Cooking Student

For those who don't know, I am a proud student of the Food Network Culinary Institute. What does that mean? I spend an enormous amount of time watching FN & experimenting with recipes to see what happens or see if I like them. Sometimes I hit. Sometimes I miss. But watching FN & working with a good friend of mine for a couple of years has taught me how seasonings pair up with each other, how to cook a piece of meat without killing it again, and to be more confident when I cook.  And I find that I actually enjoy cooking now, whereas, years ago I cooked because I had to eat something, but I didn't like doing it for long.

What's the result of this knowledge and enjoying cooking? Folks have found out that I cook. And I will admit, I do a pretty good job and the few misses I have are never sampled by someone else.

What's the problem with folks knowing I can cook, you ask? Well, unless I am using someone else's recipe I  DON'T WRITE ANYTHING DOWN. And, unless I'm using someone else's recipe...I DON'T MEASURE INGREDIENTS! I just put in a little here and a little there until it looks, smells or tastes like I want it to.

So what's a girl to do when I have people asking me for recipes?  Well, I guess I can start with at least writing down the ingredients used, huh? And I guess I'll put them here because...it's just easier to share that way. So here's number one:

Guiltless Guacamole
This is a recipe I originally heard on Good Housekeeping's show Drop 5 on the Cooking Channel.  But when I went to make it, I couldn't find my written down recipe and I didn't feel like running upstairs to search for it online and couldn't find the show OnDemand, so this is what I used. The original recipe is available on the Good Housekeeping website.

1 can White Kidney (Cannelini) Beans, drained & rinsed
Cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
1/2 white onion, diced
salt & pepper to taste
Lime juice (squirted enough into the mix so everything would puree)
-Puree beans and lime juice in food processor until smooth. Put in bowl
1 avocado, diced into squares
-can either puree avocado in food processor (my choice) or mash it up w/a fork to soften. Add to bowl with beans, stir/fold to combine.

This was pretty good. the idea is to add fiber w/the use of beans, still get the good fat of the avocado without the crazy caloric intake that results from using 2-3 avocados for the same amount of guac dip you get from the recipe.

So, that's one. More to come.