Cooking with Dad

I definitely get my foundational cooking skills from my mother but, my comfort with just throwing things together and seeing what happens should be attributed to my father.  Most nights mom would be home with enough time to cook dinner or she would put something in the crock pot for us. However, every once in a while, we would be left to our own devices.

Coming from a family in which all of us cook, that was never an issue.  But, the results, that's where it gets interesting.  I remember two such instances where dad and I got experimental with the contents of the fridge and pantry.  One experiment turned out pretty great.  We aimed for meat sauce, we got something more along the lines of American Chop Suey.  Not surprising since we used about 2 pounds of ground meat to only one can of crushed tomatoes.  We threw in a few vegetables, shook in a few herbs, tossed it on top of some elbow macaroni, and called it complete.  I do remember getting the eyebrow from my father, the eyebrow that said "what will your mom think?"  We would not have been to high up on her list of favorite people if she found out we used 2 pounds of meat for an inedible dinner.  Luckily, that meal actually tasted good.  Experiment number two was a different story.

The take-away from Experiment 2?  Do not put orange juice into a hot saute pan.  All you get is an ugly sticky mess.  That mess was supposed to be sauce for the chicken breasts.  We started with the best of intentions and, if I remember correctly: orange juice, maple syrup, soy sauce, and some random spices.  I think we started off with the desire for something citrus with Asian flair.  The maple syrup comes in because maple syrup flows like water in that house and if it tastes good on kielbasa, why wouldn't it taste good on chicken.  It does taste good on chicken, just not when it's been added directly over the chicken while it's in a hot pan.  I also walked away with a health respect for pre-planning and marinades.  Oh, was that meal gross, edible, but gross.  We ate it though, we made it so we ate it.

Today's recipe is an homage to the throw together recipes of my youth and the way I cook for myself on a regular basis.



Step 1: Look in the fridge
Step 2: Look in the pantry
Step 3: Go back to the fridge and pull stuff out
Step 4: Go back to the pantry and pull other stuff out
Step 5: Put it all together
Step 6: Cross your fingers

Breakfast Lasagna

Get in the kitchen and get creative!