December
ONE POT MEAL
The essence of the one pot meal it to throw everything into one pot, cook, and serve. No extra dirty pots, and a majority of the food groups, and dishes that could be considered sides, are all in the pot. So for this particular TD, it shall be defined as:
A meal with all ingredients for that meal cooked in one pot, deep pan, roasting pan, D.O., or slow or pressure cooker. Since the idea of a one pot meal is "no fuss" you must use only one pot for the entire meal, not just the finish cook. Why dirty 3 pots searing meats and sweating veggies for the final pot? Nope. Not on this one. ONE POT MEAL is one pot meal! So choose your weapon wisely. One that can sear, sautee, braise, and whatever your meal requires.
No re-using the pot unless it is stages for the final cook. You may not empty the contents as finished for serving and then cook something else (one pot used twice is essentially two pots), however, you can pre-cook, remove, and re-add to the same pot later. The finishing cooking must include all of the ingredients for the meal.
- The entire meal must be cooked in ONE pot, deep pan, roasting pan, D.O., or slow or pressure cooker.
- Food may be cooked/seared etc. and removed for adding later, but it must be in the same pot for final cooking.
- NO sides (bread on the side and garnish ONLY).
- NO "over" rice or pasta, etc. If rice or pasta is a part of the meal, put it in the pot (and it must cook in the pot, pre-cooking in another pot does not equal a one pot meal).
- NO sectioning; cooking asparagus on one side of a pan, salmon on the other. That is not a one pot meal, that is a two pan meal done in one. All ingredients must be incorporated (mixed together freely) in the pot.
One pot meals are great! This is not limited to soups and stews, think outside the box. You can prep and pre-cook as much as you need (using the same pot), as long as it goes into the pot for final cooking, and the end result has all of the ingredients.
If you can use ONE POT from start to finish, with all of the ingredients in the pot upon finish... it's a ONE POT MEAL!
Someone once said one pot meals would not look good in pics. I disagree, and it will be great to see how one pot can be used for an entire meal, especially stuff you guys come up with!
FOR THIS REASON... the final pics must include each time your pot is used as a cooking step. This is not only to prove that you used one pot for the entire meal, but also to make the final post more interesting. So really, the pics are unlimited on this one (though posts have a 10 max display before it turns into a link). One pic for each cooking step, and a slammin' presentation pic.
Begins Friday!
, of course this photo is not mine).
