Egg in 30 Seconds and No Pan to Wash

This probably is one of those things that everyone in the world knows about, but I'm not sure.  So if I'm Mrs. Obvious this morning, skip the post.  Just in case, I thought I'd share my own quickest hot breakfast and also the method I used when I quickly need a boiled egg for tuna (or other salad).

In the microwave.  30 seconds for a runny yolk.  1 minute for a "hard-boiled" egg.  1 minute and 20 seconds at 50% power for two eggs with runny yolks.

Look, Ma:  No pan.  No butter either. 

Coffee Cup Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins

          Makes 6 large muffins


I spend a bit of time every fall baking pumpkin bread...  I have a special pan for it:

Spicy Cream of Pumpkin Soup with Wendy's Sage and Thyme

One day last week, Dave didn't feel good.  Couldn't put a point on it, but sort of fell out of his office chair and into a half-hour nap in the bed.  Got up, felt better, but still not right.  Took the computer to the family room and said,

Do we have any canned soup?

You have to remember to whom he was speaking.  Of course I keep a can of tomato soup for emergencies.  I'm an American woman who raised her kids on grilled cheese and tomato soup every Saturday, right?

Apfel Pfannkuchen for One (Apple Pancake, German Pancake, Dutch Baby, Dutch Puff)

 

 I'm not sure there's anything better for breakfast (or breakfast for dinner)  than Apfel Pfannkuchen  (Apple Pancake).  Maybe there is and I don't know it.  Tender, eggy--almost custardy.  Puffy, sweet (not too), a light touch of cinnamon, buttery-- like a sweet Yorkshire pudding or a popover with fruit made in a pan.  If you've never had it, it's time you made it just for you.  

Farro Salad with Canned Wild Alaskan Salmon, Tomatoes, Basil, and Spinach

 
If you haven't made a farro salad, now's your time.   Push back rice and set aside pasta; cook a bit of farro (FAHR-roe)--a luscious European-Near East whole grain-- today.  A chewy (if not over-cooked) grain something a bit like a cross between barley and wheat berries, it is often described as somewhat nutty in flavor.   Despite all indications, you needn't soak farro overnight like dried beans.  Bring it to a boil, using l cup of dried farro for 2 1/2 cups of water and, lowering the heat (and covering) a la rice, cook away 25-30 minutes until this hearty, wholesome grain is al dente.  (I like to include a bit of salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper to the water.)  If, when the farro is done, there's still water left, drain it like pasta.

Garlic Bread Grilled Tomato Sandwich

Along with the rest of the United States, Canada, the UK, and perhaps most of the rest of the world, I adore a good grilled cheese sandwich.  The other day we had young friend and his mother to dinner, and said young friend asked the food blogger, "But tell me just how you get a grilled cheese cooked nicely?  No matter what I do, one side burns and the other side's got nada." (Answer:  Don't flash-fry it. Have patience.)  In bookstores (of which there are few except Barnes and Noble or Garrison Keillor's new store, Common Good Books, on Snelling--just a few blocks from my house), there are truly books all about grilled cheese.  Could that be?  Are things out of kilter in the cookbook world? Or are grilled cheese that high up on the menu list?

Ratatouille-Steamed Salmon with Jasmine Rice and Spinach

I'm a firm fan of the frozen salmon that comes in the individual or duo cryo pack.  It's delicious, less expensive than fresh, and sometimes fresher than the fish in the seafood case.  I've been buying packages all summer long at a price of about $4 and change per approximately 6 oz. serving.

Shrimp-Quinoa Salad with Feta and Tomatoes

Hot nights:  if you skip the quinoa and buy cooked shrimp, this is a no-cook dinner.  Another option is microwave rice.

Coming back from Colorado (where we spent most of the summer with Dave working on our old house and me writing the soup book), we took mostly back roads. You can go all the way from Colorado Springs to St. Paul almost without super-highways.   Perhaps it's possible to go all of the way, but we opted for a bit of interstate here and there.  (Once you get near the Twin Cities, it's a bit tougher to accomplish since someone changed the routes from roads to vrrrooomms years ago now.) What we saw, almost all the way, was dead corn.  Miles and miles of it.  Dried out, brown, or with sprigs and shadows of green here and there.  In some cases the farmers were just cutting it down unharvested.  The photos and stories of the drought when seen on tv are one thing; feasting your eyes on hundreds of miles of it is another.  Sad.  I occasionally tried to get a photo, but nothing really came out from the car window.  My mind kept going to increased fuel prices, food prices, and hunger.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Chicken Salad

Serve with saltines.  What else?

This is an old-fashioned lunch counter meal.  You know the kind of place I mean; they still exist in some places.  If you're lucky enough to have a drugstore nearby with a counter (as am I), you might still order this blue plate special once in a while.   Living in Colorado this summer, I've missed my Minnesota haunts.  (State Fair starts Thursday; you can finally get your cheese curds on a stick fix.)

Would You Make Breakfast? Fried Bread with Egg Skillet

 For years when I had to cook just for myself (before and after the house full of kids), I just made scrambled eggs and toast.  It wasn't that I didn't know how to cook, but rather that eggs were fast, cheap, filling, and used one pan and one plate.  Ok, you could even eat them out of the pan.   I had spent so much time cooking for other people that when there was just me, I wanted to spend my time in other ways, i.e. breathing. 

This is one of the first sorts of things I cooked just for myself.  A fish salad.  Walleye Salad if you're in Minnesota.  Make a nice salad while a piece of fish cooks in a pan.  Gee.  Real rough?  But it was a watershed moment.  You know how often you hear someone say, "Too hard to cook for just me."  I changed that for myself.  I set the table, lit the candles, turned on the music, and lived.

Would You Make Breakfast? Egg & Egg White Omelet Filled with Cottage Cheese on Whole Wheat Toast

 Tired of the same old, same old breakfast?  This little omelet (I cut it so you could see the filling...) sitting on a piece of whole wheat toast is so fast and so luscious.  Not only is it quick and nutritious (made with one egg and one egg white), it'll hold you until early afternoon.  No elevenses (tea and cookies in the UK) needed.   Serve it up with a few slices of great August tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!   Try this:

Would You Bring a Side? Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Jasmine Rice with Tarragon and Mustard Vinaigrette

When it's green bean time, I often make a green bean salad with mustard vinaigrette.  Sometimes it has tomatoes and sometimes mushrooms or potatoes.  I'm fond of one-dish sides and am always looking for dishes easily served alongside a chop or a piece of grilled chicken or fish. 

Would You Bring Sangria? Malbec Sangria with Port and Blueberries

Whenever I want to make Sangria, I have to think a few times about what's in it.  I know I love it, but someone else usually seems to make it.  Or I pay $8 for a small, watery glass at the local Mexican joint and am very unhappy with the way I've spent my money.    Most times, embarrassingly, I just forget to make it.  I offer wine (or beer if I'm thinking hard) and, if I'm in St. Paul in July, the quintessential Twin Cities summer drink:  Gin and Tonic with Lime.

Bannocks--Tasty Gluten-free Bread/Cracker and A Tribute to Marion Cunningham

A little apricot preserves...

 I never knew Marion Cunningham personally, but after my Mom, she pretty much taught me to cook and, perhaps more truly, to bake.  She died this last week (July 11, 2012--Read the LA Times obituary here) at the age of 90 after a lifetime of cooking, writing, and testing recipes for her cookbooks (Fanny Farmer, Fanny Farmer Baking Book, The Breakfast Book, etc.) and for her long-lived column in The San Francisco Chronicle.  She encouraged several generations of home cooks to... well, to just go on and cook.  Set the table and eat at home, please and thank you.

Would You Bring a Salad? Cilantro Coleslaw that Keeps

Crunch, Crunch--Here's today's slaw.  It keeps in the frig several days.  Munch, munch.

I have to admit that I adore coleslaw.  I choose it over fries at the Groveland Tap (our corner bar) in St. Paul.

Would You Bring an Appetizer? Goat Cheese Spread with Dill and Red Onion

Just spread on sliced baguette.

Bring an appetizer.  Sounds easy, right?  But what to bring?  Chips?  Veggies and dip?  Usual suspects like sliced salami, olives, and marinated mushrooms off the bar at the grocery?  This little appetizer is good any time of the year, but is perfect in the summer with a crisp and ice cold bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or my favorite version,  Sancerre.

Blue Cheese-Chicken Chopped Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I have an awful habit of chopping up all kinds of salad come summer, but never writing them down.  I did write this one up and am actually going to make it again.  It's so simple and can be made with a variety of vegetables and leftover chicken, shrimp, or even sliced beef from the deli.  This time of the year, it's sometimes almost too hot to stand and cut up anything.  But I think you'll be happy if you try this:

Salmon on Greens and Berries with Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette

So good to be home and cooking again...

This so-fast dinner is a riff on "Simon's Favorite New England Salad with Berries and Goat Cheese" from Linda and Martha Greenlaw's now out-of-print Recipes from a Very Small Island (2005:  Hyperion.)   There are a few copies available through amazon.com, but I was more impressed with this:

 Linda Greenlaw, America's only female swordfish boat captain, was featured in the book and film The Perfect Storm. She has written three New York Times bestselling nonfiction books about life as a commercial fisherman as well as a cookbook and two mysteries. 

The Blog is on Vacation, but Cook this 10-minute Salmon Supper with Green Beans Vinaigrette

I'm not here now, but I took this.

I write two really fun cooking blogs.  On the rare occasion, I share something between the two.  This is one of those times:

Really Quick Supper:  Grilled Salmon with a Balsamic-Honey Sauce and Green Beans Vinaigrette  2-3 servings

Cranberry-Blueberry Orange Muffins

Tender is the word.  Gentle is the method.  Don't over-mix or over bake.  Butter?  Yes.

 There really isn't anything homier or more welcoming than a basket full of fresh muffins. (Especially if you're having a friend for breakfast.)  And they're a bit more versatile than at first they appear.  I like them for breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee, or dinner.  Much like quiche or omelets, they go anywhere, anytime.  They do travel well and keep for a few days on the counter or for a few weeks well-wrapped in the freezer.  Time?  5 minutes to stir up and 15 - 20 to bake?  They round up and out what might have appeared a paltry meal (think leftover salad or a jar of tomato soup or just yogurt and fruit) and  make you and the meal feel special.  Should I bring up butter?