Party of One

One isn’t necessarily the loneliest number, but it can be a pretty difficult one in the kitchen.

Recipes usually serve four — the prototypical American family — or six or more, especially in the case of traditional comfort foods such as casseroles and soups and lasagna. It can be daunting indeed for a single cook pondering the consumption of all of those servings or trying to divide a recipe. How, for example, does one split the one egg called for in a four-serving recipe? (More on that later.)

But John Gremo said cooking for one doesn’t have to be a tremendous challenge — or force the cook to resort to commercial frozen dinners. One tip, he said, is to remember to think fresh.

"You’ve got so many different options right now," said Gremo, a chef and adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Whole Foods and Fresh & Easy have little packets. You could go there and create a meal off of that."

Think in single numbers. Purchase one pork chop, a potato and a small quantity of green beans. Or one steak and a beefsteak tomato, to be split and broiled.

Gremo said when he was in culinary school, he was a private chef for a man who lived alone. He would buy fresh products for the man daily, he said, but sometimes would use some of them for dishes to be frozen and reheated later.

"I’d grill some chicken, things like that," he said. "Cook pasta the day before and just reheat it. Label things and freeze them."

Even large dishes such as lasagna are possible for a single diner, Gremo said. He advised cutting the recipe in half, maybe preparing an 8-by-8-inch dish instead of the usual 13-by-9-inch size.

"Cut four portions out of it, use one for the week and you could freeze the rest of them individually in freezer bags or things like that and take them out as you use them," he said. Or, he added, the portions could be divided into individual casserole dishes.

Catherine Margles, chef/owner of the Creative Cooking School, offers classes for those who want to learn to cook for themselves. She said grocers increasingly cater to single-person households, and added that supermarket service counters are good sources of single portions.

"Buy one or two pieces of salmon at your deli counter and make a nice meal out of it," Margles said. "Watch for sales, look for items that you can buy one or two of — pork chops, chicken, fish."

For accompaniment, think of foods that can be prepared by the serving.

"Rice, couscous, orzo — those are really fast and it’s a real nice side dish," she said.

If cooking every night doesn’t seem worth the effort, cook larger batches ahead, Gremo and Margles said, and either freeze or refrigerate them. She suggests cooking a batch of pasta to the al dente stage, adding some olive oil and putting it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat, heat up a portion with some sauce.

"Put in some chopped chicken and whatever and you’ve got yourself a fancy gourmet meal," she said.

Judith Jones, who has become widely known as the editor of Julia Child and James Beard and who herself is a winner of the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, recently published "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" (Alfred A. Knopf). She notes in the introduction that after the death of her husband in 1996 she wasn’t sure she’d enjoy cooking for herself alone, but in time "found myself at the end of the day looking forward to cooking, making recipes that work for one, and then sitting down and savoring a good meal."

Which is, after all, important. Margles noted that a lot of people feel, "It’s difficult; it’s kind of like why bother?" and Heidi Petermeier, program officer for the Seniors Can program of Nevada Cooperative Extension, said while some participants "have always prepared meals and want to continue to do so," many say, "why would I just want to do this for me?"

"It’s important to eat healthy," Petermeier added, noting that good nutrition can reduce the risk of cancer, stroke and diabetes and contribute to improved overall health and well-being.

"Combine those with other healthy lifestyle habits and we just feel better," she said.

Besides, as Jones wrote, "another advantage to cooking for yourself is that you have only yourself to please."

Oh, and back to the half-an-egg thing: Jones said to break the egg into a jar, shake it up and measure out 11/2 tablespoons. Voila; half an egg (and you can refrigerate the rest and add it to scrambled eggs or an omelet).

CHEESE SOUFFLE

1/2 teaspoon soft butter

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan

2 teaspoons butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/3 cup milk

Large pinch of salt

Small pinch of paprika

1 egg yolk

2 egg whites

1/3 cup tightly packed grated cheese (an aged cheddar, a Swiss cheese, an aged mountain cheese)

Smear the teaspoon of soft butter around the inside of a one-person fluted souffle mold (about 2 inches high and 4 inches in diameter), and sprinkle the Parmesan around the sides and bottom.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt the 2 teaspoons butter in a small pot and stir in the flour. Let cook over low heat for a minute, then remove from the heat for a moment’s rest. Now pour in the milk, whisking vigorously, and return to low heat to simmer for 1 minute, stirring constantly as the sauce thickens. Season with the salt and paprika.

Again remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat until they form soft peaks. Add a dollop of the egg whites to the sauce and mix in along with about half of the cheese. Now fold in the rest of the egg whites and the cheese, and transfer everything to the prepared mold. Set in the middle of the oven and turn the heat down to 375 degrees. Bake for 18 minutes, until the top is lightly brown and the souffle has risen.

— Recipe from “The Pleasures of Cooking for One” by Judith Jones

AVGOLEMONO SOUP

Chicken bones, such as the ribs and back, and/or neck and giblets, or 1 cup chicken stock

1 small chopped onion and several fresh parsley stems, if you’re making the stock from scratch

1 egg, beaten

Salt

1/2 lemon

A few strips or small chunks of leftover cooked chicken breast

A scattering of chopped fresh parsley leaves

Put the chicken bones and giblets, if using, in a small pot along with the onion and parsley stems, and cover with 13/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes; you should now have about 1 cup of broth. With a slotted soon, fish out the parsley stems, onion pieces, chicken bones and giblets, and discard. (If you’re using ready-made stock instead, just bring a cup of it to a boil.)

Toward the end of the cooking time, scoop up 1/4 cup of broth and pour slowly into the beaten egg as you whisk steadily. Pour this tempered egg back into the broth, continuing to whisk over very low heat until lightly thickened. Season the soup with salt and several squeezes of the lemon. Taste and determine how much you want; it should be quite lemony. Scatter in the cooked chicken and let warm through, then top soup with a little chopped parsley.

— Recipe from "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones

A SMALL MEATLOAF WITH A FRENCH ACCENT

1/3 pound ground beef

1/3 pound ground pork

1/3 pound ground veal

2 plump garlic cloves

1 teaspoon salt, or more as needed

2 shallots, or 1 small onion

4 or 5 sprigs fresh parsley, preferably flat-leaved

1 teaspoon dried porcini (no soaking required)

1/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1/4 cup red or white wine

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 bay leaf

1 strip bacon

Vegetable accompaniments:

Olive oil

Salt

2 new potatoes, cut in eighths lengthwise

2 young carrots, peeled

1 young parsnip, peeled and cut in half lengthwise, or another root vegetable similarly prepared

The night before you’re planning to have a meatloaf dinner, put the meats in a bowl. Smash the garlic cloves, peel and chop them fine, then, with the flat of your chef’s knife, mash them into a paste with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.

Chop the shallots and parsley and crumble the porcini. Add all these seasonings to the meat, along with the herbes de Provence, wine, several grindings from your pepper mill and the remaining salt. Mix thoroughly with your hands, squishing the meat with your fingers. When thoroughly mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let macerate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

The next day, remove the meat from the fridge and pull off a tiny piece. Cook it quickly in a small skillet, then taste it to see if it needs more seasoning. If so, add whatever is needed. Form the meat into a small loaf. Break the bay leaf into three pieces and arrange on top of the loaf; then lay the bacon strip, also cut in thirds, on top. Transfer the loaf to a medium baking pan.

Rub a little olive oil and salt over the vegetables you want as an accompaniment, and distribute them around the meatloaf. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes, turning the vegetables once.

Everything is done when the meat looks lightly browned, the bacon is a bit crisp and the veggies tender (the internal temperature of the loaf should be about 150 degrees). Let rest for at least 5 minutes, then cut three or more slices and arrange on a warm plate with the vegetables surrounding the meat and the juice poured over.

— Recipe from "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones

SUMMER PUDDING

3/4 cup blueberries or other berries

1 tablespoon or more sugar

2 very thin slices white homemade-type bread (or a regular slice, cut into two slices horizontally with a serrated bread knife)

Garnish: heavy cream

Put the berries and sugar in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup water. Set over low heat and let cook until soft, not more than 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Taste when cool enough and add more sugar, if needed.

Meanwhile, remove the crusts from the bread and line a 1-cup mold with one slice of the bread, pressing it firmly into the bottom of the cup and up the sides. Tear off pieces of the second slice of bread to fill the gaps in the sides. Pour the berries and their juice into the lined mold and fold any overlapping bread on the top, then fill in the uncovered area on top with the remaining bread. Press down so the juices seep into all of the bread, put a plate on top and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

When you’re ready to eat the pudding, loosen the side with a knife and then turn the mold upside down onto a plate. It should slip out easily. Enjoy with heavy cream, lightly whipped, if you wish.

— Recipe from "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.