What ever happened to “Let’s Make Dinner?”

It’s enough already. I’ve officially had it up to here with the ‘quick-food’ craze. A trip through the supermarket these days will reveal a million packages of ‘no-need-to-cook’ items in every category imaginable. Soups, salads, stews, meat and potato combinations, breakfasts, pizzas – the list is fricking endless. It’s not even cooking anymore, its just opening. “Come on everyone, it’s time for packages!” But what really sent me over the edge were the diced up potatoes I saw in the store the other day. Diced - with no seasoning, just in a bag plain. I know some of you are thinking, “hey, that’s a darn good idea – now I don’t even have to use a knife.” I’m just waiting for the day when they sell a pre-made dinner shrink-wrapped with a guy who will open it for you. The instructions will have gone from ‘just open and serve’ to simply ‘eat’. My real fear is that we’re slowly breeding out the cooking gene and in 20 years it will be all but forgotten. You know the astronauts with their little packages of squeeze food - that’ll be us. “Grandma, what was cooking?”, “Well dear, that was something we used to do before we knew better. Now who wants another tube of meatloaf?” Read the full article in the fall issue

Eat This

It used to be that you came home from work, patted the kids on the head, poured a 2-finger scotch, sat down to watch the news and waited for the ‘little woman’ to call you for dinner. Call her the “little woman” these days and the only thing cooked will be your ass. Not to mention there’s a good chance she’ll know as little about cooking as you do. The bottom line is that you need a few skills in the kitchen, but trying those over-the-top complicated recipes will only lead to frustration. I’m here for you–and all about recipes that are big in taste and small in effort. So stick around to learn a few easy, really great recipes you can actually make. Plus, as everyone knows, women love guys that can cook…

The prep for these simple Asian-style recipes is almost nothing. Serve them with a little cold sake or even sake on the rocks –you can’t go wrong. Read the full article in the summer issue

Cold Winter Night

The Menu
Roast Chicken
Rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes
Carrots with thyme
Pound cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream

1 3-4 lb. chicken (serves 2-4 people)
softened butter (about 1-2 tbsp)
1 1/2 tsp. dry thyme
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse the chicken under cold water and remove anything from the neck cavity. Pat dry with paper towels. Smash the garlic clove with the flat side of a knife and remove the peel. Rub the garlic all over the inside and outside of the chicken and throw away the clove. Spread the softened butter over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle the dry thyme, salt and pepper onto the butter and inside the cavity. Place the chicken in a shallow pan, breast side up. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should read 160 degrees and if you pierce the skin, the juices should be clear, not pink. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes so that the juices redistribute. Check out more recipes in the premier issue