marljong
Home Town:
Member Since:
Jan. 2006
Cooking Level:
Expert
Cooking Interests:
Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Frying, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Southern, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Healthy, Vegetarian, Dessert, Quick & Easy, Gourmet
Hobbies:
Gardening, Hiking/Camping, Walking, Fishing, Photography, Reading Books, Music, Painting/Drawing
On a continuous journey for stellar recipes with extraordinary tastes and splendid textures. Exquisite/refined texture is something that can be elusive in a recipe for various reasons, especially with baked goods; however, when a cake or a bread has the harmonious balance...voila! I favor global and local cuisines--down home to gourmet. With a tremendous appetite and a highly critical taste buds, I needed to cook, bake and experiment to satisfy the insatiable hunger for my kind of bliss. It's a thrill and an adventure when I share a delicious treat or a dish that I've created by adding love--my own unique twists on classics and reinventing my favorites. My palette is worldly, sophisticated, yet delightfully childlike. I strive for excellence whenever I'm in the kitchen. Pleasing myself is palpable; however, cooking and eating is definitely enhanced when shared with family, friends and colleagues.
My favorite things to cook
Things I crave from childhood, my travels and something new to me. I love baking from scratch: Italian breads, chocolate cakes, banana cakes, pound cakes, coconut cakes, cranberry breads, savory corn bread, Irish soda breads, cinnamon buns, tiramisu, Greek desserts/sweets--Baklava, Finikia, cornmeal cakes; keylime pies, cookies, and all things lemon!
My favorite family cooking traditions
Savory, sweet, spicy, hot, tangy! Gyoza, fish, vegetable pancakes, sashimi/sushi, gar-bee/bur go gee, bread/rice stuffing, Gumbo, Paella, Dirty rice, smothered chicken, stuffed grape leaves, Guatemalen tamales...
My cooking triumphs
Perfecting a recipe that is already very good is fun; moreover, creating something phenomenal by happenstance is awesome!
My cooking tragedies
In my early 20's, I'd volunteered to cook the Thanksgiving turkey. Didn't know it would take a day or two to defrost a turkey. After 6 hours of roasting, only the tops were cooked! Thank goodness, we were also serving ham! Anything with cheese!-- I just leave it out!