I decided I was watching too much American TV online during the day, so I started turning on the regular TV set while I eat lunch to try for a bit of listening practice, and to see what daytime television auf Deutsch was like. There are lots and lots of stations that are available, but for a reason explained to me by my landlord but I didn't quite understand at the time, I only get about 9 of them. Most of them have some sort of Jersey Shore-type show that runs all the time, but for a few hours starting around 2pm at least one channel has two cooking competition shows, in which people make a dish or a complete meal and try to stay on the show for another day. Both are hosted by colorful chefs who run around between guests, stealing bites and offering advice, or demonstrating some quick-and-easy recipe to try at home.
Since living alone means cooking for yourself for every meal, I've amassed a small collection of favorites. Breakfast is some sort of müsli, which is just a type of cereal that always seems to have some kind of oats in it. I always just get the cheapest one on the shelf since it's reliable and actually not too bad. It has dry oats, a little bit of some kind of crunchy thing, and bits of real chocolate. With milk or plain yogurt, it's not bad. And at 5:50 in the morning it's the best I can do.
Lunch is also fairly simple. Usually it's a sandwich with a few pieces of lunchmeat. Lately I've been fancy and toast it, spread with pesto on one side and melt slices of gouda on top.
Dinner is always a variation on chicken breasts, various types of pasta and tortellini, rice, or meal-in-a-bag mixes. I've also tried my hand at making Spätzle (pronounced "sh-petz-luh), which is delicious but time-consuming.
Here's a selection of what I've managed. They all look really greasy but that's just because I haven't figured out how to soften my flash to keep it from reflecting so harshly off the food.
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| Müsli. Yes that's a sheep in my bowl. |
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| Greek salad |
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| Something called "Maultaschen," which are a lot like potstickers. With chicken and red peppers. |
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| Spaghetti with pesto, chicken, onions, and peppers. |
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| Käsespätzle, plain and with pesto and tomato sauce. |
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| Tortellini with chicken and pesto |
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| Spaghetti with actually a lot of chicken. More like chicken with a garnish of spaghetti. |
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| More tortellini with pesto and tomato sauces and leftover feta cheese. |
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Homemade teriyaki chicken with mixed veggies and stovetop rice. |
Okay, here's the thing about stovetop rice. I'll admit, I'm Asian, so you might think that being able to cook rice is like being good at math - it just comes with the territory. Actually, that's kind of true. Not every Asian is good at math. I'm not good at stovetop rice. I like love rice so it's kind of depressing to keep making rice that turns out either too soggy or that is crunchier than a gravel driveway. I'm used to having a rice cooker that makes perfect, fluffy rice every time. I'm also used to cooking more than 1 portion at a time, which also makes a big difference when you only need enough rice to barely cover the bottom of the pan. It's harder to get the temperature and simmering just so, so that it boils and then steams without burning or just soaking. If you do the same method for 4 people, it's much easier because the layer of rice is thicker and it magically helps manage the boiling/simmering/not burning.
Maybe I just need to find a smaller pan. Or maybe I'll somehow manage to perfect the art of rice cooking before I come home. Maybe with the help of this chart, I'll figure it out.
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