How to cook great meals in your vacation rental – even when the cupboards are bare
The Penn-ch dispatch
I was hoping to be writing this week’s issue from my new apartment but delays with the D.C. permitting office have postponed my move-in date indefinitely. So I’ve retreated to my parents’ house in a Lehigh Valley subdivision a bucolic country estate in rural Pennsylvania until I can officially move. It’s easier to pretend I’m on vacation than acknowledge what I actually am, which is stuck in housing limbo just like an Italian princess in Texas.
Being away from the comforts of my home kitchen made me think about how I approach cooking differently when in a foreign place. It’s more of a challenge to conceptualize dishes when you can’t readily access all the equipment and ingredients you’re used to at home, no abundant pantry to pull from when I need a splash of this or a sprinkle of that.
Finding inspiration for what to make is more difficult, too. I can’t just open the cupboard to see what I have on hand and start cooking. Without the tools that make it easy to whip something up from scratch, you feel like abandoning all your cooking ambitions.
I have this fantasy for when I go on vacation. I’ve booked a really idyllic Airbnb somewhere, maybe it’s a quaint apartment by the water on a Greek island or a rustic farmhouse in Provence or a wooded cabin in the Catskills. And when I’m there I can cook anything I want with ease. The pantry is full of fresh ingredients. The nearby farmers market (walking distance, of course) has bright, beautiful produce ready to be turned into tonight’s dinner. The kitchen has state-of-the-art appliances and pans. The knives chop through vegetables like butter. My life is a carefree T Magazine spread. But it doesn’t just look the part, it tastes like it, too.
Of course the reality is often far less ideal. Even when I carefully consider a rental’s cooking situation before booking, I have yet to stay somewhere with a serviceable kitchen. I’m completely aware that my fantasy setup is a fantasy for a reason. But I’m just asking for the basics here: a sturdy sheet pan or two, a clean skillet, a decent knife, a variety of spices, kosher salt and a bottle of olive oil that doesn’t make you question how long it’s been there.
There is a bit of an initial thrill when getting oriented to a new kitchen, scavenging through pantry shelves and cupboard drawers to find usable ingredients and equipment. It feels like a Top Chef challenge!
The excitement quickly fades when I try to game out what I can actually make with the limited inventory. Is there a whisk to make a decent vinaigrette? Why are there no bowls? Is this skillet too big and too grimey for cooking eggs? How can I slice bread without a bread knife?
After many MacGyvered attempts and failed experiments, I’ve managed to come up with a list of tips for how to cook delicious meals no matter your kitchen set-up. Hopefully they’ll help you make cooking on your next vacation less of a challenge.
Mother Sauce’s tips for cooking in someone else’s kitchen:
Bring kosher salt with you. The fine sea salt industry must have made some backroom deal with Airbnb because it seems to be the only salt that host’s stock. Bring a small container of kosher salt and you won’t regret it.
Buy local ingredients from farmers’ markets or specialty shops. They’re the most flavorful, which means you won’t be digging around the pantry to find something to make that chicken more appetizing. Plus, part of the experience of being on vacation is getting a taste of the local delicacies.
Choose recipes that use the whole package. You probably don’t want to keep an open bottle of rice vinegar or tomato paste as a souvenir from your trip (or maybe you do but you can’t bring more than 4 ounces in your carry-on). That’s why it’s good to have a running list of recipes that mostly use every ingredient. Something like sheet-pan gnocchi or tortellini are a great place to start, or really anything that uses the whole pasta package. Toss with any vegetable, olive oil – assuming there is some at your Airbnb – and you’ve got dinner.
Think about kit-based dinners. “Kit-based” is a term I just made up but it’s inspired by meal kit cooking where each box comes with ingredients for just one family meal. I would put burgers, hot dogs, sausages or tacos in this category. Grab your protein (or alternative protein) and your protein container (e.g., buns or tortillas) and you’re pretty much set.
Make use of bulk bins and salad bars for exact portions — and swipe some dressing, mustard or mayonnaise packets while you’re there. If your knife situation is less than ideal, the salad bar’s pre-chopped vegetables are your friends. They’re usually fresher and more flavorful than frozen or pre-packaged varieties. Bulk bins are perfect for finite amounts of nuts or grains. Stock up on flavor-enhancing olives and marinated vegetables at the antipasto station. And if there’s a cheese counter or butcher, ask them to cut bigger portions down to exactly what you need so you don’t have to leave that $15-hunk of parmesan behind for future guests.
Channel Sandra Lee and make semi-homemade meals. She was right about Andrew Cuomo and she’s right about how you can elevate store-bought ingredients into something elegant. Throw some flatbreads made from pre-made pizza dough on the grill. Buy microwavable rice. Use jarred sauces or pre-cut fries in the freezer section. Doctor up frozen pizza.
Grill (if you have one). Everything tastes better on the grill and it doesn’t require loads of seasonings or sauces to add flavor.
If all else fails, eat dips for dinner. Anything can be a meal. Pile an assortment of fancy goodies and cheeses on a plate and dig in! Peanut butter sandwiches and a microwaved potato are a perfectly suitable supper, too.
Ending this week’s newsletter with some “vacation” photos of Northampton, PA.
P.S. The four people who actually read this newsletter have notified me that there was an issue in sending last week’s and it didn’t actually send, so here’s the link to my post if you also didn’t receive it. I promise I’ll do better.