Joyce Goldstein - Solo suppers: Simple delicious meals to cook for yourself

Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself

Joyce Goldstein

Photographs by Judi Swinks

Text copyright 2003 by Joyce Goldstein.

Photographs copyright 2003 by Judi Swinks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2514-5

Designed by Vanessa Dina

Typesetting by Janis Reed

Food and prop stylist Randy Mon

Food styling assistant Allie Liebgott

Judi Swinks and Randy Mon would like to thank:

Crate and Barrel, Zinc Details, and Frederick Preyer for generous loan of their props.

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

Joyce Goldstein would like to say Thank You to:

Maureen Lasher, for believing that singles really do cook. Bill LeBlond, for knowing that singles need good recipes and supporting me all the way. Sharon Silva, copy editor goddess, who has spoiled me for anyone else. Amy Treadwell, for keeping us all on track. Vanessa Dina, for the lovely design of this book. Judi Swinks, for the enticing food photos. Randy Mon, for making the food look real and inviting. Michele Fuller, for her excellent work in getting the word out about Solo Suppers. Doralece Dullaghan for encouraging me to teach a class on cooking for one. Ellen Rose, for enthusiastic feedback and random recipe testing. Bruce Aidells, for talking it up. Zanne Stewart of Gourmet magazine, for including my recipes in Dinner for One. Andy Powning, for fascinating vegetable discussions and fine produce. Bill Niman, for fine beef, pork, and lamb and home delivery for special events! Mike Weinberg-Lynn, for fine seafood and home delivery for recipe testing and special events. Evan Goldstein and Doug Fletcher, for wine storage advice. And to my loving family and friends. Because of them, not all of my suppers are solo.

Singles represent the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. In 1940, 8 percent of all American households were made up of singles. Today, more people are living alone than are living in nuclear families. Married couples with children represent 23 percent of the population, while singles are 27 percent and increasing. People live alone for many different reasons: never married, divorced, widowed, left in the empty nest when the last of the kids moves out. They are on their ownno roommates, no mateby choice or by fate. For the most part, they are happy and not lonely. They have friends and family and lead active lives.

Most cookbooks and magazines have not reflected this demographic shift. The average recipe is still designed to serve the nuclear family, with four to six portions. But if you cook for one, you know from frustrating experience that not every recipe reduces easily or well. After doing the math, you often find that theres not enough seasoning or too little liquid. Even the timing may be off. A few cookbooks have been written for the single-person household, but, for the most part, they have been aimed at young singles with little real cooking and dining experience, and often on a tight budget. These books have been friendly and pragmatic, but largely lacking in culinary inspiration. In other words, they certainly wouldnt send me into the kitchen.

There is a growing market of sophisticated single diners who have traveled extensively, dined out in all manner of restaurants, know how to cook, and love to eat well. I am one of those solo diners who doesnt order takeout or cook frozen dinners. You could say Im a snob, and thats partly right, but the truth is that I know my way around a kitchen and still enjoy being there. Having been a cooking teacher for more than thirty-five years, a restaurant chef for sixteen years, and a single diner for ten years, I have the experience to be able to create delicious and well-thought-out recipes for singles and can offer a personal outlook on how to market for and plan meals with both panache and practicality.

Like many singles, I eat out once or twice a week, occasionally more, usually with friends or business associates, rarely on my own (unless I am traveling). I entertain friends and members of my family about once a week. The rest of the time I eat at home by myself. I am spoiled. I want to eat as well at home as I did when I had a restaurant and ate in the back kitchen or when I cooked for my family every night and showered them with love, attention, and home-cooked meals they still yearn for even today. I want to eat as well as when I entertain friends at home (usually minus the dessert). I believe that I deserve a great meal, a glass of excellent wine, and the time to relax and enjoy my own company. Also, I love to cook.

Why call this book Solo Suppers and not Solo Meals?

Because the evening meal is when eating alone has the most meaning and impact. Eating breakfast without company is no big thing. Even when you live with others, breakfast is rarely a social occasion. You read the paper, grab a muffin or bagel and coffee, and realize that theres not much time to linger at table (except maybe on Sunday, when you can lounge in your bathrobe, with the New York Times in one hand, coffee cup in the other, enjoying a lovely morning that may extend to noon or later). Lunch more often than not occurs while you are working. You may eat at your desk or grab a bite near the office, and even if you work at home, its unlikely that youll stop to cook because there is too much to do. Again, weekends may be different, but most solo people I know run a zillion errands on Saturday, see friends Saturday night, and on Sunday see friends, family, or films. They might do some cooking on Sunday for the rest of the week, but its a low-key social day and probably an early evening.

Now, I realize that some people believe that the obvious solution to cooking for one is a book of only fast and easy recipes. They assume that single diners want to get the mealtime over with as quickly as possible. What is implied in this assumption is that cooking for yourself and dining alone is so abhorrent that cook fast, eat fast, and get it over with should be the singles way of life. I agree that on many nights a fast and easy meal is just right. But for those of us who love good food, and cooking, there are also many nights when we enjoy spending a bit of time in the kitchen. Were in no rush, theres no pressing engagement. Home is where the heart is, along with the stomach, so its an ideal time to cook and dine in a leisurely way.

Cooking solo can be both rewarding and creative. First, it allows you the luxury to experiment. You can try dishes that you are not yet ready to cook for others until you are sure the recipes are delicious and worth the effort. Also, while I love soups and stews, the experience of dining endlessly on leftovers can get old fast. I delight in fabulous one-shot dinners, with nary a crumb left over. And I love getting multiple uses out of a basic ingredient. For example, if I cook beets as a vegetable one night, a few nights later I will use the balance in a salad. My meals are often simple, but never simple-minded. Occasionally I am extravagant and self-indulgent. Good for me! Remember that what might be expensive if ordered in a restaurant can be an incredible bargain when you are the chef at home.