Welcome to my Webpage, "Cooking With Trueman." I am so glad to have you take this journey with me, diving into a variety of dishes, that will hopefully be as exciting to you, as it is for me. Cooking and food are two of my greatest pleasures in life.
My influences are many. I started cooking as a young child, maybe 10 years of age, with my older sister, preparing supper for us and our parents. The food was simple and frugal, but we always had plenty on the table. In my early teens, having been befriended by a family from Greece, I became interested in cooking, seeing the incredible yet simple dishes prepared by both the mother and son. Soon I was cooking any chance I had.
In my late teens, I met the mother to my son who introduced me to homestyle Mexican food. Her mother, took it even further back with mole' and an incredible menudo that 23 years later I still remember and can not find anything remotely close.
My early 20's found myself on the east coast, mainly lower upstate New York, but also Philadelphia, Boston, and a few towns in Conneticut. Crazy enough, these places influenced me in meats... especially BBQ. Now I know that these are not the typical places one thinks of when thinking of BBQ. Places like Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, St Louis, and all of the South are the norm for most BBQ influences. But, I have never been to those locations long enough to say that I gathered anything from those areas.
In my late 20's and 30's, I was always cooking for whomever I was with. No real outside influences... Unless you call Food Network and Travel Channel, "outside influences." I really took an interest in smoking meats. My Aunt bought me a pit smoker with offset firebox for my birthday one year and soon I was watching and reading all that could find on smoking. Low and slow... low and slow. Soon I was smoking some of the most tender luscious meats from pork shoulder to beef brisket.
In my mid 30s I started growing peppers in the garden. Not your sweet peppers, oh no. I started growing Jalapenos, Anaheims, and Thai peppers. The following year I added Habaneros and Tepin peppers. After experimenting with these, I found a favorite, the Habanero. The Tepin is incredibly hot, but sadly, lacks any flavorful attributes. I found that I could prepare that Habanero in different ways that affected the heat and the wonderful flavor of this pepper. The Habanero has a fruity and smoky flavor and a firey heat that will have you drenched in no time. I found by removing the membrane and seeds, thoroughly rinsing and then smoking the Habanero, tamed the heat to just below your typical Jalapeno, while still holding its natural flavor. In no time I had created both a bottled Habanero hot sauce and a Honey Habanero glaze, (especially good as a baste for smoked meats.) Now, when I fire up the smoker, it becomes, Toddy's Habanero Smokehouse!
After the passing of my best friend who I was fortunate enough to call my wife, I was lost. I stopped cooking. I just had no desire to prepare creative dishes for myself. I realized that my cooking joy came from sharing dishes with others. After a long bout of depression and grieving, time dulled the heartache and I was able to start seeing life again. With that, came a strong desire to start preparing dishes again. This time with more than just meats peppers and simple basic sides and salads.
Now, I am going to say right here and now that I often times use a semi-home made approach to my cooking. I will buy already peeled mangos or a simple pasta sauce from a jar and then add my own spin to it. )I do have a marinara meat sauce that I make from scratch, but 8 to 10 hours is a bit much to make a sauce. I can obtain a somewhat similar, but much quicker result by using paste and a simple tomato sauce.
I am available to make many of the items I post here for you.
So welcome aboard and lets begin.
My influences are many. I started cooking as a young child, maybe 10 years of age, with my older sister, preparing supper for us and our parents. The food was simple and frugal, but we always had plenty on the table. In my early teens, having been befriended by a family from Greece, I became interested in cooking, seeing the incredible yet simple dishes prepared by both the mother and son. Soon I was cooking any chance I had.
In my late teens, I met the mother to my son who introduced me to homestyle Mexican food. Her mother, took it even further back with mole' and an incredible menudo that 23 years later I still remember and can not find anything remotely close.
My early 20's found myself on the east coast, mainly lower upstate New York, but also Philadelphia, Boston, and a few towns in Conneticut. Crazy enough, these places influenced me in meats... especially BBQ. Now I know that these are not the typical places one thinks of when thinking of BBQ. Places like Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, St Louis, and all of the South are the norm for most BBQ influences. But, I have never been to those locations long enough to say that I gathered anything from those areas.
In my late 20's and 30's, I was always cooking for whomever I was with. No real outside influences... Unless you call Food Network and Travel Channel, "outside influences." I really took an interest in smoking meats. My Aunt bought me a pit smoker with offset firebox for my birthday one year and soon I was watching and reading all that could find on smoking. Low and slow... low and slow. Soon I was smoking some of the most tender luscious meats from pork shoulder to beef brisket.
In my mid 30s I started growing peppers in the garden. Not your sweet peppers, oh no. I started growing Jalapenos, Anaheims, and Thai peppers. The following year I added Habaneros and Tepin peppers. After experimenting with these, I found a favorite, the Habanero. The Tepin is incredibly hot, but sadly, lacks any flavorful attributes. I found that I could prepare that Habanero in different ways that affected the heat and the wonderful flavor of this pepper. The Habanero has a fruity and smoky flavor and a firey heat that will have you drenched in no time. I found by removing the membrane and seeds, thoroughly rinsing and then smoking the Habanero, tamed the heat to just below your typical Jalapeno, while still holding its natural flavor. In no time I had created both a bottled Habanero hot sauce and a Honey Habanero glaze, (especially good as a baste for smoked meats.) Now, when I fire up the smoker, it becomes, Toddy's Habanero Smokehouse!
After the passing of my best friend who I was fortunate enough to call my wife, I was lost. I stopped cooking. I just had no desire to prepare creative dishes for myself. I realized that my cooking joy came from sharing dishes with others. After a long bout of depression and grieving, time dulled the heartache and I was able to start seeing life again. With that, came a strong desire to start preparing dishes again. This time with more than just meats peppers and simple basic sides and salads.
Now, I am going to say right here and now that I often times use a semi-home made approach to my cooking. I will buy already peeled mangos or a simple pasta sauce from a jar and then add my own spin to it. )I do have a marinara meat sauce that I make from scratch, but 8 to 10 hours is a bit much to make a sauce. I can obtain a somewhat similar, but much quicker result by using paste and a simple tomato sauce.
I am available to make many of the items I post here for you.
So welcome aboard and lets begin.
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