A Writer's Got To Eat - Cooking For One

You know it's times like this I really dread following Dionne, Miss "Everything I cook is so wonderful that I must put it in my books as well". Sorry Dionne a little envy in my heart there, I shall repent forthwith!
Still my single friends are getting a little tired of my stew so a new recipe is needed, which I call Crock Pot Black Bean Soup.  I know, not that creative of me but that's what it is, and besides it all came about from a culinary attempt that did not work so well. Well actually it did work, but that was an accident. I come up with my best recipes that way.
One day I decided I was going to try and make a version of one of my mother's dishes Ham Hock and Beans. Do not ask me why, because  I do not like ham hock and beans. I know I'm the culinary mutant of the family all of who love the stuff. I do not, but for some reason I it got in my head so I decided to give it a try. I mean how hard could it be? Put a ham hock, beans, water and spices and let it cook in the crock pot for 8 hours.
Did I actually ask how hard it could be? For Dionne no problem. For me?
The kindest thing I can say is that when it was done, it was totally tasteless.
I don't know what I did, too much water, ham hock too small I don't know, but I know one thing. I can't afford to waste food! So I panicked and started throwing things into the pot. Vegetables, canned tomatoes, some left over onion soup mix, and I don't know what else. Well the end result was I ended up with a not bad tasting soup. Which got me thinking....
I wonder if I can do this on purpose?
So I asked a few of my friends and decided I would try a black bean soup. Black beans being smaller and more likely to take in flavors. Learning from experience I checked out my pantry to see what I had left over from my late mother's culinary reign. That's when I found this canister

Hmm, This Could Be Dangerous

In spite of the caption, my first reaction honestly was great! Dried black beans, now I don't have to buy them. But then I opened the can and found this

What The Heck Is This?

I joke, but they are beans, and some of them are black. I'm just not sure what kind the rest are. But what the heck I decided to use them and they cook up just fine. I call them my mystery beans. I'll probably never find them again because I had no idea Mom even had them let alone where she got them. So once these are gone I guess I will switch to regular black beans. Unless someone else knows what they are.
Like I said, most things are not easy for me, but not this soup. Here's how you make it:

Ingredients:

One Hamhock
1/2 Cup Water
1 14.5 oz canned tomatoes (Stewed, Regular, Italian Style take your pick) Do NOT drain them!
1/2 of a medium onion (hey you can use the other half from the stew)
2 stalks of celery
One carrot
1/2 package of onion soup mix
1 Bay Leaf (apparently they are in soups as well, which is good because I have whole jar to use)
1/3 cup dried black beans

The night before place beans in pot of cold water and refrigerate over night.
Next morning drain and rinse beans and put in crock pot. The rest of the cooking will be done there.
Cut up vegetables in thick chunks, put all ingredients into crock pot, give a stir and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. 

After that, fish out the bay leaf and

Soup's On!

Enjoy because it's good, with leftovers for later!

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Cozy Mystery Series, and a superhero story called Chasing Lady Midnight. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. Although that is where she got her idea for The Secretary, she is not an evil mastermind. Although some of her former employers might disagree. These days she contents herself with knitting while contemplating her next diabolical plot. Story plot that is.

Current E-Books

THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421

Hey, A Writer's Got To Eat. Cooking For One Person.

My sister, who I often refer to as the second coming of Betty Crocker, is a very good cook. In some ways better than my mother, who was really good as well. At one get together she was complimented on her cooking and she said something very profound.
"I like to eat."
Well being on my own  cooking is a unique challenge. Cooking for one person may sound easy, but face it, in the world of recipes I think everyone forgot that single people like to eat too. Face it, most  recipes are made to feed a small army. What's that I hear you ask? Can't you just cut it down? You ever try to half an egg?
Now eating out is great, but it gets old real quick and it is expensive when you only have one income. Also cereal, cheese and crackers and frozen entrees are nice once in a while, but sooner or later (usually sooner) I want something a little more substantial.
Okay just to be clear, contrary to popular belief in my family, I am not totally hopeless in the kitchen. However, what I do know about cooking is the few things I picked up from my mother, years of watching the Food Network and High School Home Economics which was a long time ago. Never you mind just how long ago that was. Also I am not a trained nutritionist. I do not count calories nor do I know how much sodium, fat and other items are in what I cook. I do try to keep it as healthy as I can.
Anyway, I have come up with five simple rules (I may think of more later) regarding cooking for one person, which are as follows:

1) The dish in question will require as little labor and prep work as possible. I know the more you put into it the better, but sometimes I just don't feel like it.
2) Leftovers are fine, for one or two extra servings. However, I do not wish to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week and my freezer space is limited.
3) It must be as inexpensive as possible with very few "one-time" ingredients. Hey I'm a one person income. Wasting food and stuff that sits in my pantry for long periods of time are not in my budget. As soon as I figure one of those out.
4) One pot dishes whenever possible. Side dishes are just extra work (see Rule #1).
5) It must taste good. Yeah, I know, duh.

Okay here is my first real success in creating a recipe. Yes I created this recipe. I find that hunger, not necessity, is the Mother of Invention. Although I admit there was a little, okay a lot, of trial and error involved. 

I call it - Easy Beef Stew For One, With Leftovers.

Before I  give you the recipe a few things you will need to know.

First about the meat. I use stew meat, just stew meat. A friend of mine mentioned using rib eye, but this is going to be cooked in a slow cooker on low for 9 to 10 hours. I don't think a good cut of meat like that is going to make it without dissolving into many pieces. Also, rib eye violates rule number 3! The long cook time is also why I don't bother to trim the stew meat. Trust me, everything is going to be tender after that much time in the pot
Also I'm not going to give you an actual amount of meat to use. Why? Two reasons. First, the meat packing people at the supermarket do not pack meat for one person. Most of the time, no matter what you buy, you're going to end up splitting it up and re-wrapping it yourself before putting it in the freezer. What I do is get the lowest amount I can then I split it into equal parts depending of the type of meat. Second, personal preference. You might like more meat in your stew than I do. However, since this is a recipe for one person, I wouldn't suggest the whole package in one stew.
Vegetable leftover. Now you will notice that I use half an onion and the optional one half of a potato. Optional because although I like stew and I like potatoes I don't like them together, Don't know why, I just don't. However, most people do like potatoes in stew so I gave the option. Now I hate giving a partial perishable ingredient because I hate waste, but it's a small stew. However, onions and potatoes are used in a lot of things so there shouldn't be any waste. Just plan on using them in another dish.
Okay so here's how you actually cook the stew.

Ingredients:

Stew Meat
1 can of 14.5 oz. Beef Broth
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Flour
1/2 of a medium onion (I use yellow, but I don't think it matters)
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots, or one carrot and 1/2 of a potato (or a real small one if you can find it)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
1 Tablespoon of Salt Free Garlic and Herb Seasoning
1 Bay Leaf (Bay Leaf is always in stews I do not know why)
Your bread of choice
Slow Cooker (I use a two quart crock pot, but that's because that's what I have)

Before you start cooking chop all of your vegetables into thick chucks. How thick is up to you, but don't worry about it being perfectly sized. It's cooking for 9 to 10 hours, everything is going to cook!
Put the stew meat into the crock pot. Measure out 1/3 cup of the beef broth. In a skillet combine the olive oil and flour and cook over medium heat until smooth. Add the 1/3 cup of beef broth and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Pour mixture over the meat. Pour in the rest of the broth (I hate having partial beef broth sitting in my refrigerator, remember rule #3!) Add in the spices and the vegetables. Give a quick stir. Set the slow cooker on low, put on the lid, and cook for 9 to 10 hours. By the way while it's cooking leave it alone! It's called a slow cooker for a reason.
Once the stew is done, take out the Bay Leaf and throw it away, then dip the stew into a bowl (however much you want) take a piece of your favorite bread for dipping purposes. Mom liked corn bread and I'm a sourdough girl, but whatever kind you like is fine.
I usually manage to get three generous servings out of this. One for dinner, one for lunch the next day, and one to put in the freezer for that day I just don't feel like cooking.
Yes cooking for one can be a challenge, but in the now immortal words of my sister, I like to eat.