cook's profile


Ryan
 
Home Town: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Living In: Los Angeles, California, USA
Member Since: Apr. 2006
Cooking Level: Intermediate
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Southern, Middle Eastern, Healthy, Quick & Easy
About this Cook
I'm in my early 20s and recently moved from my hometown of Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles and am living with my girlfriend (who is absolutely amazing for having the patience to deal with having me around full-time) while looking for work/apartments. In my spare time, I love to watch sports, play videogames, work out (that's one I'm hoping to get into more in 2009. Hooray for gym memberships!), go to the beach, read anything and everything I can get my hands on, and of course cook. I love, love, love baseball and beach related activities and am planning to get myself into better shape so I can take up baseball and surfing by summer. Which means I'll also get to incorporate better food into my diet! ...and just like that, I've combined two of my passions.
My favorite things to cook
Anything and everything. I'm still learning lots of new things about various foods and cooking techniques, but I'm especially fond of BBQ and grilling. I recently discovered the wonder that is the crock pot and am often more than eager to throw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker when I wake up groggy and lazy, go about my day, and come back to a delicious meal in the evening. I've also been known to make a pretty awesome chicken teriyaki.
My favorite family cooking traditions
Anything involving holidays. My mom's side of the family is filled with a bunch of talented cooks, so holidays are pretty fondly associated with lots of good food. I have great memories from childhood of baking christmas cookies with my mom, and the potluck nature of our Fourth of July gatherings at my aunt's beach house. Also, every year for my birthday we'd have a barbecue and my mom would prepare her amazing ribs on the grill. To this day, they're some of the best ribs I've had.
My cooking triumphs
Anytime I make something that a family member, friend, or my girlfriend raves over I consider it a mini-triumph.
My cooking tragedies
I almost started a grease fire in an unfortunate incident involving an unwatched pan of bacon.
Recipe Reviews 22 reviews
Orange Mango Chicken
Very flavorful and a great meal to throw together when you don't have a lot of time. Made this with stringbeans and orange rice and everything went together well. Next time I make this, I'll add some peppers and onions to the dish. The sauce was good but very sweet, so if you're not a huge fan of sweetness in your main course, be aware of that.

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jul. 6, 2009
Chicken, Avocado and Mango Salad
I was really surprised by how good this recipe turned out. I was a little skeptical of the blend of ingredients, but the sweetness of the mango blended nicely with the taste of the avocado and the mild spiciness of the dressing. Unfortunately my mango wasn't quite ripe and my avocado was a little TOO ripe, so I don't think my finished product lived up to this recipe's full potential, but it was so good that I have incentive to try again with better produce. I'm not much of a "salad guy" (though I'm trying) so my seal of approval and plan to try this one again says a lot. Next time I want to try it with spinach instead of lettuce.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jun. 22, 2009
Penne with Chicken and Asparagus
Great, easy dinner with ingredients that are generally on hand. I made the recipe exactly as written plus the addition of some mushrooms and both my girlfriend and I loved it. As others have said, it's very light and the broth lightly coats the pasta rather than provides an actual sauce, but I find this to be a positive as it keeps the meal healthy. Has great potential to make frequent appearances on nights where we don't feel super hungry.

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jun. 22, 2009
 
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