The Experimental Alchemist: Beginnings

Hello and Welcome to the first installment of The Experimental Alchemist!


   I initially started this food blog to document my ever-changing experiments in cooking.  As a culinary school graduate, I have spent many hours contemplating "what is my culinary identity?"  By that, I mean, what kind of food do I most like to make?  What kind of cook do I want to be?  I have come to realize that my favorite thing to do in the kitchen is experiment!  No meal or recipe is ever the same...mostly because I rarely use recipes.  I like to take the techniques that I've learned and try them out on all different kinds of foods.  Sometimes the results are good, even delicious!  And sometimes...my mad scientist experiments go awry.  But that is what I love about cooking!  You can repeat one recipe over and over, and you might never come out with the exact same product.  Slightly different ingredients or techniques might transform a recipe into something entirely new and different, but no less delicious.  Cooking is the joy of being able to take what your have in your pantry, regardless of having everything on your recipe list, and still make a gratifying meal, and maybe even learn something in the process.  Will this process be successful every time?  No.  I've had more than my share of failures.  But that's what cooking is...a constant adventure into new smells, textures, and tastes!
    So, why do I bring Alchemy into the mix?  As a gamer geek, I like to think of all cooking as alchemy.  Mixing different, reactionary ingredients together, adding heat in the form of fire, and hoping that you might have discovered "the elixir of life."  Perhaps that is a bit overly dramatic (and geeky, lol), however, I believe that cooking can be a magic process, transforming things of little value into something extraordinary.
    I want this blog to not only document my experimental recipes for you to enjoy, but to teach that with a few simple cooking techniques, you, too, will be on your way to become an expert alchemist yourself!  This blog will hopefully go further to explore not only recipes (both sweet and savory), but to review the great food scene of Portland, OR and what other people are doing to transform food into exceptional experiences.

So, come, read, cook, enjoy!