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Posts Tagged ‘dinner’

Asparagus with Poached Eggs, and Other Ideas for Cooking for One

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Matt’s been out of town for the past week (but is coming home tonight! yay!), so I’ve been having to feed just myself. The vast majority of the time, we eat dinner together, and even when we don’t, it’s usually because there’s something going on, so I don’t often cook for just myself. But, I didn’t want to eat takeout or peanut butter and jelly for a whole week, so I’ve been practicing cooking in smaller portions.

Cooking for one can be a challenge: most recipes come for four or even six, cans of things are usually too big for one person, and many ingredients are hard to buy in smaller quantities. And, cooking can just seem like a lot of trouble when there’s only one mouth to feed. Many of these are problems for cooking for two people also, but when there’s two of us, cooking a recipe for four isn’t so bad, since I like to eat leftovers for lunch anyway. However, I didn’t want to have to eat the same thing for three or four days, so my usual leftovers strategy wasn’t going to work for just me.

Despite these challenges, I actually had some fun cooking for only myself, and found that it had some upsides: you can eat the things your usual dining partner doesn’t care too much for, you can be a bit more creative and risky with trying combinations that might not work out, and if you end up eating a little less healthy or balanced a meal, there’s no one to judge you or give you funny looks.

I’m the first to admit that I don’t have a lot of experience in this department, but when I said I was actually enjoying cooking for myself, my cousin Bethany was interested to hear what I was making, so I thought others might be, too. So here’s the “tips” that worked for me (at least this week) and a list of what I made this week with links to the recipes, some my own, and some from others.

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Tags: cooking for one, dinner, easy, Main Dish, Vegetable, vegetarian
Posted in Just for John, Main Dish, Recipe Recommendation, Recipes, Vegetable, vegetarian | 3 Comments »

Garlic Soup with Shrimp or Poached Egg

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Great for cooking for one or two. Adapted from a recipe from Julie Powell, and a half-remembered recipe I read long ago from Mark Bittman. Leaving the cloves on adds more flavor, plus it’s just easier, and it’s going to be strained anyway.

This makes 2-3 portions of broth, so if you’re cooking for only one, cook the egg or shrimp in just one portion and save the rest for another night.

half a head of garlic, broken into cloves but not peeled
1 T olive oil
1/4 t smoked paprika
1/4 t thyme
3 fresh sage leaves, or 1/4 t dried sage
1/2 t salt, or to taste
1/2 t fresh ground pepper

6 or 8 shrimp per person, peeled (optional)
1 egg per person (optional)
fresh parmesan cheese (optional)
crusty bread (optional)

In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan, combine garlic cloves and next 6 ingredients (through pepper). Add 1 quart of water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes. Strain the broth into a heatproof bowl, squishing as much of the “meat” of the garlic through as possible.

Place as many portions of broth as you’re going to serve in as small a saucepan as will hold it (so it’s as deep as possible). Bring back to a low simmer. Add the shrimp, or slip in an egg. With shrimp, cook until they’re pink. With an egg, cook until it’s really barely set, as it’ll continue to cook after you take it off the heat, and it’s easy to overcook the yolk.

To serve, top with grated parmesan cheese, with crusty bread on the side, and maybe a simple salad.

Tags: cooking for one, dinner, easy, egg, garlic, Main Dish, shrimp, simple, Soup, vegetarian
Posted in Just for John, Main Dish, Recipes, vegetarian | No Comments »

Pasta Carbonara

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Easy to scale up or down for any number of people, from one to a crowd. The recipe below is for 2 medium size portions, or a pretty large one with a bit leftover. Spaghetti is traditional, but I like egg noodles. Adapted from Marcella Hazan.

3 slices of bacon, cut in 1″ pieces
about 4 oz (1/3 of a package) egg noodles, or other pasta
1 egg
1 T creme fraiche (optional, or substitute sour cream or plain yogurt)
2 T parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
fresh ground black pepper
2 T chopped parsley, or other fresh herb

Brown bacon in a small pan, until crispy. Reserve drippings. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles per directions. While pasta cooks, beat together the egg, creme fraiche, and parmesan cheese. When pasta is done, reserve a little bit of the pasta water and drain. Return the pasta to the pot, and toss with the egg mixture. (Since the pasta and pan are hot, the egg gets most of the way, but probably not completely, cooked, making a rich and delicious sauce.) If it seems too dry, add in a bit of the reserved pasta water. Toss in the bacon, herbs, and some of the drippings. (I only used about half the drippings, but my bacon was pretty fatty.) Garnish with more herbs and parmesan cheese.

Tags: bacon, dinner, easy, Main Dish, Pasta
Posted in Just for John, Main Dish, Pasta, Recipes | No Comments »

Just for John: Lemony Trout with Prosciutto, Caper, and Lemon Sauce

Monday, July 7th, 2008

My younger brother, John, asked me a couple days ago for the address for our blog. I’m pretty excited when anyone shows interest in what we’re writing, and I’m also always trying to make the blog better and more usable, so I asked him for his input. The first response I got (via Google chat) was this:

1:15 PM John: ok

im real gald you put the carrot recipe up

im going to make a vat of them

Score! Something I wrote was actually helpful to someone else! I’m not just typing off into the ether! What else you got?

1:24 PM John: you need more entrees

that i can afford

1:25 PM i dont care what kind of experimentation you want to do i just need ideas for meals i can afford that taste real good and are real easy to make and are really cheap

if it doesnt fit that criteria then dont put it up

that is all

Ok, well that one’s a little more of a bummer. But, he makes a good point. (I should probably mention that my brother and I were taught from a young age to tease each other incessantly, so while that might come across as an insult to the untrained ear, to me it sounds like bother … err … brotherly love. And yes, I said taught — you know who you are.)

Anyway, I’m not going to stop my “experimentation,” but the idea of posting (and cooking/eating) more affordable, quick and easy meals sounds like a worthy goal to me. As a junior in college, I can certainly understand why John wants to do that, and it’s probably a good target for me, too, before I bankrupt us with my foodie habit.

Sooooo, I’m starting a new category called “Just for John” (though honestly, I’ll let anyone read it, even if you’re name isn’t John) that includes “meals i can afford that taste real good and are real easy to make and are really cheap.” And I’m going to try to add “and are reasonably healthy” to that list too, before someone starts thinking we should add French Bread pizzas or Cook Out to the category. I’ll also try to include an estimate of how much I spent on the groceries (per serving) and how much time it took to prepare.

The first installment will be this recipe for trout, inspired by recent recipes from Cooking Light and from The Wednesday Chef. We served it with creamed spinach, but in a hurry, just sauteed spinach or a salad would be good, too. The sauce is somewhat like that used in Chicken or Veal Piccatta. You could easily leave out the prosciutto for a crowd that doesn’t eat pork, or just to make things a bit healthier. If you’re really in a hurry, the fish is flavorful enough by itself you could even leave off the sauce entirely, in which case this meal takes no time at all to prepare.

Lemony Trout with Prosciutto, Caper, and Lemon

Sauce:
olive oil
1/4 c of finely chopped onion or shallots
a couple slices of prosciutto, pancetta, or bacon, chopped
juice from 1/2 a lemon
a couple forkfuls of capers

Fish:
whole boned trout, head and tail removed (depending on the size, 1 trout per 1-2 people; we were able to split a large one and had plenty of food)
1/2 lemon, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the broiler. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft. Add the prosciutto and saute until it’s a little bit crispy. Add lemon juice and capers. Turn the heat down and simmer until most of the liquid is reduced away, and there’s just enough left to hold the sauce together a bit. Remove from heat and put the lid on to keep warm.

Brush the skin side of the fish with olive oil. Place on a greased broiler pan, or just a greased pan. Brush the inside of the fish with oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the inside of the fish with 3 or 4 slices of lemon and fold the fish closed. Broil about 4 minutes on a side, until the fish is opaque and flakes when tested with a fork. Open up the fish and top with the sauce.

Total time: about half an hour
Total cost:
(I forgot to save my receipt from Safeway, so I’m guessing on most of the produce, and probably overestimating)
Trout: $3.85
Lemon: $0.85
1/3 onion: $0.50
2 slices of prosciutto: $1
1 T capers: $0.50
1 bunch of spinach (for side dish): $2

Total: $8.70 for 2 servings, or $4.35 per meal

Tags: broiled, capers, cheap, dinner, easy, Fish, lemon, prosciutto, quick, trout
Posted in Fish, Just for John, Main Dish, Recipes | No Comments »

Eat with Your Hands: Mussels and Artichokes

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Matt and I had a delicious, though perhaps not all that balanced or healthy, meal of steamed mussels and artichokes the other night. We first started eating mussels while we were studying abroad in France, where they are often served with French fries as “Moules Frites.” There, mussels are eaten not with one of those silly little shellfish forks as I’ve seen them served here, but by using one of the shells as little tongs to pull the meat from the other shells. (Sorry for the blurriness in the picture, but I thought it was worth including for purposes of instruction.)

We’ve cooked them a couple times since then, and they are very easy to prepare. A recipe in this months Cooking Light inspired us to make them again. This time, we simply steamed them with chicken broth, lemon juice, and some spices, and served them with some butter for dipping.

We also steamed an artichoke, which was originally planned as an appetizer but ended up being finished about the same time as the mussels. We also had some dipping sauce for the artichoke — as I said, not very healthy, but certainly delicious! If you’ve never eaten whole artichokes before, as we hadn’t until moving to California, they may require some eating instructions too. Basically, you pull off the petals, dip them in the sauce, and scrape the little bit of pulp off with your teeth. I didn’t take pictures of that part, but Elise has a nice tutorial. Also, you want to stop eating the petals when you get to the purplish ones in the center. This part is called the “choke.” It should be scraped out, leaving the delicious “heart” of the artichoke underneath.

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Tags: appetizer, artichokes, dinner, easy, Fish, mussels
Posted in Appetizers, Dip/Sauce, Fish, Main Dish, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegetable | 2 Comments »

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