I am not a single man, but was one once. And when I was a single man I had to eat. I had to eat food. And even though I ate them often, one can’t subsist on Western Bacon Cheeseburgers alone. So there are several things that I made for myself on a regular basis, one of them was bachelor chow.
I call it bachelor chow, but there are many different names for what I make. My mother-in-law calls it a variation on dirty rice. Other chefs may call it a good start to an interesting chili. My mom calls it dog food. She calls it that for good reason, that’s how I learned how to make it. The basis is from a recipe that my mom used to feed my first pet, Muffin, when she was sick and needed a special diet.
The ingredients are simple:
– Ground beef
– Chopped/diced onions
– White rice, cooked
That’s it. Cook the beef and onions together and spice to taste; add the rice and voila!
At least that’s how I used to make it. That particular preparation is actually pretty bland. Not bad in a pinch, but it doesn’t have much “wow” to it. When I did the No Wheats/No Sweets diet it was important to find things that were easy to make and that had no gluten and no sugar in them. Bachelor chow totally qualifies but I wanted to, literally, spice it up. When I started my experiments I had to work with the spices on hand. We had recently moved and most of our stuff was still in boxes. I had salt, pepper, garlic powder and mustard powder. It was good and warranted some perfecting. I now have my preferred mix of stuff and I live tweeted/Instagramed my preparation last night.
Here it is in a single place just in case any of you single fellas out there want to feel like a single serving gourmet:
These are my preferred spices now: Coleman’s mustard powder, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, and Gilroy Garlic Festival Garli Garni – this stuff is key. It’s garlic, which makes it wonderful, and has all kinds of other great flavors in one convenient package. Rene and I get it at the Orange County Fair every year.
I’m very particular about my beef. I like Trader Joe’s because they are too. For this batch I selected Teva Kosher Foods Angus Ground Beef. It keeps well and cooks well. 85% lean means less chance of a heart attack.
Chop up half a white onion and add it to a large skillet with bell peppers. I used Trader Joe’s frozen Melange a Tois. The frozen part helps later.
Toss in the beef with the veggies. Then sprinkle on the mustard, Garli Garni and Worcestershire sauce to taste, I’m generous with the garlic and mustard.
I don’t use white rice any more. Since I’m getting older I’ve started using brown rice. It’s a grain. It tastes good. Again, this is from Trader Joe’s. It microwaves in three minutes and comes in a convenient bag. Good stuff.
Because the bell peppers start frozen they make a lot of liquid in the skillet. Simmering everything together really helps to blend the flavors. Also, since this is something I can eat through the course of the week, it helps keep it moist so that it microwaves well.
After the meat is cooked and the rice has been nuked I put them together over the medium heat. This finishes any cooking and the rice helps soak up some of the liquid. Each grain of rice becomes a little flavor bomb!
Here it is, the finished product!
If you try it let me know what you think or if you have a new variation.
See you next time!