Note the line:
Besides, if it changed the boiling point significantly, after the water came to a boil and you added the salt, the boiling point would change and you’d still have to wait for the water to come up to temperature.
And also note that it takes 58 grams of salt (about 10 teaspoons) to raise the boiling point of one liter of water one degree.
You’re right, and I forgot to mention that I always add some water to the pan – maybe a 1/2 inch or so – when it first goes in. Keeping the drippings from burning prevents smoke, but more importantly, the yummy browned fond at the bottom can be converted into sauce. (Or if you’re like me, scraped up with a spoon and consumed immediately.)
I also carefully tip the chicken about 1/2-way through, since juices pool in the cavity and it’s best to let them dribble out to enrich the fond … but I was trying to keep it simple per the OP.
Another easy snack/light meal idea is to spread a single layer of tortilla chips in a baking sheet, top with shredded cheese of choice and chopped onions if you like 'em, and then run them through a hot oven or under a broiler until the cheese is melted. Voila! Easy-peasy nachos, which can be scaled up or down if you’re snacking solo or feeding a crowd. Optional toppings include chopped pickled japaleno, sour cream, guacamole, green onions, and/or browned ground beef.
Amazon is your friend for these kinds of things, FYI.
My standard response for requests to Bachelor Chow recipes can be found here.
As I see others have done, I came in here to say, if you can make Chili, you can make curry or gumbo. I don’t use recipes, so I’m sure I’m not being exactly authentic, nor do they come out the same all the time. In fact they aren’t much different! But they go over well.
Basic Curry-thing:
Chicken parts, browned but not cooked through. I like to use thighs (minimal bones, tasty)
Veggies: about twice as much, volume wise, as the chicken. I always do loads of onion, bit of celery, some mushrooms; to this I add any or most of the following: carrots, potato, tomato, cucumber or squash, okra, peas. Chop as desired.
Curry Powder and/or garam masala
Plain yogurt
Parsley or cilantro, if you got it
Any rice you like, cooked separately.
So, just simmer the chicken and veggies in a few cups of water or stock till the meat is very tender. Season to taste with the curry or garam powder toward the end, plus some salt. Other spices like white pepper or asafoetida are good but I’ll assume you don’t have that. Now make sure your stew is on low, and stir in a bunch of plain yogurt, plus your chopped parsley. After about ten minutes, if you think it needs a little thickening, mix half a handful of cornstarch or flour in a cup or so of cold water, stir it in, and wait a few more minutes. Serve over or under rice.
As for gumbo, same method, slightly different ingredients. I get fancier when I feel like it. I’m feeling lazy, so here’s something for you to start with. I don’t see okra on there, though. If you can’t get okra, try cubed cucumber. You can skip the roux if you’re nervous and brown the heck out of your onions instead.
Here are the exact directions I sent my son for his favorite pork chops now that he doesn’t live here anymore.
==========================
Forgot! SORRY!!!
PORK CHOPS WITH MUSHROOM GRAVY
Buy four pork chops. Just regular pork chops. They don’t have to be really thick or anything. They just have to be pork chops. You know what pork chops look like.
Buy an onion. A fairly large onion. Maybe the size of a baseball.
Buy two cans of Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup (Campbell’s is the only one that makes it - if they don’t have Campbell’s, the store brand or any brand of Cream of Mushroom Soup can be substituted. They are 10 3/4 ounces usually. But if the store has big cans, one big can can be substituted.)
Buy one box of Betty Crocker Butter and Herb Instant Mashed Potatoes
Buy whatever kind of vegetable you want to make. I’m gonna say Green Giant Frozen Brocolli with Cheese. You like these.
Buy Olive Oil
Buy Milk
Buy Butter
Buy Salt and Pepper
Buy a sharp knife
Buy a measuring cup
Buy a spoon to stir stuff
Buy a skillet that will hold four pork chops and has a lid. If you can’t find one with a lid, buy heavy duty aluminum foil.
Buy a pot to make your mashed potatoes in
Buy a pot or a microwave to make your vegetables in
Buy beer or other beverage.
Unpack everything and have a beverage. You will be tired from shopping.
When you are about an hour from wanting to eat all of this stuff, start by chopping the onion. You can chop it any way you want but I usually do about a 1/4" dice. You can see how to chop an onion by googling it but it’s pretty dang easy. Just make sure to peel it.
Then, put the skillet on the stove, turn it on medium to medium high, and add about a tablespoon of oil - spread it around the skillet by swishing the skillet around. You watch Food Network wtih me - you know what I’m talking about. When it’s hot, add the onions. You can tell if the oil is hot enough by dropping in a piece of onion - if it sizzles a little you’re good. Add the rest of the onions and cook them until they get kind of soft - you aren’t trying to brown them. As you’re sauteeing the onions, add some salt (just sprinkle a little in. Two shakes of a salt shaker maybe.)
Next, salt and pepper the porkchops (both sides - lightly), and put them in the pan. You will need to brown them. Leave it sit in the pan till the bottom is browned, then turn them over and brown the other side. (You will know they are browned when you look under them and they’re - well - brownish.)
Once they are browned nicely (not burned, just browned), put them on a plate. Leave the onions in the pan. Next, dump both cans of soup in the pan and about a 1/4 cup of milk. Stir that all up until mixed. Put the pork chops back in the pan and make sure to add any juices that come out of the pork chops when they were on the plate, cover wth the sauce, and wait until it starts getting bubbly. When it gets bubbly, turn it all the way down to simmer or very low, cover it with either the lid, or with the foil making sure that the edges are pretty tight, and let it cook on simmer for about 50 minutes. Stir it once or twice or three times so the sauce doesn’t stick or burn in the pan.
When it’s about 10 minutes from done, read the directions on the box of mashed potatoes and make those, and read the directions on the vegetables and make those.
Eat.
Love and Mom Hugs!!!
MISS YOU!!!
Ma (DUH! :D)
=============================
I do not know if he’s attempted it yet - I will let you know. He’s due home from leave in a few weeks.
I tried this. It was pretty bland at first, and then I almost broke my teeth when I bit down on the spoon.
look at used books stores for books like “A Man, A Can, A Plan” Simple recipes, easy to follow, not too bad although you may want to look for low sodium canned stuff.
Found another set of directions I sent the boy.
Hope some of this is helping.
=================================
You’re the one that asked for recipes for your favorite meals so here’s another one.
SAUSAGE AND CHEESE
We’re going to start this with the assumption that you still have the knife, skillet, and pot from the pork chops, along with the salt, pepper, and butter. I know you’ll be out of beer so go ahead and just buy that.
While you’re at it, buy a Johnsonville Smoked Beef Sausage
Buy a box of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese (Original Cheddar)
Buy ice cream.
I’m assuming you have plates and stuff so I’ll stop.
When you get home, have a beer. It’s what we DO when we’re done shopping.
When you want to eat, take the pot, add water about halfway, add some salt (3 or 4 shakes) and get it started to boiling.
Take your skillet, turn the stove to medium, and melt about a 1/3" pat of butter in it.
Take the sausage out of it’s package, and cut it into about 2" to 3" long pieces. If you want to (sometimes I do this, sometimes I don’t) you can split the sausages down the middle to make them look like - well - butterfly sausages. That way you get more browning on the inside AND the outside.
Once the butter is melted, put the sausage pieces into the skillet and sautee them. Keep an eye on them - you don’t want them to burn on any one side. If you’ve gone the butterfly sausage route and not the chunkage route, make sure to brown them on BOTH sides. In any event, flip them around as they brown so whether they’re butterfly sausage or chunk sausage, they’re evenly browned. Kind of like frying hot dogs.
Once the macaroni water is boiling, make the mac and cheese per the box instructions (and make sure the burner isn’t too high - it can boil over) - I always go a minute less than the box instructions otherwise it gets too mushy. Your call - if you prefer it more mushier, cook it to the longest time on the box. I’m like an 8 minute cooker of macaroni. Drain the macaroni when it’s done! You can do this with a collander, or you can do it with a plate strategically placed over the top of the pot that will, when you dump the pot in the sink, keep the macaroni in the pot while letting the water run out. Then you add the cheese sauce.
Serve with what’s left of your beer. (The beer should be in the can or glass - the food should be on the plate/in a bowl.)
The ice cream is for me for when you make ME dinner! Chocolate Chip would be nice. 
Love and Mom Hugs!!! 
XOXOXOX
===================================================
He really does know how to make a few things - he’s not completely helpless in the kitchen, he just thinks his mom is kind of funny. That’s why he asks for these.
:eek:
Let’s have none of that heresy.
Those are the most important ingredients! They make anything taste better. 
I always add it beforehand to avoid “breaking the boil”.
A really great side dish:
Combine sliced sweet potatoes and red potatoes with the skins on. Boil till soft and drain.
Thin whole berry cranberry sauce with orange juice. Heat and pour over potato mixture.
Different and delicious.
This gazpacho recipe is super simple. You just slice and add the veggies and other ingredients and blend. It takes five minutes tops. The bread and almonds give it a thicker gazpacho-like consistency so it doesn’t taste like a smoothie. It’s just like an sophisticated $8 gazpacho you’d pay for in a restaurant but it’s so easy to make at home!
If kielbasa isn’t too exotic, you really should give kielbasa stew a shot. This is the most basic recipe in the universe that makes a complete, hearty meal and leaves you with scads of tasty, easy-to-reheat leftovers.
You will need:
1 kielbasa sausage. Any brand will do. Turkey kielbasa, whatever.
1 head of cabbage
2-3 potatoes
1 large white onion
3-6 carrots
1 bulb of garlic
All you’re going to do is boil everything together in a big pot, it hardly matters what kind so long as it is large.
The trick is to put things into the pot in order. Boil enough water to cover your peeled, chopped potatoes and then a little more. The potatoes go in first, so you can drop them in the pot and then cover them with an extra inch of water to measure it right. It hardly matters if you have too much, you can drain it if you must. And a tbsp of salt.
Get busy chopping everything while the potatoes are boiling. The potatoes will dissolve into mush by the time you’re done, so give them a good 20-30 minute head start. Chopped carrots are next, give 'em about 10 minutes before you add the chopped onion.
You can add the cabbage as soon as the onion is in. Just be sure to not cook the stump or the stem of the cabbage. It will seem like a huge volume at first, but it will cook down and relax, it is going to be tasty when you’re done. Cabbage is good for you and costs pennies.
Chopping the garlic may take the most time, since you’re doing a whole bulb. A garlic peeler makes it easy, but whatever, just chop it up.
Also slice the kielbasa into medallions. What size? I like to vary the size so I can kind of play with my stew. It’s pre-cooked, so you want to put it in with about 10-15 minutes to go just to make it hot. Throw in the garlic at the same time.
Add a bunch of pepper, keep stirring. If you think it isn’t done, just simmer it another 10 minutes, you almost can’t screw it up. You could add cayenne or other spices (I add herbs de provence to everything these days) and that’s it.
That was pretty wordy, so look at the short version:
Boil water in big pot. Add potatoes.
30 minutes later, add carrots.
10 minutes later, add cabbage.
10 minutes later, add onion.
10 minutes later, add sausage and garlic.
Season, stir till simmered down.
You may have to stand there and drink cocktails while listening to the radio, but you can make a big enough batch to eat for a week. Try it, the kielbasa soaks into everything else and it is yummy.
Minestrone-style soup
Brown Italian sausage ( or ground beef) and a chopped up onion. Drain excess fat. Add a jar of pasta sauce, a can of kidney beans, and a can of cannelloni beans. Add about 2 cups of water. Let it simmer for a bit and enjoy. If you like pasta in your soup, cook it according to the box directions and add at the last minute. If you let it cook in the soup, it gets overdone. Top with Parmesan, if that’s how you roll.
Two extremely simple soups that are nice enough to serve to guests. Do this as a starter & BOOM you have a dinner party with multiple courses. These are so simple I’m pretty sure a blind goat could do it. The second one you can do without a knife & chopping board…
1) Carrot & orange soup
Chop up the carrots, cut off nasty bits. Crumble on stock cubes, 1 cube for 500ml of water. Pour on boiling water until the carrots are liberally covered. Bring to the boil. Grate a bit of orange peel in to the pan, maybe about half the orange. Chop the orange in half, squeeze out the juice and add that to the pan.
Boil carrots until soft. The time will depend on the size of the carrots, could be about 10 min, just keep checking. When soft, get out your whizz bang (properly called stick blender or immersion blender) and whizz it up. Make sure the whizz bang is under water, or you’ll splash boiling water. Now taste test: does it need salt? More liquid? More orange?
Serve with a little parsley or chives chopped and sprinkled on top.
Next time you make it: start with chopped onions and a little oil in the pan, then add the carrots and water after. Try using a little white wine. Try various herbs.
2) Pea & mint soup (even simpler, not joking)
Tip the box of frozen peas into the pan. Pour on stock, 1 cube for 500ml of water, so that the peas are liberally covered. Boil until you can mush a pea against the side of the pan with a spoon. At the last minute, add the mint ready chopped. Get out your whizz bang (properly called immersion or stick blender). Whizz the peas and mint together until it looks like soup. Taste test: does it need more salt? More liquid?
ETA: If you are making one of these for guests, you can make the soup in the morning. Reheat in the evening. That way you can concentrate on the main course. Serve both with white wine and perhaps a nice bread and butter. If you have any left over just scoop it into a tupperware and freeze for another time.
