Why is it that when you serve the very same meal to three different people you might get three different responses?
I’ll never forget the evening I tested a new Glorious One-Pot Meal recipe at a family gathering. “It needs a little more spice,” my aunt confided at the table. “I would go heavier on the oregano.”
“No!” my mother (her twin sister) insisted. “It’s too spicy already! There are too many herbs.The flavors are too confusing.”
I looked at the other family members licking their plates. “What did you think?”
The husbands thought the meal had been appropriately seasoned.
Lesson: you can’t please all the people all the time.
As it happens, taste is a complex interaction between taste buds and olfactory receptors. Some people are more sensitive to taste and smell, while others are less so. Head injuries and viral infections can rob some of their sense of smell, sending them running for chile peppers to get some sensation to call “taste” on their tongue.
My philosophy is to try to hit the middle ground with my recipes and offer people the option to add more or less spice, according to their personal preferences.
Reader letter: I am not a professional chef or really that interested in recipes. I will say, on principal though, as an American who has lived in numerous locations worldwide, that your “patented cooking method” has been performed by indigenous and local peoples for centuries. The idea that YOU came up with it and would reap profits from having patented it is offensive, and amounts to the same thing as stealing weaving patterns or traditional herbs for pharmaceuticals. You ought to at least acknowledge the tradition that you’re ripping off.
Phillip M., Cairo, Egypt
Hi Phillip,
Thanks for your concerns. I would be most grateful for any writtenandpublished recipes you might come across that utilize the cooking method I patented as I was not able to find a single one in the course of my extensive research (nor could the patent office). Some of the key elements that define my patent include: 1) using the cast iron lidded vessel, 2) the enclosed oven at 450 F degrees, 3) the short cooking time, 4) the lack of added liquid.
Moroccan Tagine
I, too, have traveled extensively and lived on several continents, including Central and South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. While I’ve seen lots of one-pot cooking techniques and tasted lots of delicious meals, I’ve personally not seen one that incorporates ALL of these elements. One reason might be the difference between cooking over an open flame vs. controlling the temperature inside an oven hot enough to bake bread? The method is substantially different from clay pot cooking, Moroccan tagine, or slow-cooking styles of food prep.
Clay pot
While I do sell a cookbook for less than $20 (of which I receive pennies for each copy sold), I freely give away the technique and recipes in the more than 100 FREE cooking demonstrations I perform in public annually, as well as on the web, on the radio, in newspapers and magazines, and on tv.
While I would like to be able to pay my mortgage and feed my kids, you are mistaken if you believe that I am all about profiting off of the work of others. My passion is simply to offer a way for more people to eat real, healthy foods as part of their busy lifestyles and move away from packaged “fake” foods.
Everything we do in life is built on all those who came before us, so while I am not a professionally-trained chef either, I freely acknowledge the culinary traditions that influence me. I’m always glad to meet another world traveler who enjoys good food! Thank for writing!
Happy cooking!
Elizabeth
*Addendum: While this is an actual letter I recently received from a reader, when I tried to reply directly to him the email bounced back. I hope he finds his answer here.
I must confess I’m a little obsessed with lemongrass right now.
I’m intrigued by its lemon-y flavor without the citrus-y tang. I’m finding it does great things to Glorious One-Pot Meals (see the recipe for Great Grape Scallops, too!)! Here’s a delicious vegetarian recipe I whipped up, inspired this time by a clamshell of baby artichokes on sale for $3.99 at Whole Foods recently.
Baby Artichokes with Cashews and Lemongrass
While my kids love eating large steamed artichokes — scraping the base of the leaves off with your teeth, savoring the delectable heart — the last time I trimmed, halved, and sauteed baby artichokes the reception was lukewarm, at best. This time, they pulled the outer leaves off of the babies and ate the infused flowers as if they were larger chokes, then chowed down on the center hearts with relish, so I think it must have been more acceptable (familiar?) to them. The adults ate the chokes in one scrumptious bite, of course!
The cashews add protein to this vegetarian meal, as well as an addictive flavor and crunch. Besides, it’s something different than the usual ho-hum protein source. 🙂
Here’s the recipe for Baby Artichokes with Cashews and Lemongrass:
1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil or canola oil
3/4 cup quinoa
1 cup broth or water
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1-2 large beets, scrubbed and sliced thinly
2 cups cauliflower florets
10-12 baby artichokes, trimmed and quartered
1/2 cup shelled cashew nuts
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 stalk lemongrass
Preheat the oven to 450F. Wipe the inside and lid of a cast iron Dutch oven with grapeseed oil.
Pour in the quinoa and broth and swirl to settle in an even layer and coat every grain. Sprinkle with shallots.
Arrange the beets in a layer, topped with the cauliflower. Set the artichokes on top and scatter the cashews. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Split the lemongrass stalk and smash with the flat of a knife. Set on top, cover, and bake for about 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully-cooked meal escapes the oven.
Reader question: I don’t know what size cast iron Dutch oven to buy to use with Glorious One-Pot Meals. My sister said that the commonly available 2 3/4 qt. size is better, for more vegetables for two people, but your recipes say 2-qt and to fill it up. Also, stores are not carrying the 2 qut anymore. What to do? – Amy, Denver, CO
Thanks for writing, Amy! Before I can answer this the question to ask is: How many people are you feeding?
Glorious One-Pot Meals generally follow the 1-quart-pot-per-person guideline. This means that you can safely fill the pot up to the brim with food and know you’ll be cooking the right amount for the number of people eating, likely with a little left over, but not a huge amount.
Yes, I like to use the 2-quart enameled cast Dutch oven when cooking for 2 people for a couple reasons: the method works best when the pot is filled to the brim, and I don’t have to think about how much food I’m putting in since I’m filling it to the top. The 2 3/4-quart is barely larger than the 2-quart – you won’t notice much of a difference, maybe a couple more minutes to cook sometimes, certainly room for more veggies or anything else… Depend on your nose to tell you when dinner is ready. It’s also possible to cook smaller amounts in a larger pot with good results, so you’ll have a lot of flexibility to work with whatever size pot you get.
You’re not the first one to tell me that they’re having troubles finding the 2-quart Le Creuset enameled cast iron Dutch oven in stores. I heard it several times this weekend when I appeared at the Englewood Public Library’s Meet the Faces Behind the Books event. I was touched by how many owners of the original edition of Glorious One-Pot Meals sought me out to tell me how much they loved the book and the cooking method. Hearing enthusiastic testimonials from busy home cooks is what keeps me going on the darkest days! 🙂 It was wonderful to see and connect with all of you!
If you’re having trouble finding the perfect cast iron Dutch oven for your cooking endeavors, I’ve added a new page to this site, Dutch Oven Deals, where I can post links, coupons, and recommendations for Dutch ovens. You can always access this from the link on the side column.
There was a sweet potato eyeing me from my produce basket for the past few weeks, so last night I decided to put it to good use and build a meal around the delightful orange flesh.
Luckily, with the Glorious One-Pot Meal patented cooking technique, it’s easy to throw together whatever you have around and come out with something lip-licking good. Last night was no exception.
I started with Organic Coconut Oil, one of my current obsessions. After receiving a bad rap for decades, it’s finally been recognized that coconut oil has remarkable health-giving properties. It has a low smoke-point, too, so if you’re concerned about carcinogens created by smoking oil, switch to coconut oil for peace of mind. Of course, smoking oil is never a problem with GOPMs because you need oxygen along with high heat to cause this reaction, and GOPMs are cooked in a closed vessel.
So I slathered the sides and lid liberally with coconut oil. Besides offering non-stick properties, I love the subtle flavor it imparts to food. Especially to sweet potatoes, which came next in the pot. I scrubbed them well, removed the eyes, and sliced them into thin julienne sticks before scattering them in a thick layer across the base of the pot.
On top of the sweet potatoes, I placed individual frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I covered them with a 6-oz can of chopped green chiles and a bit of sea salt, then threw in the rest of my vegetables: an undrained can of chopped tomatoes (ok, I know tomatoes are a fruit rather than a vegetable, but bear with me), florets of purple cauliflower that I saw at the store and couldn’t resist, and trimmed and halved Brussels sprouts.
I set a couple sprigs of fresh thyme and sage on top, just because I happened to have them around and I thought they’d lend a nice touch. I was right: the whole thing was scrumptious. I have to confess, I licked my plate clean of the coconutty juices that I spooned over the food from the bottom of the pot while serving. The sage, especially, was a nice touch.
My kids did pretty well with it, too, both loving the chicken and purple cauliflower. My daughter liked the sweet potatoes, but not the Brussels, while my son must have eaten at least 8 whole Brussels sprouts but only the required bite of sweet potatoes “to taste.”
cooking, Moroccan 
I started with 
