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Creative Cooking

Foodie Friday

Sep 2, 2011 by Toby Bloomberg

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Before personal branding, and what Tom Peter’s termed A Brand Called You, became the thing to do, a resume focused primarily on professional achievements. Oh perhaps you might include honors or professional association memberships, maybe even a hobby .. sports were always good.

Me? My first curriculum vitae included creative cooking under the extra stuff. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to do that.

Most people I interviewed with ignored it .. except for Mr. Maitland, the advertising manager of Pan Am Cargo. While I never worked for Pan Am (by way can’t wait to see the new Pan Am TV show), that small point opened the door to a wonderful mentor relationship.

So what is creative cooking? Glad you asked! It’s creating from whatever is around sort of like the popular Food Network show Chopped. The fun for me is experimenting with flavor combinations. Sometimes it works .. and other times not so much. Last night I really wanted to use the fresh basil from my little herb garden and I dearly wanted pasta. What turned out was very yummy.

Happy to share with you but since I have not a clue what the measurements were let’s call it a flavor profile instead of a “recipe.” The apricots add a slight sweetness and the peppers balance it with a bit of heat; and the sour cream .. the added richness. So what’s a few extra calories among friends? It’s surprisingly satisfying and the bonus is you can serve it to your vegetarian friends.

Pasta With Apricots

Ingredients

Vidalia onion – chopped finely

Garlic – chopped finely. I like to chop garlic with a little salt.

Mushrooms – chopped

Dried apricots – chopped. This is the secret! If you’re making it for one use about 3-4 and adjust from there.

Hot pepper. You can substitute red pepper flakes for fresh pepper.

Broccoli stalks (optional)

Sour cream

Fresh basil – chopped

Fresh rosemary – chopped

Salt & pepper

Olive oil and butter

Parmigianino cheese

Pasta

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions .. read the package.

To save a step add the broccoli to the pasta water . . all will be fine. Really.

Veggies

In a sauce pan heat extra virgin olive oil and butter

Over medium heat sauté onions and garlic until soft

Add mushroom, dried apricots, hot pepper and continue to sauté until the mushrooms and apricots are soft

Salt & pepper

Take off the heat.

Stir in a dolp or so of sour cream.

Drain the pasta and add it along with broccoli to the veggies and sour cream

Toss well

Add Parmigianino cheese

Toss well

Serve with a salad, and a lovely Chianti. Enjoy!

About the Author

Toby Bloomberg Has Written 30 Articles For Us!

Toby is Founder/President of Atlanta-based strategy and social media consultancy, Bloomberg Marketing/Diva Marketing and acknowledged by Forbes as one of the country’s most foremost bloggers. She is a widely recognized for her expertise in combining social media with traditional marketing values (strategy, customer insights, segmentation, etc.) while maintaining the authenticity of digital conversations. Toby recently wrote the first business book based on (40) Twitter interviews with marketing pros. Social Media Marketing GPS has been downloaded over 10,000 times by people all the world.

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