Un-recipes

In my almost three months of blogging, I have yet to post any of my recipes. I'm reluctant to do so because they're not really recipes. As my husband can attest to, I have a strange way of cooking. I also have a strange way of deciding what to cook in the first place.

First, I decide what my main ingredient will be: fish/seafood, poultry, pork, beef, in that order of preference. Then I go to the produce section of our well-stocked local grocery and stand there looking at what's available and fresh. And while I'm standing there (looking like a fool, actually), I'm making up the dish in my head. What's the base? Will it be dry or a stew? If dry: Marinated? Grilled? Stir-fried? If a stew: Cream-based? Tomato-based? Clear broth? What flavor? Filipino? Chinese? Italian? Then I start loading the cart with the vegetables (there always has to be vegetables!) that I imagine will taste well with the base. After that, I go on to choosing the herbs, spices and what-have-you. Then, with my cart loaded, I stand there looking at it and ask the final question: Is there anything else I can put in the dish?

After I cook one my concoctions, I try to write everything down. But you can imagine that nothing is precise. Because just as I make things up in the grocery, I also have to wing it during the actual cooking. So if I do start posting my dishes here, I think I'll have to label/tag them as "un-recipes" so you know that some creative cooking will be required.