Cooking for Two... Different Dinners?

I live alone now. So, I only have one gullet to fill but my weekly time constraints are just the same as they have always been: I work Monday to Friday, and when I come home there are myriad things to do in the evenings so I don't want to stand in the kitchen for 3 hours every night. Thus, on the weekend I cook ahead. Seems sensible.

But the last time I made coq au vin, for example, there were 11 pieces of chicken -- thighs come in a 6-pack but legs comes in a 5-pack? -- and it was a lot of coq au vin. That's six plates of chicken which, if I mix it up a little with other ad hoc dinners, takes nearly two weeks to eat. This is too much.

The recent heirloom gazpacho, of course, was completely groovy... a bowl, a ladle, a little drizzle of oil, any festoon that strikes my fancy (or none), and presto! dinner is served. But this plan will not fly all year long, for all the obvious reasons.

Finally, here's the headline question:

Does anybody have any thoughts about how to prep / par-cook for two different recipes at the same time? I don't mind six plates of chicken but I do mind eating the same thing for two weeks in a row. ((I suppose someone here is going to suggest shuckling some of it into the freezer... I just never think of that.))

Am I just not thinking about this the right way? Offhand, I don't see how roasting half of it and braising half of it is anything other than doing two recipes. I'm looking for a way to prepare a partial product that I can then finish in two distinctive ways.

[Jenise]

In your boat of cooking for one, of course. There are nights I cook a real meal, and nights I just eat fruit or leftovers. I get what you mean about leftover coq au vin, but other dishes are more easily repurposed. On Monday night I made a tomato paella. On Tuesday night I mixed some of the rice with sauteed zucchini for a healthy taco filling. And last night I cut off a wedge and broke it into pieces in a non-stick skillet which I then fried until deeply brown on the bottom. Voila, crispy rice! I added a little hot sauce and a cold lemon cucumber salad on the side, and I was in heaven. It never felt like I was eating the same meal, and each one was fun (and quick) to prepare.

I have actually found cooking for one less hard than paring down on the shopping. I buy, and throw away, way too much.

I live alone and so I've always had this very problem. I gravitate towards dishes that reheat and/or freeze well. And fortunately there are a good number if dishes (mostly stews) that are actually better when re-heated.

There are a lot of recipes (coq au vin is one of them) that are designed for cooking a whole chicken. Nowadays one can get packages of chicken parts (I tend to use thighs) and that makes scaling down the recipe easier. But some don't scale down very well. And there is the packaging problem you noted (5 legs per package but 6 thighs).

My solution is to do my cooking in spurts. I'll make different dishes on 3 or 4 consecutive days and then live on the leftovers for a while before cooking anything new again. If I want two different dishes in the same meal, i can reheat portions of two different leftovers in the fridge.

One solution to the packaging problem (5 legs vs. 6 thighs) is to grill that extra thigh and eat it as a meal of its own along with various fixins. Of course that doesn't work very well in the winter.

For me one of the biggest hassles is things like ground pork that seem to always come in oddball-sized packages like 1-1/3 pounds. Just about every recipe calling for ground pork calls for it in 1/2 pound or 1-pound quantities. Which leaves the problem of what to do with that extra 1/3 pound. One solution is to just scale up the recipe, but that can be tedious and sometimes tricky. The other solution I've come up with is to use the extra in Chinese dumplings or wontons. But folding dumplings and wontons is a bit of a PITA.

-Paul W.

... so I don't want to stand in the kitchen for 3 hours every night.

That's your baseline?!!!

Does anybody have any thoughts about how to prep / par-cook for two different recipes at the same time? I don't mind six plates of chicken but I do mind eating the same thing for two weeks in a row..

I don't eat meat, so it may be slightly different. But, I come home from the office every day to cook lunch and I want it to be fast. So my basic principle is that I have some pre-cooked/fast-cooking proteins (like beans/lentils/tofu/eggs) and some pre-cooked carbohydrate from the night(s) before (potatoes, grains, pasta, etc). Then I just need to slice and quickly cook the vegetables, which adds variation, and the pantry elements that add different flavors so you don't get bored. I usually need less than 10 minutes to cook these lunches, and they are much better than anything available in the restaurants/shops.

So if you have pre-cooked chicken, one day you add spice direction x, the next day you add spice direction y.

... so I don't want to stand in the kitchen for 3 hours every night.

That's your baseline?!!!

By the time I wash my hands, pull out a knife and a cutting board and a bowl and a pan, then ingredients from fridge and cupboards, wash or peel or shuck those things, chop, set the table (now that I know what's coming), cook it or them, serve it forth, eat, clean up... yeah, two hours minimum.

So if you have pre-cooked chicken, one day you add spice direction x, the next day you add spice direction y.

OK, so my eyes see this sentence as: don't make recipes but convert raw ingredients into ready-to-use ingredients. Certainly doable for many things; kinda excludes doing grand works but addresses the immediate problem.

My solution is to do my cooking in spurts. I'll make different dishes on 3 or 4 consecutive days and then live on the leftovers for a while before cooking anything new again. If I want two different dishes in the same meal, i can reheat portions of two different leftovers in the fridge.

OK, this addresses the lack-of-variety problem, but more leftovers likely means more wasted food. (I occasionally wait too long on that last plate of whatever... the fennel was not supposed to be green in quite that way....)

For me one of the biggest hassles is things like ground pork that seem to always come in oddball-sized packages like 1-1/3 pounds. Just about every recipe calling for ground pork calls for it in 1/2 pound or 1-pound quantities. Which leaves the problem of what to do with that extra 1/3 pound. One solution is to just scale up the recipe, but that can be tedious and sometimes tricky. The other solution I've come up with is to use the extra in Chinese dumplings or wontons. But folding dumplings and wontons is a bit of a PITA.

Funny, this sort of thing doesn't trouble me at all. If I can't just toss it into the recipe at hand, I season all the extra and make a little patty and fry it up. There'll be something with a sauce soon, or just a sandwich lunch, or if I go wild with sage then it's breakfast sausage.

...other dishes are more easily repurposed. On Monday night I made a tomato paella. On Tuesday night I mixed some of the rice with sauteed zucchini for a healthy taco filling. And last night I cut off a wedge and broke it into pieces in a non-stick skillet which I then fried until deeply brown on the bottom. Voila, crispy rice! I added a little hot sauce and a cold lemon cucumber salad on the side, and I was in heaven. It never felt like I was eating the same meal, and each one was fun (and quick) to prepare.

OK, so my eyes see here: I should try recipes that have a starch built into them. A large number of my recipes do not include a starch. For example, right now I have in the fridge the last portion of boneless thighs that got a simple pan-fry but sitting in a lemony cream sauce with leek, spinach, and mushroom.

I have actually found cooking for one less hard than paring down on the shopping. I buy, and throw away, way too much.

I'm very careful about that. I do not buy a whole lotta fresh stuff at once, unless I have a meal idea in mind. Anyway, stuff like celery and carrots are pretty durable... what things are going bad on you?

[
OK, so my eyes see this sentence as: don't make recipes but convert raw ingredients into ready-to-use ingredients. Certainly doable for many things; kinda excludes doing grand works but addresses the immediate problem.

Yes, I suppose it depends on your style of cooking. I don't think in terms of recipes. I think in terms of ingredients and flavors first and foremost, then incorporate them into specific dishes and balanced meals. Although you were the one who said you didn't have time for grand works!

Hm. You're not reading carefully. The problem, broadly said, is too much grand works.

And your language of 'incorporation' and 'balance' is a gloss over the fact that, ultimately, you cut things up, you season them, you admix them in a cooking vessel... you know... the steps of a recipe.

And your language of 'incorporation' and 'balance' is a gloss over the fact that, ultimately, you cut things up, you season them, you admix them in a cooking vessel... you know... the steps of a recipe.

Sure. There's a recipe for everything.

But it seems like you organize your cooking around recipes on the front end, saying "I want coq au vin" or "I want gazpacho"? Whereas for me, the recipe is the final stage.

I organize my weekly cooking around the proteins. 14 meals, so I want to spread out where the eggs, fish, cheese, tofu, beans/lentils will occur. (Plus the chicken/meat for my son) After deciding the protein for a given meal, I then balance out the carbohydrate and vegetables, based on various factors, and then work towards the specific dish/recipe.

This approach lends itself well to the system I described earlier, where I often have things on hand that can be seasoned different ways for a quick lunch. Which is what you asked about in your original post. But YMMV.

I've been cooking for one for 4 years now. I cook for the week on Saturday. All my posts on here are done on Saturday mornings, so you might pick up some suggestions. You can always make a soup, tacos, or whatever from the main meal, but usually I can now judge just how much I am going to eat. I love doing it this way. If I have anything left over at the end of the week, it goes for lunches.

Some random thoughts, none really answering your question (partial prep for 2 different recipes). Sorry!
:
I really do think you should start thinking about freezing portions immediately! I'd much rather have coq au vin 3 weeks in a row rather than 3 times in a week.

Another option might be things like roasting a whole chicken on baby potatoes, then making chicken quesadillas/tacos/burrittos, potato salad to have with another meal, etc. Could do same with a pork tenderloin or beef roast.

When Betsy is gone for a couple weeks I still cook almost every night. But I never spend 2 (much less 3) hours! Seafood is of course easy to do quickly, and a grill is your friend for quick (does your new place have a balcony or garden?). East Asian cooking is also often easy to do fast (and you could prep some- though not all- veggies for stirfrys on weekend).

PS By legs I'm assuming you mean drumsticks (I think of legs as drumstick/thigh combos)? We usually just do thighs, or do a whole chicken and just add the breasts towards end.

[regarding the issue of ground pork being packaged such that there is extra left over after using it in a recipe]

Funny, this sort of thing doesn't trouble me at all. If I can't just toss it into the recipe at hand, I season all the extra and make a little patty and fry it up. There'll be something with a sauce soon, or just a sandwich lunch, or if I go wild with sage then it's breakfast sausage.

For some reason it never occurred to me to make a patty out of it and fry it up. D'oh! I will definitely be doing that.

I did consider freezing it but my freezer's full already--no room for bits of ground pork.

-Paul W.

I really do think you should start thinking about freezing portions immediately! I'd much rather have coq au vin 3 weeks in a row rather than 3 times in a week.

Yes, I think this is a good approach.

I have read often around here -- "Oh, look! Primordial ooze soup! I didn't know I still had that!" -- so how does one avoid that? (very orderly type here) Nobody, but nobody, talks about bookkeeping for their freezer.

Another option might be things like roasting a whole chicken on baby potatoes, then making chicken quesadillas/tacos/burrittos, potato salad to have with another meal, etc. Could do same with a pork tenderloin or beef roast.

OK, good, that is on-topic, by the way.

Seafood is of course easy to do quickly, and a grill is your friend for quick (does your new place have a balcony or garden?).

My best day for seafood shopping is Saturday. This is where the freezer comes in, again, so I can hold things till Wednesday.

No balcony. The building roof is gravel so, in theory, I could buy a hibachi (or a disposable charcoal thingy) but that's not making anything quicker. At my old address, if I fired up the charcoal, I made 4 or 5 dinners at a time on it.

PS By legs I'm assuming you mean drumsticks

Yes, sorry for the casual avian anatomy.

Typically, if I buy a whole bird, I roast it like that; I don't break it down myself, no matter how many Jacques Pepin videos I watch.

I have read often around here -- "Oh, look! Primordial ooze soup! I didn't know I still had that!" -- so how does one avoid that? (very orderly type here) Nobody, but nobody, talks about bookkeeping for their freezer.

We need to do an update, but we keep a typed list on our freezer with 2 columns - cooked (portions of mealls, frozen dumplings, soups, Bolognese,etc) and uncooked (meats, shrimp. bacon, guanciale/pancetta, etc.). Always have chicken and shrimp stock, don't usually list.

My best day for seafood shopping is Saturday. This is where the freezer comes in, again, so I can hold things till Wednesday.

No balcony. The building roof is gravel so, in theory, I could buy a hibachi (or a disposable charcoal thingy) but that's not making anything quicker. At my old address, if I fired up the charcoal, I made 4 or 5 dinners at a time on it.

While I like charcoal, gas grill is an incredible convenience for quick start. little cleanup, etc.

You can always get black cod and put in miso marinade for a few days.
While my favorite purveyor is at weekend market, we have a good monger in Ardsley (neighboring town) that I drive by often,

[Jenise]

Jeff, I too am a bit flummoxed by your three-hour defense. Would you say you're a slow cook? Or perhaps a sequential cook (one task at a time, one after another). I'm very fast and can have a dozen processes going at once. And I'm rarely working from a recipe so there's nothing to stop and read between steps. I suss out the long-lead items, get that/those started and then start the rest. I can have chicken thighs in a vermouth/cream/shitake mushroom sauce with braised fennel and a green salad starter ready to eat in 45 minutes--all fresh ingredients, nothing pre-cooked.

I just got a whole heirloom chicken ready to roast for dinner, though now that we're talking about coq au vin, I want that instead. Way too much for one person, but I'll enjoy the cold chicken in lunches and eventually make stock out of the bones.

I have read often around here -- "Oh, look! Primordial ooze soup! I didn't know I still had that!" -- so how does one avoid that? (very orderly type here) Nobody, but nobody, talks about bookkeeping for their freezer.

This made me laugh. I have a bunch of Unidentified Frozen Objects in my freezer. Most of them are gravy, braising liquid, or skimmed-off fat from yummy dishes that I wanted to save and use later in some other dish. They are of course unlabeled and aside from the schmaltz saved from red-cooked chicken (which I use as the fat for preparing more red-cooked chicken) I haven't a clue nowadays as to what the UFOs are. In order to make room for frozen tasso, I recently tossed a quart or so of Chinese spiced master stock (lushui) that's been in the freezer for a year or so.

I've taken to writing notes on the freezer bags saying what's inside. But these tend to rub off.

-Paul W.

I suss out the long-lead items, get that/those started and then start the rest..

I think this is key, but not everyone has the same approach to logistics.

If I'm pressed for time, I walk in the door with a plan. Wash my hands and immediately start the longest process (rice in the cooker, potatoes in oven, water on stove to boil) before unpacking bags, changing clothes, etc.

Not sure about Jeff, but not everyone operates that way. My wife is the type to slowly settle in after coming home, then open the refrigerator and start thinking about what she will cook.

Since I started out cooking Chinese stir-fries, my knee-jerk tendency is to do a complete mise-en-place up front. I've been getting better over time at planning so that things are done in parallel when possible.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I'm very careful about that. I do not buy a whole lotta fresh stuff at once, unless I have a meal idea in mind. Anyway, stuff like celery and carrots are pretty durable... what things are going bad on you?

I buy stuff with no meal plan. I want a variety of items at my fingertips--stores are too far away. I just end up buying more than a week's worth, or at least I buy like I'm going to be home every night where in fact I'm out three nights out of seven. And I can't resist pretty stuff. I buy three melons then only eat one before driving past a fruit stand (there are dozens of them all around me) and see another pretty melon and buy it. In my fridge right now: 3 melons, 12 vine ripened tomatoes and six ears of corn. But there's only me to eat all that. That's what I mean by over-buying.

I've taken to writing notes on the freezer bags saying what's inside. But these tend to rub off.

It can happen, but helps if you
a) use a fine tip sharpie
b) label bag while flat and empty and give it a couple minutes before it goes in freezer
for hard containers blue painters tape works well

Also, if you have a list, can make deciphering much easier (oh, yes, that's the beef stock with ginger and shoyu). We basically label everything except chicken stock (if no label, it's chicken)

And I can't resist pretty stuff. I buy three melons then only eat one before driving past a fruit stand (there are dozens of them all around me) and see another pretty melon and buy it...

I'm sort of like that. Especially this time of year when there are so many tempting things to buy, even though I'm generally pretty good with sticking to budgets/needs, etc.

The other thing that keeps me in a surplus of fruit and produce is that I want to support all the farmers on my regular list. So when they're all at peak, it's tough to triage!

We need to do an update, but we keep a typed list on our freezer with 2 columns - cooked (portions of mealls, frozen dumplings, soups, Bolognese,etc) and uncooked (meats, shrimp. bacon, guanciale/pancetta, etc.). Always have chicken and shrimp stock, don't usually list.

OK, good to know I'm not the only crazy person considering this.

You can always get black cod and put in miso marinade for a few days.

Well, yes.

Jeff, I too am a bit flummoxed by your three-hour defense. Would you say you're a slow cook? Or perhaps a sequential cook (one task at a time, one after another). I'm very fast and can have a dozen processes going at once. And I'm rarely working from a recipe so there's nothing to stop and read between steps.

Reading is not a time-consuming process.

But I don't do a lot of things in parallel. I'm probably being very nitpicky about completing every step just exactly to my liking.

Remember that my time estimate also includes all the washing up.

"Primordial ooze soup!"

This made me laugh. I have a bunch of Unidentified Frozen Objects in my freezer. Most of them are gravy, braising liquid, or skimmed-off fat from yummy dishes that I wanted to save and use later in some other dish.

I keep that sort of thing in the fridge, until I either use it or discard it. Stuff like gravy needs to be used soon but stuff like tuna oil can wait for months, don't you think?

If I'm pressed for time, I walk in the door with a plan. Wash my hands and immediately start the longest process (rice in the cooker, potatoes in oven, water on stove to boil) before unpacking bags, changing clothes, etc.

Not sure about Jeff, but not everyone operates that way. My wife is the type to slowly settle in after coming home, then open the refrigerator and start thinking about what she will cook.

Hm, I think I'm more with your wife on this one.

Since I started out cooking Chinese stir-fries, my knee-jerk tendency is to do a complete mise-en-place up front.

I always do the full mise-en-place. It helps me to remember everything! Otherwise, I occasionally come to a step where the prep is unexpectedly way longer than I'd like it to be.


Jeff

I always do the full mise-en-place. It helps me to remember everything! Otherwise, I occasionally come to a step where the prep is unexpectedly way longer than I'd like it to be.

There are a lot of Sichuan dishes where hot bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, and/or dried hot chiles are fried briefly (less than 30 seconds) in oil, just until they become aromatic, and then other things such as soy sauce are added. It is vitally important that the bean paste/peppercorns/chiles don't burn. There is no time to measure out the soy sauce/whatever. You must have it all ready to go or the dish will be ruined.

One thing I always do in parallel, though, is cooking the rice. While the rice is having its 15-minute simmer I will do the mise-en-place for everything else.

-Paul W.