Great food in no time for smart money-at HOME!

Eating right, eating healthy, eating smart ($$!) and feeling satisfied after you eat...it's all possible, and really not time consuming if you plan your menu and shop accordingly. And you can do it for less than dining out.

I cooked dinner the other night, a simple shrimp fra diavolo, from everything that was in the house. Along with some pan seared broccoli with garlic, and it was GREAT. Homemade marinara cooks in about thirty minutes, whole wheat pasta (whatever you like- spaghetti, linguine, penne, it's your dish, cook it with the pasta you want!), frozen shrimp--get the peeled and deveined kind, with the tail still on.

I made the marinara, and while that was simmering, I defrosted the shrimp quickly under tepid water. I drained the shrimp, seasoned them liberally with sea salt and cracked black pepper, crushed garlic and olive oil, and some red pepper flakes. With my pasta water boiling, I tossed in the pasta, and then I sauteed up my broccoli and garlic, and seasoned that with sea salt and black pepper.

Putting the cooked broccoli aside, I wiped out the pan with a paper towel, and reheated it, and tossed in the shrimp with enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. When the shrimp was almost cooked through, I ladled in some of the marinara. Simmering, I took some of the cooked spaghetti from the pot, and put it right into the saute pan with the shrimp and marinara. I added just a touch of the pasta water, to thin out the sauce just a smidgen.

I plated the pasta with my now spicy shrimp and marinara, and that was it. A little cracked black pepper to taste, and EH! Youz got-tah nice-ah dish there, and it was healthy-whole wheat spaghetti, shrimp (protein), extra virgin olive oil, marinara (no added sugar), and broccoli with garlic as a vegetable. A really satisfying, healthy and economical meal, made at home, in less than an hour. Now, of course my five year old only wanted pasta with butter and cheese, but she did eat her broccoli...which is all any parent can ask!

The bonus to this meal is that I have leftover marinara (without the red pepper flakes) and leftover pasta (depends on how many you've got sitting down at the table!) for another meal. Saves even more time and money.

The bottom line is that you can eat healthy--protein, whole grain foods and really good veggies--keeping it within your budget, and do it all in very little time. So you can eat good, eat healthy, and eat smart.

And that's the view from my table.

Time and time again

Time, time, time--I once knew a chef who said to me, in a reference to the game show "Wheel of Fortune", he said, "if I could buy a vowel, it would be the 'i' in 'time'. 

Now, I wasn't really sure at first what he was alluding to-we were at a foodie event, and we were catching up on all that was going on in our careers. It was the kind of anecdote that stays with you for a long time, filed under the 'use it later' folder on the left side of the brain. 

When we go out to a restaurant, time is a major player in your dining experience. Fast casual? How long will it take to get my food because I have to get back to the office. Can we order online and pick it up? If you are going out to a sit down dinner, how long until the waiter brings a basket of bread? And, will they time the courses correctly or will you be rushed through the express meal?

If you are dining at a sit down, or as my Aunt Gerry would tell you, " a nice restaurant", then you should expect a greeting within the first three minutes of sitting down. Your waiter should offer drinks,  or if you need a moment to peruse the wine list, and perhaps offer a suggestion. Courses then should be sufficiently spaced, giving you time to digest. Twenty minutes is too long from appetizers to main course. I usually like the ten minute rule. I don't want to be rushed--so if the waiter or food runner brings the entrees when the appetizer plates are still on the table, then someone is not doing their job properly. Even if the restaurant is jam packed, you should be given time to enjoy your meal, and not made to feel like your table is a valuable piece of real estate that the management wants you evicted from as soon as your last forkful of cheesecake has crossed your lips. 

In the kitchen, meals are called or 'fired' while you are eating your appetizers or salads. A good establishment knows that the medium rare steak will take four minutes on each side, so they time it properly with the rare salmon on the same table. In a good kitchen, it's all a matter of orchestrating a whole bunch of madness: from the time the kitchen team starts to prep food, working with precision and efficiency ( this is in a GOOD kitchen ), to be ready for 5pm when the doors open up to the first guests of the evening. Unless you are in Florida and then you better be ready for the early birds at 4pm. 

So the prep is done and the kitchen is ready for business; the expediter calls the first orders to the line cooks. Appetizers and salads are plated, and the madness begins. "Firing two filet mignon, medium rare, firing one salmon, one red snapper" and so on. The expediter must accurately time the distance between courses, based on the information provided from the waiter. Any breakdowns in communication can disrupt the timeline; did the waiter forget an order? Fire it quick, ah, but that well done steak will have to go first and table 12's food is just going to have to wait. One slip up could throw off the whole rhythm and suddenly the kitchen that was humming along like a well oiled machine is now a place where profanity is tossed around faster than the salads. 

Hey! That table over there got their food first, and we've been sitting here longer! What gives??

Simple, did they have appetizers or salads that may have been easily assembled? Are they eating pasta for their entree, which may cook faster than your steak? As a customer don't be so alarmed unless you've been waiting for an overtly long time. I'll always check my watch when we go out to eat, just to get some frame of mind about what time things should be happening, and how long (and ultimately how well) the evening is going. 

A lot can also depend on your mood. You may want a fast meal, even if the restaurant is a "nice restaurant". In that case, grab a seat at the bar if there is one, and order a salad, an entree and your drink all at once. More than once my wife and I have enjoyed great meals sitting at the end of the bar, and we've gotten spectacular service, from a bartender who seemed grateful that we broke up the monotony of their night. Best bar service we ever got? Otto, in New York City. Owned by Mario Batali, our bartender happened to be an excellent waiter too, and the service we had was as good as the spaghetti carbonara I had, and it was made the way it's supposed to be, with real egg, cheese and pancetta. And the cheese course was to DIE for. 

Much debate about this one: when do you get a check? Rather, should you ask for a check or should the waiter simply drop the check after you've finished your desserts? SIDECAR: I will always refer to the servers as 'waiters'. I don't think it's necessary to differentiate between waiters and waitresses. Same thing goes for actors and actresses. They are all actors, except when Oscar comes up. 

Back to the debate. I feel like this: if your table has eaten dessert, and finished your coffee, and are simply chatting, there is no reason why the waiter should not be able to drop the check in the nice leather book at the end of the table. I am of the mind that the customers should not have to ask for anything-the service should be able to anticipate nearly everything. Now, if your party is not having dessert, you can certainly ask for the check then. I just never want to have to ask for the check--because then that usually involves me having to find my waiter, or if I've found them, trying to get their attention, which involves a combination of flailing arms, landing strip flashlights, and roadside flares. And most restaurants will frown upon the flashlights. 

So you've gotten your check--how long have you been out? It all depends on the size of the group, how many courses you've eaten, how many bottles of wine you've consumed, and so forth. Restaurants want to "turn tables", which means they want to get new customers into the same table you were at, as soon as possible. The more meals, the more money. But the customer that wants to enjoy their meal and experience, so let them be. Still, to all the customers out there that like to linger when they can clearly see that the restaurant is jam-packed with customers waiting for a table, please, get up and get out. If you've enjoyed your meal and service, do the right thing and give the waiter a chance to earn some more money. 

So how long should it take to eat dinner? I think of it in the number of people in the party; dinner for two? Usually an hour and a half to two hours. Dinner for four? Two hours plus. The point is that restaurants, no matter how busy or slow, should never rush their customers. People want to enjoy their dining experience. There will be plenty of tables that come through the door that want to get in and out as fast as they can. So restaurateurs, take notice: pace the meal accordingly, and waiters, smile and give even, professional, well timed service. Your customers will enjoy their experience and most certainly be back for more. 

And that's the view from my table. (check please!)