Millions of people cook for one, but anyone who thinks finding recipes for two servings is difficult should try scavenging for those that serve one. Most days you’d have better luck hunting for a four-leaf clover in a blizzard. I found a couple recipes yesterday, and I’ll share one from my files, and all are made in a toaster oven, often called a countertop oven now that some offer a convection option to add to their usefulness.
And they are useful but I confess I don’t use mine as much as I might. I frequently cook for one but I don’t mind leftovers and love cooking for the freezer, making plenty so I have something quick later on. I also store it in a tricky spot away from the kitchen. An article in yesterday’s Washington Post reminds me to dig it out soon. Joe Yonan, who tested some countertop ovens, writes of using his to make single serving main courses, including one for a Cornish hen and another for spicy mini meatloves that can be made ahead, frozen unbaked and popped into the toaster oven as needed. The latter recipe is adapted from a cookbook devoted to the appliance, The Gourmet Toaster Oven (Ten Speed Press) by Lynn Allen.
Yonan says about 41% of kitchens have a toaster oven — they’re great for small famlies too — and thinks as single households increase, so might their appeal. They’re certainly an energy-saver, compared with a full-size oven, and these days that’s more appealing than ever.
I like my toaster oven for broiling fish or a single steak; like Yonan, I think it’s ridiculous to heat a big oven for something so small, especially in warm weather. I also like it for summer baking without heating the whole kitchen. There’s room for a 9-inch pie or a large round of bread and it bakes evenly without running hot. I have a special baking stone sized just for toaster ovens that I reserve for breads. I bought the stone a long time ago from Chefs Catalog (chefscatalog.com) and I see they still carry something similar called an oven pizza stone. The toaster oven size is $24.99. And when I cut bread into thick slices, I can use my mini oven for — what else? — toasting.
Which oven?
Yonan tested four models, giving highest marks to the most expensive, a Krups at $200 with a convection feature and two racks, and a $90 model from T-Fal. He wasn’t happy with the overheating of an oven with convection by Cuisinart and a regular one from Oster.
Mine is a DeLonghi, which was top-rated when I bought it a decade or so ago and cost enough that I debated for a couple weeks whether to buy it. I wish there had been a convection option then; when I look at toaster ovens today, that’s the feature that interests me. The jazzy red one is … I don’t know. The photo’s from Wikimedia Commons.
A friend shared this recipe when I got my toaster oven. It came with hers but I don’t recall the brand. It can be broiled in a conventional oven, of course, remembering that there’s very little room between the bird and the heating element in a toaster oven so you might need slightly more time. A small bird will serve one, a larger, meatier hen can serve two. I prefer this with a tiny bit more spice and less honey. I grilled it outdoors once and with a larger cooking surface available, I simply butterflied the bird. It’s easy to do with Cornish hens if you have a good pair of kitchen shears. Just snip out the back bone.
Five Spice Cornish Hen
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB butter
1 TB honey
1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted if you wish
1/8 tsp Chinese five-spice powder*
1 Cornish hen (1 to 1 1/2 pounds), halved or butterflied
*This spice blend encompasses all five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. It’s made from peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds and cloves and a little goes a long way. It’s good in stir-fries and with fatty meats, such as duck, and a pinch in beef stew is good too. It’s available at most supermarkets or you can make your own.
To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, butter, honey, sesame seeds and five-spice powder in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until the butter is melted.
Place hen or hen halves, skin side down, on the rack of an unheated broiler pan. Broil for 15 – 20 minutes. Brush with sauce; turn.
Broil for 10 – 15 minutes more, brushing again with sauce in the last 5 minutes.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve wanted to get a toaster oven because I think it saves more energy than having to warm up an entire regular oven in order to reheat some small things. But we’re a growing family of four and we don’t usually cook “small things” any more. So for us a toaster oven would probably turn into a white elephant. Just like the deep fryer and the slow cooker.
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Hi, Nate. I finally got to know myself after buying a couple kitchen things I thought I had to have then rarely used. It felt good to get beyond it.
A family of four would probably use a toaster oven only a few times a year, such as Thanksgiving when another oven’s needed for a side dish. Unless you bake a lot and use the convection feature. Then all bets are off!
I haven’t had one in a while, but I’ve been looking at them in the stores lately. Certainly it’s a good idea to have one in Arizona in the summer when it’s 105 outside and I don’t want to heat the whole oven and kitchen. For the past few years, I actually have not used my oven between May and September, and I don’t want to feel I can’t. The energy savings is good too.
I see that there are small baking pans made for them too. I could make 6 cupcakes, or loaves as you’ve suggested, or even a casserole.
Some of them have a pretty large capacity. I’ve been eying the ones that can fit a 12″ pizza, for instance.
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You’re absolutely right about energy and heating the kitchen. And with the convection option now, it only gets better. Mine holds a muffin tin with 6 jumbo cavities with enough oven space for even rising and baking. Pizza with convection and a stone — just let me know which model you get!
All I have is a toaster oven. I’ve become quite skilled at finding ways to cook in it. What I really need is a microwave, but even the crappy ones are between 80 and 90 dollars here. Crazy I tell you.
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Wow, you’re an expert then! What are your favorite things to cook in it? What things, if any, disappointed you?
I see microwaves here for as low as $50, very basic. That’s all I ever need since I tend to use it for only a few things – morning oatmeal, softening butter, melting chocolate, reheating a cup of coffee or tea I let go cold. From time to time I steam veggies in the microwave and it is great for cooking corn on the cob. Hmm..maybe I use it more than I think!
i have a toaster oven and we only ever use to heat things up or cook frozen food. never knew you could cook fish in it! i really ought to learn how to cook.
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All in good time, sulz.
For me, the thing about learning to cook beyond a couple basics was having the time or a desire to learn that was so intense I made time for it and scheduled it like anything else. That desire didn’t strike till I was well into my 30’s and I’m really not sure why it did. Living in NYC I was surrounded by excellent food so I could have continued on without learning. Once I really got into it and saw how creative it can be, I was hooked.
And I get to eat my mistakes.
I used to have a toaster oven, which is now broken and gone, but I found that I only used it for quick broiling. The toast became too dried out, when compared to a regular toaster. Perhaps it was user error though
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Oh, I bet it was not user error, Heidi. The toast settings on mine aren’t precise at all, just a twisty knob from light to dark. Sometimes I got wonderful results that I couldn’t duplicate.
I have a wide-slot toaster now. Broils and bakes like a champ, though.