Lox, Shiitake and Peas Alfredo for 1

Alfredo Sauce with Extras
1 small shallot
1 clove garlic
7 or 8 fresh shiitakes
4 or 5 thyme sprigs
Splash of white wine
Handful of grated parmesan
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup frozen peas
Handful of sliced lox, about 1/8 a pound

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Parsley

Pasta

A bit of linguine, 2 oz or so dry.

Salted water for boiling

Recipe my own, new job celebrations require cream sauce. 

Set a skillet large enough hold all ingredients to heat to medium. Prep your salted water for cooking the pasta. Dice the shallot, stem and slice the shiitakes. Mince the garlic clove and a bit of parsley and set them aside. Add a bit of olive oil to your now-hot skillet and saute the shallot until softened, 3 minutes or so. Add the shiitake slices and thyme sprigs.

Turn on the pasta water to boil.

Saute the mushrooms until just starting to brown slightly, then add the splash of white wine and reduce until it's almost all evaporated. 

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook until slightly under-done, about a minute less than indicated on the box.

With the pasta cooking and the wine now reduced, add the minced garlic clove and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so. Slowly add the cream and parmesan and cook gently to melt the cheese. Add the peas, salmon and a few grids of pepper. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir to combine. Pick out the thyme sprigs while the whole mixture heats through. 

Plate and top with more parmesan and the minced parsley. 

Orange Beef with Garlicky Chard for 1

Orange Beef

2 oranges

1 clove garlic

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 sirloin or rib-eye steak

1/2 Tbs cornstarch

3 scallions

Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Garlicky Chard

1 bunch rainbow (or regular) chard

2 garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Beef recipe adapted from marthastewart.com. Chard recipe inspired from a recent dinner party given by my friend Sarah. 

Set a skillet heating to medium high. Slice the steak into 1/2 inch strips and wash, trim and roughly slice the chard. Set both aside. Zest and squeeze the juice from 1 of the oranges into a small bowl. Chop all 3 garlic cloves and add 1/3 of them to the juice along with the soy sauce. Segment the other orange, slicing between the membranes over the juice and zest mixture to capture the additional juice. Set the segments aside. 

Toss the beef with the cornstarch, salt and pepper and saute in vegetable oil in your now-hot skillet until just cooked through, 3 minutes or so. The cornstarch will give the beef a nice deep brown color and help thicken the sauce. Chop up the scallions while the beef cooks. Remove the beef from the skillet, turn down the heat a touch and pour in the juice and zest mixture. Reduce the mixture to a light syrup, add the cooked beef, scallions and orange segments and heat through. Pour onto a serving plate.

Rinse and wipe the pan out with a paper towel and return to the heat. Add a bit of olive oil and the remaining chopped garlic. Heat the garlic until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the sliced chard, salt, pepper and a little splash of water or stock (or a stock cube.) Wilt the greens for about 4 or 5 minutes. Plate along with the beef.

Garlicky Clams and Orzo for 1

Clams and Orzo
1 pound manilla clams in shells
2 or 3 oz dry orzo
1 small carrot
1 small celery stalk
1 small shallot
2 garlic cloves
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Splash of white wine
1/2 cup stock, or more to make soupier
Squeeze of lemon juice
Parmesan shavings
Parsley
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Recipe my own invention.

Cover the clams with cold water in a bowl and add a splash of milk to help them spit out their sand. Put a small pot of water on to boil and heat a pan large enough to hold all the clams in their shells, to medium.

With your clams soaking and your pans heating, dice the carrot, celery and shallot into uniform pieces. Saute the vegetables in a bit of olive oil along with the thyme sprigs until softened and just beginning to color. Mince the garlic cloves and add them to the pan until fragrant, 30 seconds or so. Put the orzo in your now-boiling water and set the timer to cook until just underdone.

Add the clams, wine and stock to the pan with the vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover to steam until the clams open, 5 or 6 minutes. Drain the orzo and add it to the pan with the clams. Salt and pepper to taste and remove the thyme sprigs. Squeeze over a bit of lemon juice and top with parmesan shavings and chopped parsley.

Pasta with Shrimp and Bacon, Raspberry Salad for 1

Pasta
Thin spaghetti
6+ ounces raw peeled shrimp
2 or 3 slices of bacon
1 small garlic clove
Scallions
1/2 lemon
Parmesan shavings
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Salad
Mixed greens
Raspberries
Other 1/2 lemon
Olive oil, salt pepper

Recipes my own invention.

For the pasta, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Heat a pan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta. While the pan is heating, cut the bacon into bite size bits. Fry the bacon until crisp and set aside to drain on paper towels. Boil the pasta.

With the pasta going, add the shrimp to the pan with olive oil and saute until about half way cooked through, about a minute. Add the garlic and scallion and saute until fragrant and the shrimp is just cooked through, about another minute or so. If the garlic looks like it may burn, add a bit of the pasta water to the pan to stop any scorching before it starts. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the pan along with the bacon.


Salt and pepper to taste and add a squeeze of lemon. Top with parmesan, using a vegetable peeler to get thick cheese shavings.

For the salad, mix the greens in a bowl using your hands with just a tiny bit of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Top with the berries and serve alongside the pasta.

Chicken, Potatoes, Grape Tomatoes and Shiitakes for 1

Chicken and Veg
3 or 4 various chicken parts
New potatoes
Grape tomatoes
Shiitakes
Rosemary or thyme sprigs
Small lemon
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Recipe my own invention.

Put water on to boil, enough the cover how many potatoes you want. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat another pot over medium high, large enough to hold the chicken parts in a single layer with the vegetables piled over the top.

While the pans and oven heat, prepare the vegetables. Cut the tomatoes in half, stem the mushrooms and thickly slice, remove any blemishes from the potatoes and slice in half.  Cut the lemon into thick rounds.

Combine the tomatoes, lemon, herb sprigs and mushrooms in a bowl and mix in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, enough to lightly coat.

Parboil the potatoes until slightly underdone, 8 minutes or so, depending on the size. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and  pepper to taste. Brown the pieces skin side down in olive oil in your non-potato pan until deep golden brown. Flip the chicken and remove from the heat.

Top the chicken with the potatoes and tomato mixture and roast for about 50 minutes. About half way through cooking, spoon some chicken fat from the pan over the vegetables and shift them around a bit so they have more opportunity to brown.

Remove the herbs and lemon. Slice the chicken and serve the mixed vegetables alongside. There should be just the right amount for dinner and then lunch for the next day.

Egg, Goat Cheese and Toast. Lunch for 1

Cheesy Eggy Toast
1 egg
Goat cheese
1 english muffin
1/2 small garlic clove
Fresh oregano, basil or dill
Butter, salt, pepper

Adapted from smittenkitchen.com.

I know, no meat. Lunch post. Weird. I've been having this everyday for a week and can't get it out of my head. It's simple and satisfying.

Heat a dab of butter in a small pan over medium. Split and toast the english muffin.

Do a tiny dice on the garlic and add it to the pan for about 30 seconds, then crack the egg in. Let the white set almost completely and toss in a few small shreds of the herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. Once the white is set, break the yolk with a spoon and pull the set white in over the broken yolk without completely scrambling, and flip. Take the pan off the heat just before the egg has set through.

Smear goat cheese over the hot english muffin and top with the divided egg.

You could take these ingredients to work. Leave out the garlic, toast the english muffin, microwave the egg in a mug with the herbs for 1 minute, season to taste and assemble. Cheap, fast, yummy.

Poblanos Stuffed with Shrimp, Corn and Goat Cheese with Tomatillo Sauce for 1 or 2

Peppers, Stuffing and Sauce
4 poblanos
1/2 pound shrimp, raw, shell on
2 cloves garlic
5 tomatillos
Cilantro
Lime
3/4 cup corn kernels
Goat cheese
Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Adapted from marthastewart.com.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Roast the peppers for 20 minutes, turn them and roast 10 minutes more. Check them, they may need more time. Remove them when the skin is mostly blackened. Place them in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap and let them sit until cool enough to handle. Peel and seed them.

Peel the shrimp and simmer the shells in enough water to submerge the husked tomatillos. Once the shells have turned bright pink and given up some flavor, skim them from the water and add the tomatillos. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Drain them, and puree in a food processor with the garlic, 3/4 cup of loose cilantro leaves and juice from the lime. Season to taste.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread half the tomatillo mixture into the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold the peppers in a single layer.

Heat a pan to medium with a bit of vegetable oil. Add the corn kernels, remainder of the tomatillo mixture and a generous lump of goat cheese. Again, season to taste. Add the shrimp to the pan at the last minute to combine when the goat cheese is melted.

Place the peppers side by side the baking dish over the sauce. Spoon the corn and shrimp mixture into each pepper and top with more goat cheese crumbles. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Plate and sprinkle around some cilantro leaves.

This yields 2 main dishes, or 4 sides. Or, I like to make it and freeze the rest in portions. It reheats delish.

Lamb Chops with Pistachio Tapenade and Green Mashed Potatoes for 4

Lamb Chops
8 small lamb chops
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Pistachio Tapenade
Zest of 1 lemon
2+ Tbs chopped parsley
1+ Tbs chopped oregano
1 large garlic clove
2 Tbs capers
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/2 cup roasted pistachios
Salt to taste, depending on how salty the pistachios are
Pepper


Green Mashed Potatoes
2 pounds russet potatoes
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk or cream
Dill
Parsley
Salt, pepper

Lamb chops and tapenade adapted from smittenkitchen.com. Potatoes my own.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat a skillet large enough to hold all the chops, or a smaller one that will hold half of them, to medium high. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

While the oven and stove top heat, toast the nuts in a dry pan until fragrant and blend all the tapenade ingredients in a food processor. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the heating water and boil until tender. 15 or so minutes.  

Season the chops with salt and pepper on both sides and sear in a bit of olive oil, all at once or in batches, about 2 minutes a side. Generously smear all the chops on the top side with the tapenade and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the chops from the oven and rest them for 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, put them back in the pot and return them to low heat. Add the butter and milk or cream. Finely dice an entire package of stemmed dill and about 1/2 a bunch of parsley. Add the herbs to the potatoes, stir until mashed and adjust the seasoning.

Steak and Horseradish Sauce with Braised Cabbage

Steak
Lean top sirloin, about 3/4 inch thick
1/3 cup stock
Vegetable oil
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Horseradish Sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp grated horseradish
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Braised Cabbage
1/2 small head of green cabbage
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, or enough to nearly cover the cabbage
1 small leek
1 bay leaf
6+ whole pepper corns
Salt and pepper

Braised cabbage adapted from marthastewart.com. Other recipes my own.

Set a skillet to heat for the steak over medium high.

Put the stock on to boil in a saucepan just large enough to hold the cabbage. Rinse and slice the leek and add it to the stock along with the bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste. Clean and cut the cabbage into wedges and add to the stock mixture. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the now-hot pan and sear until the steak has a nice dark brown color. Flip the meat, reduce the heat to low, low-medium and cover for around 3 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan to rest, turn the heat back up to medium high and add the stock. Reduce the stock with the pan juices until it thickens down to a sauce. Remove the pan from the heat.

Mix the horseradish sauce ingredients. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Red wine vinegar will work in place of lemon juice if preferred.

The cabbage should be just done, remove from the stock with a slotted spoon. Everything done at once! Plate the steak and cabbage, pour the pan sauce over the meat and add the horseradish sauce alongside for dipping.