Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

Not every meal has to have fourteen ingredients and require the skills of a culinary-institute trained chef. In fact, sometimes the most satisfying meals have two ingredients - chicken broth and a box of pastina - and two skills: turning on the stove and pouring. If you can do those things then you’ve mastered pastina in soup.

What’s particularly great about this meal is that it is fast to make…REAL FAST to make. There’s no time to hyperfocus on anything else. (I tried to do that once and I boiled away half the chicken broth.) In fact, you have to watch over the cooking process the whole time. This is a great five minute mental health break when you are in the midst of a major project. And when the cooking is done, you can ladle some of it into a coffee mug, grab a spoon and head back to the digital salt mine (a/k/a, the computer).

INGREDIENTS

• Approximately 16 ounces of chicken broth
• One box of pastina or any other teensy weensy pasta

DIRECTIONS

1. Get a two-quart saucepan.
2. Pour in about 16 ounces of chicken broth (that’s half of the container shown above).
3. Turn the heat on high and wait till the broth boils.
4. Stir in a large quantity of pastina. How much is large? If you like the consistency of oatmeal (my preference), at least two-thirds of the broth should “disappear” so that there is not much liquid left. That consistency will require about 1/3 of a box (that’s a 12 oz box shown above).
5. Turn the heat down and simmer, stirring periodically to keep everything cooking evenly.
6. If you have the quantities just right you’ll end up with a sort of pastina oatmeal which will have the delicious taste of the chicken broth and enough of the pasta to satisfy your carb cravings.

VARIATIONS

1. You can decrease the amount of pastina so that it is more soup-like than oatmeal like.
2. Add a handful (or two) of frozen peas while the soup is boiling and before you add the pastina. Give it at least two minutes before you add the pastina.
3. Shred some leftover pieces of chicken (perhaps from the braised chicken) and add it to the boiling broth.
4. Sprinkle grated cheese on your soup to add a nice tang.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Do you have a two-ingredient recipe that you would like to share with others? Go to my contact page and send me some details of your recipe and it may get featured on an upcoming post on this blog. You can also email me at info at jefftheaddchef dot com.

To add some more nutritional value to your hot dog (which should ALREADY be smothered in mustard and sauerkraut), add a slice or two of swiss cheese on top. Then place it in a preheated oven (250 degrees F. is fine) and keep an eye on it to make sure that it melts.