Can versus do

[pbray]

I made chili today, using my new crockpot. Those who know me well will know what a milestone this was.

I don't normally cook. That doesn't mean that I can't, just that I don't.

Or rather I didn't.


When I was in college, I shared a house with three roommates and we all took turns cooking. I turned out to be a good cook (and a better baker.)

When I left college I originally started off trying to make dinner each night, but the difference between cooking for four people and one person is huge. There was dealing with leftovers, not to mention a punishing schedule that meant I never knew if I would be home at a reasonable hour or so late that I didn't feel like cooking. I grew used to buying fresh food that went bad before I had time to cook it, and gradually stopped cooking meals. (Buy me a drink at a con and I'll tell you about the green spaghetti sauce that was left in a refrigerator as payback for someone who'd annoyed me.)

I migrated to eating frozen dinners, and after some experimentation I found a few that I could stand. And that's how I lived for over a decade. I was always grateful when someone made me a homemade meal, and would cheerfully cook dinner when I was staying with friends who had stocked kitchens, but if you came to my house, you'd find only soup and cereal in the pantry.

Then two and a half years ago I gave up eating frozen dinners. Cold turkey, so to speak. I started to make a few different meals at home. Nothing fancy, whole wheat pasta with sauce from a jar, black beans and brown rice mixed with salsa, etc. I had four dishes in rotation, but I've gradually outgrown these. (Note that pasta with marinara sauce is something that I could eat every day for a month and be happy, if I wasn't vaguely concerned that I ought to be getting a little variety.)

So today I made chili, one of my favorite foods. Vegetarian black bean chili to be precise, and it came out well for a first try. There were leftovers naturally, so I know what I'll be having for dinner for the next three nights. Which was the plan, since I have to work the next few nights.

I talked to a couple of friends this afternoon, who were surprised to hear that I was at home cooking. They think of me as someone who doesn't cook, and assume this means I can't--that I'd need advice on how to boil water or use a measuring cup.

It's not that I can't cook--I'm perfectly capable of it, including a traditional New England Thanksgiving spread (as a Sullivan on my mother's side, turkey is part of my base operating system.) But I just don't cook-- I don't enjoy it the way that so many of my friends and family do. Sometimes when my sister calls to share one of her culinary discoveries, or I read my friendslist as they recount the meals they've made, I'm in awe of their talents. And I wish that I lived closer so I could invite myself over to share the fruits of their labors :-)

But that's not me. Oddly enough, as I count through my friends and family, almost all of them enjoy cooking. So it's clear that I just need to invite myself over to their homes more often.

And perfect that chili recipe, so I can return the favor. Or possibly a stew--it's heading towards winter in these parts, and there's nothing better for a winter night than a good stew and a nice red wine.

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I made Chicken Thighs Provencal from the latest Good Housekeeping cookbook tonight: it was surprisingly good, and looked easily reheatable.

Take 6 chicken thighs; remove skin & bone if they're not already. Cut each thigh into quarters; sprinkle lightly with salt Put 1 tsp olive oil in a large dutch oven or pan, heat on med-high. When oil is hot, brown chicken on both sides until golden (6-10 minutes). Toss/stir occasionally so browned on both sides.

While they're browning, chop fairly finely 1 med-large onion. Chop coarsely 2 red and 1 yellow peppers. Peel 2-3 garlic cloves (and then either get ready to press them, or chop them finely).

When the chicken is cooked, remove it to a bowl. Add another 1 tsp olive oil into the pan. Put in the onions; cook on medium to med-low heat, stirring frequently, until transparent. Add peppers; turn up the heat to medium. Cook for ~5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic (pressed or already chopped). Cook, stirring, for another minute.

Add one 28oz can diced tomatoes, or plum tomatoes which you have roughly chopped in the can. Add the juice from the can, too. Add 1-2 tsp fennel seeds (original recipe calls for 1/4 tsp), crushed if possible, 1 tsp dried thyme (original recipe calls for 1/4 tsp), and 2-3 tsp dried basil (original recipe calls for adding sliced fresh basil at the end).

Use a potato peeler to peel off the zest from an orange (three 1" x 3" pieces, or more if you want) (can be in smaller pieces), and add to the pan. Put the chicken and juices back in.

Cook, uncovered. for ~15 minutes until melded and the tomatoes are soft and chicken is fully cooked. The mixture will be quite thick at the end.

I served this on top of cooked rice (a mixture of wild, brown, and white). Very good.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that sounds delicious.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

I hear you.

I love to cook ... but I need an appreciative audience. When I lived alone, I ate all kinds of awful stuff-from-a-box because I just couldn't get excited about cooking for myself. (Which no doubt indicates all kinds of Issues, but never mind :P.) And DH and SP, madly as I love them both, are so frakking picky ...

Give me an audience, though, and I'm apt to go a little nuts. This past July when we visited my parents, some people came over for dessert toward the end of our visit, and the night before I made a lemon-poppy-seed cake, a quick fruitcake, banana bread, and a batch of meringues, all in about three hours. Another houseguest of my mom's had impulse-bought a bag of Key limes at Co-op the week before, and I spent an hour trying to figure out what I should make with them (in the end I adapted a lemon mousse recipe, and it was awesome, except: next time, leave the zest out -- lime zest is too bitter. Also: Key limes are too damn much trouble to squeeze). My mom's kitchen is, like, the size of our whole apartment, and I get a little giddy; also, my stepdad loves desserts, which my mom is not good at, and my mom and all her friends just plain love to eat.

I'm sure the black-bean chili is yum. I will come over and eat some if I'm ever wandering around upstate NY ;)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

You'd be more than welcome to stop by anytime.

And yes, having an audience makes me more excited about cooking. Or at least gives me someone to trade-off cooking/dishwashing duties.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

Yeah, no kidding. Though actually I don't mind washing the dishes, it's drying them and putting them away that makes me tired of being in the kitchen.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Me too. Without someone to share it with, I tend to revert to a very limited repertoire.

It was the same with my mother when my father died.

I've seen recipes books for one person or for widows -- maybe that's what's needed? I remember looking at a book a while ago called _Encore_ by Betty Jean Wylie, which talked about living alone after living with someone, and how to adjust cooking etc. which I think addressed this.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, when my father started living on his own he became very interested in cooking and took classes at the community college in French cooking. He loved to cook and would often call me up at work to talk about what he was making that day.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

trust me, cooking for two is not much better especially when your tastes don't match up and one does not eat leftovers.

But crockpots are wonderful - I will often prepare the food the night before, put it in the fridge, get it out in the morning when I wake up, and just pop it in to heat when I leave. And then I freeze the leftovers. (Important Step!)

Now, if me, you and April could coordinate, we could do something intelligent like swap meals once a month or something. You know, each make a new meal in a crockpot and trade the leftovers between us!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about tastes not matching up. A couple of years back Jennifer and I thought about trading off turns cooking and swapping leftovers, but with her dietary restrictions and my nut allergies there was very little overlap in what we could eat.

But if we were smart we'd trade off. Or once I find recipes I really like, I'll just make a bunch and then insist folks come over to eat it so I don't have to freeze leftovers.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

That works too!

My problem is that among other things, he doesn't like onions or eat any type of bean outside of a green bean. Yeah. Sort of limits some of my cooking options there!

[chichiri-no-da.livejournal.com]

I understand the cooking thing. I enjoy cooking, and I'm quite decent at it, but unless I have a real reason to do it it often doesn't seem worth the hassle, and I often get home so late that I don't want to cook anything that takes longer then 10 minutes. I have struggled to motivate myself to cook regularly for my wife and I more then a couple of times a month for a long time.

One thing that's nice about chili, though, is that it freezes very well. Why not put three portions of what you made in the freezer and then make something else the next night or couple of nights, and then rotate? You'll have some different things to eat, and by the time it runs out you can make something else XD

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It's the whole coming home tired and I want to eat now, not fuss in the kitchen mentality. When I've put in a long day at work, I'd rather eat an okay meal that I can fix in 10 minutes than a great meal that's going to take an hour or more to prep and cook.

And I'm aspiring to start freezing things so they are in rotation-- dug out all the freezer containers yesterday and washed them so I'm ready.

[chichiri-no-da.livejournal.com]

Yup, I know exactly what you mean. I have an hour commute, too, and work in a law office, so I often get home after 6, and the last thing I want to do is THINK about food. *grunt* *shove in microwave* *push buttons* is about my speed at that point.

But at least freezing means you don't get sick of chili every time you make it XD And frozen food you make yourself is way better for you then the crap they put in frozen dinners.

[kelly-swails.livejournal.com]

You sound like me. I can cook, and I can bake like nobody's business, but I don't enjoy it. Well, I like to bake, but for the most part that's pretty quick. Assembling a soup is not how I like to spend a Saturday afternoon. I'd rather write or read or shop. Ken and I haven't cooked much in the past five or six years. Though, now with the weather getting colder, I find myself pulling out the cookbooks and thinking about meatloaf.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I'd bake more often if there were folks to eat it, but there's no one at work to share things with, and two out of four of the Friday night regulars are on no baked goods diets, so it seems rude to bring over cookies or sweets.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Well, clearly you need a new job ;^). Where I work, for instance, we really appreciate co-workers who come bearing baked goods ...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

The building where I work resembles the set of a horror movie-- when you see another person in the hallways you're startled. About 80% of the people who have offices here work from home most of the time, and only come in for the occasional meeting.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

... which is great for the people who get to work at home, and a bit creepy for everyone else.

[kelly-swails.livejournal.com]

Fortunately Ken and I both work with folks that will happily eat baked goods. No one needs three dozen cookies or a whole cake lying around.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

One of my former managers was a frustrated baker at heart, and when stressed she would bake the most wonderful creations and bring them in to share. A couple years back she left to open up a bakery--she's much happier, but we now have to drive over to her shop to get our fix.

[kelly-swails.livejournal.com]

And pay for it! :(

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I keep telling Judy that if she ever installs Wi-Fi, I'm bringing my laptop and will declare the bakery my new work location.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Were those the baked goods you brought to the reading? Mmmm!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Yup, those were her cookies. When scbutler and susanjett were visiting a couple weeks back, I served them one of Judy's Chocolate Bourbon Mousse cakes. Mmmm, or as they say on the interwebs NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

[fatbaldguy60.livejournal.com]

If you cook [or enjoy] things like chilis and soups a vacuum sealer [like a Foodsaver] is really useful. I cook a lot of soups, chili, red beans, white beans, beef stew, etc. I always make a big pot and there is enough for several meals. Then you wouldn't have to eat the same item 3 or 4 days in a row, unless you actually wanted to.

My normal method is to partially fill the bag, pop it in the freezer overnight, then seal the frozen item; that way you are not sucking liquid into the sealer.

When I want a meal I just pull the bag out of the freezer, heat the item up, maybe cook rice or pasta, and I am ready to go. It is also handy for nights I don't want to cook. Then my wife or dad can take a small bag out and have a home-cooked meal with much less fuss. The amount of money saved by actually utilizing leftovers has long since paid for the sealer device and the bags.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally my friend Stacey also recommended a vacuum sealer, which she uses for soups, chilis, and homemade pasta sauces, etc. I'll have to check one out.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Chili is the only thing I can cook (so that people want to eat it, anyway.)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hey, at least you can cook one thing, and chili is a pretty darn good meal.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

People even buy it at our annual chili sale for charity, which stuns me.