Food in time of Corona (Part 2)

When you have a lot of spare time on your hands, sitting at home in isolation and waiting for this virus to pass you by, you turn to your hobbies.

Here are some practical and easy tips on how to spice up your day with cooking and use what you have in the freezer.

3. Home made burgers

I found some frozen minced meet in the freezer. Usually i have pure beef minced meat, but for making burgers it is better to have a mixture of beef and pork meat to add some juiciness. 

Also i don't like to overcomplicate the meat mixture itself so i just add some salt pepper and little oil if needed. If you on the other hand, like a bit kick you can add some onions and red pepper and chilly.

While forming the patties keep your hands wet so that the meet doesn't stick to them. I don't have a separate grill but i use oven grill that i have. 250 degrees for 15 minutes and you do need to turn the patios.

As shown in the pictures below, I have used regular toast as the base, little ketchup and sour cream, two have cheese on top, and thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Fries are also oven baked so it is all done at once.

Tip: If you notice that the meat is drying up too much just put a little cube of butter on it while baking.

4. Filet mignon

Yes, it is a bit more expensive cut of the meat but i think of it as a special dinner, like the one you would have ordered if you were in a restaurant.

I like it medium rare and it takes only 3 minutes on one side and minute and a half on other sides, only pepper and salt and a bit of oil. I bake fries so i always finish my steaks in the oven for about 5 minutes tops, depending on the thickens of the slice.

I have a jar of pickled onion chutney that i absolutely adore as a topping, but you can easily make a mustard based sauce, or a cheese one if you prefer.

And keep in mind that this meal is never complete without a good bottle of red vine.

Food in time of Corona (Part 1)

When you have a lot of spare time on your hands, sitting at home in isolation and waiting for this virus to pass you by, you turn to your hobbies.

Here are some practical and easy tips on how to spice up your day with cooking and use what you have in the freezer.

1. Frozen turkey or chicken nuggets in tortillas

I discovered recently a pack of premade tortillas in my freezer (yes you can freeze them). If you don't have any, they are easy to make with some flour and water.

All premade foods I like to finish in the oven because they are already infused with oil and frying them would, for me, be overdoing it a bit.

So I baked nuggets for 15 minutes, and when they were nearly done, I put in the tortillas just to warm them.

The rest is just arrangement. You place the tortillas and put all the toppings or salads that you have and like. In the pictures you have sour cream, some grated cheese, sweet and sour sauce, baby beats leaves and grated root, cabbage and of course nuggets.

Just roll them up and you are good to go, one or two per person depending on whether it's a snack or a complete meal.

 

2. All things fried

If you like fast food and you are not in position to order any, here is a tip on how to make it easily at home.

You need a deep pot so that when the oil starts sprinkling you don't have a mess on the stove.

In that pot you need to heat a good two fingers deep oil and then just start frying.

Here are some tips that will make it easier:

Practical tip no 1

        what ever the size of potatoes boil them for 5 to 10 minutes prior to frying, longer if they are bigger.

Practical tip no 2 

        while your potatoes are boiling prepare other things for frying.

Practical tip no 3

        fry things in order that will dirty the oil the list (potatoes, chicken, cheese, fritters).

Practical tip no 4 

        for chicken the order of dipping is this - flour, egg, bread crumbs

        for cheese the order of dipping is this - flour, egg, bread crumbs, egg, bread crumbs

        use tall narrow glasses for all three dipping ingredients and one chopstick or skewer whit which you will dip cubes of cheese and meat

Practical tip no 5 

        whit all the leftover egg, flour and bread crumbs you can make fritters. Just mix them all together and add some water. With two spoons put small batches of dough into oil.

Practical tip no 6 

        for dipping you can use what ever sauces you have in your fridge   

Games in time of Corona

In absence of other outdoor activities here is a thing that you can start or revisit if you have been doing it before.

ONLINE GAMING!

As i noticed, almost all servers are overflown and sometimes it is hard to get into game that you would like to play. So i turned to some alternative options while i was waiting.

Here are some recommendation for this week, short games found within the Dota 2 package. I tried them for the first time and they are easy to comprehend and fast and dynamic.

Many would debate if playing games is practical but easy it can be. Stay at home and enjoy new virtual worlds.

Dota 2 - Castle fight

Two teams of max 4 players, principle similar to capture the flag. Get into their base before they get into yours. 

Each player chooses a character and puts buildings that produce certain minions that battle the opponent.

First team that wins two battles, wins the game.

Dota 2 - Element tower defense

You can play by yourself, or against other players, max 4 players per game.

Each player chooses his lane and depending on the game settings makes his defense by combining different elements (earth, fire, water, nature, light, dark).

As waves of enemies keep getting stronger you can upgrade or add more defense towers.

The winner is the player who withstands more enemy waves.