COVID-19 Quarantine Cooking

Merab's Slave said:
That sounds nice - another recipe to try :D
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Haha. It’s got some elements of butter chicken. I put the ginger paste, garlic, paprika, chilli and salt on the chicken. Let it sit for a while then fried it off. Added (fresh) chopped tomatoes, garam masala and salt, purée and passata tomatoes then water. Now it’s simmering away. Oh and I also used spring onions in place of onions as I can’t be bothered with the shallots. Too much faff to cut them!

How did you make your sweet and sour prawns?
 
Sweet & Sour Prawns
Fry a thinly sliced onion with a thinly sliced pepper (if the piggies haven't eaten it all), some pineapple chunks and some sliced mushrooms. Add a chance of grated ginger, chopped red chilli and crushed garlic clove. Toss in the prawns. Make the sauce by mixing together soy sauce, tomato puree, rice wine and rice vinegar. Stir into the prawns and cook through - add a little water if it's too thick.
Sorry for the lack of measurements but I tend to chuck the stuff into a jug and mix - less vinegar than wine. The soy sauce makes it salty enough so you probably don't need to add any salt.
 
Tonight I made spicy pasta with chickpeas, enough to last all weekend because we are busy, its so cold and wet and windy here today I'm going for stodgy winter carbs... going to have this with chips today I think and with garlic bread tomorrow! I was going to have it with a healthy spinach salad but... you can guess who ate all my spinach (wheek! wheeeeek!) :)
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PigglePuggle said:
Tonight I made spicy pasta with chickpeas, enough to last all weekend because we are busy, its so cold and wet and windy here today I'm going for stodgy winter carbs... going to have this with chips today I think and with garlic bread tomorrow! I was going to have it with a healthy spinach salad but... you can guess who ate all my spinach (wheek! wheeeeek!) :)
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Pasta and chips. I’ve never done that before. The spice in it should help warm you up 😁
 
Betsy said:
Pasta and chips? a carbs overload @PigglePuggle! not training for a Marathon are we?
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I just volunteered to invent a whole new university module for our zoology students in "animal health and disease" which I think is the intellectual equivalent of running a marathon! Also we are online teaching until at least Christmas and I bought some plus size sweat pants so I can just keep telling myself that my brain needs the carbs while ignoring what happens below the waist as it doesnt show during zoom meetings :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
I just volunteered to invent a whole new university module for our zoology students in "animal health and disease" which I think is the intellectual equivalent of running a marathon! Also we are online teaching until at least Christmas and I bought some plus size sweat pants so I can just keep telling myself that my brain needs the carbs while ignoring what happens below the waist as it doesnt show during zoom meetings :)
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But if a diversion but how come they’re saying Christmas? 😳
 
Betsy said:
Yes interesting as my son starts Uni in September.
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Well many of our classes are for 70 to 100 students so those can't be socially distanced, also the issue of student accomodation- most of ours is shared flats for 4 or 6 who share a bathroom and kitchen, who might be on different courses and all meeting different people... and the issue of if there's a second wave and another lockdown what will happen? So we are trying to adapt to the idea that most classes will be online until at least Christmas, possibly small tutorial groups or lab classes can meet in person but we can't make that compulsary in case students are shielding or live too far away and dont want to risk public transport... that said, most lecturers like myself are bored at home and constantly coming up with new ideas how we can offer exciting things online or demonstrate advanced lab techniques via video that we couldnt arrange for a large class attending in person, so we are definitely earning our keep and offering some great education, in some cases better than we could teach in class- but the whole on campus uni experience may be missing or suddenly get curtailed by a second wave of the virus...
 
I made my first sweet popcorn yesterday. I have to find a way to keep the kernels separated though BF78AF8B-5DFA-40EE-8C64-D393F7AC5CF3.webp
 
I managed to make a curry with one arm and half the ingredients on Friday, Dad seemed to like it, held up a thumb to say it tasted lovely - and then the chilli paste kicked in, I couldn't use the measuring spoons you see so I sort of just sploshed it in, have never seen someone pupils dilate like that so quickly XD.

The popcorn looks scrumptious :)

@PigglePuggle I can't help but feel sorry for the students, they started with reduced tuition due to the (totally justified) strikes and they've largely been held to their accomodation expenses, despite the current situation while having even fewer contact hours, they're really just victims of the increasingly commercialised HE system, I've seen that a lot of universities are being more compassionate with marking, but I think it's likely a poor substitute for all of you. It reminds me a little of the ranting about the junior doctor strikes a few years ago, all of a sudden the same people the tabloids were rallying about are heroes, it's such hypocrisy.
 
Falken said:
I managed to make a curry with one arm and half the ingredients on Friday, Dad seemed to like it, held up a thumb to say it tasted lovely - and then the chilli paste kicked in, I couldn't use the measuring spoons you see so I sort of just sploshed it in, have never seen someone pupils dilate like that so quickly XD.

The popcorn looks scrumptious :)

@PigglePuggle I can't help but feel sorry for the students, they started with reduced tuition due to the (totally justified) strikes and they've largely been held to their accomodation expenses, despite the current situation while having even fewer contact hours, they're really just victims of the increasingly commercialised HE system, I've seen that a lot of universities are being more compassionate with marking, but I think it's likely a poor substitute for all of you. It reminds me a little of the ranting about the junior doctor strikes a few years ago, all of a sudden the same people the tabloids were rallying about are heroes, it's such hypocrisy.
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Actually as of thursday... apparently the Dean (bloke whose job is to wear a shiny tie and smile too much while making life difficult for everyone) made a U-turn worthy of the governments and now says we ARE teaching face to face... at least 3 hours a week for every student will be a lab class on campus... which is great, but the "incident management" team say we can't have more than 20 or 25 people in a room at once... so, 3 or 4 repeats the same 3 hour lab class every week for me... some of colleagues with first year classes have 180 students enrolled- 8 or 9 repeats of each class! So now the unions are getting involved... me, I just nod and smile and let them fight it out- no classes, all the lab classes, whatever, just let me know before term starts on 28th September!
 
Merab's Slave said:
My husband is doing something with tuna steaks tonight with roast potatoes.
He let me taste the saffron aioli he made to go with it.
My taste buds are still jumping for joy!
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I always love it when men are cooking, it really helps break down the gender stereotypes - I have an uncle that's found himself cooking more often, granted it's usually frozen Iceland meals, but it's a start.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Actually as of thursday... apparently the Dean (bloke whose job is to wear a shiny tie and smile too much while making life difficult for everyone) made a U-turn worthy of the governments and now says we ARE teaching face to face... at least 3 hours a week for every student will be a lab class on campus... which is great, but the "incident management" team say we can't have more than 20 or 25 people in a room at once... so, 3 or 4 repeats the same 3 hour lab class every week for me... some of colleagues with first year classes have 180 students enrolled- 8 or 9 repeats of each class! So now the unions are getting involved... me, I just nod and smile and let them fight it out- no classes, all the lab classes, whatever, just let me know before term starts on 28th September!
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:) I've always said that Yes Minister is the best possible introduction to the British establishment, and I feel your anecdote confirms it :) We're all in this together, and we're all equal, it's just that some are more equal than others.
 
Falken said:
I always love it when men are cooking, it really helps break down the gender stereotypes - I have an uncle that's found himself cooking more often, granted it's usually frozen Iceland meals, but it's a start.
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My husband is a really good cook. I think with his family he had to learn to do so. My brothers weren’t taught but one of them is now a fab cook. The other...doesn’t know. And won’t learn because his wife does it all. It works for them though so win win ☺️

On that note I have to peel potatoes. It’s bangers and mash for us tonight.
 
Siikibam said:
My husband is a really good cook. I think with his family he had to learn to do so. My brothers weren’t taught but one of them is now a fab cook. The other...doesn’t know. And won’t learn because his wife does it all. It works for them though so win win ☺

On that note I have to peel potatoes. It’s bangers and mash for us tonight.
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:) I've always felt that I had a very 1950s upbringing, my grandmother taught me to cook, and being gay of course Dad sort of got in to the routine of expecting it, it's really more on my part to stop him trying to subsist on takeaways, but all I really need is an apron. At school we had 'food technology' lessons which were taught by absolute harrodans, and mostly it was the girls that carried the subject on, I had a friend that was really rather sensitive and a really good cook that carried on with it, but of course that made them a target for the troglidites. There are obvious differences between men and women, but quite how cooking should be gendered has never made sense to me.
 
Falken said:
:) I've always felt that I had a very 1950s upbringing, my grandmother taught me to cook, and being gay of course Dad sort of got in to the routine of expecting it, it's really more on my part to stop him trying to subsist on takeaways, but all I really need is an apron. At school we had 'food technology' lessons which were taught by absolute harrodans, and mostly it was the girls that carried the subject on, I had a friend that was really rather sensitive and a really good cook that carried on with it, but of course that made them a target for the troglidites. There are obvious differences between men and women, but quite how cooking should be gendered has never made sense to me.
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Same with me. i Think everyone, regardless of gender, should learn to cook. You never know when you’ll need it. My dad was born in the 30s when it was the ‘woman’s job’ to cook. I don’t know where he learnt, but he used to cook reallllllyyyy nice food on sundays. We’d go to church and he‘d start when we got in around 1pm. Whenever he cooked we knew it would be dinner and not lunch 😂 despite complaining and asking our mum to cook, it was always thoroughly enjoyed when it finally made it to the table. But there was never enough for seconds! 🤣
 
Me and my siblings only learned how to cook when we're already adults. Even my brothers cook now they're married. My hubby sometimes cook, like an English breakfast or pot roast (he hasn't cook for a long time coz he's so busy working) but I hate him leaving all the mess in the kitchen! 🤦‍♀️
 
Siikibam said:
Same with me. i Think everyone, regardless of gender, should learn to cook. You never know when you’ll need it. My dad was born in the 30s when it was the ‘woman’s job’ to cook. I don’t know where he learnt, but he used to cook reallllllyyyy nice food on sundays. We’d go to church and he‘d start when we got in around 1pm. Whenever he cooked we knew it would be dinner and not lunch 😂 despite complaining and asking our mum to cook, it was always thoroughly enjoyed when it finally made it to the table. But there was never enough for seconds! 🤣
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:) It's really funny, because although my Gran was the designated cook, she's just not very good at it, blanched vegitables - and I think my grandfather (not particularly nice man) once got so fed up that he threw the plate against the wall and it sort of stuck to it and slid down in a comic fashion. It's totally right that everyone knows how to cook, it's not hard, it's not demasculating and ultimately it saves you a fortune and makes a healthy diet possible - I have been living largely on tinned food for months now and can't wait to get back to normal, tinned all day breakfast is great, but man cannot live on salt alone.
 
Piggy daddy tries to cook, but he's hopeless at improvising- if the recipe says lemongrass and we haven't got any, he becomes paralysed with fear and dithers about unable to proceed! Which is odd as his dad was the cook at their house, his mum is a rubbish cook and also tends to forget meal times and needs prompting to sit down and eat- one year I cooked Christmas dinner for them and my mother in law was an hour late, she was too busy mucking out the horse and turned up smelling of manure in farm overalls when the food was ruined and cold with us waiting for her!
A great thing I have discovered in lockdown is these 2 quite authentic Bengali and Thai spice companies that sell on Amazon- really easy, the Bengali spice mix just needs an onion, a tin of tomatoes and your preferred main curry ingredient- the Thai one just needs coconut milk and the main course foods adding- both are easy enough for piggy daddy to achieve, and taste like restaurant foods, they even come with suggested recipes you can use them in for the unimaginative cook!
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I have a cupboard full of these now, I am hoarding fancy spices, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, and tinned bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, ready for the "second wave"... or ready for a summer and autumn of not having to go shopping much anyway!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Piggy daddy tries to cook, but he's hopeless at improvising- if the recipe says lemongrass and we haven't got any, he becomes paralysed with fear and dithers about unable to proceed! Which is odd as his dad was the cook at their house, his mum is a rubbish cook and also tends to forget meal times and needs prompting to sit down and eat- one year I cooked Christmas dinner for them and my mother in law was an hour late, she was too busy mucking out the horse and turned up smelling of manure in farm overalls when the food was ruined and cold with us waiting for her!
A great thing I have discovered in lockdown is these 2 quite authentic Bengali and Thai spice companies that sell on Amazon- really easy, the Bengali spice mix just needs an onion, a tin of tomatoes and your preferred main curry ingredient- the Thai one just needs coconut milk and the main course foods adding- both are easy enough for piggy daddy to achieve, and taste like restaurant foods, they even come with suggested recipes you can use them in for the unimaginative cook!
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I have a cupboard full of these now, I am hoarding fancy spices, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, and tinned bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, ready for the "second wave"... or ready for a summer and autumn of not having to go shopping much anyway!
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I will add them to the list :) If it is any consolation at all, I do make funny substitutions, no lemon grass, well then, this random grassy looking thing should do.
 
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