Don Tillman's Standardized Meal System
Page 9
Slice sufficient cheese to cover the bread. Do not put it on the bread yet.
Place bread under grill until slightly colored (light brown).
Remove bread from grill, turn over, and add cheese to untoasted side to cover. Place under grill until cheese bubbles.
Turn off grill. Remove and serve.
VARIATIONS
Spread butter and / or yeast extract (Vegemite) on the bread immediately before adding cheese. Alternatively – as preferred by Hudson – spread the yeast extract (carefully, in order not to break the thin cheese crust) over the cooked product.
Upgrade to full double-slice toasted sandwiches made in a commercial device, and / or add traditional toasted-sandwich ingredients such as tomato and ham.
WINTER SATURDAY DINNER:
Oysters Natural; Baked Fish with Olives and Feta
Recommended alcohol: for the oysters, I recommend a Chablis or unoaked sauvignon blanc.
With the fish: rosé or a light red wine, as it is winter, the dish has strong flavors, and I like red wine.
Many people do not like oysters. Most people have an aversion to some food or taste: sea urchin, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, snails, coriander, yogurt, olives, anchovies, cauliflower, milk, tomalley. I recommend you reflect on the food you find most distasteful and imagine being forced to eat it.
As an adult, you are unlikely to be faced with this scenario. But when I was a child, I was required to eat things I didn’t like, on the basis that I would get used to them, suffer malnutrition without them, or even that I was somehow contributing to world hunger. These arguments were without merit. As an adult, my tastes have changed, but not because of forced exposure.
If you don’t like something, I recommend you delete it from the menu (I assume you will do that even without my advice). If your child or someone in your power such as an elderly parent does not like something, I recommend you do the same. Not to do so would demonstrate a severe lack of empathy, which is generally regarded as a major character fault.
On the topic of empathy, it is unlikely that oysters feel pain. Also, I was told that opening an oyster kills it immediately – hence the advice to purchase them unshucked. As a result of doing so, I injured my knee1. The advice was faulty. You should not eat a dead oyster (you can test for decay by smelling). But I now purchase oysters from a vendor who I trust to have shucked them very recently, and eat them the same day.
COMMON RESOURCES: OYSTERS
2 lemons
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS: OYSTERS
12 fresh oysters in shells
COMMON RESOURCES: BAKED FISH WITH OLIVES AND FETA
1 lemon
18 pitted black olives
100 g feta cheese (optional)
1 tbsp capers
50 ml white / rosé wine (optional – if you are not drinking white or rosé wine, delete; the flavor contribution is minimal and red wine will have a negative impact)
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS: BAKED FISH WITH OLIVES AND FETA
350 g fish fillet(s) suitable for baking with tomatoes and olives (as recommended by fishmonger)
14 cherry tomatoes or 1 large conventional tomato
EQUIPMENT
Plate for serving oysters
Baking dish with lid
Zester or grater
Plate for lemon zest
Bowl
Lemon squeezer
PROCESS
Time: 37 minutes, including 25 minutes unallocated time.
Heat oven or barbecue to 190 degrees.
Zest and squeeze 1 lemon.
Cut cherry tomatoes in half (or conventional tomato into pieces of this size).
Use knife to “crumble” feta (10 seconds chopping).
Put 3 tablespoons of olive oil in baking dish.
Put fish in baking dish.
Add white wine.
In sequence, put tomatoes, olives, capers, feta, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of the fish.
Put lid on dish, place in oven, and set timer for 25 minutes.
Cut 2 lemons into 4 wedges each. Put the oysters on a plate with them. Ensure a pepper grinder is on the table. Eat oysters.
When timer sounds, serve the fish.
VARIATIONS
Add toppings to the oysters: for example, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil (mixed).
Cook the oysters using the “Kilpatrick” recipe. This recipe provides “something for everyone”: Worcestershire sauce for me, bacon for Dave, oyster death for Rosie.
Replace the fish with raw (“green”) prawns (shrimp).
WINTER SUNDAY:
Slow-cooked Lamb Shanks with Celeriac Mash
Common Resource Maintenance and Advance Preparation:
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup for Tuesday (and tonight)
Coq au Vin for Tuesday (it will be improved by reheating)
Potato and Leek Soup (if required)
Chicken Stock (if required) – refer Summer Sunday for recipe
Sunday meal preparation is intended to be time-consuming. Thanks to standardization, the work imposes only a small cognitive load. As familiarity improves, you will be able to process recipes in parallel, but if today’s list (including tonight’s meal of Lamb Shanks, which is relatively simple) provokes anxiety, defer the Jerusalem Artichoke Soup until tomorrow or Tuesday, or delete altogether. The advantage of making it today is that you can eat some as an appetizer tonight.
When I was single, Sunday cooking provided an opportunity to prepare mentally for the week ahead. But, following my incorporation into a family, it serves a second function.
My mother spent considerable time in the kitchen when I was young, and my siblings and I would join her to assist, and to talk about random issues. In retrospect, these issues were often important, but would not have been volunteered in response to the conventional question “How was school?”
I realized that I should provide the same service to Hudson and even Rosie. In theory, shared meals are a forum for conversation, but I find that personal matters are better discussed and solutions workshopped during the preparation phase.
Hence the kitchen and barbecue function as conceptual help desks, particularly on Sundays. Frequently, Hudson or Rosie will approach me as I work, knowing that the routine of cooking is likely to have made me even more calm and rational than I am by default, and engage in discussion. Important information is shared and solutions explored.
If I am not required for that task, I have little trouble filling the time with reflection on my own problems. A kitchen with food cooking is an excellent personal environment during the winter (equivalent to a barbecue in fine weather).
SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHANKS
COMMON RESOURCES: LAMB SHANKS
2 tbsp plain flour
2 brown onions
3 carrots
2 cloves garlic
100 ml white wine (can be replaced by extra chicken stock)
100 ml homemade chicken stock (can be replaced by extra wine)
25 g anchovies preserved in oil
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS: LAMB SHANKS
Sufficient lamb shanks for 2 people (sizes vary, so seek advice from butcher or make your own estimate of how much is required by imagining half of the quantity on your own plate)
Large sprig of rosemary
2 sticks of celery
1 leek
COMMON RESOURCES: POTATO AND 60% CELERIAC MASH
140 g potatoes
210 g (peeled weight) celeriac (treated as a Common Resource – a celeriac bulb is usually 420 g or larger, but it will last a week in cling wrap in the refrigerator after cutting)
3 cloves garlic
EQUIPMENT
Enameled cast-iron pot or slow cooker
Potato masher
Pot for boiling potatoes and celeriac
Colander
Plate
Plastic bag
PROCESS
Time: 4 hours in
pot or 6 hours (check instructions) in slow cooker, mostly unallocated time.
You can cook the lamb shanks in either the cast-iron pot or a specialized slow cooker. If using the latter, the instructions for it should override mine and you will probably need to start earlier.
If you have limited preparation time, you can ignore the frying steps, delete the olive oil, and just put all ingredients in the pot (after peeling, chopping, and removing from packaging, obviously), then commence the main cooking process. The result will still be excellent, but you will miss the therapeutic value of the chopping and sautéing (the procedure is similar to that for minestrone soup and the same observations apply).
Put lamb shanks in bag with flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 8 twists of the pepper grinder. Shake.
Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in cast-iron pot on burner / hotplate and set temperature to maximum.
When hot, put the lamb shanks in the pot and turn as necessary until brown on all sides. If the flour begins to burn, discontinue the process immediately.
Remove lamb shanks to plate. If there is burnt residue in the pot, clean it before proceeding.
Peel onions and chop into 1 cm cubes.
Peel garlic and chop into pieces (30 seconds).
Reduce temperature to 60% of maximum and put 2 more tablespoons of olive oil in the pot.
Add the chopped onions and garlic to the pot.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
In sequence, prepare each of the remaining vegetables, add to those already in the pot, and stir with wooden spoon. Timing is non-critical.
Carrots – peel and cut into discs 1 cm thick.
Leek – discard tough parts and cut into 1 cm discs. Celery – cut into 1 cm slices.
Add the anchovies (each chopped into 3 equal pieces), rosemary, wine, and chicken stock; stir to mix, then return the lamb shanks to the pot.
Put the lid on the pot, place it in the oven, and reduce the temperature to 165 degrees.
Non-essential step: after 2 hours, remove pot from oven, remove lid, turn lamb shanks over, and replace in oven with lid on.
After 3 1/2 hours the lamb should be ready to serve.
Thirty minutes before serving: remove lid from cast-iron pot (non-essential).
Peel potato(es) with peeler and cut skin from celeriac with knife. Cut both into 3 cm cubes.
Put pieces in pot; cover with cold water and 2 teaspoons of salt.
Put pot on burner / hotplate at maximum. When the water boils, lower heat to maintain simmer for 25 minutes.
Peel garlic cloves and cut finely (1 minute).
Strain vegetables in colander. Return them to the pot, add olive oil and garlic, and mash with potato masher. Serve in saucepan unless diners object.
Serve lamb shanks in cast-iron pot. Sometimes the vegetables will have become a bit fatty. The vegetables have done their primary job of transferring flavor to the meat and can be ignored, but if it is a problem, I suggest steaming a green vegetable.
VARIATIONS
This recipe is tolerant of time (more rather than less), ingredients, and quantities. You can add further seasoning (e.g. chili flakes, coriander) to the flour mixture, and any root vegetable, a can of tomatoes, and / or chili to the pot.
This is a generic casserole recipe, and the lamb shanks can be replaced with any meat suitable for slow cooking: I recommend beef cheeks (minimum of 4 hours cooking; delete the rosemary and anchovies).
The ratio of celeriac to potato can be varied according to taste and the size of the celeriac to avoid wastage (potatoes can be stored longer than celeriac and are less expensive).
ADVANCE PREPARATION: JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP
This recipe makes six small serves – two for tonight and four for Tuesday. It can easily be scaled up and the surplus frozen, if chicken-stock stocks are sufficient and you have time to peel artichokes. (If a helper is available, delegate them to do this and purchase enough for the remainder of the season.)
COMMON RESOURCES
500 ml homemade chicken stock
Butter
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS
400 g Jerusalem artichokes
2 leeks
EQUIPMENT
Enameled cast-iron pot
Blender / liquidizer
Colander
PROCESS
Time: 2 1/2 hours, largely unallocated time.
Peel the artichokes (a slow process, due to the shape of the artichokes; it may help to cut off the most irregular shapes and peel them separately).
Cut the artichokes into thin slices (as thin as possible while keeping the slices whole – not critical) and put in colander.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of salt over the artichoke slices and toss with hands to ensure most surfaces are coated.
Leave in sink or over a bowl (to catch liquid) for 1 hour.
Discard the liquid that has run off and rinse the artichoke slices to (largely) eliminate the salt.
Dry the artichoke slices with paper towel(s) or clean tea towel(s). Do not spend more than five minutes on this task: perfection is impossible and unnecessary.
Cut leeks from white end into 1 cm discs until you reach the tough part. Discard remainder.
Put olive oil, butter, and leeks in pot, and cook at 25% of maximum for 30 minutes.
Add the chicken stock. Raise temperature to maximum until stock reaches simmer, then lower to maintain simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Allow soup to cool for 15 minutes, then process in blender until smooth. It will be thick – this is correct. Reheat and eat immediately, or put in refrigerator for reheating tonight and Tuesday. Freeze any quantity surplus to those requirements.
ADVANCE PREPARATION: COQ AU VIN
As indicated by the word vin, wine is a critical ingredient in coq au vin. Burgundy, specifically Chambertin, is recommended, but not by me:
1. Many people would be unable to identify the subtle differences between Chambertin and generic Burgundy or even Australian pinot noir, when presented under ideal tasting conditions.
2. I predict that nobody would be able to detect reliably the differences after the wines had been boiled for 90 minutes with chicken, bacon, shallots, garlic, flour, salt, and pepper.
3. The properties that make a wine superior for drinking are unlikely to be the properties that make it superior for cooking.
4. Chambertin is extremely expensive. If you can afford it and appreciate its qualities, you would surely not pour it into the chicken pot.
Hence, I recommend generic red wine of the minimum standard that you are prepared to drink. Obviously, you should verify this before using. It does not need to be pinot noir, and in fact heavier wines such as shiraz / syrah may give a better result1.
COMMON RESOURCES
3 tbsp plain flour
3 cloves garlic
12 shallots
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS
4 chicken Marylands (drumstick and thigh together or disassembled), skin removed by vendor, total weight 900 g
200 g smoked lardons or lean bacon (cut 1 cm thick)
300 g button mushrooms
250 ml pinot noir or other red wine
EQUIPMENT
Enameled cast-iron pot
PROCESS
Time: 3 hours, including substantial unallocated time.
Peel all shallots.
Chop bacon into 1 cm cubes.
Grind pepper over chicken – six 90-degree twists each side of each Maryland.
Peel garlic and chop into small pieces (30 seconds chopping).
0: Pour 10 ml of olive oil into pot; place on burner / hotplate at 75% of maximum temperature.
2: Add bacon to pot. 5: Stir bacon with spatula.
8: With spatula, transfer bacon to bowl and add 10 ml of oil to pot.
9: Add shallots to pot.
12: Stir shallots with spatula to expose uncooked surface to heated oil.
15: With spatula, transfer shallots to bowl; then add 10 ml of oil to pot.
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17: Add mushrooms to pot.
20: Stir mushrooms with spatula to expose uncooked surface to heated oil.
23: Transfer mushrooms to bowl and add 10 ml of oil to pot.
24: Put flour on chopping board and dip in chicken to coat both sides of all pieces; add surplus flour to bowl and stir with wooden spoon.
25: Add chicken to pot. Place to maximize contact with oil.
30: Use spatula to turn all chicken pieces over (they should be brown – if not, cook them until they are).
35: Transfer chicken pieces to bowl (they should be brown on both sides – if not, cook them until they are).
37: Add wine to pot and use spatula to scrape residue from surface of pot.
38: Add contents of bowl plus garlic to pot.
40: Put lid on pot and set temperature to maintain a simmer.
41: Time for clean-up, preparing other items, or non-cooking activities.
83: Remove lid from pot and turn over all chicken pieces. Replace lid.
84: More free time.
128: Remove pot from stovetop. Allow to cool. Set timer for 40 minutes.
168: Store in refrigerator for reheating on Tuesday.
VARIATIONS
Replace the wine with wine vinegar (in the coq au vin – not for drinking), and add a can of tomatoes instead of the mushrooms and bacon. (That vinegar can successfully replace the wine is another argument against specifying the use of Chambertin.)
Add 25 g of dried mushrooms, after soaking for 15 minutes in a jar in 125 ml of hot water. Add the liquid in place of half of the wine.
The chicken can be replaced by guinea fowl or pheasant. Despite the reputation (and higher cost) of pheasant, the results are not significantly different.
More radically, the chicken can be replaced with beef to produce boeuf bourguignon. Ask your butcher for the most suitable cuts of meat. As with coq au vin, there are numerous more complex recipes which are interesting to attempt, assuming you want to spend time and cognitive resources on research, modification of shopping lists, and adjusting your schedule, in exchange for a probably small improvement in the result.
COMMON RESOURCE MAINTENANCE: POTATO AND LEEK SOUP
The deliciousness of this soup is partly due to the unnamed ingredient – bacon, a flavor enhancer so flexible that Americans use it in bourbon and ice-cream. However, it can be deleted and the chicken stock replaced by vegetable stock or water for a healthier vegetarian1 option.