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S.I.P./Quarantine Cooking

Well, we are all in a mess, so lets have some fun and learn a few things along the way!  First and foremost might be that...you can make a burrito at home!!!  That's a bit facetious talking to this crowd here on THP, who have some of the maddest cooking skills on the interwhebz. 
 
SO, lets post what we are cooking at home, what is made from the pantry, what was out of but substituted, all basic cooking skills.....
 
I'll get it started!
 
A couple days ago, talking with my son who is now 21 and living on his own for the last 2 years, he said..."I gotta go, Mom, the roasted chicken is done.  We're gonna eat dinner now."  :sniff:  AWW!!!!  I'm a happy mom.....
 
 Here's what we did for family entertainment last weekend.  We rented Milo and Otis...for the DOG to watch!!!
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what's in the meat drawer- pork chops
Pantry- wild rice (doctored up majorly!)
Breading with pantry crackers
tomatoes (cuz that was the best FRESH veg I could come up with.)
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I didn't have Panko, so I blitzed some Mary's pepper crackers in the food processor with some flour,  added some spices and pepper powders, dredged the chops in seasoned egg/milk wash and then cracker crumbs.  Pan Fry in cast iron skillet with a bit of oil until golden brown and done.
 
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Rice- Saute rice mix in some butter (ala Rice-A-Roni) until toasty nutty done.  Add water and chicken base/boullion, cook until done.  Key notes!  Use broth as the cooking liquid and saute the rice mix before with butter!  There are lots of quinoa, rice mixes....just don't cook with plain water.  Saute in olive oil/butter or not,  or not, but definitely use seasoning in the water. 
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Looks kind of blah, but was really yummy!
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next up... Pork, shrimp, LO wild rice-vs-white rice, beans........and andoulle...
 
share what you got cooking.  Might make this into a competition of who had the best cooking Hack, or best out of nothing dish, to be awarded when all of this shite is over.
 
and my husband has developed a strange affinity for watching musicals.
 
Paint Your Wagon
Oklahoma
Dirty Dancing (OK...that one's mine... :lol:)
 
 
I'm queuing up
Pirates of Penzance,
Showboat
South Pacific...
 
and Floyd's final episodes.....
 
We have a good butcher at Hanks Market and they have been very accomodating for cuts in the past. I have not seen these thin cut ribs there before. I will definitely ask for this cut if it works out for cooking.

Freezing the cuts in marinade totally makes sense. We talk about how freezing peppers breaks the cells, so the same thing should apply to freezing meats in a marinade.


I avoid driving over the pass as much as possible. Some things...like renewing a CCP have to be done in person. Plus side is finding all the wierd at this IGA market.

I chose not to go to the bigger Safeway store....which had premium steaks at $19/# when there a couple weeks ago. Yikes! Got New York steaks at the market today for $10/#...

The butcher asked if i wanted to pick the steaks, i said, You pick 'em....
:)
 
It is just short ribs , cross-sliced thin on the band saw. It always gives me the creeps watching a butcher use the band saw to do it though. They get their fingers so close. Ackk.
 
If this was from Douro valley in Portugal it would probably cost 5 x as much. A very intense dark fruit forward version inspired by a ruby port. At 18% it really isn't meant to be drunk by the large wineglass full , but at family gatherings my sister and I will kill one of these 500ml bottles with a glass each .

I guess we are alcohol enthusiasts as well. :Rofl:
 
TB, I've never quoted you. I'd like to change my siggy to:
texas blues said:
Fortified wine?
 
As a fishing guide in Alaska.
 
We'd fortify red wine with vodka.
 
Because we couldn't get Port.
 
But we weren't drunks.
 
We were alcohol enthusiasts.
 
 
Fortify the one you're with.
 
We weren't drunks.- We were alcohol enthusiasts.
 
:rofl: you guys crack me up! :rofl:
 
Kalbi beef ribs-
 
'Aight... yesterday, the ribs were put in the marinade overnight.\
tamari, garlic, sugar, sesame oil and fire sesame oil, scallions
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Our LP gas bottle is almost empty, so it can only fuel one burner.  Not enough pressure for more than that.  We tried one piece to make sure it was even worth cooking the rest of it.
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The taste was pretty good, but all the pieces were gristly.  I cooked down the LO marinade for sauce over the rice.  I'll keep this one in the recipe options, hopefully another section of ribs won't be as chewy.  But, hey, the dog liked the scrap bits!.  :lol:
 
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Thanks for the suggestion, TB... 
 
Edit-
 
 
Today was 'one of those days...'   Yesterday I spent 8 hours working on taxes.  Yea, I'm one of those last minute filers.  That alone is enough to put me in a bad mood.  OK, whatever, today is a new day!
 
We are out of bread.  Not gonna drive 10 miles to the store for a loaf of bread, let's just make some!
 
Looking for yeast, I couldn't find any in the usual drawer.  I did find this 20-ish year old packet of stuff for making bread machine sourdough.  Hmm, well, let's give it a try.  Yea, NO!  It didn't smell good at all!
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OH! I remembered I have some yeast packets in a small freezer along with a lot of product used for sauces and stuff out in the garage!  :woohoo: !!!
 
I opened the freezer and...wtf???  everything was HOT!  as in, not at ambient air temperature, but really warm to the touch, and soft, and moldy, and....ruined!   probably 150 pounds of peppers, smoked peppers, ginger, garlic, roasted garlic, and other expensive and not readily available stuff.   And no yeast....
 
Add that to the 10 gallons of pickled pepper medley I lost a couple weeks ago when the refer went out...
:tear:
 
Then John reminded me we have some yeast in our brewing supplies! 
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https://gatherforbread.com/easy-perfect-yeast-bread/

MUCH BETTER!
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I'm still not done with taxes, but at least spirits have been raised.  
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(get it?  ;)  )  :lol:
 
That October extension deadline is approaching :lol: same boat! ;)
 
Funny how we put it off even with extensions, lol.
 
yea, the extension...we did make a big deposit in January, but not sure if it's enough.  I wish I were a worse business person, then maybe I could also pay $750 in taxes....
 
 
I do have a really yummy smelling soup on the stove right now to go with that fresh baked bread.  It's smelling sooo good right now!  Pics soon~
 
Ground beef that was defrosted yesterday and was supposed to be in yesterday's spaghetti sauce.  We just went with noodles and sauce, so today was Hamburger Soup!
 
Pound of beef, carrots, celery, dry onion and dry garlic, beef soup base, baby tri-color potatoes, Bay Leaves!, other stuff.....
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and fresh baked bread!
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I know, soup looks pretty bad on the interwheb posts, but Man, it tastes Good!!!!
 
 
 
 
Well, it looks like we are headed backwards in the covid-19 fight.  Our state just went back to Phase 2 status, and there's talk of going back to lockdown. 
 
We have been living like we are in Phase 1-2 for this whole time.  I can't remember the last time John went to town.  I stop at the grocery store on the way home from work once a week...maybe twice3 if I need to re-wine.
 
It's been a while since any posting, so I thought I'd share some of the recent hits...and misses...with y'all.
 
First up a couple random picture.
Seen recently at semi-local grocery store...
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In July, I was bit on the hand by a feral stray cat (trying to rescue it out of a tree) which damaged a tendon.  My long finger...(as the docs and therapist call it)... was locked in this position after surgery.  I didn't get any therapy or instructions after the surgery.  Luckily, ac ouple weeks ago, I found a local hand therapy specialist and there is good progress.  Even so, when trying to grip a knife the propery way, I can't get a tight hold on the knife, so I have to put the pointer finger out.  (Don't even think about bringing your red sharpie near me, Chef Anne Burrell!!!)
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SNACKS!
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