Quick and Easy Meals for One, Bachelor Style

I hope you got the response you wanted;this probably an example of the XX and XY chromosomes struggle to communicate. lol

I fix it, gurls whine about what's broken. The cycle continues and no one is ever happy...

I'm so glad your here! I have teied some of your recipes and enjoyed them and your humor.

Granny Bea wrote: I'm so glad your here! I have teied some of your recipes and enjoyed them and your humor.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the recipes and my sense of humor! I'm working on some new meals and trying to stick to the bachelor theme, hearty food that fills you up with minimal clean up. Cooking outside on the grill, smoker, and even over a fire (conditions permitting of course) and use of common tools will continue to be featured because that's how I cook in real life. I would be remiss if I didn't caution you about the dietary impact of some of these dishes but if you get your exercise in everyday you should be allowed to have an occasional treat!

I love Barbecued pork and pork cooked low and slow in the smoker has to be one of my favorites. Here's a meal that is hard to beat just about any time of the year:

Barbecued Pulled Pork

What You Need:

Smoker, I like Cherry and Hickory chips (don't have a smoker? Crock pot and some liquid smoke will do in a pinch)
1 boneless pork shoulder roast, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds (watch the bargain bins!)
1 chopped yellow onion
Butter, oil, or bacon grease
1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
Honey to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Black pepper
Salt
Brown sugar
sandwich rolls (kaiser rolls or other sturdy bread if you can get it, day old even better.)
coleslaw, the local grocery stores make good enough slaw for this meal
A couple of jiggers of your favorite brand of corn squeez'ns


How To Git'r Dun:

Soak your wood chips in water overnight, also the night before mix black pepper, salt, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Rub the roast with the spice mix, I mix my spices in a large bowl so I can just add the roast to the bowl then cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Around mid morning the next day start the smoker, as a rule of thumb if I want to eat around 1800 I make sure the meat is in the smoker no later than 1000. Don't forget to feed more wood chips into the smoker as the day goes by!

Dice the onion, preheat your dutch oven, add butter, oil, or bacon grease then add onions. When the onions are done to your liking pour barbeque sauce, honey, and additional spices to taste and reduce heat to a slow simmer. make the sauce about an hour before you take the roast off the smoker, once it has simmered for an hour reduce heat to warm. Assuming the roast has been in the smoker since 1000, remove the roast from the smoker around 1740 and allow it to rest for ten minutes. Shred the pork, you can use your fingers at this point because the roast should be falling apart by now. Add pulled pork to the dutch oven along with the couple jiggers of your favorite brand of corn squeez'ns. Be sure to mix well so all of the meat is covered in sauce.

No smoker and you are going to use a crock pot? Follow the same rub procedure as above then place pork roast in a lightly greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker. Combine onion, barbecue sauce, honey, liquid smoke, and cayenne pepper then pour over the roast. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 7 to 9 hours. Add the corn squeez'ns last and shred the meat with a pair of forks and then mix well.

Serve on toasted buns, topped with slaw. Not hot enough for you? Add more cayenne to the sauce while you are making it or squirt some Tabasco sauce on the finished product. Makes enough for three hungry people, adjust ingredients to suit the number of people you need to feed. Delicious with beans and grilled corn! Also makes an awesome burrito but those are recipes I'll share later.

This has to be one of the easiest things to make that I know of... Also a great excuse for a fall road trip to north eastern Colorado!

Corn on the Cob

What You Need:

Ears of corn in the husk
Fire or grill
Butter
Heal of bread
Salt

How it's Done:

Get the corn at your favorite place, DO NOT peel the ears open just select ears that are green and tasseled out. Feel around the top of each ear to ensure there are kernels all the way up to the top of each ear. Not a 100% guarantee that every ear will be a good one but I get it right more often than not. If cooking over a wood fire gather coals off to one side of the fire and place the corn directly on top of the coals, on a grill place corn on the grilling surface. Roll the corn as each side facing the heat turns brown and even black. Remove each ear from the heat once all sides are brown to black.

While the corn cooks butter the heal of bread and salt it, use a lot of butter and salt. Break out your welding gloves and peel each ear by pulling as much of the silk ouot of the top as you can and then peeling back the husk, wrap the inverted husk with a paper towel and use the husk as a handle. Run the corn over the buttered bread making sure to cover all sides. Eat and repeat as needed.

Need an easy quick meal first thing in the morning but don't have time to cook? How about making a batch of...

Breakfast Burritos

What You Need:

18 eggs
30 flour tortillas
1 pound shredded sharp cheddar
1 pound shredded pepper jack
1 14 ounce can black beans
1 14 ounce can refried beans
Quart or more of pork based hot green chili
1 pound pork breakfast sausage
1 pound bacon
1 pound ham cubes
6-8 medium Yukon gold spuds, shredded
1 large yellow onion, diced
Pickled Jalapeno slices
Butter
Salt
Black pepper
Large cast iron pan or griddle
A couple of hours

How it's Done:

Clear your schedule, this one takes a couple of hours and a lot of prep time. I break out the veg-o-matic for this one, it's too much to do by hand, shred the spuds and cheeses, and dice the onion. Crack all the eggs into a large bowl and scramble with a touch of water and black pepper.

Open the canned beans and combine in a sauce pot, warm them through and keep warm while making the burritos.

Meanwhile heat up the large pan or griddle cook the sausage and then the bacon, retain some of the fat and remove the meat to separate bowls.
Next and add enough butter to cover the surface of the pan of griddle then add onions and spuds, spread the onions and spuds evenly and allow them to brown on one side then flip and brown the other side adding fat from the bacon and sausage as needed. When the spuds are golden brown remove from the pan to a separate bowl.

Pour more fat on the pan or griddle to cover the surface and then add the eggs, keep the eggs moving flipping them over frequently. Cook the eggs until almost done but still wet, add the spuds to the pan and mix well. When the egg/spud mixture is done remove from the pan or griddle to a separate bowl.

Reduce heat in the pan/griddle to a minimum, put a couple of tortillas in the pan and get your assembly line ready. Take a warm tortilla from the pan/griddle and spoon in eggs/spuds, cheese, meat (all three or one at a time), beans, Jalapenos, and some green chili. Roll out a two foot piece of plastic wrap and roll the burrito up and then seal it in the plastic wrap. I use a sharpie to mark them to reflect the contents of each burrito.

I freeze mine and heat them in the microwave for about 1.5 to 2 minutes to warm them up. If you do this let the burrito stand for a few minutes and remove the plastic wrap off a few minutes after you nuke the burrito so the whole thing doesn't fall apart on you.

Pros: You have a nice supply of easy breakfasts ready to go. The dietary impact is low if you eat these early in the day because you have all day to digest them. Your dog loves the scraps and leftovers.

Cons: It takes some time to make this recipe, plan on two plus hours. Yes it is labor intensive for one person but I'll argue it's worth the effort for the outcome. No matter how hard I try I never get exactly 40 burritos out of this recipe, there is always something left over.

As the weather starts to warm up I find that I do my cooking on the grill as much as I can. Sometimes I get a craving for deep fried foods so I get out the Dutch oven, place it on the side burner of my gas grill, fill it up half way with peanut oil and make...

Tempura

Tempura Batter:

1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ale, I like Bass or Harp
Ice
2 bowls, a smaller one and a larger one
Oil for deep frying, I like peanut oil because of its high flash point
Veggies, I like onions, mushrooms, zucchini
Seafood, shrimp or cod
Meat, raw cubes of chicken, beef, lamb are good

Method:

Combine the dry ingredients in the smaller bowl. place ice in the larger bowl and then set the smaller bowl inside it and add enough water to the larger bowl to fill 3/4 of the way full. Get your ale, I know it's wrong for a good English ale to be ice cold but in this case you want it as close to freezing as possible. Pour the ale into the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir (get an extra set of chop sticks next time you go out for Chinese, perfect tool for the job!), add ale until the batter is completely wet and thin like pancake batter.

Prep your ingredients, it's important to keep each item thin and small especially meat and seafood so that they will cook through. Cut onions and zucchini in to rounds, keeping them at about a 1/4 inch thickness. Mushrooms can go in whole.

Transport everything you need to your frying station, it's important to have a fire extinguisher at the ready and stay at the frying station until all of the cooking is done and the hot oil has been secured in a safe place. NEVER pour water on an oil fire!

Dip your meat, seafood, and veggies into the batter and deep fry until golden brown. Dip and fry ingredients a few at a time. Too big a batch will change the temperature of the oil. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with a sprinkle of cayenne and/or salt. Dipping sauces are optional but every time I make onion rings and mushrooms this way a bowl of blue cheese dressing magically appears.

Having a party? Better still, double or quadruple the batter and provide the dutch oven and hot oil and have guests bring something to prep, batter, fry, and share! Clean up is pretty simple, toss the paper towels and chop sticks in the trash, pour the cooled oil back into a bottle through a funnel lined with a coffee filter (I do this the next day), wash the two bowls, knife and cutting board.

otisptoadwater wrote: This has to be one of the easiest things to make that I know of... Also a great excuse for a fall road trip to north eastern Colorado!

Corn on the Cob

What You Need:

Ears of corn in the husk
Fire or grill
Butter
Heal of bread
Salt

How it's Done:

Get the corn at your favorite place, DO NOT peel the ears open just select ears that are green and tasseled out. Feel around the top of each ear to ensure there are kernels all the way up to the top of each ear. Not a 100% guarantee that every ear will be a good one but I get it right more often than not. If cooking over a wood fire gather coals off to one side of the fire and place the corn directly on top of the coals, on a grill place corn on the grilling surface. Roll the corn as each side facing the heat turns brown and even black. Remove each ear from the heat once all sides are brown to black.

While the corn cooks butter the heal of bread and salt it, use a lot of butter and salt. Break out your welding gloves and peel each ear by pulling as much of the silk ouot of the top as you can and then peeling back the husk, wrap the inverted husk with a paper towel and use the husk as a handle. Run the corn over the buttered bread making sure to cover all sides. Eat and repeat as needed.

Using the heel of the bread is a great tip. thanks.

It's summer and it's too hot to use the oven in the kitchen but you want pizza. Sure you could call the places that deliver and fork over 15 or more skins plus a tip for a luke warm pie that probably isn't really that great or jump in the car and drive to your favorite place for pizza, wait for the pizza to cook and then fork out what they get for a pie plus tip. Or you could keep an eye on the coupons and flyers in your daily newspaper and pick up some frozen pizzas on sale and make...

Frozen Pizzas on the Grill

Don't wince, if you get this right you can actually make some pretty tasty and cheap grub!

What You Need:

Frozen pizza(s), experiment with the brands that are on sale and the cheaper brands
Additional toppings, I buy cheese pizzas and top them myself
Additional sauce, leftover spaghetti sauce works great
Additional cheese, I like slices of sharp provolone but use what you have and like
Dry oregano
Crushed red peppers
Parmesan cheese
Pizza stone or aluminum foil (optional, if you don't like crisp crust use a stone or foil and indirect heat when cooking)
Welding gloves or pot holders
Pizza pan or large cutting board
Large chef's knife or pizza cutter

How it's Done:

Preheat your gas grill on a low to medium-low setting, 400F seems to work best for me. Prep your additional toppings and add to the pizza(s), I suggest adding some strips or shredded cheese on last to hold the toppings in place. Go easy on the extra toppings to ensure that they don't keep the top of the pie from cooking through, cook any additional meats in advance (think left over meatballs and Italian sausage, plan your shopping list so you have this kind of stuff on hand and meals planned to use up the leftovers). Put the frozen pizza(s) on the center of the grill and close the lid. Grill the pizza(s) for 13 minutes. Rotate the pizza(s) a one-half turn after 8 minutes. Leave the pizza on the grill until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is completely melted.

Don the welding gloves when the pie is done and use your grill spatula to maneuver the pie(s) on to the pizza pan(s) or cutting board(s). Top each pie with some dry oregano, rubbed between your hands to open up the flavor, Parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes to taste. Use your chef's knife or pizza cutter to cut in to slices, I normally only cut them in to four pieces because eight slices is too much pizza even for Otis.

On my latest trip to the grocery store I spied a package of bratwurst in the bargain bin so tonight I'm making...

Bratwurst on the Grill

Supplies:

Bratwurst
Beer
Yellow onion, diced
Sauerkraut
Swiss cheese, sliced thin
Mustard, I like the spicy hot brown mustard
Sandwich rolls (NOT hot dog buns), always check the day old rack before you pay full price

Procedure:

Break out a pot large enough to hold your sauerkraut and three time the volume of the kraut in water. Empty your can of kraut into the pot and add three cans full of water, bring to a boil then reduce to a light simmer and cover with a lid but cock the lid to the side so the steam can vent. Cook the kraut all day long on very low heat and be sure to check it often, add water to keep the kraut covered as needed.

About 45 minutes before you want to eat break out a second pot (I hear you, TWO pots?! Trust me it's worth it.) add a generous chunk of butter and then add half of the onions, give the onions a couple of minutes until they start to cook through then add brats and enough beer to cover the brats. Use the cheapest beer you can find to cook the brats in, the flavors are there in even the cheapest brands. Bring the brats to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes, after 15 minutes fish the brats out of the broth and grill over indirect heat and smoke (if you have a smoker box on your grill you know what I mean). DO NOT use a fork while cooking the brats on the grill, you want the skin intact to contain the juices. Cook the brats to desired color, toast sandwich rolls on the grill, then pop a slice of Swiss and the brats in each bun and top off with mustard, kraut, and onions. Why sandwich rolls instead of hotdog buns? If you get this recipe right and don't over cook the brats you'll see how juicy the brats are and the kraut are, you will want bread that can soak up and contain all the moisture without turning into mush in your hand. Hotdog buns are all you have on hand? Consider this a KFJ (Knife and Fork Job), I hope you have purloined enough plasticware and paper plates other wise you have even more stuff to wash up after the meal is over.

Got more brats than you can eat? Take the extra brats out of the beer and put them in a freezer bag along with enough of the beer, butter, onion mixture to cover and freeze them. When you are ready for brats, thaw and grill - no need for all the extra prep work. Next time you spot a lot of brats in the bargain bin consider making a batch minus the grilling as a future labor saver. Kraut on the other hand does not keep for ever so gauge how much kraut you can eat in a week (got corned beef and rye bread? Rubens are on the menu this week!).

Great with corn on the cob, slaw, potato salad, and baked beans! Take my word for it, your canine pals will gladly eat all of the kraut and brats you let them but you'll regret sharing within 24 hours!