The end of the world is nigh! Or perhaps not… But in any case, the world is definitely on a crazy-train right now. In the midst of corona-insanity, I have one positive thing to offer the internet community, and that is another story from my kitchen to yours. First off, I’d like to point out that I picked a hell of a time to try and decrease my shopping bill! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the difficulties associated with buying groceries at this time. I was extremely pleased to have my faith in humanity restored by the behavior I witnessed at both the local markets and the nearest Costco, where absolutely no one was hoarding, being aggressive, causing long lines, or in any other way acting like an imbecile. I know that’s not the case everywhere, and since my family is currently staying at home as much as possible anyway, I’m glad we stocked up on the essentials this week before everything officially went to hell in a virus-basket. At least I’ll be able to feed us in style. I imagine if the lockdown continues for long, I will be getting very creative with frozen and dried goods. Here’s to making the best of things, and keeping us all safe in these uncertain times!
What we all need right now is some good ol’ comfort food, preferably meals that can be cooked with all the foods we have recently stocked up on. I have 45 recipes remaining in Magnolia Table, and I was shocked to see that I had not yet made the Gaines Family Chili! Seemed like just the time to whip this one out, seeing as I had just doubled down on bean purchases. Honestly I had mixed feelings about this meal; on the one hand I liked that it was very simple, but on the other hand… it was very simple. Ground beef, onion, beans, diced tomatoes. The end. Snoozeville…. She said “salt and pepper to taste”, but no amount of that was going to salvage something so bland. I elected to add in my old standby, fresh garlic (of course), and a bunch of extra seasoning. Normally cumin is my go-to chili spice, but this time I just used Backyard Daddy Barbecue seasoning. My other concern with this recipe was a general lack of “stuff”. It called for two pounds of ground beef, but relatively little else by quantity. I prefer Chile con Carne over Carne con Frijole! There was also a lot of liquid, due to the tomato and bean “juices” included, but it looked more like a meat soup than chili. My solution was adding a second type of bean (I used kidney and pinto), and a little brown gravy mix to thicken the whole pot. With those couple improvements, plus cheddar and sour cream toppings, it went from a runner-up to a top contender!
From a mediocre recipe to a real stunner, these Potato Gratin Mini Stacks brought back the high standard I expect from JoJo. I was highly intimidated by this recipe for some reason, but I’m here to tell you this can work as a Quarantine Special: you can use any kind of potatoes mixed with garlic, cheddar cheese, cream and spices. The key to success here is using a mandoline. If you don’t have one, skip this recipe until you have it, since uniform slices are important, and using a knife to accomplish them is next to impossible.
The muffin tin is a stroke of genius, as it allowed adorable little stacks to form with minimal effort! I thought I had to somehow pile the potatoes carefully onto a sheet pan, which was why I thought it would be such a pain in the backside, but all I had to do was drop handfuls of potato into the wells and they naturally formed towers which glued together with cheese. Easy-peasy! If you’ve never tried nutmeg with your potatoes, I suggest you give it a whirl. It’s interesting, different, and pretty good. Next time I will try this recipe with garlic instead, but I stand by my statement: TRY the nutmeg!
Last up for our stay-at-home breakfasting pleasure were Quick Orange-Walnut Sweet Rolls. I tell ya, she had me at “quick”! I have an absolutely glorious cinnamon roll recipe. They are fluffy, soft, and perfectly sweet. They are also a nightmare to make and take two days to do properly. With that in mind, I was happy to use Jo’s shortcut, refrigerated crescent roll dough. I’m not a huge fan of orange-flavored treats, but these smelled amazing during prep and baking. The filling consisted of softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest, and the oddly satisfying instruction to “mash into a paste”. I love mashing things into paste… Great stress reliever; yet another reason to make these during tense times! After schmearing the dough with the sugar paste, just top it with walnuts or pecans, roll them up and slice into discs.
The rolls are baked like monkey bread, all together in a pie plate so they grow together as they puff up. A simple orange juice and powdered sugar glaze topped off a tasty breakfast dish that anyone with a sweet tooth will enjoy!
While most of us are restricted to our homes for the time-being, hopefully we won’t be eating like we’re on prison rations. Let’s embrace the ingredients we have on hand and try to have some fun experimenting in the kitchen! As for me, it looks like I’ll have even more time on my hands to keep posting inspiration to anyone who wants it. Take care all!
Have Book, Will Cook 