Minestrone for One (or Two)

I was hungry for Minestrone. I don't buy many convenience foods or canned soups. I am even trying to wean myself off the "cream of" cooking soups, so getting Minestrone meant I'd have to make it myself.  A quick Google search and another Pinterest search along with a run through my favorite "cooking for one" cookbook drew a blank. No Minestrone for One recipes.[Sigh.]

Ok, here I go again. Let's throw something together and see how it tastes. The contents of this soup were dictated by what was in my larder. If you have zucchini or other traditional vegetables that I did not have, add no more than 1/2 cup each of any of them.  Fortunately, when I was canning green beans, tomatoes and other vegetables last summer I put them up in 1 cup (1/2 pint) jelly jars (vegetables) and 1 pint canning jars (tomatoes.) That  reduces waste on a day of experimentation. If you are using commercial products, consider buying those small, one-serving cans of vegetables.

MINESTRONE FOR ONE
Yields 2 servings

1 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 cup green beans, drained
1 carrot, peeled and cut into coins
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 package fresh mushrooms, chopped
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup elbow macaroni
1/2 bay leaf, broken into large pieces
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
pinch chili powder
water as needed

Pour tomatoes and vegetables into a 1 quart saucepan. Place on low heat and simmer.  While this is heating, saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil in a small skillet. When onions are clear and mushrooms are heated, turn off heat and add to vegetables in saucepan. Add water to within 1/2" of top of pan. Add spices. Stir in elbow macaroni. Let simmer until macaroni and carrots are al dente. Be certain to find all the sections of the bay leaf and remove it before eating.

Cooking for One in Terracotta

Terracotta bakers soaking in water before baking.

I love browsing at thrift stores. There are so many treasures waiting to be found! My latest find were two individual sized terracotta bakers. One is shaped like a bowl and the other is shaped like an apple. Hm...are they trying to tell me to bake an apple?

I didn't know what to expect with terracotta. I have heard they steam the contents and make the most tender dishes. All I've ever read said to soak them well before baking. I had no other clues before experimenting. Hm... What to try?  I decided to try chicken breast with vegetables. At the worst I'd have a stew.

In each baker, I put 1 1/2 cut up chicken tenderloins, 1 sliced carrot, about 1/2 cubed potato, a few sugar snap peas because I didn't have any green beans, and 1/2 cup stewed tomatoes with a bit of onion and the liquid from the tomatoes and then popped them into a 350 degree F. oven. I checked progress every 30 minutes. It took 2 hours for the potatoes to become tender.

I was glad I put a baking sheet under the terracotta bakers because the liquid boiled over and made a mess on the baking sheet (not the oven!). (Note: line the baking sheet with aluminum foil for easier cleaning).  I am not certain if I should have used less (or no liquid) or if I should have added some water after everything went dry. The bowl-shaped baker retained a bit of fluid but the apple-shaped one cooked completely dry.

And what did I get after 2 hours? It was much like chicken and veggies cooked in a crockpot. The root vegetables cooked well. The sugar snap peas were mush. Think of the bakers as a manual medium-slow cooker.  The meat and veggies were all tender, but the carrots had not lost their shape.

I will definitely try this again, but I may research more what others cook in terracotta.

Potato Soup for One (or Two)

Potato soup is one of my comfort foods. It has minimal ingredients: potatoes, onions, water, butter and milk, plus salt and pepper. It's ready in 45 minutes or less and it puts a smile on my face and reminds me of Mom. What can be better than  that? At the end of this article I will give the variation for Cheese Soup with Kielbasa, another comfort food.

First of all I don't know what sort of potato soup I make. My college roommate once said if you thicken your soup, it's French. Since neither she nor I did, she said I made German potato soup. (She was a good German-Irish girl.) I'm not sure about that. Mom and her Mom were of Welsh descent. I guess I'll be cautious and tell you all that I make KANSAS Potato Soup.

Potatoes to cover the bottom of a 1 quart pan

You will need a 1 quart sauce pan. This is the smallest pan in a set.

2-3 peeled, cubed potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of the pan, as shown.)

Water to cover the potatoes well

1/4-1/2 medium onion, diced. 

1 Tbs. butter

1/4 medium onion diced

1 quart milk

salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in saucepan. Add onions. Bring to a boil. Boil 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. Remember science class when the teacher said the more sides an object has, the faster it cooks? You can get your potatoes to cook faster if you cut them smaller. If you cut them into 1/2" cubes, you might be able to omit the mashing step.

After potatoes are tender, carefully drain liquid from potatoes, leaving about 1/2" of liquid in bottom of pan. I like to save potato water for other recipes. It contains soluble nutrients from the potatoes. You can use potato water in bread making, soup making or anywhere you add water to a recipe.

Mashing potatoes

Milk being added to potatoes

Mash the potatoes coarsely. You want a few larger chunks to spoon up with your soup. Return to heat. Add about 1 quart of milk. You don't want to overfill the pan. Top with 1 Tbs. butter and season to taste. 

Bring to simmer, heating milk 3-4 minutes until it is comfortably warm to eat.

Kansas Potato Soup

Ladle into bowls. Yeilds: 2 servings.

CHEESE SOUP WITH KIELBASA

Prepare potatoes and bring to boil. 

Add 1/4 cup diced celery with onions.

Dice about 3 inches (1/2 cup) of Kielbasa for later use.

Hold 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for later use.

Cook potatoes until tender. Drain. Return to stove and add milk. Season with a few drops of Worchestershire Sauce and a pinch of dry mustard as well as salt and pepper. Add kielbasa. Once milk has come to a simmer, stir in butter and shredded cheese. Stir well until cheese is dissolved. Yield: 2 bowls

Ham and Cheese Sauce on Baked Potato

My first effort to modify a "regular sized" recipe was to size down the white sauce recipe I use to make Cheese Sauce. I halved the recipe. For one person who doesn't want lots of cheese sauce on a baked potato, even this new recipe could be halved. My potato was well covered with sauce OR you could cook 2 potatoes and invite a friend to lunch.

Ingredients needed will be one small baking potato, 1 slice "individual sized" ham steak, butter, cornstarch, milk, cheddar cheese, chives and other toppers as desired.

You will need a microwave-safe plate for cooking the potato, and a small saucepan for making the sauce. If you do not have pre-shredded cheese, you will also need a cheese grater. Knives, measuring spoons, a small wire whisk, and a 1 cup measure are also needed.

As an aside, I will note that I use "box milk:" UHT milk that may be stored on the cupboard shelf until opened. Since I only use milk for cooking and rarely on cereal, I have found "box milk" serves my needs better than buying a quart at the grocery store and finding half of it has gone bad before I used it all. Yes, I still have to find ways to finish the quart after I open the box, but I usually manage to do that. [Sigh] Some things were easier when there were more people in the house.

Cheese Sauce
1 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste


Melt the butter over low heat, stirring in cornstarch to make a roux. As soon as cornstarch has been absorbed, immediately stir milk in slowly. This will thicken quickly. Add cheese. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Remove from heat.

NOTE: if you are wanting to make a white sauce for a quick gravy or as thickening for soup, follow the above directions and leave out the cheese.


Ham and Cheese Sauce:  stir in 1/2 cup diced ham as soon as cheese sauce is complete. Season to taste.





Baked Potato

Wash selected potato and pat dry.
Pierce several times with a fork to give vents for steam to release during cooking. If you do not pierce the potato, it might explode.
Place on microwave safe plate and set for "Potato."  Cook until done.

When the potato is done, slice it open. Top with a bit of butter, if desired, and then spoon Ham and Cheese Sauce over the potato. Garnish with fresh, chopped chives and other toppers that you like.
Serve with a salad. My dessert was 1/3 of a Brownie a la Anytime.