Cooking On The Go
By Janet Groene, F47166
December 2004
Prepare these delicious, one-dish meals in a nonstick skillet and cleanup is a cinch. Have you seen the new Spazio line of Teflon-lined, nonstick cookware? The name means “space” in Italian, referring to the line’s unique, space-saving, folding handles. Spazio skillets and pans are found in gourmet cookware stores and catalogs and also can be seen online at www.bialetti.com. They’re made for everyday kitchen use. Don’t confuse them with the less sturdy, folding skillets sold for camping.
Skinny Skillet Tacos
Shave calories by using lean meat and low-fat or fat-free cheese, sour cream, and tortillas.
Olive oil
1 pound lean ground meat
1 medium onion, diced
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
15-ounce can small red beans, rinsed and drained
8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/2-cup salsa
Salt to taste
6-ounce package shredded low-fat or fat-free cheese
1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro
Toppings: chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, chopped onion, sour cream, and/or guacamole
Coat a roomy, nonstick skillet with olive oil; add the meat and the onion; and fry until the meat is cooked. Over medium heat, stir in the cumin, chili powder, beans, tomato sauce, and salsa. Bring to a boil and lightly mash some of the beans. Keep the mixture at a boil as you add water, if necessary, to thin it to the desired consistency. Taste and add salt if necessary. Turn off the heat, sprinkle with the cheese and the cilantro, and let stand for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Serve with corn chips, flour tortillas, or taco shells. Pass your favorite taco toppings.
Skillet Spanish Rice With Beans
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
16-ounce package frozen, fully cooked meatballs, partially thawed
Approximately 1 cup chopped red, green, and/or yellow sweet pepper
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
5.5-ounce can tomato paste
1 cup long-grain rice
16-ounce can beef broth plus enough water to make 2-1/2 cups liquid
19-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Salt, pepper
Fresh parsley, if available
Hot pepper sauce
Heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet. Stir-fry the meatballs, pepper, onion, and garlic in the hot oil until everything is well mixed. Add the cumin, chili powder, tomato paste, rice, and liquid. Stir well; cover; and cook over low heat for approximately 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in the beans and heat through. Add salt and pepper if needed. Spoon the mixture into shallow bowls and shower with minced parsley. Pass the hot sauce. This recipe makes six servings. Complete the menu with corn sticks, side salads, and a juicy dessert such as fresh or canned fruit.
Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
For a golden finish, slip this under the broiler or go over it carefully with a kitchen torch. (I use a miniature propane torch from the tool kit.)
4 servings mashed potato flakes
Water and milk according to potato flakes package directions
Half of an 8-ounce brick of cream cheese, cut up and warmed to room temperature
1 pound ground or bite-size meat or poultry
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried herbs such as sage, marjoram, or thyme
10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup water
1 egg
1/4-stick butter, melted
Put the potato flakes in a bowl. Heat the water and milk on high until it’s steaming and stir into the potatoes. Stir in the cream cheese chunks. Cover the bowl with a folded kitchen towel and allow the potatoes to steep. Meanwhile, stir-fry the meat or poultry in hot oil with the onion, garlic, and herbs. Cover; reduce heat; and cook until the meat is thoroughly done. Stir in the vegetables; cover; and cook over low heat for five minutes. Place the cornstarch in a bowl and add a little water to make a paste, then add the remaining water and mix. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the meat mixture until it clears and thickens. In the same bowl, beat the egg and then stir it into the potato mixture. Using two spoons, dot the mashed potato mixture evenly over the hot meat; cover; and cook over low heat until the potatoes are heated through. Drizzle with melted butter and broil until a golden crust forms. Spoon onto plates. This recipe makes four servings.
Vegetarian Skillet
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large portobello mushroom caps
2 carrots, peeled and cut up
2 stalks celery, cut up
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt, pepper
2 cups vegetable broth or 2 cups water plus 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1/2-cup pearl barley
16-ounce can white navy beans, rinsed and drained
Snipped fresh parsley
Heat the oil in a roomy skillet and brown the mushroom caps on both sides, stirring in the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper as you go. Remove the mushroom caps and stir the broth into the skillet. Bring to a boil; stir in the barley; cover; and cook until the barley is tender. Arrange the mushroom caps on top of the barley; ladle the beans over the mushrooms; cover; and cook until everything is heated through. Sprinkle with snipped parsley.
Skillet Chicken Salad
Add buttermilk biscuits or cloverleaf rolls to complete this meal. If you assemble the vegetables and cut up the chicken ahead of time, this dish can be on the table in less than 20 minutes.
1 small head iceberg lettuce or 4 heads Boston lettuce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size squares
Salt, pepper
1/4-cup water
2 cups colorful vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash), cut into chunks
1 medium red sweet pepper, cut into bite-size chunks
1 medium sweet onion, cut into strips
6-ounce package sliced mushrooms
1/3-cup Dijon mustard-style bottled salad dressing
Chinese noodles (optional)
Make a bed of lettuce on four large dinner plates. Heat the oil in a large skillet and stir-fry the chicken, sprinkling with salt and pepper as you go. When it’s lightly browned, add the water; cover; and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken is done. Turn up the heat, add the vegetables, and continue stir-frying until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the salad dressing and spoon the hot chicken mixture over the lettuce. Sprinkle with Chinese noodles, if you like.
Frypan Ratatouille
12-ounce pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium eggplant, trimmed and diced
1 medium zucchini, trimmed and diced
1 medium yellow squash, trimmed and diced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons water
Salt, pepper to taste
4-ounce carton crumbled feta cheese
Sizzle the pork pieces in the hot olive oil with the garlic. Cover; reduce heat; and cook for five minutes. Add the vegetables, stirring well to coat them with the brown bits. Sprinkle with the thyme, add the water, and cook until the vegetables are tender. Ladle into shallow soup bowls and sprinkle with feta cheese. Pass pita bread triangles and add a side salad if you wish. For dessert, garnish plates with squiggles of butterscotch ice cream syrup and place an ice cream bar in the center.
Lick-Skillet Chicken “˜n Chickpeas
Starchy beans, nourishing eggplant, and toothsome chicken, served in a juicy tomato sauce, add up to a colorful meal with a gourmet touch.
1 medium eggplant, trimmed and diced
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2-teaspoon nutmeg
28-ounce can stewed tomatoes
19-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Salt, pepper
Fresh parsley, snipped
Stir-fry the eggplant and chicken in the hot olive oil, gradually adding the onion and garlic until everything is nicely browned. Stir in the nutmeg and tomatoes; cover; and simmer over low heat until the chicken is tender and done through. Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans and stir them into the chicken mixture, cooking over medium heat until everything is thoroughly hot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with a leafy salad and crusty bread. This recipe makes four servings, allowing two pieces of chicken per serving.
Skillet Stroganoff
2 slices bacon, cut up
1 pound lean cubed beef, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half
1-1/2 cups water, divided
1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt, pepper
1-1/2 cups green peas, thawed
1/2-cup sour cream
Fry the bacon in a large skillet. Stir in the beef, onion, and garlic and cook over medium-high heat to brown the meat. Move the meat to one side of the skillet to make room for the potatoes. Place the potatoes in the bottom of the skillet, cut side down. Add 1 cup of water and the bouillon; cover; reduce heat; and simmer until the beef and potatoes are tender, which should take approximately 25 minutes. Put the meat and potatoes on four serving plates. In a bowl, stir the cornstarch into the remaining 1/2-cup of water to make a smooth paste, then pour the cornstarch mixture into the skillet, stirring over medium heat until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste (the bouillon and bacon may provide sufficient salt). Stir in the peas; turn off the heat; and stir in the sour cream. Spoon the sauce over the meat and potatoes. Complete the menu with carrot-raisin salad on the side and sesame breadsticks. For dessert, munch on Fuji apples and M&Ms.
Books for cooks
125 Best Chocolate Recipes ($18.95, Robert Rose Inc.), by Julie Hasson, includes recipes for chocolate breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, pies, sauces, candies, puddings, drinks, and frozen desserts, allowing you to enjoy all chocolate, all the time. Ms. Hasson, who also wrote 125 Best Chocolate Chip Recipes, even has a recipe for Chocolate Quesadillas, a dessert quickly made in a skillet. The many color photos suggest ways to garnish and present dishes.
Another in the collectible “125 Best” cookbook series is Judith Finlayson’s 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes ($18.95, Robert Rose Inc.). The author, known for her slow-cooker savvy, wrote this book for vegans and vegetarians. Even if you’re a meat eater, you’ll love these recipes as side dishes or main dishes, and the desserts are out of this world. The best part is that they all cook, forgotten, in the slow cooker while the chef plays golf, combs the beach for treasure, or otherwise enjoys camping life to the max. Both “125 Best” books can be purchased at bookstores; through online booksellers; or by calling Firefly Books, the distributor, at (800) 387-5085 (U.S.) or (800) 387-6192 (Canada).
For those who have fallen under the spell of Alaska, The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook: Culinary Adventures in the Wilderness ($29.95, Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co.) by Kirsten Dixon makes lovely armchair reading as well as a great recipe book. Ms. Dixon and her family own a remote, fly-in lodge on Finger Lake, northwest of Anchorage, on the Iditarod Trail. If you’re camped nearby and want to fly in for one of Kirsten’s fabulous cooking schools, they’ll pick you up. Call (907) 274-2710, visit www.withinthewild.com, or e-mail alaskawild@gci.net for more information. The book, a coffee table hardcover collectible, can be found in bookstores or through online booksellers.
Make Kirsten’s Mixed Berry Syrup and put it away for your next trip. Here’s how: First, line a strainer with moistened cotton cheesecloth. Cook together a pint of fresh cranberries, a pint of fresh raspberries, and a quart of fresh strawberries until the berries burst. Put them in the cheesecloth strainer and press out the juices with a soft spatula. Cook the juice with 3 cups sugar, 6 cups water, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel. Simmer uncovered until the sugar dissolves, which takes five to 10 minutes. Pour into clean glass jars and keep in the refrigerator for up to three months.