Food By Chance

I hadn't shopped much, it was the end of the week and had only the basics in the pantry. So-I chopped up some scallions, some cherry tomatoes and a shallot. I had some dried tortellini in the pantry. I placed a pot of water on the stove to boil. I found a half loaf of French bread. I chopped up five cloves of garlic. I placed the chopped garlic into a bowl and added three large tablespoons of soft butter. I added salt, pepper and a small amount of Basil. I mixed the paste together and spread it thick on cut slices of bread. I baked the bread wrapped in aluminum foil at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. While it was baking I placed the pasta in boiling water and made up a salad.

The great thing about the meal was that it was a happy accident. I didn't plan the meal. I just cooked what I had available. I have found that I can really sharpen my cooking skills by cooking this way. There are not any pre-thought perimeters and all I have to do is cook!

I try to keep the pantry stocked with a variety of ingredients and goodies that I might one day like to use. This keeps my kitchen ready for action. The only downside is that this freestyle way of cooking makes it difficult to make the same meal twice. I have thought that I need to get better at writing the good "food by chance" meals down so I have a record. But-somehow that seems wrong. For me, the true joy comes from finding out what chance meal waits!

-Fer