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Cooking For One Blog

The History of the Can Opener

Basic Cookbook For Living Alone

Copyright 2010 by Morris Rosenthal

Pan Recipes for One - Simple Cooking For One Man With One Burner

These recipes are from a hand-typed cookbook titled "Cooking For One" published by the Veteran's Adminsitration in the 1980's. I think along with the nutrition and shopping/storage tips, it was probably a handy guide for older widowed men who had never done much cooking. With the exception of a dessert at the end, the recipes ignore baking completely and rarely employ boiling, just for pasta. The focus is entirely on frying with a skillet or sauce pan, a skill that the government believes most men have mastered at some point in their lives. But in horo of the title, and since the basic concepts of decent nutrition, variety and portion control hold good today, I thought it was worth posting with some of my own commentary. I don't eat pork, ham, milk with meat, but I included those recipes for the historical record and for people who don't follow a Kosher diet.

Breakfast

Main Dishes

Salad Ideas:

Desserts

Breakfasts

Quick Oatmeal

¾ cup water

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oats

  1. Stir oats into briskly boiling salted water.
  2. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally
  3. Cover pan, remove from heat and let stand a few minutes.
  4. Server with milk and brown sugar. Raisins or fruit may be added. Makes one serving.

Personally, I use the microwave, a half cup of quick oats, a cup of water, cover with plastic wrap, nuke for a minute or two, let stand a minute, stir.

French Toast

One egg

2 tablespoons milk

2 slices bread

  1. Beat egg slightly in shallow dish.
  2. Add milk and stir.
  3. Dip bread in mixture, coating both sides.
  4. Brown the bread, each side, on a hot, well buttered griddle.
  5. Serve with sugar and cinnamon, maple syrup or applesauce flavored with cinnamon. Makes on serving.

Fried Eggs

1 ½ teaspoons butter

2 eggs

  1. Melt butter in skillet over low heat.
  2. Carefully break the eggs into the skillet.
  3. Cook them over a very low heat until done.
  4. To get a firm white, cover the pan with a lid at once. When the eggs are firm, season them with salt and pepper.
  5. If you prefer once-over-lightly to sunny-side-up, insert a spatula under the egg when the whites are firm and carefully turn it over in the skillet and cook for a few seconds. Makes one serving.

I make fried eggs in a thin stainless pan on an electric burner, so heat control is a bit tricky. After heating up the butter and breaking two eggs into the pan, I tend to worry the edge with the spatula to make sure it stays loose. When the eggs are ready to flip, I turn off the burner, put the toast down, flip the eggs and let them cook while the toast toasts. The yokes are still runny after the extra minute, because the pan doesn't make great contact with the electric element and cools rapidly when it's off.

Scrambled Eggs

1 ½ teaspoons butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

  1. Melt butter in fry pan over low heat
  2. Beat eggs with the water; add them and the cheese to the pan.
  3. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until eggs are firm.
  4. Season with salt and pepper. Makes one serving.

I don't add anything to my scrambled eggs, not even water (some people add milk). I don't know if this makes them less fluffy, I'm just happy if the pan cleans up easy.

Omelet

1 ½ teaspoons butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon water

Salt, pepper

  1. Beat the eggs lightly with the water and season them with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Pour in the eggs, let the edges set for a minute, then draw the edges toward the center with a fork, tilting the skillet so that the uncooked portion flows to the bottom.
  4. When the bottom is set and the surface is still moist, fold one half over the other half. Turn onto a plate. Makes one serving.

I didn't quite follow their instructions here. When I make an omelet, I let the uncooked portion run off the top and get cooked at the edge of the pan, maybe that's what they mean. Then I normally throw some cheese or something else on half before flipping the other half over the top, and I let it cook for another minute.

Pancakes

1 cup pancake or baking mix

1 egg

½ cup milk

  1. Beat ingredients in bowl with hand beater until smooth.
  2. Pour ¼ cup batter onto a hot lightly greased griddle
  3. Cook until dry around the edge, top is bubbly.
  4. Turn, cook until golden brown. Makes about 6 pancakes.

To reheat (note that this is two servings by their estimate): Wrap pancakes in aluminum foil and heat in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Main Dishes

Meat Tacos

½ small onion

1 teaspoon oil

¼ lb. ground beef

½ small clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup tomato sauce

Pinch of oregano

2 taco shells

  1. Cook onion in oil over a medium-high heat until soft.
  2. Add the meat and garlic and cook stirring, until lightly browned; drain off fat.
  3. Add the tomato sauce, salt and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes
  4. Spoon into warm taco shells. Makes one serving.

Chili

½ small onion, chopped

¼ lb. ground beef

¾ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ can (about 4 ounces) kidney beans, drained

1 can (8 ounces) tomatoes

  1. Cook the onion and the beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a fork and stirring until lightly browned.
  2. Add the chili powder, salt, beans and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes one serving.

Quick Sloppy Joes

¼ teaspoon salt

½ lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

Dash of pepper

½ cup (6 ounce size) tomato paste

1/3 cup water

2 hamburger buns, split

Sprinkle salt in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat, crumble ground beef into pan, add onion and cook, stirring until meat is browned and onions are limp (about 5 minutes).

Drain fat. Stir in pepper, tomato paste and water. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 to 2 minutes or until heating through.

Spoon meat mixture over buns. Makes two sandwiches.

I never came across the trick of sprinkling the salt into the frying pan before adding the meat. Does it keep the meat from sticking?

Hamburgers

¼ lb. ground beef

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

  1. Combine ground beef, salt and pepper. Form into 2 hamburgers
  2. Place hamburgers in skillet on medium-high heat
  3. Cook hamburgers 2 minutes on each side for medium and 3 minutes on each side for well done. Makes 2 hamburgers.

Makes two tiny hamburgers. Starting at 2 ounces and cooking off the fat, I doubt ther's as much meat left a cheapy kid's burger from a fast food place.

Minute Steak

1 minute steak, ½" thick (about ¼ lb.)

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

Melt butter in fry pan on medium-high heat.

Place steak in pan and cook 2 minutes on each side, turning once for rare. Cook longer if desired. Makes one serving.

I obviously wouldn't use butter to cook meat, but I guess the fat content is too low to cook minute steak without adding something to the pan.

Tomato-Meat Sauce (Spaghetti Sauce)

1 small onion

1 tablespoon fat or oil

1 cup canned tomatoes

1 cup (8 oz.) finely cut-up, canned beef or pork

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  1. Chop onion. Cook in the fat or oil in a fry pan, over medium heat until tender and lightly browned.
  2. Stir in rest of ingredients
  3. Cook over low heat about 30 minutes to blend flavors. Add a little water during cooking if too thick.
  4. Serve on hot cooked spaghetti, macaroni, noodles or rice. Makes two servings, about a ½ cup each.

I've never eaten canned beef or pork, I'm surprised it gets cooked for a half hour, but I guess the low heat means it's pre-cooked, and it's just absorbing the liquids. Not clear why they wouldn't start with ground beef like the other recipes, but maybe they're just shooting for variety.

Cooked Spaghetti

¼ lb. thin spaghetti

  1. Cook the spaghetti in a large pot filled with boiling water until spaghetti just tender, 10 - 12 minutes, drain.
  2. Return spaghetti to the pot, toss with the tomato-meat sauce. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Well, spaghetti is one of my stables, and I do it nothing like that. I put around three inches of water in a good size pot, and by twisting the spaghetti into a cone shape in my fist with one end in the water, distribute it around the pot so it's almost entirely underwater at the start. After 20 seconds or so, I poke the rest under. Once it's cooked, I drain it in the pot, using a fork to keep it from falling into the sink (go slow) and then pour it onto the plate. Whatever sauce I'm going to put on top, I nuke in the microwave, and as I usually have vegetarian spaghetti, I crumble a couple ounces of cheddar into the sauce before I nuke it. Clean-up is much easier this way, pot barely need rinsing. Never owned a strainer in my life.

English Muffin Pizzas

¼ lb. ground beef

One 8 oz can of pizza sauce

2 English Muffins, split and toasted

4 slices process cheese

  1. Cook ground beef in skillet over medium-high heat until browned, drain off fat.
  2. Stir in pizza sauce.
  3. Top muffin halves with meat mixture. Place slice of cheese on top.
  4. Broil in oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts and meat is heated through. Makes 4 small pizzas.

I'm not sure they even tried this one. Broil process cheese for 5 minutes? I think it would turn back into vegetable oil after 2 minutes! My own English muffin pizza recipe would be a toasted English Muffin cut in half, some spaghetti sauce and some real cheddar. At most I would nuke it for 30 seconds to get the sauce warm without making the muffin too soggy. No meat.

Top of Stove Meatloaf

1/3 lb ground beef (about 1 cup lightly packed)

2 tablespoons uncooked rolled oats

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

3 tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon salt

Pepper, as desired

¼ cup water

½ cup tomato sauce

  1. Put all ingredients except water and tomato sauce in a bowl. Mix well.
  2. Shape into two loaves. Brown loaves on all sides in greased fry pan over medium heat. Pour off fat.
  3. Add water. Pour tomato sauce over loaves.
  4. Cover and cook over low heat 30 minutes. Add more water during cooking, if too dry. Makes 2 servings.

Fish

Broiled Fish Fillet

Oil (about 1 tablespoon)

½ lb. fish fillet (about ¾" thick)

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

  1. Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil and brush the foil with oil.
  2. Arrange the fish fillet on the foil.
  3. Mix the melted butter and lemon juice and brush it on the fish.
  4. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Broil about 3 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Makes 2 servings

Golden Fish Fillet

¼ lb. fish fillet, fresh or frozen

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon butter

  1. Thaw frozen fillets or prepare according to package directions.
  2. Season the fillets with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook them in hot butter over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily enough with a fork. Makes one serving.

Tuna - Stuffed Tomato

1 large tomato

Salt

1 can (3.5 ounce!!) tuna, drained and flaked

1 tablespoon minced onion

2 tablespoons minced celery (1 small stalk)

Pepper

Salt

1 ½ tablespoon mayonnaise

  1. Wash and core tomato.
  2. Cut the tomato into weges three-fourths of the way down. Pull apart slightly.
  3. Mix tuna, onion, celery and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Fill tomato with tuna mixture. Makes one serving.

I don't understand why they left baked fish out of their recipes, it's by far the easiest and cleanest to prepare. I put a half pound of fresh fish on foil in a toaster oven and bake at 400 degrees for fifteen or so minutes, until it's flaky. I haven't seen a single recipe yet that uses the inside of an oven, the bias seems to be that older men should be happy frying everything.

Cheese

Cottage - Cheese Noodles

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 ounces flat noodles, cooked and drained (according to package directions)

4 ounces (1/2 cup) creamed cottage cheese

Salt

Pepper

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan and cook the onion in it until crisp - tender.
  2. Stir in the noodles and cottage cheese and heat through, seasoning with salt and pepper. Makes one serving.

I'll have to try something like this, maybe on Passover with Egg Noodles.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2 thin slices process cheese

4 slices bread

Margarine or butter for browning

  1. Put each slice of cheese between 2 slices of bread.
  2. Spread a little margarine or butter in a heated fry pan. Put sandwiches in pan.
  3. Cook over low heat until cheese melts and sandwiches are browned on one side. Turn the sandwiches, putting a little more margarine or butter under each in the pan. Brown other side. Makes 2 sandwiches.

Poultry

Fried Chicken

2 tablespoons flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

Pepper

¾ to 1 lb. chicken parts, washed, cut-up (breasts, wings, thighs or legs)

Oil or fat for frying

  1. Mix the flour, salt, paprika and pepper.
  2. Roll damp chicken pieces in the flour mixture.
  3. Heat ½ inch of oil in skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Fry the chicken in the fat, uncovered. Allow 20 to 25 minutes for each side until tender and brown. Makes 2 servings

They don't say anything about the amount of oil or fat here. It's hard to imagine they expect old folks to deep fry on the stove top, but I've tried frying chicken with minimal amounts of oil without much luck.

Chicken or Turkey Sandwich Spread

½ small stalk celery, chopped

1 can (5 oz.) chicken or 1 can (6 ¾ oz.) turkey.

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Dash pepper and salt

4 slices bread

  1. Mix all ingredients
  2. Spread mixture between s slices of bread. Makes two sandwiches.

Now that's my idea of a ridiculous recipe, and that doesn't even touch on the idea of getting chicken or turkey out of a can. If you want to make a chicken salad sandwich, just boil a couple pieces of chicken until the meat is falling off the bone, let it cool, pull the meat from the bone with your fingers, mix it with the mayo and celery and you'll have a real sandwich. You can also use the chicken stock (the liquid let over from boiling) to boil some rice, or to make a thin soup.

Pork

Skillet Frankfurters and Beans

2 frankfurters, sliced

2 teaspoons minced onion

½ clove garlic, minced

Pinch of oregano

2 teaspoons butter

1 can (8 oz.) baked beans

1 fresh tomato cut in wedges

  1. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Cook and stir the frankfurters, onion, garlic and oregano in the butter until the franks are lightly browned
  3. Add the beans and heat well.
  4. Add the tomato wedges and heat gently. Makes one serving.

To make this recipe Kosher, iksnay on the porkay, use Hebrew National all beef frankfurters, and skip the butter, use a little oil instead. My own franks-and-beans approach is to skip the fancy extras, I just heat up the beans in a pan and add the cut up franks - done.

Ham Steak

½ lb. ready-to-eat ham slice

Butter (about one tablespoon)

  1. Brown the ham slice on both sides in butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat about two minutes. Makes 2 servings.

OK, there's nothing I can do to make ham in butter Kosher, so let's exchange for salami and eggs. Put a little oil in a pan, let it heat a minute, add four or five thin slices of midget salami. The lean Hebrew National isn't as good for this as the fattier midget salamis. Let the salami heat until it cups up, then pour over the top two scrambled eggs. Worry the edge with a spatula to keep it from sticking, and after thirty seconds or so, try to flip the whole mess over to finish cooking the eggs and sear the salami on the other side. It's easier said than done, so rather than the equivalent of a salami omelet, I often end up with scrambled eggs and salami. It all gets mixed up in the stomach in the end anyway.

Ham - Zucchini Skillet

1 small onion

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup cooked ham, cut in small pieces

1 small zucchini, diced

Salt

Pepper

  1. Cook the onion in the oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes
  2. Add the ham, zucchini, salt and pepper.
  3. Stir and fry over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes until ham is lightly browned and the zucchini is crisp tender. Makes one serving

I'd rework this as an "anything - zucchini skillet". Leftover meat of any kind should make a fine substitution for ham.

Pork Chop

Oil (about 1 tablespoon)

1 pork chop (about 1 inch thick)

  1. Brown pork chop on both sides in oil over medium -high heat.
  2. Reduce heat, cook chop slowly, covered, about 1 hour. Add about ¼ cup water during cooking if chop is dry.
  3. Season with salt and pepper. Makes on serving.

I'm not sure what makes a good substitute for a pork chop, never having cooked or eaten one. But I've heard it tastes like chicken:

Salad Ideas

Canned or Cooked Vegetable Salad

Mix one or more kinds of firm vegetables such as carrots and green beans with a salad dressing, such as vinegar and oil dressing.

Fruit Salad

Cut up one or more kinds of fruits such as apples, oranges, pears, bananas and prunes. Add raisins, if desired. Mix gently with salad dressing to moisten, if desired, or use a little lemon juice and sugar.

Cabbage Slaw

Mix finely chopped or shredded cabbage with mayonnaise or salad dressing. If desired, add raisins, pineapple chunks, chopped apples or finely cut-up or shredded carrots.

Tossed Salad

Use fresh, crisp raw vegetables. Tear lettuce, spinach and other greens into bite size pieces. Add small amounts of sliced, chopped or shredded vegetables such as cabbage, celery, onions, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, green pepper and tomatoes. Add vinegar and oil salad dressing or other salad dressing if desired.

Hearty Salad

Make tossed salad and add cottage-cheese, pieces of process cheese, a hard-cooked egg, or canned or cooked meat, poultry or fish.

Carrot-Raisin Salad

2 medium size carrots

1/3 cup raisins

About 1 tablespoon mayonnaise or salad dressing

Lemon juice, if desired

Finely chop or shred carrots. Mix all ingredients well. Makes 2 servings, about ½ cup each.

Desserts

Pound Cake with Toppings

1 thick slice pound cake (huh?)

½ tablespoon butter

*Topping

  1. Heat fry pan on medium heat. Add butter: when melted, put in pound cake slice
  2. Cook 1 minute to brown to golden. Turn, add more butter, if needed. Cook 1 minute more to brown second side. Makes one serving.

* Suggested Toppings

Chocolate sauce; ice cream; hot maple syrup; fresh fruit or canned fruit

Brown-Sugared Apples

1 MacIntosh apple

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Dash of cinnamon

  1. Peel and core apple. Cut into halves and cut each half into 4 slices.
  2. Melt butter in fry pan on medium-high heat. Put in apple slices and cook, stirring and turning until lightly browned, about two minutes. Do not let the pieces get too soft or mushy.
  3. Sprinkle with the sugar. Stir briefly and constantly for about ½ minute so that sugar melts and partially coats each apple slice. Be careful not to burn sugar.
  4. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Makes 1 serving.

I love MacIntosh apples, never even occurred to me to cook one. I'm not sure I want to eat all the sugar since I don't like dental work, but I might give it a shot one day if I ever have sugar and cinnamon in the house, which has never happened yet.

Apple Scallop

2 tablespoons flour

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sprinkle of salt

1 tablespoon fat (margarine or butter)

2 medium size apples

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 tablespoons water

  1. Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix in fat with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
  2. Peel and slice apples. Put in a baking pan or dish. Sprinkle apples with white sugar and water.
  3. Spread crumbly mixture on top
  4. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (moderate oven) about 30 minutes until lightly browned and apples are tender. Makes two servings.

This last recipe is literally the only one in the cookbook that calls for baking!