Fast, Fast Food Everywhere and Not a Bite to Eat

Things are going peachy.  I am still working out a lot and getting back into my “couch to 5K” running plan after my huh-mazing vacation, and attempting to catch up on all my October tasks by my November 15 extension.

The biggest news is that today marks Day 6 of an exam for Food Science 101—1 month of No Eating at Restaurants.  For me, my past restaurant addiction would make you think my TV-free exam during the month of September would be like a leisurely paddle boat ride in Central Park compared to this exam.  Not so far.  Fortunately, I am obsessed with cooking right now.

I enrolled in a 5-session class called “The Art of Fine Cooking” at a local cooking school.  It couldn’t have been better timing: my first class was last Monday.  Every week we will cover some cooking techniques and didactic material, and then cook and eat a several course meal together. This week we learned about knife skills, sautéing, making vinaigrettes and compound butters, and blanching vegetables, among other things.  I also cooked and ate a medium-rare lamb chop, which was a first for me as an ex-vegetarian.  I thought of the fluffy Serta lamb and felt a little guilty.  It was still tasty.  Random cooking class fact: a formal dinner in France is seven courses, and the salad comes after the main course (appetizer, fish, meat, salad, cheese, dessert, coffee).  Freaky, no?

We are also supposed to complete homework to practice the skills we learned in class, which gives me specific things to try to work into my weekly meal plans.  So, for example, this week I am practicing blanching and sautéing, and making vinaigrettes.

Since Monday I have cooked 2 pretty complicated recipes: chicken tikka masala on brown basmati rice with blanched and sautéed broccoli, and tonight I cooked (local) pan-seared steak with red wine pan sauce, a salad, and a few sautéed potatoes.  Not exactly the world’s healthiest meals, but I am avoiding the diet mentality and just eating small portions.  Over the next few days, I plan to make slow-cooker Southern red beans and rice with lowfat cornbread and a repeat of the healthy Spanish tortilla/ frittata (from the Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites).

Where have you been all my life, you sexy, curmudgeonly genius? (Christopher Kimball from America's Test Kitchen)

Talking about recipes brings up my ongoing continued obsession with America’s Test Kitchen TV show and recipes, and now also Cook’s Illustrated magazine.  For those of you living among either Amazonian tribespeople or the Amish for the past few years, let me elaborate.  The “test kitchen” staff take a scientific approach to perfecting recipes, trying hundreds of variations and techniques until they get the “best tasting” one, which they then write about in their magazine (CI) or demonstrate on their TV show (ATK).  I got online subscriptions to both, which means I can download all the recipes from both places and watch all 10 season’s worth of episodes of ATK!  I’ve actually learned a lot about cooking from watching these episodes, and have tried some myself.  Highly, highly recommended.

So there’s lots of learning and practicing going on, which feels great.  I look forward to a time in the future when I can whip meals up quickly.  Right now, it feels like even simple things take awhile—and both of my “elaborate” meals this week have taken 1-2 hours to prepare. I look forward to getting in the habit of thawing leftovers I’ve frozen on quick meal nights.  I look forward to having a more intuitive sense of how to pull a week of recipes together, and how to adapt and create recipes.  My husband—who does the dishes and cleans the kitchen—very much looks forward to a time when I manage to use less than 30 pots and dishes every time I cook .  He also hopes I will learn to avoid getting little bits of minced parsley on weird surfaces in the kitchen like the coffeemaker.

Packing my lunches is another habit I need to establish, because it means I have to remember to pack something the night before.  Also, I can only think of super-boring options like leftovers, PBJs, and salads.  Simple lunch suggestions from you guys are very, very welcome!

Thanks for checking in—more updates soon about my other exam going on in November—4 Weeks, 4 Schedules.