A Cook Without a Kitchen

It has been five weeks since we last lived at home - will be two more before we get back. So, for the moment, I am a cook without (much of) a kitchen. And a blogger without (good) internet connection. Soon I will be back to cooking and writing about food. Here are a couple thoughts about food for the moment.

1. If you thought you didn't like meatloaf, try it again. Use ground beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, or a combination. Make sure to start with good meat, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's eat and you can't make good meatloaf with bad meat. If cost is an issue, use less meat, not worse. Season it as YOU like. Mix in grated onion, carrot, zucchini, or chopped spinach. Try using steel cut oats in a 1:3 ratio with your meat. Top the loaf with ketchup, bbq sauce, marinara sauce, thick sliced tomatoes.

2. Revisit corn on the cob. Yes, it is great just boiled and eaten plain and hot. But you can also cut it, cob and all, into chunks and add to soups and stews, take it off the cob and cook it into eggs, sauces, soups. Throw it on the grill in its husk.

3. Apples. Don't bother with red delicious, all the flavor and texture has been bred right out of them to get huge, bright, shiny red things with very little resemblance to a real apple. This time of year go for honeycrisp. They have a short season and are crunchy, sweet with a slight tang of tart, have a very apple-y flavor and nice juiciness.