With coronavirus spreading, many of us are sheltering in place at home with not much to do but cook and eat.

And since we’ve got time on our hands, it seems like a good time to try out a new recipe, right? Or maybe a somewhat familiar recipe?

Some readers from The Empowered Pantry Facebook group suggested we dig into The Bee’s archives and share what recipes we found from long-gone restaurants. What a fun little trek down memory lane that turned out to be.

Fresno had some beloved restaurants that The Bee has written a ton of stories about over the years.

Remember The Ripe Tomato? The upscale restaurant was in Fig Garden Village from 1977 to 2014, in what is now Pieology Pizzeria. Chef Rudy Liebl’s chantilly pie was a favorite and we have the recipe here.

Harland’s restaurant was another Fig Garden regular that closed in 1998. Chef Roy Harland is the closest Fresno ever came to having a celebrity chef. Keep reading for his sweet potato fries recipe.

Remember Echo? The restaurant in the Tower District by Adams Holland and Tim Woods eventually moved to Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue, closing in 2006.

When the restaurant took its chocolate hazelnut bread pudding off the menu, it literally inspired a headline in The Fresno Bee. We’ve got that recipe too.

Some other big names we found recipes from? Wang’s Panda, the popular Chinese restaurant at Maroa and Shields avenues, and Upstairs Downtown, the restaurant in the old Fresno Ice House at Inyo and P streets that closed in 2007.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any recipes from the Chicken Pie Shop or Estrada’s, nor the famous pot roast recipe from The Daily Planet.

Are there any recipes you’d like to see us republish? Drop me a line at bclough@fresnobee.com.

Harland’s sweet potato fries

Use sweet potatoes or yams.

Peel and cut into log shapes, about 1/4 inch in diameter.

Rinse and drain and, while still damp, toss in some cornstarch.

In a fry basket or strainer, shake off any excess cornstarch, then immerse the basket or strainer in plenty of vegetable oil in a deep pan for about 3 minutes.

Drain on paper towels, salt lightly and serve with jalapeno-arugula mayonnaise.

Jalapeno-arugula mayonnaise:

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

10 medium garlic cloves

2-5 fresh jalapeno peppers

2 cups vegetable oil

1 bunch arugula or watercress, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

In a food processor, combine egg, egg yolks, garlic and jalapenos; blend well.

While machine is running, drip oil into egg mixture until it emulsifies. Process until smooth and thick.

Process arugula into sauce. Add mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend all thoroughly.

— Roy Harland, Harland’s restaurant

The Ripe Tomato’s chantilly pie

2 cups sugar

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups black walnuts, chopped

1 1/4 cups egg whites

Thoroughly grease two pie tins. Mix the sugar, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and walnuts. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Divide the mixture between the two pie tins. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

-- Chef Rudy Liebl, Ripe Tomato

Upstairs Downtown ravioli

Ravioli dough:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup semolina (a durum wheat flour that is more coarsely ground than normal wheat flours)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 ounces cold butter

4 whole eggs

Put flours, salt and butter into bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade. Run processor until butter is incorporated with flours.

Meanwhile, break eggs into a measuring cup and add enough water to make one cup of water and egg mixture. While food processor is running, add eggs and water slowly through feed tube of processor and continue processing until dough forms a ball.

Put dough on work surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough for a few minutes by hand, adding some flour if the dough is too sticky. At the end of the kneading time, the dough should be pliable and smooth.

Cover and let rest while you are making the filling.

Ravioli filling:

20 ounces ricotta

5 ounces Gorgonzola

¼ cup toasted, ground walnuts

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix ravioli ingredients together and set aside while rolling the dough.

To roll out dough for ravioli, use a hand crank pasta machine, following manufacturer’s directions and roll dough to thinnest setting. You can then use a metal ravioli form making 12 small ravioli at a time.

Cook ravioli in boiling water until they float to the top of pan.

Serve with the sauce of your choice.

Wang’s Panda tangerine beef

Sauce: 2 quarts water

1/4 of a ginger root, flattened

2-1/2 lemons, cut in wedges

1-1/4 tangerines, cut in wedges

1-1/4 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups ketchup

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

1/8 teaspoon yellow food coloring

Meat: 2 to 3 pounds flank steak, partially frozen

2 cups sauce

2 to 3 egg whites, slightly beaten

Cornstarch

Vegetable oil

4 to 5 pieces dried tangerine peel

4 to 5 small, dried chili peppers

8 green onions, white only, sliced

In a large sauce pan, mix water, ginger root, lemons and tangerines. Bring water to a boil, add sugar and cook until dissolved. Add ketchup and salt. Continue cooking and add the food colors. When the sauce has cooked for a few minutes, remove ginger root and reserve.

Slice meat 1/8 inch thick, when slightly thawed. Strain sliced meat until the juices no longer run red.

Marinate beef in egg white with a pinch of salt and place in the refrigerator 1-2 hours. Dip meat in cornstarch and stir-fry in a small amount of oil over medium-high heat. When the beef begins to firm up, remove the meat and reserve. Place 2 cups sauce in the wok; add tangerine peel, chili peppers and green onions. Bring sauce to a boil, add the beef and turn it over. Add more sauce if necessary, but don’t allow the sauce to smother the beef. Don’t overcook the beef. Serves 6-8.

-- Chef Jerry Wang, Wang’s Panda

Echo’s Chocolate hazelnut bread pudding

Makes 8 servings

Parchment paper

Butter for coating the parchment paper

2 loaves brioche or a dense, white bread (preferably day- old)

6 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 cups half and half

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso, cooled to room temperature

1/2 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts (see directions below)

6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a round of parchment paper by tracing the bottom of a 10-inch cake pan. Butter the bottom of the pan, and fit the parchment into it. Set aside.

Cut the brioche into slices 1/4-inch thick. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks. Add sugar and half and half. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add coffee or espresso. Set aside.

Toast hazelnuts in the oven for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and transfer nuts to a warm dish towel. Roll the nuts on the dish towel, vigorously working them back and forth until skin is removed. Coarsely chop the nuts. Set aside. Chop chocolate.

To assemble, place slices of bread in the bottom of the prepared pan, slightly overlapping each piece. Cover the bottom of the pan with the bread slices. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts over the top. Repeat with another layer of bread.

Place the 10-inch pan into a larger pan (to catch any overflow). Carefully pour the half-and-half mixture over the bread pudding. It will take some time to absorb. Take 10 or so dinner plates, and place them on top of the bread pudding. They will weigh down the pudding and help the bread absorb the half-and-half mixture. Leave the plates on for 1 hour, then remove them.

Remove the cake pan from the larger pan. Place the 10-inch cake pan into the oven, and bake 1 hour.

To serve, heat heavy cream and pour a few spoonfuls over each piece of warm bread pudding.

-- Tim Woods, Echo restaurant

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM.

Bethany Clough

The Fresno Bee

(559) 441-6431

Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.