A Solo Gourmet

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How to Make the Perfect Filet Mignon for One

Being from Nebraska, a small steak with a salad and side of veggies is what I grew up on.  To this day, a filet mignon remains everyday food at my house.  Unfortunately, I have seem more than one person ruin a perfectly good steak.  If you buy a quality cut of meat, it should need no seasoning other than maybe a dash of salt and pepper.  As a cornhusker, I firmly believe that filet mignon should never be marinated or cooked too well done.  

Making a filet mignon is actually quite simple as long as you have the magic tool: a meat thermometer.   Preheat your oven to 375 to 425 degrees.  I give this range because in my last two apartments the ovens were extremely inaccurate but I found that this technique works within these temperatures.    

Then, heat a small, oven-proof skillet over high eat with a tablespoon of olive oil or butter.  Once the fat is hot, quickly cook the steak for about a minute each side.  You'll know the steak is ready when it easily pulls from the pan.  

Once you've cooked the steak on each side, throw the pan into the hot oven.  Check the steak's temperature every few minutes until the inner temperature reaches 120 degrees.  Once the temperature hits 120, your steak will be perfect.  

Gobble Gobble Cocktail

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!  Last Thanksgiving, I determined to invent a bit of holiday cheer.  Inspired by my dinner (turkey) and the holiday season, I became a very amateur mixologist and invented Gobble Gobble Cocktail. 

This makes about eight cocktails, so I recommend them for a group, not for a solo meal. 

5 oranges

2 cups of Wild Turkey (get it, Gobble Gobble)

2 cups of Pomegranate Juice

4 cups of Cranberry Juice

In a big pitcher, slice up four of the oranges and cover with the juice of the final orange and the two cups of Wild Turkey.  Let the fruit soak in the alcohol for an hour or two.  Add the pomegranate and cranberry juice, add ice, and watch out!

You will be all Gobble Gobble in no time. 

Recipe Review by Bret

Hello Friends!  Here is our first contribution from Plus One Bret who reviewed A Solo Gourmet recipe from Egg Week!  

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So to start Bret didn't know how the hell to blanch or even what the hell it really meant, so after checking out several websites (and drinking a glass and a half of Jean Bousquet Malbec wine yum check it) he picked a method and crossed his fingers haha.  I snapped off the woody ends of course then boiled some water in a pretty big pan (asparagus was on sale for $1.99  a pound which is mad rare in Massachusetts so I got a lot) with salt and dropped them in.  I wasn't sure how long to simmer them so I texted Quetta but I had limited time at that point (planning huh what's that?) so I simmered them for about 4 minutes, drained them, and shocked (thas right I'm learning cookin lingo yo! hahha :P) them until they weren't hot anymore.  In the mean time I sprayed a big cooking pyrex pan (thank you mumma!) with Pam with Olive Oil and heated my oven to 350 degrees.  Then I wrapped up the asparagus in the procuitto (trying not to just eat it all f'in starving at this point! haha) and laid them in the pan.  Then I remembered I'd seen on a few websites that lemon juice is good with asparagus...and at this point not eating since 1 PM (it was then 8PM longgggggggggg ass day at work) and now two and a half glasses of Malbec later weeeeee I decided to experiment....now I know this doesn't sound adventurous to most of you seasoned cookers but I S-U-C-K at cooking and when I get creative it can't even go into the trash for fear of offending the other people in the building I live in with the paper thin walls, but anyways I digress and tangent as usual....so where was I?  OH lemon juice haha I sprinkled some on both exposed ends and then I remembered I also had Lemon Pepper from some other failed experimental recipe haha, soooo I sprinkled that all over everything including the proscuitto.  

Then as Quetta directed I cracked three eggs (well she said two but I had a lot more asparagus see pics :D) and popped it in the oven.  5 min later EHNNNNN you're wrong Bret still runny hot mess whiteness that I for once won't be so crass as to say egg whites look like jiz-er uh :D haha ... 4 mins later EHNN (in case this lame EHNN thing is confusing imagine sound of a game show buzzer going off when someone gets a question wrong...ahhh now you get me ;))  almost there but not quite 3 more minutes and bingo looked and smelled AMAZING!  So I have an issue with runny egg yoke I couldn't handle it...so I cooked it a lil longer than Quetta would.  

I must say however this was the most DELICIOUS thing I have ever made...again that may sound lame to some of you but Bret be proud haha ;)  Thanks Quetter ma dinna was f'in AMAZING!  I ate half that pan hahaha ;)

Freezing Your Food for One

Plus One Liz sent me this link to an article today in the New York Times all about freezing food!  I'm convinced that JAntos was correct about seafood freezing, and I think my Seafood Stew will be great in a week or two!  

Now, I freeze leftovers all the time.  I freeze raw meats.  I freeze beans.  I freeze wine (if I don't drink it all after the party).  

But I never dreamed that I could freeze citrus fruits!!!!!! Brilliant!!!  I always have half-rotten limes around the house, along with a collection of old lemons.  This article has opened a whole new world for me!  Love it.  Thanks Liz. 

Introducing Plus One Bret

Bret works, lives, eats and drinks in the Boston area.  He is the most likely Plus One to send a random picture text sharing  the meal currently on his plate or to send a random video of himself doing jumping jacks in the living room.  

I once instructed Bret to cook some potatoes in olive oil and he proceeded to try to BOIL the potatoes in olive oil, which of course didn't work at all.  He is now learning, and trying A Solo Gourmet recipes regularly!  I have no doubt he will add his own kind of spice to my little blog.  

An Experiment in Freezing Seafood (a.k.a. Seafood Stew for One)

At approximately the same time, JAntos swore that seafood could be frozen and Ryan swore my roommate's mom had the best recipe for Boullabaisse.  I could feel an experiment.  

My roommate supplied the recipe. which is less a traditional Boullabaisse than a Chippino inspired fish stew.  What is the difference?  Boullabaisse is a French fish soup from Marseille with a clear fish broth base.  Cioppino is Boullabaisse's Italian cousin, with a tomato and wine base.  San Francisco has adopted Cioppino as one if' it's signature local dishes and you can find similar fish stews up the coast.   

I modified the recipe from my roommate's mother a little.  First off I cut the recipe in half (which is what you'll get here).  It still made an incredible amount of food: approximately six very large servings.   I would recommend this dish for when you're having some people over and then save a few servings for yourself down the road.  

Fish Stew 

2 pounds whitefish fillets, cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces
1 pounds sea scallops
12 steamer clams, steamed and drained.  Reserve the nectar
12 blue mussels, steamed and drained
1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
Olive oil
1 large onions chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 carrots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cups dry white wine
1 cups clam nectar, or fish stock
2 large cans whole tomatoes, cut up
Dash of hot pepper squce
1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or soup pot.  Add onions, celery, green pepper, carrots, and garlic.  Saute until transparent, about 3 minutes.  In a separate pot steam the clams and mussels in a little water or wine (or both).  

When the clams are finished, add wine, clam nectar, tomatoes and their juice, hot pepper sauce, saffron, fennel seed, and bay leaves to the onion mixture.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Add fish and scallops.  Simmer for 5 - 7 minutes. Stir in clams, mussels, shrimp and parsley.  Simmer for 3 - 5 minutes, until shrimp are cooked and clams and mussels are hot.

This hardly takes anytime to make.  Seriously, it takes less than 30 minutes.  The worst part of this recipe is buying all that fish!  This is not a cheap recipe.  You should expect it setting you back $50 to $75.  Keep in mind that it's making many servings.  

I put a few single sized servings in the freezer.  Check back to see if this freezes!

Ice Cream Sandwiches Part Duex

Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of dining with JAntos and Paul at a new place in SF called The Tipsy Pig.  I snorted my entire plate of fried chicken, potatoes and corn bread, and finished it up with some ice cream sandwiches shared with my dining companions.  In the picture you see gingersnap with lemon sorbet, chocolate chip cookies with chocolate ice cream, and oatmeal cookies with cinnamon ice cream. 

JAntos, being an ice cream sandwich expert suggests these other ice cream sandwich combos: 

• Peanut butter cookies with banana ice cream
• Double chocolate cookies with min chocolate chip ice cream
• Gingersnaps with pistachio ice cream
• Sugar cookies with strawberry ice cream
• Snickerdoodles with a holiday ice cream (egg nog, pumpkin, or peppermint)
• Oatmeal cookies with coffee ice cream (for breakfast!)  

That's right, ice cream for breakfast!  Thanks JAntos! 

Back In Business!

Hello friends!  

It’s amazing how the smallest pieces of equipment cause the largest problems with computers.  Several weeks ago I headed to Yosemite with Erik with a K.  I plugged my computer in at the hotel, and managed to leave the power cord in the room when I left.  By the time apple got the part to me, the internet was out at my house. 

Anyway, we’re back in business.  So lets eat.  

JAntos' Fennel and Apple Salad

JAntos to A Solo Gourmet rescue! 

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Fennel & Apple Salad (fun with the Mandolin!)

Even if you don't own a mandolin, this fennel and apple salad is a great way to hone your knife skills. Thinly slice and combine the white part of 1 medium fennel bulb and 3 to 5 sweet apples (organic fuji's are pictured) and top with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Enjoy alone or over your favorite greens. A cheap, easy, and inexpensive lunch. Chicken pairs well   with the dish, enjoyed cold.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Lannans are Irish and proud of it!  Each year I celebrate with some corned beef and cabbage,  and of course a stout.  This year, making my own boiled dinner was impractical, so my coworkers and I headed to the local deli with a secret family recipe. 

All three of us had our own plate (or container) of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and, most importantly, corned beef!  Yum!