Out of all the cookware I own, the ones I like best are made out of cast iron. They’re the most versatile cooking vessels I have. I started using cast iron 4 years ago, when I moved in with someone who preferred cast iron for a lot of his cooking. I had been wanting to try it out ever since watching Alton Brown use it to cook a ribeye. In 2006, I got my own cast iron skillets and began using them daily.
I’ve had meatballs in my freezer for a long time now, and never got around to using them. Today I decided it was time to use them for a quick lunch.
With canned plain tomato sauce on hand, making a tasty sauce to go with pasta, bread, or meatballs is really simple and fast. Today I chopped up the remains of an onion, and smashed and roughly chopped three garlic cloves, then sauteed those in some California Estate olive oil.
Once they started to get fragrant, I added a good amount of red pepper flakes, some pepper, and a bit of dried oregano. I let it continue to saute until the onions just started to brown, then I added one small can of plain tomato sauce, just enough water to rinse the sides of the can, and a glug of balsamic vinegar. I let that simmer uncovered for ten minutes.
After simmering, I tasted it, and decided it needed some sugar, a bit more vinegar, and more oregano. Once that was stirred in, I added the frozen meatballs and about 1/2 cup of water, and partially covered the pan to let the meatballs cook for 20 minutes.
When the meatballs were done, I removed the lid and raised the heat to thicken the sauce. In the meantime, I toasted some pieces of sourdough bread. It all finished at about the same time. I put the meatballs and sauce on one side of the plate, and the bread on the other. The whole meal required about 15 minutes of active work, including cleanup (nonstick pans, while not great for everything, make cleanup of simple meals very easy).
I’d like to take a minute out of your time for a somewhat off-topic post. I’d like opinions on what I should do.
I need to go back to school this fall. If I don’t, my insurance will lapse and I’ll be in big trouble. It’s too late now to apply to any nearby universities – not only did most deadlines pass way back in March before I knew I would need to change schools, but every university I’ve looked at requires good standing at the last institution attended. When I left UCSB, I was on academic probation (technically, getting kicked out was my probation). That means I’ll most likely have to attend a community college for a semester before I can go back to a university to finish my degree.
The big problem is that I’ve been in and out of school for so long, I’ve completed pretty much all requirements I could have in the lower division. There’s nothing I can see to take at a community college that could help my degree along, so going to a community college for a semester seems like a big waste of time.
As far as getting into a university later, I can probably still apply for admission in the spring. The most convenient choice, it seems, is Cal State Northridge. They seem to have an okay computer science program, but I might not be able to get in for spring semester. Another option I’m looking into is finding a good online degree program. I figure I might be able to find a better computer science program online than what’s at CSUN.
Another kink is that what I took at UCSB might not match up perfectly with what the new university requires, and I might be lacking some general ed classes. In that case, if I can decide on a university, get accepted, and talk to an advisor about all the idiosyncracies of credit transfer, maybe I can take (or re-take) those missing requirements in my semester at a community college.
Otherwise, I’ll try to find a community college with a good selection of computer science or engineering classes, and fill my schedule with things that would be interesting and could help me in the long run, but not apply to my degree, for instance, Python Programming, Database Programming/SQL, or Website Development.
So I turn to you for comments. Do online degree programs have a sort of stigma about them? Is there anything I can do to avoid wasting my time at a community college? Where should I go for my degree?
Recently I had a craving for Southern-style vegetables: cooked for a long time with a cured pork product. I saw some nice Romano beans at the market, and decided they’d be just the thing. I had wanted to cook some when they were in season last year, but never got a chance.
Romano beans are a type of broad, flat snap bean. Depending on when they were harvested, they could be suited for either fast cooking, like most green beans, or long cooking. The Southern style for snap beans is to cook them for a long time with cured pork. This recipe is my take on a standard, simple Southern recipe for snap beans.
Continue reading for a method to check if your beans need stringing, and a recipe for romano beans »
