Food When was the last time you cooked for yourself?

Depends on my mood...but I cook quite often.
But lately I've been going out more to get out & about with people after working remote at home.
So, if I cook...I'm doing it for lunch.

 

I cook nearly every day, unless I'm on the road. Sometimes just for myself, sometime for my SO as well. I usually only eat two meals per day, and some days I cook and eat both meals at home. Gasp!

 

I just made Cook's Illustrated's Best Quick Tomato Sauce, which comes in at about thirty minutes, and so much better than the jarred or canned pasta sauces. It's also a great base for "doctoring," and I often add mushrooms, veggies, Italian sausage or changing the spices adding fennel, rosemary, or the like.
However, I don't trust Cook's recipes for foods that should have some "kick." They seem overly sensitive to hot spices, often listing what seem like miniscule amounts of things like chiles. I would never trust a chili recipe that comes out of Boston.
Some recipes also seem overly salted, but maybe that's just my taste.

 

In the process of doing so now.

Having friends over for dinner. Smoking a brisket flat, pork shoulder, and some baked beans.






Shoulder is about 8lbs, so it is already on. Brisket flat is small, so it'll go on in an hour and a half or two hours.

 

I did a big meal prep ahead of camping. Since I have been back, it was my birthday, so we went out quite a bit. But I'll be back cooking for the two of us today.

 

I didn't cook yesterday, because Magpie did. I cooked the day before. @snowy would probably be intrigued to know that I made omurice. Because she is a weeb, and apparently I am too.

Tonight I'm cooking veggie burgers.

Until very recently I cooked almost every night. Magpie has graciously volunteered to take up some of the cooking duties so it's not just me anymore.

 

Now I want omurice. So yummy.

I made a corn, black bean, and quinoa salad, as well as sesame soba noodles. Both are pretty tasty.

 

Do you mean that your make chicken stock without using the bones?

I always make stock with whole chickens (or pieces) and then strip the meat off of the bones.

 

I'm forever puttin stuff away in the freezer to use later for soup. Sometime I pull it out much later and scratch my head and think "now what the hell is this?"

 

I love cooking for just myself. I made a full English breakfast for myself this morning. I will regularly make a dish with just me in mind, especially if my husband is gone. Then I get to roast whole chickens and try the reverse sear method on a steak. I've also smoked ribs while he's been gone

 

When my partner is out of town and I'm cooking solo, I will sometimes sear a nice thick ribeye in a very hot skillet, seasoned, and in a little oil. I'll take it out of the pan seared, but still rare, cut it (more or less) in half, cut one of the halves in half and put each of those in a ziplock and stick them in the fridge or freezer.

I put the larger piece back in the skillet, flip it once or twice, then plate it and let it rest for the time it takes to eat some green salad or fruit. Sometimes I'll have veggies (broccoli, asparagus, wilted kale, etc.) with the steak, sometimes not.

Then I'll use the small pieces for another meal or two. They're rare enough that I can chase one across the grill or a hot skillet just long enough for a little warmth; and to make it about medium rare. And one of those is just the right size for breakfast or a steak salad.

Guffaw! You sound kind of like a "meat-aholic" hiding your addiction from your disapproving family until you're alone.
But I know that you're just respecting husband's vegetarian sensibilities.

By "reverse sear" do you mean warming the steak in the oven before searing? I've only tried that once, and it did not end well. I must have left it in the oven too long; because by the time it got a good sear in the pan it was cooked into the medium-well range. Not inedible, but not what either of us likes.

I've also tried preheating the skillet in the oven and then using high heat on the stovetop to sear. That worked perfectly.

 

Lately we've done a lot of reverse searing with steaks, usually ribeyes. I'm a big fan, but there are some things that are kind of necessary for it to be successful IMO.

First, you have to have a fairly thick steak. I usually only reverse sear something over 1" thick. It's possible to do less, but the margin for error is smaller. Then, put the oven on a very low setting, I use around 180-200*. Next, make sure you've taken the steak out of the fridge a few hours before hand, so the internal temp can come up a little. As the steak is cooking in the oven, monitor the internal temp very closely. Sometimes I'll use my smoking meat thermometer to have instant readings in real time. Other times I'll use a quick read thermometer, checking it frequently once it gets over 85* or so. It's not going to hurt anything if you are opening the oven door a lot like it would baking.

When the temp gets right around 100-105*, I'll pull the steak out of the oven and let it rest. At this point I'll crank up the stove top as high as it will go and put either some high smoke point oil, or just some plain butter, in it. Expect lots of smoke, so depending on your home set-up, it may be good to open some doors, turn on fans, or whatever you do to keep the smoke detector from blaring. Let the skillet get very hot, so it is consistently smoking. Then throw the steak in there and let it sear. Usually I'll do 60-90 seconds on each side for a thinner (~1" or 1.25") steak. Longer for a thicker one. If it is a very big steak sometimes I'll sear one side, let it rest for 2-3 minutes while the cast iron skillet gets really hot again, then sear the other. I'll also hold it sideways in between to sear the edges. During the searing I'll throw another thin pat of butter on top as I sear each side. And at this point you can either check the internal temp again with a quick read thermometer, or by feel if you are experienced with that.

These pictures aren't the best, but this post gives you an idea of what I end up with after all that: What's For Dinner Tonight?