Single Servings: March 2004 Archives
The recipes from Solo Suppers are usually more food than one person can eat, but I think that might be intentional: She includes a few salads and some tips on how to reuse leftovers. It feeds right into my scavangerishness. Last night I made a single-serving Parmesan pudding, a set, savory custard, and found that, instead of the one pudding the recipe made, I could make two decent-sized puddings from it. I ate one for dinner last night with a salad and the last of the tomato-olive compote (that is a versatile topping) and the other for breakfast this morning with my apple juice.
I also lightened the recipe a bit as I went along. Start by melting 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, then add 1 tablespoon flour and cook for a few minutes to make a roux. Whisk in 1/4 cup light cream (the recipe called for 1/2 cup heavy cream), then take the saucepan off the heat and add 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 2/3 cup grated Parmegiano-Reggiano (I don't think I added quite enough - I didn't measure and the pudding only had a faint flavor). Pour into buttered ramekins with a buttered round of parchment in the bottom and bake in a waterbath in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes (I started checking at 15 and found that they needed the full 25 minutes). Let sit for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge, unmold onto a plate and remove the parchment. This has a great consistency: smooth, firm, creamy. Not gelantinous. It's a perfect palatte for other flavors. The recipe recommended adding veggies to it or serving it with a green vegetable or red pepper sauce. Two problems: the course-ground pepper (the only way I can do it) sank to the bottom and marred the look of the unmolded custard, and I had a hard time getting the parchment to fit perfectly, so the edges of the custard are a little ragged from the excess paper. Better to have too little parchment than too much, I think.
Last week I had a nice little mezze-type dinner for myself: roasted feta with pita wedges and a cold, steamed artichoke with lemon vinaigrette. The feta was really cute and easy. I put a 2-oz, square slice of feta in a ramekin, drizzled over some olive oil, sprinkled with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and oregano, and broiled until the edges of the cheese started to brown. I toasted the pita under the broiler for the last couple of minutes the feta was broiling. This was a recipe from I think the March edition of Gourmet, which was the New York edition.
I had steamed the artichoke and made the vinaigrette the night before, so it was a quick dinner, too.
Last week I had a nice little mezze-type dinner for myself: roasted feta with pita wedges and a cold, steamed artichoke with lemon vinaigrette. The feta was really cute and easy. I put a 2-oz, square slice of feta in a ramekin, drizzled over some olive oil, sprinkled with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and oregano, and broiled until the edges of the cheese started to brown. I toasted the pita under the broiler for the last couple of minutes the feta was broiling. This was a recipe from I think the March edition of Gourmet, which was the New York edition.
I had steamed the artichoke and made the vinaigrette the night before, so it was a quick dinner, too.
I picked out a few different mushrooms for this: hedgehogs, black trumpet, enoki and cremini. The really cheerful and friendly woman who checked me out bravely tried, and failed, to guess the name of each one. Quartered the creminis and tore the hedgehogs and trumpets in pieces, then tossed them together with some olive oil, salt, pepper, white wine, diced onion and garlic, and sprigs of thyme in a casserole dish. Covered them with foil and baked them for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Then I added the enoki, stirring the mushrooms, and cooked them for another 10 minutes. (This was based on a recipe from A New Way to Cook.)
Now I don't know if this was breaking Clotilde's rules for a tartine (I made this recipe for Is My Blog Burning?), but I brushed a thick slice of firm Italian white bread with some garlic oil, then toasted it under the broiler. Spread on a layer of fresh whole-milk ricotta, then piled on the mushrooms and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
