Made pasta carbonara tonight, and it was delicious. I use bacon, cheese,
eggs, and of course pasta. That's four ingredients if you don't count
seasonings like pepper.

Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.

I know at least one mo chicken in a pancetta-sage-cream sauce (that's
all there is -- four ingredients).

Four or fewer ingredients, a main dish, and easy preparation.

So what are yours?

Isaac

"isw" > wrote in message
]...
> Made pasta carbonara tonight, and it was delicious. I use bacon, cheese,
> eggs, and of course pasta. That's four ingredients if you don't count
> seasonings like pepper.
>
> Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.
>
> I know at least one mo chicken in a pancetta-sage-cream sauce (that's
> all there is -- four ingredients).
>
> Four or fewer ingredients, a main dish, and easy preparation.
>
> So what are yours?
>
> Isaac

I can't think of a lot of things I make with so few ingredients. Even mac
and cheese has more than that. And my spaghetti sauce.

I did make applesauce chicken the other night but daughter didn't like it so
I won't make that again. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts put in a
casserole. Cover with applesauce. Recipe called for chunky but we didn't
have that so I used regular unsweetened. Bake at 400 degrees for about a
half an hour.

When I was a kid, a typical dinner was a hamburger patty, canned peas and a
wedge of lettuce. Three ingredients, but bleh.

Now, I might pop open a can of beans and eat those with some sort of raw
vegetable or even green beans straight from the can.

Or maybe a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. But these things are not
cooking.

I don't necessarily think that the number of ingredients a recipe has, has
much to do with how long it takes to make it. I suppose a pot roast
wouldn't necessarily have to have a lot of ingredients but it does take a
while to cook. Simple? Yes. Fast? No. Maybe if you use a pressure
cooker but I don't have one so don't know.

What does take a while is chopping, slicing, dicing, etc. Having
ingredients that cook at varying amounts of time. So that you cook one
thing, remove it from the pan, cook another, remove it from the pan. And
then eventually put it all back together.

isw wrote:

> Made pasta carbonara tonight, and it was delicious. I use bacon,
> cheese, eggs, and of course pasta. That's four ingredients if you
> don't count seasonings like pepper.
>
> Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.
>
> I know at least one mo chicken in a pancetta-sage-cream sauce
> (that's all there is -- four ingredients).
>
> Four or fewer ingredients, a main dish, and easy preparation.
>
> So what are yours?

EVO oil, tomato, garlic and pasta
Gorgonzola cheese, milk and gnocchi (potato dumplings)
Bread and mortadella
Even better, focaccia and mortadella
Eggs sunny side up with cheese
....
--
"Un pasto senza vino e' come un giorno senza sole"
Anthelme Brillat Savarin

isw wrote:

> Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.
> So what are yours?

Chicken thighs browned in a skillet and finished in the oven, plus pan gravy
of shallots, garlic, red wine vinegar, and brown stock.

On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:42:38 -0800, isw > wrote:

>Made pasta carbonara tonight, and it was delicious. I use bacon, cheese,
>eggs, and of course pasta. That's four ingredients if you don't count
>seasonings like pepper.
>
>Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.
>
>I know at least one mo chicken in a pancetta-sage-cream sauce (that's
>all there is -- four ingredients).
>
>Four or fewer ingredients, a main dish, and easy preparation.
>
>So what are yours?

Yesterday's dinner; six pork chops braised in two large cans whole
tomatoes served with large shell pasta... that's three main
ingredients.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2013 8:42:38 PM UTC-8, isw wrote:
......
> Got me thinking about "simple" but really delicious main dishes.
,.....
> Four or fewer ingredients, a main dish, and easy preparation
> So what are yours?

Some years ago my grocery store carried nice calamari steaks. All I needed for dinner was a squeeze of lemon and a box of mac 'n cheese. Maybe some frozen peas. Sometimes a dredge of flour for the squid. -aem