jilkat25

about me

I'm a 53 year old mother of three (21 and 23 year old girls and a 25 year old boy), married 32 years. I've loved to cook since I was a kid and I collect recipes and unusual ingredients, especially ethnic condiments, spices, flours, oils, etc. I shop at the Asian grocery stores--better prices, selection and fresher vegetables. I love trying to imitate something I have had in a restaurant or seen on Food Network.

Favorite Foods:

I LOVE anything ethnic or regional, especially if it involves limes, garlic, onions, peanuts (think Thai.) I also love crunchy, salty food (think onion rings, or tempura) and seafood, especially appetizers! My daughter and I try to meet for a sushi lunch once a week.
I enjoy cooking seafood. The secret to perfect fish is the timing. I'm good at making big pans of "family-food" like chicken and dumplings, BBQ brisket (native Texan), sub-gum fried rice, shrimp creole, lasagna, etc. Thanksgiving dinner in June? Not a problem!
It's fun to turn out a big feast from some other world culture. I love researching it before I decide which dishes to make. There's this great cookbook called Flatbreads and Flavours that's full of wonderful stories and recipes. I have an electric tortilla press I use to make different flatbreads, like roti or pita. I used to make a lot of bread by hand, but it's so convenient (and fun) now to use the dough setting on my automatic breadmaker and throw pieces of dough in the press for flatbreads. I also like to bake fancy shaped bread or bread with a filling that started as yeast dough that was kneaded and put through the rising cycles in the bread machine. Happy cooking!

http://