Kitchen notes: Keepers

As you might know I’ve been cooking for myself for a few weeks now already. There’s a lot of recipes I tried and things I failed on. There's a few things I'd definitely would never make again (take bacon for instance) and some things that I could do daily (take spaghetti). Here’s a few of the recipes I decided to keep:

Panroasted chicken with Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar

You’ll be needing: chicken, sesame seeds, caramelised balsamic vinegar.
How to’s: Put the chicken in a pan and cook it with sesame seeds and a bit of the vinegar. Sprinkle vinegar over when done.
Notes: Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar is heaven. I’ve cheated on this and not actually made it myself but bought it like this, but I will definitely try making it myself one day. The sweet but vinegar-like taste definitely suits the chicken.



Pasta olio (or whatever)

You’ll be needing: pasta, herbs, garlic, oil, salt&pepper
How to’s: Cook the pasta, bake the garlic lightly, mix everything together.
Notes: I’m not a fan of the oil I bought, which is really the main ingredient in this recipe. Buy oil you like the taste of or this will definitely fail. When done well, it’s a really nice side dish.



Filled mushrooms

You’ll be needing: mushrooms, chimichurri (or pesto), cheese
How to’s: Fill the mushrooms with chimichurri and add cheese over it. Pop in the oven for a bit.
Notes: This is really nice as a luxurious sidedish. My mom makes this every Christmas or special dinner. It is one of the easiest things and it tastes nice as well.



Bacon with chimichurri dressing and fried potatoes

You’ll be needing: bacon, chimichurri (or pesto), potato, oil and salt
How to’s: Fry the bacon in a pan with oil, top with chimichurri. Fry potatoes in a pan with oil and add loads of salt (this it bad).
Notes: This is definitely not one of my healthiest dishes, but it was really nice anyway. Everyone has to love fried potatoes. The chimichurri (or substitute with pesto if you don’t have any and don’t want to make it either) give the bacon a lot of extra taste.



Mushroom cream spaghetti

You’ll be needing: spaghetti, garlic, mushrooms, cream cheese, salt & pepper
How to’s: Cook the spaghetti and bake the garlic and mushrooms in a pan. Add the spaghetti to the mushrooms and cook for a bit longer then add cream cheese and let it melt. Take off the fire immediately and add salt & pepper.
Notes: Love, love, LOVE this recipe. I have a thing for mushrooms. Somehow they appear in every recipe I make. Really love the creamy taste to the spaghetti as well. I have to test other recipes though. It might work better with something like whipping cream, or a different cheese. Might make this a weekly thing.



I have all the time in the world here to cook whatever I want (at least until the essays start getting closer) and I have a whole kitchen for myself (if I start cooking very early or very late). It's amazing. However, I don't have all the money in the world and I should really start thinking of a way to manage it. For now, I will just enjoy all the food.