from Spain and regular smoked paprika from a typical brand from the store have a difference in potency. You will get a similar taste but the flavors may not be as strong. The good thing is you will never notice until you have tried the better alternative.
My main point about this was basically about the relationship between carrots and Smoked Paprika. They are a perfect match, both having a sweet essence to them that is not sugary or unnatural but rather similar and very good.

Shallot & Chardonnay Chicken with Basmati rice and Peas

This was a very simple idea to cook simply because you need very little items. The Chardonnay pretty much does most of the work depending on what you are going for. I sauteed the shallots and garlic a little in the pan then added the wine, once it is heated add the chicken and it take care of itself. Chardonnay is a good wine to pair with chicken because it will not over power the chicken but ends up working with the chicken harmoniously. The shallots add there own flavor along with the wine that both get picked up by the chicken. As a compliment to finish the dish I have always eaten Basmati rice. It wasn't till college that I had to start experimenting with other rices, and began to understand the differences. Basmati rice in this case gives a nice fluffy taste the the meal that blends in very nicely with the other lite textures of the meal.

Chicken in a caper cream sauce with Pecorino Broccoli

This is a dish that I have been thinking about for a very long time, but simply am not quite sure how to make yet. The original item that I wanted to make was a simple Chicken in truffel sauce, I had the dish in Italy several times and it was one of my favorite. I have tried recreating the dish today, but had little success. Therefore, luckily I was able to save the meal and turn it into something else. The sauce had cream, butter, capers, a bay leaf, shallots and garlic. At the end the sauce tasted great however broke because I had the heat up to high. This is when I decided to simply cook the chicken in the broken sauce. I was able to save the flavor and get the chicken to absorb the aromas and flavors of the ingredients which came out to be very good. The broccoli was kept very simple and was blanched then immediately I grated some Pecorino Romano cheese on top to melt, a great combination. Overall the meal still turned out to be a success, even though it was not ideally what I was going for when I started.