Recipes for One Big Frying Pan

Cafe Society
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Hello all! You guys like to give out cooking ideas, right? Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to give me recipes that can be made using only one big-ass frying pan.

Details: I have the limitation of one frying pan because that is the only one I have. I’m also not going to buy others because I have to fit everything I own into two suitcases in six weeks.

NO POTATO CURRY. I’ve made a lot of it over the past several weeks and I’m tired of it.

The pan was actually noted as a “chicken fryer” when I bought it. It is stainless steel and holds five quarts.

I want something that is good for leftovers because I will soon be writing essays like a mo-fo and not have time to cook more than once every week/five days.

No beef. I have a tendency to worry irrationally about prion diseases, and this will not help my studying. Let me say again I know this fear is irrational.

Also in the cooking arsenal: lots of spices, a tiny cookie sheet, a mixing bowl, and a little pot I use to cook rice.

Ready, set go!

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Stir fry. We used to have a wok, but it wasn’t very good quality and wore out many year ago. Now, I just use our 14" cast iron skillet.

Just keep tossing stuff in until you’re done. I like:

meat du jour
carrots
onions
bell peppers
water chestnuts
bamboo shoots
broccoli and/or cauliflower
snap peas
bean sprouts
sesame teriyaki sauce (Soy Vay is my brand of choice)

but really you can make it with just about anything you might have around the house…

Serve over the rice that you make in your little pot.

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More details, please.

How large, exactly, is the frying pan? What is it made of (cast iron; heavy steel with or without copper cladding at the bottom, teflon coated aluminum)? Does it have a lid?

I have a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Sometimes I like to fry a few drumsticks in some oil, season with salt and pepper, remove to a paper towel when the chicken is brown. Then mostly get the remaining fat out of the pan, and add about a cup and a half of white rice. Brown that, then add a can of cream of mushroom soup, half an onion, sliced thin, some garlic, 1/2 cup of white wine, two cups of water; stir, and put the chicken back on top. Heat it, uncovered until the liquid just begns to boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer, and cover. Let it go about half an hour or so before you check to see if the rice is cooked (liquid absorbed).

When the rice is cooked, the chicken should be, too. Season to taste, and assuming you’re cooking for yourself alone, you have a couple of meals for yourself.

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The pan has a 12" diameter, it is made out all stainless steel (no teflon, no copper cladding). It has a lid.

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Olive oil
Potatoes, cut up
Onion, chopped
Garlic, minced
Sausage of your choice, cut up (use either cooked or uncooked)

Fry up the sausage until crispy. Remove. Add some olive oil and fry the potatoes until brown and done. Throw the sausage back into the pan along with the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are tender. Salt, pepper.

Pork Chops & Rice:
2-3 pork chops
1 cup uncooked rice
chopped green pepper
1 can tomato soup
1 can water

Brown the chops on all sides in a bit of oil (I like bacon fat). Take the chops out of the pan, add the green pepper and saute for a couple of minutes; add the soup and water, then stir in the rice. Add the chops back into the pan. Cover and simmer for a couple of hours, or until the chops are tender. The rice should have a nice, dark crust on the bottom. If you don’t have a cover, use foil. I hope your skillet is cast iron or at least a good heavy gauge metal.

Cassoulet:
1/2 pound Italian sausage, cut up
1-2 chicken breasts, cut up
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can white beans, undrained
Olive oil
garlic, minced
Large sprig of fresh rosemary (or two)
salt
pepper

French bread, sliced

Saute the chicken and sausage in oil until browned. Add the rest of the ingredients (except bread) and simmer for about 30 minutes. Use bread to sop up juices. Out-effing-standing.

Scallop Gumbo

¼ cup olive oil
2 TBSP butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 TBSP minced garlic

  • salt and ground pepper
    3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
    2 cups chopped tomatoes with juices (canned or fresh)
    1 TBSP fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
    1 TBSP fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
    2 bay leaves
  • cayenne pepper to taste (start with ¼ tsp)
    1 pound bay scallops (or shrimp), or sea scallops, cut in quarters
  • chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Put oil and butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. When butter is melted, add flour and cook, stirring almost constantly, until roux darkens (to about the color of a penny) and becomes fragrant, about 15-20 minutes; as it cooks, adjust heat as necessary to keep mixture from burning. Add vegetables and raise heat to medium. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and cayenne. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add scallops and cook for about 2 minutes . Remove bay leaves and ladle into bowls. If not using rice, serve with crusty French bread.
West African Peanut Soup with Chicken:
3/4 cup roasted and shelled peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
1 medium red or white onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken (about 2 thighs or breasts) cut into chunks
1 dry red chili, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups stock or water
2 sweet potatoes or yams (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thick slices
8 plum tomatoes, cored and halved (canned are fine; drain and reserve liquid for another use)
1/2 pound collards or kale, washed and cut into wide ribbons
1/2 to 3/4 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth.

  1. Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.
  2. Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and the chili and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so soup bubbles gently. Partly cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in tomatoes, collards and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Cover and cook until collards are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point), and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.

I don’t usually mess around with peanuts, just use chunky peanut butter. Serve over rice. Yes, you’ll need a second pot for that, so try to suck it up. And if chicken offends you, just pluck it right the fuck out. It’s good either way.

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How about a Maine pancake:

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp butter
touch of nutmeg

Heat oven to 425.
Mix eggs, flour, milk, salt (I don’t use it), and nutmeg.
Melt the butter in the pan over medium high heat.
Add batter to the pan.
Once added, put the pan in the oven.
Bake until golden brown (maybe 10 minutes).

The pancake puffs up in the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. Fresh lemon juice is also nice.

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Can the skillet go in the oven? If so, try Chicken Parmagiana (the ‘lazy’ recipe):
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
Salt and pepper
2TBSP olive oil
3/4C Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 jar/can spaghetti sauce
2C (8oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Sprinkle chicken thigh strips liberally with salt and pepper; dredge in bread crumbs. Pre-heat olive oil in skillet until it gets “wavy”, add chicken strips. Cook four minutes on one side, turn onto other side. Meantime, heat oven to 375degrees. Cook two-three minutes on side two.

Bake chicken, in skillet, in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, pour over spaghetti sauce, sprinkle on mozzarella (liberally, if you’re like me!) Bake another 7-10 minutes until the cheese is melty and just starting to brown.

Serve with any kind of noodles, or garlic toast, or salad, or all of the above!

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Alton Brown’s recipe. I usually use just chicken legs because a.) they’re cheap, b.) my kids like 'em, and c.) a cold chicken leg late at night (maybe with a smattering of Louisiana hot sauce) is food of the gods with a cold beer while watching the 'tube.

40-Clove Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Directions

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve.*

BTW - get a nice crusty bread to serve with this. The garlic softens to the consistency of warm butter, and you can spread it on pieces of bread with a knife. Surprisingly the chicken (and the cloves after cooking) doesn’t have an overpowering garlic flavor.

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James Barber - his cookbooks Fear of Frying, Flash in the Pan and Ginger Tea Makes Friends were what got me into cooking in the first place. Recipes and reminiscences can be found here. Most of his dishes are meant to be done in one large fry pan.

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My wife bought a 15-inch cast-iron frying pan (clearance bargain). It’s so big that it simply doesn’t work well on a standard range- if the center’s hot the edges are cold. It would rock as a campfire skillet only we don’t go camping.

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One pan only? - Make curry! Here’s a basic recipe that makes a great starting point for variations.

1: Make a tarka/tadka: This means: Heat oil and add whole spices and fry for a few minutes. A popular South Indian combinations is mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves (if you can find them). Or Bengali: Cumin, fennel, fenugreek, nigella, mustard seeds. All sorts of variations are possible.

2: Add finely chopped or sliced onion, lower the heat and fry for a long, long time - until they turn golden which is probably at least 15-20 minutes. This is the single most important point to making a good curry! Fry those onions. Adding a bit of sugar or jaggery at this stage won’t hurt a bit.

3: Add chopped/pulped garlic & ginger, chili (fresh or dried or both), ground tumeric, and whatever spices you like - could be cardamom, cinnamon, ground coriander and cloves, for instance. You could also add drained, grated coconut at this point for a South Indian feel. Fry for a few minutes. If it sticks to the bottom of the pan add a teaspoon of water or two.

4: If you have meat or veggies you want to fry, add them now. Otherwise you can just cook them in the sauce in step 5 (recommended for fish).

5: Add some sort of liquid and reduce. Could be a can of tomatoes, some water (boring), some drained yoghurt, or coconut milk (or a combination). Remember to add a bit of salt and something sour as well. Could be vinegar, lime juice, or tamarind past. Cook until it has reduced to a satisfying thickness. While reducing you could add meat or vegetables and allow them to cook in the sauce. Cauliflower, spinach, green peas, or chicken (marinated in lime juice, chili and salt for a few hours).

6: Before serving you could add chopped coriander (cilantro) or mint or any other herb you like.

Serve with basmati rice or chapaties.

Only step 1-3 + 5 are really necessary for making curry, and remember: Everything (except the onions) can be replaced with something else - it’s up to you.

Final bit of advice: Get some inspiration for spice combinations and such in Indian cookbooks but do not be afraid of doubling or tripling the amount of spices. I often use a heaped tablespoon of whatever when a recipe calls for a teaspoon.

Enjoy.

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Risotto.

A little olive oil
An onion
(optional chili, garlic etc)
Whatever stuff you want to put in - chicken, mushrooms, prawns, asparagus, etc.
Rice (any kind - for years when I couldn’t afford Arborio, I used ordinary Basmati)
Splash of wine/sherry/vermouth
Stock (powder is fine)

Just cook the onion and any other aromatics. If you’re going to add flavourings or proteins, cook them now too (yes, even asparagus. It’ll get nice and nutty). Put the rice in and “fry” it gently until it’s translucent at the edges. Splash in the alcohol, and when that’s cooked off, put the stock in a little at a time, stirring regularly. I don’t find you need to stir it all the time the way some recipes pretend you do. When the rice is cooked and creamy, it’s ready. If you want, add some peas or spinach to just warm through towards the end. Throw in some grated Parmesan (though again, I used to use strong mature Cheddar when I couldn’t afford that), eat it. Easy and quick to cook (maybe 20 minutes), keeps well, reheats well. Make a plain base (no additions beyond onions and garlic) and liven it up by adding something different to it every day. Wednesday I made it plain and we had it with duck, but I just had some that was only mushrooms and Parmesan, and it was divine, though I say so myself!

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A couple that would work well.

Braised Veggies,
Take veggies that you would normally roast, and chop them up into small bite-size pieces.
Put a quarter cup of olive oil in the pan and start heating it over medium heat.
Put some dried italian herbs in the pan.
Put some crushed red pepper in the pan (to taste).
Put some salt and coarse cracked pepper in the pan.
Throw in a dollop of dijon mustard.
Mix it with a fork or whisk.
Once the oil’s hot, throw in the chopped veggies and stir them around well so the get coated with the oil/herb/mustard.
Throw in chopped garlic.
Cook over low heat for 40-60 minutes while stirring the veggies every 10 minutes or so. The slow braising intensifies the flavors of the veggies.
Sweet Spicy Black Beans.
Chop up a big onion.
Seed and dice two jalapenos. (And don’t rub your eyes or genitals for awhile afterwards. Especially don’t rub your eyes with your genitals.)
Saute the onion in some oil for about 20-25 minutes until it starts to caramelize.
Toss in some dried italian herbs or whatever herb mix you like.
Throw in the chopped jalapeno with some chopped garlic, and saute about 5 minutes more.
Throw in two cans of rinsed and drained blackbeans.
Add one 28oz can of diced tomatoes.
Add a 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder.
Add a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Add a tablespoon of honey.
Let it cook for about 20 minutes to heat through and mix the flavors. If you want it sweeter, add more brown sugar and honey. If you want it hotter, add more chilis or hot sauce. It’s super flexible.

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Excellent choice.

If you’ve got some way of boiling water, like a kettle or an electric water heater or even your frying pan if you have to, you can do all kinds of stuff with (instant) Couscous (instant couscous is pretty much the only type you can get here in the Netherlands - IIRC the non-instant version requires hours of cooking, check the package if you’re unsure).

Just put a bit (about 100 grams or so should be enough - this will look like very little but the stuff will easily triple in size) per person in a bowl (or just on the plates), add boiling water until it just covers the grains, cover and leave for 4 minutes (or whatever it says on the packets - I never read them). Then remove cover, stir to break it up a bit, leave a bit longer if it’s still soggy (pour out excess water if it doesn’t get absorbed or evaporate, you’ll get the hang of it). Then mix in some olive oil and then add whatever you want to add.

All kinds of fried stuff can be added - you generally want stuff that’s copped into bite sized bits or smaller; pork chops, aubergine, chicken, stewed beef or lamb… Add a little moisture/sauce in the frying pan after the “main” stuff has caramelized a bit to make the dish a little less “dry” and to get all the flavor out of your pan and onto the plates. For instance, use some red wine or stock and tomato puree, or just some chopped canned tomatoes.

Maybe add some raw red onion or a finely chopped tomato and/or cilantro to finish it off. The final result should be at least half couscous, 40% other stuff and not too much sauce - it should be fairly dry to just sticky with a bit of sauce on top, not a big bowl of goop.

Or you can use the couscous as the base of a filling salad with cucumber or whatever and use the frying pan to do a steak and onions or chicken wings to go with it.

Frozen peas are also an easy addition, even if you’re not cooking anything to go with it (like in a salad); just put them in the bowl for the couscous first, add a bit of boiling water and let them thaw for a few minutes. Drain, add couscous and proceed as before.

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Continued after the edit window: As for left-overs, just use your pan to cook a whole bunch of meat/veggies with sauce, put in a container and store in the fridge. Will keep for half a week at least. Just re-heat and add to the couscous when you’re hungry. It’ll only take a few minutes :slight_smile: Cold salad type couscous dishes can be mixed and kept in the fridge for a few days as well.

16

Ratatouille

1 eggplant
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
pepper

Cut unpeeled eggplant into long strips, then cut strips down to about finger-length size. Put in colander, sprinkle with salt, and let drain for half an hour.

Heat olive oil. Saute onion in it for 5 minutes, then add peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and stir well. Mix in thyme and oregano.

Rinse eggplant and dry it. Add to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring now and then, til soft, about 20-30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be served hot or at room temperature. Eat over rice.

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Paella.

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1 bag of your favorite mixed frozen veg. (I use a “fiesta mix” with red beans, garbanzo beans, soy beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and italian green beans)
1/2 pound of your favorite kind of meat or sausage
4 eggs
shredded cheese

Brown meat in skillet with some olive oil
add bag of veggies
When veggies are close to done, add the eggs (scrambled first if you want. I just put them in whole and break the yolks)
Stir the mess up until the eggs are nearly done
sprinkle liberal amounts of cheese and stir a little until all melted and eggs are done.

Hot sauce optional but delish.

Makes enough for at least 3 meals.

Did I say it was not healthy at all?

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“Quick” Jambalaya modified from a Betty Crocker cookbook:

1 small onion
1 green bell pepper
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
~1.5-2 lbs mix of sausage and cooked shrimp (I like to experiment with different types of sausage)
1/4 teaspoon thyme powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less depending on how hot you like it)
1.5 cups of Uncle Ben’s rice that cooks in 5 minutes

Brown the sausage, chop the onion and pepper, pull the tails off the shrimp. When the sausage is done, slice it up and put it back in the pan, pour in the chicken broth and stewed tomatoes. Stir in the spices. Dump in everything else and stir it all up. Bring to a boil, then turn it down low for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Done! Tastes just as good or better as leftovers.

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I would be doing a lot of stirfry, and mix it up with the chicken and rice dish.

Roasted garlic is an amazingly good spread for bread. If I can remember to roast a head of garlic when I roast other things, the two of us will finish off the whole head in one meal. Whole or halved cloves of garlic are surprisingly mild when they’re thoroughly cooked. Chopping or mincing garlic will make the flavor far more assertive.