reader questions!
xoxoox
Hi friends! Today I’m responding to a few questions from readers that I got in my email inbox and figured you might all want to know my answers, too. Got questions for me? Send them my way! xoxooxox
From a reader named Allison: I have dinner with my friends most nights of the week. We formed a pandemic pod and we have kept it up! I love it! For the past few years, we alternate houses. Now, one partner has a health issue and it is better to eat at their house. I support this, but it has proved a bit challenging in figuring out what to cook on my nights. I want to share the burden of cooking and I don’t want to cook at their house as this may add burden for their partner. I’d love any ideas on recipes that can be mostly cooked at my house and then transported. I don’t have to drive far - just a half mile in the neighborhood which is flat and even terrain. I’d love any ideas that you may have for dinners!
→ I love that you have kept this going, especially as circumstances have changed. Now onto my recipe ideas!
There are lots of good ideas in this evergreen post of dinner ideas.
For your particular situation, I would suggest anything soupy/stewy/chili-like that can be made at your house, brought over in the pot you cooked it in (no need to dirty a container or another pot) and put on your friend’s stove to warm up. Plus something bread-y to enjoy with it. Here are some ideas.
Your favorite chili + cornbread (here are my cornbread charts).
This Creamy Mushroom + Barley Soup along with a tray of these really good looking yeasted dinner rolls (or buy rolls that look like those!) and salty butter.
This Turkey Sausage, Bean + Spinach Soup with this no-knead cheese bread I have been meaning to try….if you make it, let me know how it goes?!??!
Or how about this Corn, Potato + Cheddar Chowder with a batch of Erika Council’s perfect biscuits.
Along the same lines, something braised can be transported easily, warmed up in the pot it was cooked it, and enjoyed with fresh, crusty bread and a simple salad. Such as:
This delicious braised pork shoulder with red onions + dried cherries that I shared recently…sooooo good.
Or these Charoset Chicken Thighs (which I mean to remind you all about before Passover but I forgot….but they’re great anytime!!).
Lastly, one of my all-time favorite recipes ever: the Green Chile Braised Chicken Thighs with Pinto Beans from Simply Julia, one of the first recipes I shared in this newsletter FOUR WHOLE YEARS AGO. Bring this is in the pot you cooked it in along with fun toppings (a tub of sour cream, a jar of pickled jalapeños, some chopped cilantro, etc.) and a bag of tortilla chips for scooping it all up with. Maybe a pitcher of margaritas. The easiest meal ever and so, so satisfying and fun to share with friends. And cheap and easy to transport!
And from Lisa: Do I need different olive oils for different kinds of cooking? Graza sells olive oils based on different "cooking needs": drizzle for salads, bread, pour-on-food stuff, sizzle for cooking, and one more for high heat recipes. I began to wonder if this is a marketing ploy or if I should be paying attention. I know the fish and chips we made in class used a high temperature oil. I think it was peanut oil? Can't recall offhand. Figured if there were a person who would know this, with a realistic response it would be you. I still use my What Goes With What cookbook all the time. I guess spilling on it in the kitchen means it's really a cookbook. Thanks! Lisa.
→ First off, thanks for your kind words, Lisa. Means a lot!! Now down to oil. Here’s how I approach it in my kitchen:
I use one type of olive oil for 99% of what I cook/eat in my kitchen. I use it to sauté things in, to toss things in before roasting, in salad dressings, in olive oil cake, to drizzle on toast I’ve rubbed with a garlic clove (best thing to dip in soup). I don’t stress about choosing different types for different things.
You probably want to know what it is, right?!?! I have a subscription order for these two liter boxes of California Olive Ranch Olive Oil*. I decant that oil into my favorite squeeze bottle from OXO*. I get two boxes of the oil every four months (so six boxes a year)—this seems to be the perfect amount for us (I cook A LOT, but also it’s just for me and Grace). I love that I never run out and that I never have to add “olive oil” to my shopping list.
*Neither of these products are sponsored by either company. I buy them myself! The links do get me a small commission through ShopMy.
I landed on California Olive Ranch because I like the way it tastes, I appreciate their standards, and while it’s not the cheapest, I think it’s relatively affordable for its quality.
Sometimes people give me fancier bottles of olive oil for gifts. This is so nice! I save this stuff for just drizzling on things — salads, toast, ice cream, etc. I don’t cook with it. But I don’t keep this on hand unless it’s a gift. Not just because it’s expensive, but also because I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s nice! Really nice to have a grassy, luscious oil and really taste it. But when I’m out of it, I don’t miss it….and that’s all I need to know!
On the rare occasions I deep fry (like this class!!), I swear buy peanut oil which I buy a gallon of at the grocery store (no brand preference).
And sometimes when I’m baking, I want a more neutral oil than olive oil. Meaning something with less flavor. For these times, I use canola or vegetable oil. No brand preference. Just whatever I see at the grocery store.
The only other type of oil I have in my kitchen is toasted sesame oil, which I think of more like a condiment. It has such a strong and incredible flavor and I don’t use it for cooking, but just for mixing into sauces and finishing dishes like stir-fries.
From my best friend: I can never remember which recipes are in which of your cookbooks. There’s an index somewhere, right?!?
→ It’s right here!! Thanks to Haley!!
From anonymous: I’m so excited about your romance novel – can I preorder it?
→ Of course! Right here on bookshop.org!! And if you want a SIGNED COPY, you can order from my local bookstore Oblong Books. …am I the anonymous reader?? You’ll never know!!
Can I help you find something useful?!
You can pre-order my romance novel, Down to Earth, right here! It will be out June 23rd.
My latest cookbook is What Goes with What and info about all of my cookbooks lives on my website.
Here’s my video library of 130-and-counting! cooking classes.
Here’s my all-time favorite class: a tour of my kitchen and also my mind! It includes a 2+ hour recording and an incredibly detailed companion document that details all of the tools, ingredients + more I use (it’s over 20 pages long!), plus a ton of tips for day-to-day cooking (lots of mini recipes within).
Check out my ShopMy page for my favorite kitchen tools, ingredients, and even clothing items — it’s all there!
And I catalog all of my favorite books right here at bookshop.org.
Thank you for sharing your answer to the olive oil question! I was a CA olive ranch person for a long time, but then started buying Graza at Costco and it's good enough to cook with, but I don't actually like the flavor when it's in salad dressing, or drizzled on top of hummus. I signed up to get CA Olive ranch delivered and am excited to switch back - thanks for making us aware of the subscription option!
One of my favorite dinner to transport to my daughter's house is chicken thighs and fries. My grandkid love it too!! All a good win for everyone.