I took my son to New York a couple years ago.
Aside from the lure of the stage I was looking forward to the food. As I’ve said before, I cook meat light (meat is usually 1/3 – 1/4 of our meal). That and the huge portion sizes are a challenge for me when I visit the US.
Our first dinner was at a ‘French’ cafe around the corner from our hotel. We were in a rush because we were off to the theatre, so close seemed like a good idea. My son ordered cassoulet. Sadly, it was about a dozen beans and two pounds of fatty meat.
When we got home I decided to prove to him that this was a dish worth trying again.
Cassoulet is time intensive, but an easy enough dish to make in terms of skill.
Soak 1 cup of white beans the day before. I let them simmer on low for a few hours, cool them and then leave them in water over night in the fridge.
I use one of my favourite enameled cast iron dishes, but any pan that goes from stove top to oven works.
Saute diced onion, carrot and celery (about a half cup of each) in butter, adding a good tsp of minced garlic when that is almost done.
To that pan I add a bottle of Mutti strained tomatoes, 1/2 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp smoked paprika, a couple bay leaves, some salt and pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. I mix all that with about 1/4 cup of stock – I use chicken stock but vegetable would work of you wanted to make an all bean vegetarian version.
Then add the beans with some of the water they soaked in, and mix to coat all the beans. If you don’t add enough water don’t worry, you can add more water as you check the progress of the beans as the cassoulet cooks.
When that is mixed I arrange some meats on top. How much meat depends on who is eating, but I figure the pot should be at least half beans or the meal isn’t balanced.
I’ve used locally sourced smoked poultry, bacon, ham hocks, smoked ribs, and the moose sausage or deer smokies my husband brings home after hunting season. I’ve also thrown in ends of cured meats from the fridge. Use what you have on hand to feed the people in the house. It’s a peasant meal after all.
I pop the covered pot in the oven at 300F for a few hours. My pot takes about four hours but that will vary based on pot size and how well soaked the beans were to start. I give myself plenty of time and we eat when the beans are tender. Near the end I uncover the dish, sprinkle some bread crumbs over the top and turn on the broiler.
This recipe isn’t set in stone. Adjust to suit your family’s tastes.
Like a lot of the non chicken-finger-and-fries homemade meals I cook, this meal is not a huge hit with my step sons. But they eat politely. They need to be challenged to expand their palates not only because the more you eat the easier it is to travel and socialize, but eating more home cooked foods and less processed fast foods is healthier.
That’s my greatest cooking challenge.
I grew up eating family dinners together, and always ate with my son. It helps families feel connected and keeps parents involved in their kid’s daily lives. So when my husband and I blended our families I naturally kept mealtime as a time for us to gather.
Basically, it’s a buffet that we all sit down to while watching a movie or playing a board game.
and sliced veggies show up at the start. I’ve since added roasted grapes, lettuce wraps, onion tarts, mini 
The first time I had this was nine years ago in a tiny San Francisco restaurant. I came home and immediately worked on duplicating it, which turned out to be fairly easy.
Pebre
Spaghetti Squash
One family can only eat so many delicious fried green tomatoes, and it’s really hard to fry cherry tomatoes. But I hate wasting what I watched grow, so I’ve found a use for those little green garden babies.
it to my tastes.
To this I add cider vinegar, salt, brown sugar, mustard and some water.
sometimes this means I add more water as necessary. Easy peasy. And yummy.
Two years ago I planted four jalapeño pepper plants on a whim. The plants thrived and I got a small bounty of peppers. Obviously when the frost came I had to do something with them, so I pickled my first three jars of jalapeños.
I ladle the peppers into jars, and cover them with the remaining liquid.
These were a particular favourite of my middle son. He likes that they are crispier that store bought. I like them because they are more garlicky. The boys all put them on pizzas/calzones, sandwiches, paninis, and my husband puts them on his meat, cheese and pickle snack plates.
I’m in the midst of a kitchen renovation. My dishes and pantry items are squirreled away in another room, and the fridge is in the garage. It’s a temporary but annoying situation.
I have a BBQ, two crock pots, and a coleman stove. There’s a fairly good range of meals I can put together with these. I have, however, one more tool in my kitchenless cook arsenal.
wine vinegar and bit of oil. I removed about 3/4 of that mix, and started adding diced veggies. I added potato and carrot (the recipe asked for parsnip which I love but did not have), then layered some of the onion mixture over it. Then I added squash and celery (celery was not in the recipe but I added it I like how celery fills in flavour gaps), and again topped that with the onion. I then layered ripe tomatoes, also from my garden, topped again with the remainder of the onion. Next was zuchini – this time from a 
friend’s garden. Here the recipe called for corn on the cob, but I had been too lazy to go to the grocery store so instead I just poured in some frozen corn. On top of that, until the potji was full, I placed fresh spinach – also not from my garden thanks to some thieving deer.
improvement – so I started some briquettes in a tin roaster and placed the potji over the coals on the patio. It cooked 2 hours. I could see steam escaping and I could hear bubbling, but I resisted the urge to lift the lid and stir.
I quickly grilled some flatbread and voila – we had a wonderful 
meal. A wonderful meatless meal full of flavour. Meatless is the challenge without an oven so this was a perfect fill in for my slightly meat heavy kitchenless meal plan.
Make me eat my words. 