A lot of the pleasure of cooking, for me, is social — have people over, all dig in, etc. But this is not how most of us eat, and many of us often wind up eating by ourselves. And here’s where the balance comes in, because while we have all had those moments of lonely eating — standing over a sink, holding a burrito is the evocative phrase a friend used — and that is certainly sad to imagine, the only sadder thing I can imagine is someone clapping their hands together in their flat by themselves and saying ‘Well, time to roast the bones and  make some veal stock from scratch for dinner’s glaze …’

In her book Quirkyalone, Sasha Cagen spoke of moments of self-love that a person on their own not only should have, but should enjoy as part of a process that says that they’re taking care of themselves — specifically flossing, a few moments spent in pursuit of health and happiness. And that’s how I look at cooking for myself - in between pre-screening meals out and travelling, when I can, I try and cook something nice-ish, and a big part of that is what I call ‘leftunders.’ When I had the grill heated up a few days ago, I cooked three duck legs — not for friends, or all for one meal, but knowing that I could cook for an hour (including charcoal pre-heating), I’d have the foundations of three meals. They weren’t leftover — food made but uneaten — they were leftunder, food cooked for a future moment.

Another big help in cooking for one? Those intermediate steps between raw ingredients and cooked (or frozen) food that many modern supermarkets offer — pre-sliced mushrooms, sauces, jarred minced garlic, pre-rinsed and torn greens. Sure, Anthony Bourdain may upbraid anyone who relies on lame food-industrial products — I recall his scorn for pre-minced garlic like a slap — but, at the same time, we are not Anthony Bourdain. (At the same time, the fresh herbs in this dish — mint and cilantro — are not only essential, but a great reminder of the very real pleasures of fresh food, where things come from the earth in their natural form and add taste and life to a dish. This is one of my objections to ‘Molecular Gastronomy,’ of which more later.) With that in mind, a demonstration of the leftunder principle: Rice noodles with asparagus, mushroom, sriracha and duck, which took as much time to make as the noodles took to soak — 15 minutes.  And was not only delicious, but was also a nice reminder that no matter how busy I felt, I wasn’t too busy to do something small that helped me feel good.

RICE NOODLES WITH ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOM, SRIRACHA AND DUCK WITH MINT AND CILANTRO

1) Boil water; pour over a handful of rice noodles to cover.

2) Rinse and chop cilantro and mint. (I like to chiffonade mint — roll the leaves up and then cut fine slices across the rolled-up leaves. It’s fun, and easy.)

3) Break woody ends off six stalks asparagus; rinse; chop into 1/3 inch rounds. Add to small frying pan with dash olive oil, chopped garlic to taste.

4) Add handful sliced mushrooms when Asparagus is 1/2 cooked.

5) Take cooked one duck leg — or chicken leg (drumstick and thigh) — and remove skin and hand-shred. Add to mushrooms and asparagus on low-heat (or, if mushrooms and asparagus cooked, off heat.)

6) Drain noodles; toss with 1 Tsp Thai fish sauce and 1.5 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce. (Best known to novices and Thai restaurant patrons as “That hot sauce with the rooster on it,” Sriracha is one of the best $3.50 purchases you can make, trust me. It’s great on everything.)

7) Toss noodles with asparagus, mushrooms, duck shreds and 4/5ths of spices. Plate. Top with remaining 1/5 of herbs.

(Remember, I am looking for your questions about cooking techniques and philosophy — mail me at jamesrocchi AT gmail.com …)