Future Homesick Texan

Homesick Texan is rapidly becoming one of my favorite food blogs. It's fitting, since I will no longer be calling Texas my home soon, and I'm sure I will be craving those Texas flavors just the same as this inspired blogger.

Recently I gave her recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas a try. Remember the theme for this month and next month's posts? Cooking in other people's kitchens? I've made this twice now, once at my parents' and once at a friend's. Both times have presented some interesting challenges.



Neither time that I went shopping for this was I able to find serrano peppers. The first time I just made it without them at all, and it was pretty good but very sweet, which I think the peppers might have balanced out. But the second time I upped the amount of cayenne pepper to balance out the sweetness a little more and I liked that. Also I didn't use a cast-iron pan. I don't know what difference it makes but ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

It went pretty well at my parents' house. I'm learning that THOROUGHLY reading a recipe before starting it is very important...not just to make sure I have the proper tools, but to also be aware of the process of the recipe. The reason I realized this is because I was trying to juggle so many different things with this recipe...make the sauce, shred the chicken etc. and have them all done at the same time so that everything was warm...only to realize that it all had to go in the oven at the end anyway, so it really didn't matter. I think it took me about 3 hours from start to finish.

The second time was at a friend's house. Let me start this narrative by stating that he is a bachelor. Not just a "single guy" bachelor but a "half of my kitchen is empty because I don't use it" bachelor.

Lessons learned?

1. Making sauce without a whisk...not fun.
2. No rectangular casserole pan? Use a pie pan and the square pan. It gets the job done.
3. Chicken breasts that have been frozen since summer 2009 will not, in fact, kill you. And it tastes just fine, once you cut off the freezer burn.

The worst part is, I made them twice and didn't get any pictures. I'm obviously out of practice. But go check out Homesick Texan's blog, you won't be disappointed.

No more excuses! Just an update.

Life has been a bit tumultuous lately. I graduated and got a job in Portland, Oregon which I will be starting in February. And because I graduated, I moved out of my apartment. Sadly, all of my kitchen has been boxed up and placed in my mother's storage unit until I get my own place in Portland.

But!

Since school has been over I have been cooking quite a bit. We will just call any installments between now and March "Cooking in Other People's Kitchens."


On a related note, I got to meet my favorite WWC, Rachel Ray!



Okay not really, the picture is from the wax museum in New York City. But I did squeal when I saw the reproduction of her kitchen and I had my picture taken with her likeness.

I also went to Washington, DC recently and visited the History and Science Museum of the Smithsonian where they had a reproduction of Julia Child's kitchen. No wax figured of her culinary greatness, sadly.




I have some great posts on the way, from my personal recipe for guacamole to a lesson on the brining process. Again, I apologize for being a bad blogger but now that school is over I should be able to spend less time in textbooks and more time in cookbooks!