Lunch today was my Sneaky Mac 'n' Cheese, which everyone loves!
This is a super flexible recipe that is delicious and chock full o' veg!
1 cauliflower 1/2 bag of baby carrots or however many are left in the bag 2 garlic cloves 1 slice of bacon that was leftover in the package a few ounces of whatever cheese is in the fridge
This is totally a #MakeDo recipe, but the key ingredient is cauliflower. I had 1 slice of bacon leftover from wrapping asparagus so I cooked that and tossed it in my blender. Then I boiled the cauliflower, carrots and garlic in a big pot of salted water. Scoop out the veggies and place in your blender with the bacon and blend. If you have some chicken bouillon toss that in. Next cook your pasta in the still boiling water and put a cup or so of the pasta water into your blender with the veggies. Grate up whatever cheese is in the fridge, I had about 4 ounces of cheddar left. Perfect. Blend it all again and once pasta is cooked drain and mix in your sauce.
So apparently it's winter again and I therefor made Avgolemono, Greek Lemon & Egg soup. I couldn't find any orzo in the cupboard so I used rice, and fresh dill was replaced by green onion and yeah, i just forgot to slice the fresh lemons for garnish, but I did double the amount of lemon juice so, plenty lemony. The fun part is whisking the eggs and lemon juice til frothy then tempering (slowly adding in hot liquid so the eggs don't curdle) before adding into the soup to thicken and flavor.
Bacon wrapped asparagus means everyone will eat their veggies too! Bon appetit!
BTW, like my bowl? It's Calamityware, a perfect vessel for all your Quarantine Cooking needs.
4-16-20
Quarantine Baking: Make Do With What You've Got
What do you do when you have 2 overripe bananas and a recipe that calls for 3? Make an excellent banana zucchini bread of course! I grabbed a banana sized zucchini out of the fridge, shredded it with my cheese grater, then proceeded with the recipe.
I've been using this recipe from The Kitchn and it's turns out great every time.
#ThisCountsasVegetables
4-12-20
Quarantine Cooking: Amazing Sauce
This sauce lives up to it's name. It is easy, delicious and versatile and adds depth and spice to almost anything! I put it in sandwiches, on eggs, mixed with sour cream for a perfect dip, etc.
1 lb jalapenos 1/2 medium onion quartered 2-3 cloves garlic oil salt
Chop the tops (or not) off the jalapenos, drizzle jalapenos and onion with oil and salt, roast for 30 mins at 350oF.
Toss roasted vegetables and raw garlic in your blender or food processor (I ❤ my Blendtec so much) sprinkle with a pinch of xanthan gum if you have it (this helps emulsify the sauce, but isn't strictly necessary). While blending, pop top of lid off and slowly drizzle in oil. I used canola oil which I had earlier attempted to turn into Toum (Tunisian garlic sauce) but it failed spectacularly to emulsify and now it's just very garlicky oil, which worked great for this recipe. Blend until very smooth. While sauce is hot it will be SPICY, but cooled down in fridge it mellows considerably. If you don't like it so spicy you can deseed some or all of the jalapenos, but if you deseed all of them it will not be spicy AT ALL. Up to you.
Once you're done pour your Amazing Sauce into a jar, I used a marinara sauce jar from last week. #ReduceReuseRecycle
I hope you try this super easy and delicious on everything sauce!
4-10-20
Quarantine Cocktail no. Who's Keeping Count
Here's to another week of social distancing everyone! Who needs a drink?
One of my wonderful guests had recently sent me some syrup from her local farmer's market and I've been having so much fun experimenting with it! Jo Snow Syrups in Chicago make amazing syrups and flavor drops to flavor snow cones, cocktails, sodas, you name it. It's definitely upped my cocktail game.
Here's my latest drink creation, I thought it turned out pretty nicely. Cheers!
2 oz coconut white rum 1 oz Jo Snow Syrups pineapple coconut syrup 2 oz pineapple juice 2 oz coconut LaCroix Water 1 the glass of Shiraz that you forgot you already poured for yourself before you decided you needed a cocktail
