Ingredients:
Leftover tuna (seared)
A couple handfuls of chopped kale
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Supplies:
The Top
A good family
A large skillet

Method:
Get in touch with your wife on a Friday afternoon and explain you have no ideas for dinner. Have your wife suggest going out, and agree on The Top*. Work through the rest of your day, then meet your lovely wife and awesome son at the restaurant. Sit outside and order a glass of Spanish white wine. It’s going to be fish or chicken for dinner because you gorged on meat-lover’s pizza at lunch and you can still feel all four slices parked in your gut.

Play ninjas with your son and his little Imaginext figures and point out the different skateboards displayed in the gallery window next door. Watch people walk by and smile as the sun sets and downtown Gainesville begins to light itself all gold and red.

Order the ancho bean cakes and ask for the sushi-grade tuna. Order it seared, and when it comes marvel at the texture. The black bean cakes, too, are delicious. Eat them and some of the tuna and a few of your son’s fries. Enjoy the wine and your wife’s company and the evening. Be present. Have fun.

When it’s time to go, pack the tuna and some of the delicious sauce in a to-go box and take it home. Plan to have it the next morning, or maybe for lunch, depending.

Wake hungry. Brew coffee, read a book, ease into your day**. When it’s time for breakfast, take the tuna and kale out of the fridge. Get your kosher salt and some lemon juice and a large skillet. Set the tuna on the counter and set the skillet on the stove

Add some olive oil (just a splash), and set the burner to medium-high. When the pan comes to temperature, toss in the kale. Listen to it sizzle a moment, then sprinkle on a pinch of salt. Gently stir the kale in the pan, add a small splash of lemon juice, and give it another stir. Keep moving the kale until it cooks down and is a little tender.

While the kale cooks, slice the tuna.

When the kale has cooked down, transfer it to a bowl and top it with the sliced tuna. Wait. Let the kale warm the tuna through*** (it won’t take but a minute), then sit down with a knife and fork and enjoy.

*Substitutions can be made. Keep in mind the place must be friendly, have good food, offer excellent drinks, outside seating, and it should speak to you in some way. One or more of the people you go with should feel at least a little at home there.

**You shouldn’t eat right when you wake up. You need to give your body a little time to get its metabolism started. If you’re really looking to lose some weight or tighten up a bit, try to get a little exercise before you eat. Wake up, have some coffee, read some news, then go take a walk around the block. When you get back, you’ll probably be ready for a good breakfast (though not too much, and nothing made out of candy).

***Reheating fish is incredibly tricky business. In fact, it’s usually best not to bother, especially with shrimp, which often ends up overcooking and getting rubbery. If you are going to reheat fish, it’s best to start with cool, not cold fish. So if it’s been in the fridge, let it come closer to room temperature. If you can, let other things you’ve made heat the fish (like the kale in this example). This will ensure it doesn’t cook too quickly and will also help keep the fish oils from overcooking and going stinky. If you have to heat fish all by itself, you can use a pan on low heat, a steamer, or the microwave. If you’re using a pan, let it come up to temperature, set the fish in the pan just enough to heat that side, then flip it. Let it sit a bit longer (again, just enough to heat the side), then move it to a plate. Let it sit a moment so the heat can disperse into the middle. Then enjoy it. It won’t be hot, but it’ll be warm, and still taste (and smell) fresh. Don’t keep fish around for long. If you can’t enjoy it the next morning or for lunch the next day, don’t take it home. And I wouldn’t recommend trying this with deep-fried fish. Battered things just don’t keep.

Thai-style chicken curry

It’s tough to maintain enthusiasm for anything when you’ve been doing it a while. I notice often the same menu items crop up again and again in what I’m cooking. It’s just easier that way.

This week, though, I decided to branch out a little bit and serve up French fries in a method I hadn’t tried before, a steak salad, and a Thai-style curry. It made for a solid menu plan and made excellent use of leftovers:

• Sun: Perfect steak and fries
• Mon: Black bean casserole
• Tue: Chopped steak salad
  • Shred any remaining steak, mix with chopped romaine, red cabbage, roasted red peppers, cannellini beans, and a little parsley. Serve with a vinaigrette
• Wed: Roasted chicken
  Salted a bird, shove half a medium-sized onion in the cavity, and cook it for an hour at 400F. Serve with a salad and mashed potatoes
• Thu: Thai coconut curry chicken
  • Chicken, coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, vegetables simmered and served over jasmine rice

The steak begets the steak salad, which can beget the salad served with the roasted chicken, which begets the Thai curry coconut dish. The black bean casserole makes for an excellent lunch through the week, as does the Thai curry.

I love it when a plan comes together. Friday nights usually come with pizza or something similar, then Saturdays are a hodge-podge of whatever needs to be used up before we go grocery shopping on Sunday.

Pluto’s had an open kitchen, right there behind the counter. As a middle-aged woman took our orders, a middle-aged man (the husband-and-wife owners, I’m going to guess now) started cooking them. For every order of fries, he grabbed a large Idaho baking potato, shoved it into a metal box on the wall above the frier and pulled a big handle topped with a red rubber grip. The potatoes shot through the cutter with a hiss and thunk, and perfectly cut fies dropped into the hot oil. A few minutes later, the woman served up the fries wrapped in wax paper and set in a cheap plastic basket.

I can’t remember if Pluto’s double-cooked their fries. I didn’t pay much attention to food back then. But remembering how good they were, I have to think they did. After all, that’s the key to perfect fries: you fry them once at a low temperature (say, 350F) to cook them through, then flash fry them again at a higher temperature (say, 450F) to crisp the outside.

Making perfect fries at home can be tough, especially if you don’t have a Fry Daddy or some other device specifically made to dunk food in hot oil. Deep frying in pans can be a messy, time-consuming process. Luckily, you can achive results that are pretty close with a regular skillet and a big stock pot. And if you happen to be making steaks to serve at the same time? Congratulations, you get to mimic classic French fries (or pomme frites) that are often fried in rendered beef, pig, or duck fat.

Perfect steak and fries

Ingredients:

• One large Yukon gold potato for each diner
• About 1/4 – 1/2 pound of flat iron steak for each diner
• Prepared salad
• Olive oil
• Vegetable or some other generic cooking oil

Supplies:

• One large stock or soup pot
• One large skillet

1. Pull the beef from the fridge, salt it, and set it aside.
2. Scrub your potatoes, then slice them lengthwise into half-inch sections
3. Slice each of those sections cross-ways into half-inch lengths (raw French fries)
4. Put the potatoes in the stock pot and fill with cold water until the potatoes are submerged (about 1 inch under water)
5. Put the stock pot on the stove over high heat
6. While the water heats, set the skillet on the stove, add a dash of olive oil, and set the heat to medium-high
7. Once the water starts boiling, set a timer for eight minutes, and carefully lay the steaks in the pan
8. At the four-minute mark, flip the steaks
9. Let them cook another four minutes, then move them to a plate, and cover them with aluminium foil
10. Drain the potatoes
11. Add oil to the skillet until you have it filled about a quarter inch
12. Bring the heat back up to medium high, wait a bit, and add the fries in batches¹
13. Let each batch cook three to four minutes (no, don’t flip or move or touch them or anything. They’ll get good and crispy on three sides), then transfer to a plate heavily lined with paper towels
14. Liberally salt the fries, slice the steak and serve with a little salad

1. Give the fries a little room. If you put too many in the pan at once, the steam released by cooking won’t have anywhere to go, and you’ll end up with steamed, boiled potatoes instead of fried. And unless you’re going to mash them, you don’t want steamed, boiled potatoes.

My son staring at eggs in a pan

Before last night, he’d done a few things here and there to help out: adding a dash of salt to a chick pea salad, putting the coffee filter in the coffee maker (we make the coffee together almost every morning), and adding a splash of lemon juice to some sauteed greens. But the night before last, it really felt like he was helping. We made a mexican-style casserole, modified from a vegetarian layered enchilada recipe I found in the Whole Foods app. My son helped me line the pan with tortillas; helped me measure out the corn, chili powder and lime juice; helped mash the black beans; and helped spoon the black bean and vegetable mixtures into the pan.

Too young?

Lining the casserole dish with tortillas

Some poeple might think he’s too young to be in the kitchen. Some people might think that he’ll get hurt, what with all the knives and hot pans and scariness. And yes, he might. But I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. I want him to get an appreciation for food and cooking. I want him to undersand how good it feels to make something (he was super excited when I pulled the finished dish from the oven), and though I never put it together before, cooking can teach kids some valuable skills, like addition, measurements and time:

• You can get two cups of corn kernels by counting out four half-cup measurements
• A tablespoon is three teaspoons
• Fifteen minutes is one quarter of an hour

Whether he puts any of this togther at this point is irrelevant. He counted to four when we measured the corn, and it made him happy. He was able to hold a measuring teaspoon steady enough to fill it three times with lime juice, and each time tipped it into the right bowl. He added two pinches of salt to the kale I sauteed on the stove. And when we’d finally put everything together and I slid the food into the oven, he raced into the living room and said, “I helped make dinner!” It was followed by multiple high-fives all around.

Don’t make it too complicated

If you’re going to cook with kids it’s important to keep things simple. Casseroles are perfect. You mix and layer a bunch of ingedients, then put it in the oven to cook.

veggie Mexican casserole

Mexican casserole (nee layered veggie enchiladas)

Ingredients:

• At least 12, small white-corn tortillas (They’re probably listed as taco-sized on the package)
• 16oz freesh greens
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels (or fresh, if you have them)
• 2 cups thinly sliced bell pepper
• 15 oz. diced tomatoes (it’s tomato season in many places, and fresh is best)
• 2 cans black beans (if you make fresh, you’re looking at 28oz., give or take)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (equal parts cheddar and monetery jack works great)
• Cumin
• Chili powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lime juice

Supplies

• 9″ * 13″casserole dish
• 1 large bowl
• 1 large skillet
• Measuring spoons
• 1 wooden spoon
• A potato masher (or sturdy fork)

Set your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven heats, you can do everything else:

Sautee a pound of greens over medium heat in about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. You’ll want them to cook down^1., so it might be best to work in batches. We used kale.

While the greens cook down, mix the bell pepper, tomatoes and corn together in a large bowl. Add a tablespoon of chili poweder, a tablespoon of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt. Mix it together. Then line the bottom of the casserole dish with half the tortillas.

note: the tortiallas should overlap and should come up some on the sides of the casserole dish.

Once the greens have all cooked down, add the corn mixture to the pan and mix it together.

While that warms through, put the beans into the bowl, add some chili poweder, a little salt, and a little cumin and mash them (if your potato masher will work, great. Otherwise, use a fork).

When you’re done with the beans, spread them evenly on top of the tortialls. Spoon half the corn mixture over the beans, and sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the vegetables. Top with the remaining tortillas, spoon on the remaining corn mix, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, then slide the dish into the 400-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Slice and serve.

1. When you cook down greens, you’re essentially extracting water and wilting them. It’s best to work over medium heat so your greens don’t burn. Add a little oil to a large pan, get it hot, then begin adding the greens. Add enough so you can still stir them a bit, but get as much in as you possibly can. Let them sizzle, and move them from time to time. When you can add more greens, do so, then stir it up so the newest addition gets worked to the bottom and closest to the heat. Working in this way, you should be able to get your greens wilted down so you have enough room to add the corn mixture.

Are you with me? Good. You’re roasting a chicken.

Roast chicken with potatoes and carrots

Ingredients:

• 1 roasting chicken (about 8 lbs.)
  • If you’re cooking for one, go with a small fryer, about 4 pounds — reduce the cooking time to about an hour
• 5 Yukon gold potatoes
• 6 carrots
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 6 Garlic cloves
• 1 lemon (or onion or bell pepper–more on that in a moment)
• Pepper

Supplies

• A roasting pan or dish
• A deep casserole dish
• Aluminum foil
• Chef’s knife
• Large serving spoon

Start with that chicken. Unwrap it, let it drain a little, and set it in the roasting pan. Salt it inside and out. And really salt it. You should be able to see the individual flakes of kosher salt dusting the breast and the tops of the legs. Inside, it should feel like wet sand, there’s so much salt in there–two big pinches for the inside, one big pinch each for the outside’s top and bottom. We’re talking big, four-finger-and-a-thumb pinches, ok?

Great.

Now set your oven for 400 degrees (204C). While the oven heats and the chicken comes to temperature, go ahead and cut your potatoes and carrots. I like to cut the potatoes into cubish shapes approximately one-inch on a side. I cut about a half inch from the end of each carrot, half them, then cut the thick ends in half again lengthwise.

Put the potatoes and carrots in the casserole dish, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and mix them together.¹ Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Using the side of your knife, crush the garlic cloves and toss them inside the chicken. There’s no need to peel them or anything, since you won’t be eating them later. Then quarter the lemon and shove two of those quarters into the chicken (the other two quarters? I don’t know. Make lemonade or something).²

Has your oven beeped yet? If so, great. Slide the roasting pan and the casserole dish into the oven. If they won’t fit side-by-side, put the chicken up top and the casserole down low. If it hasn’t beeped yet, just wait. It will soon.

Now leave everything alone for about an hour and 20 minutes. Yes, you can do whatever you want to. Play with the kids, watch tv, it doesn’t matter. At the end of an hour and 20 minutes, pull out the pans and set them on the stovetop. Let the chicken sit for another ten minutes or so before carving it up.

To plate, spoon the potatoes and carrots onto a plate, sprinkle a little pepper on them, and nestle a piece of chicken on top. Then spoon on some of the chicken’s rendered fat and other juices from the roasting pan.

Congratulations! You roasted a chicken, and it tastes awesome.

Variations:

You could try to roast the chicken with some herbs–a couple sprigs of rosemary inside and one on top, or you could try the same thing with sage.

You can use the leftover chicken to make an amazing rosemary chicken pasta, shred it to make sandwiches, or cook it with cumin, lime, salt, coriander and a little water to make chicken fajitas (don’t forget the onions and peppers). My family’s usually able to get three meals out of one large chicken, each different and each delicious.

Go! Cook! And let me know how it goes, ok?

1. If you use your hands, make sure to wash them thoroughly first. In fact, you should probably wash your hands more often anyway.

2. Any fairly sturdy vegetable or fruit will work for this. Essentially, what you’re looking for is something that will impart some moisture and some flavor to the chicken. A red onion work great, as does a bell pepper. Just slice it, and shove the pieces into the bird. You might even want to experiment some time and use a pear or an orange. I’d stay away from anything too fragile, though, and anything too bitter.