Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Fear Not!

Wow, I am amazed at the overwhelming response I got to making my own enchilada sauce (of all things!). You guys are so funny. The main thing I have learned is that enchilada sauce is just tomato sauce + salsa + water + whatever spices you have on hand (cumin, pepper, chili powder, etc.). The biggest thing about making your own sauces it to just not be afraid. Look online for what the basic ingredients and proportions are, but then dabble around with the spices. It makes it hard to share recipes since I never know amounts, but it is so nice to not be afraid to make something even if I don't have the right spice. I used to follow recipes meticulously but the more experiment the better cook I become. The other night I was stressed because I didn't have cottage cheese and I was making lasagna for a sick family in our ward. I didn't have time to run to the store. So I substituted with sour cream mixed with egg and milk and Parmesan instead.. It was weird but it totally worked and I liked it better than the cottage cheese!

The salad dressing I get the most compliments I made up myself one day because I had leftover strawberries. I threw them in the blender with some balsamic vinegar, salt, olive oil (only a little) and some sugar.

I live by www.allrecipes.com for ideas and then change things up to make it my own. Here is a link to an enchilada sauce recipe that I think is the first one I looked at. When I get brave I am going to try the one on here that calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips in it, weird huh? Anyway, here is the link and if you are not using this site I do not know how you have survived. If you only have broccoli and ketchup left in your fridge you can plug them in a search and it will pop up like ten recipes that include those ingredients and that are rated by star level. It's awesome. Oh and I always read like the first ten comments on a recipe because they usually include some great modifications to make the recipes better and give me ideas for experimentation!

Happy cooking, please let me know of any successes (or failures for that matter!)

5 comments:

Kristi said...

As a note, you also do not have to cook the sauce for like an hour or whatever these people are saying, obviously it will taste better if you do, but not that much....I just mix it together and let it simmer for a minute or two.

Janssen said...

I love allrecipes too! Hello happiness!

I'm glad we're friends :)

Shauna said...

I love your new blog look! Very nice work!

kateworthi said...

I'm lovin' the new look. It's cute - but not frou frou. Very nice. And yeah, I too LOVE that you are a part-time granola. I'm sure I'll need your help when I decide I'm ready to make such a committment. I'm sure that it will happen one day. I'm just not quite ready to [for instance] make my own bread all the time. I can't stand how it doesn't last more than a day before it gets all crumbly, or just not very fresh tasting. What recipe do you like? Does it last longer? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE homemade bread and make it often for like, a meal - but not for sandwiches and stuff. Please help. :)

kateworthi said...

PS - I love that your tomato plant is the photo of the week on backyardfarming! How cool!