Adventures in Cooking:

Last week, I restocked my refrigerator. The final bill was a scary sight, but it was worth it! Since my refrigerator was restocked, I decided to try out three recipes from my beloved Everyday Food magazine. Seriously, can Martha Stewart do it all? Simple good recipes! I love it!

First, I made Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps from my February 2009 magazine. What exactly is Asian Beef anyways? I am guessing this is Thai beef because of the usage of cilantro in this dish, but I dunno.  I've tried wraps like this at restaurants, but this receipe wasn't as good. It was good, but not REALLY good. It just felt like something was missing, but who knows, it could have been me!

I totally failed at making the cellophane noodles and now I have a pound of noodles left over.The noodles have also stuck together and now looks like a clear mess. I could also blame my sou chef, who was a bit lenient with the lemon juice, but I don't know. I would totally broil steak again. It was actually the first time that I had boiled meat and it worked perfectly.  Next time, I might consult other recipes for ideas on things to add besides the sauce. I think that I need to add something that was missing from the dish, so my goal is to find it.  Photo of my cooking process, below!

Two days later, I made Tortilla Soup with Black Beans. Anyone who tells you can't eat soup in summer-like weather is crazy. Soup can and should be eaten year-round! This recipe is SO simple and delicious! It seriously take 15 minutes and leaves you left overs for a couple of days. Did I mention that it is really yummy and easy? Yes, sorry!  I would be curious to see what it would be like with chicken... In college, there was a great Chicken Tortilla Soup that I always looked forward to and now, I have a replacement soup four years later.

Lastly,  I tried making a Cold Soba Salad with Feta and Cucumber. I should have known that it was not meant to be when I forgot two major components of the recipe - Lemon Juice and Cucumber. Hello, cucumber is in the title! But luckily, my dear friend, Jess, ran to the market and saved the day. It was a simple recipe, but I don't think I will do it again. I think my half-Japanese genes were saying to me:  "Don't ruin buckwheat noodles with feta and lemon juice." Something did not feel right about it. It probably would have been delicious with normal Italian noodles, but not soba noodles. I am not sure why, but there are certain things that I can't eat (I can eat, but I don't want to) outside of the Asian context and this is one of them.

Maybe, I should try making some desserts next! The newest issue of Everyday Food has these amazing looking raspberry whoopie pies or this toffee bar that should be next. Yummy!