Hi! This week, I made Lemon garlic Shrimp Fettucini. Like always, in class I picked out this recipe and edited it. At home, I got straight to work.

Recipe: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/lemon-garlic-shrimp-fettuccine/

Editied Recipe: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uv8ZPBWWyC3g1PTUiJJ23Bsbml82ndp0XK-ciSwvIY8/edit

This recipe took a very long time, but I’m really happy with the final product. This was my first time trying shrimp, which also means that it was my first time cooking it! The taste of it was very good and well seasoned, but the texture of it really threw me off. I was expecting almost a chicken-like texture, however, it kind of “popped” in my mouth. Although, it was still really tasty, especially after I put in the pasta. Adding on, the butter and lemon flavouring of the pasta itself was really, really good. I must admit, eating too much of this dish doesn’t feel good for your stomach, but if you eat good portions, then it’s super delicious. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d like the shrimp, and I was contemplating actually making the dish, but I’m really glad I ended up making it in the end because I’m really happy with the final product. However, I did end up putting in extra chilli flakes, black pepper, salt, and lemon juice at the end, because it was tasting a little bit bland. All of those things contributed to the tasty end result. Overall, I am super happy with how this dish came out!! I also got to learn a couple of new cooking skills, such as how to zest a lemon, that I can apply to other dishes I make in the future! Additionally, I was definitely more cautious as to how much liquid was going into the sauce (something I learnt from the previous week’s recipe).

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yoVZUhTW8y9yAa3SdzyQd6pS3Tv7xglj/view?usp=sharing

Here are some things I learnt from making this:

• How to zest a lemon
• Sometimes, it’s okay to steer off the recipe and add in your own spices!

Here are some things I would do if I were to make the dish again:

• Add in some coriander, or some other cool toppers!

Update:

This class, I also looked back at my original Genius Hour plan. Based on what I read, I decided to make Momos next week! The reason I chose to make Momos instead of doing another dish is because of my original Genius Hour plan. I said that I wanted to include some Nepali Staple dishes, and I haven’t done that yet, so I decided now would be the perfect time. When looking over my plan, I also saw that I didn’t want to do any baking. I ended up actually baking some chocolate chip cookies, so I didn’t really listen to that. Also, I said I would start from easy-level difficulty to harder dishes, but I haven’t really been doing that. I went from hard to hard to easy to medium, which is definitely not what I was planning on doing. In upcoming weeks I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when choosing a recipe. However, I am really happy with my progress so far. I mentioned that cooking was not one of my strong suites, which is why I wanted to do it. I think that I have improved a great deal from before starting this Genius Hour!!

Hi! This week I made Ground Chicken Tacos with Creamy Salsa. This time, I did something a little bit differently. I noticed that a lot of the ingredients I used for this dish I had used in my previous dishes (like the chicken, onions etc.), so, I took my knowledge and failures from previous recipes I made, and tried to use this to my advantage. I think taking these failures helped me a lot to improve my cooking skills and technique. This includes how I cut my tomatoes and lettuce and how I cooked my chicken!!

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/ground-chicken-tacos-with-creamy-salsa-recipe-1925088

Editied Recipe: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uv8ZPBWWyC3g1PTUiJJ23Bsbml82ndp0XK-ciSwvIY8/edit

As much as I tried to perfect this recipe by using the various techniques and skills I have learnt over the past few weeks, one tiny thing made the end result bad. At first, everything was going well. I was using past mistakes to do things like cut the chicken smaller and mince the garlic into finer pieces. I was sure that these tacos would turn out delicious. However, that wasn’t the case. The recipe called for 1 cup of chicken stock, so, despite being wary of how runny it would make it, I added it to the chicken, garlic, onion, and bell pepper mixture that was in the skillet. When my parents and I went to try the tacos, all of the creamy salsa (that actually tasted really good on its own!) had turned into a soup-like consistency, and so it all dripped onto the plate. On top of that, I also added some cheese sauce that came with the shells, and that made it extra runny. The flavouring of the sauce was also pretty nasty, the dish would have been better off without it. This dish was really messy, to say the least! Although, one thing I’m pretty proud of is the creamy salsa. It obviously was super tricky to make, but it was really tasty. I definitely think that the tacos would have tasted way better if I hadn’t added the chicken stock and the cheese sauce. I’m kind of annoyed that such a little thing ruined this dish because I really did think it was going to turn out well. In the end, I was pretty disappointed in myself for this. However, at least I can apply this knowledge to upcoming dishes that I may make.

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f3d44z1knbL336YqNdBK3LLzjN5I3cWH/view?usp=sharing

Here are some things I learnt from making this:

• Sometimes, if you belive an ingrediant is going to ruin your dish, listen to your gut!

Here are some things I would do if I were to make the dish again:

• I most definitley would not add chicken stock
• Refrain from using the cheese sauce packets
• Try to make the tortellia/shells on my own as well (that seems like it would be fun to do!)
• Chop the onion smaller

Hi! This week, I decided to make Sweet and Tangy Chicken Burgers. After last week’s special dish, the chocolate chip cookies, I went back to cooking instead of baking this week. Like last time, I spent a couple of minutes editing the recipe to make it easier to understand. After that, I got right to work

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/sweet-and-tangy-chicken-burgers-1927968

Editied Recipe: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uv8ZPBWWyC3g1PTUiJJ23Bsbml82ndp0XK-ciSwvIY8/edit

This recipe was fairly simple but still took a good amount of time. The main thing I really cooked was the chicken patty because the lettuce and tomatoes were just toppings. Speaking of the chicken patty, it was a disaster. The overall flavouring of the patty itself was actually really tasty. I wasn’t expecting to like the strong taste of cinnamon, but I liked it a lot more than I thought!! Almost all of the ingredients in the patty had super strong flavours, but this made the patty taste a lot better because it spiced it up. However, the patty wasn’t even a patty. It all fell right apart when I tried flipping it, so, in the end, they were just small pieces of chicken in the burger. I quickly learnt that this was because I used chicken breast instead of ground chicken!! Honestly, chicken breast also had a chance of working, but because I didn’t cut the chicken into small enough pieces, it didn’t. There was a reason the recipe specifically called for ground chicken instead of any other type. The reason is, if the pieces aren’t small and compact enough, they absolutely will not stick together and hold the patty shape. I learnt this the hard way. But the savoury taste of the patty really made up for this! Other than the patty, I think the burger tasted really good.

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ycb0AvBeWpz2mM8hgs9ffd8L36We7yAl/view?usp=sharing

Here are some things I learnt from making this, and some things I would do if I were to make the dish again:

• Use ground chicken!
• Add some extra toppings to contribute even more to the savoriness (like olives)
• Look at the recipe very closely while buying ingredients and prior to making the dish.

See you next blog!

Hi! Okay, look. I know I said I’d be sticking to cooking only and not baking, but when I saw these cookies I just HAD to. Also, the recipe didn’t require many ingredients, and I could use the stuff that I brought for the previous week’s recipes. I don’t really have a sweet tooth, but I must admit, I’ve been craving something sweet for a while, and these cookies better do the job! Like always, I edited the recipe, although this time there wasn’t much to edit, because the recipe was relatively simple.

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe4-2011856

Editied Recipe: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uv8ZPBWWyC3g1PTUiJJ23Bsbml82ndp0XK-ciSwvIY8/edit

This recipe was kind of a failure. Why? Well, what made it a disaster were the chocolate chips. Or may I say chocolate CHUNKS. The chocolate “chips” were huge, and I didn’t really think much of it until after I added them to the batter. What happened was that since the chips were so big but there were so few of them, the cookies themselves did not have the chocolate evenly distributed when you took a bite out of them. So they mostly tasted like eggs, except for the parts with the chocolate chunks in them. I must say, those bits of the cookies (with the actual chocolate in them!!) were pretty tasty. But, they weren’t gooey and melted like some super delicious chocolate chip cookies that I’ve tasted in the past. It was just hard chocolate, and it hadn’t melted into the cookie one bit. Also, the bottoms of the cookies wereclose to burnt. Overall, I have A LOT to improve on for the next time I make these cookies. I’d say this was a 75% fail and a 25% success, just like the ratio of the chocolate to batter!!!

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pxgMAQ7OB4RIN3xT4gAW2ArPA2gHtWzi/view?usp=sharing

Here are some things I learnt from making this, and some things I would do if I were to make the dish again:

• When I mixed the liquids, I saw some chunks in the mixture. I came to the conclusion that this was butter, and that this happened because I hadn’t melted it long enough.
• CUT THE CHOCOLATE INTO SMALLER PIECES!
• Add some more sugar, because it was lacking a lot of it.
• Find a way to make them toasted all around, not just close to burnt on the bottom.