The quantity is sufficient for eight serves and is readily scaled up; hence, freeze for future Mondays and / or use for weekday lunches.
COMMON RESOURCES
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic
400 g potatoes
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS
200 g bacon, cut 1 cm thick
3 medium leeks
EQUIPMENT
Enameled cast-iron pot
PROCESS
Time: 2 1/2 hours – minimal work after first 25 minutes.
Timing of this recipe is non-critical. If component preparation takes extra time (possibly due to scaling up), the frying times can be increased without adverse effect.
0: Cut bacon into 1 cm cubes.
5: Heat oil in pot on burner / hotplate at 70% of maximum temperature.
6: Add bacon to pot.
Time-share bacon cooking (stir for 5 seconds every 2 minutes) with leek and garlic preparation. Tear off tough outer leaves of leek and cut off root. Beginning at root end (whitest), cut each leek into 5–7 cm slices. Stop when leek becomes noticeably tough and discard remainder. Repeat for all leeks. Peel garlic and cut into tiny pieces (60 seconds chopping).
13: Add leeks and garlic to pot, and stir with wooden spoon. Time-share leek and bacon cooking (stir for 5 seconds every 2 minutes) with potato preparation. Peel potato(es) and cut into 1 cm cubes.
17: Add potatoes to pot. Stir with wooden spoon for 5 seconds every 2 minutes.
25: Add stock to pot and stir. Increase heat to maximum. When fluid boils, lower temperature to maintain simmer.
120: Remove soup from heat and allow to cool.
150: Divide soup into meal-sized portions (if you are considering using it for lunches, make single-person portions). Freeze all but tomorrow night’s meal, which can be stored in the refrigerator.
WINTER MONDAY:
Potato and Leek Soup
After the preparatory work of Sunday, today’s work is trivial and could even be delegated to a competent household member.
I did not design the Standardized Meal System to minimize cooking time. I enjoy cooking and eating the results. But if you don’t enjoy cooking or need to devote the time to more important tasks (e.g. care of a household member or solving the Riemann hypothesis), the Standardized Meal System is the perfect platform for minimizing cooking time. Recipes can be selected from books which focus on speed of preparation or meals which can be made in huge quantities and frozen. Any bulk preparation should probably be outsourced, as there is a risk that an inexperienced cook working with large quantities of ingredients while distracted by the Riemann hypothesis would create a disaster.
(It would be an incredible endorsement of the Standardized Meal System if the solver of the Riemann hypothesis credited it either for providing the necessary time or, in the manner in which I use it, encouraging creative thinking during the cooking process.)
VARIATION
Serve the soup with bread: this will require an extra shopping trip (possibly by another household member) to ensure freshness. Alternatively, purchase a bread-making machine.
WINTER TUESDAY:
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup; Gougères (Cheese Puffs); Coq au Vin with Roasted Broccoli
Wine: pinot noir (Burgundy is the traditional accompaniment to both coq au vin and gougères – mentioning this will increase the intimidation factor of the meal, at least on the first occasion for each set of guests).
My recipes for guest night are for four people, based on two couples: hosts and guests. Obviously, not everyone is in a couple, but some other configurations will also lead to a total of four. I recommend this as a maximum for productive conversation. I find it difficult to reduce my own contribution to 25%1 and it is impractical to properly develop an argument with less time. In larger groups, people are reluctant to advance an unpopular position for (well-founded) fear of being overwhelmed by the majority.
Socially, it is hard to “get to know” people in large groups, due to the rapidly increasing number of binary interactions (n [n-1] / 2). A dinner “party” for eight entails 8 x 7 / 2 = 28 different pairings, and thus begins to suffer from all the problems of an actual party.
Also, the more people you invite, the more quickly you will run out of potential invitees, and the more often they will experience the same meal, and possibly become less impressed with your expertise as a chef.
In winter, it is psychologically appropriate to welcome guests with soup and / or a “warming” drink. These can be combined by adding 1 tablespoon of oloroso sherry or Verdelho Madeira to each serving of the soup, immediately prior to giving it to the guest.
The only non-trivial components of this meal are the gougères (recipe from Patricia Wells, with minor modifications) and broccoli. If under time pressure (or any form of pressure) they can be readily eliminated, and the gruyere served with other Common Resource cheese as a separate course after the chicken.
COMMON RESOURCES: GOUGÈRES
These quantities, except for the cheese, are exact (recommended tolerance 5%).
1/2 tsp salt
120 g unsalted butter
120 g flour
4 eggs
160 g gruyere cheese (parmesan, which you will have on hand for the broccoli, and conventional “cheddar” cheese produce acceptable results)
COMMON RESOURCES: RICE
350 g rice of your preferred variety (as it is guest night, consider an exotic variety)
COMMON RESOURCES: ROASTED BROCCOLI
Parmesan cheese
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS: ROASTED BROCCOLI
350 g broccoli or 300 g broccolini
EQUIPMENT
Rice cooker with plastic ladle
Baking dish
Sieve
Bowl
Electric mixer
Grater
Enameled cast-iron pot
Cups or small bowls for serving small quantities of soup
Sheet of baking paper or silicone baking mat
PROCESS
Time: approximately 40 minutes work over an elapsed time dictated by personal schedule (preparation) and guest requirements (serving).
Before guests arrive:
Prepare broccoli: break into individual “florets” – length approximately 8 cm – and discard the remainder of central stem (not necessary if using broccolini).
Put broccoli in baking dish with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Grate 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, add to dish, and toss using hands if nobody watching, spoons otherwise.
Don’t wash the grater (yet) – it will be required for the gougères.
Prepare gougères mix:
Sift flour into bowl using sieve.
Grate cheese.
Put baking paper / mat on oven tray.
Put salt, butter, and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Place on burner / hotplate on maximum heat and stir with wooden spoon until boiling. Remove from heat and add the sifted flour, rapidly, then beat with spoon until no lumps remain (30 seconds). Reheat at 60% of maximum heat for 40 seconds, while stirring. Transfer contents of medium saucepan to electric mixer bowl. Add eggs and 80% of cheese. Beat at medium speed for 30 seconds.
Use tablespoon to transfer contents of mixer bowl to the baking paper / mat in 8 equal piles with maximum spacing. Distribute remaining cheese equally on top of the piles.
Twenty minutes before anticipated arrival of guests:
1. Heat oven (conventional setting) to 220 degrees.
2. Put Jerusalem artichoke soup on burner / hotplate, ready to reheat.
3. Put coq au vin (in enameled cast-iron pot, lid on) on burner / hotplate, ready to reheat.
On arrival of guests (burst of impressive activity):
Turn on burner / hotplate to 50% of maximum to reheat Jerusalem artichoke soup.
Put oven tray and contents in oven. Set timer for 24 minutes.
Initiate cooking of rice.
When soup reaches boiling point, allow to boil for
15 seconds, then turn off burner / hotplate, and divide into cups or bowls.
Timer sounds: begin reheating coq au vin at 50% of maximum temperature.
Remove gougères from oven.
Reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees and put baking dish with broccoli in oven. Set timer for 25 minutes.
Serve gougères.
Check coq au vin every 10 minutes and stir. When it reaches boiling point (typically 20 minutes), allow to boil for 15 seconds, then reduce heat to simmer.
When timer sounds, serve coq au vin with broccoli and rice.
VARIATIONS
Sprinkle smoked paprika on top of the gougères.
Serve prosciutto or marinated peppers with the gougères.
Omit the oloroso sherry and grate fresh truffle on the soup. This variant was prompted by Gene, who arrived one evening with a single black truffle, observing that it was cheaper than the bottle of Chambertin I had requested in response to his question “Can I bring anything?” If you want to try exotic ingredients such as caviar and truffles – and Burgundy – it is vastly cheaper to do so at home and even more so if the guests are paying. We collectively rated the truffle 8.7 / 10 for aroma and 3.3 / 10 for flavor.
WINTER WEDNESDAY:
Lentil Stew; Chocolates
When I was a university student, living in Melbourne away from my family in Shepparton (a situation with both positive and negative features), I lived in a share(d) house. Responsibility for meals was rostered and I quickly settled on a standard solution, which was extremely cheap and acceptable to all household members, including a vegan1. It can be made entirely from Common Resources, if you use a can of tomatoes instead of the fresh tomato and capsicum.
I have continued to cook this meal. It is not as good as lobster salad with mango and avocado (refer Summer Tuesday) but not significantly inferior, and if I was close to solving the Riemann hypothesis or finding a cure for cancer, and in financial difficulty, I would be happy to eat it every night.
COMMON RESOURCES
1 brown onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp smoked sweet or hot paprika (critical ingredient)
1 bay leaf
1 small potato
1 carrot
125 g (approx. 3/4 cup) dried brown or green lentils2
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS
1 green capsicum
1 conventional tomato or 10 cherry tomatoes
EQUIPMENT
Sieve
Enameled cast-iron pot
PROCESS
Time: 70 minutes, including 30 minutes unallocated time.
Rinse the lentils in the sieve.
Peel onion, potato, and carrot. Cut capsicum in half and remove core. Chop all vegetables into 1 cm cubes. If using cherry tomatoes, chopping is optional; if using a whole tomato, chop into 1 cm cubes.
Chop garlic into tiny pieces (60 seconds chopping).
Put pot on burner / hotplate and set temperature to 50% of maximum. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, plus vegetables, tomato(es), and garlic.
Cook for 20 minutes. Stir after 10 minutes.
Add the paprika and the bay leaf. Stir for 15 seconds. Add lentils and 2 cups of water, stir, and increase heat to maximum.
When boiling point is reached, adjust heat to maintain simmer.
After 25 minutes, check that lentils are cooked (if not, continue until they are).
Remove bay leaf from pot, then serve.
Chocolates.
VARIATIONS
This dish can be made non-vegan by adding two sausages – I recommend uncooked chorizo – which are fried, grilled, or barbecued, then sliced and added to the stew 10 minutes before serving or served on a separate plate (especially if there is a vegan in the household). Alternatively, use bacon, fried before adding the vegetables. This will change the overall flavor of the dish, but (especially in Dave’s opinion) in a positive direction.
In the absence of a vegan, you can use chicken stock instead of water. When I lived in the share(d) house, one of my housemates would add an unmeasured splash of sherry five minutes prior to serving. If you are adding fried sausages, you can deglaze the pan with sherry and add to the stew.
WINTER THURSDAY:
Poppadums; Chicken Curry
If I want an authentic Indian meal, I visit our excellent local Indian restaurant. This principle applies to most exotic (to me) and complex food. At one time, I suggested that we eat Indian cuisine every night, which would enable me to assemble the appropriate base ingredients and acquire the necessary skills, pointing out that almost 18% of the world’s population does so. Rosie was unenthusiastic.
However, commercial Indian curry pastes are remarkably palatable. I suggest you experiment with different products and with adding chopped vegetables – spinach, zucchini, broccoli, peas, pre-cooked potato – to the curry, to increase nutritional value. Or replacing the meat with vegetables altogether.
I have specified chicken (seafood is also an option) rather than red meat because of the goal of having only one red-meat meal per week. If you don’t observe that rule, or are prepared to make an exception in winter, you can use lamb, beef, pork, goat, or kangaroo.
I recommend poppadums as a starter, primarily because they are so easy and spectacular to cook.
COMMON RESOURCES
Commercial curry paste (“Madras,” “Vindaloo,” etcetera) Commercial chutney and pickles (at least a jar of each)
1 brown onion
3/4 cup rice of your preferred variety
1 can tomatoes, 400g (depending on choice of paste)
2 poppadums
RECIPE-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS
350 g diced chicken (if you have to dice it yourself, 2 1/2 cm cubes)
150 g baby spinach (or adult spinach, which is now harder to find; optional)
1 medium zucchini (optional)
EQUIPMENT
Rice cooker with plastic ladle
Frying pan for poppadums
Enameled cast-iron pot
Bowl
PROCESS
Time: typically 40 minutes, including significant unallocated time.
Put rice and specified quantity of water in rice cooker and activate.
Cook poppadums according to instructions on packet – 1 per person. Serve with chutneys and pickles, and leave these on the table to eat with the main course.
If the curry recipe does not specify onion, I recommend adding it: peel an onion, chop into 1 cm cubes, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in pot over 30% of maximum heat, cook onion for 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl and put back in the pot after the meat has been browned.
Follow the instructions on the curry-paste jar.
While the initial stages of the cooking are proceeding, cut zucchini into 1 cm discs. If spinach is large, chop into 4 cm squares1.
When the liquid and / or tomatoes are added, also add the zucchini and spinach.
Continue with recipe, per jar instructions.
Serve with rice, chutneys, and pickles.
VARIATIONS
Ignore my variations specified in recipe and make exactly according to instructions on jar.
Experiment with increasing the proportion of any individual spice. These will be listed on jar.
Add uncooked peas (frozen are acceptable) to the rice cooker.
Purchase Indian sweets (interesting, delicious, zero work) and serve as dessert.
WINTER FRIDAY:
Restaurant Night or Fusilli Pizzaiola
Recommended cocktail: Old Fashioned.
Recommended wine: red, due to pasta.
If you are familiar with authentic Italian cuisine, you will recognize this meal as inauthentic. Pasta is supposed to be served with only a small quantity of sauce, in the same way that “authentic” pizza is not piled high with interesting toppings.
Considering how delicious and popular the alternatives are, I assume that these “rules” arose from the need to be economical with toppings, rather than from an objective asses
sment of flavor.
My rule for pizza and pasta is “if it tastes good on pizza, it is worth considering as a pasta topping, possibly after further chopping.”1 The reverse is not true.
COMMON RESOURCES
180 g fusilli pasta
1 brown onion
22 black olives (preferably marinated in oil, but brine-marinated olives will work)
90 g (9 cm of typical diameter) hot or mild salami
1 can tomatoes, 400g
3 cloves garlic
1 birds-eye or alternative preferred chili, fresh or reconstituted (optional)
Parmesan cheese
EQUIPMENT
Large pot for boiling pasta
Frying pan
Grater
PROCESS
Time: 25 minutes.
Cut salami into 1 cm cubes and olives in half.
Peel onion and cut into 5 mm cubes.
Peel garlic and cut into tiny pieces (60 seconds chopping).
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in frying pan at 40% of maximum heat.
Add chopped onion and garlic to pan, and fry for 5 minutes.
Add salami, olives, tomatoes, and (optionally) chili to pan. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Cook pasta in pot according to instructions on packet (add 1 tablespoon of salt when the water boils if not specified).
Add cooked pasta to frying pan, stir to mix, and serve.
Put parmesan on table with grater to enable diners to grate cheese over their pasta (fresh, zero wastage).
VARIATIONS
Soak 10 g of dried mushrooms in warm water for 15 minutes and add with the tomatoes.
As this is a Friday meal, it is designed to be made entirely from Common Resources. But if I was planning it in advance, I would include a chopped zucchini (1 1/2 cm cubes) and 200 g of fresh mushrooms (1 cm cubes), which I would fry in the pan for 5 minutes after the onion- and-garlic-frying step. This information is worth sharing with household members. Illustrative text from Rosie:
I’m not up to going out tonight. I’ll grab mushrooms and zucchini at the supermarket on the way home so we can have some VEGETABLES. Open that chianti.
Rosie only knew which ingredients and wine were required because of the predictability of the Standardized Meal System. (Mushrooms are fungi, not vegetables, but are nutritionally similar.)
__________
1 The use of the imperative form should not be interpreted as an instruction to follow Dave’s example. The result is, however, delicious, with the exception of the coffee if you are accustomed to black and unsweetened.
Don Tillman's Standardized Meal System Page 10
