Category: Recipes

Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis: Day Four

Photo by Benjamin Ashton on Unsplash Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis: Day Four This is No. Four of this somewhat unusual recipe series, but we recognize it’s been weeks of #stayhome for many people. It’s time for a break. It’s also likely time for a …

Photo by Benjamin Ashton on Unsplash

Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis: Day Four

This  is No. Four of this somewhat unusual recipe series, but we recognize it’s been weeks of #stayhome for many people. It’s time for a break. It’s also likely time for a trip to the grocery store, assuming you haven’t been for a week or more. The good news is your local grocery stores are probably still operating their meat or deli counters, with even more attention to safety and health than ever before.

This is the time to take advantage of the skills of those behind the counter. One of my  favorite things to pick up to bake at home is stuffed pork chops. My store has a bountiful selection of stuffings, already bound up inside a nicely butterflied  chop. Raisin and apple, mushroom and sage, wild rice, even plain—something for just about any taste buds. Choose yours, take it home and bake it, and you are good to go!

Pork Chops

This is a deli-ready dish that will make you feel like you spent hours in prep. Serve it with a side of pork gravy if desired, and something out of the everyday like canned cranberry sauce.

Step 1: Pick up stuffed pork chops from your grocer’s deli counter.

Step 2: Put the chops in a casserole dish, cover it with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes—taking the  foil off for the final 15. You can dress it up by adding canned cherries if you  want.

Step 3: Prepare your  sides—something like cranberry sauce, applesauce, and a green veggie.

Step 5: Serve, add a drink and dessert, and put up your feet while you watch whatever is in your queue.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Stuffed porkchops from the deli/butcher counter
  • Packaged mix or canned gravy mix if desired
  • Canned cherries (usually found with the pie ingredients, but look for the non-jellied kind)
  • Side dishes such as vegetable and fruit

The price point on these is cheaper than you’d think, and they know just how to do it without the pork chops falling apart—trust them. Of course, you can always do the alternative of buying butterfly chops and stuffing them with your own creation (or packaged, such as StoveTop).

Be sure to plan ahead so you can limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!

 

Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis: Day Three

Shortcut cooking at its best!

We don’t live on baked goods alone, but apparently baking has a new fascination. People who have never made bread before are trying it, putting packaged yeast in the endangered column. Cinnamon rolls, banana bread, even hot cross buns have all crossed my feed from everyday cooks.

Perhaps it’s a primordial need for carbs, and bread feels more virtuous than baking cookies. However, not everyone has the baking gene, and the desire for something comforting and yeasty doesn’t necessarily have to be fulfilled with hours spent waiting for something to rise before  baking.

Enter biscuits and gravy. My grandmother can be credited (or blamed) with my love for this  dish. She’d roll out fresh biscuits, fry up the sausage, and use the remaining grease to make the most delectable gravy my childhood heart could imagine. She’d bring it all to the table with flour smudged up her forearms and, often, in her hair. The smell throughout the house was tantalizing, and just the memory makes me salivate just a little.

Last year we had a big family event where 16 of us ended up in one house, sharing the cooking and clean up and having a wonderful time, with other family members nearby. At one point I suggested biscuits and gravy, and the next thing I knew we had 26 coming for breakfast. I took the shortcut of open-and-bake biscuits, but did the quick gravy from scratch—and the method below shortens it even more. In our theme of supporting local restaurants while still cooking, try this out on your carb-craving family.

Shortcut Biscuits & Gravy

Sure, you can make biscuits from scratch, or pop open a can (which is my usual go-to shortcut). However, times like these call for a quick drive through your favorite biscuit breakfast place. The easiest thing to do is drive-thru a Brahm’s, if you have one in your  area. Trust me, we’ve tested a huge sample of biscuits and gravy, and while Another Broken Egg Café has the best, Brahm’s is a good back up  found in more places.

For biscuits alone, though we tend to favor Hardee’s biscuits, but you may have other great choices in your  town. If you aren’t going to take the easiest road  and just pick up the full meal, the following is  about as easy as we can make it!

Step 1: Send someone to pick up the hot biscuits, as many as you need (and don’t fear the leftovers). If they don’t sell the biscuits by themselves, ask for them deconstructed. OR, pop open and bake a tube of Grands.

Step 2: Meanwhile, fry up one tube of Jimmy Dean regular/mild sausage in a frying pan.

Step 3: Add ¼ cup flour to the cooked sausage.

Step 4: Add 2 ½ cups whole milk and stir quickly.

Step 5: Add a little salt and a LOT of black pepper.

Step 6: Serve with coffee and juice. Leftovers, if any, microwave just fine.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Grands Homestyle biscuits (if baking at home)
  • Jimmy Dean sausage
  • Flour
  • Milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • Coffee
  • Choice of juice

As always, be sure to plan ahead and limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!

 

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

 

Cooking in a COVID Crisis: Day Two

If you are tired of cooking or running out of recipes here’s day two of our solution, complete with an easy recipe for your family during this crisis.

Photo of Chick-fil-A

This  is Day Two of our somewhat random series of recipes and other food ideas that might take the pressure off cooking right now. After all, you are likely working from home, fitting in classroom lesson oversight, keeping things reasonably clean and not really sure how many more meals you can make without help. These recipes are specifically designed to rely on a little outside help—giving you the benefit of helping local restaurants AND staying home.

Mom’s Chicken & Stuffing

This is a recipe that came from my much-loved mother-in-law, with a shortcut or two from her version. Part casserole, part fancy dish, it is perfect for everyday or company (not that you are having any company, but you know what I mean). You can prepare it at any point when you need a break throughout the day, or even the night before, and bake it just before ready  to eat.

Step 1: Order chicken strips or nuggets from your favorite drive-through or delivery spot. We like Chick-fil-A (who doesn’t) and are also fans of Slim Chickens, if you have one of those in your area. Get enough to fill the bottom of your casserole dish with one layer.

Step 2: Cover the chicken with one can of Cream of Mushroom soup mixed with half a can of water. If you have a large casserole dish, adjust your quantity as needed.

Step 3: Prepare a stuffing mix, such as Stove Top and mound the stuffing over the top of the chicken and soup.

Step 4: When ready to bake, put it in the oven and bake uncovered at 325 degrees for one hour.

Step 4: Add sides such as green beans, canned pears, or a salad.

Step 5: Serve, add a drink and dessert, and pull out a family  board game for the rest of the evening.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Cream of Mushroom soup
  • Stuffing mix, with the butter required to make it
  • Side dishes such as vegetable and fruit

If you prefer to do this the “hard way,” which isn’t that hard, just get some fresh chicken tenders at the grocery store, dip them in a series of flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, and fry until done. Layer these into the bottom of your casserole dish and follow the rest of the instructions from there.

You  can also use a package of herb seasoned bread crumbs, such as Pepperidge Farms, instead of a prepared stuffing. This recipe is so versatile—you can even use different soups, such as Golden Mushroom or Cream of Celery, if your family isn’t into the mushroom flavor.

As always, be sure to plan ahead and limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!