Menu for One

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

This is one of my favorite equations:

+

LIME-JALAPENO MAYO, LETTUCE, TOMATO

+ =

But not just any taco (and also not a hard-shelled taco, it's actually a soft-shelled taco, but I couldn't find a free picture of a soft taco online), the Fried Chicken Taco at Taqueria del Sol in Atlanta (a finalist in Bon Appetit's best taqueria in the nation!).  Not traditional, I know, but the fried chicken taco proves that a top-billing soloist like fried chicken can also shine in an ensemble cast.  The final product is crunchy, smooth, salty, with a little zipzing! to boot!

Now, I am not the first to sing the fried chicken taco's praises, and certainly not the first person to honor the taco - far from it.  We all know that in and of itself, the taco is a wonderful, compact, and versatile vessel for a myriad of flavor combos.  But at this time, I would like to highlight its appeal to Menu For One by way of haiku:

Oh taco, how great
Perfect for leftover foods
Cheers Menu For One

Uh, ok, that will not be featured on your local Mexican restaurant's menu anytime soon, but you get the point.  The taco, or even the burrito or the quesadilla for that matter, is the perfect vehicle for leftovers that are not enough to make a meal on their own: the few ounces of pork/beef/fish/chicken from last night's dinner that you couldn't quite finish, the last remains of the rice you got in those little chinese takeout containers, and the [insert vegetables of your choice here] you stocked up on because you convinced yourself you'd eat them regularly after the New Year. 

Gastrokid, a creative blog authoried by two dads/food writers, features good-looking, good-tasting food that their children will eat.  You can find their application of leftovers to the taco here.  But get creative!  Use what you have - and remember: the end result need not combine traditionally Mexican/TexMex ingredients or flavors.  I have been known to use rotisserie chicken, leftover sauteed vegetables, and whatever cheese I have on hand.  Let me know what you come up with! 

My Bright Idea!

So low and behold, the day after I wrote my truly novel post about the greatness of freezers and all that can be stored in them, Mark Bittman did, too, followed by Michael Ruhlman!  Clearly this newbie blogger is a trend-setter!  Web-world, watch out!

My Freezer, My Friend

Confession: I love The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  There is one episode where Mary's endearing, but self-absorbed neighbor Phyllis Lindstrom drops by to borrow a bag of ice for a party she's throwing downstairs.  At the end of the evening, she returns to Mary's apartment holding a bag full of water.  "I didn't need it after all," she says.

Of course, I use my freezer for more than ice.  However, in an effort to save the food that I buy from an early demise, I have determined to make better use of my freezer.  Sure, I put stuff in there, but I'm not sure I'm using it to my full advantage.  So I decided to make a concerted effort to create a list of foods that can be stored in the freezer.  [I have already started recording dishes that store well in the freezer (especially in single serving containers! - definitely great to grab on your way to work/school), but this is fodder for a future post.]

[Who would have thought that you can find pictures of rotten food on the internet!]

In the fall of 2006, Real Simple Magazine published an issue dedicated solely to food.  Nearly half of the issue was dedicated to food planning issues alone!  Real Simple lists its top ten freezer staples as:

1.  Mixed Berries
2.  Peas
3.  Tortillas
4.  Bread
5.  Bread crumbs (really? is this really worth taking up spots #4 and #5?)
6.  Piecrusts
7.  Shrimp
8.  Chicken Breasts
9.  Ground Beef
10.  Bacon

To this list, I would add: chopped frozen spinach (an easy add-in for soups and quiches), frozen broccoli (ditto), nuts, pesto, chicken broth and puff pastry.

Anyhow, I'm going to find a place to stash a master list - what are some other foods that freeze well?

Mixed Berries, Peas, TOrtillas, Bread, Bread Crumbs (oh, ok), Piecrusts, Shrimp, Chicken Breasts, Ground Beef, Bacon, Chicken Broth, Coconut (grated) (ick!  not my favorite), gingerroot, hard cheeses, milk, nuts, pancakes and waffles, rice (cooked), tomato paste, butter, pesto, blood oranges, meyer lemons, snow peas, fish, soupos, pizza dough, high pectin fruits (e.g., green apples, cranberries), blackberries, mangoes...

For more, check out Real Simple's You can Freeze That? and The San Francisco Chronicle's The Chill Factor.  Plus, for all you ever wanted to know on freezer burn, look here and here.  And Jackpot!  For a list of foods that do NOT freeze well, check out this chart at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

My Evil Twin

Occasionally, my evil twin "Know It All" Kathryn comes to visit.  She arrives with little warning, and (thankfully) usually doesn't stay very long.  With practice, I have learned to live with her and use her to my advantage whenever possible.  Allow me to explain:

 

In Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," the speaker comes to a fork in the road and must choose the path he will take.  As he puts it,

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as long as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Now we all, like Frost's traveler, have considered our next steps at more than one of life's crossroads, but "Know It All" Kathryn does not dawdle...she is (sometimes foolishly) confident which is the right way to go.  This is not something I'm proud of...however, when it comes to food, I put her to good use when I can.  This week, as I considered my mission [to learn to make appetizing food that doesn't cost a million dollars and doesn't leave food to rot in my refrigerator], I called upon "Know It All" Kathryn, who replied a little flippantly for my taste:

"Kathryn, there are millions of people who cook food for one person at a time: short order cooks at all night diners, chefs in tall hats at hotel omelet stations, and all those people who eat at those new trendy make-your-own-stir-fry restaurants!"

Yes!  These are paths I need to explore.  But wait!  Those people always have little bowls filled with all sorts of dice vegetables, prepped seafoods, and meats.  In order to make this short order cook technique work for me (without wasting a lot of food), I'm going to have to harness the power of the freezer.

The Dawn of a New Era

I am not always the only person at the dinner table, but by and large, when I'm at the grocery store, I am shopping for one.  The purpose of this blog is to track my efforts to prepare food that satisfies my appetite and my sense of adventure, for indeed, to me, cooking is just that: an adventure.

My love for cooking really took off in law school.  Like most law students, I spent much of my time surrounded by ridiculously heavy leather bound books.  While I enjoyed what I was studying, I needed balance in my life.  At the end of a long day, I'd collapse in my large blue armchair and look to the television for entertainment.  Every channel featured well-written, captivating legal dramas, but I'd find myself competing with Jack McCoy to yell, "Objection, your Honor!"  I needed a break.  Plus, a girl's gotta eat, right?

So cooking became a creative (and practical) outlet.  I quickly learned, however, that cooking for one isn't always as easy as it seems.  The recipes I read were usually written to serve 6-8 people - and there was only one of little ol' me!  I tried making these dishes, learning many lessons the hard way.  The first lesson is that I grow tired of eating a dish by serving number four, no matter how tasty the dish.  Part in parcel with lesson number one is that the dish often goes bad before I have a chance to eat all servings (No, I'm not eating rotten food, but I've had to throw a lot away).

The second lesson is that, at least for my wallet's sake, I need to figure out a way to make better use of the ingredients I buy after I made the dish, because inevitably, the produce goes bad.  I am sure that using some smarts in the kitchen, combined with better planning, and more creativity, I can make better use of what I bring home from the market.  So no...I haven't figured out everything yet, but I'm going to try.  Starting now.