Menu for One

Not Just On Top of Spaghetti

I think I may be on to something (or at least I hope I am).  For Christmas, I received both Ina Garten's new cookbook, Back to Basics,and Giada De Laurentiis's New Italian Favorites.  I love reading a cookbook for the first time, and I read it cover to cover like a novel, marking anything that looks interesting.  [note: I am sure this may sound weird to some, a college friend used to do this and I imagined it was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  This is one of those happy instances where I am wrong.]

But I have learned the hard way that I have to pace myself when it comes to making these new dishes- after all, I'm making a menu for one.  Logistically, I can only make two, maybe three in a week...and that's if I take my lunch to work and eat in every night.  So I've tried to be better about planning the meals that I'll make - and it's more fun than it sounds.  Usually, the three dishes feature different flavors and textures, but in order to make the most of what I take home from the grocery store, feature some common ingredients.

And to this end, last week I came up with a plan that would not only enable me to try two new dishes, but also to have some go-to meals ready for the future.  The key to my master plan was...wait for it...

MEATBALLS.

(disappointed?  not rocket science, I know, but baby steps toward what I am going to call "spontaneity in the kitchen"). 

First of all, meatballs are really unsung heroes.  At least I wasn't singing their praises.  Everyone knows that they can be in pastas, soups, and sandwiches, but let's just take a second to marvel at that!  I mean, it practically rivals chicken in that regard.  Plus, it's a great vehicle for using up odds and ends in your refrigerator (sort of like the taco).

Giada De Laurentiis's book featured a recipe for orechiette with grape tomatoes, bocconcini, and mini chicken meatballs (where everything is about the same size - isn't her food always good looking?).  Then I also decided to make Ina Garten's recipe for Italian wedding soup - I'm crazy about soup (you may as well know that now).  Some people don't consider it a mean, but (a) it's CHEAP, (b) it's easy to adjust the recipe to serve 1 or 100, (c) it's perfect at this time of year, and (d) did I mention it's easy to make? 

I decided to double Ina's meatball recipe and use them in both recipes because hers were based on a combo of ground chicken and chicken sausage (which I though would be more flavorful than using ground chicken alone) and because her recipe called for the meatballs to be baked instead of cooked on the stove-top (read: less labor intensive).

My master plan worked!  I had enough for both recipes, plus some left over that Im keeping at the ready in the freezer for spaghetti or a quick meatball sub.  I can't find my pictures for the soup or the pasta (argh), but see here how this freezer gold was put to use!

 

   

Add some pureed tomatoes, et voila!

The Ghost in My Kitchen

I'm not sure what brought this about, but lately I have been haunted by the ghost of food disasters past, and one in particular.  I had just moved to a new city to start law school when I decided to make individual quiches baked in 1-cup muffin tins (brilliant! I thought.  breakfast for one, and freezable?!?).  I decided to share them with some new neighbors who had been very welcoming.  That sounds very Leave-It-To-Beaver of me, what's the problem?

I will tell you: they were TERRIBLE.  Bland, and kind of slimy (ok, I might be embellishing here slightly).  The foolish part is that I delivered them to my neighbors and THEN went back to my kitchen to try one, only to cringe with embarrassment.  My prayer is that they were eaters with undiscerning talents- had I really just mentioned to them how much I loved to cook?

Question 1: What behooved me to share something I had never made before?  And more importantly,

Question 2: WHY DIDN'T I TASTE IT FIRST?!?

Boy and girls (I feel like Smokey the Bear or McGruff the Crime Dog): this situation could have been avoided if I had just tasted the food before I served it (crazy, I know).  Solet this be a lesson to you: taste your food, and not just right before you sit down to eat it.  Taste it during cooking (absent the presence of raw meat) and determine what can save it from a fate worse than bland: salt, pepper, cheese, or lemon, etc.  Save yourselves!  And your neighbors!

Not Just On Top of Spaghetti

I think I may be on to something (or at least I hope I am).  For Christmas, I received both Ina Garten's new cookbook, Back to Basics,and Giada De Laurentiis's New Italian Favorites.  I love reading a cookbook for the first time, and I read it cover to cover like a novel, marking anything that looks interesting.  [note: I am sure this may sound weird to some, a college friend used to do this and I imagined it was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  This is one of those happy instances where I am wrong.]

But I have learned the hard way that I have to pace myself when it comes to making these new dishes- after all, I'm making a menu for one.  Logistically, I can only make two, maybe three in a week...and that's if I take my lunch to work and eat in every night.  So I've tried to be better about planning the meals that I'll make - and it's more fun than it sounds.  Usually, the three dishes feature different flavors and textures, but in order to make the most of what I take home from the grocery store, feature some common ingredients.

And to this end, last week I came up with a plan that would not only enable me to try two new dishes, but also to have some go-to meals ready for the future.  The key to my master plan was...wait for it...

MEATBALLS.

(disappointed?  not rocket science, I know, but baby steps toward what I am going to call "spontaneity in the kitchen"). 

First of all, meatballs are really unsung heroes.  At least I wasn't singing their praises.  Everyone knows that they can be in pastas, soups, and sandwiches, but let's just take a second to marvel at that!  I mean, it practically rivals chicken in that regard.  Plus, it's a great vehicle for using up odds and ends in your refrigerator (sort of like the taco).

Giada De Laurentiis's book featured a recipe for orechiette with grape tomatoes, bocconcini, and mini chicken meatballs (where everything is about the same size - isn't her food always good looking?).  Then I also decided to make Ina Garten's recipe for Italian wedding soup - I'm crazy about soup (you may as well know that now).  Some people don't consider it a mean, but (a) it's CHEAP, (b) it's easy to adjust the recipe to serve 1 or 100, (c) it's perfect at this time of year, and (d) did I mention it's easy to make? 

I decided to double Ina's meatball recipe and use them in both recipes because hers were based on a combo of ground chicken and chicken sausage (which I though would be more flavorful than using ground chicken alone) and because her recipe called for the meatballs to be baked instead of cooked on the stove-top (read: less labor intensive).

My master plan worked!  I had enough for both recipes, plus some left over that Im keeping at the ready in the freezer for spaghetti or a quick meatball sub.  I can't find my pictures for the soup or the pasta (argh), but see here how this freezer gold was put to use!

 

   

Add some pureed tomatoes, et voila!