What Kind Of Meals Are You Guys Making Now?

[ultimatebob]

My wife is still cooking the Everyplate dinners that we get every week. They've still been showing up on our doorstep like clockwork, thankfully.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Also if you want to take homemade tortillas to the next level, use lard!

Homemade Flour Tortillas Done Right

These light, delicious homemade flour tortillas have only four ingredients and come in at just under eight cents each. So good!

www.mexicanplease.com

I get my leaf lard online from Fannie & Flo. They sell it in 1-pound vac-sealed packs that you can chuck straight into the freezer for long-term storage:

https://fannieandflo.net/products/1-pound-leaf-lard

On a tangent, it's not often that I DON'T use my Instant Pot, but this recipe is the bomb dot com:

Carnitas

Carnitas are bite-sized pieces of pork cooked low & slow in the oven until tender, then caramelized until crispy on the outside.

www.afamilyfeast.com

One of the best things I've EVER put in my mouth! To get the bacon fat, just cook up some bacon in the oven (rimmed baking sheet + aluminum foil + cookie cooling rack + lay bacon side-by-side + cook for ~45 minutes starting in a cold oven at 350F, then enjoy the bacon & filter the grease through a sieve into a jar).

I make my own dough with lard and nixtamal for tamales. I have about 20 lbs of yellow dent corn left.

 

[ponyo]

breakfast this morning: tuna gimbap
lunch/dinner: smoked spare ribs and pulled pork. Currently in the smoker.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

We had hot wings last night. Having groceries delivered. It costs a whole $2.50 flat rate. I love my small town.

 

[herm0016]

we worked for a week or so to perfect the french omelette. with a little cheese in there? amazing.

we are having shakshuka about once a week. tomato sauce with eggs poached in it, some middle eastern spices. lots of baking with fun flours. we made sever loaves of sourdough, and some really good bagels. our bagels lacked a bit of tooth, but were way better than most store bought in a bag kind. we will work on that further this weekend.

Kaido, you need a place that has a garden and you can have chickens. we have as many eggs as we can eat, and still give a dozen or so a week to someone else. we are still eating our squash and tomatoes from last season. spaghetti squash and acorn in the celler are doing well still. should last us till we start getting stuff from the new plants, we have about 100 seedlings to go in the ground as soon as the frost is past us. if we do it well, I think we could supply ourselves with all the food we need for the entire summer and fall. a few trips to the bison guy and a local butcher and we would be pretty well set.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Mostly same stuff as usual. Maybe a bit more frozen stuff. Fish sticks, chicken strips, steamed frozen veggies etc.

I got stuff to make a spaghetti sauce too, need to do that soon. This could act as a good time to force myself to learn more recipes but really that involves going to the grocery store more so I'm best to stick with what I have.

 

[Muse]

Not really different from before. Pretty much not eating unless I'm really hungry. So, am not putting on weight.

I was (last 2 weeks) running up and down my back staircase 30x in a row (with heart rate monitor strapped to my chest and cell phone in hand), twice-a-day. Heart rate great.... But pushed myself too hard. A few days ago had some pain in my right leg. Ignored that next day, felt OK after warming up, but the next day... Oh oh, real sore and I am having pretty serious soreness a lot of the time. Hope it heals up quick, but it's not particularly.

 

[Muse]

we are having shakshuka about once a week. tomato sauce with eggs poached in it, some middle eastern spices. lots of baking with fun flours. we made sever loaves of sourdough, and some really good bagels. our bagels lacked a bit of tooth, but were way better than most store bought in a bag kind. we will work on that further this weekend.

On the web: "Boil for 1 minute, flip them over, and boil for another 1 minute. For very chewy bagels, boil for 2 minutes per side. As the bagels finish cooking, lift them out with the skimmer and set them on the baking sheet with the cornmeal or semolina, top side up"

I figure to make a batch of bagels (a dozen) tomorrow. I used to make them quite a bit, but have in recent times bought them from mostly Costco, sometimes Safeway (but gave up on Safeway, they were lately too-long-proofed and soft). However, with my stay at home thing going on, I don't figure to set foot in Costco for a long time, am down to my last Costco bagel, which I'll eat tomorrow.

To put tooth in your bagels, yes. Well, I used to call Costco bagels "rolls with holes," because that's really what they were. But almost a year ago my local Costco started making them quite differently. They put a sticker on the bag saying they were "water boiled." That's a fundamental characteristic of a genuine bagel.

Here's an outline of what I do in making bagels:

Make the dough (I used to do this with a kneading board, bowl, etc. but in recent years I use a bread machine). My dough is nothing fancy, I use white flour, if I have it bread flour... you want it to be a harder flour, not cake flour.

Divide into 12 pieces (I have a kitchen scale that allows me to do this with precision and ease).

Form each piece into the bagel shape. This is something of an art. Nowadays they use machines to do this in the shops but a few decades ago I was standing in front of a bagel shop looking through the window and saw a woman forming bagels by hand. Naturally, since she did this as part of her job, she was really good at this... and quick! I totally learned how to form a bagel from that experience. Basically, she rolled out each ball to a length... I'd guess about 7 inches (it's easier to do this after the balls of dough have sat for a few minutes so that the proteins that give the dough elasticity have had time to relax). Then she wrapped the dough around the outside of her fingers of one hand and tucked the ends under her palm and overlapped the ends by an inch or so and rolled her hand up and back 3-4 times to get the ends to stick together, then placed the formed ring onto the proofing sheet. The proofing sheet should have something on it to keep the dough from sticking, maybe a thin layer of flour, possibly some corn meal even. After all bagels are formed (for me, a dozen), set the sheet aside (can be in a warm spot if you feel there's a need for them to rise a bit). Meantime, I have a couple of large covered pots of water simmering (maybe 2 inches of water in each), big enough pots to have 4 bagels floating at a time. Carefully place 4 bagels in one of the pots, then 4 bagels in the other, covering. After a minute or two of simmering in covered pot, flip each with slotted spoon, and recover the pot. By the time you have the 4 bagels in the 2nd pot, the ones in the first pot are ready to be removed. Remove them one by one with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal (to keep them from sticking in the oven). Proceed thus until all 12 bagels are on the baking sheet. I then sprinkle seeds on top (a mixture of poppy, sesame, sunflower, fennel) and shove the sheet into a hot oven (400F might do well). Bake until browned as you prefer. I usually work some chopped onions into the dough before forming the rings.

 

[herm0016]

@Muse

yes, we boiled them in water and barley malt syrup as it is traditionally done. our shape was good and the bake was great. we plan to kneed more on the next batch to improve the internal structure and let them proof/rest overnight.

 

[Muse]

@Muse

yes, we boiled them in water and barley malt syrup as it is traditionally done. our shape was good and the bake was great. we plan to kneed more on the next batch to improve the internal structure and let them proof/rest overnight.

I wouldn't think a real long proof is necessary, but can't say because I've never done that. Boiling longer will make them tougher but too long and they start to get water logged, which isn't good. Happy medium is what I go for. Not baking too hot will make the exterior tougher, but you don't want them to dry out too much. After cooling I bag and refrigerate. These days I typically slice my bagels horizontally in 3rds, place in microwave for 30 seconds, then remove to toaster oven to brown the spread-out slices.

 

[Herr Kutz]

Here gooes: It's a lot of working making every single meal, but once you're in a routine it isn't all that bad. Even the cleaning gets more efficient. 11 month old is eating pretty much everything we eat (no salads or nuts that he can choke on though). Have not eaten out in over a month now. I guess this a very Californian diet:

Breakfast (made every day):
- Oatmeal with a banana and/or blueberries. We loaded up on so much oatmeal before everyone else started to panic.

Brunch/Lunch Options (made every day):
- Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and onions saute in butter, basil, goat cheese, and some spices. Buttered grilled toast to the side.
- Basic breakfast burritos with potato, egg, and cheese.

Afternoon (made every day):
- Salad with romaine, spinach, kale, orange, walnuts, beets, avocado with an aged vinaigrette dressing.
- Green smoothie with whatever produce may be left or needed to be used.

Dinner Options (made every few days):
- Some kind of a veggie heavy soup with maybe some boiled chicken breast thrown in, lasts 3-4 days.
- Mushroom crepes with nearly the same ingredients as the scrambled eggs, lasts 2 days.
- Chicken or salmon with rice, lasts 2 days.
- Broccoli quinoa casserole, lasts 2 days.
- Loaded baked potatoes, lasts 1 day.

Snacks:
- Oven baked diced sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and basil.
- Grilled toast with almond butter, raw honey, banana, coconut shreds (got this from some hole in the wall place in Santa Barbara)
- Mixed nuts

Other (made whenever we have the supplies):
- Ginger lemon tea made very spicy, with some raw honey to balance it out.

Is there really such a thing as a "California diet"?

 

[shortylickens]

for the first time in years I cooked up a pound of beef and mixed in Manwich.
Put that gloop on a bun, and ate it.
Was not terrible.

 

[ponyo]

Today's lunch/dinner: cherry wood smoked spare ribs and pork shoulder

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Went to Restaurant Depot and bought lots and lots of meat.

Here's the USDA choice boneless strip.

There's 10 1-3/4" steaks and two thinner plus trimming to make two big steak subs.

 

[sdifox]

Instant Pot Taiwanese Braised Pork (古早味台式滷肉飯) | Amy + Jacky

You seriously gotta try this Ultimate Taiwanese Comfort Food - Lu Rou Fan! You'll love this super flavorful melt-in-the-mouth juicy pork - so deliciously satisfying!

www.pressurecookrecipes.com

But I am serving it on noodles. With sesame paste for me.

 

[nutxo]

I cooked my ass off the first week and a half. Now I'm kinda slowing down but I thought today would be a good day for home made chicken noodle with a nice sourdough. Once it warms up we wont be eating soups or stews.

The next 2 days are grilled rib eyes with mini peppers maybe with zucchini in tomatoes or just leftover bread and then blade steaks with rice and spinach. Sunday leftovers

 

[nisryus]

Hmm, Ponyo's prok ribs and pork shoulder look amazing!

Made sweet and sour pork chops tonight

Sweet and Sour Pork Chops, Peking Style

Sweet and sour pork chops, or Peking pork chops, are a bit of an Americanized "Chinese" dish. But that doesn't mean people don't enjoy it! Try our recipe.

thewoksoflife.com

Last night was home made pizza. Tomorrow night will be either meat loaf or sushi (went to Hmart for supplies over the weekend).

 

[Iron Woode]

I made a big batch of spaghetti with sausages and peppers and pasta sauce. I used chicken broth instead of plain old water for more flavour.

Turn out really nice. The Instant Pot is great for pasta.

 

[nutxo]

my fuckin noodles were defective

 

[mopardude87]

Stocked up on canned beans and stuff then got tons of pasta and sauce. If i make 3 pounds of sauce to 2 pound needles i got food for 5 days. I could just dig into the pot and just slop it on a plate and nuke it for a few min. Even best fried in the morning with eggs.

 

[sdifox]

my fuckin noodles were defective

too old?

 

[nutxo]

too old?

No. The store was out of the brand name so I got the store brand. When I make soup I cook it all up and after its done I turn it off and add noodles. The noodles usually cook perfect. This time they just fell the fuck apart.

 

[nutxo]

for the first time in years I cooked up a pound of beef and mixed in Manwich.
Put that gloop on a bun, and ate it.
Was not terrible.

I fucking love sloppy joes. My wife hates the things..

 

[OccamsToothbrush]

I fucking love sloppy joes. My wife hates the things..

I love 'em too, but they have to be spicy. Start with a can of Manwich, add some fried onions, garlic, a little chili powder and they're so much better.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Had beans and wieners for lunch today. Good source of protein, and fibre to make the poops come out cleaner, which means less TP use. It's like the perfect apocalyptic meal. Oh and a piece of sugar pie with ice cream. Gotta have those carbs to put on fat so I can put the heat lower.