It's not about the nail (applied to the kitchen)

Have you seen the viral video, "It's not about the nail."?

If you haven't, you really should.  I won't spoil it for you but it is the ubiquitous couple's "conversation" where he is trying to be practical and she just wants him to listen to her and stop trying to fix everything.  I was watching this video again last night for, oh, I don't know, the fifteenth time and it hit me (again)...it's not about the food, cooking or recipe, it's about listening to yourself.

You know how I hate it when people are slaves to recipes.  It happens in my classes all the time.  It is the bane of my existence and I feel it is my mission in life to lead you down "freedom's path" to the place without recipes.
The inevitable (and constant) question is: "How much of that did you put in?"  And, my inevitable response is:  "Um, I don't know, maybe a (fill in the blank with a form of measurement)."  It's not that I mean to be oppositional; it's just that as I stand in my mother's shoes, I really don't know for sure, exactly how much I put in.  So, I often have some frustrated people in my classes, especially the accountants and engineers.  At least in the beginning.  Then, they learn to relax, have another glass of wine and just go with it or I guess, they find another kind of cooking class.
Because it's not about the measuring!  It's about tasting the food and thinking or feeling something about it.  Does it taste salty, sweet, bitter, tart, bland or whatever.  If you don't think about or feel something about those taste experiences, I'm afraid you will be trapped in Recipeland, forever.  EEK!!

Here's the thing, recipes are created by people who like things a certain way.  That's why sometimes when you follow a recipe exactly, you think it tastes like crap because it doesn't suit your taste.  The person who made up that recipe does not have your taste buds or flavor memories so how in the world can he/she tell you about making something?  It may taste perfectly fine to them but not to you.  And, you know what, that's okay!  You are entitled to your opinion, so disagree!
Day in and day out, you follow the recipes of other people because you think they know more than you do.  Well, maybe they do but only you know what you like and how you like it.  Would you let someone pick out your clothes and tell you what to wear?  Of course not!  Unless you're five.  So why do you allow other people to dictate how you are going to have your food?  It's one thing to go to a restaurant or someone's home to enjoy their food.  It's something else to be making your own food by following someone else's rules, don't you think?
So here's another little recipe exercise to help you find your way out of Recipeland and back to freedom!  This is one I made up from different foods and flavors that I really like.  We'll start simple with a salad  because I'm only going to give you the ingredient list and no measurements! But I will give you a picture.

• red onion
• cucumber
• grape tomatoes
• feta cheese
• romaine lettuce
• white balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

Here's what you do.  Gather YOUR ingredients.  Add, subtract, and/or modify to your heart's content.  You don't like red onion?  Fine, leave it out.  You love red bell pepper?  Great, add some.  See what I mean?  This stops being my Chopped Greek Salad and becomes your salad, isn't that cool!  So take ownership and do what you like to it.  Make it taste the way you like things to taste.  Then let me know how it turned out!  Because it's not about the nail!
And as always...
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Is it eggplant or is it aubergine?

No matter your preference...I apparently can grow it.  It's a good thing because not much of anything else is knocking my socks off!
But!  I am going to have a lot of eggplant.  I guess the bunnies don't care for it and maybe the birds can't find them because they are up under those giant leaves.  I bet you'd like to see a picture of these guys, wouldn't you? 
They really are pretty and I am impressed with them and the quantity.  The flowerbuds are even nice...a kind of white and lavender.  Imagine that, a purple veggie with a lavender flower!  OK, here goes.  This is one side of the plant but let's get a different view...

Here's the other side...

Recipe freedom? Or how to learn to cook fearlessly...

Before we get started, a housekeeping note:  If you were looking for my blogpost yesterday (I hope you weren't!  You should have been enjoying the holiday weekend!), I apologize.  I will be changing my posting day to Monday afternoon.  My little way of brightening up your first day of the week!  Now onward...

RECIPES!  If you know me at all, you know how I feel about these seemingly necessary evils of cooking.  I want everyone to learn how to cook without one.  But you probably don't feel comfortable just throwing the baby out with the bath water so I have some steps to follow to your freedom.  It involves learning how to fully use your recipe and then moving on to the place where you don't need it.  Then, you can apply this method to the next recipe and the next and before you know it, you won't need one.  So let's get started.
We will use one of my basic recipes as an example and I'll show you how to use it then move beyond it. 
This way you learn a method and get a great recipe, too...BONUS!
It was hard to decide which recipe to choose but thought it would be a good idea to start from one of my originals.  I will take you through my thought process in creating it so you can find your own way.  But first, the place from which we are starting.  This is a recipe from Food.com and is simply called Ramen Noodle Salad.  The author noted that a friend at work gave her this recipe (she didn't think she would like it) and then brought the finished salad to work one day.  The author loved it and makes it all the time now...it is quick and easy.
OK...I will give on that point.  It IS quick and easy to buy a bag of cole slaw mix, throw in Ramen soup noodles and make dressing from the mix.

• 1 (8 ounce) bags coleslaw mix ( I used half of a 16 oz. bag)
• 1 package ramen noodles, raw & crushed ( I like the Oriental Flavor)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds ( I used dry roasted)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar ( I use 6 pkts. of Splenda)

Directions

1. Mix together the coleslaw mix, crushed noodles& sunflower kernels.
2. In a small bowl, mix the Ramen Noodle seasoning pkt.
3. ,oil, vinegar& sugar together.
4. Mix all together& refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Here are my thoughts on this Ramen Noodle Salad.

First of all, do you know how much sodium is in the soup flavoring?  I'm having a stroke just thinking about it!  Next, the noodles are also super processed and only serve as a filler.  Finally, is it really that hard to shred cabbage?

So that is where I started.  How could I change this pretty good albeit dangerously high in sodium salad into something healthier (not always a huge prerequisite for me but in this case...) and much more delicious?  The way you start is by dissecting it.  And, I'm going to show you how to do that.  First, consider the components of the salad.

Let's think about this...cole slaw mix.  What is in that?  Hmmm, green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots, right?  It's about $2 for a bag.  Convenient and time saving, yes, if you like hunks of green and red cabbage mixed throughout the properly shredded cabbage with an occasional carrot stick thrown in.  I think a lot of people end up re-shredding the big pieces so not so time saving.  Why not start with a good head of green cabbage or better yet, this is an Asian salad, what about Napa cabbage (also known as Chinese cabbage)?  You don't have to worry about it sweating and wilting after you've dressed it so you also don't have to salt it first to pull out the extra moisture.  It is tender and flavorful.  Next, tackle the Ramen noodle part.  What could you substitute?  Something crunchy and real for the processed noodles and then think about the flavorings in the soup mix.  The Oriental flavor tastes like...ginger, sesame, soy sauce (intensified) but also a little sweet.  Then, crunch - I usually go to nuts for that; I like almonds with Asian and toasting them adds more to the crunchy part.  Those of you who come to my cooking classes know how I sing the praises of homemade salad dressing, well, this is just another homemade dressing so in addition to your Asian flavors, you will need vinegar (how about rice wine vinegar, it's Asian) and oil (go flavorless like canola or grapeseed).  Grated ginger, toasted sesame oil, low-sodium soy sauce and brown sugar.  You could use white sugar but brown with its molasses background just makes it earthier and more flavorful.  The rest is up to you and what you like in salad.  I like cucumber, red bell pepper and green onions;  they just seem more Asian to me than some other ingredients like carrots and sunflower kernels, for instance and sunflower seeds are so outre (pronounced ooh-tray).  So here is my version of Ramen Noodle Salad.

Welcome to my blog!

I'm Candace, the girl behind (or in front of?) The Girl Can Cook!
First, a little about me...and, actually, I'm not much of a girl anymore but you're only as old as you feel, right? I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma smack dab in the middle of the country (Yes, we have computers out here in the Wild West even though, it's not very wild and not even very far west!). I am a divorced single mom and have two terrific daughters; one lives with me, the other is following her dreams in NYC.
Like many of us, I began cooking as a means of survival but I always enjoyed exploring food magazines and cookbooks long before it was a celebrity thing. I watched Julia Child on PBS and marvelled at all of the things she could do with a chicken and then, of course, loved Dan Ackroyd's impression of her on SNL. I even watched Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet, before he found religion and stopped getting drunk on his shows.
I come from a long line of talented home cooks (my mother being the best!) and food was always just a part of my life. In my family, you show people how much they are loved by the food you prepare for them.
But I digress...let's just say that I have good cooking "genes". I am primarily self taught but have taken lots of classes (Culinary Institute type) and worked with many other chefs. Last fall, I won a recipe contest that I entered as a lark, sponsored by Cooking Light magazine (the recipe will be posted shortly) and I have created a "Guy Friendly Dinner Party Menu" that will be featured in one of the fall/winter issues of Men's Fitness. I teach cooking classes here in Tulsa at Metro Builders Supply in its Viking Gallery (although they have every series of appliances you can imagine so I'm going to be working my way around the store). And, I love to teach! It's one of my favorite things to do!! My classes are called "Cooking without a Parachute" where I allow people to experiment with different foods, flavors, and ingredients so that they can cook fearlessly.
I look forward to sharing Daily Tips, recipes, "secrets", and my life with you. Oh yeah, I love answering questions and researching food topics so let's make this a forum for discussion and maybe we'll all learn something.
Join me on my journey through food!