All Activity

Sunny summer salads for dinner or sometimes late lunch with occasional use of the BBQ

Chicken larb, from the dinner thread. I was late getting groceries so I opted for ground chicken to save time.

More or less a repeat of last night's dinner. This time I added spinach for greenery, and used my panini press, opened flat so everything could be griddled at once. Then when it was time to fold the tortilla I folded the press over and griddled both sides at once. Not much difference in the final result, as far as the equipment was concerned. (I think the A4 box may get a bit hotter then the panini press.) I fear the spinach was more window dressing than benefit to the flavor. I get virtue points for the greenery, but that's about it. 😁

Poached chicken in a chilli, garlic, green onion sauce with rice and smashed cucumber salad.

Chicken larb: Mix ground chicken (I was in a hurry) with fish sauce, lime juice, and shallots. Cook the mixture, then finish with roasted rice powder, roasted chile powder, chopped scallions, and cilantro. Salad fixings included red leaf lettuce, poached long beans, mint leaves, basil leaves, and more roasted chile powder. House guest had never larbed before, and is now a fan.

Chicken soup from a Costco rotisserie chicken.

Put together a Trader Joe's gingerbread house kit this weekend. It included a happy tree and woodland creatures. Took a nibble of the foundation, quite tasty. Spices are more like Dutch tai tai than US gingerbread. No complaints. 😉

I just visited the book, looking for ways to use these. The salsa verde has promise, and possibly the pasta usage. So all isn't lost...but no, I doubt I'll make this again. I can think of better things to do with good eggplant.

I'm not getting any caponata vibe from this; it's very vinegary sour without any of the sweet or, for that matter, detectable salt although I know there's a lot in it. I suppose you could add sweetness via other ingredients. Interestingly, when I tasted the olive oil film at the top I could taste garlic. The eggplant doesn't seem to have picked up any garlic flavor, though.

I quite like the idea of an eggplant preserve with a caponata vibe but if I made this one, I’ve forgotten! Eat Your Books recently reminded me, via their CookShelf app, that I’ve made 154 recipes from this book, but I haven’t tagged this one.

LOL that's a different picture altogether! Thanks for the clarificaiton. 😀 You've made these preserves before, haven't you? I'm not crazy about the flavor. Either the wrong vinegar, or maybe there's a way to temper the vinegar in the final use?

I probably should have clarified that my reason for taking a little taste wasn’t that I could detect spoilage but that I could see if I liked it enough to make again!

Thanks, both of you. I made a command decision before checking back here, and have taken a taste. The pickles were well covered and there's no sign of spoilage. I can't actually say I like the eggplant anyway (too much vinegar burn) but I'm giving it the ol' college try.

I’d probably give it a taste out of curiosity but that’s me and based on your previous post, you were already worried as soon as you made it so I’d say yes, there is a reason to fear it.

Seared duck breasts. Dandelion greens sauteed in duck fat with white beans and shaved parm. Cherry chipotle dipping sauce.

Bricklayer's eggs (huevos al albanil): Toast pasilla and guajillo chiles, soak in hot water, and then blend with chopped garlic and shallot. Fry the sauce, stir in eggs, and cook until set. Serve on corn tortillas, topped with minced shallot and crumbled feta. A long-time favorite.

The gift that keeps on giving... Brouillade aux truffes.

And certainly, teaspoons and tablespoons mean much less than the weight of the salt vis-a-vis the weight of the product being salted. There's also the time factor to be considered.

My moto always is “when in doubt, throw it out”

In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends following @weinoo’s advice and figuring out what you like. She likes 3/4 tsp salt/lb for both chicken and many cuts of meat. That’s going to vary with the geometry of the meat but it’s a good starting point and what I use. With my Diamond Crystal salt, that 3/4 tsp works out to ~ 2.4 g/lb, so it’s less than @Duvel’s 2% which would be closer to 9g/lb or 1 Tbsp/lb if you are using Diamond Crystal. Obviously there’s range, hence the importance of finding out your own preferences.

How it tastes?

That’s half a grilled tomato, topped with cheddar and emmental (utilizing the fridges bounty 🤭) …

I’ve done baked chicken with baked potato, but with sweet peas. Doesn’t mean I won’t do it again, though! I’ve also done chili cheese baked potatoes. Lots to think about, thank you. Speaking of Darienne’s mishmash, I’ve sort of gone out of order by quoting this here and not my previous post, BUT, I’ve only frozen cabbage when it was an ingredient in soup. I wish I kept closer track of my freezer items. Sigh. I am guilty of keeping things for an undue time.

Yes! I would call it smothered cabbage. Do it the same way, but add enough water or stock to lightly simmer, and cover it until everything is tender. No ribs need be removed. Also, if the texture ends up not being to your preference, add it into soup?