First Week In My Kitchen

Well I decided to start this week off with a bang!

All of the following dishes were prepared from scratch:


I started the day off creating a delectable cheesecake with a blueberry-raspberry sauce. This did not take long to cook but from what I have read, needed the most time to rest and cool before it could be dished up. It was surprisingly easy to make and I only managed to get two medium cracks in the center of my cheesecake. 


Next up was macaroni and cheese...from scratch! I started off with a roux and built my way up to the béchamel sauce or mother sauce and added a mix of cheese, sharp cheddar and gruyere. This sauce was then added to the macaroni and finished in the oven with a panko bread crumb topping. Note: The macaroni was cheesy but not overly cheesy (like stouffers). I may increase the amount of béchamel sauce slightly the next time I make it.


Lastly, I made burgers. Yes I know it's nothing extraordinary but they came out juicy and succulent! To the meat I mixed in a variety of ingredients which include: garlic powder, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and cayenne. They were then broiled in the oven and topped off with a saute of mushroom and onion. 


All of these dishes came out fantastic and were put to the test of my family and a close friend.....all are considered keepers in their book.  


Pictures will be coming up here in the next day, feel free to comment!


Lamonte

Hey All

I am a college student looking to find his inner chef. I, like many other college students, survive on a very narrow range of foods and do not normally cook to provide myself nourishment. I will use this blog as a tool to show my progress towards becoming a competent home cook and ultimately proving that I can provide myself with delicious quality meals. I will be searching high and low for different recipes across the web and in my books and will try as many as I possibly can.

I am willing to accept any critiques, tips or tricks and will consider any recipes that one would suggest me to try! Please feel free to send me any recipes that you think I would enjoy and will present its own unique challenges to test my growing culinary knowledge.

Thanks all!
Lamonte