Total improvisation!

   Today was a perfect example of me cooking without any recipe and just creating a dish on the spot! All I knew is that I have a chicken breast in the fridge and that I have a craving for something with a "punch" which is a little bit sour and tangy. That's actually all I needed to know! I just opened the fridge and started to adding ingredients, which I knew were going to work well together and will give me the desired flavor I was looking for. For the best results you should marinate the chicken the day before but if you are like me and you realize in the middle of setting the PCR that you forgot to do this, don't worry you can "fix" it while you are cooking. It's all about building a right base before you put chicken in a pan. I heated some olive oil and tossed a handful of dried cranberries, chopped onions, a clove of garlic, half a cup of chopped cilantro, and some salt. When the onions became translucent I added 1 teaspoon of dried ginger, lemon pepper, and 2-3 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce... and that's when magic began! The Worcestershire sauce gives the dish one of a kind flavor, it's a little bit spicy, sour, and very aromatic, which is exactly what I was craving. The base is ready and all that's left to do is add cubed chicken breast and saute until it's completely cooked. I think it's high time to give you another one of my culinary secrets... whenever I want the dish to have a sweet/sour flavor I add 2-3 teaspoons of... wait for it... wait for it... ketchup!!! Here, I've said it, I am ready to take a beating from all the chefs out there, but yes I use ketchup in some of my dishes! Try it and you will see what I'm talking about, it's really good! I serve it with some rice noodles which bring additional Asian flavor to the dish.

   No recipe, never done it before and it turned out great! That's exactly what passionate and exciting cooking is about! Don't be afraid to experiment and mix and match ingredients, worst case scenario you will end up with a not so tasty dish, but if you wait 2-3 hours you will be so hungry that it will be good enough! 

Stay creative.
Magda.