I, like probably many of you, managed to do a lot more cooking and therefore improving since COVID started. I have been cooking for at least half my weekly meals since I went out on my own 35 years ago, but it hasn't been until recently that I've felt comfortable winging it in the kitchen outside of stir-fry and pasta-based dishes.
So I thought I'd share today's makeshift lunch as an example of my process and principles, in case anyone else is thinking about making the jump.
First, there are certain things I always have on hand for makeshift meals: brown rice, dry pasta, dry Chinese soup noodles, and frozen meat. I took out a bag of Costco organic drumsticks this morning to thaw. Then at 12:30 when I wanted to eat, I realized I didn't want to wait the usual 35+ minutes to bake them. So this is what I did:
- Turn on the toaster oven to 380 to pre-heat.
- Put a cast iron pan on the gas stove and lit the burner.
- Cut open the bag of drumsticks, washed off two of them, and then sprinkled some Shaloob seasoning (original flavor) on them, rubbing it in all over. I discovered dry rub only about 10 years ago, but it's much easier to use than marinade because there's no soaking time.
- Wrapped the chicken in a paper towel and put them in the microwave for 90 seconds to get the frozen all gone and the inside cooking started.
- During that 90 seconds I put high smoke point oil (sunflower, probably a little more than a tablespoon) in the pan and threw in some pre-minced garlic.
- The pan and oil were almost sear-ready when I threw the chicken in. So that's some time saved by overlapping activities.
- I let them sear, turning every once in a while with tongs, and adding a little more Shaloob.
- After a few minutes of that, the oven was ready and I threw them on an open rack in there. That cut my overall cooking time in about half and the first two cooking stages happened during time I'd have to wait anyway.
- During the 10 minutes or so in the oven, I cut up some onion and threw it in the pan. I used the spatula to make sure all the remaining burned bits got freed from the pan. Then I added some day old steamed brown rice from the fridge, and a cut up cherry tomato that my wife wanted gone. Then I threw in about a tablespoon of butter to add to the flavor and replace the oil.
- Pulled the chicken out of the over, tested it for an internal temperature of at least 165, and then plated everything.
Voila! Ready in less than 20 minutes and delish! The only things that got dirty were the pan, tongs, spatula, fork, plate, and the surface under the chicken while seasoning. I even used my napkin from eating to wipe out the pan and leave it seasoned, which I don't always do. And it was cheap... 50 cents for each drumstick; almost negligible cost for everything else.
I told my wife about it (because I had just invented that strategy to shorten the chicken cooking time) and she thought it should go on a blog. I'm not starting a blog, but I'll add this post to the one I've got!
I didn't think of taking a picture of it, so here's a shot of a steak dinner I made last week with a similar amount of effort, except I marinated it:
I had not learned the proper searing technique until doing this one, but the Internet told me to get the pan as hot as it gets first... so turn it up to 11!
Comments and your stories welcome!
