Getting back to basics in a new (old) way

I am not talking about the kind of menus you have seen in recent years on the Food Network, or in those “Food Porn” coffee table books and magazines. I am talking about such basics as roasting a whole chicken. The proliferation of rotisserie take-out chickens in almost every grocery store and specialty market has made this particular skill all but extinct. Few consumers know that a chicken roasted in your own oven can be on the table in less than an hour, and is more flavorful, not to mention less expensive than a store-bought bird. The real plus is that your leftovers are juicier, fresher, and a lot less salty, as the cook can control the seasoning, the cooking time and the holding time. And, unlike boneless, skinless chicken parts, you have the wonderful carcass to freeze for making soup or stock.

 

Looking at the cost of frozen entrees the other day, I was reminded that I could make up a batch of lasagna or macaroni and cheese, like my mother used to do; enjoying a hot meal one evening, and freezing individual portions for lunches and quick suppers later on. Again, the total cost is less than half of the frozen entrée, not to mention avoiding all that packaging. Recently, I had small chunks of various cheeses left over in the refrigerator, plus the last of a tub of Point Reyes Blue Cheese Dip and Dressing. While the penne boiled, I whipped up a quick roux of olive oil and flour, added low fat milk and the cheese, and simmered until thickened. Draining the pasta, I sprayed olive oil into four ramekins, mixed the pasta and cheese sauce and filled them up to the rim. I topped each ramekin with a handful of panko crumbs and another spritz of olive oil and baked them until golden brown. Even my husband couldn’t argue that this was an all-around better choice than a Lean Cuisine Macaroni and Cheese. If you want more variety, toss in a few cooked broccoli florets with the pasta and sauce and you have a meal.

 

This winter, we have made a habit of purchasing a medium vegetable box every other week from Noyo Hill Farm here in Fort Bragg. John Richardson and Joanne Frazier farm the hillside behind her childhood home overlooking the fishing harbor (www.noyohillfarm.com). Every time I drive over the bridge into town, I take a moment to look over at the compact but verdant fields, often dotted with sheep. The sheep are a new addition, and are used for weed control and brush removal, interestingly enough, far more efficient than a weed whacker, and are a favorite of local children. In finding easy and healthy ways to integrate these vegetables in our weeknight meals, I have come to depend on two or three simple recipes. If I have a little time on my hands, I can slice or dice the vegetables for a risotto. Augmented with a little of my homemade chicken broth, produced every couple of months from the bones and trimmings of the earlier mentioned roasted chickens and frozen in pint and half pint sizes, the chard, fennel and kale are transformed into warm and creamy goodness. If I am in a hurry, I rely on roasting, particularly for root vegetables. By cutting them into bite sized pieces, tossing with olive oil and my choice of seasoning, and roasting for about 15-20 minutes in a 400F oven, even turnips are transformed into sweet and savory bites, with the most wonderful caramelized and crusty outer surfaces. Drizzled with Stella Cadente Blood Orange olive oil, they taste just like candy. Another quick method is to blanch the greens or other vegetables in a large pot of vigorously boiling water; and when tender, immediately plunge into a sink full of ice water to stop the cooking process and preserve the vibrant color. They are then drained and sautéed in olive oil in a very hot pan with seasonings like fennel seed or lemon juice, until the greens are wilted or until the pieces are lightly blistered. I served some chard and sweet onions prepared this way the other night, topped with leftover butternut squash ravioli from the freezer and a little brown butter and pint nuts on top.

 

I know that cooking at home on a regular basis seems like a chore to those accustomed to take out or restaurant meals. However, in our house, dinner has become a time where we have a chance to catch up on the day’s events. Not only when we sit down to eat, but while I am in the kitchen, preparing the meal. The center of our house is open, with the living area and kitchen seemingly in the same room. Preparation generally takes less than an hour, as the pantry is well stocked with the building blocks of weekday meals. If we are truly exhausted, or have only a short time to prepare and eat a meal, there are a few trusted items in the freezer. More often than not, there are also abundant leftovers from the weekend soups or other more labor intensive meals that can be reheated or combined to make a quick feast. No matter how rushed we are, it somehow takes the edge off to sit down to a home-cooked meal together before moving on to the evening’s activities.

 

The key to easy and quick weeknight meals is planning. Every time you see a recipe in a magazine or in the paper that looks good, clip it out, use a highlighter pen to mark the ingredients that you do not normally keep on hand, and stick the recipe in a sheet protector in a binder. When you have a bit of time on your hands; especially before you make up the week’s grocery list; glance through the book and pick out one or two recipes to try for that week. Then you are all set to add the necessary items to your list, along with regular weekly staples. After that, do a quick inventory of your pantry, and replenish those items as well. I have found if I do this every week, I am able to spread the purchase of larger-sized pantry staples over several weeks instead of slamming the budget all at one time. I also avoid the inevitable case of reaching for an empty jar of mayonnaise or mustard in the midst of recipe preparation, or putting off trying a new recipe altogether because I never have all the ingredients.

 

While I am at the grocery store, I keep an eye out for special discounts, but I always try to imagine what I will cook with an item before I put it in my cart. That way, I don’t buy something I will never use, just because it is on sale. If one of my weekly regulars is on special, I think about what else I have to buy that week, and if it makes sense, I buy another week’s worth at the lower price. Since I shop on my local grocer’s “double ad day,” which bridges the two weeks’ ad specials, I can usually get up to four weeks’ supply of these items at a discounted price in two weeks’ shopping trips. A real find are the meat “specials,” which are usually just a good as the full-priced item, just a little closer to their sell-by date. Since I am shopping either for that week or for the freezer, this date does not present a problem and the meat is often as much as 50% off for a less popular cut like short ribs or shoulder lamb chops. I stay away from ground meat specials unless I know I am cooking it that night, as they are usually more perishable than whole cuts. The only exception is the ground bison that I purchase in vacuum sealed packages, as it arrives at the store frozen and is kept in the freezer to ensure freshness. On the subject of frozen meats, individually quick frozen (IQF) items such as chicken tenders and shrimp are usually much higher quality than “fresh” as often the “fresh” product is defrosted from frozen bulk packaging at the store. These are some of the few items I purchase in quantity at a warehouse store, and keep in the chest freezer to use as needed. Most come in heavy resealing zip top plastic bags just for this reason. The added plus with IQF chicken, is that it is already brined for freezing, and always cooks up plump and juice. Just watch the added salt in your recipe if you are monitoring your sodium intake. Try the old restaurant kitchen trick and defrost them in minutes in a large tub of cold water, with the faucet trickling in to keep the water rotating through the container. It avoids those overcooked patches that always result from defrosting in the microwave.

 

My four foot chest freezer is one of my biggest allies when it comes to cooking and eating on a budget. My mother had a giant one that you could hide a body in, and it was always full of a variety of goodies, including day-old donut holes that she would buy from the local bakery and save for Sunday school snacks. My pantry freezer contains not only the building blocks of my weekday meals, but seasonal treats such as roasted summer Gypsy peppers, flash frozen and packaged in zip bags for use all winter long, most the local berries I pick at the end of the summer, two-packs of locally made sausages for quick suppers or breakfasts, and shredded cheeses, also in zip bags. Top it all off with restaurant-style two-pack bags of my husband’s favorite sandwich bread (bought every other month at the warehouse store), and the little freezer remains full and efficient all year long. One year, I even oven roasted a whole case of tomatoes, and stored them for winter pasta sauces. Sometimes I make a game out of reaching into the freezer on a Saturday morning, and preparing a dinner based on what ever I happen to pull up from the bottom of the pile, usually short ribs or bone-in pork shoulder. Either one makes a great slow-cooked dish, and usually produces versatile leftovers for the week to come.

 

If I were to impart just one bit of wisdom to those returning to the kitchen, either after a long hiatus or for the first time; I would say that they have the opportunity to turn this into a practice that will nurture them and their families from this day forward. We all remember that there is no comfort like a home-cooked meal, even something as simple as heating up a bowl of soup or spreading butter on a piece of warm toasted crusty bread.. Cooking allows me to be present in the moment, conscious of my every action, and reverent of the time and energy that went into producing the foods from which I craft a meal. When I do this, the value goes far beyond just saving pennies in the household budget. It allows me to connect to a greater sense to time and place, as other families sit down to the table across the world. For this moment, we have our daily bread and are grateful.