You’ve been there already. You went to the supermarket
just a few weeks ago. And a few weeks before that, and a few weeks
before that. Aren’t you done yet?
You can’t even drive there because your roommate’s
the one with the car and he’s gone for the weekend.
But you’re hungry and there’s no food around. Peanut
butter on a spoon isn’t cutting it. Maybe in the way back of
the freezer ““ oh, what’s that?
It’s a pound of chicken breasts, wrapped in three plastic
freezer bags to prevent freezer burn.
The date you scribbled on the outer bag has long since rubbed
away, but it doesn’t matter: Kept like this, meat and poultry
stay fresh for up to 10 months.
How should you thaw the chicken? The microwave would ruin its
texture. Submerge the pieces in a bowl of warm (not hot) water.
Four breasts will take 30 to 45 minutes to thaw completely.
So you do have food. If you can come up with a marinade while it
thaws, dinner could be all right.
What might you have around? Garlic bulbs can last months.
You’ve been storing yours in the pantry, but it’s come
to life: A green shoot is poking out of the center. There’s
nothing wrong with it, though; just cut the shoot away.
Mince two cloves of garlic, put them in a medium container and
search for more ingredients.
Curry powder looks good. Ground herbs and spices go stale, but
not rotten; their optimal shelf life is about a year. But this
bottle of curry is left over from your old apartment, and it
doesn’t smell very strong. That’s OK. Just use a little
extra ““ dump four tablespoons of curry into the container
alongside the garlic.
Whole spices have much longer shelf lives than ground ones: up
to five years. When freshly ground they’re much stronger too.
Plastic pepper mills full of whole peppercorns are easily
available, and they’re fun to use.
Half a teaspoon of pre-ground pepper or five twists from the
pepper mill is enough for this marinade.
Honey doesn’t ever spoil. Because of its high sugar
concentration and low moisture, virtually no organisms can
reproduce or even survive in it. Balance the curry with four
tablespoons of honey.
The marinade is starting to give off a sweet, spicy odor, but
it’s too thick. Rummage around for your bottle of olive oil
and ““ aw, jeez, what’s that awful smell?
Light, heat and air all contribute to oil spoilage. Someone
(ahem, your roommate, ahem) didn’t close the cap correctly
last time he used the oil. Opened bottles, if kept in a cool, dark
place and capped tightly, should stay fresh up to six months. This
one hardly lasted two.
Luckily, you have an unopened bottle of olive oil, which can sit
for up to a year without going bad. Crack it open and use two
tablespoons of it.
If the marinade is still too viscous to stir easily, add two
tablespoons of water.
Coat and submerge the thawed chicken in your marinade, then put
the whole deal in the refrigerator for an hour. You might want to
kill time by making some rice.
After the hour is up, cook the chicken in a frying pan over
medium heat until it’s cooked through, about five minutes on
each side.
Make sure you reserve the marinade: When all the chicken is
done, it’s time to turn the leftover liquids into a sauce.
Just add two tablespoons of water to the marinade.
Pour the mixture into the still-hot pan and bring it to a boil.
Allow the sauce to boil for at least a full minute: This will both
thicken it and kill any bacteria that came from the raw
chicken.
Serve the chicken over rice and pour the sauce on top. Mmm. You
bet it refrigerates and reheats well, too. Maybe you won’t
have to go shopping tomorrow, either. What can you make with
Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and ketchup?
What’s the longest you’ve gone without setting
foot inside a market? E-mail Raab at lraab@media.ucla.edu.