Menus, June 18, 2014

“The strength of the team is each individual member. 

The strength of each member is the team.” 

Phil Jackson

Ask any one who knows me to describe me in a single word, take about twenty five of those words, stir them together, bake them at 350 for thirty minutes, cover it with chocolate and you know what you'll get? A chocolate covered slightly scary something.
The thing is, I don't know what you'd get. But if you peeked under the icing, what you probably wouldn't get would be the phrase "sports fan".

 And yet.
And yet this week I, like everyone else who loves watching basketball played beautifully, was absolutely under the jingle-jangle spell of the San Antonio Spurs. 
And yet, before the Spurs had closed the oven door on the Heat, the World Cup Soccer Schedule was bookmarked on this computer. So sometimes I wonder. Can a clumsy, awkward, "oh-my-gosh-that-ball-is about-to-hit-me-right-in-the-glasses" type of person grow up to be a sort of sports fan?

Maybe so. Especially when there's a chance to watch a great coach lead a top team in an exciting game in front of a big crowd- it's sort of like this:

except the outfits are more colorful and
the players run faster.

All this daily reveling in the delight of a team sport well played had me wondering-
It's a funny thing that cooking is so rarely a team sport. 
I mean, think how often one hears the possessive pronoun 'my' before the noun 'kitchen'.

As in, "Ya'll stay outta my kitchen now, ya hear?"

And who hasn't heard a story or two about the consequences of disregarding territorial boundaries in, say, a mother-in-law's kitchen?

"Look, I told her to stay out of my kitchen.
Is it MY fault she got the poison mushroom?
Dessert, anyone?"

That's sort of sad. Because being a part of a team in a kitchen can make things possible

that just aren't possible alone.

A teammate in the kitchen can come to your rescue 

when things go a little too right

and help you clean up the mess 

when things go a little too fast/

Cooking is, for most of us, a solo sport. Yet working with and learning from people who share your passion for good food is a surefire, straight line way 

to create some real kitchen magic.

You may be playing alone in the kitchen this week, but that's no reason you can't turn dinner into a perfect team-up. This week, as our TV is tuned to whatever channel is broadcasting a game, and those amazing athletes are working as hard as they can to propel their teams forward, we'll be feasting on some of the world's all time classic food teams. 

Sort of like this:
Wednesday: Brazilian black beans and rice

You might have guessed that I'd do a whole week of Brazilian food. Not a chance. The food of Brazil often takes a long, hot time to prepare. Too hot and too long for this Texas kitchen. Like the Brazilian staple, black beans and rice. Worth every steamy second though, and a perfect teaming of protein and carbs. The beans are great in a slow cooker, and that may reduce some of the heat in the kitchen.


Thursday: Grilled Fish and Chips 

My Anglo-Saxon roots mean that I'll be cheering for England today, and what better way to cheer for England than with the classic English pairing of Fish and Chips? Well. I'll tell you what would be better. It would be better to be 17 again and be able to eat crispy battered fish and salty fried chips and not think for one minute about the side effects. Here's the version for conscientious grown ups, and it looks pretty good.







Friday: Spaghetti and meatballs 

Italy plays today, and in their honor, we'll be having two things that go together like...like, well, like spaghetti and meatballs. I've linked to a recipe for grilled meatballs in an effort to keep the kitchen cool, and because grilling meatballs sounds pretty fun.
While the meatballs grill, I'll be grilling a few chicken breasts for the next two night's dinners and using the ideas in this article to keep them from turning into leather. Tomorrow night's sliders use red sauce, hopefully I'll remember to set some aside and since the grill is on, we'll be having grilled vegetables with this.





Saturday: Parmesan chicken sliders 

All the players on the bench (or, in more pedestrian language, the leftovers in the fridge) come together in these yummy sandwiches, perfect for a party or eating in front of the game. The eternal all-star team chips and dip will probably come into play- how about guacamole and hummus to really make the plate international? 







Roasted Chicken and waffles 

Team USA goes for it again today, a team that defied history and predictions to  beat Ghana in their first game. To support that team of unlikely winners, here's an all American duo that should not be great, but is: Chicken and waffles. I love these things. Don't like waffles? (but really, who doesn't like waffles?) Try chicken and biscuits instead. A side of pan roasted tomatoes or sauteed spinach would be perfect- well, why not both! Why settle for one good teammate when you could have two?

I hope that this week, your goals are as clear and close
as a net at the end of the field.
I hope you have a chance
this week to do your very best
when it matters most.
And I hope you have one or two people around you
who share your goals,
who are firmly on your side-
who bring out the best in you
and know how to make the hard work
of achieving the impossible

feel like a really great game.