Intro to the Intro: Guys, I'm sorry for falling off the face of the blogosphere! Now, with two months of (willful) unemployment post college graduation on the horizon, I have more than enough time to devote to the blog. I have a backlog of pieces and topics I want to chat about and am excited to get started again! This post has been wallowing in my drafts folder for months. Enjoy!
Reflections on Being Off Meal Plan: This year is the first time I've been responsible for procuring/preparing my own food for an extended period of time. I quickly realized that real life is not like a Food Network TV show. One does not just "whip up" a 20 ingredient dish; first, its doubtful that one (okay, me) even has all the ingredients on hand, second, what is one supposed to do with the rest of the parsley after adding a tablespoon to the sauce? Chopping takes a long time, it is not just a quick take away shot before a commercial break. Cooking a meal doesn't end when the credits roll, normal people have to wash all the pots and pans... and while a food processor may make it incredibly easy to make pesto, it is incredibly annoying to clean.
Reflections on Being Off Meal Plan: This year is the first time I've been responsible for procuring/preparing my own food for an extended period of time. I quickly realized that real life is not like a Food Network TV show. One does not just "whip up" a 20 ingredient dish; first, its doubtful that one (okay, me) even has all the ingredients on hand, second, what is one supposed to do with the rest of the parsley after adding a tablespoon to the sauce? Chopping takes a long time, it is not just a quick take away shot before a commercial break. Cooking a meal doesn't end when the credits roll, normal people have to wash all the pots and pans... and while a food processor may make it incredibly easy to make pesto, it is incredibly annoying to clean.
These are some of the dishes I go back to again and again (except for #1, which I just tried today). As a somewhat lazy and busy college student with no expected income for at least another 4 years, I put a big emphasis on quick and easy dishes that require minimal ingredients and minimal clean-up later. The deliciousness:effort ratio also needs to be pretty high. All of these dishes have passed the test!
1. English Muffin French Toast! (Food.com): Loyal FTW,G readers, all English muffins are not created equal. The most delicious (yet affordable) ones I have come across are Bays. They are a bit more expensive than Thomas' but infinitely more delicious (I am certain that Case in Point would approve of my thorough analysis of the breakfast bread space). They don't have that cheap and crumbly faux bagel-ness of Thomas' muffins, or the glorified sandwich bread-ness of Whole Foods muffins; instead they have a really delicious yeasty quality (yeasty doesn't make them sound great; perhaps "tangy" is more delicious sounding?) and a great chewy texture that warrant English muffins their own niche in the breakfast bread space. They are the perfect snack or on-the-go breakfast! (Also, they are on sale at East Side this week! Buy a lot and freeze them! (I posted this two months late... I am sure they will eventually go on sale again...))
| A chimera! from Wikipedia |
I normally just put them in the toaster for a bit and then slather on butter but I saw a recipe on the back of the muffin box this morning for French Toast English Muffins and thought it was an inspired combination! It is indeed delicious! I think the problem with normal French Toast (in the experience of an inexperience French toast maker) is that often times the bread used is not substantial enough to handle the egg batter and pan flippage. The bread dries out pretty easily and is too crumbly to stay intact. Quality muffins solve these issues. Because English muffins only have one open face and are pretty thick, surface area:volume related moisture-loss issues that plague ordinary sandwich bread are minimized. Also, their smaller diameter makes them easier for normal people to flip without toast disintegration.
I didn't actually use the specific recipe I linked to but there is not a lot of deviation in french toast recipes. I added some vanilla extract to the mix and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top.
| Truly haute fusion cuisine! |
2. Parmesan Roasted Broccoli -Barefoot Contessa (Food Network, 2008): Ina adds a lot of things that are delicious but not necessary for a normal week night iteration of this dish. Pine nuts and julienned fresh basil are nice and all, but not worth it if time is an issue. There is a lot of wiggle room in this recipe: the main things to take away are: preheat the oven to 425 F, drizzle olive oil, garlic, and some salt and pepper on the broccoli, put it in the oven for 10 minutes, take it out and toss it around, put it back in for another 10ish minutes, and then throw in some lemon juice and Parmesan (I use Pecorino Romano... I would say cheese is optional though) and serve! To make it super easy, I buy the big 5 pound bag of pre-washed pre-cut broccoli (and pre-minced garlic... look the other way, Alice Waters). The time I spend actively preparing this is probably around 3 minutes, tops.
The true magic of this dish though (for college students like me, at least) is
