I Can Cooking! #12: Bakin' Bacon Mac & Cheese!

YEAH!!!

 Ahem.  (sorry, but all things bacon-y get me excited)

 Anyways, comfort foods!  Bacon!  YEAH!  Mac & Cheese has always been one of those classic comfort dishes; no matter the day or mood, a nice bowl of that creamy noodly goodness never fails to fill the stomach and soul.  And baked mac & cheese?  All the better.  And then adding bacon on top of that?!  Ohhh man.

 Fellow I Can Cooks, you're in for a treat.

It's totally okay to indulge once in a while.

I Can Cooking! #11: Steak n' Taters

 Steak and potatoes.  A simple, yet delicious classic.  Granted, potatoes are a relatively recent crop to be put into such widespread culinary use, but the idea of pairing root vegetables of some sort with a big honking slab of meatbeast has been a thing ever since humanity first discovered cooking.

 Now first, a disclaimer:  Yes, I know that grilling can yield tastier results.  But of course, not everyone has a grill (or like me, live in an apartment with no yard to even put one in!).  The idea behind I Can Cooking! is to help fellow amateur chefs to really wow themselves and significant others by being able to create a great meal with stuff most kitchens should have on-hand, and far cheaper than a restaurant.  Besides, grill or no, you can't deny that this looks darn tasty:

Admit it, this makes your mouth water.

I Can Cooking! #10: Tzatziki, Vinaigrette, and the Meal to Make With Them

 Sauce edition!

 Sauces are an important part of many a meal.  They add moisture, flavor, and deliciousness to the foods they go with; and even if, like my cooking, yours needs no sauces for this purpose (not to brag or anything, ha!), a complimentary flavor can take something good and make it truly phenomenal. 

 Of course, thought the sauces are the theme of this edition, I'll still show how to make the meal that goes around them.

Super-fancy dinner?  Actually a lot simpler than you might think!

I Can Cooking! #9: Lo Mein

Chinese food is delicious, there's no doubt about that.  It's delicious, usually pretty cheap for the amount you get... but darn it, sometimes the restaurants just work odd hours and you need your lo mein fix ASAP.  Well, I'm here to help!  This staple dish and co-chief Chinese food carbohydrate (lest we forget fried rice... but that'll be an I Can Cooking! for another time) is a lot easier to make than you might think... and quite possibly faster than delivery too.

Lo mein, the ultimate Chinese comfort food.

I Can Cooking! #8: Swordfish and Steamed Vegetables, also Bechamel-based Homemade Cheese Sauce

 For today's edition of I Can Cooking, we eat healthy!  But don't worry, for those who don't care for the vegetables and fish and whatnot, I'm also going to show you how to make a dynamite cheese sauce that you can use for pretty much ANYTHING!

Because cheese makes everything delicious.

 Let's get started!

I Can Cooking! #7: Chicken and Veggie Skillet

 So, I was originally going to make this an Aliens in the Supermarket due to the use of Chayote, which is a somewhat unusual ingredient; however, since I used it in a somewhat more complex recipe instead, I figured an I Can Cooking! was more appropriate.

 This is a really easy dish to make, and is amazingly good as well (not to brag or anything).  Since I just kind of made up the recipe as I went along, there really isn't a name for it... so let's allow the picture to speak for it instead:

I call it... Chicken a-la McCurdy.

 Recipe after the jump!

I Can Cooking! #6: Potato Pancake Breakfast Sandwich!

 So, let's say you've made up an excessively huge batch of mashed potatoes, and as much as you love them, there's just no way you could possibly get through them quickly enough.  Also, it just happens to be a Saturday morning, and you feel like having a hearty breakfast. Pancakes sound good, but darn it, you're out of syrup!  If only there was a way to make savory pancakes, using stuff you have an abundance of already...  Oh wait, THERE IS!

GET IN MAH BELLEH!

Of course, just savory pancakes by themselves can be a bit boring.  Let's make a full breakfast of this!

I Can Cooking! #5: Country Fried Stuff!

 Country-fried chicken.  Chicken-fried steak.  Chicken-fried chicken even, despite how redundant it sounds.  Even... country-fried liver and onions?!  The latter is the one I'm covering in this edition of I Can Cooking, but even for those non-lovers of liver out there, don't fret!  This exact recipe can be used to make any meat that can possibly be fried into this classic of Southern cuisine.  I'll also show you how to make the best mashed potatoes you've ever had!

Be envious of my dinner, but perhaps not my arteries.  Ah well, YOLO!

 Let's begin!

I Can Cooking! #4: Homemade Marinara/Pizza/Spaghetti Sauce!

 Have you ever been in a situation where you're planning a pasta/pizza/whatever dinner, and find yourself spending long minutes in the jarred sauces aisle of the local grocer's, looking through all the different flavors and varieties, trying to remember that one brand that was really good that one time, or possibly just which one hits all the flavor notes you're looking for, while not being too expensive?  And then, what of additives and expiration dates?  Wouldn't it be so much simpler if you could, I don't know, just make a delicious sauce, from scratch, yourself?  To put what YOU want into it, and know that the whole thing is high quality?

 Today, I'm going to show you just how easy it is to do exactly that.  Also check out the latest Aliens in the Supermarket feature for the artichoke that I made as the side-dish to this!

See this?  This deliciousness could easily be yours!

 Full instructions after the jump!

I Can Cooking! #3: Borscht! (a.k.a. борщ)

 Hello again!

 Let me preface this by saying this is a custom recipe, made from suggestions and what I found suited me best from a multitude of traditional recipes.  It may not be the borscht that you're used to, but that may be a good thing because this one is DAMNED TASTY.  Also, I have no idea where the "t" that ends the English version of the word came from.  ONWARD!

This is what perfection looks like.

I Can Cooking! #2: Blackened Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

 Fettuccine Alfredo.  It's one of those original comfort dishes, with its rich, creamy, peppery sauce atop those wide, tender noodles.  And then add some blackened chicken and sauteed vegetables, and well, you've got yourself a dish fit for a king!  In this edition, I'll be giving instructions for how to make this deliciously satisfying dish.

I Can Cooking! Volume 1: The Deliciousness that is Calamari

Hello all!

This will kick off the first of one of the new features I discussed in my "blog revival" post; in which I discuss one of my other favorite pastimes:  cooking!

Now, This may of course prompt me to change the title of my blog (especially since, you know, it's going to be more of general stuff from my life than art from now on), but I'll worry about that once I figure out if I even can change the title, lol.  So anyway, let's begin, shall we?

SO!  Calamari time.

 Calamari is one of those dishes that can make or break a cook; it's simple enough that anyone could make it, but it's also quite easy to do wrong.  There are two precise points at which it reaches a perfect doneness, either very early into the cooking cycle, or fairly late into it when the meat begins to break down and soften again.  Ever been out to eat at a restaurant and been served a plate full of chewy, rubbery or leathery pieces of calamari that lacked any real flavor outside of the breading, and was more of a chore to get through than it was worth?  Yeah, me too.  I suspect that the majority of people who purport to hate calamari have only had the unfortunate experience of gnawing through a very poorly-cooked plate of the stuff.  It's supposed to be soft, buttery, with a slight chew; just slightly firmer than imitation crab.  And though the flavor is mild, it's definitely there:  rich, slightly savory, and just the slightest hint of sea but none of the funk we often associate with seafood.  So how do we accomplish THAT?