'In the Kitchen' Freestyle

Yes, I'm back.

And I adopted a new style of cooking while in South Africa. This was mostly due to limited internet access (i.e. no recipes), a limited supply of tupperware (i.e. nowhere to put leftovers), and not wanting to stock up on food only to leave it there. Not to mention that everything I bought spoiled about 4 times as fast as it does here (due to the heat? the relative lack of preservatives? we may never know). So I only bought what I planned to eat in the next couple of days.

When I told Blake about my new approach to grocery shopping he quoted an episode of Seinfeld (as he oft does) where Kramer gets rid of his refrigerator.

GEORGE: Well what do you eat?
KRAMER: It's all fresh. Fresh fish, fresh foul, fresh fruit. I buy it, I omniga nominga, I eat it.
JERRY: Well I’m glad it's working out.
KRAMER: Oh yeah, it's working out.

So I began throwing stuff into a pan, seasoning it, and cooking it. 'Stuff' usually consisted of any combination of beef, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, any other vegetables, garlic, and beans. 'Seasoning' was whatever I could find. It's really quite liberating, try it.

I learned a fair amount during this exploratory process and I think I've overcome some of my culinary fears. Ever wonder why no one cooks with cucumbers? They get gross. That's why. And, as a general rule, whatever you make is going to taste just like it smells. Most importantly, the world doesn't end if you make a bad meal. If I found that dinner wasn't so tasty when I sat down to eat, I covered it with massive quantities of cheese. Many of the world's problems can be solved with cheese, I imagine.

But now, here I am, once again in a world of 24-hour supermarkets and heavily preserved produce. More recipes coming soon.