Naomi: Cooking for one and for friends



For years now, even before I wrote the recipes in what I think of as my "static blog," Fiftytworecipesfrommymother, at the request of my children, Sarah and Sam, Sarah had been urging me to keep a daily (more or less) record of my cookings--the meals I make for myself in my (surprisingly) solitary life as well as those I make for friends. For whatever reasons, I've never done it.


But, after months of wandering, I've finally begun. As I haven't quite mastered the art of cooking for one, and love throwing together grand meals at the last minute, I have been encouraging friends to call to check on what I might have on hand any evening for a quick meal. Instructions can be found in my entry for March 20th--What's in Naomi's Refrigerator.

This is primarily a record of the meals I prepare for myself and others, accompanied by "mug shots" of the food (when I remember to photograph before eating). Shot by my phone, with no styling, they may not capture their subjects at their best, but so be it.



Sunday, June 3, 2012

June 3. Crispy fried eggs with arugula, roasted tomatoes and bacon bits, farfalle with roasted tomaoes, arugula and parm

Last night's dinner was so minimal, I awoke starving which led to the creation of a proper Sunday Breakfast For One--two crispy fried eggs on a bed of arugula with roasted tomatoes and a teeny side of bacon ends.
Quite Substantial Sunday Breakfast for One
Walked to the Ocean Park Farmer's Market with Robin before biking on to yoga--came home--thought I could slide through lunch with a half a grapefruit, a banana, and iced-coffee (I did pump up the coffee with a few spoonfuls of coffee and chocolate ice-cream), but two hours later made a quick little tuna salad--with only celery, mayo and tomatoes to tide me over.
With my refrigerator well-stocked with those 99¢ greens, to say nothing of two packages of extra firm tofu, half a dozen roasted and peeled pasilla chiles,a pound and a half of hamburger meat and an assortment of vegetable odds and ends, Based on past weekend, I'd half-assumed some-one would show up for Sunday dinner, but...although Andrew knocked on the door to return the drill I'd lent him and borrow two eggs, there were no guests.
I could have snacked my way through the evening, but since I am  keeping this record to encourage a certain mindfulness, as well as to show how I'm able to whip up an excellent meal on short notice, I decided to treat myself as a surprise guest and see what I could spin out of my refrigerator:
Farfalle with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic in white wine,  Arugula, Two kinds of Basil and Parmesan:
Cherry Tomatoes-
Whole Garlic Cloves
White Wine
Farfalle
Arugula
Sweet Italian Basil
Thai Basil
Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
Roasted tomatoes with garlic and chopped greens just before their union
I had some left over roasted tomatoes as well as some fresh ones.  I roasted the un-cooked tomatoes with a few fat cloves of garlic and a bit of olive oil.  While they were roasting, I put up water to boil for the pasta and chopped up a couple of cups of arugula and a good sampling of the two basils.
At some point, I poured some white wine in with the tomatoes and garlic and let it boil down a bit.  When the pasta was just about done, I tossed the chopped greens and a half a cup of parmesan in with the tomatoes--stirred until wilted--and tossed in the drained pasta with a half a cup or so of the pasta water.

The resulting dinner was an excellent outcome for  solitary round of "What's in Naomi's Refrigerator?"
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