BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Creativity Are you creative in the kitchen?

I must admit I'm a bit of a disaster in the kitchen. I love cooking (sometimes), but I tend to use a little of every ingredient in the house and most of the dishes and utensils we own. Not to mention how little of the food actually makes it into the oven, rather than the benchtop or floor. I enjoy the creativity of it all, and I've made some beautiful five-course meals (I can't seem to stop at a mains and dessert) but it's often a lot of hard work at the end.�

I've been doing a lot of baking lately. I've made some yummy muffins and cakes, pizza dough, and healthy(ish) bread, and I find that more soothing and relaxing than cooking. I think it has something to do with following instructions as opposed to planning and managing the production of a meal, which can leave me flustered and stressed. Mind you, I'm forever tweaking those recipes.�

Read this week's article which is about the art of preparing, styling, and photographing food.

What about you? Are you creative in the kitchen? Do you prefer cooking, where you can make it up as you go along, or baking, where you need to follow a recipe fairly closely? Or is table design more your thing?

I LOVE the blank canvas of an empty plate!
or the pallette of colors/textures as the local farmers market! (I used to do food styling for an upscale caterer - adore making something delectable LOOK just as scrumptious.)


Some creative cooking ideas from my own kitchen journal to think about:

Foods Under $5.00 (whole recipe - & yes, it can be done)
Flavor/Mouth Feel Opposites (hot and sweet, sour and cold)
Faux/Cheat Southern Favorites (such as - Faux Fried Green Tomatoes - "unfried" in the oven)
Things to put on/in or over Choux Puffs - ('company' friendly to impress the heretofore un-impressable)
Uses for Italian Dressing (you'll be surprised at the diversity)
Non-traditional uses for favorite foods (try putting chocolate in savory recipes, or traditionally savory herbs in sweet concoctions/drinks)

One of my favorite cooking excercises is to limit myself to 5 ingredients and a "theme".

Try it - you'll be pleasantly surprised how many mouth watering happy accidents happen and if it needs that 6th or 7th or 8th ingredient, it's YOUR kitchen and YOUR creation!

Here's to Food as Art!!
yum yum yum!!

Mmm, sounds good. I have heard of chocolate being used with a roast turkey dish, but I haven't had the courage to try that yet (usually don't get to cook much with chocolate as it goes straight from hand to mouth...). Also chilli-flavoured chocolate, and savoury ice-cream. I'd have to try that one day.

I can think of a use for Italian dressing. But it doesn't involve food... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

More Crazy Kitchen Chick ideas -

ok...ok....Perhaps Italian is not your bag, but for quick creative kitchen "cheats" (translation: you have 30 min to make dinner for the boss or the inlaws or your mother or the foodie neighbors) here are a few ideas to try that, along with some creative plating techniques, will make you look like a culinary genius or at the very least really good in the kitchen.

**Note** - I have used all of the following for "foodie" company to great compliments.

If not Italian, then try:

- Prepared Raspberry Vinaigrette (1 c. gently heated with a knob of butter & a tiny bit of wasabi paste is a "where did you get this recipe" sauce for grilled fish)

- Another Raspberry Sauce -
This one is for the Chili Heads in your life -
1 cup raspberries (frozen or fresh)
3 tsp water
(OR if you like the sweet/hot flavor profile use half raspberries and half seedless raspberry jam)
med to large knob of butter,
1 tsp or more to taste Adobo Sauce (from a small can of Chipotles in Adobo - be aware this product is HOT)

Heat all in a small saucepan till the berries cook down. If you like, you can strain this to make a smooth sauce, but I personally like the raspberry seeds.
This is wonderful on grilled chicken!

- prepared Balsalmic Dressings(to 1 cup of this, add a little honey, minced shallot and cracked black pepper for an Instant WOW glaze for a roast chicken or a grilled steak)

- Greek Vinaigrettes (sounds weird, but TRUST ME - try this with some Ex Virgin Olive Oil, freshly ground pepper & added lemon zest on roasted potatoes!)

- White Worscestershire Sauce (yes, they make white - 1/2 c with minced ginger, and 1/3 c soy for a jazzed up sauce that makes a poultry stir fry ROCK! - finish this dish with a little toasted sesame oil - to taste)

Adding any of these can push a recipe miles ahead in the prep department and make a really cool "what is that flavor?" ingredient in many recipes - especially drizzles for roasted vegetables and marinades for meat, poultry, fish and even Tofu!

Happy Experimenting! <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

These are fabulous ideas ArtGlam! Thanks for sharing them. I really want to try your raspberry sauces - my mouth is watering already. I've done pork with berries before. I really can imagine that raspberries would go beautifully with fish. Unfortunately my silly hubby doesn't eat berries, so I will be trying it by myself...

I am afraid Table design is more my thing. Going for colour and presentation in my salads. Must admit get a lot of comments about it and I think they think it tastes alright as well.

I love cooking, and I rarely ever follow recipes. I tend to use them as guidelines, and then experiment with different herbs and spices, or switch out ingredients. I've hardly ever gone wrong. I guess my instincts are good. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Anyone tried something new recently?

For me it was using yeast - remarkably simple, but I'd never bothered to try it before because I didn't think I had the time to figure out what I needed (kneaded) to do. I remembered my grandmother wrapping loaves up in blankets and all that, and although I had an idea of what was involved, it seemed too much effort.

I think it's worth setting aside some time every now and then to learn about a new technique and give it a try.

My husband loves baking, he says it relaxes him. His big kick lately has been to make homemade bagels (they taste soooo much better than the ones from the store - and here I am not able to eat more then a bite at a time!)

For me, it's the tweaking of the recipes. I think i'll follow a recipe once to see what it is supposed to be like - then I change it all up. Or I'll just throw a bunch of stuff together that i think sound like they ought to go well together. Drives David nuts, because when he asks me how to make something - I can never tell him! LOL

Soooo cool that some of youare baking! So am I!
I borrowed my mother's bread machine to make some organic breads for a friend who eats only all-organic for health issues.

yeast mystifies me...it's like magic!!

Here's a book title that I have enjoyed using lately -
Prairie Home Breads: 150 Splendid Recipes from America's Breadbasket by Judith M. Fertig

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558321...TF8&s=books

I am slowly working my way through the chapter titled: Naturally Leavened and Slow Rising Breads - although not usuable with the bread machine, there is a wonderful groundedness in "slow food".

Happy Cooking! <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />