Learned my lesson recap

Recipe Reduction started on January 24 of this year with 199 recipes. The rules were:
1. I had to write about each one, humorously--unless it's just too sad. That happens sometimes. Cooking can turn ugly.
2. I was allowed to cull a recipe if it turned out to be very similar to another one that I tried.
3. I reserved the right to change a recipe slightly, such as reduce the amount of oil, provided I didn't bad-mouth the author when my results turn out dry and insipid.
4. No black pepper unless it truly belongs.
5. No bellyaching.

I've had to eliminate a few duplicates, replace a few that I added out of complete and total insanity, and correct my countdown timer when I started increasing it instead of decreasing. But on the whole, I ended up cooking about 199 recipes, mostly all collected over the course of several years. And now, I'm so glad it's over!!!
I didn't always follow the rule about writing humorously. It's hard to say funny things about a Rosemary Foccacia that turned into a rock too hard for the birds to peck--the best words I could come up with were !#@%#.  Or a Vegan Shepherd's pie that was little more than a bunch of overcooked vegetables with mashed potatoes on top. Or the time I almost wasted an expensive pastured pork roast by slow cooking it with homemade ranch dressing on top.

When I looked back to see the good stuff, I was surprised at how much good there had been--I'd mostly remembered the bad. Highlights: Japanese Stir-Fried Vegetables, Mirin Glazed Tofu, Indian Curry Paste with Vegetables, Potato Chowder with Miso Broth, Flank Steak Kebabs in Asian-style Marinade, Snap Peas Daikon Egg Soup, Miso Tofu Noodle Soup, Zucchini Fritter Omelet, Stir-Fried Beef with Chiles and Basil, Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bark, Eggplant Salad Pitas, Black Sesame Otsu With Soba Noodles, Sardine Fritters in Lettuce Leaves with Sriracha-Soy Sauce, Tofu and Lobster Mushrooms in Ginger Broth.

Clearly, from this list, I'm really into Asian cooking. Not so obvious is my discovery that the simplest treatments of fresh garden produce are the best. Take zucchini--zucchini frittata with onion, eggs and cheese is good; but zucchini sauteed with a bit of olive oil and salt is heavenly.  And even in Asian cooking, the lightest sauces are the best.
 
Other things I've learned:

Professional cooks use too much acid. Either that or their lemons are smaller than mine and they don't squeeze them hard. Maybe I should watch cooking shows and find out. I mean--I don't dig out the juicer or anything, but if a recipe calls for "juice of one lemon", I squeeze out all the juice.

Time estimates are universally useless. But I'm getting pretty good at making my own--count the number of ingredients, multiply by seven (not three, per my original estimate), and double it.

Raw kale is inedible to human beings.




Aggressively attack junk that tries to accumulate on your work area.

Dump lime juice, cumin, garlic and olive oil in a bottle and you've made a better salad dressing than nine out of ten you can buy at the grocery store.

There are a lot of dodgy recipes for hummus out there.

And last, don't save stupid recipes anymore!