tl;dr: One Item Cooking is trying to cook with one (or max, two) instruments. Some staples, such as rice or bread, I assume are already available. Eventually, I will be publishing some books.
Before I Get Started…
Welcome to my food blog. My name is Christopher Rodriguez, and I do sincerely hope that You enjoy Your stay here.
A few things have to be addressed, before I can put up the first of many applications of this philosophy on cooking. Mainly, I must define What this is, Why I want to do it, Where is it possible, and When I will be updating. The Who, I believe, I have addressed already. For more info about me, please visit my website.
What is ‘One Item Cooking?’
I figured that I would start with both the most important and the most difficult of the four.
One Item Cooking is a philosophy I take (sometimes, at least) towards cooking. It is based on a few core ideas:
- I despise large bouts of cleanup, at least when I am the cause.
- I loathe looking for a bunch of different items while cooking.
- I (generally) live in places without a whole lot of free space.
- I don’t need food to be gourmet for it to be good.
- I cannot spend an entire day in the kitchen.
So, in order to address these and incorporate them into my cooking style, I have implemented the following rules:
- Only use 1 (one) cooking appliance per recipe.
- Limit that item to one of the following:
- Cast Iron Frying Pan (minimum 10”)
- Cast Iron Pot (minimum 2.5 Gallons)
- Stainless Steel Saucepan (minimum 1.5 Qts)
- Casserole Dish
- Roasting Pan
- Crock Pot
- Rice Cooker
- Wok (& Bamboo Steamer)
- Those Items mustn’t be too heavy to store in a basement or bedroom.
- We’ll be including a calorie breakdown and price for each meal. Nothing should be expensive, in either of those. And, everything on this site should keep as a leftover for at least 3 days.
- Each recipe should have a cook time of under 1.5 hours.
These are the guidelines for recipes on this site. However, I will retain one very important right: to change the rules. If I do, I will let You all know beforehand.
Why do something like this?
Well, that is a two part question, really: You could be asking about the cooking itself, or about blogging about only these kinds of recipes.
As for the food, it allows me to cook in a way that doesn’t disturb others, and affords me a good meal at a great price in a small amount of time. Also, it eliminates a large assembly line of cleanup afterwards, and prevents me from having to run around the house grabbing more hardware. Finally, the satisfaction of following some semi-strict regulations is something I feel in spades. So, there.
As for the blog, well, I am the kind of writer which needs form or structure. I cannot simply look at a blank page and gush. I need a goal, a requirement, an impetus to drive me to completion. These rules allow me to get started without agonizing over ‘doing it wrong.’
Where can something like this happen?
Well, I grew up with this idea in mind in a little row-home/town-house in Marlton, NJ. I now live in a bigger house, where I still try (and have failed; another reason for this project) to follow the same rules. When I leave here, I do not want my diet to suffer because I move into an apartment. So, I would answer that question like this:
Anywhere there is a stove/oven combo.
If this goes well (and I acquire another hot plate) I may start a second feature with even more restrictions. For now, You do in fact need a kitchen to follow these recipes.
When are You going to update?
Now, this is tricky. In the past, I have said, “Once a Week!” immediately to this question. However, I find that I will eventually be burned out by following this schedule. For now, I will say at least once every fortnight.
Closing Remarks
If You have read this far, bravo. I only wish I had some way to reward You. But Maybe this is enough: Thank You very much for Your interest and Your time. I hope to see You again soon.
— Christopher
