Author: Isabel Montclaire

These days, the whole subject of food has become so complicated. The number of choices available is absolutely crazy. I once went to a big supermarket and counted the wide array of canned tomato products. The grand total was 144. There were whole peeled tomatoes. Crushed, pureed, chunky, diced, petite diced, pureed, plum, stewed, sauce, and paste. Tomatoes flavored with Italian herbs, or basil, or fire roasted. Add to this the whole array of organic canned tomato products. All these options made me want to crumble into a heap and pull my hair out.

Then there was the time I went to Safeway to buy a one-pint container of plain Greek yogurt. I estimated the refrigerator case was about 11 feet long. I literally stood there for ten minutes trying to find what I was looking for. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of yogurt, especially now that plant-based is “A Thang”.

We have too much choice and it can lead to paralysis where we have so many choices, we choose nothing at all. We just run out of mental energy and can’t sort it all out. The term “decision fatigue” has been coined to name this syndrome.

Overtime, I’ve dialed back the number of foods I keep in my pantry and believe it or not, this simplicity leads to remarkable creativity and ease around food. There is surprising freedom in limiting the number of options. For example, in the alphabet, there are only 26 letters. Those letters combine to form 171,476 words in the English language according to the Oxford dictionary. For example, I’ve reduced my number of canned tomatoes to just three: whole plum tomatoes, sauce, and paste. With whole plum tomatoes, you can puree them, or cut them up anyway you like. I also like to use tomato powder.  It’s like magic; a tablespoon added to any tomato dish will concentrate the tomato flavor.

My friend made spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce and introduced me to a herb and spice blend that streamlined my collection of seasonings. It’s called “Tones Italian Spaghetti Seasoning Blend” (it’s not just for spaghetti). This incredibly versatile seasoning works like magic to add concentrated flavor to any dish, from vegetables, soups, beef, chicken, pork, rice, noodles, you name it. Somehow the flavors swirl around your mouth and the taste bursts. It’s amazing! I’ve tried other brands of Italian seasonings and they just don’t work as well as this one.

By condensing my pantry to items I use the most, and simplifying my cooking, I have avoided the craziness of supermarket decision fatigue. That leaves more energy to think about other things like trying new recipes with friends.

My friend Denise recently came over to visit and showed me how to make a simple soup base; it was so enjoyable to spend time in the kitchen with her – it felt like an adult playdate!  This recipe will spur your imagination because you can add just about anything to make a delicious and hearty soup. Mix and match the ingredients with freedom and ease to your heart’s delight. And you won’t have to spend much time cleaning up since you can make it in one pot. You can make any quantity of this as long as you use the recommended proportions and have a big enough pot.

Simple Soup Base

One 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
One tablespoon Italian herbs
3 cans water
3 big cubes or 3 tbs. of beef or vegetable bouillon concentrate
1 diced onion

We cubed some steak and cooked it along with the onion until the meat was browned. Then we added a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes and using the can as a measure, added three cans of water, the bouillon and the Italian herbs. Then a 12 ounce bag of mixed frozen vegetables. After it came to a boil, we reduced the heat, and added a package of frozen egg noodles and simmered the soup on the stove for about an hour. The noodles made the soup a bit too thick, so we added some V-8 until it was the right consistency (don’t dilute the soup with water because then you will have watery soup). The flavor needed to be kicked up a notch so we added a Maggie vegetable seasoning cube and then it was exactly right. You can adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.

The possible combinations are endless and you can make this soup any way you like it. If you want to add noodles or rice cook them first. Other additions could be potatoes, couscous, beans, or lentils. For the protein you could use beef, pork, chicken or even tofu. Maybe even try Asian style with shrimp (make sure to add them at the end instead of at the beginning to avoid overcooking them); shrimp would taste yummy with peas, carrots, water chestnuts, and rice noodles. Or, make classic minestrone. I like to call these basic recipes that serve as a springboard for enormous creativity “un-recipes”. Maybe another name for this could be “the-one-pot-anything-soup”. Try it!

Cooking with a friend was so pleasurable. Women often cooked together like this in the “olden days”, didn’t they? This recipe came from Denise’s mother-in-law. I wonder where she got it. Perhaps a good friend gave it to her when she went visiting one day.

In my life I’ve done a lot of housesitting and it was fun to cook in different kitchens. I always took a good look at the herb and spice cupboards. Were the herbs and spices in airtight containers and closed properly? Often, they were half opened. Sometimes I was horrified to see that they had expired years ago; one was even decades old! It was cinnamon and it tasted downright nasty. Hmmm . . . how would cookies taste if I used this rancid spice? Overtime I referred to these old collections of herbs and spices as “Spice Mausoleum.” They just sit there year after year going stale and lose their vibrant colors and complex aromas. Why? Because most people don’t like to waste them since they are expensive and cooks do not understand that they have a limited shelf life.

One of the easiest ways to improve your cooking is to keep your herbs and spices fresh. When I developed the “Plenty Method” described in my book, I found a way to keep herbs and spices fresh without breaking the bank. I made a list of the herbs and spices I used on a regular basis. I found the perfect glass spice jar. It had a 100% airtight lid, contained two ounces, and fit nicely into my spice drawer. I located a company that sells bulk herbs and spices by the ounce and placed an order including labels. When they arrived, I filled the jars and labeled them.

I discovered that the solution to “Spice Mausoleum Syndrome” was to replace the entire collection every two years. I place an order and when it arrives, I empty out my jars, wash them, and refill. Doing this procedure guarantees the colors stay vibrant and the flavors are robust. The cost savings are dramatic so it’s easy to start over every two years.

Herbs and spices have different levels of quality and freshness. In the highest quality, the flavors and aromas are concentrated and multi-dimensional. I order my herbs and spices from Market Spice in Seattle. For example, I can buy bulk ground cumin for 92 cents per ounce. In the store it costs somewhere around $3.50 per ounce in a glass bottle. Basil is $1.38 an ounce and sells for an average of $10.00 per ounce. Buying basil in bulk is an over 7x savings. I found two ounce airtight hexagon jars with gold lids at Specialty Bottle in Seattle for $1.52 per jar including shipping.

Making the change to buy herbs and spices in bulk with airtight jars will keep your herbs and spices from becoming a spice mausoleum. Your herbs and spices will be fresh, flavorful, colorful, and alive. Your everyday cooking will transform into fabulous masterpieces.

Recently, I’ve been alarmed by the dramatic increase in food prices and my friends have noticed this too. Everyone wonders “How can I continue to eat well”? Buying food in bulk is one way to offset food inflation. In my research, I discovered that bulk buying reduces food costs by about 40% on average. But in order for the cost savings to occur, the food needs to be properly stored, otherwise it goes to waste.

There are many ways to prolong the shelf life of food. But it all comes down to one simple thing: airtightness. Using containers with 100% airtight seals increase the life of food because air rapidly deteriorates food. You can avoid wasting a lot of food, time, and money by using airtight containers. Food seems to last longer in glass than plastic; plastic is porous. Putting food into a zip lock or a plastic bag with a twist tie will not work to prolong the life of food.

How can you tell if a container is airtight? My friend Michelle, who is an engineer, showed me this simple test. Fill the container with water, put the lid on tightly, and give it a vigorous shake. If water droplets come out, it isn’t airtight. Or fill a sink with water and submerge the container; if bubbles rise to the surface, it isn’t airtight. This is because air molecules are smaller than water molecules.

If any of your containers test negative for airtightness, recycle or find another use for them. Airtight containers preserve freshness and protect your food from exposure to air, mites, bugs, and mold. They will be a one-time investment.

I was shocked to discover that most containers are not airtight, even when the wording on the package claimed they were. I once ordered jars from a spice company and they were not even close to airtight. Using those jars would have quickly turned fresh spices into a spice mausoleum. I accidently conducted an experiment that demonstrated the importance of using airtight jars. I bought eight ounces of parsley from a mail order bulk herb/spice company. When it came it was in a bigger bag than I expected. I put the extra in a swing top bale jar, the kind with the metal clasp and the rubber gasket, and a plastic reusable food container. I put them both in a dark cupboard. Then about a year later, I came across them and the parsley in the glass jar was a vibrant kelly green color and the parsley stored in the plastic container was a dull grayish color. It didn’t look appetizing and I had to throw it away. So much for saving 40%.  Oh well, I tried!

I have kept this vinaigrette salad dressing recipe that I created a long time ago as a secret. My friends try to guess the ingredients and beg me for the recipe. I once gave it to my friend Michelle for her fiftieth birthday, handwritten on an elegant card with azure blue ink from my fountain pen and presented in an envelope lined with gold paper. She was beyond thrilled and said this was a thoughtful and priceless gift.

Once you taste this not-so-secret-anymore recipe because I’m giving it to you,  the salad dressing you buy at the grocery store will pale in comparison. I buy high-quality vinegars and oils instead of buying store bought dressing. It takes just a few minutes to whip this up and the extraordinary sensory pleasure you’ll get from eating this makes the time spent worthwhile.

½ cup vinegar (l like aged-sherry, champagne, white, and red balsamic)
1 tablespoon sugar (I use raw cane or demerara)
1 tablespoon mustard (favorites are stone ground, Dijon and spicy brown)
Pinch of salt (any kind but iodized. It tastes terrible!)
1 shallot (if you don’t have one, use about two tablespoons diced any kind of onion)
1 clove garlic
1 ½ cups oil (my favorites are olive, walnut, rice bran)

Puree the first six ingredients in a blender. Then slowly add the 1½ cups of oil and blend some more. Pour into a glass bottle. This salad dressing will keep for up to two months in the fridge.

Lately my favorite version of this is made with aged sherry vinegar and half olive/half walnut oil and stone ground mustard. In the past I’ve used blood orange champagne vinegar. White wine vinegars are better with neutral oils, like rice bran oil or grapeseed.  Dark vinegars are better with olive oil. What’s nice about this recipe is you can mix and match the ingredients to suit your tastes. I call these kinds of recipes “un-recipes’.

My favorite oil to use in this recipe is rice bran oil which you probably haven’t seen since it’s not commonly available in most grocery stores; the exception to this is Asian markets. Most restaurant supply wholesalers do sell it because its high smoke point makes it ideal for frying. It’s quite versatile and is excellent for baking. This oil behaves differently than other light oils; it’s difficult to explain.

Now you have a little gift from me to you – Isabel’s salad dressing. Look at what you have on hand and whip up a batch! Maybe you can keep it a secret and give it to a friend someday.

Have you ever heard of white balsamic vinegar? I hadn’t until a friend gave me some as a present a few years ago. Being unfamiliar with this, I experimented with the vinegar and made one of the best salads I had ever eaten. It was so delicious that I named it “Out-of-This-World Salad,” made of chicory (an unusual leafy green similar to romaine), Comice pears, kiwi fruit, blueberries, walnuts, a sprinkling of blue cheese, white balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. That’s all. Simple!

I have an “un-recipe” for it, which means that you use the ingredients I suggest and make it according to your own tastes. Think flex salad. You can make this salad to accompany a main meal or beef it up a bit to make it a meal itself. You may not think of a salad as a wintertime dinner entrée, but it is surprisingly refreshing. This salad takes just a few minutes to assemble so it’s good for those nights when you don’t want to stand in front of the stove. The main ingredients are salad greens, fruit, olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. The secret here to extraordinary deliciousness is to pair the white balsamic vinegar with some fruit. The tart and tangy flavor of the vinegar mixes with the sweetness of the fruit and it becomes a third thing all its own and it’s, well, out of this world.

My favorite combinations are: baby greens or butter lettuce, oranges, radishes and a small amount of minced red onion. Or butter lettuce, pears, blue cheese. Romaine with kiwi and blueberries. The dressing is always one part white balsamic vinegar to three parts extra virgin olive oil. I tend to use one tablespoon vinegar to three tablespoons oil. Add in a few nuts and/or seeds and you’ll have a salad substantial enough to make the salad into a light meal. I use chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts. A few tablespoons of hemp seeds add a delightful texture and some protein too (13 grams per ¼ cup). Those are my favorite combinations; use your imagination to discover your own.

If you’d like a roasted vegetable to go from ordinary to extraordinary without having to expend much effort, melt some butter and add some white balsamic vinegar using the three to one ratio. Using a pastry brush, spread an even coat on the vegetables a few minutes before the vegetables are finished cooking and then sprinkle them with coarse sea salt.

Next time you need a present for that cook who seems to have everything, consider white balsamic vinegar. You can buy it from $5.99 to $30.

When I was a young child, the only salt available to home cooks was Morton’s, the one in the round blue container with the girl and the yellow umbrella on it. Their slogan was “When it rains, it pours”. I didn’t quite understand what that had to do with salt, but I still remember the words. Then when I was a teenager, the health food movement had begun and with it came “sea salt”, but it was typically generic and sold bulk in clear plastic bags.

Fast forward to now.  Salt is definitely a “thing” and there are so many varieties it can make your head spin. Salt from the coast of Normandy, the Himalayas, salt from . . . Salt Lake.  Black salt, pink salt, yellow salt, red salt, smoked salt. Plain ol’ salt has indeed become quite fancy as if it’s all dressed up in party clothes.

Over time, I have tried many of them. I became somewhat of a salt fiend. The subtle differences in flavor mystified me. After all, salt is just sodium chloride. Why the differences in flavor then? I’m not sure, but overtime, one in particular stood out and became my “go to salt”, the one I put on or in almost everything. It’s Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, from the southeast coast of England and made by a family that has been in the business for 140 years.

Why is this one different? It seems to not only have a taste, but a feeling too. This is very difficult to describe but the closest I can get is “completeness”. Sprinkle this on and the food goes into full bloom. Somehow it unifies and magnifies all the flavors as if they spin around and whoosh the taste comes out just right.  Food goes from good to great to fabulous to joy. And it does this without tasting overly salty.

Not only does it have magical ability in the flavor department, it also adds texture. The salt is made of little pyramids, small chunks that go crunch when you eat them (this salt is a finishing salt, for use on or in food after it is cooked).  Just a tiny pinch can make a huge difference. Try sprinkling some on chocolate chip cookies just a few minutes before they are done baking and you’ll see what I mean.

Just the other day I examined the box and noticed the Royal Warrant of the Queen of England on it. That’s it! This salt is the Queen of Salt. Try some Maldon Sea Salt Flakes and be amazed with the flavors of your creations. You too will discover the taste difference.

Many kitchens are full of single purpose, occasional use gadgets that tend to reside in the dark corners of cupboards and drawers. They are forgotten about until you look for something else and then . . . there it is. You use it once or twice and then back it goes into hiding. Oftentimes, the gadget is flimsy, rattles loudly, shakes then falls apart. Maybe it is difficult to clean or complicated to setup and in the end you don’t save any time. Perhaps it is large and takes up too much storage space. Whatever the reason, these items can end up as clutter.

There is, however, one gadget worth owning: the Vidalia Chop Wizard. It’s sturdy, well designed, and easy to clean; just use a toothbrush. A little effort produces a gigantic result. This gadget truly saves time and makes the task of chopping much easier. It chops or dices onions, peppers, celery, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, apples, and other firm vegetables and fruits (nuts and eggs too) into perfect little cubes of uniform size. This uniformity makes your creations look as if you are a talented professional chef who has superb knife skills.

This gadget seems more like a toy than a utilitarian workhorse. It’s FUN to use! You put pieces of the fruit or vegetable on the cutting surface, then slam the top down and it makes this very satisfying loud “womp” sound, and then – abracadabra! The thing just got chopped as if by magic. These little moments of perfection where everything is just right, even for fleeting half second, are quite precious and add so much delight to life.

My little friend Katie, age 6, loved to help me in the kitchen. I taught her how to use the Chop Wizard. She would stand on the stool next to me and cut up vegetables, place them on the grid, and with both hands and the full force of her tiny body slam the top down. Wham! And then she would get a very smug and satisfied look on her face that was cute beyond words.

Efficient as this gadget is, it does take a bit of practice to get the hang of it. It works best when the pieces are extra-large bite size. It helps to stand on a footstool to get additional leverage. This would be the perfect gift for a cook who has everything, including a cupboard full of single purpose, occasional use gadgets.  Take a look . . . www.chopwizard .com, $27.95, including shipping.  Or, for $32.95 get the Chop Wizard Pro Max that also slices potatoes into fries.

Do you have a favorite time-saving gadget? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

Who likes sweet potato fries? I think of these as regular French fries on steroids. Sweet potatoes are delicious and filling and they are a superfood too, loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. They act as a time-release fuel because they are slower to digest than regular potatoes and will evenly sustain your energy throughout the day or evening.

You can easily make these at home without any gadgets. No deep-fat fryer or air fryer is required. All you need is a baking sheet or jelly roll pan and a piece of foil or parchment paper.

Here is what you need:

2 pounds sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt (I like kosher)
Optional spices: chili powder or paprika and garlic powder

Here is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 400⁰. Peel the sweet potatoes, or, leave the skins on. Cut in half lengthwise down the middle. Then lay the halves on the flat side and cut lengthwise several times again in ¼ or ½ inch thickness, depending on how thick you like them. Lay them flat again and slice them lengthwise a couple more times. They will be slightly different sizes but don’t fret, they will cook uniformly. Place tin foil or parchment paper on the pan. Pour the olive oil, spices and salt onto the pan and toss to coat. Spread them evenly in a single layer; you may need two pans. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until soft.

Sweet potatoes are a long-lasting storage vegetable and it’s easy to keep these on hand. They are best stored in a cool room or cupboard. I put mine in a basket that has a lid. This encourages air circulation which prevents the accumulation of moisture which leads to spoilage. I just read that if you wrap them in brown paper or newspaper and put them in a cardboard box, they will last six months. I am going to try this as an experiment; I’ll get back to you in May to let you know how it goes.

True story: a friend gave me a Cinderella pumpkin in the fall. I put it on the cold floor of the pantry. I finally got around to baking it for the Fourth of July. The pumpkin had dried out a bit but was still surprisingly good. I made a pumpkin pie for a party. The pie looked quite out of place sitting next to all the berry pies, quite funny! If a pumpkin lasts that long, maybe a sweet potato can too and you can enjoy these all year long.

Another one of my favorite three/four ingredient recipes is a German pancake. It’s a cross between a crepe and a pancake, only it’s baked in the oven not cooked on a griddle. This simple recipe is easy to make, has an impressive presentation, and is elegant enough to serve to guests on a special occasion. I’ve made it many times yet still gasp with delight every time I open the oven and see it big and puffy and golden brown on the edges. This recipe also makes a fast breakfast for dinner when you are too tired to eat, let alone cook. Here is what you need, per pancake:

2 eggs
½ cup dairy or non-dairy milk
½ cup high-quality bleached or unbleached flour
2 tablespoons of butter

Toppings: powdered sugar, lemon, syrup or honey
A 9” or 10” skillet that you can put in an oven or a glass or ceramic pie plate

Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven to 450⁰ and put the skillet or pie plate in the oven while it is preheating. Mix the batter. Take the skillet or pie plate out of the oven when it is done preheating. Add the butter and put the pan back into the oven until the butter is melted. Remove it and swirl the butter around the sides of the pan. Add the batter and bake for 12 minutes until the edges are golden brown and it has risen above the sides of the pan. Loosen the pancake from the sides of the pan and slide it out onto a plate. Squeeze ½ lemon and put some syrup or honey on it, sprinkle with powdered sugar. To make the sugar look like snow, put the sugar in a fine mesh strainer and use a spoon to dust it.

I get the best result in a cast iron skillet; it holds the heat and makes the edges nice and crispy. The secret to this recipe is getting the pan very hot before adding the batter.

A berry syrup is a lovely flavor with lemon. It’s utterly divine when served with bacon, made with bacon fat instead of butter, and doused with real maple syrup. This is my favorite version.

When I was growing up, my family made this pancake for a quick and elegant Christmas breakfast. This could become a family tradition for you, too. Or, a quick and favorite breakfast or dinner anytime.

Do you have a favorite pancake recipe? If so, I’d love to see it – Isabel@plentymethod.org