Category Archives: Food for thought

General joys and problems of cooking for one.

Musings on the evening meal–dinner or supper?

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Just some random thoughts that wandered through my brain while minding the grill on Saturday afternoon….

Orange tabby cat in the refrigerator

Frankie checks the fridge

I hear lots of people talking about dinner, but what has happened to supper?  Where I grew up, on the farm, the big meal was in the middle of the day, so you’d have energy to work the rest of the day.  Supper was a lighter meal, usually after dark, since you could no longer work outside without artificial light which didn’t happen in the hay field.  Well, when you have questions, look it up:

  • Supper:  Etymology: Middle English soper, super, supper, from Old French soper, super, souper, fromsoper, super, souper to eat the evening meal — more at SUP
    1 a : a meal taken at the close of the day; especially : the evening meal when dinner is taken at midday b : a social affairfeaturing a supper; specifically : an evening social (as a box social) especially for raising funds for charitable or other purposes c : a usually light evening meal
  • Dinner:  Etymology: Middle English diner, from Old French disner, diner, from disner, diner to dine — more at 1DINE
    1 : the principal meal of the day eaten about midday or in the evening; also: a formal feast or banquet in honor of some person or event

    Frankie sitting on top of the refrigerator

    Top of the food chain?

Well, I do cook dinner for friends, and I do go out to dinner.  I even occasionally even cook dinner for myself (and the cat).  Mostly, I just eat supper–it’s a comfortable meal to end my day lightly. But supper doesn’t mean a PBJ in front of the TV.  It’s likely simple–griddled fish or steak, a one-pot meal, an omelette dressed as a Spanish tortilla, or soup–easy but tasty.

A son goût! 

Orange tabby cat on the kitchen counter with the mixer, food processor, and knives

What’s cooking?

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1.  “supper.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

2.  “dinner.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

Guest contributor coming soon….

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Chicken wings are one of my favorite nibbles–well, if I’m honest, I can make a meal of them instead of just nibbling, so I thought it would be good to get some information on cooking them from someone who really knows wings.

Carmen Rice Settles owns Full Street Wings, and she’s put together some marvelous sauces for her wings. While she’s doing them on large-scale way, she has agreed to share her expertise on a home-size scale with us.

I’m happy to have her as a guest contributor to this blog!  Welcome, Carmen!

Greens, with dill and feta cheese

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So many greens do well in cold weather–and can be simple to fix.

emmycooks's avatarEmmy Cooks

Welcome to Emmy Cooks!  You can see more of my favorite recent recipes by clicking the “My Favorite Recipes” category on the sidebar (here are July, August, and September).  If you like what you see here, you can sign up on the sidebar to receive a daily recipe by email, add the RSS feed to your blog reader, or follow Emmy Cooks on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Some days, maybe most days, simpler is better.

I had a plan to make this week’s greens into a tart of some sort, or maybe spanakopita, or at least green tartines.  But those things take time, and some days I don’t have time.  I piled all my greens into a pan to wilt, then chopped and dressed them with olive oil, lemon juice, dill, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.  It was better than good enough.

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Chilli con carne redux update

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I’ve finished the “fast” version of the chilli con carne that I posted about in Chilli Con Carne Redux!  I’ll concede that it’s only sort of faster in terms of the active prep time–it still needs to cook long and slowly, but it is a success.  I don’t think that I can tell the difference (tasted side-by-side with the more laborious version from the freezer) and friends have given it the nod of approval.  So here are the changes and additions to the original chilli con carne that I posted.

  • After the bacon browned, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste was added while the onions were sautéed, and this was browned–again to enhance the umami, not to add tomato flavor.
  •  None of the meat (pork or beef) was browned before adding liquids.
  •  Added bay leaves to increase the earthiness (used five large for this 6 pounds of meat).
  •  Added Mexican oregano–about 2 rounded teaspoons. (You really do want Mexican oregano for this–much different flavor than Turkish or Greek (Mediterranean) oregano–after all it is an unrelated plant, but worth having in the kitchen if you like chili.)
  •  Sun-dried tomatoes (about 1/2 cup chopped) were added for more umami even though this was NOT made in a slow cooker, I was not aiming for tomato-flavored chili.
  • During the cooking time I tasted some in a bowl with a little fish sauce added (yep, I did get up the nerve to try this) and it tasted wonderful; so I added about 4 or 5 tablespoons of fish sauce.  (I suspect that if you don’t have fish sauce a couple of anchovy filets thrown in would have the same effect.)
  • The final thickening was one with a brown roux made with masa harina.  For the fat in this roux I reserved about 1/4 cup of the fat from the de-fatting step.  I heated this and made sure that all liquid was evaporate, then added about 6 tablespoons of masa harina and cooked it until it was a medium brown and toasty smelling.
  • Because of my work schedule, this was cooked in a lower oven (about 195° F) for about 10 hours.

After another run on this I’ll have to post a revised recipe for the “fast” and easier version, but if you feel so inclined you can work with these changes–after all chili con carne is one of those things that really doesn’t need a recipe to be followed strictly.

The passing of the autumnal equinox…

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I’m now well-established in the routine of the fall semester teaching. The autumnal equinox has come and now the nights are starting to lengthen, which means it’s time to prepare the herbs growing on the deck for the winter.

pots of sage and oregano on stairs

sage & oregano

Most made it through the summer, though looking a bit ratty now, and even having some strange things growing in the pots as well.  Some will likely remain usable most of the winter in this climate (chives, sage, maybe oregano, and the “walking” onions), or at least come back in the spring:  sorrel, chives, lemon grass, and, if I’m lucky the summer (French) thyme, and French tarragon.  Others will die back if I don’t bring them indoors when it gets cold: ginger, turmeric, and sweet bay (Laurus nobilis).

French thyme and French tarragon in small pots

French thyme & French tarragon

Many of my herbs suffered this summer, and some, even though perennials, are aged enough that they need to be replaced and others repotted.  While that’s going on I’m going to try to make the herbs a bit more manageable–so that I can take a bit better care of them than I managed to do this summer with a bit less effort. During some of the long hot weeks it seemed like I just could not keep up with the watering, especially on those that were growing in smaller pots.

I’ve decided to get some professional advice on my container herb garden.  I’ve a good friend and neighbor for whom I did some garden tending while she was out of town, and in payment, I’m taking advantage of her professional services to advise me on revamping my front-deck herb garden for next summer.  I’d like to keep my French tarragon, since I like it better than Spanish tarragon or Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida), though that’s good to have too.

large lemon grass

lemon grass

I have to say that one new addition this summer seemed to thrive regardless of heat and my watering or lack of it: lemon grass!  It almost became a bit overwhelming–it started on the steps with the sage, and had to be moved because it was so large.  It was a rather lovely contrast to the turmeric and the culinary ginger plants–overall a very tropical feel to my deck this summer.

I don’t want to give up any herbs that I had growing so conveniently right around my front door–I just want to make it a bit more manageable!  I suspect that I’ll find more that I want to add, but I’ll try to restrain myself and keep it within reason though I may want to trade some of the hostas or other ornamental plants for more edible plants.

hostas and caladium

not herbs!

A shorter blogroll

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If you noticed the shorter blogroll, it’s not that I’ve taken down any of those great links–they have just moved to “Favorite Blogs” page.  All of them have such unique and good content that I thought it might be more useful to have them listed where I can tell you more about the content.  I’ve more links to add–more food blogs that I consistently follow, so I thought I’d make the transition now while I was checking to make sure that all the links were functional.

Interesting recipes….

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Some very good information here, and I’m sure there’s more to come!

emmycooks's avatarEmmy Cooks

Hello, friends!  I’ve been kicking around a new idea, will you tell me what you think?

At this point there are so many recipes on this site that most of them are simply buried by time.  (I need a recipe index, I know; the sidebar category search is rudimentary.)  And although I’m posting new recipes daily here, I’m also always cooking my old favorites off-screen.  I’m thinking that it might be fun to share more with you about my kitchen and what’s happening there from week to week.

Regular “What’s Cooking” dispatches would give me an opportunity to tell you what recipes I’m loving  as the seasons go by, to tell you about delicious ideas that don’t rise to the level of being “recipes” themselves, and to show you how I fit these many individual recipes together as meals (and then repurpose the leftovers as more meals!).  Hopefully this will…

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Homemade pita

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Freshly made pita is wonderful–and easy and quick once you get the rolling-out part down. I use the doughs from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” to make pita as well as loaves of bread; here’s an alternative recipe.

Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide's avatarRufus' Food and Spirits Guide

To be honest it is probably easier to buy pre-made pitas. Of course these taste much better once you perfect how to roll them.

Make the starter the night before. In a large bowl mix 1 1/4 tsp yeast with 2 1/2 cups warm water. Let yeast dissolve and begin to bubble. Add 2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour and mix well. The starter will be the consistency of thick batter. Cover with a wet towel and let ferment over night, or at least 5 hours.

Mix 3 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt into starter and form a rough dough. Knead for 10 minutes adding more flour slowly until dough is smooth and still slightly tacky to the touch.

Heavily oil a bowl with olive oil and place dough in. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and…

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