Cooking for yourself

*This is  repost of the original from April 25, 2012 that was taken offline in a flurry of spam frustration. Oops. Here it is again.*
As Remi has been away for the past day and a half, I have been thinking about what it is that I like to cook when I am cooking for one = me! Admittedly, most of the time when he is away from home, I put the kitchen in shut down mode. We cook in this house and because we both work from home that means two meals a day. Now lunch is usually of the salad variety but that can still require a lot of preparations, so it can do me a bit of good to just subsist on casse-croute, picking at bits of this and that.
The first evening I eyed the (albeit home-made) leftover pizza. Certainly that was the obvious option. But it just wasn’t ringing the tummy bell. What about that bunch of broccoli that was languishing in the veggie bin? The one that I had bought even though Remi doesn’t like it? Allez-hop! Now or never time. So I decided to make a pasta, arrabbiata-style. Why? Because, with the addition of a couple squirts of smoky harissa paste, I could make it as spicy as I wanted! As some of you might know, the French by and large (excuse the generalization) are not into culinary heat. Not so for this girl who used to go the East Village Indian guys so that she could gleefully cry into her curry. Another bonus? As the smoochee was nowhere to be seen I could spike my tomato sauce with as much garlic as I could see fit. And not just any garlic but le nouveau ail, the fresh variety, which frankly, I am addicted to. I can eat it raw like bonbons, just like some of the local old-timers do. A sauté of le bacon (think Canadian), yellow onions, fresh flowering thyme (a luxury in itself), herbs de Provence, red wine (I just happened to have some in hand, quelle surprise) and it all came together into just exactly the taste that I wanted. No photos because, even if I did think about it, it was in my belly too fast.
Not so the next day when I redid the same adventure for lunch. What do I want? Two other banned ingredients came to mind: red cabbage and raw pois chiches or chick peas. I added a little extra laitue that was on its last leaves, tuna, roasted peppers, shredded carrots, Trader Joe’s salt-free 21 Season Salute (why oh why aren’t there TJ’s here? Why?) plus a simple vinaigrette. It took me back to when I was a young ‘un living in NYC and I ate this salad all the time so I had the added contentment of memories à la Proust with each munch.  
Not that Remi is a food dictator, not in the least and he is more than patient with my no goes of beef, les abats and frog’s legs (I have done it but no they don’t really taste like chicken). True, he is the real chef in the family and is not afraid of attempting anything. Petits paquets de coquille St. Jacques au foie gras et bacon avec une reduction d’homard? Bring it on! I am just the comfort food girl, as you can well see. But it was really lovely to be a little selfish in my preparation and it got me wondering, what are your favorite tastes? The ones that you go to time and again for a little boost? That are “yours”?

39 comments

  2. I certainly won't because I am exactly the same! I actually turned down going with him so that I could stay at home and watchy a girly film in peace!!

  3. Well, I have "dinner alone food" when hubby and I are apart: a tofu burger with steamed vegetables. Oh, and I watch chick flicks. Sometimes I look forward to him travelling just so I can eat so simply and sniffle while I watch stupid movies but don't tell him!

  4. Well, great! But really please understand two things: I am NOT a fancy cook at all and remember that I am not working right now!! So I really have the luxury of asking "hmm, what sounds good tonight?" and the time to go to the outdoor market to see what is on offer–and they are open all year 'round. Which helps! But we have our basics too–roasted chicken, salmon, pasta and my pizza are all staples, nearly once a week! And you see? They aren't fancy!! But hopefully yummy. THAT is my goal. Even if it is a pizza, I will still sauté the sausage in fennel, trim some sun-dried tomatoes and grate some mozza to top a bit of ricotta. 🙂
    Bon weekend, copine.

  5. Oh, David. I haven't heard that song in so long and it really was a balm to my soul!
    The essence of beautiful…

  6. Okay, well I'm a bit late to this party, but Heather, I love it when you talk food! Clearly, I'm not even in the minor leagues when it comes to cooking. But I do aspire to cook like you do.

    And I have to chime in about those parsnips. Our local organic farm is just getting ready to open for the season. But they do have a few things out on the porch that you can buy using the honor system.

    The wintered-over parsnips are pretty amazing. Just the right amount of sweetness gained from sitting underground all winter long. I love to puree them with a bit of butter or just cut them up and roast them with a chicken or turkey.

    But, as I said, my repertoire is limited and I tend to rely on recipes, which is kind of amateurish. Also, how do people figure out what to eat every night of the week? I get bored with the same things, yet I never spend the time to come up with a more interesting plan. For example, both husband and I are now home from work, both tired, and we're going for the leftover pizza. And this time its not even homemade — though I do make an excellent pizza crust.

    So you all have inspired me to work on this!

  7. P.S. #4444587:

    I forgot to add that the actual name of the restaurant is "Kim Son"…..not that they ever use anything but the intitials…..

    —-david

  8. Well, Heather….I think I'm a bit older than you, given that you were lucky enough to have delayed arriving on the scene until the "late 80's and early 90's".

    "KS" was short (so to speak) for Karposi's Sarcoma…which (like pneumocystis) was just one of those 2 or 3 things which "normal" healthy adults don't "get". Once it was diagnosed (which never took more than a day or a minute of clinical observation), you pretty much knew what road you and/or your friend was going down. Things changed, later on, of course; I'm speaking of the early Reagan years. I'm one of those extraordinarily "lucky" folks who wonder why I never caught so much as a cold and am still (having lost a boatload of friends in the early 80's) here.

    that said?…it's a bit weird to go to a vietnamense restaurant whose facade LARGELY displays a neon sign which reads "K.S! Come Enjoy!".

    I like their spring rolls, but I've got to admit that this olde queene shudders just a little bit everytime I go through the front door of the joint….

    —-david terry

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Protected by CleanTalk Anti-Spam