Now that I have my kitchen stuff sorted out, I decided to try cooking more proper food. (By that I mean something that isn't instant mac and cheese. :)) Unfortunately, my first couple of attempts were miserable failures LOL.
I had a couple of supposedly simple recipes. One was for steak and the other was for mustard pork chops. The mustard pork chop recipe I had was from more than a decade ago: spread dijon mustard all over your pork chops, coat in a good amount of salt and pepper, then fry. I was actually able to make this successfully a couple of times in the past and in fact, I cooked it for other people one time when I was assigned abroad. As such, I was fully expecting to be able to pull it off again this time around. Unfortunately, I did not. My mustard pork chops ended up being too salty and the pork didn't get the depth of flavor I wanted it to get.
The steak recipe I used is from Jamie Oliver and I decided to go with the simplest version: olive oil, salt, and pepper. Unfortunately, this turned out a lot worse than the pork chops. I think it all stemmed from the fact that my steak wasn't as properly thawed as it should. As such, the outside was cooked but the inside was practically more than rare so I had to cook it much longer than expected. The steak ended up being overcooked, tough and rubbery. Yuck.
Not one to throw away any pseudo-edible food, I still ate everything I cooked. I paired both dishes with tagliatelle pasta cooked in bottled bolognese sauce. Even the first batch of pasta I prepared didn't turn out very well since some noodles were not fully cooked. Thankfully, the second batch was better. If the improvement in my second batch of pasta is any indicator, then hopefully I will learn from my horrible mistakes with the pork chops and the steak and cook them better next time. Wish me luck!
I had a couple of supposedly simple recipes. One was for steak and the other was for mustard pork chops. The mustard pork chop recipe I had was from more than a decade ago: spread dijon mustard all over your pork chops, coat in a good amount of salt and pepper, then fry. I was actually able to make this successfully a couple of times in the past and in fact, I cooked it for other people one time when I was assigned abroad. As such, I was fully expecting to be able to pull it off again this time around. Unfortunately, I did not. My mustard pork chops ended up being too salty and the pork didn't get the depth of flavor I wanted it to get.
The steak recipe I used is from Jamie Oliver and I decided to go with the simplest version: olive oil, salt, and pepper. Unfortunately, this turned out a lot worse than the pork chops. I think it all stemmed from the fact that my steak wasn't as properly thawed as it should. As such, the outside was cooked but the inside was practically more than rare so I had to cook it much longer than expected. The steak ended up being overcooked, tough and rubbery. Yuck.
Not one to throw away any pseudo-edible food, I still ate everything I cooked. I paired both dishes with tagliatelle pasta cooked in bottled bolognese sauce. Even the first batch of pasta I prepared didn't turn out very well since some noodles were not fully cooked. Thankfully, the second batch was better. If the improvement in my second batch of pasta is any indicator, then hopefully I will learn from my horrible mistakes with the pork chops and the steak and cook them better next time. Wish me luck!
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