Know when to cheat

OK, so I don't think this really counts as cheating, but I like to make everything from scratch, so it feels that way, at least a little bit: I bought the ready-to-bake brownies, the kind that come in their own pan. They're really quite good.

I think the bottom line is this: Sometimes, in any kitchen, a shortcut is OK. This is especially true on occasions when you have far too much to do, or need two ovens, or just wish you could watch a movie instead of baking.

Compromise

I like crepes. Who doesn't, really?

I also like cornbread, scrambled eggs, sausages... all of which could conceivably have their own pot, pan or double-boiler.

What I have instead is one well-seasoned, 10-inch cast-iron frying pan. Is it the best tool for any given job? Maybe not. But it is the Swiss Army knife of pans: pretty darn good for just about anything.

Also, it cost less than $10, new (I think it was part of a three-piece, $15 set).

Go fish

I love fish and chips, but I am not a big fan of deep fat frying, at least not when it is me doing the frying. I usually cook for two, so a big vat of oil just doesn't make sense, and reusing french fry oil is a pretty poor idea, health- and taste-wise.

So I've been opting for hashbrowns and oven-fried fish:

Oven-fried fish for two
8-12 ounces true cod, cut into pieces of your choosing (i.e. the size you like your fried fish pieces, skipper)
Three slices of bread (I am talking about bread about the size of Wonder bread)
About 1/4 cup cream
Butter (I use about 1/4 of a pat per piece of fish during cooking)

Break the bread into small crumbs and heat on a cookie sheet in a 200-degree oven until dry and crispy.
Dip the fish pieces in cream, then dredge in the crumbs. In principle, you're supposed to somehow place the dredged fish pieces on a rack until "dry" but I didn't have a lot of luck with that.
Place the fish pieces in a casserole, top with a little bit of butter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
As I hinted a moment ago, this dredge-in-crumbs bit is a little sketchy, so you could also lay down a layer of crumbs in the casserole, lay the cream-dipped fish in on top and top the fish pieces with crumbs, then butter, then bake. The result is just as tasty.

Hashbrowns
Three medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced
One *small* yellow onion, finely chopped
Worcestershire sauce or other seasonings, to taste
Two to three tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup cream

Heat the oil over medium heat until hot, then dump in the onions and potatoes. Season with your favorites (I like W-sauce, but they're good with pepper, salt and paprika, too)
Um, cook the hash until brown, flipping at least once (to prevent burning, if nothing else). When they're done, drizzle the cream over the top and cook for a couple minutes more, then serve.
These can also be amended with some cottage cheese...

Unnecessary but fun

Being a homeowner, I find myself in what must be a traditional trap of saving jars and other containers. Until a recent sweep of my storage area, I had a mountain of yogurt containers, peanut-butter jars, jelly jars, olive jars (martinis - yum!), you name it. Luckily, my city started taking a lot more plastics than it used to at curbside, so I recycled plenty about a month ago. I couldn't part with the PB & J containers, though.

The jelly jars (Bonne Maman, my favorite for raspberry preserves) turn out to be super everyday drinking glasses, and the peanut butter jars are handy storage containers for all kinds of things in my pantry (my pantry is probably just like yours: aka cupboard).

I don't think my cupboard contains too many items in their original packaging: Black beans, lentils, popcorn and chickpeas all hang around in PB jars, which is probably unnecessary, but makes me happy. I think that's important - having fun - especially if your pantry is as lavish as mine.

Chase's Cobbler v2.1

It's been a few years since I posted my original cobbler recipe. So, taking inspiration from a recipe I found in this month's Country Home magazine...here are a few more delicious combos to try:

Cherries with Chinese Five Spice
Blackberries with Pears and cloves
Apples with Cheddar (add 1/4 cup sharp shredded cheddar to the "dough") and Nutmeg