Tapas: A Perfect Table for One Meal!

What are tapas? Tapas are dishes served in small portions. A product of Spain, most tapas have a Spanish flair. They can be hot or cold, from a plate of mixed olives & cheeses to steak or ham. At NYC restaurant Boqueria, Executive Chef Marc Vidal has everything from Seared Lamb with Salsa Verda to Paella on his tapas menu.

Originally, tapas are designed to be shared. Ordered as part of a cocktail hour, traditionally a group would order several tapas and split them, similar to the way appetizers are eaten. However, tapas are different from appetizers in that an order of several tapas may be the entire meal.

For a table for one diner, tapas are perfect, pre-portioned recipes that can be the stairway to culinary heaven!

Since they are designed in small portions, tapas are already paired down. Also, tapas can include rich, gourmet flavors because the diner is only intended to eat small amounts. So the next time you want to spice up your table for one - try a tapas recipe!

Here are some links to Tapas Recipes by Food Network, Martha Stewart, and Food & Wine Magazine, including some recipes from Boqueria restaurant:

Martha Stewart's Tapas Recipes

Food Network Tapas Recipes

Food & Wine Magazine Tapas Slide Show with Recipes

Food & Wine Magazine Recipes from Boqueria NYC

Tapas Cookbooks:

Small Plates: Appetizers as Meals by Marguerite Marceau Henderson

Including recipes like Warm Mozzarella and Tomato Bruschetta, Beef Tenderloin Kebobs with Roquefort-Rosemary Sauce, and even a single serving Muffaletta (a sandwich from New Orleans made with mixed olives, cheeses, and deli meats) - this book has a litle bit of something for everyone.

From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean by Joanne Weir

Although this book contains more than just tapas, it includes over 220 recipes from Spain, Italy, France, and Greece, and all of the recipes are designed to be made in small servings.

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas

As the reviews on Amazon.com tell you, this book contains "an extensive range of tapas from many regions." However, this may be a book you want to skim at the bookstore before you decide to shell out the 30 bucks, because - although the food is good - several of the recipes require quite a bit of work and can be rather time consuming. So, unless you already have some culinary skills, this may not be the book for you.

Recipe for One: Grilled Lemon Butter Salmon with Orzo Salad

In honor of Lent and the return of fish on Fridays, the star of this recipe for one will be grilled salmon!

Individually packaged fish steaks and fillets are available in the freezer section at most grocery stores. Usually they are much cheaper than buying fresh and they work just as well, if not better. You can do this recipe with a salmon steak or fillet, either fresh or frozen. Both of these recipes take about 15 minutes. So if you are more skilled in the kitchen, you could easily prepare both simultaneously. Otherwise, the salad is good at any temperature - so I recommend starting with the salad.

Orzo Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:


4-5 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup baby spinach
1 Lemon - cut into halfs
1/3 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1/2-2/3 cup chicken broth (approx. 5 broth cubes)
Olive Oil, approx. 3 Tablespoons
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Kitchen Utensils Needed:


1 Mixing Bowl
1 Small or Medium Saucepan
A Spoon
A Whisk
A Serrated Knife
A Cutting Board


In a small or medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth until boiling. Add the orzo, cover and reduce heat to low. It should take approximately 10-15 minutes for the orzo to have absorbed all of the broth and be soft.

Meanwhile, mix the juice of half a lemon (the other half the lemon will be used in the salmon dish below) with the olive oil in the bottom of a mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Add salt and pepper, if desired. Cut the cherry tomatoes into bite sized pieces (halves or fourths depending on the size). Roughly chop the spinach. Toss the cherry tomatoes and spinach into lemon-olive oil mixture.

Check the orzo. If it is done, fluff with a fork and add it to the bowl with the tomatoes and spinach. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Place on a plate, top with Grilled Lemon Butter Salmon (Recipe Below).


Grilled Lemon Butter Salmon

Time: 10-15 minutes(cooking time will vary slightly depending on the thickness of the fish, and whether it was fresh or frozen at cooking)


Ingredients:


One ~4 oz. Salmon Steak or Fillet
The remaining lemon half from the orzo salad
1 Tablespoon of Melted Unsalted Butter
Salt and Pepper, to Taste
Olive Oil or Nonstick Cooking Spray

Kitchen Utensils Needed:


George Foreman Grill: 1) a George Foreman allows you to cook meat and fish directly from frozen with no need to thaw, 2) it allows you to grill, and even get grill marks on your food, anytime of year.
A small-medium sized mixing bowl
A whisk
A knife
A cutting board/surface
A spoon


Preheat the George Foreman Grill following the directions on the package. When it is heated, spoon or pour a small amount of olive oil onto the grill or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place the salmon on the grill and allow to cook until cooked through - approximately 10-15 minutes.


Meanwhile, mix the the juice of the other half of the lemon and the melted butter in a mixing bowl. Beat sauce with a whisk until incorporated. After the salmon has cooked thoroughly, remove from the grill and place onto a bed of the orzo salad. Spoon the lemon-butter mixture over the salmon. Serve.

Storing Broths and Stocks

Broths and stocks are a cooking staple. Used classically in soups and stews, they can also be used to braise meat for extra tenderness, to cook pastas and rice for extra flavor, and as bases for sauces, among other things.

However, many supermarket shelves often carry broths and stocks in 32-ounce boxes. Although the pour spouts on these boxes are convenient for measuring and some brands are even recycleable or quickly biodegradable, using 32 ounces in a single meal isn't likely if you're cooking for one.

How many times have you used a quarter or a third of a box of stock and put the rest in the fridge, thinking that you would use it later that week, only to throw it out a week and a half or two weeks later after it spoiled? Well, single soup lovers don't cry over spoiled broth! Here is a simple and easy trick to save your extra stock or broth, prevent it from going bad and store it in an simple, easy to use form: Make it into ice cubes!

Just pour the extra stock or broth into an ice cube tray & pop it in the freezer! When the liquid is frozen, dump the cubes in to a ziplock storage back and put them back into the freezer until you are ready to use the broth or stock cubes in the future.

Not only will your broth stay good for several months in the freezer, but ice cubes from a standard ice cube tray are approximately one-ounce each. So - next time you need a cup of broth for that soup you're stiring up - grab about 8 cubes from the freezer, melt them in a saucepan or the microwave, and you've got a cup of fresh broth.

Essential Kitchen Tools

Every great chef has great tools. But I'm not about to tell you to go out and buy five hundred dollar knives.

There are, however, a few things that are essential. Many people have a lot of these things already around the house - some of them are used frequently, others maybe not so much.

Here are the food storage basics:

1. Aluminum Foil
2. Plastic Wrap
3. Ziplock bags - at least in the sandwich, quart, and gallon sizes
4. Freezer Paper
5. Freezer Tape
6. Reuseable Storage Containers - I'm not picky about brands as long as they are in convenient sizes and don't fall apart too quickly

Here are the bare-bones essential kitchen supplies/appliances (note: this assumes that readers have a fridge, freezer, and a stove with a range top - either electric or gas):

1. Saucepans with lids - at least 2 (one small and one large) but 3-4 is best
2. Frying Pan - at least 1 large (the size of a large dinner plate)
3. At least 1 large non-serrated knife (such as a santoku knife or a general kitchen knife)
4. At least 1 small serrated knife (steak knives or a serrated paring knife will do)
5. Cutting board
6. At least 1 whisk
7. At least 1 plastic spatula (like the ones used for baking)
8. At least 3 wooden spoons
9. Strainer or Collander
10. At least 1 plastic spatula (like the ones used for flipping pancakes)
11. Measuring spoons
12. Measuring cups (both for dry ingredients and for liquid)
13. Mixing bowls (I recommend buying a set of 3 or more with different sizes - if you have ones that look somewhat nice they can also double as serving bowls if you are having company)
14. Baking Pans - at least 1 muffin tin, 2 cookie sheets (one smaller and one larger), 1 loaf pan, 1 9X9X2 in pan, and 1 9X13 in pan
15. Vegetable Peeler (yes you can peel things with a knife, but this makes life soo much easier)
16. A slow cooker - I own both a small and a large - but I recommend at least investing in a small one - they only run about $15 if you get them at a drugstore or walmart/kmart/target and you can do sooo much in them!
17. An Ice Cube Tray

Other Non-Essential (but highly recommended) items:

1. A hand mixer (once again - they run about $10-15 dollars at walmart/kmart/target)
2. A single-cup blender (like the magic bullet, or GE makes one as well that has diswasher safe parts)
3. A small food processor (kitchen aid as small ones that run about $40 dollars at Sears and you can make everything from marinades and vinaigrettes, to pie crust and cookies in it)
4. A french press coffee maker (not only good for making coffee - can also be used for any number of liquid infusions (teas, marinades, dressings, etc))
5. A George Foreman Grill
6. A Rice Cooker (Takes all the complications out of making rice! All for about $10 at CVS...)
7. A Toaster or a toaster oven

Introduction

Welcome to "Table for One, Please"!

This blog is the result of hours spent watching the Food Network, dozens of dinner parties, and the complaints of several roommates and family members.

I've always been a bit of a foodie. Ever since I was a child, I entered cooking contests and spent my free time learning new cooking techniques. When I went away to school, the only thing that changed is that I frequently had an audience. Weekly dinner parties became a regular occurence at my place - everything from simple suppers - BBQ chicken and Potato Salad - to complicated multi-course meals.

Yet, the more I cooked, the more recipes I mastered, and the more cooking shows I watched - the more I began to notice that most cooking shows and recipes are designed to feed at least a family of four, if not more. While this worked great for my dinner parties, most of the people I know aren't actually cooking for a family of four. More often than not, they are cooking for a table of one. Even more than that, most of the ingredients you need to cook with don't come in convenient one serving packages - and if they do, you're likely to pay twice as much for it.

Thus, "Table for One, Please" was born. Originally conceptualized as a cookbook, this blog will feature a series of articles aimed at young professionals, divorcees, college students, and anyone else who needs tips on food storage, preparation, and creating meal variety if you are only cooking for yourself.