Grace Tang ‘21
Lifestyle Editor
There is a saying going around the Internet that after quarantine is over, people will emerge as either master chefs or alcoholics. I’m not sure about either of those statements, but I have been doing a ton of baking and cooking to chase away the boredom and restlessness of staying indoors. Over the course of two weeks, I have created more new dishes than I have in the past year.
Through my journey of making daily meals, I’ve discovered some fool-proof, delicious, and easy recipes that are perfect to make during quarantine. Hopefully, these recipes will inspire some new adventures in the kitchen!
Delicious brunch pizza. Photo courtesy Grace Tang ’21.
Brunch Pizza
Brunch and good pizza are two of my favorite things, so this recipe is a match made in heaven. I’m a sucker for an over-easy or poached egg, so I had to incorporate them into my pizza. This recipe was inspired by the fresh basil plant I got at Harris Teeter. The brunch pizza is super flexible. I made mine in an Italian margherita style, but feel free to get creative and add on bacon, ham, spinach, onion, or other toppings!
Ingredients: Store bought thin-pizza dough or large soft tortilla, tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, pepper flakes (optional), fresh basil (optional).
(1) First, preheat the oven to 400F, then prepare the tomato sauce by adding in salt (if necessary), pepper, pepper flakes for a kick (optional) and stir thoroughly.
(2) Next, spread the tomato sauce on the pizza dough of your choice and top with any optional toppings.
(3) Cover pizza with liberal amounts of mozzarella cheese. Note, the cheese must be mozzarella or else the flavor will be too strong.
(4) Finally, make a small hole in the pile of toppings with a spoon, then crack a raw egg on top and season with lots of black pepper.
(5) Bake the pizza for 8-12 minutes in the oven, depending on how large the pizza is and what kind of crust was used.
(6) If fresh basil is being utilized, add the washed basil leaves on top of the pizza 1 minute before removing them from the oven.
(7) Serve pizza hot with thinly sliced fresh avocado if available.
Toasty bread boiis. Photo courtesy Grace Tang ’21.
Simple Bread (Toast or Dinner Rolls)
Before the COVID-19 quarantine, I had never made bread before. It always seemed like a difficult task best reserved for the bakery. However, I had plenty of time (and flour) on my hands so I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, the whole process was super easy! Since then, I have become an advocate for home-made bread. All-purpose flour or self-rising flour both work for the recipe. The KEY to fancy looking, shiny smooth bread is all in the egg wash. Before baking, make sure to glaze the tops of the buns with egg yolk and your finished product will be hella Instagrammable. Additionally, grilled cheese with homemade toast is incredible (I recommend gruyère and swiss).
Ingredients: Flour (4 cups), warm water or milk (2.5 cups), yeast, pinch of salt, and sugar (1/2 cup optional), egg yolk (for washing). I recommend water for salty bread and milk for sweet bread-making:
(1) Take 1/2 cup of warm water or milk and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds until the liquid becomes lukewarm to the touch.
(2) Add in 2 teaspoons of yeast and stir into the warm water or milk.
(3) Heat the rest of the water or milk until it is lukewarm to the touch.
(4) Combine the flour, salt, optional sugar for sweet bread, and all the liquids.
(5) Knead the mixture for 5-7 minutes, adding in small amounts of flour if necessary, until the dough is no longer sticky and forms a smooth ball.
(6) If there is difficulty in kneading, leave the dough to sit for 15 minutes and knead again.
(7) Let the dough sit for at least 2 hours. Once the dough has reached double its size, take the dough out and knead again to remove the air bubbles.
(8) Split the dough into smaller rounds for dinner rolls or shape into a football shape for making toast.
(9) Let the dough rise a second time, until it roughly doubles in shape.
(10) Finally, wash the tops of the dough with pure egg yolk and bake at 375F until the bread becomes golden brown.
Shrimp spring rolls. Wow. Photo courtesy tastesbetterfromscratch.com.
Four Ingredient Vietnamese Fresh Rolls with Two Ingredient Peanut Sauce
Fresh rolls are so delicious and healthy. They are a kind of spring roll made from rice paper found in any grocery store in the Asian aisle. Feel free to get creative and use them for any kind of ingredient, like rotisserie chicken, stir fry, various veggies, etc. The classic recipe includes garden mix (carrots, lettuce, etc.), shrimp, and vermicelli noodles. The key to all of this deliciousness lies in the sauce. I personally prefer a classic peanut sauce, but sriracha mayo and fish sauce also work well with this recipe.
Ingredients: Rice paper wrappers (medium or large), raw peeled shrimp (roughly two per roll), vermicelli noodles, spring salad mix. For two ingredient peanut sauce: Hoisin Sauce, Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy), and water.
(1) Boil the raw shrimp in hot water until it is just cooked, (do not overcook the shrimp), then transfer shrimp into cold water to stop the cooking.
(2) Remove the tail on the shrimp, then cut each shrimp down the middle through the length of the shrimp. Thinner pieces of shrimp make the roll easier to roll. But feel free to use whole shrimp.
(3) In the hot water used to cook the shrimp, add in 200-300g of vermicelli noodles (thin rice noodles) and boil for 3-5 minutes until cooked. Stir in a small amount of vegetable oil into the cooked noodles if you are not assembling right away to avoid noodles sticking.
(4) To assemble: On a large plate, soak each rice paper for 20 seconds in warm water until it is softened. The rice paper will be sticky, so keep the rice paper flat.
(5) Then add in 4 shrimp to each roll, vermicelli noodles, and a handful of raw garden mix. Fold the ends of the rice paper in on either side and roll the entire spring roll up like a burrito. The rice paper is sticky and will seal off easily.
(6) Peanut Sauce: On low heat, stir in equal amounts of peanut butter and hoisin sauce. Add in a few tablespoons of water to thin out the sauce and serve with the fresh rolls.
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gt5ay@virginia.edu