SobaAddict70

This is the type of thing that bites me when cooking for myself. Sure, making a BLT for one is accomplished easily enough, but then I'm left staring at 2/3rds of a tomato, a largely whole head of lettuce and a bunch of bacon. Okay, well, the bacon will keep ok, but the tomato and lettuce? Not so much. Some meal planning can help, but planning around a BLT? Easy. Make a slow-roasted tomato sandwich. Use part of the tomatoes for the sandwich, and the rest for something else. That is, if you can keep from scarfing them all in one sitting. Or if a tomato sandwich isn't your cup of tea, then make a BLP. (bacon, lettuce and grilled peach sandwich.) And have the rest of the peach for dessert. But it seems to me that this is not a problem. Slice the rest of the tomato and have it as a snack. That's what I'd do anyway. As for the lettuce, I'd turn it into soup or braise it and serve it for dinner or something.

Short ribs braised in red wine, with tomato and onion-filled empanada, and spicy chicken Thai noodles, and a bottle of ginger ale. For $13.

It's an interesting method, but it seems like a lot of work for something that should be relatively straightforward. I agree with Keith and huiray above. When I make congee, I do 9-10 cups water or stock to 1 cup rice and let that cook from 1 1/2 to 2 hours over low heat. Works fine for me. My congee tends to be plain unless I am doing something like monkfish congee. Toppings are a different story though -- Sichuan preserved turnip with chiles, crispy fried garlic or shallots, gomashio, chopped hard-cooked farm eggs, ginger-scallion paste, minced shrimp with bitter melon and black beans, fried shrimp paste (bagoong) with lots of garlic, or shredded ginger and white pepper -- have all appeared at one point or another.

I once had what was supposed to be Charleston she-crab bisque at the now closed Gage & Tollner here in NYC. Well, it ended up being cream of cream soup with barely a hint of any sherry or crab flavor. There must have been at least a cup of heavy cream in the mix.

I wasn't criticising negatively. Quite the opposite. I'd sell my grandmother for some duck and brussels sprout jiaozi, right now. I look forward to the results of your research. Which region do your origins lie in? (If you want to share). I know you weren't. Tone gets lost a lot in text-only communication. I was just pointing out where I was coming from so I could provide a little context. We're of Fukien ethnicity. One of my aunts married into a Cantonese family, and so, had to learn the dialect in order to speak to her in-laws. That's pretty fascinating.

well, I've eaten plenty of jiaozi but I usually don't cook with pork at home. I had brussels sprouts and duck on hand so I wanted to do something different and maybe teach myself something new in the process. I want to start exploring Asian cuisine, so I thought I'd start with basic Chinese. especially since my family is ethnic Chinese and I'm ignorant of my heritage. have to do some research though first as to which region.

forgot to add ... that congee looks wonderful, patrick. I <3 congee.

Pix from tonight: Fried olives, baby mesclun You need: pitted olives, 1 beaten egg, seasoned breadcrumbs (breadcrumbs, sea salt, black pepper) and olive oil. Dip the olives in the egg, coat in breadcrumbs, then fry in olive oil until golden brown. This is doable in 10 minutes. The portion you see above is sized for one person. Jiaozi filling This is 1/2 cup thinly sliced brussels sprouts that was cooked in olive oil over medium heat, to which was added 1 minced serrano pepper, 1/4 cup shredded Cantonese roast duck (from a local Chinese takeout place), a pinch of white pepper and a scant pinch of sea salt. I had some leftover duck and wanted to use it in something other than fried rice, so I took a page from one of bleudauvergne's eG Foodblogs and the rest is history. For 2013, I think I'll be teaching myself how to cook Chinese, since I really don't know anything of that genre. Speaking of the eG Foodblog, maybe it's time to volunteer again.... Homemade jiaozi, with brussels sprouts, Cantonese roast duck and serrano pepper The ramekin at right contains minced garlic, Chinese black vinegar and mushroom soy sauce. What did Soba learn? He could have rolled out the dough thinner. He ran out of filling and so, has leftover dough in the freezer. One dumpling wasn't sealed tightly enough; otherwise 11 made it through. Overall, a success for a first attempt.

patrick -- I use fresh oregano (and other fresh herbs) all the time. when I post the recipe for the minestrone later this week, you'll see that I call for a rather significant quantity.

glad I was able to help.

patrick -- thanks. begin with a battuto (onion, carrot, celery, celery leaves) cooked in olive oil over low heat. how soft you like it depends on how much time you have. I like my battuto cooked down, all the way down, until the vegetables are thickened ... almost like an aromatic jam or paste. low and slow is the way to go. this will take about an hour, but if you're short on time, then that's okay too. then add a couple of bay leaves, chopped fresh oregano, sea salt and black pepper, and cooked lentils. you can use lentils that were cooked with onion, celery and carrot (from scratch) -- and if I make them that way, sometimes I'll throw in a couple of bottles of Evian. other times I'll just use plain tap water. in this specific instance, I used canned lentils. then add some crushed San Marzano tomatoes and water. bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and cover. let that cook for an hour or until the sauce has thickened slightly. taste for salt and pepper once more, then serve over pasta. a little extra-virgin olive oil, Italian parsley and pecorino cheese does wonders. huiray -- thanks. the other mushrooms you see in the salad are sliced white button mushrooms, the kind that you get in most standard American supermarkets. dinner prep is currently in progress. 1: fried olives 2: homemade jiaozi with brussels sprouts, Cantonese roast duck and serrano pepper 3: probably fresh fruit. I'm making dessert for my birthday party next week tomorrow night. there might be some leftovers ... as for what it is, stay tuned... it'll be one of the few times this year that I'm cooking for more than one person.

the vast majority of recipes on the blog (link in my signature) are sized for 1 person. there is a tremendously high focus on vegetarian-friendly food, because that's the type of food that I eat most often these days. but I do cook meat from time to time, and things other than pasta. you could start there and see what tickles your fancy, then move to a few of the blogs on my blogroll.

as many of you know, I cook for one 100% of the time. I rarely freeze stuff. if I do have leftovers, those get consumed within 2-3 days (for example, the minestrone invernale that I just posted to the Dinner! thread). I guess the best I can offer is reduce the total amount of food made, then it may not be a problem. BTW -- I cook 2-4 course dinners from scratch at least three days a week, and have been doing that for the better part of the last year. at this point, I have things down to a science. It's kinda scary. JAZ's last paragraph is pretty key here. All you need is practice and time, so it seems to me.

so, it's been a while, right? so hard keeping track of all the different sites I belong to, even though I spend the vast majority of my time on Facebook these days. Twitter and Pinterest can be addictive too, and don't get me started about G+. but I digress... some pix from the past few weeks: Roasted carrot, pumpkin and oyster mushroom salad Suvir's crispy okra salad (I personally like my okra less 'crisped' so that there's more color and texture that remains, otherwise it's the same as what some of you have had at Amma, Devi and elsewhere) Minestrone invernale Cockles, arugula, spicy scallion broth Insalata di funghi Penne con le lenticchie (a/k/a penne with lentils) and last night: Sautéed mushrooms, with shallots and Cognac, served with farm egg fried in olive oil Left: Brussels sprouts, braised with garlic and red wine vinegar Right: Broiled shrimp, with seasoned breadcrumbs and shallot "jam" tonight, I will be attempting homemade jiaozi with a decidedly non-traditional filling. if you see nothing from me later on, you know that the Mayan god of destruction is responsible.

Nonsense! Yours looks better to me! Exactly. Art used to be, very long time ago, one single style. If you did't create the same way, then you didn't have art. Have you been to an art museum nowadays? There is no such thing anymore. On the walls, you have keith haring, Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, Henri Matisse, Picasso, Rembrandt, Josef Albers --------. I see art in all posts here by everyone. Different styles, but art just the same. dcarch exactly, and well-said. that burger looks really good right about now btw. I'm hungry.

Brussels sprouts "home fries" Kind of like a low-carb version of home fries, only with brussels sprouts and chestnuts, fried in salted butter and topped with chopped hard-cooked egg. The other thing I had -- bhindi masala, rice, coconut raita -- wasn't as photogenic. Very satisfying though; I need to cook Indian more often.

Things that don't require a lot of thought to put together -- carbonara, amatriciana come to mind. Dal, rice, chatni or pickles, with a plain sweet lassi or fruit lassi. Congee. Notice there's a pattern? That's because I like carbs. Although sometimes, Korean fried chicken fits the bill but for that, I need to travel.

Autumn is in full swing here in NYC, with what feels like the first ghost fingers of winter. 39 F today with a high of 42 in Central Park. Yuck. Last night: Roasted carrot, oyster mushroom and crosnes salad Pasta with pancetta, brussels sprouts, chestnuts and cremini mushrooms About to leave the office and head home for dinner. Gonna be Indian tonight, I think.

last night: Cannellini beans, cauliflower, roasted garlic and herbs Pasta with lobster, cauliflower greens and serrano pepper

The red wine reduction (red wine, unsalted butter, carrots, sea salt, black pepper) is underneath the poached egg. A friend of mine who lives in Madagascar poaches his eggs in red wine, but I opted to work from bleudauvergne's recipe on her blog -- http://kitchen-noteb...n-meurette.html Note that Lucy's version uses grey chanterelles, salt pork and chives. The pic above has hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, pancetta and thyme. Same procedure, although my version is sized for one person.

I sometimes do as nickrey does -- e.g., a scant teaspoon of white wine vinegar and a whirlpool. Lately, I've just resorted to cracking the egg into a ramekin, bringing the water to a bare simmer, in goes the egg, start timing or a slow count to 90, scoop up the egg with a slotted spoon and voila -- perfect poached egg. Les Œufs en Meurette But then, I'm more likely to do one or two at a time as opposed to 20. That's beyond my capability...

Thanks. I have never used zucchini in a salad so you are giving me new ideas. I played around with zucchini for a few weeks earlier in the year. Some recipes made it to the blog, while others are on Facebook. I also love it used in a variant of frico. It occurs to me that paired with some mixed lettuces and a generous helping of lemon zest and celery leaves, that this might make for a delicious and unusual salad. I'll have to try it next summer when the zucchini problem manifests itself again.

FrogPrincesse -- yes it is. very perceptive.

As you might imagine from looking at the pix below, I belong to the minimalist school of salads. Sometimes "less" is more. Insalata di zucchine e pomodoro -- zucchini, tomato, arugula, sea salt, black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar Mozzarella, ham and fig salad -- fresh mozzarella, honey ham, figs, wildflower honey, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil Chanterelle mushroom and fried herb salad, with farm egg fried in olive oil -- mixed lettuces, chanterelle mushrooms, egg, herbs, extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, sea salt, black pepper Warm green bean and potato salad -- green beans, Yukon Gold potatoes, red onion, chives, white wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, sea salt, black pepper "Fennel, celery, cheese" -- shaved fennel, celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, celery leaves, lemon zest, extra-virgin olive oil Fennel, green apple and walnut salad -- fennel, Granny Smith apples, chopped walnuts, baby arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, sea salt, black pepper

Stufato. The recipe is here, but you can vary it depending on what you have on hand: http://kitchenseason...ato-di-verdure/ The version pictured has onion, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic, celery leaves, fennel greens, zucchini, string beans, tomatoes, sweet peppers, olives, herbs (oregano, Italian parsley, bay leaves), sea salt, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. Served with a baguette.