Tuxedo Chili

If you're tired of chili, skip this post.  I never get tired of chili; I make several different kinds.  For our neighborhood chili cook off, I decided to make a new one.  Why not?

Pancakes for One--The Solo Cook and her Breakfast for Dinner: It's a Beautiful Thing!

Fat Tuesday has a great ring to it.  I have memories of a lot of soggy or burnt pancakes made by legions of cook-once-a-year men in kitchen after church kitchen.  I've been in a lot of places. The very best pancakes I've ever eaten are those made by my own kitchen-man husband.  Those are made on a propane camp stove and stand out as some of the finest food in the world to me.  Either everything really does taste better outside, or my man just knows from pancakes.  He puts fresh butter on the griddle for every pour.  He heats the syrup before he starts.  He fries the bacon before he heats the syrup.  He makes the coffee before he fries the bacon.  Did I say he looks good while he does it?

Pork Tenderloin Salad with Blueberries, Oranges, and Sherry-Honey Vinaigrette

 I could look in my mom's frig and think there was nothing at all to eat in there.  I might even be found staring blindly into the freezer, hoping something would come to me.  Usually it was ice cream.  But let my mom loose in that kitchen and in record time, there was a full meal on the table.  Practice makes perfect.  The early bird gets the worm.  Hunger makes the best sauce.  Desperation is the mother of invention.  Whatever.  She knew how to bring it, as they say.  It seemed miraculous.

Valentine's Day- Make Your Own Chocolate Bark

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere and lots of drops to drink.

Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate.  Valentine's Day IS chocolate.  Sounds like a good song.  

This chocolate is a semi or bitter-sweet bark that Dave had made for me for Valentine's Day a couple of years ago.  Truth to be told, his bark is better than mine.  Candy maker, I'm not, though my toffee was to die for this year.  (pat pat)

Pot of Pinto Beans-Simple Pictures are Best

Pintos garnished with plain Greek yogurt and Frontera salsa

When I was a kid, a pot of beans sounded nasty to me.  It smacked of nothing to do out in the country (except make a pot of beans) and I didn't particularly like the taste of beans--particularly pintos.  My parents grew all kinds of vegetables and they were fond of many sorts of beans and peas; our neighbors were of a similar ilk.  Married during the depression, but first raised on or near the farm, they all knew every trick for saving money on food.  Moving to the big city, they searched for a piece of land out a ways in order to plant that garden every year.  (Weed, can, water, repeat.)

Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts and New Potatoes with Parmesan and Onions

When folks began oven-roasting Brussels sprouts and bringing them back into vogue, I began pan roasting them.  Either the oven was full the first time I tried it or I just wanted to see what would happen.  Whichever way, we loved them and I kept making the sprouts stove top.  I blogged them cooked with pumpkin seeds one Thanksgiving, and later made them with shredded, crispy ham or prosciutto, or just on their own with whole, quite soft garlic cloves and lots of black pepper.  Once I threw in a few slices of  hot Capicola, an Italian ham that sometimes comes rolled in ground red pepper.  Whew.

Split Pea Soup for One

Ham hock optional, but being at home you can pick it up with your hands!

Cooking at home, I've discovered, has the distinct advantage of being at home.  While things simmer and perk or bake, hard-working you can play the radio (or the piano.)  Relaxing you can bring home the NYT to read while lazing on the couch with the cat.  Your laundry, if you're blessed with the ability to do it at home, can be lazily floating through its warm dryer as you put your nose down in a pot or wine glass.  There's no waiting for the server to bring you another glass of water or waving her away from the bar so you can have your check.  No walking or driving through cold, rain, sleet, and snow only to wait ad nauseum for a parking spot or the bus that's 20 minutes late.  That's if you live in the city as do I.

 

Freezable, microwavable REAL Tupperware ordered from amazon.com

Rosemary Chicken Thighs with Butternut Squash and Fennel

 I've made this roasted chicken thigh and vegetable supper a few different ways....but the luscious, really luscious thing about it (besides being light on the wallet) is that you just throw a bunch of great food on a rimmed sheet pan, toss it with oil, salt, peppers, and rosemary, and shove it in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  Meantime--kiss your love, listen to NPR, iron your work blouse, or call your Mom.  Make double for leftovers or if you've invited a friend.   Wine?  Côtes du Rhône would definitely drink.

Chicken Chili for One

I once heard a woman say, "You can't make chili for two people."  As I began to write today, thinking about that conversation did make me do just a little bit of research...because I often make chili for one or two!

Baby Kale and Spinach with a Roasted Chicken Breast or...

When someone says "greens," I guess I usually think of turnip or collard greens.  Southern parents, I guess.   And while I like those on a  cold day with a big pan of crispy cornbread, that big mess of greens isn't my style all the time.  Give me a sauté pan full of teensy baby spinach just barely heated or even cooked way down with garlic as a base for fish.  Lately I've been adding kale to that mix and having that for lunch. (January, you know.)  A few grape tomatoes and a pinch of crushed red pepper and I'm that happy.  For the solo cook, both baby spinach and baby kale come in those not-so-green (tell me if  you know how to recycle them other than at Whole Foods) plastic boxes.  They keep a long time in your frig, which is useful for anyone who doesn't cook two pounds of vegetables every day.

Here's full-grown kale.  Chop it and saute it if you can't find baby kale.

Stollen--Stolen from More Time

Taken at our Colorado house a couple of years ago...

 

As a sweet (but not too) Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,  Happy Chanukah, or whatever, I repeat a recipe for stollen from More Time at the Table.  If you're afraid of making bread, this is for you.  If you don't like the typical dry, crumbly stollen, this is for you.  If you need to take something great to a neighbor, a holiday get-together, or simply want to make a super Christmas breakfast, this is for you.

So put on some music, wash your hands, and get ready to feel terribly accomplished.  Merry December, friends.  And if it's not December where you are, make it anyway.

STOLLEN

2 loaves. Each serves 8-10.

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Great to make ahead and freeze. This recipe makes two. Keep one for later or take one to a friend. This is an easy stollen... not to worry about a thing. If you can make banana bread, this is just a T-tiny step above. No yeast. The original recipe that I've changed over a couple of years and bakings at sea level and at altitude came from Susan Westmoreland @ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, linked here.

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Porridged Eggs after a Long Winter's Night

 I've never heard of porridged eggs, though my experience is that very little is truly new.  We've just lived too long.  For a few weeks, off and on, they kept coming to me.  I love the idea of oatmeal because I know my body, my heart, needs whole grains and oatmeal's tops.  But I also find that I operate better (and eat less) during the day with a protein for breakfast.  Especially in cold Minnesota. Hence oats and eggs.  But how?

I grew up with the occasional bowl of take-no-prisoners buttered, salt and peppered grits with my eggs fried to a crispy lace in bacon grease.  Along with biscuits slathered with sour cream and honey.  And the very best fried fish in the world.   Lest you think things were always that wonderful, there was the occasional pot of squirrel gumbo, as well.  And often there was dove that required careful chewing lest you bite into buckshot.  While I seldom indulge these days, my displaced southerner living-in-Chicago parents provided me with a culinary heritage upon which I still draw.  (Phew.  That grammar's a killer.)

Tomatoed Cod on Fennel with Sautéed Spinach

Mostly people don't realize it, but when you're out for Friday Night Fish-Fry in St. Paul (or anywhere), you're probably having cod.  It could be haddock or pollack, and we can almost be sure it won't be halibut, though that would be so tasty.  Served up with boatloads of tartar sauce and a tower of fries with cole slaw, it's nothing if not very, very beckoning.   Add to that the number of people who've traveled to the UK and are now hooked on "Fish and Chips" and you have a ton of folks walking around thinking this is one of their favorite meals. And way too often here, the fish is "all you can eat."

But get us in the grocery store or at the fish monger, and cod doesn't stand out.  Darker, sexier catches like salmon and tuna prevail and cod hasn't much to say.  I mean, what do you do with cod?  (What do you do with a lot of fish, in fact.  Whenever I'm in line to buy fish, the other customers are always asking the clerk how to fix this fish.  I've nothing against the clerks, but they are not often great or accomplished cooks.  If I can gently and gracefully chime in, I do.  Of course, if you know me, you know I'm neither gentle nor graceful.

California BLT Salad

 
Shopping for one is fun at Chico's or Talbot's.  Even if you don't buy anything.
Shopping for one is not always quite so much fun at Kowalski's or Cub Foods. 

While I am not a great fan of boneless chicken breasts, they do hold a special place in my heart when I'm shopping and cooking just for me. As do salads of any ilk.  For this California BLT salad,  The Solo Cook can run into the store, buy a couple of boneless breasts, a ripe avocado (hopefully), a few Kalamata olives at the olive bar, and just about skip on home to make this salad.  Granted, you must have a few staples on hand waiting in your kitchen, and those would include tiny tomatoes, red onion,  bacon, a bit of gratable cheese, and salad greens.  Keep some bacon in the freezer frozen into 1-2 piece packages.  And, for greens:   a big container of spinach lasts a long while, makes a great salad, and is perfect for omelets, vegetables sides, and sandwich greens.

Poached Eggs on Grilled Cheese Tomatoes

While the world waxes poetic about turkey and pumpkin pie (and I'm about to go that route, too), this week must also be about the balance.  While we'll eat like it's Thanksgiving Thursday, Friday (Saturday? Sunday?), perhaps a bit of lightness the rest of the week is in order.

Everyone who cooks for one has their favorites...a bit of poached salmon and microwaved green beans or two baby lamb chops and a spinach salad that's done in five minutes.  Maybe yours is grilled cheese and tomato soup or even sliced fresh apples with peanut butter and Triscuits. If by chance you like the grilled cheese option best, this might be your new supper.  If you adore Eggs Benedict, but don't want the muffins and Hollandaise on your thighs right now (or would like lighter fare), read and cook.  A spoonful of your favorite salsa is the perfect optional garnish.

Chicken Sausage Fry-up

 

Ten minutes to lunch or dinner

 For going on three weeks, I've been on  the South Beach Diet, Phase II.  I decided, despite it's name, to not call it a diet.  What I decided was that I was simply changing the way I eat to see if I could become smaller and be able to move more easily and quickly.  Looking better would be the secondary reward.  Already, I see and, more importantly, feel quite a difference.

Instead of counting and weighing in (which overwhelms your life) on Weight Watchers, I just know that I can

A. Have all the meat (lean, usually) and vegetables I want and that
B.  I have one serving each day of whole grains, dairy, fruit, and red wine.

Believe it or not, I don't miss whatever else I usually eat.  Perhaps I cook a bit more at breakfast and lunch, but I cooked a lot anyway.   I do really have to keep going back to the store for vegetables, though a big bunch or box of spinach in the frig helps. And... if I have oatmeal with blueberries and milk for breakfast, the rest of my day is protein, vegetables or salad.  It works and is no trouble.  I've given myself one meal off a week and I've eaten pizza, dessert...whatever.

As I cooked up this little instant ditty for my lunch yesterday while my husband ate a sandwich, I thought it was a great fit for Dinner Place, The Solo Blog.

I can't call it a recipe, but here's what I did:

In a medium skillet, I poured 1T olive oil.  I let it heat over medium heat and then added 2 small sliced yellow squashes, several slices of red onion, a 1/2 cup or so of sliced mushrooms,  and about 1/4 cup diced red pepper.  I sprinkled it with salt, pepper,  and a pinch each of crushed red pepper and dried thyme.  Basil or oregano would work,too, as would fresh parsley.  I then sliced and threw in two Aidell Chicken-Apple sausages and let it all cook for a few minutes until the vegetables were softened and the sausage (precooked) was hot.   As that cooked, I minced a garlic clove and cut up a few cherry tomatoes and threw them in for the last couple of minutes.   And that was lunch.  There's some leftover for today or I could stir it into my eggs.

If you need more to eat, add a little buttered and black peppered brown rice to your fry-up.

I was baking pie and made a coffee cup apple pie with the extra apples and pie dough.

I'm thinking about how to write a bit about pie-baking for one, but I love the idea of sharing pie, too.

If you'd like to read my More Time at the Table Post on baking an apple pie that can be made ahead and frozen for Thanksgiving, here's the link.

Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Veggie Pizza without the Pizza

Vegetables are maybe the thing about which most people are picky. Good pun, huh?  And if you're wondering why, it's because each little green or orange or yellow thing on the plate recalls some horror of a kitchen table nightmare ("My mother forced me to eat green beans at Thanksgiving.) or a tasteless memory of "the only vegetable my father cooked my whole life and he cooked it to death."  Thank God we've all grown up and gotten over all those things, right?  Oh.

But don't think you must choose between broccoli, green beans, and squash simply because you're the only one at the stove.  Choose several.  Cook them all together.  You then needn't worry about spoilage and you have a lip-smacking side (or main) to boot.  To boot now has a different meaning, doesn't it?

This particular melange of veg tastes, to me, like veggie pizza without the crust.  You can add a few shreds of mozzerella or shards of Parmesan if you like, but it doesn't need it.  And, as always in my house (and maybe yours), leftover this makes an omelet filling about which you've always dreamed:

I added a few leaves of spinach.

Vegetable Sauté (that tastes like Veggie Pizza)

• 1T olive oil

  • 1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence*

    • 1/4 t ea kosher salt and ground mixed peppercorns

• 2 small zucchini, sliced

• 8 oz sliced button mushrooms

• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced

• 1/2 small onion, sliced as thinly as possible

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

• Pinch of crushed red pepper

• 8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

• 2T chopped fresh parsley

• 2T minced, pitted kalamata olives

  • Optional:  2T grated mozzerella or Parmesan cheese

*can sub a mix of dried basil, oregano, crushed rosemary, etc

1.  In a medium-large skillet, heat the oil, salt and pepper and herbes de Provence over medium-high heat for a minute or so.
2.  Add zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion.   Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes; add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes until vegetables are all softened.  Dust with crushed red pepper.
3.  Stir in cut cherry tomatoes.
4.  Plate and garnish with parsley, olives,  and cheese if you choose.  

Serves 1 as a main dish or 2 as a side dish

Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Pumpkin-Chicken Chili

Double the recipe for a big batch.

This isn't instant chili.  If you want that, go to Wendy's or check out my Chili Now! recipe.  But neither is this the hours-long simmering concoction folks entering chili contests prepare.  (But go ahead and enter this one.  Long as you share the prize money.)  It's about an hour and maybe a little change.  Depending on how quickly you chop and how long you want to wait before eating. Could be less.  My cooking was delayed by puppy-sitting and a bit of travel.  Hence the hiatus in the blog.   Forgive me?

Our girl, Gabby (left) isn't so sure about the newcomer.

One of the best things about this chili is that it's made with your tastebuds and health in mind.   Boneless chicken thighs sub for beef and lots of vegetables make up the rest.  Zucchini, red peppers, pumpkin (or butternut squash if you'd rather), black beans, chick peas, and the usual suspects (onions, celery, garlic, tomatoes) abound.  If  company's coming, double the recipe for about 6 or 7 quarts of chili.  Otherwise, you'll have about three.  Which should suit you fine.   On Halloween or any other day. 

 

Ipad taking place of spiral notebook starting today.  Imported via email.

Pumpkin-Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 oz button mushrooms, quartered (1/4 of a regular cardboard container)
• 2/3 cup fresh pumpkin, cut into 1/2" dice (can sub butternut squash)
• 1 small zucchini, cut into 1" dice
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste)
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
• 1/2 cup EACH white wine and water 
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin, optional
• 1 28 oz cans chopped tomatoes 
• 3 boned, skinned chicken thighs
• 1 15 oz can drained chick peas or black beans (1 of ea if doubling)

Directions*

1.  Heat 2 t of the olive oil in an 8 or 10 qt stockpot over medium heat, reserving other 2t for cooking the chicken.
2.  Add celery, onions, peppers, mushrooms, pumpkin and zucchini.  Season with salt and peppers.  Stir in water, wine,  Dijon-style mustard, and pureed pumpkin, if using.
3.  Pour in tomatoes.  Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer 10 min.
4.  Meantime, heat a  skillet over medium-high heat with the rest of the olive oil.  Salt and pepper well the chicken thighs and place them in skillet.  Cook about 5 minutes on each side and turn down heat.  Cook until chicken is cooked through and no pink remains, about 5 more minutes.  Remove from skillet, cool briefly and dice.  Add to stockpot.
5.  Drain the chickpeas or black beans and add to the stockpot.  Stir well. Bring back to a boil and lower heat.  Simmer 15 -30minutes until all vegetables and chicken are tender.  Taste and adjust seasonings.
6.  Ladle chili into bowls and serve with a bit of grated cheddar or a teaspoon of sour cream.   Place a bottle of hot sauce at the table if you like things spicier.

*Crock-pot Directions:   Make a double batch and use a 6 qt. crock-pot.  In a large pot or skillet, saute onions, celery and garlic with chopped fresh boneless chicken thighs.  Cook until chicken is cooked through, stirring often.  Place in chicken mixture in crock-pot and stir in remainder of ingredients (other vegetables, tomatoes, etc.)  Do not add beans.  Add seasonings, but go easy on them as the crock-pot intensifies the spices.  Cook on low for about five hours and add drained beans during last hour of cooking.

Wine:  Dry Riesling or a lighter Zinfandel

Enjoy cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Pork Tenderloin with Lentils and Vegetables

Festive fall food for the Solo Cook.  You probably don't want to cook a big pork loin and roasted vegetables (unless all the gang is coming,) but you might want to fix a smaller pork tenderloin and an all-in-one side brimming with legumes and sauteed vegetables that you can also take for lunches.  Sometimes in the summer I make a lentil salad and, while I was thinking about that salad, I came up with a colder weather version that's warm and inviting--despite the fact that there's still a bit of lemon juice squeezed in at the end.  Summer isn't that far away.

One of the beauties of this meal is that, if you want to, you can come home and fix it.  Pork tenderloin is a very fast meat to cook.  Seared on top of the stove and then roasted for a bit more, it's done in perhaps 20 minutes.  If that doesn't appeal, you can simply roast it for about 45 minutes at 350.  With the bacon wrap, I like the sear as it crisps the bacon right to the pork. 

To get this lovely meal out together, cook the lentils first and then begin browning the meat as you chop and saute the vegetables.  If one is done before the other, you've no worries.  The lentil-vegetable side will hold and reheat (and is good warm or cold with it's ending crunch of fresh carrots, etc.) and the meat has to rest anyway after roasting.  However you do it, you'll be happy.  I think so.  Did I mention leftover  the meat makes incredible tacos,  salads, omelet fillings, or sandwiches?  Or that this makes a tasty, easy Thanksgiving dinner for 2 or 3?  Let one friend bring pie and the other bring wine; you're set for the holiday.

Pork Tenderloin with Lentils and Vegetables 2-3 servings (plus lentil dish for lunches)

Vegetables:

1/2 pound lentils (any color), cooked and drained according to package directions --takes about 1/2 hour* 
3T olive oil, divided (1 to cook veg and 2 to drizzle on at end)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup each:  chopped eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini (or green beans)
4 oz sliced mushrooms (1/2 a regular container)
1/4 cup   finely chopped red or green bell pepper
1/4 t each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (plus extra to taste)
Generous pinch of crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup basil julienne (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped carrots
3 sliced green onions (white and green parts)

Juice of one lemon

1. While lentils drain, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and add olive oil.  Saute onion, eggplant, squash, zucchini or green beans, mushrooms, and red or green pepper until softened--about 10 minutes.  Dust with salt and pepper and crushed red pepper.
2. Turn off heat and add parsley, basil, yellow pepper, tomatoes, carrots, and green onions.  Stir in lentils and don't cook any longer.  ( A bit of a reheat is ok--see below.)
3. Squeeze lemon juice over all and stir.
4. Drizzle on other 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Stir.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings.
6. Cover to keep warm until pork is finished .  You can reheat gently if you like.

Cooking the Pork: **

1 pork tenderloin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 slices best-quality bacon (I like Nueske's)
Toothpicks


Salt and pepper well the pork tenderloin and wrap it with the bacon pieces, securing ends with toothpicks.

  Meanwhile, heat a large, oven-proof skillet or heavy roasting pan over medium-high heat; add olive oil.  Place bacon-wrapped pork in the center of the pan. When the meat is very-well browned, turn and let brown on the other side. When that side is looking crispy, move the pan to the oven to finish cooking.  It may take another 15 minutes or so.  Using an instant-read thermometer, remove the skillet from the oven when the meat registers 150F.   I like it a bit rare and juicy; it will continue cooking.  Cover with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes before carving and serving.  Slice meat in 1/2"  pieces.  Place cut meat at the center of a large platter and surround with lentils and vegetables.


*Can cook lentils in the morning or night before.  Drain and refrigerate, tightly wrapped.  Spoon into the skillet with the cooked vegetables to warm through right before serving.

**These are directions I used for another blogpost in which the pork cooks just like this, but you also cook sliced fennel, onions, and apples right in the pan with the pork and then roast it all together in the oven.  That's nice, too--and mostly fallish!

Wine:  A Pinot Noir from Oregon.  Your choice, though I'm partial to Ken Wright pinots with meals like this.  Thanks, Ken.


Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Pumpkin Custard with Cinnamon Crème Fraiche

It's October.  The Solo Cook's thoughts turn to pumpkin.

Don't buy the little pie pumpkins.  Buy a  jack-o-lantern instead and carve it!   If you're going to make pumpkin anything, just buy plain canned pumpkin.  Yes, I know it qualifies as "processed" food, but so do canned green beans then.  I've done it both ways; the fresh pumpkins are no better.   And, you know, Libby has a corner on pumpkins; they actually get them cheaper.  So grin and bear it; buy canned.  Make some pumpkin bread and maybe a pie if you're invited to a fall dinner.