Mix up the following to make breading:

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/8 cup (1/2 ounce) Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• pinch ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut them in half, and flatten them to about 1/2 inch thick. (Or use chicken tenders.)

Dip the chicken into olive oil, then the crumb mixture. Put in a shallow baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. That’s it! Delicious with a green salad and a side dish (I chose corn in butter sauce). Best of all, it uses items I always have in the house, so it’s great for last-minute dinner.

Cut up three slices of bacon into small pieces. In a large pot (or Dutch oven; this will hold your complete soup when finished), cook them over medium-high heat until crispy (about five minutes?). Remove the bacon, leaving the drippings in the pot.

Add to the pot one pound of chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces; 3/4 cup chopped onion (about one-half of a good-sized onion); and 3/4 cup chopped celery. Cook 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are tender and the chicken cooked. (I admit, I left the celery out, because I don’t like it.)

Add 4 cups chicken broth (one 32-ounce box); one can of whole kernel corn; one can of creamed corn; 2-3 small potatoes, diced; and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender (12-15 minutes after boiling).

Stir in 1 cup of heavy cream; 2 Tablespoons of parsley; and a couple quick grinds of pepper. Simmer 2-3 minutes, stir the bacon (remember that?) back in, and serve.

This made six meal-size servings by my count. With a salad or fruit, it’s even relatively nutritionally complete.

I tried it tonight. I had a bit of trouble getting the potatoes to the right state in the microwave, and I think next time I’d make it with only 2 (or 3 smaller ones than the double-fist size I had). I’d also never cooked with evaporated milk before.

But once everything got into the pot, stirred up, and heated through, it was quite tasty. I put shredded cheddar cheese on top and a chopped green onion. Very filling, too, and I’m looking forward to having leftovers for lunch.

While your oven is preheating to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, mix the following:

• 1/3 cup dry sherry or vermouth
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce (low-sodium variety recommended)
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated (ha! I used the jarred pre-minced stuff)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped (same here, different jar)

I poured the sherry into a mixing cup and then added the other ingredients into the same cup, to avoid dirtying another item. Next time I do this, I’ll try vermouth, because it’s a more complex flavor; sherry is heavier and can be overpowering.

I like recipes that use sesame oil; once I bought a bottle a couple of years ago, it’s been tough using it up. Oh, and I didn’t bother measuring the green onion. I just cut up what I had left over from earlier in the week when I made a not-good batch of mushroom soup.

So, anyway, mix all that up. Put one pound of fish fillets in a dish that can go into the oven. Pour the sauce over and bake for 12 minutes. (Check for doneness by making sure the fish is solid inside, not translucent, and it flakes easily. I find that if some is more done than the rest, I can eat the part that’s fully cooked and save the “could go another minute” piece for leftovers, which I’m going to microwave anyway.)

I served this with a roasted sweet potato (wash, pierce, and put in the microwave for eight minutes) with butter and pre-cooked refrigerator edamame (soybeans) that I zapped quickly to warm up. Which made it easy to have everything ready at the same time.

First, season a London broil (may be labeled as top round steak) with olive oil¹, salt, and pepper. (She also calls for Worchestershire sauce, but KC doesn’t like it. I added a bit of it after, but it was too sharp without having baked in.) Broil it close to the heating element (on high) for six minutes per side. Then let it rest for five minutes before thinly slicing against the grain.

For the chimichurri for a one-pound steak, combine the following:

• 1 Tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil (she calls for more, but I like a less runny texture)
• juice and zest from half a lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir well and serve over the meat. I added a baked potato and a mixed green salad topped with cherry tomatoes, hearts of palm, pine nuts, and vinaigrette. If there’s sauce left over, mix it with mashed potatoes for another meal.

As for the cookbook, there are an awful lot of variations on sausage dishes and burgers of various kinds. I’m about a third of the way through and have marked over a dozen more recipes to try, though. Her Italian background is prominent, although she also includes dishes influenced by other ethnicities.

I like the way she presents entrees plus side dishes, and I love the 30 minutes or less promise. (I hate spending more time cooking than I do eating the meal.) She also includes recipes and then runs variants on them by swapping out the meat or the spice mix, making it easier for people to learn how to really cook (instead of just following instructions). Plus, she encourages people to pay attention to what a teaspoon of seasonings or a tablespoon of liquid should look like, enabling them to adjust for their taste.

¹I refuse to use her EVOO abbreviation. Her cutesy language is why I’ve resisted opening this cookbook, which I acquired almost two years ago.

Pour 1 ¼ ounces vodka and 2 ounces cranberry juice over ice and shake exactly 20 times (according to a friendly bartender, it does matter). Pour into a martini glass, top with champagne, and add a thin orange slice.

If you’re looking for a classic cosmo, combine 1 ¼ ounces lemon vodka, ¾ ounces Cointreau, 2 ounces cranberry juice, and a dash of lime juice.

Mix in a slow cooker the following:

• 1 large onion, chopped (about a cup)
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 1 can of chicken broth (about 14.5 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper sauce (like Tabasco or Texas Pete)

Add a pound and a half of boneless, skinless chicken thighs with obvious fat removed. (If you can only find boned, see below.) Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.

Take the chicken out, shred it, and put it back into the pot. (If you need to remove bones now, you can.) Add 2 cans of great northern beans, rinsed and drained; 1 can of white shoepeg corn, drained; 3 Tablespoons of lime juice (or juice of one lime); and if you want, 2 Tablespoons of chopped cilantro. Continue cooking on low for 15-20 minutes, just enough to heat up the vegetables.

Obtain an 8-inch-square cornbread. The recipe I have suggests baking it yourself, but my local grocery store makes a good one. Just make sure it’s not sweet.

Cook six ounces (about a cup) of chopped lean sausage in 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (For a lighter dish, use turkey sausage; I use low-sodium pork.) Cook 5 minutes or until the sausage is all browned.

Add 2 cups finely chopped onion and a bay leaf. Cook 8 minutes or until the onion starts to turn brown.

Add 1½ cups diced Granny Smith apple (that’s about one large one) and ½ cup diced celery. Cook 5 minutes.

Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic; ¼ teaspoon dried rubbed sage; ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon red pepper; and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Cook for another minute, then take it off the heat and take out the bay leaf.

Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, combined it with the corn bread, crumbled, in a large bowl. Mix in 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth and 2 eggs, lightly beaten. Spread it all into a 9×13-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 50 minutes. When it’s done, the top should be browned and crisp.

I love having this for leftovers, too, because it’s substantial enough to be almost a meal in itself.

Next was the recipe. Google turned up a wide range of broccoli cheddar soup recipes, ranging from the barely-counts-as-cooking kind (combine frozen chopped broccoli, shredded cheese, and two cans of cream of celery soup) to the too-complex kind that usually didn’t involve a slow cooker. The one below seemed a good compromise, and it turned out yummy!

Put in the crockpot the following:

• 1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I used half a small one, to approximate)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a bag of pre-shredded cheddar)
• 5 cups of milk (I used 4½, because I was using 2% milk. I like this soup thick, and I was concerned about the lower fat milk not thickening enough)
• Salt, to taste (I forgot about this, but I don’t eat much salt)

Stir well. Cook on low for 2½ - 4 hours. If you like chunky, don’t blend it. I ran the immersion blender through it, and wound up with just what I was looking for. If you want, you can sprinkle a little more grated cheese on top before serving. I served it with toasted ham sandwiches and fruit.

• 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 6 leeks, sliced
• 1 box (32 oz.) chicken broth
• 1/2 stick of butter
• chopped garlic cloves (most of a head)
• salt and pepper

I set the whole thing to cook on low for 8 hours. After that, it all went into the food processor to be pureed smooth, and then I added a cup of half-and-half and heated through (another 20 minutes in the slow cooker on low).

I served it topped with baby bella mushrooms sauteed in garlic butter, based on a suggestion of Jane Irwin’s. And I learned two things: I am never again trying to make soup without first buying an immersion blender. And I’m not sure it was worth all the effort, given how I had to clean the crockpot and the food processor and do all that chopping.

What I would really like to find are two other soup recipes: one for a mushroom soup like they serve at Panera Bread (not cream of mushroom, but a more brothy style with garlic) and another for a good broccoli cheddar soup.

2 Tablespoons bourbon
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
dash Texas Pete (or local hot sauce)
dash ginger

Combine in a large plastic bag the following to make a marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon grated lime rind *
2 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
1 can low-salt beef broth
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Take a one-pound flank steak. Trim the fat and score a diamond pattern on both sides (my favorite part). Put it in the marinade along with one sweet onion cut into wedges. Put the bag in the fridge for at least four hours (better overnight).

On a grill, cook the onions and steak for eight minutes each side. Slice the meat diagonally into strips and serve on tortillas with the onions and your choices of salsa, sour cream, cheese, and avocado.

* I often give up on this part, because after scraping an entire lime on my grater, I couldn’t get the rind off the metal.

I often find it hard to find good tasty marinades that don’t involve wine or alcohol, because KC doesn’t care for the taste. My mother gave me one that uses bourbon that’s delicious, but he doesn’t like it. This one, though, is quite tasty without any spirits.

Heat a little vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for two minutes on each side.

Then add the following:

• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 package frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth (use homemade for more flavor)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic

If you want to make the dish more substantial, also add 1½ cups uncooked brown rice and ½ cup of water when you add the veggies.

Bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through (and the rice is tender, if you used it). Add salt and pepper to taste.

It warms up wonderfully. If you already have leftover chicken, just make the vegetable part, and put in however much chopped chicken you want when you eat it. I even like it for a substantial healthy breakfast!

Mix together the following: a large egg slightly beaten, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1-2 Tablespoons parsley, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon), pinch of salt, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Put 1/4 cup of flour in a shallow dish. Heat about a Tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Take a package of chicken tenderloins (or breasts cut into thin flat pieces). Roll them in the flour to coat and then in the egg mixture. Cook them until done. (That was 6-8 minutes per side for me, but I like to be sure chicken is fully cooked and get a nice brown coating.) You may need to cook them in two batches unless you have a really large pan; if so, add another splash of oil for the second group.

When it’s all cooked, remove from the pan. Add to the drippings remaining in the pan 2 Tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup dry white wine, and 2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice (the other half of the lemon). Heat to a boil and then serve over the chicken.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green salad.

I surfed around for a recipe, but I didn’t find one that sounded both tasty and easy (because tuna casserole should be cheap and easy, like a frat boy’s dream date). So I took the parts I liked best of all of them and came up with this:

Combine 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans of tuna (packed in water, drained), 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, and 1 12-ounce box of rotini pasta, cooked. (I used the whole wheat kind because it seemed like a good way to eat healthier without it affecting anything too much.)

Put into a two-quart baking dish, lightly greased. Sprinkle on top another cup of shredded Cheddar and a small can of fried onion pieces. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. It makes lots, so plan to serve for several or have leftovers for days.

So far, he’s talking about recipes he’s tried and what he’s learned about technique as a result. More pictures, Hal! That’s the best way, I think, to learn cooking — actually see it.

¹ I’m half expecting him to show up and berate me for not remembering fan meals at conventions and such. That’s entirely possible.

To make them: Slice a sweet onion (Vidalia if you can find it). Saute for 5 or so minutes in some olive oil. (I cook mine longer because I like them soft, but you may want to take them off while they still have a little crunch to them.) Mix up 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil (I go lighter on this, because I always have oil left in the pan), a teaspoon of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and 2-3 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped.

That’s for 3-4 onions, so reduce as necessary or to taste. Dump the onions in and let them sit while you finish dinner, then fish out and serve. They’re wonderful as a beef side dish, especially with steak, and it’s a great way to keep my basil plant trimmed.

I ended with brownies. I am immensely proud of myself for baking them, even though they came straight out of a box… and you can’t apparently buy plain brownie mix any more. It was all double fudge this and candy store (with mix-ins) that. I chose one with walnuts. I’m just amazed that they came out right, since I never bake. It’s nice having home-baked treats for dessert.

Melt butter in a pan big enough to hold your shrimp. Add olive oil, minced garlic, chopped shallots (I keep a jar of dehydrated to make this easy, because I love the flavor), and a sprinkle of parsley.

Vary the oil/butter blend to your taste. More butter is richer, more oil is healthier. You can also add a generous splash of white wine, if you want.

When the pan’s contents are hot and bubbly, put in your peeled shrimp. When they start to turn the color of cooked, turn them over and cook for another two minutes.

That’s it! Serve with salad and good crusty bread for soaking up the sauce.

Mix together the following:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 cup of quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 eggs + 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 2 minced garlic gloves
• 2 tablespoons of dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon of dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

in a very large bowl. (Traditionally, this is done with the hands, which makes me go “oook”.) Make it into a loaf shape on a broiler pan. Bake it at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes (or until it’s 160 degrees inside; mine usually takes less than an hour).

Let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with ketchup, tater tots, and apple slices. Ok, those last bits are just suggestions.