Creative Cooking-Making Something out of Nothing

Antoinette DeFilippi is a native Long Island New Yorker currently residing in South Jersey and attending Farleigh Dickinson University. Inspired by the eccentric-ness of her mixed Italian Dominican family, she is creative, unique, and an avid writer. While she hopes that her works often reflect this sense of imaginative fancy, she is determined to improve on her writing abilities one new story/article at a time! She is currently graduating with an degree is Literature Arts.

I might be able to pride myself on having several useful abilities, but cooking is definitely not one of them. Sure, I can put together the standard macaroni and cheese, basic sandwich, or cereal, but if you’re looking for something fancy and creative, do not come to my house! I always marveled at my good friend Alana, who I have known for about ten years of my life. Not only was she born creative as an artist in drawing, but she could also put together any meal, at anytime, with anything. Let me be more specific, there have been occasions when spending times with friends that we have migrated over to different people’s houses and began to complain of hunger pains. Most people’s homes might come equipped with basic food for entertaining, but at Alana’s house, you sometimes have to get creative.

According Dotty Storer from her website, “I Love Creative Cooking”, “The key to cooking creatively is knowing how to substitute ingredients and how to use seasonings and spices. Cooking is both an art and a science. It's based on chemical interactions, but you need to know more about the art and very little about the science of cooking” (Storer). This crafty technique of combining multiple entities to create one delicious meal is something that Alana really takes to heart….

 I can recall one particular occasion that I had arrived at her home with a guest (both of us feeling hungry). Being the perfect hostess that she is despite not having much to work with, she managed to find, four breakfast sausages, some shredded cheese, and Pillsbury rolls. Whereas I would have just told my guests that they should have ate before hand, or that we should probably go out to eat, Alana bravely created cheesy, sausage filled croissants. Not only was this meal delicious with its savory sausage and delectable croissant rolls, but I also found myself devouring them and  craving more! Who could consider creating a late afternoon snack out of breakfast based foods?

Inspired by her creativity I ventured over to her home once more, with a desire to find out more about her creative genius,  I was then permitted to interview her, within the very place where all the magic happens; the kitchen. The first comment Alana had brought forth during our interview together was a question: “What is something everyone has in their households? For everyone it is different”.  She then brought up mention about our good friend Angie ( also known as a chief amongst our group of friends). One major food that is always present in her house, is pasta. Pasta is a considerable common food to find in most anyone’s kitchen. It is also a food which I always have mass amounts of as well, especially considering my mixed Italian heritage.

My interviewee then points out how pasta is a great way to start off any meal.  Then, the journey continues by adding sauce; Step one: what kind of sauce do you have? Red sauce or tomato paste? No sauce? How about possible toppings like cheese, or left over alfredo sauce.  Depending on what you start off with (or what you’re in the mood for), you have the opportunity to create homemade macaroni and cheese, pasta alfredo, or basic spaghetti with sauce (at this point…).  Not one to disappoint, Alana then brings forth the idea of adding bread as a side, acknowledging that most people tend to have basic bread and butter in their house. Even a roll of Italian bread that is about to go stale can be useful for this dinner entrée. 

Bread can be used for so much more than simple toast with butter! By applying garlic/onion powder and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, you now have garlic bread ready to accompany your Italian pasta dish! Of course she could not stop there, Alana then intelligently points out that no dinner dish is complete without a vegetable. Vegetables are another food common to the majorities’ households, whether it be frozen peas, canned string beans, or bagged carrots. By utilizing the same ingredients used prior to apply to your garlic bread, one can apply butter and garlic power to create moist sautéed string beans to accompany your meal! She also responds that the healthier eater as the choice of simply boiling, microwaving, or straining the vegetables for a lighter calorie meal. 

Depending on what kind of sauce you had decided to apply to your pasta, it is now time to “kick up the sauce” (as Alana mentions) and turn tomato paste, or any sauce into a delicious blend by adding a spare onion, tomato, pepper (or all three) into the mix.  Vegetables should be chopped up and then stirred into the sauce in order to release the flavor. She points out that by doing so you are creating something much healthier than anything you might purchase pre-canned in a store.

If you’re craving something a bit meatier, left over ground beef can also be stirred into the sauce to create a meat sauce to pour over the pasta. This sounds like a gourmet Italian meal and there are so many options! I then asked Alana what was the most creative meal she had ever cooked? She then recalls a time when her brother and she were younger and desperately searching the house for food. With nothing obvious in front of her to cook she responds, “Everyone likes breakfast foods right?” Armed with cheese, croissants, and sausages (hotdogs can be substituted), she recommends rolling up the meat of choice into the biscuit with cheese for a tasty hourderve or breakfast treat.

 In her nostalgia, she recalls to me a time in which her brother was forced to become the creative one. According to her description, he had utilized left over bread dough, “steak-ums”, onions, and cheese to create his very own hot pocket! She also sneaks in a comment on how the bread dough could also be substituted with leftover pie crust for a sweeter taste. By “browning” the “steak-ums” and rolling them into the dough with onions (like a Stromboli), he was able to bake this combination into something deliciously edible! I was very impressed!

Moving on to a dessert like entrée, Alana says, “ I don’t know about you, but I always have a never ending supply of oatmeal in the house”. Feeling hungry and got canned fruit and oatmeal? She suggests using canned peaches, apples, or bananas (bananas are better for cold foods), mixing them with sugar, and then spreading them down upon a buttered tray. Then applying a mixture of oatmeal with brown or regular sugar, a pinch of flour and a butter, this mixture will be sprinkled upon the fruit in the pan, and baked until golden crispy brown to create a Fruit Crisp. I am amazed by all of her combinations for foods, and she responds how the average person will often settle for simple meals like pasta and sauce or potato chips from a bag, but she however, seems to have a vision that makes meals so much more appetizing.

We have now hit upon breakfast, dinner, and dessert, but what about lunch? I ask her if there is anything more creative than the typical lunch meat sandwich. Alana then bravely mentions left over soup. Then, boiled chicken is used in order to create a broth (or cube broths can suffice as well), cooked chicken cut up and applied to broth, upgraded with vegetables like carrots, celery, or potatoes, can create an appetizing lunch. I am then taught that if I boil down the soup, the water that evaporates helps to create a thicker texture soup. Who knew?

Not feeling soup; how about a chicken salad. By using left over or frozen chicken, take a piece of breast and cut after it has been cooked, baked, or grilled. She personally; however, recommends baking because it makes the flavor lighter for a better tasting salad. By next applying mayonnaise, onions, apples, celery, and relish, you can create  a dip perfect with crackers, or spread for bread on a chicken salad sandwich (Light mayo is suggested for a healthier option).

 Now we digress back to dessert where I learn that by taking a simple bagel, applying butter, sugar, and cinnamon, placed in the oven to bake until golden will create a sweet cinnamon snack!  At this point I believe I can stump her when she asks me about a food I always have available in my own house. My response? Cream cheese! What kind of satisfying dessert could one possible contrive out of such a simple spread?  There is no out witting this woman who suggests filling a croissant with cream cheese and sausages for a delicate melty meal. Or, using salad dressing (like ranch) mixed with cream cheese to create another cracker dip. This is so easy and delicious for entertaining guests with light refreshments!

I am extremely inspired by the idea of incorporating creativity into meals, to make something out of ordinary ingredients, extraordinary and delicious.  Alana certainly astounds me every time she manages to make the impossible, possible, specifically when she has so little to work with. Each occasion that I venture into her home and am served food, I know that I will not be receiving any common meal, but rather something unique and unpredictable made from the creativity of her mind. I hope that this will encourage aspiring chiefs to take what they have, and not be afraid to get a little creative! A little bit of creativity can go a long way….

Work Cited: Storer, Dotty. "Discover the Secrets to ." I Love Creative Cooking. Storer Software, 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2012. <http://www.i-love-creative-cooking.com/>.