My First Cooking Success
The following are some of my personal ideals in the kitchen:
• Follow directions, but still allow room to add or change things to suit your own taste.
• Do not be afraid to try something new or to experiment.
• Have fun with food and love the process as well as the final product.
• Share your gourmet delights with friends. Use good food to bring people together.
• Pay attention to what you are doing. You only get as much love out of a meal as you put into it.
• Every good chef tastes their food before serving it. Tasting is necessary. I do it A LOT while cooking!
Not to throw religion into all this, as I am not the political or religious type, but as the Dalai Lama says: "Approach cooking and love with reckless abandon."
I mentioned in my introductory article that I started teaching myself to cook in college, and that the first meal I cooked for my family was from Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook. I have been searching high and low for that cookbook, but with no success. I imagine with my extensive traveling and moving since that time, it has been lost or, even better, found by someone who can appreciate all that Betty Crocker has to offer a “bird just out of the nest.”
So, in the spirit of my first time out, I offer this tasty dish that started it all for me: Sweet and Sour Pork. Don’t underestimate this somewhat Americanized version. It is perfect enough to stand up to any take out I’ve had anywhere!
Made with all-purpose flour, cornstarch, water, egg, salt, pineapple chunks, brown sugar, vinegar, carrots, soy sauce
Serves/Makes: 4
- 2 pounds boneless pork loin (or substitute chicken breast)
- vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can (about 20 ounce size) pineapple chunks, drained (save the syrup)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 2 carrots, cut diagonally into thin slices
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (I like yellow or orange peppers)
- hot cooked rice
Trim the fat from the pork and cut into 3/4" pieces. Heat 1 inch oil in a skillet.
Beat flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup cold water, the egg and 1 tsp salt with a hand beater until smooth. Stir pork pieces into batter until well coated. Add pork pieces one at a time to the oil (about 20 pieces at a time) and fry until golden brown, about five minutes. Drain on paper towels, keep warm.
Add enough water to the reserved pineapple syrup to measure 1 cup. Heat syrup-water mixture, brown sugar, vinegar, carrots, soy sauce, 1 tsp. salt and the garlic to boiling in a pot, reduce heat.
Cover and simmer until carrots are crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Mix 2 tbsp. cornstarch and 2 tbsp. water, stir into sauce. Add cooked pork, pineapple and whatever colored peppers. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice.
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2 comments
Hey Jerri: In a future article, how about dishing the dirt on the grub you had 2 eat while stranded in Wherever-it-was. Didn't you have to fight over bags of rice with maggots in there. And what was it like getting a beer for a prize after you sweated for hours doing a challenge? It seems like the stuff you had eat became the model for gross-out shows like Feare Factor now.
Comment posted by Cosimo Juniper
Hi Jerri, I just wanted to say I love reading your articles each week. Keep up the good work. This is my favorite cooking sight and love that I can come back each week and read more about you and your delicious sounding life!
Comment posted by KimBer
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