Pasta à la Rose

As I was heading out to Wal-Mart on Monday, I suddenly remembered a flavor of a certain dish, sort of like you remember a phrase from a song and suddenly you have to find out what song it comes from. So I was trying to remember what recipe this flavor came from, and it turns out it's from one of the first recipes I ever created, about ten years ago.

When I was growing up, sometimes my mom would make a chicken recipe that she got from a friend named Marge. We called it "Chicken à la Marge." I called this dish Pasta à la Rose. I'd forgotten all about it, but I made it again on Monday night and it tasted just as good as I remembered.

Pasta à la Rose

8 oz. (1/2 lb.) tiny pasta
1/2 large onion, minced or grated
2 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg

1. Saute onion in a bit of oil on medium to medium-high heat until onion is lightly browned and smells sweet.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. When pasta is done, drain pasta but do not rinse.
3. Immediately put steaming-hot pasta into a large bowl. Break egg into pasta and add cheese. Stir a lot. The heat from the pasta should cook the egg and melt the cheese. Add onion and stir some more. Serve hot. Serves 4.

Option: If you want more onion flavor, serve it topped with dried minced onion (found in the spice section).


As a sidenote, many cheese-sauce dishes are really unhealthy, but there's an easy way to make them healthier. Most of these dishes have you make way too much sauce for the amount of pasta/potatoes/vegetables they call for. Double the amount of pasta/potatoes/vegetables, but keep the amount of cheese sauce the same. It'll still give you the flavor without all the extra calories. Also, always use extra-sharp cheese to give you lots of flavor with a smaller amount of cheese.

Alien Baker, Part II

 

My safety goggles came today! I tried them on and they fit wonderfully. Last week I asked for a recommendation at this site, and I bought from them the pair they recommended. They definitely got it right. I think my eyes are cheering.

Meanwhile, I went to a local hardware store yesterday to return the pair of safety goggles I bought there. I told the woman at the counter that the goggles were obviously made to fit a man's face, and as I don't have one of those, I couldn't wear them. A man in line behind me just smiled and shook his head. I suppose it was a pretty comical scene...

Is that a crockpot in the bedroom?

 

Why yes, I think it is! After all, there's a potluck tomorrow, and the corn mini-muffins need to be baked in the oven, so the oven displaces the crockpot...

In other news, I discovered this morning that my stove can only brown one batch of stew meat at a time, and only as much as will fit in an 8" pan. Then it overheats and turns off for who knows how long. I think it's an hour, at least.

On Saving Time and Conserving Dishes

Here are some tips I've discovered to make things easier in a small kitchen without much counter space (or a dishwasher).

• If the plate isn't dirty, use it again. On days I don't cook, I often use just one bowl and one plate in a day (plus about 5 pieces of silverware).
  
  
• When I'm alone, I use plastic water bottles rather than drinking glasses. I keep four water bottles in the fridge and refill them after I drink them (replacing them every few weeks). Then I don't have to make ice and can use my shoebox freezer for other things. I also don't need to wash drinking glasses unless I have company.
  
  
• When chopping vegetables, it's really nice to have a trash bowl (so you don't have to keep opening the trash can), but I don't like to use that much counter space or wash a bowl for that. Instead, I put wax paper on the counter next to my cutting board, and I collect the scraps there. When I'm done cutting, I gather up the wax paper and put it in the trash, and the counter is clean for whatever comes next.
  
  
• I also have saved a couple of jar lids (about 5" diameter, 1" deep) from jars that I threw out. These only serve as trash bowls and don't have to be washed well.
  
  
• Use the microwave rather than the stove. Some examples:
  
  
  • Corn on the cob: Shuck corn. Wet a paper towel, squeeze out most of the water, and wrap the paper towel around the corn. Microwave on high 3 minutes for one ear. I usually microwave one ear as I'm shucking the next one.
    
    
  • Mashed potatoes: Cube potatoes and place in microwave-safe bowl. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover. Microwave on high 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Mash.
  
  I don't think I'll ever do either of those on the stove again--the microwave is so easy!
  
  
• Use parchment paper on your cookie sheet when baking. Parchment paper is usually sold near the wax paper and aluminum foil, and you put it on the cookie sheet before you put on the cookies/biscuits/whatever. Each piece can be reused a few times. (Warning to bakers: It won't work for spritz cookies, since they need to adhere to the cookie sheet when they come out of the spritz press.)
  
  
• Cookie sheets or baking pans can also be lined with aluminum foil. This is especially good for savory things, so that the grease doesn't get baked onto your pan.
  

How I Cook

When I'm cooking for myself, I cook mostly vegetarian. It's cheaper and easier, and meat is slimy. I've decided to cook meat only for special occasions, but I'll eat it whenever it's served to me. I sometimes use chicken/beef broth or (rarely) bacon to help flavor an otherwise meatless dish. So I'm not a true vegetarian, but I do a lot of vegetarian cooking.

Since my fridge is so small, I usually make up a big batch of something and eat it for dinner every day until it's gone. The true test of a good recipe is whether I still like it after eating it for a week.

I don't have room in my fridge to keep vegetables unless I have plans to use them. However, I always keep carrot and celery sticks. The carrots I cut up and store in a plastic bag; the celery I cut up and stand in plastic glasses with some water at the bottom of the glass. I often eat two or three heads of celery in a week. Yum.

As for creating recipes, I usually start by reading three or four recipes online for what I want to cook. Then I take the parts I like best of each recipe, and I blend them together. After I finish cooking, if I like it, I write down the recipe so that I can make it again in the future.

I'm learning a lot about cheap meat substitutes. So far I've used dried soybeans, soynuts, and TVP (textured vegetable protein). Soon I'll try my hand at making seitan...