cook's profile


CURTISLEE
 
Home Town: Valley, Nebraska, USA
Living In: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Member Since: Jan. 2003
Cooking Level: Intermediate
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Frying, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Healthy, Dessert, Gourmet
Hobbies: Walking, Reading Books, Music
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Profile Picture
Baklava in Christmas Cupcake Liners
Baked French Fries II
About this Cook
While I don't have a lot of extra time for cooking, I truly enjoy the process. My mom was a good cook and my dad was a gourmet style cook. Dad wasn't afraid to experiment and often tried new dishes. I am an adventurous person, so with the influence of my father, I've applied that sense to cooking. I get a kick out of trying new recipes. I was an athlete in school, so I've always been in decent shape, but the middle age years have brought a weight challenge, which I attempt to meet with healthy recipe choices. I'm a self-employed executive recruiter specializing in the foundry industry. My first career was radio broadcasting and I still do fill-in work for a local radio station. The most important things in my life to me are God and family. I have many interests besides cooking, including music, reading, writing, movies, travel, blackjack, and so much more.
My favorite things to cook
I love the challenge of finding and preparing healthy recipes--making something that is concurrently tasty and healthy. If I'm splurging I love preparing big meals with meat, potatoes, and all the trimmings, including dessert. I have developed into a pretty good pie-man. I'm learning to be a decent baker. I also enjoy appetizers. I don't like to take short-cuts or to scrimp on ingredients, so almost everything I prepare is "from scratch." I am a soup fanatic. I also enjoy casseroles, spaghetti with garlic bread, salad dressings, and most family style meals. I'm also a Chinese food nut--my very favorite food choice.
My favorite family cooking traditions
My grandma made "sticky rolls," which were unanimously approved of by everyone in our family. My Dad made his traditional, famous oyster stew for Christmas Eve. Thanksgiving and Christmas always bring great memories of fabulous meals--turkey and all the trimmmings, of course. My mother used to make chop suey, which probably inspired my long time preference for Chinese food.
My cooking triumphs
Still looking for it! Seriously, I just love the process. My biggest triumph is the next meal. I love the process of creating. There something inherently artistic about cooking--and being able to immediately enjoy that which I've prepared, is truly enjoyable.
My cooking tragedies
The most recent was a prime rib tragedy. I used a marinade from this website, which called for using a two-pronged fork to punch holes in the meat. Unfortunately, I got carried away and evidently punched too many holes in the meat. The prime rib ended up shredded. And because my meat thermometer broke, the meat was overcooked too. My recipes usually turn out well because, 1) I follow recipes to the "T," (I'm not experienced enough to experiment much yet) and 2) I always read all the reviews for a given recipe before preparing it, so I know of the pitfalls and embellishments others have made.
Recipe Reviews 462 reviews
Spicy Chicken Soup
This recipe has the added benefit of being healthy. I used the hot variety of diced tomatoes (Rotel brand) and my wife and I both enjoyed the flavor. If you don't like food spicy, go for the regular diced with green chile peppers, or maybe even leave out the chile peppers. This soup recipe should be in the regular rotation for those interested in eating a lean and healthy diet.

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jan. 19, 2012
Easy Chili I
Though this recipe is indeed "easy," it is not as flavorful as many other chili recipes I have had, some of which are available at the allrecipes website. It was fine, just not as memorable as others.

2 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jan. 19, 2012
Drunken Dogs
As other reviewers have indicated, if you want any thickness to the sauce, you must add corn starch. I cooked the dogs on high in my slow cooker for at least two hours, maybe three, and the sauce still had not thickened, so I broke down and added the corn starch. I used the big Fairbury Brand dogs, the kind sold at Nebraska games, which are easily the best mass produced dogs around. I used a bottle of Blue Moon, which provided a exceptionally rich taste experience.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jan. 19, 2012
 
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