The Lazy Gourmet

[E_T]

You likely have heard this, but to give a bit of background...

My Ex and I were together for 8 1/2 years.  We broke up a month before the Hurricanes had come through Central Florida in 2004.  We still had some connection, due to the fact that we had, what we liked to call "A Jeff Foxworthy type relationship" (you know your a redneck when.... ).  My Brother is married to his Sister and their Daughter is both of our's Niece.  I was instrumental in my Brother meeting his wife and they were instrumental in me meeting my Ex.  He passed on New Year's Day, 2010, from Congestive Heart Failure.

[Rusty Edge]

That tomato tortellini soup thing was a bust. The flavor profile was fine, but trying to cook everything together made it more of a pasta & sauce dish than a soup. I added more broth, but it just sponged it up.  I think it could be great assembled in the bowl like a lobster bisque, but lazy it ain't.

[Unorthodox]

That tomato tortellini soup thing was a bust. The flavor profile was fine, but trying to cook everything together made it more of a pasta & sauce dish than a soup. I added more broth, but it just sponged it up.  I think it could be great assembled in the bowl like a lobster bisque, but lazy it ain't.

I don't know if I've posted here previously about my 'crock pot lasagna' that kind of takes advantage of this.  You get the sausage and tomato sauce in the crock all day, then 30 minutes before eating, dump in the cheeses.  15 minutes before eating, you dump in pasta and some water (I actually prefer to use the shells for this) 

The shells soak up a good portion of the mixture.  If you let it sit too long, though, the shells will soak it all up and you get a kind of mush.  Tastes fine, but mush. 

[Unorthodox]

I'm still mastering the subtle alchemy of the cream sauce.  Different cheeses have wildly different outcomes in sauce.  Shaker parmesan seems to disappear.  Cheddar is straightforward.  Jack adds little flavor but some gooeyness.  Shredded mozzarella is immensely gooey and doesn't incorporate fully; it forms a peculiar sort of matrix within the sauce.  And now Swiss.

(For mac and cheese of the conventional type, I highly recommend a mix of smoked cheddar, sharp conventional cheddar, and jack for goo.  Small traces of mustard and even curry powder boost flavor)

I totally forgot about this and only recently made a mac and cheese for the first time.  Mine was Parmesean, Asiago and White Cheddar with just a touch of smoked cheddar for color and flavor. 

[Rusty Edge]

That tomato tortellini soup thing was a bust. The flavor profile was fine, but trying to cook everything together made it more of a pasta & sauce dish than a soup. I added more broth, but it just sponged it up.  I think it could be great assembled in the bowl like a lobster bisque, but lazy it ain't.

I don't know if I've posted here previously about my 'crock pot lasagna' that kind of takes advantage of this.  You get the sausage and tomato sauce in the crock all day, then 30 minutes before eating, dump in the cheeses.  15 minutes before eating, you dump in pasta and some water (I actually prefer to use the shells for this) 

The shells soak up a good portion of the mixture.  If you let it sit too long, though, the shells will soak it all up and you get a kind of mush.  Tastes fine, but mush.

Thanks. It's good to know that it's the nature of the beast. I know little of Italian cooking. Not exactly cultural for me. I think my closest Italian relative is my cousin-once removed's wife.

[Unorthodox]

When I was out of work and had little to do other than cook and garden, I did a hell of a lot of messing with tomato dishes, thus italian. 

The grocer typically has some noodles in the fridge section.  They are a lot easier to cook, and won't suck up quite as much liquid.  This can be good or bad depending on what your recipe needs. 

But for the tortellini soup specifically, I'd suggest pan frying the tortellini first. 

[Rusty Edge]

But for the tortellini soup specifically, I'd suggest pan frying the tortellini first.

Thanks, it sounds worth a try next time.

[Unorthodox]

Recent favorite is a very unorthodox Shakshouka.

It's a single skillet meal, so you need a big enough pan for who you're feeding.  I dice and begin to fry up bacon (and all the purists cry in outrage, very much NOT in recipes for the dish) and/or sausage, once it's browned but not fully fried, I add a healthy dose of onions and peppers to it, and get a good carmelization on all of that.  Then spice it all up with cumin and curry powder, add enough tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes if in season, then cook and crush it to a sauce) to cover the mixture in the bottom and salt to taste. 

Then you crack eggs on top and cover them till the eggs are poached.  Serve with a good crusty bread. 

[Rusty Edge]

Dinner tonight was marinated grilled chicken, rice, and grilled pineapple with sauce. My wife made some corn muffins.

I grilled extra chicken (seasoned, not marinaded ) and made a jambalaya to finish a holiday ham, and some surplus tomatoes from when my wife made tacos last night. Other proteins were baby shrimp, breakfast sausage, and bacon. Not necessarily lazy, but fairly efficient to prep the soup while waiting for the charcoal to burn down to cooking coals. I wanted to do this while the kitchen was still a mess. The Mrs. likes the kitchen to stay clean for a while once it's been properly cleaned.

I think I'm going to make a Jaeger Schnitzel next Sunday. Not exactly lazy, but I plan to take the lazy approach and use a store jar gravy & serve it in a gravy boat, instead of making a pork roast first and saving the juices. The Mrs. is mildly allergic to mushrooms, so I'm planning to do them as a side dish for myself rather than incorporating them into the gravy. If I fry the cutlets with a couple shallots, some butter and a little garlic, then deglaze the pan with white wine or sherry, she'll be happy to have that jus all to herself, and figure she got the better bargain.

She says her mother would prefer Spatzle ( I'll get that from the store, too. ) , and we'll go with glazed carrots as the vegetable.

Now I want to buy some Spaten to go with it.

[Unorthodox]

You've had tortellini stuck in my head since that above, so going to try something tonight.  Haven't decided if I'm doing a carbonara sauce, or something of a tomato basil yet

[Unorthodox]

I don't know how to call it.  hEt and I liked it (hEt LOVED it), Alec (never had stuffed pasta before) and Talia (thinks Chef Boyardee mini raviolis are the best) tolerated it. 

Pan seared sausage.  Added onions and bell peppers to sautee in the grease.  Removed that mixture and added the tortellini with a little olive oil to pan fry, just a quick browning on each side.  Added about 1 1/2 cup of water with a minor deglazing of the pan and a good bit of basil, and covered that for about 2 minutes to ensure the rest of the pasta that hadn't hit the pan got cooked.  (I considered using a wine, but wasn't sure how the pasta would cook with just wine.) 

Added the meat mix back in with a can of tomato sauce (soup can) and sliced grape tomatoes.  (they didn't have the brand tomatoes I normally use and these were rather meh, unfortunately)  Unfortunately, had to transfer to a bigger pan, so my whole one pan idea got ruined.  Stirring that in, it barely coated everything.  Added salt to taste and enough cream to just get a bit of sauciness. 

[Rusty Edge]

I don't know how to call it.  hEt and I liked it (hEt LOVED it), Alec (never had stuffed pasta before) and Talia (thinks Chef Boyardee mini raviolis are the best) tolerated it. 

Pan seared sausage.  Added onions and bell peppers to sautee in the grease.  Removed that mixture and added the tortellini with a little olive oil to pan fry, just a quick browning on each side.  Added about 1 1/2 cup of water with a minor deglazing of the pan and a good bit of basil, and covered that for about 2 minutes to ensure the rest of the pasta that hadn't hit the pan got cooked.  (I considered using a wine, but wasn't sure how the pasta would cook with just wine.) 

Added the meat mix back in with a can of tomato sauce (soup can) and sliced grape tomatoes.  (they didn't have the brand tomatoes I normally use and these were rather meh, unfortunately)  Unfortunately, had to transfer to a bigger pan, so my whole one pan idea got ruined.  Stirring that in, it barely coated everything.  Added salt to taste and enough cream to just get a bit of sauciness.

 That sounds good to me.

[Unorthodox]

The laziest of gourmets:

Alec made us egg in a hole last night. 

Talia is making pancakes tonight. 

[Rusty Edge]

I think I'm going to make a Jaeger Schnitzel next Sunday. Not exactly lazy, but I plan to take the lazy approach and use a store jar gravy & serve it in a gravy boat, instead of making a pork roast first and saving the juices. The Mrs. is mildly allergic to mushrooms, so I'm planning to do them as a side dish for myself rather than incorporating them into the gravy. If I fry the cutlets with a couple shallots, some butter and a little garlic, then deglaze the pan with white wine or sherry, she'll be happy to have that jus all to herself, and figure she got the better bargain.

She says her mother would prefer Spatzle ( I'll get that from the store, too. ) , and we'll go with glazed carrots as the vegetable.

Now I want to buy some Spaten to go with it.

It worked out pretty well, although there was a lot to do at once, and it used a lot of pans and burners. Not lazy. The Mrs. prefers pork parmesan because she likes cheese & more garlic. Still, she enjoyed the fried shallots and having the jus all to herself. She liked the carrots, even though I couldn't find her recipe. She offered to make them next time. I think that means if I prep the carrots and clean the sink afterwards. My MiL enjoyed eating German for a change. Next time I'll buy the mushrooms close to when I make the food, rather than when I'm close to where I can buy good mushrooms.

It's good to drink Spaten again.

[Unorthodox]

hEt hates mushrooms, so I don't get to play with them nearly as often as I'd like