cookery · xv

last night's supper, warmed

one plate · eight minutes · any night, especially monday

ingredients

• whatever the bowl in the cold contains
• a spoon of water, or stock
• a small piece of butter, or oil
• salt, only if it needs it
• a little of something fresh — parsley, lemon, an onion sliced raw

method

1. take the bowl from the cold; bring it slowly to room temperature, or do not; the result will differ only a little.
2. warm a small pan with the butter and the spoon of water; tip in the supper; cover; the lowest heat for six minutes.
3. stir once, taste, decide if it has earned the salt; finish with the fresh thing on top.

a dish improved by one night's thinking; the memory of a meal is sometimes the better half of it.

eaten standing, with the radio on; the pantry opens once for the pickles, the kitchen stays mostly dark; the hour permits it.