What's Cookin'/Brewin', COVID-19 Edition

[munchmemory]

Seems like a logical time for folks to post any interesting recipes, cooking questions, food/booze news items, and anything else food/alcohol related in the COVID-19 stay-at-home world.

Read yesterday that all purpose flour is getting difficult to find.  Fortunately, I have a decent amount, but running low on "00" flour, which I use for pizza, focaccia and even in cakes.

Anyway, just made a "biga", or starter, for this evening's pizza.  I have some leftover "Bolognese", so will use it as my sauce.

 

[munchmemory]

No matter the disaster, chef José Andrés seems to always be there to feed/assist those most in need.  How has this man not won the Nobel Prize?

[munchmemory]

Lots of folks may have hoarded/impulse bought a ton of bananas.  Now that they're over-ripening, what do you do?  Well, a few years ago, due to a health issue, I was put on a no dairy and gluten diet (mostly off it now, but still keep them to a minimum),  I worked up a simple "cookie" idea as a breakfast/snack option.  Actually had two for breakfast this morning.

Rather than write up my concept, I found this video below a few minutes ago.  Not exactly the same, but similar for sure.  Only differences are that I mash the bananas by hand, mash them to a more liquid consistency, add 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar (I just needed a bit more sweetness), add a half-cup or so of hemp seeds (good protein source available at T-Joe's) to the oats, also a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon (you could use nutmeg or even a small quantity of ground clove), and use chopped dried cherries instead of the chocolate chips.  

Hope you enjoy them.  And if you make the cookies and have leftover, heat them gently the next day to remove some of the gooeyness.

 

[munchmemory]

[RedBeardedSavage]

Alright, I'll bite.

So I'm going to get prison jacked out of this whole quarantine business - bought a bunch of weights right at the start of this a month.

I've got the secret smoothie meal replacement formula: 

• a generous cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• a spillage of heavy cream 
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous scoop of Santa Cruz chunky peanut butter (or any non sugar loaded PB)
• a generous fistful of spinach
• one red apple sliced up (i recommend this contraption )
• five to six ice cubes
• a pinch of salt

Put that all in a blender. If you're daring, throw in a spoonful of mascarpone cheese too. 

[Wonderboy]

8 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

Alright, I'll bite.

So I'm going to get prison jacked out of this whole quarantine business - bought a bunch of weights right at the start of this a month.

I've got the secret smoothie meal replacement formula: 

• a generous cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• a spillage of heavy cream 
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous scoop of Santa Cruz chunky peanut butter (or any non sugar loaded PB)
• a generous fistful of spinach
• one red apple sliced up (i recommend this contraption )
• five to six ice cubes
• a pinch of salt

Put that all in a blender. If you're daring, throw in a spoonful of mascarpone cheese too. 

Throw a treadmill into the blender - you will need it

[munchmemory]

4 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

Alright, I'll bite.

So I'm going to get prison jacked out of this whole quarantine business - bought a bunch of weights right at the start of this a month.

I've got the secret smoothie meal replacement formula: 

• a generous cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• a spillage of heavy cream 
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous scoop of Santa Cruz chunky peanut butter (or any non sugar loaded PB)
• a generous fistful of spinach
• one red apple sliced up (i recommend this contraption )
• five to six ice cubes
• a pinch of salt

Put that all in a blender. If you're daring, throw in a spoonful of mascarpone cheese too. 

Thanks for this.  Sounds awesome.  We have a peanut/tree nut allergy kid, so might swap some organic sun butter for the PB.  I buy this one which is just roasted, organic sunflower seeds.  Nothing else.  Great product.

[RedBeardedSavage]

5 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

Throw a treadmill into the blender - you will need it

I got a rowing machine and a set of weights

[RedBeardedSavage]

6 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Thanks for this.  Sounds awesome.  We have a peanut/tree nut allergy kid, so might swap some organic sun butter for the PB.  I buy this one which is just roasted, organic sunflower seeds.  Nothing else.  Great product.

Will check it out. Thanks.

[Nolder]

Making chili for dinner.

 

[munchmemory]

23 minutes ago, Nolder said:

Making chili for dinner.

 

Mmmmm...  You doing traditional with no beans?  Any fresh scallion and or cilantro going in there?

[munchmemory]

Just pulled the Sicilian out of the oven.  

 

[Wonderboy]

1 hour ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

I got a rowing machine and a set of weights

I have two 10 pound dumbbells, a yoga mat (1 hour yoga per day) and a bike (T0m Shane 25 mile ride program). Will start riding since the weather is warming up. i definately need to get some exercise. Been wasting away on my computer chair. My yoga studio has been closed and i'm gaining weight. Not good.  Heightening immune system is imperative right now which is totally being ignored by media.  

[munchmemory]

1 minute ago, Wonderboy said:

I have two 10 pound dumbbells, a yoga mat (1 hour yoga per day) and a bike (T0m Shane 25 mile ride program). Will start riding since the weather is warming up. i definately need to get some exercise. Been wasting away on my computer chair. My yoga studio has been closed and i'm gaining weight. Not good.  Heightening immune system is imperative right now which is totally being ignored by media.  

Totally agree with your words on the importance of the immune system.  Blowing it tonight with the pizza I made.  But I usually use diet, supplements and exercise to keep inflammation down.

[Wonderboy]

1 hour ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

Alright, I'll bite.

So I'm going to get prison jacked out of this whole quarantine business - bought a bunch of weights right at the start of this a month.

I've got the secret smoothie meal replacement formula: 

• a generous cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• a spillage of heavy cream 
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous scoop of Santa Cruz chunky peanut butter (or any non sugar loaded PB)
• a generous fistful of spinach
• one red apple sliced up (i recommend this contraption )
• five to six ice cubes
• a pinch of salt

Put that all in a blender. If you're daring, throw in a spoonful of mascarpone cheese too. 

Not bad very close to my own concoction. No breakfast and this is LUNCH nothing after this until din din. 

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous fistful of kale 
• half of an apple sliced up 
• five to six ice cubes
• frozen rasberries, blueberries
• just a bit of beet or else it will look like Minnesota's Purple People eaters.

[Wonderboy]

15 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Just pulled the Sicilian out of the oven.  

 

Did Crusher take over your account? 

[Wonderboy]

7 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Totally agree with your words on the importance of the immune system.  Blowing it tonight with the pizza I made.  But I usually use diet, supplements and exercise to keep inflammation down.

It's astonishing the media and politicians and medical experts go on and on and on about the lack of cure, bogus meds and unproven methods regrading covid-19 but none of them focus on a concise approach on how to heighten one's immune system which is really at the forefront of combating this thing. 

[munchmemory]

44 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

Did Crusher take over your account? 

LOL.  Don't dare show him that shot.  He'll cry.

Dude, that thing came out insane.  I had leftover meat sauce and sauteed spinach.  Made a dough and put it together.  My family flipped.  Only issue was that I can't get to my usual deli where I buy fresh mozzarella.  Made due  with Galbani

[munchmemory]

49 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

Not bad very close to my own concoction. No breakfast and this is LUNCH nothing after this until din din. 

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• one serving Naked Whey Protein powder; unflavored or vanilla (just make sure it's not a sugar-loaded powder)
• a generous fistful of kale 
• half of an apple sliced up 
• five to six ice cubes
• frozen rasberries, blueberries
• just a bit of beet or else it will look like Minnesota's Purple People eaters.

Interesting idea with the beets.  Do you roast them or put in raw?  

Also, I always add banana and hemp seed to my shake.  

[The Crimson King]

So MM, already a heck of an impressive guy shows yet another impressive side

 nice

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mrs. C did this tonight:

penne

sauce:

492g of Broccolli Rabe

5 olives, chopped

12g garlic

78g cherry tomatoes

capers

2 TSP sundried tomato sauce

juice of 1/4 lime

olive juice, caper juice

58g fontina cheese

472 calories for half

Came out good because how well the cheese was grated (my job in this endeavor)

 

 

 

 

[Nolder]

1 hour ago, munchmemory said:

Mmmmm...  You doing traditional with no beans?  Any fresh scallion and or cilantro going in there?

I kind of just made it up from watching a few recipes on YouTube.

I put 1 fresh Roma tomato chopped up, 1 green bell pepper, 1 orange bellpepper, 1/2 onion, 3 cloves garlic. That's it for fresh ingredients. I did put a little cilantro but it was dried. And yes I added pinto and kidney beans.

[Wonderboy]

3 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Interesting idea with the beets.  Do you roast them or put in raw?  

Also, I always add banana and hemp seed to my shake.  

raw beet. But just a little. Its a great antioxidant but very powerful and can overwhelm the taste. I used to do bananas also but they are very fattening. Hemp seed is interesting. I forgot to add flax seed to my recipe.

[munchmemory]

2 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

raw beet. But just a little. Its a great antioxidant but very powerful and can overwhelm the taste. I used to do bananas also but they are very fattening. Hemp seed is interesting. I forgot to add flax seed to my recipe.

Thanks.  Will give beets a shot.  I've been eating them since I was a kid.  I usually roast them for lunch or dinner.  Never thought to put them in a shake.

[munchmemory]

6 minutes ago, Nolder said:

I kind of just made it up from watching a few recipes on YouTube.

I put 1 fresh Roma tomato chopped up, 1 green bell pepper, 1 orange bellpepper, 1/2 onion, 3 cloves garlic. That's it for fresh ingredients. I did put a little cilantro but it was dried. And yes I added pinto and kidney beans.

Nice.  

[munchmemory]

2 hours ago, The Crimson King said:

So MM, already a heck of an impressive guy shows yet another impressive side

 nice

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mrs. C did this tonight:

penne

sauce:

492g of Broccolli Rabe

5 olives, chopped

12g garlic

78g cherry tomatoes

capers

2 TSP sundried tomato sauce

juice of 1/4 lime

olive juice, caper juice

58g fontina cheese

472 calories for half

Came out good because how well the cheese was grated (my job in this endeavor)

 

 

 

 

Great dish.  Wow, you guys have the ingredient and calorie levels really laid out well.  Kudos.  Unless I'm baking, I'm never that precise.

 

[Nolder]

2 hours ago, munchmemory said:

Nice.  

Yeah it turned out pretty good. Actually I was a little disappointed because I went light on the spices because I'm kind of a wuss and I was worried it would be too spicy for me (meanwhile my mom tells me she's putting ghost peppers in her chili). Turns out i kind of messed up because it tasted more like a stew than a chili. Again it was good but it lacked the bite you expect from chili. Next time I'm putting more chili powder and more cayenne.

[munchmemory]

9 hours ago, Nolder said:

Yeah it turned out pretty good. Actually I was a little disappointed because I went light on the spices because I'm kind of a wuss and I was worried it would be too spicy for me (meanwhile my mom tells me she's putting ghost peppers in her chili). Turns out i kind of messed up because it tasted more like a stew than a chili. Again it was good but it lacked the bite you expect from chili. Next time I'm putting more chili powder and more cayenne.

Ghost peppers?  Damn, your Mom has me beat by a mile.  Props.

You probably know this already, but add your spices as you sweat your onion and garlic.  Toasting the spices adds to their flavor and depth.  And just start out slow with the chili powder until you find your "comfort zone".  You can always put in  a dash or two later on in the cooking.  I found that adding smoked paprika and a few dashes of liquid smoke adds to the chili's depth without making it too .  

[Nolder]

49 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Ghost peppers?  Damn, your Mom has me beat by a mile.  Props.

You probably know this already, but add your spices as you sweat your onion and garlic.  Toasting the spices adds to their flavor and depth.  And just start out slow with the chili powder until you find your "comfort zone".  You can always put in  a dash or two later on in the cooking.  I found that adding smoked paprika and a few dashes of liquid smoke adds to the chili's depth without making it too .  

Yeah my mom and uncle have always been spice hunters they always try whatever anyone claims is the hottest thing lol.

 

i tried the whole toasting thing. Since I don't really make chili I don't know if it worked or not. And yeah I used paprika but I also put a little crushed chipotle. If you're looking to add smokiness and a little heat chipotle (usually in adobe sauce) is the way to go imo. We love it when we make albondigas soup.

[munchmemory]

1 minute ago, Nolder said:

Yeah my mom and uncle have always been spice hunters they always try whatever anyone claims is the hottest thing lol.

 

i tried the whole toasting thing. Since I don't really make chili I don't know if it worked or not. And yeah I used paprika but I also put a little crushed chipotle. If you're looking to add smokiness and a little heat chipotle (usually in adobe sauce) is the way to go imo. We love it when we make albondigas soup.

Have not used chipotle in adobo in a long time.  Not even sure why not.  Thanks for reminding me.  

[The Crimson King]

12 hours ago, munchmemory said:

Great dish.  Wow, you guys have the ingredient and calorie levels really laid out well.  Kudos.  Unless I'm baking, I'm never that precise.

 

we are counting (insert sad face). Trying to limit to 1200 calories. Doesn't leave much room for wine and martinis (insert really sad face)

at least we're not tempted by going out to eat, THAT'S a killer for the waistline 

[munchmemory]

12 minutes ago, The Crimson King said:

we are counting (insert sad face). Trying to limit to 1200 calories. Doesn't leave much room for wine and martinis (insert really sad face)

at least we're not tempted by going out to eat, THAT'S a killer for the waistline 

Great goal, as it seems inflammation is at least a part of the COVID-19 equation.  And in these times, don't deprive yourself of a little "self medicating".  Just limit it.  And martinis with non-grain vodka like Tito's and others are gluten free.

I usually don't drink any alcohol except for or two on the weekends.  It's mainly for my GERD/EoE, but also for the empty calories and inlammation.  Stress has found me imbibing a little more than that lately.  

[The Crimson King]

9 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Great goal, as it seems inflammation is at least a part of the COVID-19 equation.  And in these times, don't deprive yourself of a little "self medicating".  Just limit it.  And martinis with non-grain vodka like Tito's and others are gluten free.

I usually don't drink any alcohol except for or two on the weekends.  It's mainly for my GERD/EoE, but also for the empty calories and inlammation.  Stress has found me imbibing a little more than that lately.  

BTW: Thin is better than fat with the virus so better put away the Les Paul and put one of the Strats on the stand

Didn't know that about Tito's. Thnx

[munchmemory]

24 minutes ago, The Crimson King said:

BTW: Thin is better than fat with the virus so better put away the Les Paul and put one of the Strats on the stand

Didn't know that about Tito's. Thnx

I messed this up a bit.  All distilled spirits are gluten free, even ones made from grain.  Problem is that some put the mash back into the distillate for flavor which adds gluten.  My ENT doctor (Jonathan Aviv, who is a leading authority on acid reflux) only allows agave or corn based (Tito's) spirits occasionally as they are contain less acid.   Sorry about conflating this.

Here is what the National Celiac Association says about distilled spirits:

Distilled alcohol, even if it is made from a gluten-containing grain, such as wheat, rye or barley, is considered gluten-free. This is because if an alcohol is distilled, proteins from the starting materials that provided the starch or sugar are removed in the distillation process. No protein carries over into the end product (the alcohol). Examples of pure distilled spirits are vodka, gin, whisky, brandy, rum, and tequila. In the case of the elderberry syrup product, the manufacturers identified the grain alcohol as coming from corn – this is, of course, also gluten-free.

The situation is very different for fermented alcohol. Whether a fermented alcohol is considered free of gluten protein depends upon the starting material. Some fermented alcohols are gluten-free (e.g. wine, true hard cider, and labeled gluten-free beer made without barley malt). and some are not gluten-free (e.g. beer and other malt beverages, flavored hard cider containing malt, flavored hard lemonade containing malt, and flavored wine coolers containing malt).

https://nationalceliac.org/celiac-disease-questions/is-alcohol-made-from-grain-safe-for-celiacs/

[Nolder]

[munchmemory]

Good morning and Happy Easter.   

Made a veggie soup and buttermilk biscuits last night.  Just what I had in the fridge vegetable drawer/freezer, plus potatoes and white beans.  Homemade chicken/veal stock added a nice depth to the soup.

I've made biscuits for years.  But I did a few things last night which elevated them considerably.  One, I used a volume of "00" flour to the usual all purpose.  Two, I cut my butter in slightly differently.  For some reason, I did not cut it in as finely as I've always done, leaving slightly larger pieces of butter.  Also folded my hand pressed dough in thirds like doing a puff pastry before pressing it out again.  Resulted in really soft, flaky biscuits with beautiful layering.  Just light as a feather and totally enjoyable.  Will become my new method.

You folks making anything special for Easter today?