I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #18
Pulled smoked turkey with salad
I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #18
Today’s post is the 18th of “I eat, I read, I watch,” my column highlighting one of my solo dinners and my reading or watching accompaniments. Please treat yourself well at mealtime too. Don’t just eat alone - dine solo! You’re worth it. And it’s not hard to do.
Missed the earlier instalments? See the list at the bottom of the post:
I eat: Smoked Pulled Turkey sandwich with salad
I went to my favourite European supermarket, Yummy, for a couple of Polish things I’d been missing. I left the store with a smoked turkey drumstick. Jack often brought me a whole smoked chicken from his Polish deli. I’ve missed it. As I used to with the chickens, I had in my mind turning it into pulled meat by slow cooking the turkey in the crockpot in a BBQ-style sauce.
First challenge - the turkey drumstick exceeded the length of the crockpot! I experimented with different knives until I was able to dig a groove in the leg bone using (and likely ruining) the breadknife. With the job started, I gave it a good bend and it snapped. Whew! Into the pot you go.
Then I got working on a sauce. I sautéed some chopped onion and garlic in a little oil. I mixed together 1 cup tomato juice, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup salsa, a few dashes of hot sauce, and a few bigger dashes of Worcestershire sauce and poured the sauce and the onion and the garlic mixture over the broken drumstick. I threw in a handful of cherry tomatoes for the heck of it and because they were sitting beside the crockpot. And then I put the lid on and turned it on high.
After a couple of hours, I started to smell the lovely smokiness of the meat throughout my little house. As hard as I try, I can never resist opening the lid to have a stir, which I did, but only twice. The second time, I pulled the meat off the bones to let the sauce really coat everything. At about five hours, I realized the sauce needed a little thickening, accomplished with a cornstarch slurry. I gave it another 30 minutes in the pot.
I made a little salad of sliced lettuce, red pepper, and radish in a dressing of rice wine vinegar and mayo. You can’t go wrong really with mayo.
With my pulled turkey sandwiched in toasted sourdough, aside the salad, with a glass of kombucha, I had a perfect dinner!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Origin: As Canadian as I could get from the store and my fridge. But if there was anything from the USA in there, it was inadvertent.
Cost: $7 - tenderloin; $5 (est) - everything else - 2-3 meals
Favourite go-to Canadian grown food? In the Comments below please!
I read: The Not so Big House: A Blueprint for the way we really live
Sarah Susanka’s book by this title was first published in 1998, and 10 years later, by the time she released her second edition, the one I read, she’d sold a whopping 400K copies. There are six books in her not-so-big house series too - she’s created a movement through her belief in building better, not bigger; valuing quality over quantity using each living space every day; and putting money towards making the house an expression of our personalities. Every single thing I believe, without ever knowing I was her disciple. Indeed, I’d never heard of her until her book turned up in the bibliography another of the books I’m reading as background for my own book.
Susanka is an architect first and foremost so her writing focuses on we design space to reflect the way we live. Of course, not everyone has the luxury of building from scratch. For those who are lucky enough to go down this path, she gives important advice about making spaces do double-duty, connecting to the outdoors, and having a variety of ceiling heights as away to vary the space, and making spaces cosy. She has chapters directed at people in a variety of circumstances, including one devoted to people like me who design space for themselves, noting it “can be both exhilarating and scary. While you can literally do anything that your budget allows, there’s no-one to discuss the ideas with; no-one to counter your wishes.” Such a blessing and a curse all at once: on the one hand, no compromising but on the other, I had to make decisions I about things that don’t interest me like baseboards. Seriously, who cares?
This is a book I wish I’d had during my building process two years ago. But, even without it, I managed to make a place that feel good to be alone in, another of her messages for solo builders. As Susanka says: “The notion that your house should appeal first and foremost to you, the homeowner, was a breath of fresh air” to many of her clients. There’s certainly true for Chandlerville!
Got a reading recommendation? Add it to the Comments below.
I watch: The Only Girl in the Orchestra
You know you’re pretty out of touch - or at least a serious homebody - when last month’s list of Academy Award nominated films included only name on it that you’ve seen. That was the case for me. Then you know you’re fully a nerd when that film is a short doc about the first woman to play with the New York Philharmonic, your nerdiness redeemed only a little by the fact she played double-bass. But damn, it was a good film. And it won the Oscar!
It was 1966 when Leonard Bernstein hired Orin O'Brien. Now in her late 80s, and only recently retired, she reflects in this doc produced by her niece on her remarkable career, valuing a quiet, supportive role for loved ones and students. I’ve given up Netflix now, but this one is there, ready for you to watch, if you’re still a subscriber. Go to this link if you want to learn more and see the trailer. https://theviolinchannel.com/the-only-girl-in-the-orchestra-awarded-best-documentary-short-film-oscar/
Have you found anything worth sharing? In the Comments below please!
Missed the earlier instalments of this column? Click:
#1 (pork chop & green beans)
#2 (trout & veg)
#3 (shrimp pepper bisque)
#4 (rice & peas with coleslaw)
#5 (ramen)
#6 (burger & fries)
#7 (duck sausage & salad)
#8 (shrimp & veg with pasta)
#9 (Wigilia)
#10 (mushroom shepherds pie)
#11 (roasted veg and sausage)
#12 (leftovers)
#13 (garlic shrimp with rapini on egg noodles)
#14 (beef stew)
#15 (salmon mac and cheese)
#16 (salmon cakes and ragout)
#17 (pork tenderloin, red cabbage, potatoes)
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