Easy Recipes for Quarantine Cooking

As the new-found quarantine lifestyle continues, we have more time on our hands than ever before, so why not make the most of it! Calling all domestic Gods and Goddesses, this is an ideal time to perfect those recipes and impress your lockdown buddies.

Obviously we don’t want to be popping to the shops every day, so it's essential to try and use up what you have before going out to purchase more food. And yes, this does mean fishing out those rogue tins that have been lurking in the back of the cupboard for 6 months.                                                                                       

Also, is anyone else eating TWICE as much now that they are confined to the house for most of the day? We can relate! Luckily for you, we are bringing you simple recipes to try out that will taste good but also fill you up and help curb those quarantine cravings ...                                                 

Banana bread

Everyone and their Mum seem to have attempted a banana bread during lockdown so, of course, it had to be the first recipe on our list!

We’ve gone with a BBC recipe from good ol’ Mary Berry. Be sure to wash your hands and share out with your neighbours!

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana (peeled weight 100g/4oz)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 50g/2oz soft butter or baking spread
• 75g/3oz plain flour
• 75g/3oz caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 free-range egg
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate chips

Method:

• Preheat the oven 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease and line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with non-stick baking parchment.

• Use a fork to mash the peeled banana in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth.

• Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top.

• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.

• Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

• For the decoration, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl.

• Melt the chocolate in the bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water). Stir regularly, until almost completely melted, then remove from the heat. The heat of the bowl will melt any remaining lumps.

• Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top of the loaf. Set aside for the chocolate to set. Slice and serve.

Burger and fries to go

If you are having major Maccies withdrawals, then it may be time to recreate it at home. You certainly won’t be the only one - there's even a Facebook group and Instagram page dedicated solely to this important task!

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A post shared by H.M.M.™️ (@homemade_mcdonalds) on Apr 7, 2020 at 7:08pm PDT

 

We have chosen the famous ‘Big Mac’ as our burger of choice, with a recipe from Flava-it. Made up of 2 beef patties sandwiched between 3 buns with extras of Big Mac sauce, dill pickles, onions and shredded iceberg lettuce. Serve with skinny style fries of your choice.  

You will need:

• Beef mince
• Sesame seeded buns
• Iceburg lettuce
• An onion
• Burger sauce
• American style cheese slices
• Gherkins

To make Big Mac sauce:

• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp mustard
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp grated onion
• 1 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Combine all together in a bowl and serve in burger.

OR if you can’t be bothered to make the sauce from scratch, Instagram blogger Naomi Genes recently named the M&S “the grill special burger sauce” as a great dupe! 

Method:                              

• Form the beef mince into even balls.

• Use your hands or a spatula to flatten the balls into thin patties on a cutting board.

• Preheat a large pan over medium-high heat.

• Season the patties on both sides with salt and black pepper.

• When very hot, add four of the patties to the pan

• Cook for about one minute, until a brown crust develops.

• Flip and continue cooking for 60 to 90 seconds longer, until the bottoms also have a crust.

• To assemble the burgers, spread a little Big Mac sauce over the bottom base.

• Top with some chopped onion, shredded lettuce, slice of cheese, beef patty and some pickle slices.

• Top with the middle bun layer, and spread with more Big Mac sauce, onion, lettuce, pickles, beef patty and then finish with more sauce.

• Finish with the burger bun top to serve.

Mac and Cheese

Some days simplicity and ease is key - the fewer ingredients the better! You can’t go wrong with pasta; the possibilities are endless as well as being pretty delicious. We have chosen a firm fave - Mac and Cheese. And, even better, this Tasty recipe only contains 3 ingredients!

This one’s for those long WFH days or the night before the big food shop...

You will need:

• 5 cups milk (1 ¼ L)
• 1 lb elbow macaroni (455 g), dry
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (200 g)

Method:

• In a large pot, bring the milk to a boil.

• Add the pasta and stir constantly until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes.

• Turn off the heat, then add the cheddar. Stir until the cheese is melted and the pasta is evenly coated.

Why not add a bit of bacon or chuck in a few mushrooms if you’re feeling extra fancy!

Get creative

You may have seen the crazy food hack videos going round on TikTok recently. From whipped iced coffee to deep-fried babybels, this is the perfect opportunity to take a risk and get creative in the kitchen.

Missing greasy takeaway mozzarella dippers or McD’s cheese bites? Give these a try...

Ingredients:

• Babybels
• Flour
• Egg
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil

Method:

• Whisk egg

• Roll Babybel in flour

• Dip Babybel in egg

• Cover Babybel in breadcrumbs

• Fry Babybel in oil

Super simple and you should end up with a stringy, crispy, delicious cheese bite.

Once you have tried and tested all food hacks available on TikTok, why not throw it back to last year’s summer food trends and give some of those a go!

Be sure to look the part whilst cooking up a storm in the kitchen, check out our guide to loungewear necessities for full comfort as well as style, good luck!