Do you cook different types of meals when your significant other is out of town, or just not home for dinner?

My boyfriend is out of town, and I typically look forward to cooking things for myself that I would normally cook for the two of us. Usually this is due to price, or because he prefers to always have some kind of meat as a part of the meal, etc. Last time he was out of town I made myself a lovely seared tuna nicoise salad.

So, what are your "significant other is out of town" meals?

Hi all.

I received some garlic scapes in my CSA this week. Most of my google searches turn up recipes for pesto, but I can't get it out of my head that I should be making a pizza topped with them. Some recipes used garlic scape pesto on a pizza, but I'm looking for more of a white pizza recipe topped with garlic scapes.

Sounds easy enough, just use my favorite white pizza recipe, right? Well, I don't have one.

Anyone ever make a garlic scape topped pizza? If so, please share your recipes! Like I said, I keep envisioning a white pizza, but I'm open to all suggestions.

I'm planning on making Mark Bittman's Bolognese sauce today. Towards the end, the recipe calls for cream, half & half, or milk to be simmered in the sauce.

I rarely use heavy cream, usually I will just use half and half for sauces. I was planning on using half and half as the dairy element, when I remembered a month or so back when I added half & half to a tomato sauce it didn't really integrate well. It wasn't smooth and creamy, the half and half seemed like it was separated.

I know the easy solution would be to just use cream, but I have half and half on hand and would rather use that. Is there a way to use half and half without it separating like that, or should I just suck it up and buy heavy cream?

Thanks!

Good evening all,

Now that all the Super Bowl cooking is complete, I figure it's about time to start thinking about Valentine's day cooking.

I would love to make duck breast, but I'm having a hard time finding a recipe that I like. This one sounds great: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/sweet-tart-duck-breasts-with-fresh-cherry-sauce-recipe.html

However, cherries aren't in season so they're pretty hard to find. What are your favorite duck recipes?

Also, what is everyone planning on making for Valentine's Day?

I want to make a Gorgonzola cream sauce to go over some steaks I have.

Anyone have any tips for making it low fat? I usually use half and half if I'm making a broth-based sauce and adding in cream at the end, but I'm not quite sure half and half would make a decent sauce for what I want. It'd be too runny, correct? Is there any other way to still make a decent cream sauce with less fat?

I know, it sounds silly to try and make a dish based on steak and cheese lower fat, but I'm not looking for criticisms, just advice :)

Thanks!

I usually use Freshdirect to buy basic groceries. I guess I learned my lesson when it comes to online grocery shopping after a few glasses of wine, because I bought ricotta for a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup, and when my groceries came the next day, I realized I had accidentally purchased a 3 lb tub.
I'm not much of a baker, and I don't want to make a lasagna because it's similar to the dish I'm already making. I plan on making 2 of the dish I'm making and freezing one, but beyond that, anyone have any ideas for using the rest?
Thanks!

I work for an online magazine and I write a lot for the food section. Due to the success of my recipes, my boss had an idea to start doing a few cooking segments for a video feature we have on the front page.

I'm having trouble thinking about what the first thing I should make should be. It has to be something involved enough, but not super complicated; we will be editing, but none of us are really pro at it.

Anyone have any ideas? The only restriction is that we don't want to use any pork products, as the person helping us this time around is Muslim and doesn't eat pork.

I'm hosting a dinner party next week for a group of about 8-12, and I would love to have a taco bar. I was originally dreaming about making Kenji's recipe for carnitas as the meat filling, but I'm not quite sure how smart it would be to make pork at a dinner party where I don't really know most of the other people all too well. I'm also planning a veggie option. I'm looking for inspiration and recipes for beef tacos, preferably something slow cooked, since I will probably have to make the veggie option right before serving. I was thinking of short ribs or something. I would also love some advice for the veggie tacos as well. I pretty much have the toppings figured out (chipotle slaw, radishes, guacamole, pickles onions).

Thanks!