Cookin Up A Storm

Live, Love, Laugh...Cook I am a mid-life career changer who has enjoyed cooking (and eating) good food all her life. My Mom went to work when I was in the 5th grade and most days when I got home from school, she'd have left instructions for me to get dinner started. Cooking never felt like a "chore" back then and it certainly rarely feels like one now.

During my 20 plus year career in IT, I traveled all over the US for work. And for fun, I traveled internationally. I have a fairly broad knowledge of food, but when cooking, I tend to stick to comfort foods and pretty much anything Italian. I have a big collection of Asian or eastern foods in my arsenal and I absolutely love their flavors.

I used to run my own personal chef business full-time. Now, I only do special events, but I'm in the kitchen experimenting often. Cooking's more fun when it's not a full-time job.

I paired this with fresh berries and a goat cheese panna cotta as a dessert option for a recent event. It was very well received. Be sure to use a wine that you would like to drink because even with all the sugar and flavorings, the taste of the wine still comes through. I used a well-priced cab from Napa and reduced it to a syrup consistency. One change I will make for next time is to use a cinnamon stick instead of the ground cinnamon. Then I will fish it out before serving and not be able to see the "grains" of cinnamon in the sauce. This one is a keeper.

7 found this helpful
Bison Red Curry
Cookin Up A Storm's rating

Using the sirloin in this dish, you really have to be careful about not overcooking it. Since it has very little fat and the bison has even less fat than beef, it can get dry quickly. I did not use the frozen green beans as I had fresh on hand. This was a pretty good recipe, but I needed to use more red curry paste to get the zip in our curry that we like.

1 found this helpful

We loved these. My potatoes were a little larger than bite sized, so after par-cooking them (I steamed them) and wrapping them in par-cooked bacon, we tossed them on the grill to crisp them up. This was a huge hit with everyone at my table. We skipped the ranch mix on the potatoes and served them instead with a blue-cheese-ranch dip and they were fantastic. I'm pretty sure this will be asked for again and again by my family. These would also make a great appetizer for any party or gathering and could easily be cooked in the oven if the grill is not an option.

2 found this helpful
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This is a nice recipe for flat iron steak. I did, however, cut back on the amount of liquids in the sauce (to 1/2 the stated amounts) and skipped the flour entirely. I prefer my sauces without flour and just cooked the sauce down to the proper consistency. I also added a splash of dry sherry as we really like that flavor in our mushroom sauces. We did the steak on the grill (along with another steak we had done asian style) and it turned out fantastic.

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I cut down the portions on this recipe and it still made a ton. this seems like restaurant recipe proportions to me. It makes a ton. The flavor was good. I subbed in some oatmeal for the flax since I didn't have 2 cups on hand. These are very filling waffles. We topped them with strawberries and banana. I will file this one away.

4 found this helpful

We thought this was very good. I had some large shrimp I wanted to use up and a little bit of ham. This was the perfect solution. Our version was a bit spicy because I make my own Cajun seasoning and it leans toward the hot side. I also did cut back on the broth a bit and finish the gravy with a little heavy cream - like it needed more richness, but it was awesome atop some creamy grits. Classic southern Shrimp and Grits (from a Northerners perspective anyway). This would also work well over rice or pasta.

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