In greased glass baking dish (may need two) Roast for around one hour at 350 any combination of:

One onion or leek
piece of peeled ginger
a few carrots
about 2 lbs butternut squash
a clove of garlic
2 peeled apples

Remove from oven when squash can be pierced with a fork.

Scoop out squash and put all the veggies in a stockpot. You may want to just set it on the counter and let it cool.

Add chicken or vegetable stock while you puree roasted veggies with an immersion blender until desired consistency. Sometimes, if I only have a little stock I also add water. Salt to taste.

Freeze, put in fridge, or serve immediately. You may want to add a bit of butter when heating it up. Also good served with a swirl of cream.

i grew up in the states but my parents are korean; the quick, staple food has always been prepared in advance, stored, and available for days afterwards: rice in the rice cooker, kimchee in jars you keep refrigerated and eat cold, seasoned tiny anchovies fried in soy sauce and sesame oil similarly stored and eaten cold, shredded dried squid fried in a korean corn-syrup and hot pepper paste, dried salted seaweed, seasoned bean sprouts, seasoned spinach, pickled cucumbers….

the most basic meals would simply be a mix and match according to the day’s preference and warm bowl of rice. more elaborate would involve actually cooking for the evening, whether hot soups or meats.

random reference – if interested, this woman is an expert on authentic homemade korean food:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Maangchi?ob=1

cheers

The curry costs me a handful of dollars and lasts for several days. I’ve taken the leftovers and made sandwiches (it congeals nicely when cold) or mixed it with rice and fried up some croquets.

The oden is for winter, it really warms you up. I have a clay pot, fill it with water add kombu, dashi, dried shitake mushrooms, sake and some mirin and let it simmer to make an awesome stock. After a while I take out the kombu and mushrooms, slice them up and put them back in the pot with some protein and thickly sliced daikon radish. Now you just add some leafy veggies, fish cakes and you have yourself a hot stew/soup to fight the cold winter nights.

A simple grilled veal chop over arugula seasoned with a balsamic vinegar reduction is an easy and impressive weekday dinner.

I made grilled veal chops for my wife on one of our first dates. I think that’s one of the reasons she married me!

I prefer a French cut Rib Chop but the Loin Chop is a little less costly and easier to find.

INGREDIENTS
2 veal chops
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 bag of Baby Arugula

Place the chops in a shallow baking dish. Mix together the garlic, rosemary, lemon and olive oil. Pour over the chops. Turn the chops to make certain both sides are coated. Cover and refrigerate for about 1-2 hours (a little longer if time permits)

Place balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan and reduce by 1/2. Place arugula in a mixing bowl. Add the balsamic reduction and toss well.

Heat grill, grill pan or skillet. Sprinkle both sides of chops with salt and pepper. Place on hot grill and cook about 5 minutes per side for medium rare.

Let the chops rest for a few minutes before plating.

Place half the arugula in the center of each plate then place a veal chop on top.

You can also reserve the balsamic reduction and drizzle it over the veal and arugula after plating.

A lemon vinaigrette can be used in place of the Balsamic reduction, also. Combine 2 tsp fresh lemon juice with 4 tbl olive oil, add to the arugula and toss well.

I think about the staples we relied upon in my childhood. My brother, sister, and I joke often about the meals we had growing up. We had A, B, modified B, and occasionally C.

A was london broil. Usually with potatoes and green beans. London broil was the exclusive red-meat partner in our household.

B was chicken and rice unless we had…

modified B which was chicken and pasta.

C was baked ziti or some kind of lasagna.

(this meal plan followed a similar bring-to-school plan: 2 pb&js and carrot sticks. Every day for a little over 10 years.)

Of course after 18 years of that pattern I flipped out and discovered flavors from all corners of the globe during the college years. I’ll save the chapter about how my daughter whines for sushi for another Ruhlman blog response.

CG

Substitute lamb chops “marinated” 15 minutes in soy sauce and Lawry’s garlic salt and then just broiled in the oven.

Grilled fresh-caught salmon with olive oil and sea salt, house salad, and wild or jasmine rice.

Pizza Sundays, all from scratch. Always pepperoni and arugula/prosciutto, the rest varies according to whatever’s in season or is already on hand. Just back from two weeks in Italy so we need to get a better dough recipe (and a wood oven).

Penne pasta topped with a really simple tomato sauce: canned roma tomatoes (smashed or diced) with butter and sliced onion thickened on the stove top.

It’s a different list when you are single.

Pork butt cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice plus zest
1 onion finely minced
2 tablespoons lard

Marinate pork in orange juice for 24 hours.
Strain pork and sear in rendered lard until well brown. Lowere heat and simmer for 2 hours occasionally adding reserved juice marinade. During last hour add onion and orange zest and serve with refried beans and rice.

Brown five or six links of Italian sausage (pork or turkey)

Put in soup pot with one can each of:
cannelloni beans
kidney beans
garbanzo beans
black beans
great northern beans

Add four cups of tomato puree or crushed tomatoes

3 quarts chicken stock

one onion, chopped
three ribs celery, chopped
one carrot, chopped

oregano
basil
two bay leaves

The soup is simmered for about 2 1/2 hours, then served with grated parmesan and a green salad. Wh have fresh french bread for those who want it.

We have this soup at a minimum every 10 days to two weeks.

Chicken breasts – add one can orange soda and 1/2 soy sauce and bake. Teriyaki chicken!

Cubed steak: S/P, sear, pour a can of french onion soup on it and bake.

Tacos

Blueberry pancakes and bacon. For that matter, anything and bacon.

Fish (almost any kind): Bake in some butter, lemon juice, bread crumbs s/p. 15 minutes tops.

Pinto beans and cornbread (we’re southern!) Can make the pinto beans in the crockpot with some salt pork. Dice some onions for serving.

Chicken noodle soup. Take it to a new level by making your own noodles which takes very little time but makes a big mess.

Beef stew. Again – the crock pot is your friend.

Reubens

Anything made into a panini.

Chinese chicken salad.

i like.

1) grilled steak with homeade kim chee (multivegetable) and brown rice, side salad and maybe some steamed green beans

2) a sauce made with coconut milk, red curry, thai and/or lime basil, garlic, chilies, galanga…poured over grilled chicken, or pork, or tofu, and some rice. often eaten with some sauteed chard and salad.

3) a chick pea curry with basically the same sauce described above, but add in a bunch of veggies.

4) grilled bratwurst with greens, and a grilled tater salad with fresh dill. add a salad, and, of course, more squash, which we cannot seem to get rid of due to the overzealous garden.

5) oh yeah, breakfast- toast with hard boiled eggs and homeade kim chee.

Our other main staples are:
“County Potato Pie”–Grated potato, covered in cheese, milk, egg, and some seasonings (mainly chili powder and mustard) and then baked in a pie dish.

We like to eat as local as possible, and living in the shortgrass prairie bioregion near the Rockies we decided a great local choice is bison. We purchased 1/8 of a bison directly from a near-by ranch (100% grass fed, free ranging), so bison burgers (usually a recipe with cilantro, green chilies, and other seasoning) or steak with a a red wine and garlic sauce are a couple of our most common quick meals (now I look forward to the nights we we don’t have anything “special” planned!).

Pinto beans with salsa and a tortilla.

Carne adovada (made with Quorn instead of carne), pintos, tortillas, with fried eggs or not.

Naked quorn cutlets made into soft tacos with salsa, avocado (who has the time or motivation to make guacamole??), lettuce or any greens, and tomato.

I eat at least one huge salad a day. (And I mean mixing bowl huge.)

I have never in my life roasted a chicken–but the beans at least are homemade…

The first is a putanesca: two anchovy fillets melted into some olive oil, half an onion, several cloves of chopped garlic, same amount of chopped, dry-cured olives as onion, a heavy pinch of crushed red pepper, a 28 oz can of good crushed tomatoes, half as many chopped capers as onion, salt, black pepper, and some chopped parsley to finish it off.

The other is a cream sauce made by sauteing shallots in some oil, adding a pint of half and half, 8 ozs of Gorgonzola, and some chopped parsley, finished with a sprinkling of parmeggiano.

Add some bread, a greens-based salad with the putanesca, or some chopped tomatoes with salt, pepper, and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic with the cream sauce, and that is dinner for two, with a nice bottle of wine.

I hate to admit it, but because hubby insists on low-carbing, we eat Niman Ranch burgers, organic salad, and pasta or whole grain bread for me and the kids at least once a week. I really don’t want to eat meat that often (and hubby eats it more) – in fact I tend to eat just a nubbin of burger and have some leftover lentil soup (see above) to fill out the protein. Anyway. There’s the real staple meal around here.

If I’m feeling ambitious I make oven-baked steak fries using organic potatoes. Cut ‘em up, toss in a mix of olive oil, paprika, cumin and salt, and roast on a cookie sheet.

Also, chicken rubbed with a little olive oil, generously coated with cracked peppercorns and kosher salt, and cooked in a 500 degree oven. Whether served with just a large salad or some sauteed mustard greens and roasted potatoes, it’s always wonderful and pairs nicely with a good Zin.