March 14, 2009

My fish turner

Posted in Equipment at 9:38 pm by mac senour

I’ll admit it, I love to go to kitchen stores. I’m lucky that a couple of my favorites also have inline sites where you can order the same things form the store. My number one favorite is: Sur La Table. I was in the San Francisco store a week back and I was hunting.

I find myself in a fish mood, both eating and cooking. I have learned over time that not having the proper tool can lead to all kinds of problems. So what I needed, was a fish turner. This is one of those handy things that really you could use for lots of things, but turning a fish over needs to be done right.

This tool is often confused with a slotted spatula. As a matter of fact, it looks JUST like it and if you go to Sur la Table, that’s what you should ask for. But it has super powers…. a fish turning spatula is made of metal, its got BIG slots and although firm, its also flexible. If you want to order one from Sur la Table, I suggest this one: Jump Slotted Turner

The OTHER place in turn that looks great both online and in person is Cooks Boulevard. I couldn’t find a proper fish turner online, but I’d suggest calling or visiting them to get what you need.

Until next time, eat!

Mac

February 16, 2009

Cooking for one single guy…

Posted in Introduction at 12:54 am by mac senour

Cooking for one person is like the sound of one hand clapping. I started cooking a few years ago when I saw a commercial for a fast food burger place that said: “If it wasn’t for us, single men would starve” I realized right at that moment, they were talking about me. I went out the next day and bought a cheap, $1.99 closeout books, Italian cookbook. I knew nothing about cooking and always found some pride in my spotless oven. It was spotless because I NEVER used it.

I started with one dish that had a good picture, and then another… then I bought another cook because even single men can’t live on Italian food 24/7. I have over 25 books which seems to imply that I can cook 25 things but that’s not the case. Some of the books I’d be happy to give away as I never found anything in them that I wanted to cook.

One of the things all these books have in common, is that they make multiple servings, usually four. Have you ever had microwaved spaghetti 4 days after it was cooked fresh? Lets just say that a fresh burger sounds better. I know what you’re thinking, just cut it down by 1/4 and you’re fine. But is anything in life that simple? Of course not.

I don’t have a magic spell for you to solve this problem. I have only this blog to help you learn the skills I have picked up to cut down the size of the recipe, or to pick meals that store and reheat at least CLOSE to their original taste.

So stay tuned, keep informed and make suggestions… this blog is as much about your struggles to cook for one, as it is about my solutions.

Hope to hear from you!