I tried a basic alfredo sauce tonight:

1 3/4 cups heavy cream
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 lb fresh pasta
1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 lb scallops

For pasta:
2 1/4 cups flour
3 eggs

For fresh pasta, you need a pasta machine, it's a lot of fun to use:


I used the pasta machine to make fresh fettucini.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, for pasta. In a separate pot, bring butter and cream to boil over medium heat, then lower heat and keep hot. Lightly cook scallops and shrimp in butter over medium heat in a pan, and set aside. When water is boiling, briefly boil pasta until al dente, do not overcook. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add cream and butter mixture to pasta along with the cheese to the drained pasta, and toss over medium heat until the cheese melts and the sauce thickens. Add shrimp and scallops, season with salt and pepper, and serve. I sprinkled some freshly chopped parsley to give the dish a little color, and served with some fresh baked bread and a local chardonnay.


8/10: I don't really like dairy products, but if you like cheese I think you'll love this dish.
The scallops and shrimp are optional, next time I would replace the scallops with calamari, since I like calamari a lot more.

I got ambitious enough to try cooking some squid:


1 lbs cleaned whole squid
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp basalmic vinegar
2 fresh red chilies, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper

For risotto rice:
2 cups risotto rice
6 cups chicken broth
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion

To prepare squid, open each body out flat by making a lengthwise cut down the side. Score flesh on both sides with the tip of a knife, and chop up tentacles. Whisk olive oil and basalmic vinegar together, season with salt and pepper, and pour over squid. Marinade for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for rice, melt butter with olive oil, and saute chopped onions for 3 minutes. Add rice and continue to stir for 2 minutes, then add 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to boil, stirring often. When broth has been absorbed add another cup of broth, and stir while liquid is absorbed. Repeat, adding broth one cup at a time, until all the broth has been absorbed, and rice is cooked and creamy.

To finish squid, heat a pan until hot, and grill each squid body one at a time, holding it flat with a spatula to prevent it from curling from the heat. Grill each side for 2-3 minutes, and cut the cooked body in diagonal strips. Keep warm, and add chopped chilies and tentacles to the pan, cooking on high heat for 2 minutes. Add wine, stir briefly, and drizzle over the chopped bodies on a bed of risotto. Serve immediately, garnished with fresh chopped parsley.


7/10: I didn't buy enough squid, because the recipe I looked at calls for 1 squid per serving, but apparently not all squid are created equal. I think about 1/2 lbs per serving would be good. The roasted asparagus and baby bella mushrooms I served this with was a last minute idea, and turned out well, but the two dishes don't really go that great together. Using a good wine is what saved me: the Finger Lakes region is known for its white wines, so I used a dry local riesling which cost more than the rest of the meal combined, and served the rest of the bottle with the meal. All in all, this was not bad for my first time cooking squid. I think I should be able to get this really good after a few tries.

I've never made desert before, so I tried some coffee creme brulee:


4 cups whipping cream
1 cup plus 8 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely ground espresso coffee beans
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
1 large egg

Bring 1 cup sugar, cream, ground espresso beans, coffee powder, vanilla extract and cinnamon stick to boil in a heavy saucepan. Stir until sugar and coffee powder dissolve, and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. I found that a reusable coffee filter works well for this, since the idea is to filter out the coffee grinds.

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Whisk egg yolks and egg in a large bowl, and slowly whisk in strained cream mixture. Divide among eight 3/4-cup custard cups, and place custard cups in a baking pan. Fill baking pan with hot water up to half the height of the custard cups, and place in oven for about 55 minutes. Remove cups from pan, cool, and refrigerate uncovered overnight.

The next day, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar over each custard, and use a cooking torch to brown the sugar until it caramelizes. The cooking torch is quick and fun to use. Here is a picture of my housemate playing with the blowtorch:


Once sugar has been caramelized, chill custards for 1 hour before serving. This recipe makes 8 servings, provided you don't drop any like I did.



Creamy and bittersweet. These are great, you'll love them if you like coffee.

Another southern dish tonight, this time gumbo. This recipe doesn't have the traditional okra, but that's what you get when an Asian guy from Ohio makes a Cajun dish.



1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
3 Italian turkey sausages, casings removed
1 can diced tomatoes in juice (28 oz)
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/2 lbs shrimp
3/4 lbs catfish fillets, cut into 10 pieces
salt & pepper

Brown flour in a sauce pan over medium low heat with a little olive oil, stirring often, and set aside. In a large heavy pot or skillet, saute onions and bell peppers in olive oil until tender, then add garlic, thyme and bay leaf and saute an additional minute. Add sausages with casings removed and brown, breaking apart the sausage meat. Add browned flour, chicken broth, tomatoes with juices, and Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer covered on reduced heat for 20 minutes, stirring often. Add shrimp and catfish and simmer for 5 more minutes, or until catfish is cooked. Remove bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and serve over long grain rice with tabasco sauce.



7/10: A spicy, but healthy low-fat dish. Not sure what would go well with it.

I'm going to be moving to the southern United States soon, so I made some jambalaya:



2/3 lbs shrimp
1/2 lbs andouille sausage
3/4 cup long grain rice
1 can chicken broth (14 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (14 oz)
1 large onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp tabasco
1/4 tsp crushed cayenne pepper
2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper

Stir fry shrimp and andouille sausage in a skillet. Drain fat and set aside. Melt butter in large skillet and cook onion, pepper and celery with salt and pepper until tender. Add garlic and cook a few more minutes. Add tomatoes, rice, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and tabasco. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low, simmering for 20 minutes until rice is cooked. Add shrimp and sausage, remove bay leaves, stir and serve.


I had no idea what to serve jambalaya with, so I made some fresh guacamole and served with that and tortilla chips.

7/10: This dish has quite a kick. Be careful with the cayenne pepper next time.

I haven't had time to cook lately, so I did something easy:


I cooked the burgers on a charcoal grill because it was a nice day today. For burgers, I usually saute some onions and baby portabella mushrooms in olive oil and bourbon. I had them on a toasted bun with fries.

6/10: Burger was more well done than I would have liked.