Share Recipes for Those Spending Time Cooking

The Quarantine Zone
1

So I’m spending some of this enforced home time baking.

I dug up an old recipe for meringues that I hadn’t made in maybe 10 years.

3 large egg whites (or 4 medium), at room temperature (don’t use egg whites from a carton)

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (if you don’t have peppermint on hand, try vanilla)

green food coloring

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup granulated sugar (baker’s sugar if you have it-- ie, superfine)

chocolate chips
cupcake tins, if you have them

stand mixer

pastry bag with star attachment
Preheat oven to 200’F

Fit stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip egg whites, peppermint, 2 drops of green food coloring, if you want, and cream of tartar. Beat until you have soft peaks with a spatula. Add the sugar, slowly, a tbsp or so at a time. Once all of the sugar has been added, beat for an additional 5 minutes. The egg whites should be stiff but not dry.

Spray a cookie sheet with spray oil, or the cupcake tins, or use parchment paper on the cookie sheets. Drop 6-10 chocolate chips in piles 2 inches apart, or at the bottom of each cupcake spot.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star attachment (or another, really-- I guess it doesn’t matter). Pipe 2" meringues onto each pile of chocolate chips.

Bake 45 minutes. Turn off oven, but leave in oven for 30 more minutes. Let cool completely before storing.
I have a really good recipe for sandwich bread, but it requires having yeast on hand. I’ll post it if anyone wants. I make all our bread.

I have a really good recipe for bagels. They aren’t as good as bagels from NYC, but they are, IMO, the best bagels in Indianapolis. My aunt used this recipe when we lived in NYC, and then, they were absolutely the best bagels anywhere. They require having some things like high gluten flour, yeast, and barley malt. But I’ll post it if people want. This is the perfect time for making bagels.

2

Oooh, I like this. I have 12 egg whites in the freezer from a creme brulee binge a few weeks ago that I’ve been trying to decide what to do with. Meringue cookies sound like a far better pace yourself dessert than the angelfood cake I was contemplating.

3

Spent my day making three large pots of spaghetti sauce, as there’s heaps of pasta in our pantry.

I also have plans to make pulled pork, (I have a large pork shoulder in my freezer!), a meat loaf, banana bread and eventually baguette! (When/if we run out of bread!)

4

All week I have been posting instructions for making your own sourdough starter without yeast. I think a lot of people are about to learn to bake their own bread and may not have yeast in the house.

5

This is a bread that my mother liked to make, and now it’s a comfort food for me. I think she got it from some “ladies magazine” in the 60s. It’s wonderfully fragrant and makes the best toast ever if it survives being eaten while still warm from the oven. I would activate the yeast prior to adding it to the other ingredients.

Herb-Parmesan Bread

This is batter bread, so it doesn’t require kneading, just thorough mixing of ingredients.

4 ¼ cups sifted flour
2 pkg. active dry yeast (check date)
2 TBSP sugar
2 TSP salt
1½ TBSP dried oregano leaves
½ cup plus 1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese (or combine with Romano or Asiago)
2 cups warm water (110 deg.F)
2 TBSP softened butter

In a mixing bowl, place three cups of the flour. Add salt, yeast, sugar, and oregano and mix on low speed or by hand until blended. Check the temperature of the water with a thermometer. This is critical for the yeast to properly activate. Add the water and softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Continue beating for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth. Add the rest of the flour gradually, either beating in by hand or with mixer at low speed. The batter should not be too wet. If it is, add a bit more sifted flour, or you’ll end up with a dense product.

Cover the bowl and let rise in warm place for about 45 minutes until double in bulk. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Beat the dough down for about 30 seconds, then transfer to a well-greased 2-quart casserole dish.

Sprinkle the remaining TBSP of cheese over the top of the bread and bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Turn out immediately onto a wire rack. It helps to run a table knife around the dish to break the loaf loose before attempting to turn it out onto the rack. Otherwise, part of it may remain in the dish.

6

My 14 year old son made this for us last night:

We couldn’t find steak at the store, but they did have some sort of beef strip things and it worked great.

He accompanied it with these potatoes:

And a salad! Practically like eating at a restaurant!

7

I’m not a good cook but I’d like to be.

When I make spaghetti, I find if I melt cubed velveeta into the sauce and then add olive oil to the noodles after they’ve been drained it tastes a decent amount better.

8

Here’s what I’m having for dinner tonight:

Pad Kee Mao
(Makes 4 servings)

INGREDIENTS

1 (14-ounce) package wide rice noodles
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 limes)
1-2 TB Sambal Oelek, or to taste (can substitute jalapeño peppers or even Sriracha sauce)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (can use one onion instead)
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 pound ground chicken
2 medium red or green bell peppers, thinly sliced
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Place noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for about 15 minutes, until loose and pliable but not soft; drain and set aside. Meanwhile, combine oyster sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and Sambal Oelek in a medium nonreactive bowl, mix well, and set aside.

  2. Heat oil in a large (12-inch) wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Once heated, add shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until softened but not brown. Add ground chicken and break into small pieces. Cook until chicken is white and almost cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add bell peppers and stir-fry just until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. If using jalapeño peppers, add them along with the bell peppers.

  3. Push chicken mixture to one side of the pan and add eggs to the center. Scramble with a spatula until eggs are set and don’t run, about 1 minute. Push eggs to the side and add reserved sauce mixture. Once the sauce is boiling, add the drained noodles and toss to coat. Remove from heat, add basil, and toss to combine; serve immediately.

9

This is an outstanding and simple dish that I got from somewhere or other. I just use spaghetti noodles:

Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles

INGREDIENTS
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 lb. ground pork, divided
• 1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into thin matchsticks or finely chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 sprigs basil, plus more for serving
• ⅓ cup hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup unsweetened rice vinegar
• 1½ lb. fresh ramen noodles or 16 oz. dried spaghetti
• Kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
RECIPE PREPARATION
• Heat oil in a large wide heavy pot over medium-high. Add half of pork to pot, breaking apart into 6–8 large chunks with a wooden spoon. Cook, undisturbed, until well browned underneath, about 5 minutes. Turn pieces and continue to cook, turning occasionally, until pork is browned on 2–3 sides, about 5 minutes longer. Add ginger, garlic, sugar, and remaining pork to pot and cook, breaking up pork into small clumps, until meat is nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Add tomato paste and 2 basil sprigs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until paste darkens, about 2 minutes. Add chili paste, soy sauce, vinegar, and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened and flavors have melded, 30–45 minutes.
• Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until 1 minute short of al dente. Add to pot with sauce along with butter and a splash of pasta cooking liquid. Simmer, tossing occasionally, until sauce begins to cling to noodles, about 1 minute. Pluck out basil sprigs.
• Divide noodles among plates. Top with torn basil.

10

I love recipes like that, Chefguy. :slight_smile: Thanks for sharing it.

11

Due to some unexpected expenses over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting creative with food on hand. We have plenty, and access to my mom’s overstuffed pantry, and payday next week, but I’m playing Chopped! Home Edition right now, to limit expenses.

Anyway, I fixed a soup tonight that will probably remain in rotation, because I found a package of cocktail weenies in the freezer.

Chopped up the smokies, browned a little, added
1 can chili-ready diced tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel type tomatoes and chilis
2 cans black beans
1 can refried beans (my go-to for thickening soups and chili if it’s too hot or too late for a long simmer.)
About a cup of water.

Dump and heat. Could easily have gone in the Crock-Pot, but dinner time sneaked up on me, because my brother called and talked for about an hour.) Definitely not chili, but chili-adjacent.

Served with quesadillas, since I needed to use up a slightly stale pack of burritos.