Confinement: our delicious recipes to test to keep busy: Femme Actuelle Le MAG

The meal, the essential pleasure of a day of confinement, has become sacred. We want to feast, to do good, to share this moment. So even the most refractory put in, try, and too bad if it is a missed, there is no pressure, no guest is about to arrive!

Starters: recipes to test to keep busy when you're confined

Among the recipes that you never have time to test, there are two categories of preparations: those which are rather long to prepare, and those which require cooking time or waiting time before being able to to be tasted.

Among those that take a long time to prepare, there are all the recipes which require to peel and cut many ingredients. This is particularly the case with minestrone, or its Provençal version, pistou soup. All of these diced vegetables tend to discourage us when we are in a hurry. But there things have changed, so let's get started! It is also an opportunity to discover how these repetitive tasks can calm the mind, because cooking in full awareness is as effective as a meditation session.

Cutting the ingredients into very small pieces is also one of the characteristics of Asian cuisine, certainly very easy, but a bit long to prepare. We take this opportunity to learn how to prepare spring rolls or rolls, by training to master folding techniques.

Another starter that we tend to buy rather than prepare: the terrine. With meat, fish or vegetables, it is delicious, easy to make, and perfectly suited to repeated snacking during confinement, such as aperitifs in videoconference with friends or family. Terrine recipes are particularly time-consuming, since it takes both time to prepare the different ingredients, often a long time for cooking (for those with meat) and waiting time, for the terrine to take and can stand. But the result is worth it.

Dishes: recipes to test to keep busy when you are confined

The 7-hour leg, does that speak to you? This deliciously candied and flavored lamb meat … This is the opportunity or never to test this recipe which takes all its time to become sublime. Solo, you can also try the confit lamb shank version, in a casserole dish, with caramelized onions.

The cassoulet, the real one, also takes its time: you must first soak the tarbais beans for at least one night (to make them more digestible, this is particularly recommended during periods of family confinement!) Then leave to gratinate this generous recipe for long hours, taking care to regularly break the crust and rehydrate the dish with a fragrant broth.

In the same spirit, other recipes to share need time to simmer, such as chili con carne, tagines, or even squid in sauce.

Another option is meat cooked in the oven at low temperature. Roasts become ultra-tender because the meat is not attacked (and dried out) by faster cooking, at high temperature. This also works for a beautiful farm chicken: just put it in the cold oven, then set the thermostat to 140-150 °, and take the time (1h30 minimum) to see it brown by watering it regularly with its drippings. And with its carcass and some vegetables, we prepare a homemade broth that will simmer for a long time, it will be much better than a cube.

Confinement could also allow training to cook the turkey for next Christmas, but it may be a little complicated to get it from the butcher …

Fortunately, you can already tweak your holiday dessert recipes.

Desserts: recipes to test to keep busy when you're confined

Baking is often tedious and it doesn't always look like what we had hoped for. Unable to improvise and attempt a custom recipe, it's guaranteed failure. In general, we are therefore content to repair pies, cakes or chocolate cakes, and for more elaborate desserts, we prefer to go to the pastry chef.

Since it is now a question of occupying yourself, to furnish all those long days, now is the time to go.

These big American cakes, layer cakes and co, are you tempted? Try it, the concentration necessary to obtain a nice result will also have relaxing properties. And the pleasure of tasting them will be an excellent antidote to low morale.

Many recipes also require a bit of technique, hence a reluctance to tackle them. So we train: to poach macaroons that will end up looking like macaroons (even if it takes several tries), little puffs or meringues pretty to look at, cookies, etc. We have time to train to finally master everything, and we will do them again later with the dexterity of a professional, when we can once again invite friends to dinner!

As with the terrines for starters, you can also start making preparations that require a long waiting time before being tasted: charlottes, bavarois, vacherins … This is valid for everything that needs to be taken in the freezer.

Pastry is a creative hobby, so we take advantage of it, and we also test the more complicated recipes of pastry chefs, Cyril Lignac or Pierre Hermé should quickly become sources of inspiration.

We will soon be able to declare: I did not see the confinement pass, I spent my days cooking!

Read also :

⋙ Lamb shoulder confit: our tips and recipes for success

⋙ Containment: our recipes for anti-waste pellets with the remains of the day before

⋙ Anti waste: what to do with your leftovers? Our special containment recipes