It’s been about a month and things are … better. Brand new place, spent a few weeks out of town, changing my wardrobe, typical post-breakup stuff. Not having my own place – or cooking equipment to call my own – really put a damper on my ability to cook the past month. One new lease and Amazon shopping list later, that’s now taken care of. I found that my favorite food blog, Serious Eats, has an article just for my situation.
It feels nice to cook everything for myself for the first day in a long while.
Breakfast
It became a ritual for me in college. Fry bacon in a skillet, then fry a couple eggs in the bacon fat once it’s done. Flip over the eggs in the skillet, then immediately serve. When there are about five minutes left on that, butter up some bread and toast it in the oven at 400F for 5 minutes. Unlike college, I’ve now got a cast iron skillet to do this in. The main difference is that the eggs cook very quickly since cast iron holds heat well. I’ll have to get used to the new oven and adjust to it as well. It’s not great, but it’ll do what I need if I figure out the timing.
Lunch
French onion soup. I know what you’re thinking: two hours?! Nope, that’s what’s great about having a pressure cooker – it cuts the time to 40 minutes. As far as time goes, it also helps I made it a couple days ago to share with a friend. Before then I’d only ever eaten it at La Madeline. Cooking it – and today reheating it – filled my entire apartment with the smell of caramelized onions. I can’t complain. It is incredibly filling, and there’s no way I’ll be able to finish the leftovers before they go bad in about a day from now. When I make it again I’ll make sure to have enough friends nearby to consume it.
Snack
One from Alton Brown’s Everyday Cook. Specifically, the savory Greek yogurt dip. Been munching on it throughout the afternoon with some carrots and celery. I’ll have to try it with potato chips next time – really want to see how it goes with starchy saltiness.
Dinner
This was the first meal I cooked once I had the barest essentials in my apartment. Surprisingly I hadn’t ever made it for myself, but I’m going to make it regularly from now on. Steak, mashed potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. It’s about as American as a meal can get.
