Play With Your Food!

An experienced cook or a novice cook can both play around with a recipe. The experienced person knows a wide variety of tastes and how each of them can play off of the other. The novice just thinks, "Hey! I bet a salad of spinach, sliced strawberries and a bacon-flavored dressing would be cool!"

And "comfort" food is what you like, not what the traditional American foods might be. Look what's happened to poor old macaroni and cheese? I've eaten: four cheese - eh - and mac and cheese with lobster and truffle oil!

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

COLD ASIAN NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE
Sauce
6 large garlic cloves
2 T peeled, chopped ginger
1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro - I think this is 'way too much; would use 1/2 cup
1 T peanut oil - what's wrong with olive oil? Penut oil is for frying.
1 T sesame oil
1 T hot chili oil - put a 1 T of hot pepper chilis in 1 T olive oil
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter - would omit
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 T sugar
3 T rice vinegar

Put the garlic and cilantro together in a mini-cuisine and chop, Add the other ingredients and set aside. It will keep for a month, covered and refrigerated.

Noodles
1 lb. fine somen noodles
2 T sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro - again would halve; cilantro is a strong taste
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped, roasted peanuts for garnish. Would omit; peanut is a strong flavor, too.

Cook the noodles, drain them and toss well with all of the above. When you serve the cold noodles, put out the sauce for folks!