Saturday, July 25, 2009
SUB-MINIMAL
Someone suggested I take a look at the NYTimes chef Mark Bittman, The Minimalist.
Here is an example of one of his "columns" complete with video.
Simplicity From Spain: Tiny Seafood Pancakes
I know this guy. I do see his videos from time to time. More the ones that have general "hints" to efficiency
I re-learned how to carve a turkey breast from him. You take the breast off the bird whole and then cut it laterally. It works. It does need to rest after removal otherwise the meat will shred.
But the Bittman recipes go beyond my ambition so, if he is the minimalist, I am the sub-minimalist.
The minute I read that the ingredient (in the recipe at the link) is chick pea flour I quit reading. I am not going to do that kind of cooking. Ever.
FIrst of all, despite his assurances, I do not believe that I am going to find this stuff in the desert. Well, maybe I will but I am not going to look for it.
It will be at one of the botique groceries here which I refuse to enter.
Besides, this is a way of eating, hence cooking, that I don't do any more. I have reverted to a meat and potato kind of meal. Basic American with a twist here and there.
My cooking has now been reduced to about ten or twelve standard proteins. Today is poached salmon with my mother's sliced cucumbers (peel then fork grooves on the side, slice thinly, then put in a bowl with a bit of salt, a shot of sugar and a dash of cider vinegar and sit for an hour. I don't do measurements for ingredients) or I could have dill/yogurt dressing on both salmon and cukes but John turns his nose up a bit at that. I sometimes broil the salmon and have peas and new potatoes unadorned. That is three possible uses of the meat. Well, in this case fish.
Pork has two versions--with squash or with apple sauce--premade or sauteed apples and sauerkraut on either. You can brown the sauerkraut in the apple residue Deglazing.
Steak has three versions-three or four bean salad or baked potato or coleslaw.
The entrees are the protein. The side dishes vary you see. There is no room for chickpea flour in this kind of eating.
What are the ten? Let's see. NY Sirloin steak, lean loin pork chops, salmon (our only fish as others are not popular-we take fish oil supplement), turkey breast (smoked cold or, in season, the roasted), chicken in many many forms, turkey burger, turkey sausage and ham, hamburgers, pizza, chili, spaghetti bolognese or the same sauce with macaroni, chili, in winter stew and meatloaf. Sloppy Joes and boughten barbecue.
Each of these have the variations of "sides". I bet I have 30 total dishes with the "side" variations.
Or ingredients. Example. There are three chicken salads in the summer: Chicken Waldorf with apples, raisins and nuts, Chicken Greek with hummus, pita and feta, and chicken ceasar. Or I can have home made chicken soup (canned broth), chicken with noodles, chicken with rice.
You can see that I use a lot of ground beef. Sirloin. 7.5% fat.
That is a consideration, incidentally. Saturated fat. I quit using butter many years ago when John got cholesterol problems and I didn't want any. Now there is a gourmet cooking barrier. Low fat and no butter.
There is a system. I plan all the meals ahead, about 20 at a time. They rotate. I start supper at 4:30 and do the final heat at 5:30. Dinner at 5:45 and the dog and I are out the door at 6:15.
Life in the fast lane.
I think that my gourmet days are over. I don't know when that happened. I think when we moved here. New place. New shopping. Resort lifestyle. Oddly I had more time to cook when I was working. Funny. I am too busy for it now.
Maybe it is geriatric. Loss of taste buds. Lack of interest.
The other day in the Times they had a most emailed article about 100 simple salads. I read the first few and clicked off. They all needed "weird" ingredients or things I wouldn't use for anything else.
Oh another thing about the menu in the Bittman article. Baby shrimp. Please! Spare me.
