BOOK REVIEW: Going Solo in the Kitchen, by Jane Doerfer

One of the first things I did when I decided to embark on my cooking endeavor was go to my local Borders and camp out in the cafe with a cup of tea and a stack of cookbooks. A quick search on Amazon comes up with more than 20 cookbooks geared toward small-batch cooking and baking, but in the end I found only a few worth the shelf space. Doerfer's book is a definite keeper.

Doerfer begins with some genuinely insightful information on shopping, storing and preparing food for one, including tips on making the most of your storage space, what's worth stocking and what you can easily substitute out. Her ideas for leftovers - both ingredients and prepared recipes - are inventive and practical. She talks extensively about the best methods for preserving your leftovers, from cooked vegetables to fresh herbs and pasta. I appreciate that she is practical about space concerns, since most people cooking for one are also in smaller living quarters.

The recipes: Doerfer clearly enjoys food and preparing it. Her recipes are largely based around making the most of a few ingredients and bringing out the natural flavors in good food. From a twenty-minute risotto to entree salads far beyond the usual grilled chicken Caesar, the food is simple and lovely. I found that the prep times were perhaps a little shorter for her than they were for me, but that is probably the difference between Doerfer's experience in the kitchen and mine. All in all, a great book for the solo cook, no matter what your experience level.

Favorite recipes: Lamb Chops with Tarragon; Greek Lemon Chicken Soup; Cornbread; Turkey Meatballs.

Introductions

After nearly ten years of living and eating haphazardly - name a brand of frozen dinners and I can tell you my three favorite varieties, and quite possibly the calorie and sodium content of each - I have given up the freezer section and begun to cook for myself.

Living in a typical Boston apartment, which included closet-sized kitchen complete with under-sized appliances and a distinct lack of cabinet space, I have always found cooking to be more trouble than it is worth. After a long day, (with time added for commuting, extra hours and work or social events) grabbing a container of Thai or nuking something from the Lean Cuisine section of the freezer is tempting - and often more practical than buying huge quantities of food that go to waste when I don't have the time or interest to cook the rest. Even in the middle of the city, supermarkets cater to the family population, leaning toward 3-lb. packages of pork chops - and seriously, fellow Singletons, how long does it take one person eating sensibly to go through 3 pounds of pork?

Recently, though, I've begun paying more attention to both shopping for and preparing food. With the help of some great cookbooks designed with the single cook in mind, and with the assistance of the fantastic butcher and seafood counters at Whole Foods, as well as the bulk section at the Harvest Co-op, I've figured out some ways to be more responsible with both my buying and eating habits. This blog is where I plan to chronicle those efforts, along with recipes and tips for eating well on a reasonable budget. Please feel free to join in with your own strategies, recipes and comments. Let's eat!