cooking

I’ve been enjoying doing the cooking, since I’ve been home. It does get a bit expensive, though, between the huge increase in US food prices during the years we were away, and the fact that we are still stocking up on things. (Oddly, the price increases seem to be only at grocery stores but not at restaurants – I don’t understand that at all.) Yesterday, I was at the supermarket buying things for the week’s dinners and being bothered at the cost of that night’s meal, when I realized that, in some sense, I was also spending money on hobby supplies. And anyway, the marsala cooking wine and cornstarch I bought will be around for lots of future recipes too.

Sunday we went to the local McMenamin’s for dinner; the beer was excellent and the setting was really nice, but the food was only good, not great. I was torn between two things on the menu, so I got the hamburger after it occurred to me that I could make the other one at home. Accordingly, last night’s dinner was grilled chicken Marsala with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables (carrots steamed in the microwave). I’ve been keeping notes on my Dinners and Dinner Ideas page (left sidebar). In this case, the chicken was great, except that the Marsala sauce was a bit salty. I think that was from the chicken broth; because the recipe only called for 1/4 cup, I used bouillon powder to make the broth. I really need to just make my own, now we have a biggish freezer, but if it were frozen I’d still have had a problem getting such a small quantity. Also, pretty clearly it would have been better to have pre-sauteed the garlic before mashing it in with the potatoes, or even used garlic powder – I did check a recipe, though I don’t normally use one for mashed potatoes, but apparently Paula Deen doesn’t know what she’s talking about. (I used yogurt in place of butter or sour cream with the potatoes, and that did work well.)

Monday I made fried rice, and now I understand why the wok we bought in Taiwan was so huge – the frying pan was so full that I was dropping bits and pieces over the side. (Unfortunately, I threw the wok out, as it got rusty during its years in storage.)

I’ve been planning about three big recipes a week; the rest are spur of the moment, quick or simple things (like jambalaya from a box, or broiled steaks or chicken) or else restaurant nights. That seems to work pretty well.

Whenever I get a job, we’re going to miss this food. It’s not just the time to cook; either the chicken Marsala or the fried rice could have been made after work. It’s the time to think about it, look up recipes, and shop for exactly what I need. I’ll probably just go back to cooking one big meal on Sundays and planning another couple of quicker ones in the week.