What style is my cooking?

[Jeekinz]

I know what ingredients I like to use, but don't know what style it is or what cookbook I could get for more recipes.

Here's what I like to use:

Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, Olives, Onions, Asparagus, Zuchini & Squash, Tomatoes, Thyme/Rosemary, pretty much all cheeses & meats.

I make a bowtie pasta dish with red peppers, chokes, olives and chicken in a parm cream sauce. And I braise chicken thighs in a tomato base sauce with kalamatta olives, onions and garlic served over rice or linguini.

I can't seem to expand on these flavors. Any ideas?

[GB]

A lot of those ingredients fall into Greek cooking. That would be a good place to start.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

I know what ingredients I like to use, but don't know what style it is or what cookbook I could get for more recipes.

Here's what I like to use:

Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, Olives, Onions, Asparagus, Zuchini & Squash, Tomatoes, Thyme/Rosemary, pretty much all cheeses & meats.

I make a bowtie pasta dish with red peppers, chokes, olives and chicken in a parm cream sauce. And I braise chicken thighs in a tomato base sauce with kalamatta olives, onions and garlic served over rice or linguini.

I can't seem to expand on these flavors. Any ideas?

I'd call it the Mediterranean diet, which is not just Italian. This would include Greek (their classic flavor combination is lemon, garlic and oregano); Turkish, Lebanese, etc., would be other options.

[chave982]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

I know what ingredients I like to use, but don't know what style it is or what cookbook I could get for more recipes.

Here's what I like to use:

Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, Olives, Onions, Asparagus, Zuchini & Squash, Tomatoes, Thyme/Rosemary, pretty much all cheeses & meats.

I make a bowtie pasta dish with red peppers, chokes, olives and chicken in a parm cream sauce. And I braise chicken thighs in a tomato base sauce with kalamatta olives, onions and garlic served over rice or linguini.

I can't seem to expand on these flavors. Any ideas?

Sounds like Italian to me...focussing on quality of ingredients rather than quantity.

[lulu]

I'd say more generally Mediterranean. Those ingrediants are used with immense versitilyaround the med, and using them well gives you a lot of scope to venture into lots of geographically similar cuisines. So, as well as exploring Greek and Italian food, I'd flick through some cook books o other med countries.

How about also looking for cook books focusing on those ingrediants....there are many books focus around a single ingrediant: knowing you love the ingrediant might help you explore other uses for it.

I am a style-less cook too ;)

[lulu]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

I'd call it the Mediterranean diet, which is not just Italian. This would include Greek (their classic flavor combination is lemon, garlic and oregano); Turkish, Lebanese, etc., would be other options.

D'uh, cross posted with you...great minds and all that....

[Jeekinz]

The Mediterranean sounds good, I'll check some of those recipes out.

I can cook, I think ?Southern Italian?, mainly red sauce dishes all day. I have about 50 variations on tomato sauce - lol.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

The Mediterranean sounds good, I'll check some of those recipes out.

I went on a trip to Turkey in 2001; the tour guide in Istanbul told us that because the Ottoman Empire controlled much of the territory around the Med (except Italy, France and Spain), and even up into the Balkans, for almost 400 years, that the army cooks used recipes similar to those in the Sultan's kitchens, with some regional variations because of local food supplies. For example, stuffed cabbage is the southern Europe equivalent of stuffed grape leaves (leaves stuffed with spiced meat and rice).

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by lulu

D'uh, cross posted with you...great minds and all that....

I do love Mediterranean food

[Walt Bulander]

Jeekinz,

Check out "The Splendid Table" and "Italian Country Cooking" both by Lynn Rosetto Kasper.

She also has a radio show on public radiol Recipe Box: The Splendid Table