Welcome to the reporting thread for our November Cookbook of the Month, DINNER IN ONE: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals, by Melissa Clark.
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To see a complete list of past selections, visit the COTM archive.
Both Lulu and her dad were out of town over the weekend, and I wanted to welcome them back with something sweet. I had everything for this, so why not? Easy to make, although I think either my oven runs hot or the temp could be a little lower on this. The outside of mine was pretty brown by the time the inside was ready. This is a very nice cake, but with a tight, heavy crumb. First night I served it with whipped cream and blueberries; last night I had my slice plain to be able to fully taste the cake. Good both ways! This is made in a loaf pan (you can use either 8x4 or 9x5 - I used the smaller). Whisk together sour cream, melted butter, eggs, brandy, and salt. Once combined, add sugar, and then dry ingredients (she gives them in the order she wants them added and tells you they must be added that way - never seen that before, and didn’t realize it made a difference with dry ingredients). Put in pan, bake 45-55 minutes. My smaller pan meant I had to go every one of those 55 minutes and maybe a minute or two longer. Nice, simple cake.
Had a night all to myself, and decided to make this vegetarian meal. Very nice. You whisk together harissa, cumin, olive oil, S&P, and toss the cut potatoes and cauliflower in it. Then roast. After 20 minutes you add sliced leeks, lemon zest (I couldn’t find a lemon at either grocery store, so went with about a teaspoon of preserved lemon paste), and more seasoning and roast for more time. During this time you add some minced garlic and S&P to the yogurt. Out of the oven, you plate, drizzle with yogurt, toasted almonds, and herbs (I just used dill). I like this very much.
An easy and tasty tray bake. LLD doesn’t love squash, and she suggests turnips as a substitute. These are tossed with honey and red pepper flakes, olive oil, S&P. Thinly sliced onions are put on one side of the roasting pan, the turnips in the other. Cook this (she suggests 15 minutes, I did more like 20-25), then add the chicken which has been tossed with garlic, tarragon (I had to use dried), seasoning and olive oil. Roast. Easy peasy. Not a huge WOW, but a nice, easy, homey meal. I served it over polenta.
My notes on this are simply “tasty but structurally unsound.” We liked the meatballs - nothing too different from every other Italian meatball recipe I’ve ever made (ground beef or turkey, panko, parm, herbs/spices). Then you basically turn a loaf of Italian bread into garlic bread, and make a gigantic sandwich. It was messy, and we didn’t like the crunchy garlic bread as the basis for a meatball sub. YMMV though.
SPICY STIR-FRIED PORK WITH GREEN BEANS AND TOMATOES pg 77
I liked this, and it was super quick - I served over rice and had to wait for the rice to finish cooking! I left out the chiles, and thought it needed a bit more sugar in the sauce, but otherwise it was good.
CHEESY BAKED PASTA WITH TOMATO, SAUSAGE, AND RICOTTA pg 106
This was good and very easy. I did make some modifications: way less oil, ground beef instead of sausage (and drained it after browning), switched the whole and crushed tomatoes (so 1 big can crushed and 1 small can whole). The instructions weren’t clear about baking with/without a cover, but it needs to be baked uncovered so that water can evaporate. Although the recipe calls for 12oz (uncooked) small pasta, it worked fine with gluten-free Barilla penne, so I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work with medium shapes as well.
This soup is surprisingly good. I figured it would be a nice variation on chicken noodle soup, but it is so much more interesting than that. Leeks, cilantro stems, garlic, tomato paste, cinnamon stick, garam masala, carrots, fennel, radishes (in place of the turnip she calls for), chicken and broth come together in a lovely way. This seemed very North African to me and the Israeli couscous is fun. I added a small bag of baby spinach. I would add more broth than the 6 cups in the recipe, because the couscous really soaks it up. I finished with lime juice, cilantro, and Aleppo pepper, as she suggests. Really good soup that the whole family was raving about (and how often does that happen?). Doesn’t look like much, but was delicious.
LEMONY TURKEY AND WHITE BEANS SOUP with winter greens (p 182)
I made this a while back (no photo) while LLD was away and Lulu and I were having Beanapalooza. Easy and tasty, stick-to-your-ribs sort of thing. I don’t have any notes on the recipe, so I assume I made it as is. I do remember liking the lemon in it a lot.
ROASTED TUNA w/ BROWN BUTTER CORN, TOMATOES AND CHILE (p. 146)
The whole idea of roasting tuna made me nervous - I like it very rare and was concerned that it would get overcooked for my tastes. And it did, somewhat, but that’s because LLD insisted it wasn’t cooked enough and made me leave it in for a bit more. Lesson learned, and next time I will trust the recipe. You heat the oven, season the tuna, and combine garlic and chile powder. Rub the garlic/chile mixture onto the tuna and let sit. Melt butter in a dutch oven and let brown. Stir in cut scallions and jalapenos and cook until tender. Add corn (I had to use frozen - not a problem) and stir until lightly browned; add pint cherry tomatoes. Put the tuna steaks into the pot and bake until everything is ready - she suggests 10-13 for rare, which I’m thinking is probably about right. Plate and add a squeeze of lime. Delicious. The browned butter really shines here.
This couldn’t be any easier, and it took longer to preheat the oven than to make the chili and cornbread topping. Chili was ground turkey (or other meat, or not-meat), onion, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, and corn - that was optional but I added a can and I’m glad I did. I left out the jalapeño and cilantro to accommodate my picky eaters. I thought it was a little dry, and might need a 29oz can of tomatoes rather than a 14.5oz one. The cornbread topping was basically DIY Jiffy mix, given the 1/3C milk and 1 egg, so in a pinch I guess a box of mix could be used? I did like that it was mostly cornmeal and only a little flour (I used gluten-free). I topped with cheese before baking and it got a little too crispy.
If I make this again, I’ll use more tomatoes, and maybe put the cheese under the cornbread. However, my 13yo took offense to the entire dish - he picked out and ate the pinto beans and corn, insisting that he doesn’t like chili - so I may not repeat. Sigh.
I made this as well, subbing smoked paprika for the ancho chile powder and skipping the jalapeños. I had the same issue with cooking time - 18 minutes was well done, not medium as she suggested. I liked the flavors!
ROASTED CHICKEN “TAGINE” with dates,olives and lemon page 24
A paste of oil,salt,tomato paste,tumeric,paprika,pepper,ginger,cinnamon and nutmeg is rubbed all over and under skin of chicken and its arranged on a rim sheet. Arrange carrots, sweet potatoes among the chicken and scatter quarter of lemons. Roast. Remove from oven and add olives and dates roast for another 15 minutes. Arrange on a plate and scatter herbs. This was very good. We loved the way the carrots and sweet potatoes carmalized and chicken was nice and tender. My notes say to scatter the dates 5 minutes before taking out of oven because some of them turned hard.
