Meals for hectic days
Chefs offer own dinner strategies Roasted lemon and sage chicken with honey-glazed sweet potato and bacon
Did you resolve to eat more home-cooked meals this year but are still finding yourself zipping through the drivethru or calling for delivery?
Chefs are plenty busy too. But they’ve got a knack for throwing together the contents of their refrigerators and pantries to create quick, tasty meals. That’s why they’re chefs, after all. Sowe turned to some of them out of desperation for help with quick, easy, delicious dinners to fuel us through even the craziest of days.
“Many chefswould probably admit that one of the biggest thingswe consume is eggs,” says Aksel Theilkuhl, corporate executive chef for Uncle Jack’s Steakhouses in NewYork City. “I eat a frittata three or four times aweek.”
It’s the perfect after-service meal, Theilkuhl says. Mix some eggs with heavy cream, broccoli, shallots, onions, goat cheese—“whatever’s around, throwit in there,” he says.
Similarly, fried rice is a great go-to dish because, much like the frittata, you can toss in leftovers and odds and ends.
“We make a lot of fried rice with whateverwe have in the fridge,” says chef Cristina Baez of Ataula, Chesa and 180 in Portland, Ore.
Baez and her chef-husband Jose Chesa also often make Spanish tortillas with eggs, onions and potatoes or a big pot of stew beans (perfect for make-ahead meals).
JoshKulp, chef and coowner at Chicago’sHoney Butter Fried Chicken and Sunday Dinner Club recommends having a can or two of good-quality tomatoes in the pantry for quick sauces and chili. He stocks canned, oilpacked tuna and anchovies for “easy flavor and protein.” He likes to have great cheese and olives in the refrigerator too.
“I love pasta, somy pantry has a couple bags at all times,” Kulp says.
Kulp and his wife also make a lot of chili in the colder months, so he typically has chili spices, canned black beans and frozen ground turkey or beef on hand.
Plus, he says,“We keep a bag of El Milagro tortilla chips around at all times. We can make nachos with them or crumble the chips as a garnish to a soup or chili.”
Home cooks need not be so chained to recipes, Theilkuhl says.
“Chefs look at things with a different approach,” he says.
His other secretweapons? Good-quality butter and kosher salt.
“It makes a huge difference,” Theilkuhl says. “Get European-style butter. It’s whatwe use, and peoplewonder why stuff tastes so good in the restaurant. Plus, you end up using less of it.”
Heather Lalley is a freelance writer.
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