I’ve been meaning to blog but no subject was grabbing me — apart from more whining about how hard things are (yep, still too much work and not enough money) and who has died (yep, people and pets are still inexplicably dying).

But then tonight I cooked dinner.

I know that doesn’t sound like much. People all over the Upper Valley, nay all over the world, are cooking all the time. I cook far less than you would think possible. But tonight I had some chicken cutlets and brussels sprouts in the fridge that were destined for the garbage and compost pile respectively if someone did not take action soon. And a new issue of Cooks Illustrated had recently arrived in the mail.

You may wonder why someone who doesn’t cook all the much has a subscription to Cooks Illustrated. It’s my brother-in-law’s fault. He gave me a subscription a few years ago and I love it. I don’t mind cooking, but I really prefer to read about it. Just like I would rather read about travel to third world countries than actually get on a plane.

It is no small coincidence that I had chicken breasts in the fridge. When the magazine arrived, the first thing I noticed was the teaser “Better Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts” on the cover. I have been trying to figure out how to cook skinless chicken breasts since I first stepped into the kitchen with intent to produce edible meals (which didn’t actually happen until I was well into my 30s). The best I’ve been able to accomplish to date is the Chinese technique of “velveting” the meat prior to stir-frying and, boy, that’s a pain in the neck. So on Sunday, I stopped in the market on the way home from church and picked up some “Smart Chicken.” I’m not sure what made this chicken smart. The fact that it was under plastic wrap and I wasn’t gave me a bit of an edge over it in the IQ department, but it was the only choice at this particular store.

The Cooks Illustrated recipe worked well — better than the velveting and stir-frying. It involved more steps than I normally consider reasonable, but the result was juicy, tender meat with lots of flavor. And the lemon/scallion sauce I made on the side turned out great too. Luckily Dave happened along when things were in full swing so I drafted him to deal with the brussels. He did a great job, never once having to consult any kind of recipe whatsoever. The side dish was reheated brown rice I had made earlier. (If you think you don’t like brown rice, Cooks Illustrated has the answer to that, too. Really, you need a subscription.)

Yesterday I baked bread. It isn’t hard to do. It mostly consists of waiting around between a series of small tasks. Since I work from home, it’s really a matter of setting a kitchen timer and periodically nipping over from the office to the house to attend to the next stage.

I have temporary custody of my mom’s KitchenAid mixer and it makes the whole process incredibly easy — that and a terrific recipe for whole-wheat bread from the March/April issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. (Thanks to my brother-in-law for the gift subscription to CI a couple of years ago. It has changed my life.) I used to have a bread machine, which made things even easier, but it didn’t do as good a job of kneading as the KitchenAid.

Funny, although I love baking bread and eating freshly baked homemade bread, I rarely buy or eat it from a store. My ultimate goal with taking up bread baking again now is to re-create the fabulous “Zuricher Loaf” you can get in any Swiss-German bakery. My dad was on a similar quest when I was a kid and frequently served up his latest efforts for Sunday breakfast. He had a knack for breadmaking and the taste of a warm slice of his bread with butter melting on top is a favorite childhood memory. He didn’t write down his recipes, unfortunately.

I’ve searched my collection of Swiss cookbooks and the internet for the exact combination of ingredients in a Zuricher Loaf, but to no avail. My next step is to work my way, one-by-one, through the recipes in a book I have on European breads. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.