Cooking for Yourself

[fyfas]

I go either of two ways... old favorites scaled back for one with a new/different wine I've been eager to try or, more often, try new things I've not made before; sometimes an item, somehing familiar, made two ways (two sauces. two glazes, one sauce and one dry rub etc) to focus on how I really like something... all for future reference.

[chuchelo]

Chicken livers with rice!

[eunny jang]

In theory, I live by myself, but usually have company for dinner all but three or four nights out of the month.

I save my "projects" for when I don't have to inflict them on anyone else - pasta technique, bread and pastry (which I'm just starting to dip my toe into).

As for what I actually eat, I usually just munch on some vegetables or leftovers.

[Stone]

Varmint, you gotta try this:

Thanks to Shawn at the Virtual Bullet for the idea.

I started with a 3" prime ribeye. Charred it on the chimney.

Put it on my Weber Bullet, with a brick of frozen Plugra on top:

Smoked it at 200* to 220* with a little hickory until a center temp of 140*. Foiled it and rested for five minutes:

Sliced it up:

And plated it with some sauteed kale:

Perhaps the most tender ribeye I've had. If you've got filet eaters in your household, try this. It was like butter. Like a prime rib. (I guess it is a prime rib.) Next time I'll skip the hickory, it added an unnecessary sweetness. And I wont rest it in tight foil, which seemed to bring it to medium instead of medium rare.

A damn fine piece of meat.

(Sorry, the photos aren't in imageGullet yet. I'll move them when I have some time.)

[TJHarris]

When the family is away I usually end up working more (less guilt). When I do get in, dinner is usually something very quick and simple. Gruyere and Caramelized Onion Omelet is a favorite with LOTS of ONIONS. I often have several varieties of good cheese around the house so bread, fruit and cheese often ends up in front of the tube as I catch up on one of the Guy flicks that the wife didn't really want to see.

Edited September 9, 2004 by TJHarris (log)

[snowangel]

My husband likes beef. A lot. So do I. So, that's not what I cook when he's gone (I'm never alone; we have three kids).

So, when he's gone, we most often have breakfast for dinner -- bacon, eggs, waffles.

However, I am often alone at home during the day. The kids at school. Husband at work. I tend to either larb something (especially if we have leftover meat; rare steak especially) or just forget to eat. I'm also pretty partial to the Mama brand of ramen noodles. Particularly the Kao Soi flavor (they taste nothing like real kao soi, but are darned good in a pinch doctored up with a mess of bird chilis and lime juice).

Then, there's always toast. With butter. With liverwurst and mustard. With salami and mustard.

Oh, and there's always salad. Add a hard boiled egg or part of a can of tuna (olive oil packed, naturally). Or, sliced tomatoes.

Kind of depends on the season.

[birder53]

My husband used to travel quite a bit for his job. I would order enough Chinese take out to last me for a week so I didn't have to cook. ( He does all the weeknight cooking for us.) I liked ordering the dishes he doesn't like and knowing all I had to do when I got home was reheat something.

[ianeccleston]

I don't usually cook meals for myself; I get I takeout, especially the stuff she doesn't like fried chicken, or things that I'd like to eat more often like unusual ethnic food. Otherwise I embark on huge cooking projects to occupy myself with, like making veal stock, reducing it, saving it in ice cube trays...

[intraining]

i hate to cook for myself so i just usually eat beer with a beer and chinese delivery

of course i make breakfast, eggs bacon sausage tomato fried slice cup of tea

[Wayne]

My wife doesn't like stews or braised dishes so when she was away on a field

study for 5 weeks this summer I made large batches of osso bucco, braised

lamb shanks and braised beef short ribs. Not summer dishes but I enjoyed

them.

[liamsaunt]

Carmelized onions and mushrooms, topped with a sort of fondue like gruyere-wine sauce, on crusty bread. My husband hates this dish, so I just make it every time he is out of town.

[Knicke]

Hmmm, being alone is usually my chance to throw caution to the winds. And also my sense of proportion; I'm kinda a hog when there's no one around to shame me into curbing my appetite - plus I think I just get bored and cook/eat to entertain myself. A big ol' bowl of stove-popped popcorn with butter AND parmesan. Cream cheese with anything you can imagine. I will sometimes bother with actual COOKING, but usually it's a "stand in front of the fridge and shovel it in" affair.

When I actually DO cook alone:

Salmon, and lots of other fish. My roommate is a nice gal, she just hates fishy smells. And while she doesn't complain about them (much), I just feel bad about cooking something she hates when the smell permeates our whole apartment.

Shrimp and mussels, because she won't eat them. They're not smelly, but I like cooking for both of us, and feel a bit self-centered if I make a big dish that only I will eat.

Anise and fennel-related anything - because again, she won't eat it.

I'm going to have to make mussels with fennel next time she goes on a trip!

Edited September 10, 2004 by Knicke (log)

[Maison Rustique]

DH tends to want meat and that's optional for me. Before South Beach diet, my alone dinners would be a hunk of brad, cheese and some wine. Maybe a few olives. Ah! The good old days...

Right now DH is in Chicago and was dining at Spiaggio tonight. For me it was some sauteed red onion, garlic, tiny bit of bacon (fat thrown out), spinach and cannelini. I put a touch of blue cheese on top. I was very happy with this, but it's not something that DH would like to eat for a meal. He'd have wanted it with steak or fish or whatever.

[Misa]

Smoked oysters on saltines - some with mayo, some without. (That's comfort food!) The very idea disgusts DH.

Bread. The good stuff. DH views bread as "merely an edible plate" - his words. He prefers to not have his bread have much taste.

Chocolate. Because DH doesn't like it.

Omelettes. Because if he can taste the egg, it's no-go.

Stuff with nuts. Because DH doesn't like them, won't eat them.

Fresh mozzarella with slice tomatoes and olive oil. DH can't eat raw tomatoes (allergies) and hates fresh mozzarella.

And anything I might want that has been smoked. Because DH doesn't like ANYTHING smoked.

He's picky. Well, at least as far as stuff like that.

I also like to cook simple, vegetarian meals. I like the flavor. DH prefers most of his food to have lots of meat in it...

[eunny jang]

Just for me:

Roast cauliflower and red onion, one poached egg, and some dressed watercress to mop the plate clean.

←

This is the kind of thing I cook for myself when I am alone. Tastes good and minimal effort.

[petite tête de chou]

Popcorn with tons of Tabasco, chili powder and black pepper.

Rare steak with lots of birds-eye chilis and crumbled bleu cheese.

Cold rice with fresh basil, cold tofu and sriracha.

Tins and tins of smoked oysters, clams, mussels and sardines in various sauces. On crackers with Tillamook extra sharp cheddar and mustard. Maybe onion.

Stinky breath that my three cats appreciate!

[miiki]

About 4 x a yr my fab husband and now 3 yr old daughter gives me a long weekend alone. [i am the "cook", he the sous chef!]

Single nights-

When they are away I don't cook- I love that the kitchen is sparkling*clean* [sort of] for three straight days.

I have baguette, french cheese and marmalade with a wonderful cup of capp or a latte made with Deadman's Reach from Raven's Brew. at 11 am. Check out their web site/coffee. Totally the best- I was addicted to Peet's but this is far superior. Addicted as in ONE perfect cup a day!

Late lunch Sashimi homemade or elsewhere w/ a daikon radish salad. 4 pm

Boiled Egg for a snack as needed

Uhm, no dinner. As much as I LOVE to cook, it is a pleasure to not be in the kitchen.

Lots of Hornitos Margaritas, Micheladas- Bloody Maria with cuke in the morning-

Total decadence, I know. Well- married with a 3 yr old decadence! ;-)

Late night movie and if I DO want to eat- around midnight to our fave cocktail place which makes lovely food-

Bed at sunrise...

Then we begin again.

I don't experiment with new dishes/menus at home alone. Only with friends at dinner parties. I'm bad aren't I? Success mingles with so-so.

I adore my family but these kitchen respites work for me! My husband likes all the above- we have similar tastes. Even turned him onto those [hateful] beets. I just don't think his mum knew how to cook them!

That's my single cooking for one! Guess it is more about the time alone & eating alone--- uninterrupted.

Miiki

[Kerry Beal]

Typically I'm the one who's away - which means they don't eat very well - but since I generally have a kitchen where I am I tend to make things like larb, some stuff that's a bit hotter than hubby likes it, things with bones to gnaw on, bibimbap, chicharron, curries...

[plum tart]

Whenever my husband was away, my daughter and I would bread some slices of brie or camembert and deep fry them. We would eat them with a chutney and a salad of bitter greens dressed with a vinaigrette. The oozy crunchy cheese, the spicy chutney and the tart bitter salad made for a delicious meal, all the more delicious because it was a secret pleasure.

When my husband came home, he could always tell what we had eaten. He said the house smelled like a barnyard. So much for our gentle rebellion.

[Special K]

I always went straight for the carbs. It's a good thing he doesn't travel any more!

[Anna N]

Lamb lamb lamb and greens by the bucketful!!!

[plum tart]

I meant to mention Judith Jones' cookbook, "The Pleasures of Cooking for One". Judith Jones, for those that don't know, is the Knopf editor of Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, James Beard, Lydia Bastianich and many many more famous cookbook authors. The recipes are actually written in quantities for one person - for example, Hollandaise for One, Lobster Bisque for One, A Small Roast Pork Tenderloin, Linguine with Smoked Salmon (for one) etc. When she does provide a recipe for something that will have leftovers she provides recipes for those as well. The recipes draw from her years of experience as a cookbook editor and so there is a range from Moroccan Cous Cous, to Indian Curry, and Ratatouille for One.

[Katie Meadow]

No one in my household has EVER cooked besides me. In fairness, my husband bakes great bread and various types of pie crusts, but doesn't mess with protein or vegetables as a rule. There's nothing he won't eat (I'm the picky one) and he has a hollow leg, plus he thinks using the gas to heat the house is a waste of energy. So my goal when alone is to light the stove as infrequently as possible, usually only for coffee or tea in the morning, and to raise the general house temperature and shed the sweaters. I eat leftover beans and rice, tuna salad on crackers and lots of cucumbers, celery, fennel and fruit or whatever is left in the fridge or freezer when he leaves. I plan some meals out with friends, and sometimes dinner is just a nice warm bowl of popcorn. Or I skip dinner entirely and go straight to my favorite late snack: a glass of scotch and a chunk of dark chocolate.

Instead of spending time shopping or cooking I have a "paint the dining room vacation," or some other room. No arguments about color or waste of paint, and I get the added benefit of seeing someone really REALLY surprised. He either always forgets it's what I do, or just never believes I would do it again. Very satisfying. And after a few days of that, I hand him a long shopping list and I'm good to cook again.

[kayb]

Potato salad. A dinner plate full of it, still warm from boiling the potatos. With Hellman's mayo, spicy mustard, and a squirt of ketchup, seasoned salt, paprika, garlic and onion powder, and a ton of chopped sweet pickles. And a glass or three of red wine. My very favorite "it's all about me" meal in the world.

[toolprincess]

It's not what I cook when HE's away. It's what don't I cook. He hates the following things that I love: deviled eggs; chicken livers in just about any form; raw tomatoes - so a tomato and sweet onion salad is always on the menu when he's gone during late summer; anything with mayo; anything with obscene amounts of garlic; chocolate deserts; french onion soup; fondue. Yes it's true. He hates these things. Oh, and add cold soups to the tally. And there's still more I've mercifully forgotten presently.

There are days I consider murdering him in his sleep. But then... well, you know.

I can so relate! With my SO it's more a question of WHAT HE WILL EAT than what he won't eat. Any tips for learning how to NOT fight about his many dislikes???