Welcome to Sunday Dinners!
September 21st, 2008
We’re big fans of Andrew Schloss and the easy-going but unwavering precision of his cookbooks and cooking classes. Andy’s all-around know-how is equaled only by his ability to translate that knowledge into practical, everyday kitchen techniques for the rest of us.
So we’re so excited to be working with him on a year-long project we’re calling Sunday Dinners. At Cookthink, we’re always thinking about ways to make it easier for us to cook more often and use up what we have on hand. As Andy explains below, Sunday Dinners suggests a way to think about cooking for the week that saves times and money, and helps cut down on food waste. - Chip
In a world where there are any number of ways to get dinner on the table without ever turning on the stove, the only real reason to do it yourself — or the best reason, at least — is because you genuinely enjoy cooking.
The Sunday Dinners project is for those of us who love to cook but can’t seem to find enough time to do it as much as we’d like. The concept is simple: by cooking a big meal on Sunday, when most of us seem to have a little more time, you make the component parts for a few dinners to make during the week.
Let me use this first week’s Sunday Dinner as an example to show what I mean. Let’s say you’re going to make this dish of steamed clams and mussels with mint kefir. Even if you’re only going to eat a dozen mussels, it doesn’t take any more time or effort to steam two dozen mussels than it does to steam a dozen. So why not do all the work now?
By steaming a little bit more seafood than you’re going to serve that night, you not only have some shellfish for a pasta dish the next night, but you also have a flavorful broth to use for the pasta sauce, or to use for a soup or a braised fish or a stuffing for that fish.
If you make more mint kefir sauce than you need for drizzling over the clams and mussels on Sunday, you can use it as a salad dressing or a pan sauce later in the week. I could go on and on with more examples, but you get where I’m going, right?
The Sunday Dinners project isn’t really about what we call “leftovers.” (In fact, I hope this will be the only time you will ever hear me use that word.) It’s not about microwaving last night’s dinner to eat tonight. It’s about cooking smarter. If you know you’re going to be rushed for time during the week, consolidate the prep work and do it earlier.
With containers of roasted meats, flavorful liquids, chopped herbs, and already-steamed vegetables populating the shelves of your fridge, you’ll be armed with an arsenal of homemade convenience ingredients to use during the week. Instead of “leftovers,” I call these “plannedfors,” and by stocking up on them, you can throw together weekday meals quickly but not have them taste like they were thrown together quickly.
Plannedfors not only leverage your time, they also save you money by helping you cut down on food waste. Instead of letting those green onions languish in the vegetable crisper, you’ll be able to plan a use for all of them when you buy them.
So here’s the plan: each week on Sunday morning, I’ll link to several recipes to use for that night’s Sunday Dinner. Most of these recipes serve 4 people, with enough to set aside for weekday plannedfors, so you’ll need to adjust accordingly if you’re cooking for a lot more (or fewer) people.
I’ll also post suggestions and recipe links for ways use the plannedfors during the week (which you might hear the guys at Cookthink refer to as “leftovers,” but I’m working on them). These weekday recipes will stand on their own, so you can still make them from scratch even if you haven’t made the Sunday Dinner.
I love how Cookthink connects relevant tips and techniques to each recipe, so most weeks I’ll also mention a few time savers and shortcuts to help you with that week’s assortment of recipes.
Please tell me what you think of the Sunday Dinners project and be in touch. This is definitely a work in progress, and I’d love to get your ideas about where to take it. I’m also always looking for new time savers and shortcuts, so please let me know about your favorites.
See you next Sunday!
Sunday Dinners Week #1: Steamed Clams And Mussels With Mint Kefir
September 21st, 2008 at 10:01 am
[…] « VeganYumYum On Food Photography Welcome to Sunday Dinners! » […]
September 21st, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I love Andrew Schloss! After seeing him on Emeril, I bought Mastering the Grill, and we used it all summer. My husband and I ended up buying a high-end grill because of that book, and now every other meal we make is on the grill. Can’t wait to follow along the Sunday Dinners thing.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 am
[…] « Welcome to Sunday Dinners! […]
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:33 pm
[…] One of the reasons I’m excited about Andy’s Sunday Dinners project is that we almost always seem to have too much pan sauce, dressing, ragout or condiment left at the end of dinner. Usually, whatever’s left gets put into a small container and stored in the fridge, where its sit for days until one of us finds it wedged back on the middle shelf and tosses it out. […]
September 24th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
[…] Andy’s starting up Sunday Dinners has me thinking (more than usual) about how some dish types lend themselves well to infinite variation. […]
September 25th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
This is a great idea. Usually my week goes the other way around…making individual stand alone meals all week and then Sunday Dinner becomes a stew of the remaining cut up veggies and meats or is a sit-down leftover buffet. Definitely nice to have Sunday Dinner be the kickoff to the week instead of the remaining dregs from the week before.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Thanks Andrew for the great mussels recipe. My kids loved the pasta dish. I can’t wait for what you have in store next week.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
[…] We’re about to inherit a fair load of tomatillos. All I’ve ever done with them is make salsa. Andy’s got some good uses for them coming up in tomorrow’s Sunday Dinners post. In the meantime, what should we do with them? […]
September 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. It’s designed for those of us who love to cook but can’t seem to find enough time to do it as much as we’d like. To get started, read Andy’s introduction to the project. […]
October 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
[…] In case you missed it, Lauren from VeganYumYum did a beautiful post about food photography that’s inspiring for anyone who ever wanted to snap a pic of something edible. And our newest author, Andrew Schloss, has gotten things going with his Sunday Dinners Project — we’re two weeks into a whole year of delicious weekend meals and easy weekday dinners, so be sure to keep tuning in for those. […]
October 5th, 2008 at 11:22 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. It’s designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding enough time to do it as often as we’d like. To get started, read Andy’s introduction to the project. […]
October 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. It’s designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding enough time to do it as often as we’d like. To get started, read Andy’s introduction to the project. […]
October 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. It’s designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. To get started, read Andy’s introduction to the project. […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each Sunday, we bring you recipes for a leisurely meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
November 9th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each Sunday, we bring you recipes for a leisurely meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
December 5th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each Sunday, we bring you recipes for a leisurely meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
December 13th, 2008 at 11:13 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each Sunday, we bring you recipes for a leisurely meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
December 13th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each week, we bring you recipes for a leisurely weekend meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
December 20th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each week, we bring you recipes for a leisurely weekend meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
January 9th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help those of us who love to cook but have trouble finding the time. Each week, we bring you recipes for a leisurely weekend meal — and show you how to spin the leftovers into brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
January 10th, 2009 at 6:45 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
January 26th, 2009 at 3:58 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
January 31st, 2009 at 8:47 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
February 8th, 2009 at 11:46 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
February 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
February 26th, 2009 at 11:32 am
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
February 28th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
[…] A collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink, the Sunday Dinners project is designed to help busy people cook more at home. Each week, we show you how spin the leftovers from a leisurely weekend meal into a slew of brand new, easy weeknight dinners. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) A soufflé is one of the great culinary cons. Reputedly temperamental, in truth soufflés are the simplest and most humble of casseroles. Though many cookbooks talk about a soufflé as a fancy version of scrambled eggs, every soufflé in fact starts with a sauce, and it is the flavor, consistency and structure of that sauce that will in large part determine the rise or fall of the finished product. […]
March 14th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
March 15th, 2009 at 5:40 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
March 27th, 2009 at 8:41 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
March 30th, 2009 at 4:25 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
April 16th, 2009 at 8:41 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
April 24th, 2009 at 9:53 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]
April 30th, 2009 at 10:25 am
[…] The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink. (For more on this, read Andy’s introduction to the project.) […]