Horsin' around
Don Coldsmith, Syndicated Columnist
Monday, August 25, 2008
A few years ago, I wrote a column about how I started to do a bit more cooking at home. Edna was teaching and it seemed logical for me to start fixing supper, because I work at home. I told about what sorts of things I’d cook. Hamburgers, eggs, the sort of stuff a mere man could cook in a skillet. Pretty easy stuff, really.
I even shared a recipe, one I created for an easy barbecue in a crock pot. By the time I finished the 600 words or so, I realized that I’d written a recipe column. I was startled and commented on it.
I wasn’t really prepared for the reaction. I received several letters about it and a lot more comments in person. People had enjoyed it and it was fun. One reader suggested that I branch out, adding a regular feature called “Horsin’ Around in the Kitchen.” (I’d better not comment on the possibilities there).
Several people mentioned the barbecue recipe. One lady in Florida wrote that her husband had tried it. She explained that they, as a couple, had always had the gender role reversal situation. There are an increasing number of men who like to cook. Of course, some are famous chefs. I found quite a few men who cook regularly, at least part of the time. (“He’s a better cook than I am,” several women told me).
The real shocker came though, in a letter from one of the small town papers where my column appears. Local people there had enjoyed my recipe article. Some had tried the barbecue “several times,” the editor said. Now I’d been nominated for “Meet the Cook,” a weekly feature in their paper which highlighted local and area cooks.
Well, I was honored, but shocked of course. I don’t really take myself too seriously. The newspaper sent a form with questions about who inspired my interest in cooking, what types of foods are my favorites to prepare and a suggestion that I recount my most “surprising” cooking experience. (That was easy. It was THIS!)
They also asked me to send three (or more) of my favorite recipes.
Now, that’s a tough one. I have a whole file box of recipes. Some of them I’ve clipped from GRASS and GRAIN or somewhere. A lot of them, though, are my own. I’ll try something occasionally that seems like a good idea. Some ideas are better than others. I’ll have to sort through and decide which recipes to use for this project.
I’ve shared some of them with our five daughters and they have cooked their favorites. They think this is all pretty funny because Dad never cooked when they were growing up. Well, except for Thanksgiving turkey and dressing.
One of our favorite recipes is an outgrowth of the fact that we like breakfasts. Not necessarily in the morning, however. When we’re traveling we’ll sometimes stop at a truck stop or other eating place which serves breakfast 24 hours a day. They will know how to fix eggs, biscuits with sausage gravy, hash browns, all the rest. And their coffee will be good.
I noticed pretty quickly about when Edna would come home tired from a day herding second graders. One sure-fire way to cheer her up was a plate of sausage and eggs and hash browns with biscuits or toast.
That, in fact, is how I invented what is now one of our favorite one-dish meals: Start with a pound of bulk sausage, browned and drained. Cook a package of Ore-Ida Potatoes O’Brien according to directions, in a big skillet. Then stir in the sausage and cup of grated cheddar cheese. Scoop out four “nests” in the potatoes and break an egg in each. Cover and cook a few minutes until the eggs are done to taste. Top with picante sauce to serve.
This recipe serves four, but it’s easy to halve it for two people. It could be done with any other potatoes, but that particular style has onions and bell peppers already in it. That makes it fast and easy, which is one major requirement for anything I cook. Or for anyone, I guess, who operates on a tight schedule.
Maybe I should write a cookbook — at least, organize recipes.
See you down the road.