OT: Since we're all inside, what are your favorite simple recipes?

Bologna, bagel, mustard, mayo, pickle.

Jim Lahey's no-knead bread recipe but for pizza:

A smidge under 4 C 00 flour (or baking flour if you don't have 00)

1.5 C warm water (temp of baby bath water)

1/4 tsp yeast

1 Tbsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix the salt and the flour together. Activate the yeast in the water. Pour the water and olive oil into the dry ingredients and mix until it's a sticky ball (about 1 min in a Kitchen Aid and a few minutes by hand). Switch it to a large covered bowl that is airtight (either with a lid or plastic wrap). Let it sit at room temp overnight (16-24 hours). It'll look super holey from all the air bubbles. About an hour before you're ready to make some za, form four dough balls out of it and let it rest again for an hour covered in plastic wrap. While it's resting, get your pizza stone in the oven or on the grill and get it wicked hot (550 is usually the max for an oven, that's why I prefer the grill). Once it's rested, flour both sides well and stretch into a super thin pizza skin. Top lightly with sauces and cheese and let er rip.

Grain bowls (quinoa, farro, brown rice or whatever with beans, and some vegetables and hot sauce)

Pasta with veggies and pesto

Any grilled meat

Instant pot risotto

Homemade tomato sauce (make in bulk and freeze jarred)

Pan seared salmon

Anchovy-Butter Chicken

Make the butter: 1/2 stick room temp unsalted butter mixed with chopped anchovies (~10 fillets) and 2-4 cloves garlic. Rub it all over one whole chicken, seasoned with salt & pepper.

Stuff the chicken with a head of garlic cut in half and any other herbs you want (thyme, oregano and rosemary are all great options). Chop a red onion into quarters (or use shallots) and throw it all in a roasting pan. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes, then 350 until done (~30 minutes). 

We make chicken-fat croutons with it, so after the chicken is done, pull it out (leaving the onions and fat in the pan) and through in some crusty bread and toss it back in the oven at 425. Trust me, you don't want to skip out on the croutons because they are delicious. 

It's basically just chicken with aromatics (garlic & herbs) and onions, but so delicious. Made it last night.

Old Bay Salmon:

1 salmon fillet 

1/4 tsp Old Bay

1/2 tsp olive oil

Bake on 450 for 15 mins, healthy and delicious!

Our last year's crop of sweet potatoes were starting to get bad so this morning I peeled them and chopped out the bad spots and cooked them down. I just now took two pies out of the oven and packed the remaining cooked stuff into freezer boxes. My wife, a CPNP (Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner) who happens to be very busy right now, can treat her colleagues at work tomorrow. When it cools a bit I'll have to sample a piece to make sure it is good enough to take to work. I did save out a bag of raw sw. potatoes cut into fry size pieces to bake for supper tonight. 

Baked Ziti

1lb ziti or penne rigatone pasta fully cooked
16oz (small tub) ricotta cheese your choice skim, part skim, whole
2 cups shredded mozzeralla
2 jars of tomato sauce
1 beaten egg

Coat bottom of 13x9 dish with half jar of sauce. Add cooked pasta, ricotta, 1 cup of mozzeralla, egg, couple of dashes of oregano. Top with remaining sauce from first jar. Mixed thoruohgly. Coat top with second jar of sauce (probably don't need whole jar) then second cup of mozzeralla. Cook 350 deg about 35 min. Enjoy.

That roasted brussels sprouts and bacon recipe?  Add some butternut squash to that.  When it's cooked and soft, add some chopped pecans and dried cranberries for a few minutes (to warm them up), and pull it all out of the over.  Mix up some rice win vinegar and olive oil (1:2 ratio) and honey mustard dressing to your taste, and pour it on the vegetables (with a quick stir).

That, ladies and gentlemen (and others), is how you create a Fall vegetable dish even kids will eat!

I’m starving now. 

Here is one of my MGoWife's favorites, Lazy Chicken:

Throw the following into a large pot that can go into the oven: Chicken parts, a quartered onion or two, a quartered Yukon potato or two, a bunch of baby carrots, a few garlic cloves, a tsp or so of dried thyme, chicken stock and dry white wine to cover (plus salt and pepper to taste). Cook uncovered at 500 degrees for 50-60 minutes. My wife says that the proportions of chicken, onions, potatoes and carrots don't really matter. It depends on what you like or have on hand, and it's always good.

Here's a delicious recipe that she started making when I was in cardiac rehab, adapted from a recipe the rehab clinic gave us called Turkey Meat Sauce:

Brown a pound of ground turkey (or more). Remove the turkey, add a little bit of cooking oil (just a little). Add chopped onion, garlic and celery, and brown it. Put the turkey back in and add a can of black beans and a can of kidney or other beans, maybe a can of corn if you have some, and a jar of low-salt, no-sugar tomato or pasta sauce. Season with pepper. Cook for 45 minutes or hour. You may need a second jar of tomato/pasta sauce if it gets too thick. Put over brown rice or a baked potato or whole wheat pasta (if you can stand whole wheat pasta, which I can't). This is even better the second day. 

A basic beef stew

3 lbs stew beef or chuck roast, cubed

3 potatoes

1 large onion

5-6 large carrots

5-6 stalks of celery

a can of Campbell's tomato soup concentrate or a can of crushed tomatoes

(optional) peas and/or mushrooms

a cup of red wine

3-4 bullion cubes

Mix in a metal pot, cover and stick in the oven for 6 hours at 275 degrees (or just use a slow cooker).

Proportions need not be followed slavishly (e.g., if you only have 2 lbs of meat, that's OK; if you have just 2 carrot sticks left, throw them in. 

The house will smell good all day, and you'll have several meals from one effort.

Nacho Dip.  1 lb burger (if you can find). 16oz hot salsa.  1 can chili - no beans. 1 lb velveeta cheese.

Brown burger and drain fat.  Mix salsa and chili with burger.  Add cheese still until it melts.  Let cook for 15 - 20 minutes.  Great to make day before and sit so all ingredients blend.  Great app to bring to a party or have to pick at. 

Easy?  Pick your favorite cut of steak and sous vide it ... can't go wrong there.

A sous vide cooker is a nice complement to other automated kitchen cookers (like crock pots, rice cookers, etc) ... really does a very nice job on a wide range of foods, but particularly shines with meats.  Excellent if you want more of a steak or filet rather than something like a stew (which the crock pot tends toward).

Pour a cold beer into glass. Drink.

I'm a big fan of easy.  During the winter I use the smoker less and try to do all my proteins in a cast iron skillet (makes clean up easy).  Pork tenderloin or pork loin rubbed with a chili powder/chinese five spice blend.  Smaller cuts I'll sear first larger cuts I'll just heat up the pan in the oven and with enough time they get a good crust.  Throw asparagus or brussel sprouts in the pan for the last 15 minutes of cooking time and done.  I've got a root-beer bbq sauce I make that goes well with the Asian spice profile.

Here's a super easy one, but not that quick. Barbacoa that's kickass for any of your tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc, etc, etc:

2-3 lbs of beef chuck roast, not too fatty,

3 chipotle chiles in adobo
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup chicken broth
Juice of 1/2 lime
Juice of 1 orange 

combine all marinade ingredients in food processor and blend well. Season beef and sear all sides, place in crock pot, pour marinade over roast, cook on low for 8-10ish hours, or until it falls apart.

It's usually pot luck. Whatever I can scare up.

Filet Mignon

Season meat to taste.

Vacuum seal in bag.

Sous Vide for at least 1 hour (or several, it doesn't matter) at 135 degrees.

Pan sear each side for 1 minute.

It's a revelation.

Homemade alfredo.

Heavy cream, butter, minced garlic, salt, marsala wine.

Furiously beat in an egg yolk to thicken at the end.

Not really the spirit of the ask, but I’ve always been an order out kinda guy. Wife won’t let me now, for fear of covid contamination. So here I am, eating cheese, crackers, and fresh fruit. Simple as it gets. 
 

also, randomly, I ordered so much pizza from Bells Pizza during my sophomore/junior year 23 years ago, that I still remember their phone number. It’s stuck in my mind along with my parents, wife, and... that’s it. 

3 options:

Slow cooker tacos - add chicken (boneless skinless breasts or thighs) and a jar of your favorite salsa to a slow cooker on low for 4 hours. Shred chicken. Serve over rice or tortillas with whatever taco toppings you've got

Slow cooker pulled BBQ Chicken - see above, but swap the salsa for your favorite BBQ sauce. after 4 hours, it falls apart. I usually do this with mashed potatoes & a veggie

Mexican Skillet - a bit more involved. In a large stovetop pan brown 1lb ground beef or chicken or turkey (if poultry cook through). Add:

• 14oz can chopped tomatoes undrained
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1-2 chopped bell peppers
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 tbsp cumin
• a dash of salt
• as much cayenne as you like
• 3/4 cup uncooked white rice
• 2 cups water

Mix, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Once rice is cooked, top with cheese, cover and turn off heat. Serve with tortilla chips, guac, green onions, sour cream, etc.

3 beer chili. No beer in the chili, you drink 3 while making it ?

Sweat a chopped onion, then add a couple lbs of ground beef. I also like to cube up a small steak and add that. Brown then drain any grease. Add a quart can of unsalted tomato juice, two cans of diced tomatoes, two jars of sliced mushrooms (optional). For spices I use Carroll Shelby's chili fixings. I add extra cayenne pepper and chili powder. Let it cook on low for awhile, then add a couple cans of kidney beans about 20 minutes before you want to eat. Been making this for 30 years, lots of compliments!!

Parsley Pesto (when basil is out of season):

1 bunch Italian parsley

small handful of walnuts or almonds

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Remove all the leaves from the parsley. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the leaves all at once, blanch for 30 seconds, then remove with a strainer or slotted spoon and place on a plate or cutting board. When it's cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the excess water. Put the blanched leaves in a food processor with the nuts and garlic. Puree. Add oil until it loosens up into a puree. If you're making pasta, you can add some of the cooking water to thin it out, too. Add salt and pepper to taste. This goes really well with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms. You can swirl it into soup, or add it to rice or toss it with roasted potatoes or pasta. Normally pesto has parmagiano cheese in it, but I hate how it gums up the blades of the food processor so I add it later, to the finished dish. You can also freeze this. I put mine in a ziploc bag, flatten it out on the counter, and then put it in the freezer. 

One package of Kraft macaroni and cheese, one can of Star kist tuna, heat and mix well. Double or triple or so on depending upon how many you need to serve.

This was a go to when I was a poor student at UM for my roommates and me, lo those many years ago. 

My 14 yo daughter wanted to dress up and have a fancy dinner, so we did that tonight. Dresses for the girls and suit for me. 

Before we changed, we drew for who would make what. 12 yo got appetizer. 14 yo in dessert. Wife on main. Me on everything else. (was it rigged? maybe a little)

Dinner consisted of a salad; an amuse bouche of wheat thins with artichoke heart, asparagus, and pomegranate balsamic vinegar; baked salmon with couscous; a palate cleanser of my homemade and not very good raspberry sorbet (which everyone graciously enjoyed); and dessert of an ice cream sampler with berries (rasp and straw). 

Drinks were bubly or wine (age dependent) in wine glasses. 

If you want iced coffee in summer, freeze some coffee in an ice cube tray and use that. Doesn't water down your coffee.

Start with a box of mac 'n' cheese, the cheaper the better, and make according to package directions. Add a can of tomatoes, diced, stewed, sauce, whatever. Toss in about a tablespoon of Italian herbs. (Saute an onion and some burger and throw that in there too, if you want another pan to wash.) Mix in some slightly cooked green vegetables, like green beans, spinach, broccoli, or zucchini. Dump into a casserole dish, and sprinkle on a cup or more of mozzarella, parmesan, or whatever cheese you have available. Bake for, oh, say about 20-30 minutes at 300-400 degrees, depending on if you like the edges crunchy or not. Enjoy with some $1 'French' bread from the store and a bottle of your favorite 2-buck-chuck-level red wine. 

You can cook the veggies a bit longer and skip the baking part, just make sure it's all heated through, although baking it brings out the flavors. My friend, may he RIP, who taught me this when we shared a house in SF many years ago called it 'Fairy Pudding'. He was a gourmet cook and treated me to some of the best home-cooked meals I've every enjoyed, but this was our go-to when we had no interest in being creative.

Anybody out there getting some golf in?

Restaurants may see less traffic when this is over if people actually realize making your own food is cheaper and (usually) healthier...

Not that I cooked much before...

If you like Jerusalem Garden lentil soup this is a pretty close copy:

http://kmuehmel.blogspot.com/2009/02/red-lentil-soup-with-lemon.html?m=1

Queso dip:

1.5 cups cheese

1 diced roma tomato

1 diced jalapeño 

3 halved and diced green onions

1 tbsp cumin and smoked paprika

2 tbsp butter or bacon fat

1.5-2 cups water/beer/milk

in a sauce pan, melt your fat. Add veggies and seasoning. When the tomatoes begin to breakdown and 1/2 your liquid and bring to a simmer. whisk in cheese slowly until all incorporated. Add additional liquid until consistency desired is reached. If thicker consistency is desired, add 1 tbsp flour to veggie mixture and stir into a roux.