Quarantine Cooking

claws · March 27, 2020, 11:45:32 AM

Stuff I cooked during the last 10 days or so. Anybody feel free to share pics of your quarantine food.

Air fried Bratwurst

Whole wheat pasta with Quinoa Bolognese

Spätzle (German type of pasta) with Bacon, Cheddar Béchamel, Fried Onions and eggs.

Blueberry Dump Cake

Hummus Ma Lahma (Hummus with Spicy Beef)

Lasagna

claws · March 29, 2020, 06:21:20 AM

Don't you people eat?

Beanless quinoa chili with rice, avocado cream and chickpea tortilla chips.

claws · March 29, 2020, 07:02:29 AM

...and for calming my nerves

chefzombie · March 29, 2020, 05:35:51 PM

well, i can't post pics, or i'd join in too! recent cooks were pan fried bratwursts and fried potatoes, steak fingers in bacon fat with fried corn, roast beef, potatoes, carrots& gravy and i've baked ..uumm...36 loaves of bread the last 2 weeks for folks that can't get bread( another thing being hoarded here, but not the frozen bread dough i use! ) .
i" binge cook" mostly, too many years as a caterer, so next week 's plan is chili, shredded pork taco meat, shredded chicken taco meat and marinara meatballs(alex, i hid the dang mustard) . then i'll assemble burritos for the freezer, since i scored 2 packages of giant tortillas.

Archivist · March 29, 2020, 08:11:40 PM

Man, these pics are ridiculous! It shows me just how boring and unvaried my diet is, even outside of self isolation. I rotate across brown rice as a base, and cook some kind of chicken or fish. There's leftover pizza, there's chopped sausages, the occasional casserole, lots of toasted cheese sandwiches, bags of frozen agnolotti or ravioli. No seasoning or condiments like herbs or onion. Your diet is like some kind of homestyle restaurant. I just don't have the patience or motivation to make your variety of foods.

claws · March 29, 2020, 11:47:49 PM

@chef

I would LOVE to see pics of your cooking. It all sounds so damn delicious!

@Archivist

I like to keep my meals simple but varied if possible. The easiest one I made is dump cake. All you need is a can of fruit or a can of pie filling, a bag of cake mix of your choice, and some sliced butter. That's it. Ever since I discovered Hummus with Spicy Beef it has become a favorite. I use store bought Hummus (I also make my own sometimes) and fry the ground beef. The important thing here are the (mostly dry) spices. I love the fact that cinnamon goes into the beef. It elevates this dish to a whole new level. The tomatoes that go on top are marinated in freshly squeezed lemon only, with parsley and a sprinkle of salt.

For quick meals I like using a pouch of microwave rice and mix it with canned fish (in oil or tomato sauce) and some kind of topping be it fresh herbs, toasted bread crumbs, croutons or whatnot. Very simple.

Short cuts in cooking are welcomed. I used two jars of ready made pasta sauce for my lasagna. Sometimes I like to go meatless so I made chili but used quinoa instead of meat.

If you have the time check youtube for quick and easy to do meal videos. Also, stepping out the food comfort zone will give you endless varieties of amazing cuisine.

chefzombie · March 30, 2020, 01:25:08 AM

oh my..thank you claws! i cook down home midwestern& new england comfort food at home, no comparison to the beautiful stuff you showed us! i do plan to get a new camera, since i can NOT figure out this phone camera, with luck y'all can help me figure out how to get pics here in a couple of months. i do still make "pretty" food for an occasional catering job, you'll like those pics, lol!

RCMerchant · March 30, 2020, 02:53:32 AM

I cook everynight. I did for my children; I do for Tiana. Last night was simple Sloppy Joes and fried potatoes and onions. And Kool-Aid.

Rev. Powell · March 30, 2020, 06:33:20 PM

Bagged ravioli with store-bought sauce. Barely worth the effort of uploading the picture.

I sometimes cook nice meals, but only for groups. With the pseudo-quarantine in place, there's no need for that.

My next halfway major cooking project will be brownies.

Archivist · March 30, 2020, 07:29:30 PM

Quote from: claws on March 29, 2020, 11:47:49 PM
@chef

I would LOVE to see pics of your cooking. It all sounds so damn delicious!

@Archivist

I like to keep my meals simple but varied if possible. The easiest one I made is dump cake. All you need is a can of fruit or a can of pie filling, a bag of cake mix of your choice, and some sliced butter. That's it. Ever since I discovered Hummus with Spicy Beef it has become a favorite. I use store bought Hummus (I also make my own sometimes) and fry the ground beef. The important thing here are the (mostly dry) spices. I love the fact that cinnamon goes into the beef. It elevates this dish to a whole new level. The tomatoes that go on top are marinated in freshly squeezed lemon only, with parsley and a sprinkle of salt.

For quick meals I like using a pouch of microwave rice and mix it with canned fish (in oil or tomato sauce) and some kind of topping be it fresh herbs, toasted bread crumbs, croutons or whatnot. Very simple.

Short cuts in cooking are welcomed. I used two jars of ready made pasta sauce for my lasagna. Sometimes I like to go meatless so I made chili but used quinoa instead of meat.

If you have the time check youtube for quick and easy to do meal videos. Also, stepping out the food comfort zone will give you endless varieties of amazing cuisine.

Chefzombie is one mean recipe machine. You guys should spend some time talking food.

I love your suggestions for quick and easy meals. I'm a big fan of canned fish for protein and taste, and using croutons or herbs sounds easy. I'll often dump a can of Mexican flavoured tuna into a bowl of spinach and ricotta agnolotti. Do you have a recipe for hummus with spicy beef? I'm a big fan of hummus, although I mostly eat it as a dip, or as a sauce in kebabs.

One of my favourite indulgences is soft tasty Red Square cheese from Tasmania with seeded lavosh crackers. The cheese itself is surprisingly expensive, but not exorbitant. the seeded lavosh crackers give it a bit of extra interest, as opposed to plain water crackers. Aw man, now I want to brave the outside and get some cheese...

claws · March 31, 2020, 09:42:56 AM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on March 30, 2020, 06:33:20 PM

Bagged ravioli with store-bought sauce. Barely worth the effort of uploading the picture.

I sometimes cook nice meals, but only for groups. With the pseudo-quarantine in place, there's no need for that.

My next halfway major cooking project will be brownies.

Totally worth it. It's not like I always cook from scratch. I've done the bagged ravioli and store bought sauce many times. Sometimes I'll add mozzarella, parm and a spritz of olive oil and give it a good bake in the oven. A perfect yet easy and very satisfying meal.

@Arch

There are variations of Hummus with Spicy Beef depending on region. If I'm not mistaken it originated from Lebanon. Some use a finely diced onion but not always, and minced garlic (2 cloves) heated in a pan with olive oil. In goes about 1 lbs of ground beef. You don't want to fry it too crumbly, there should be some chunky ground beef pieces. Spices that go in are usually 1/2 teaspoon: cumin, ground coriander, oregano, cayenne or chili, pepper, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, (smoked) paprika, allspice. Some regions add tomato paste, chopped parsley, cilantro, mint. Others add about a tablespoon of beef stock powder. The hummus should be spread out on a plate (or the insides of a bowl), then the beef and the lemon-tomato "salad" on top. A sprinkle of pine nuts on the beef isn't uncommon.

Archivist · March 31, 2020, 07:25:04 PM

Quote from: claws on March 31, 2020, 09:42:56 AM
@Arch

There are variations of Hummus with Spicy Beef depending on region. If I'm not mistaken it originated from Lebanon. Some use a finely diced onion but not always, and minced garlic (2 cloves) heated in a pan with olive oil. In goes about 1 lbs of ground beef. You don't want to fry it too crumbly, there should be some chunky ground beef pieces. Spices that go in are usually 1/2 teaspoon: cumin, ground coriander, oregano, cayenne or chili, pepper, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, (smoked) paprika, allspice. Some regions add tomato paste, chopped parsley, cilantro, mint. Others add about a tablespoon of beef stock powder. The hummus should be spread out on a plate (or the insides of a bowl), then the beef and the lemon-tomato "salad" on top. A sprinkle of pine nuts on the beef isn't uncommon.

I wish I could give you karma. This sounds amazing. This also sounds like a lot of spices! Half a teaspoon each of all of those? Heck. I don't have half of those.

chefzombie · March 31, 2020, 11:36:43 PM

thank you, arc! i DO tend to get into recipe mode on occasion, lol! next batch at my place is likely to be this weekend, since i'm doing some rather successful experiments with stuff i won't eat, but others will, lol!

Rev. Powell · April 02, 2020, 12:16:25 PM

Enough calories in this whiskey sour to count as a meal.

chefzombie · April 02, 2020, 01:58:43 PM

arc, there's a couple of ebay sellers who sell " spice kits" to order, i go that route for certain things because i wouldn't use up a whole jar of a spice, like turmeric . i use a mix of turmeric and cinnamon to simulate saffron flavor because it's SO expensive!
claws, what kind of bun is that in picture one, with the brats? i use canned marinara as a base for my own sauce now, i don't have the room to do from scratch sauces anymore. i'm not unhappy about that, lol, although i DO miss my from scratch BBQ sauce.
rev, a mutual friend of mine and alex's told me about a drink he likes called "long vodka", would you like the ingredient list?