Dejah

Steelhead trout in foil, with lemongrass, cilantro, green onion, ginger, Kaffir lime leaves, lemon slices in place of absent lime. A colleague gave me his lime tree, and I am SO pleased to have access to fresh leaves whenever! The tree will be moving inside for the winter.

One of three chickens (sold as 3/bag) - rubbed with Ethiopian Berbere spice and left for the day. I wanted to cook it in the Big Easy, but the ignition knob is, I think kaput... Cooler day, so the oven was acceptable. Steamed up a a couple of clumps of frozen mixed vegetables (from somewhere in the old chest freezer), and the last 1/4 of a humongous spaghetti squash from a friend. Since the arrival and organization of the up-right freezer, I haven't bought any new protein except for a piece of steelhead trout!

@DiggingDogFarm: HAD to, really...Too much food was buried, and I am no longer young enough to continue "freezer diving"! Last couple of meals: Another rib steak as I slowly work down that stash! Rubbed with Creole Spice that I picked up on one of our trips south of the 49th ... Found a package of Hot Italian sausage, so it was Keto- Tuscan Zupper in the Instant Pot. Switched out the potato with cauliflower. Tonight, pulled 3 lbs of lean ground beef from the freezer and made Instant Pot Chili. Served over Shirataki tofu fettuccine , topped with cheddar cheese and avocado. Fast, low carb, and tasty!

@lindag no...it's a manual defrost. I could have gotten a 16 cu ft upright for a little more, as opposed to &749.00 for this one, but I wanted the bigger one. Could have gotten the 20.9 frost-free but would have been over $1000.00. The salesman said that manual is better as the frost-free cycles melt a thin layer of frozen meats = freezer burn. I trusted him. Besides, the upright will be easier to defrost than a chest freezer. Cooked a rack of lamb for tonight. It was purchased at 50% off - close to "best before" date of March 20th, 2017. Rubbed with Greek seasoning and grill. Make Greek lemon taters and peas with fresh mint.

Big day today! My new upright freezer was delivered this morning. Was rushing to get the old chest freezer emptied (thus no picture)so the delivery guys can move it out to allow room to maneuver the new one into the corner. I LOVE IT!...no more freezer diving. I kept the baskets used in the chest freezer - fits well. Took a while to get everything sorted and placed in appropriate shelves, baskets. There are three 3-rib prime roasts (one dated Dec. 2016!), a couple of dozen steaks, 2 trays of baby back ribs, 2 of side ribs, chicken, shrimp, pickerel, lots of frozen fruit, and so on... Organized now, but we'll see...No shopping for proteins for a while! Thawing old chest freezer - Hydro PowerSmart program will come and haul it away. I get $50.00! New 20.9 cu ft upright Door shelves:Low-carb breads, Chinese ingredients, etc Shelves with protein, joongzi, and frozen fruit And...where's the beef? And, one rib steak didn't make it back into the freezer! Supper tonight - steak, pan-fried new potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms.

A partial package of scallops, a few shrimp, and a small halibut steak - from the freezer. Coated with Lefty's Spicy Fish and Chicken mix, pan fried. Eaten with new taters boiled and fried in ghee, and leftover steamed green beans. Don't think it made much of a dent in the freezer, but at least they got used up!

Tonight's dinner could have gone in Freezer Challenge, Instant Pot, or here...so here it be. Marinated baby back ribs (purchased "a while back" at 50% off) in an experiment concoction of fresh lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, ginger, garlic, Ponzu, and coconut oil in the afternoon. Supper time, ribs were cooked in Instant Pot, high pressure for 30 minutes with chicken stock and all the bits from the marinade. Quick release, brushed the ribs with a Keto-friendly spicy BBQ sauce and charred under the broiler. Eaten with roasted cauliflower and bell peppers (sprinkled with Chakalaka seasoning), and steamed green beans with cracked black pepper butter. All tasted pretty fine!

I finally caved! A 20.9 cu foot manual-defrost upright freezer will make its way to my garage on Thursday. The +30 year old chest freezer has been "challenged" down to half empty. What's down the second half ? There is still lots of protein, but I am sure lots discards as well. Here's hoping my shopping, hoarding tendency will be curbed somewhat, and my organizational skills will improve. This meal could be on either the Instant Pot thread or challenge, so I'll put it here to continue my freezer purge! Leftover re-hydrated Chinese mushrooms from making Joongzi and 8 drumsticks (purchased at 50% discount), ginger, a splash of oyster sauce and chicken stock were steamed for 18 minutes in the Instant Pot. One of our favourite meals.

Fall is in the air! Paid homage to this change in season and to my husband 's ancestors by making Nana Campbell's Peach, Apricot, Pineapple Conserve. Just eating the leftover container as I ran out of sealers. Great with toast and spoon - jar method! There's no ice-cream in the freezer, but that may also be an option for breakfast! A friend gave me a fresh loaf of whole wheat quinoa and molasses bread. It was GREAT toasted!

Thanks!

@Mmmpomps: More info' on the IP Pork Belly, Please! I have a piece in the freezer (maybe should be in Freezer Challenge!) I've been thinking about doing siu yook in the Big Easy, but now I'd love to try in the IP. Had plans to buy yet more plants at a lily nursery (1 hr. drive) with friends today. In the morning, I made the filling for a steak and kidney pie in the IP. It turned out beautifully. When I got back close to supper time, I put the pie together with pie shell and puff pastry from the store. Sauteed mixed vegetables, and hubby was so happy he didn't even ask how much $ I spent!

Posted a couple of meals in the Instant Pot thread...now I'm wondering if we are supposed to just keep text on that thread and continue to post pictures here?

OK...now I am wondering if photos of food should be posted here...or just comments? and photos to remain in "dinner thread"?

OK....so I am no longer an Instant Pot Virgin! After the lamb shanks (assisted by daughter), which were posted in the dinner thread, I think, I have ventured forth by myself without fear! After forcing myself to be patient, I have been able to get browning on the meat! Made a version of Beef Rendang - saucier than the traditional method, but just as flavourful and a lot less time involved. Used bone-in beef short ribs. I did 35 minutes on high pressure first, rapid release, then did another 35 minutes. Perfect! Then it was Beef stew - 35 minutes with carrots and celery. The corn-on-the-cob was done separately first - 10 minutes. Tonight, I used a pork roast recipe from the Internet but added my own twist. A friend gave me his Kaffir Lime tree, so i used fresh leaves, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, as the aromatics. The roast was a boneless rib roast reduced for quick sale. The roast was browned, taken out, browned the carrots and potatoes, taken out, then sauteed the chopped ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and lime leaves. 1.5 cups of chicken broth was used to bring up the brown bits, and the roast was laid on top of the "herbs". The meat was on high pressure for 15 minutes. Waited for the pressure to release on its own, then the carrots and potatoes were added for 5 minutes. Left the pressure to release naturally. The aroma was amazing! Meat was juicy and tender, as were the taters and carrot.

This weekend while our daughter was home: 2-rib prime in the Big Easy: Great crust on the cap! Makes me think crispy pork - Chinese siu yook next! And I just received my 8-quart Instant Pot! I was hesitant about the purchase as I thought I would miss the hours of slow cooking and braising in the oven, but the pressure cooker was what I have been wanting.Then Amazon.ca had their Prime Day sale, the 8-quart for $99.99 - $100.00 discount! Daughter ordered me one. Made Spiced Lamb Shanks! The recipe called for rough-chopped carrots and onions, but I left the carrot chunkier, and added celery. The veg added a sweetness, and stayed in tact enough to suffice as our vegetable. I am happy I got one! It was fast and the kitchen stayed cool!

@liuzhou Oh Gosh! Just reading about your hospital ordeal and recovery now. Wishing you a complete recovery.

Pulled a bag of odd pieces of pork side rib left over from another BBQ in the spring. Marinated with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, 5-spice powder, soy sauce and sat in the fridge from yesterday. Roasted in the oven while I worked in the garden. Steamed gai lan then quickly sauteed with ginger and drizzled with oyster sauce. Supper was good!

Wonderful to read this blog! Brings back great memories of our trip to Vietnam in 2015...Food was amazing!

I've fallen off the wagon! Bought beef, beef, and more beef this last week. I'll have to keep those on one side until I finish using what was already in the freezer...

Oh MY! How did I miss this thread?! Just spent my whole evening reading the entries from first to this latest one. Can't possibly hit "like" on every post by Kerry and Anna, but I paid specific attention to the rack of lamb AND the cauliflower cake. The latter is on my to-do-list as I am needing new ways of cooking cauliflower! Thanks for the always interesting time on the island!

@Anna N : Thanks for the compliment! Much appreciated coming from you. Don't really have photo skills - just my point and shoot, nor specific cooking skills. BUT, Oh...How I love to eat and feed! Will be pulling out a small slab of pork belly (to make salt pork), several packages of Chinese sausages, bags of dried baby shrimp, to host a joongzi workshop on the 15th for a couple of relatives who want to learn - for our freezers! It's late for joongzi making time, which is usually in May, but is it EVER too late to make joongzi?

A couple of meals this week - Smallish chicken from my past. This one was at the bottom of the freezer. I saw it's skinny legs sticking up. Rubbed with African Township Spice Blend and cooked in the Big Easy. Eaten with cheesy broccoli (frozen veg) A rack of lamb - from DEC. 2016! Again, it was from Safeway at 50% off. It was cryovac and stashed in the fridge freezer. I think it had dropped on my toes a few times, so MUST be eaten...NOW! Just added Montreal Steak Spice and grilled on stove top. Had a half bag of spinach, left over from salads on the weekend. Love spinach , even sauteed. Boiled little taters, buttered and eaten with chopped fresh mint.

The group's been going for many many years. Hubby was always the fan, so much so that he created a website devoted to ERB, and the company in Tarzana, Calif liked it so much they hired him. Thru' that, we have been invited to premieres, including John Carter in L.A.. Loved the movie! Continuing with the freezer saga, I had made a HUGE batch of hot 'n' sour soup a couple of weeks ago, not intentionally, but the broth was SO spicy I had to keep adding chicken stock! That resulted in several containers for the freezer as well as gifting to friends. This morning was our annual Chinese community Ching Ming, and it was followed by a big luncheon at a local Chinese buffet which included traditional dishes: fun see, Chinese mushrooms in oyster sauce, siu jook, etc. We stuffed ourselves at lunch, so by supper time, I really didn't feel like cooking from scratch, especially after working in the garden all afternoon. So, it was hot'n'sour soup for supper. The base included all the vegetarian ingredients. I added chicken breast, shrimp, and char siu from the freezer. Thickened with a bit of cornstarch slurry, and a scoop of rice for hubby, tofu in both, we were satisfied. Really, there was broth in the bowl!

Been AWOL yet again! Went down to Irving, Texas for an Edgar Rice Burroughs gathering (Think Tarzan and John Carter of Mars author). One of the events the ladies whose spouses are ERBfanatics always have is shopping! The spouses who attend the gathering are called J.A.N.E.S - just another neglected ERB spouse. I go shopping but I am an ERBfanatic I was glad I went this time as there is a great shopping "Main Street" in an adjacent town - Grapevine, Texas. There are lots of interesting shops and eateries. I hit the jackpot when I found The Spice & Tea Exchange. Picked up many different spices and some familiar ones. I had pulled a bag of lean ground beef from the freezer and made Baharat seasoned burgers. They were lovely - could really taste the spices even after the BBQ.

Pulled the lost cross rib roast from the freezer and made stew. Needed soft comfort food as I had a molar pulled in the afternoon. Love lots of celery in my stew, and it was all lovely and tender. Roasted some butternut squash as a side. I started the stew on the stove, then slowly simmered in the oven. Made the house cozy with these crazy winds we are getting as well as smelling yummy!