Playing with your food

Stuck at home and you have a cupboard full of random items? What are you going to do?

Can I suggest playing with your food? Really!

You have all this time on your hands, why not become a kitchen experimenter?

Now there are multiple ways to do this, but I’ll start with a few that are likely to yield edible results and you can take it from there.

The first way I’ll call Crazy Combos. It’s basically combining two (or maybe three) things that you would not expect to work together. Here are a few I can vouch for (but, be warned not everyone’s taste buds are the same):

·       Canned kernel corn (not creamed corn) and bacon bits fried in a little butter until everything is crispy brown. For variety, add some ketchup, let it sizzle and then serve.

·       Mustard spread on toast with cheese on top. Microwave for 20 seconds to get the cheese bubbling.

·       Warmed (in the microwave) marmalade poured over ice cream. The tart marmalade and the sweet ice cream make for great contrast (although my friend Ricky wasn't a fan).

·       Lettuce or sprouts and Vegemite sandwiches. I know, I know Vegemite is not for everyone, but it is good and good for you, as they say. Delicious!

The next way I call Mix-and-Match. It’s basically picking random items from the cupboard, pantry, refrigerator or freezer and figuring out how to make them work together. A couple I’ve come up with:

·       Hash browns, baked beans and egg casserole. Don’t knock it until you try it. Put hash browns in the bottom of a deep, but smallish greased baking dish (like a loaf dish), top with baked beans. Break eggs (leaving the yolks whole) over the top. Bake the whole thing for 2-25 minutes at 425F or until the eggs are crisp (yup, crisp!) and the beans a hash browns are bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

·       Cheese sticks and gravy. Take 2 slices of bread and broil one side. Turn them over, cut each into four strips. Sprinkle grated cheese on the strips. Broil until the cheese browns and crackles. Let the cheese sticks cool slightly. Meanwhile heat some jarred gravy. Place the gravy in a small bowl and use it for dipping. Think of it as poor man’s poutine.

The final way I call The Challenge. This requires two participants. Each picks three ingredients already in the kitchen and the other has to make something and can only add two more ingredients (no more!) that are also right there in the kitchen. 

This works best if one person is working on something savory and the other on something sweet.

The bottom line here is to have fun and discover just how inventive you can be with your food. Bon appetite!

If you have fun foods you’ve come up with let me know…

-Mike Johansson