Lisa Shock

I cannot make any recommendations from first hand experience, I have had some good experiences in other cities with the recommendations at the Happy Cow website.

I'll step up when there's a gap, better for those who have not cooked to have a chance.... Just a suggestion: shrimp soft taco appetizer 'Arroz' con Pollo, but with the cauliflower as 'rice' (uses tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, and chicken -peas are also traditional as is corn) THIS recipe appears to use boneless/skinless chicken, for regular thighs, brown thoroughly on both sides before adding other ingredients. Ensalada de Repollo

I do agree that if the OP had mentioned why they wanted to know, we could have given more precise answers. Did they need a dish to bring to a class or demonstration of some sort? Did they want to do a nutritional comparison of some sort? Did they need to make up a menu for an American style restaurant in the US or someplace else? Did they want to make a meal to make some ex-pats feel at home? I guess we'll never know...

Might I humbly suggest Hawaiian Steak? It should marinate for a day before grilling. It's apparently popular, however, I don't know if it suits your taste or if ingredients are in your pantry. For the sweet potato salad, the sweet curry powder they refer to is probably S&B brand from Japan. You can get away with using whatever spice mix you like, even make your own, but, this brand guarantees a distinct Japanese type of flavor that is super-popular in Hawaii. (it's not very hot at all)

I say, go Hawaiian! Poke appetizer Pork and Peas (also called pork guisantes) -Sub fresh, chopped tomatoes for the tomato paste and canned pimentos. Rice -traditionally, a lot of long grain gets served, however, I prefer a Japanese short grain like Calrose or Imperial grade sushi rice. Hawaiian Sweet Potato salad (served cold)

I tend to think of sous vide for fish a bit like cooking it en papillote and would not expect browning. If you are looking to improve the appearance on the plate, Anna's suggestions are good. You could also place a vegetable across the top of it as well.

Don't forget that making dishes with the blossoms is the best way to manage a flood of zucchini.

I checked the web for the steak idea to make sure it was somewhat traditional. (I have made the sauce before.) I found the steak listed on Steve Raichlin's site. Most recipes call for a jarred/canned grilled pepper, but, I figured you could use fresh instead. You can vary the amount and type of nuts by what is on-hand also. (completely non-traditional, but, in an emergency, peanut butter makes a good sub here)

How about a visit to Spain? Gazpacho: bread, tomatoes, bell pepper Paella: a little pork cut into bite-size chunks, wings, lots of vegetables and spices (cook on the grill if possible) Steak: rub with Spanish spices (paprika, fennel, cumin, mustard) serve with romesco sauce (grill some of the sauce ingredients as well as the steak)

For years, I only liked to eat zucchini raw. I found the cooked stuff to be too bitter and the limp, watery, clear-ish flesh to be unappealing. Even breaded and deep fried just did not taste good. But, I recently discovered that I really like roasted, thinly sliced zucchini that has a lot of the moisture cooked out. -Almost tastes like artichokes. I cut them on a mandoline lengthwise to get strips, and lightly season with salt, orgegano, a little rosemary, and drizzle with olive oil. I cook until they shrink and the flesh is no longer clear. I have also done discs and half discs as well. The cooked strips make a really good lasagna layer, or can replace the lasagna noodles if you like. They are also good in tarts and quiches, since almost all the water is gone, they don't make a dish watery. I recently topped a spinach tart with concentric circles of the half discs which made it look like a flower -there was virtually no shrinkage or movement of the zucchini when the tart was baked, keeping the design intact.

If you ever get a chance to visit Hot Dog On A Stick try their lemonade, it's even better -they leave lemon halves in the dispenser, so they get more flavor from the zest. CF doesn't take this extra step.

I just looked at the list of ingredients and wondered how much one could actually taste corn in that recipe?

When baked goods deflate it means that there isn't enough structure to support the air bubbles. I suspect that either the dough is over-worked (the wheat bran has cut up too much gluten) or, over proofed. Also, remember that 100% whole wheat loaves (real artisan ones, not supermarket ones with 19 additives) are always very dense. 100% whole rye, the kind you slice paper thin is the only denser type. Both of these are traditionally baked in smaller (not 9"x5") loaf pans to get as much rise out of them as possible. There's a chance that your recipe would cook better in the oven in two smaller pans.

What yeast are you using? Try prooving it, just to make sure it's ok. (add yeast to lukewarm water, see if it blooms) You might also check the temp inside the machine while it is supposed to be letting the dough rise. If that is too hot, the machine might be killing the yeast. Are you trying 100% whole wheat? WW flour can be tricky, the bran bits act like razor blades and cut gluten fibers up so you never get as much rise as a white loaf. I'd recommend trying a bread that has a biga/poolish of white bread flour, with WW added towards the end.

Go Japanese. Cut the Brussels sprouts into quarters, saute in a little oil (or brown butter, non-traditional) until almost done. Cook some wheat noodles while cooking the sprouts, even cheap ramen works here, drain. Add julienne onion to the sprouts (white is good here) and cook until just soft, add a big glug of mirin and the noodles. Allow the mirin to boil off making a glaze, serve. Make a salad: marinate peeled and sliced cucumbers in a mix of rice vinegar, soy, and a little sugar. (or use the sushi style rice vinegar, which already has sugar) Serve over greens. If you feel that you need to eat that steak, marinate it in soy/thin teriyaki and minced garlic for about ten minutes before cooking. Make sure to brush off any bit of garlic before cooking.

Welcome! What's for dinner?

Could be. I know that late Victorian era servants in England made literally hundreds of potato dishes, as they were served at practically every lunch and dinner, and each meal had to have different dishes than what was served recently. Here's a reference paper on sugar. Sugar, particularly white sugar, was an expensive ingredient until the 1900s, although there was a big price drop in the 1820s as well. Powdered sugar wasn't sold, you made it by nipping a chunk of sugar off a loaf and then grinding it in a mortar and pestle. (although granulated sugar seems to be an American invention) With the lemon in it, and sugar, that potato pudding recipe would have been served in an upper-middle class household, or on a special occasion. (Even when I was a kid, you could not get lemons year-round at the supermarket.)

Ok, I stand corrected. Still, it was not a staple of pioneers in the 1800s, nor is it an Irish food -I have seen people dyeing it green and serving it (with PB) on St. Pat's.

I learned to make it from the neighbors when I was in elementary school in Appalachia. Take a small peeled, boiled potato (if you are boiling them for dinner just make a spare) and let it cool to room temp. One small potato the size of a tangerine will soak up an amazing amount of sugar and make PLENTY of candy. Do not use a refrigerated potato. Mash the potato and add a drop of vanilla and confectioner's sugar until it's firm, or like Elaina says, soft clay -but not too soft, closer to Play-Doh. We always rolled it out into a rectangle about 1/3" thick, then spread it thickly with peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your choice), roll up and slice into pinwheels. Store between sheets of wax paper so it doesn't dry out, try to eat it within a few days. I did some online research on this candy. Some people, wrongly, claim that it was pioneer food. (confectioner's sugar? really? and PB isn't that old...) Turns out that this candy originated during the great depression, in Pennsylvania. Recipe with pics.

How about 'Mato Sammidges'? With german potato salad, and pastry cream tossed with fruit for dessert?

chiffon cake, the brownie, devil's food cake, red velvet cake, Toll House Cookies (the first chocolate chip cookie), ice cream cones, iced tea, corndogs, potato candy, anadama bread, s'mores, Green Goddess dressing, Ranch dressing, Thousand Island dressing, Crab Louie, Oysters Rockefeller, Clams Casino, the cocktail, Waldorf Salad, Perfection Salad, Tetrazzini, Stromboli, spaghetti and meatballs, popcorn, taco shells, Baked Alaska -and probably at least 50 more things from the Ranhofer book alone! Plus tons of recipes developed by big food companies to sell their pre-packaged foods like: green bean casserole, french onion dip, Ritz cracker pie, tuna noodle casserole, etc.

I have also had a nice white balsamic, too. That really didn't need any oil at all, just a few herbs for color and added flavor.

Not trying to win again, just trying to be helpful. In times of plenty of vegetables, I like to make vegetable korma and freeze it. Just don't use potato in the portions to be frozen -potato is great in korma, but does not freeze well. Generally, I freeze in rectangular containers, pop out the next day and then vacuum seal. That way, the frozen foods stack really well. I'd also consider making some sorbet and putting that away for winter, you'll really appreciate it then. One way to use up cabbage, plus other veg, is to make eggrolls. People don't think to make them at home, but, they are delicious. Just make sure to really get the water out of the filling before rolling. (I will often salt the cabbage a few hours in advance, the run it through a salad spinner to get rid of excess moisture. Thinly slicing then roasting in the oven prior to stir frying works, too. BTW, the fekkas were great for breakfast. Lots of protein, kept me going all morning. I just ate a couple with tea. Tomorrow, i am going to try the children's breakfast of broken fekkas in milk.

Ok, so, the slaw had boiled dressing from the 1952 Joy of Cooking. It's Boiled Dressing #3. The instructions call for "juice" without specifying what sort, twice. I used lime juice for the main base, and at the end where it says to thin with more juice, or cream, I used cream. The finished dressing was very much like key lime pie, just not quite set as much. The wateriness of the cabbage cut the intensity of the dressing and it was really good. My mind kept expecting a bitter finish and it never came. For the soup, I par cooked the beans separately. I sauteed the salted leek and then the celery and added a couple quarts of water and let it simmer for a half hour. I found a partial can of tomatoes in the fridge, about a third, tossed that in, cut off a small cube of the parm and added that, then added the beans and simmered for another 20 minutes. I adjusted the salt, and added the pasta and cooked until done. The finished soup was nice and light, with good green flavor. I admit, I like adding a lot of pasta! I was surprised at how much flavor the cheese rind imparted, it was barely a cubic centimeter. The Fekkas were pretty easy to make, but, I had to make a couple of recipe adjustments. I used THIS recipe, but never needed the 1/2 cup orange blossom water or milk. As a nod to it, I did put a teaspoon of orange water in with the eggs at the beginning. I soaked the raisins because several other recipes called for it, and I dislike burnt raisin rocks in my baked goods. I just used 10g of anise seeds. -I was measuring and 50-60g just seemed like too much; this dough has sesame seeds and almonds in it and I wanted to taste those too. This was a good move, the end result was a cookie that was lightly fragrant with anise. I made 5 loaves which all fit on one sheet pan, they only rose about 20%. On the second bake, I wound up with two sheet pans jammed with cookies, next time I will slice them thinner and probably get 3 pans worth. Use a light hand and a sharp serrated knife when cutting. The bake time given, 5 minutes per side, was woefully inadequate, I wound up doing 20 minutes per side. The recipe writer is wrong: the bake time is more affected by how thickly you slice than oven temp variances. The fekkas are a dry crunchy cookie, a little like biscotti, but, more crumbly and less tooth-shatteringly hard. If I had to change anything, I would have more aggressively toasted my almonds before chopping. Pictures credits: china 'Cameo Platinum' by Mikasa, flatware 'Balance' by Gourmet Settings

It's dinner time! @FauxPas is the winner, with @Smithy getting an honorable mention and convincing me to turn the oven on even though it was 114° outside! I made: 1) a cabbage slaw with boiled dressing made with lime juice 2) minestrone with stock of Parmesan, leek and celery, plus: ¼can tomatoes, a couple handfuls of tricolor rotini for texture, and, a handful each of pinto beans, yellow split peas, lentils, and mung beans (I am an avid sprouter, but I also like adding mung beans to soup for green color.) (also, normally I use barley as the starch in minestrone, but I am out, which explains why we haven't had minestrone in a while) But, I also made: 3) fekkas! they are in the oven right now, and will make a lovely nibble for later, with an added bonus of being breakfast food! Pics and recipe details later tonight. It's time for @FauxPas to start making a list! (IMO, Smithy should be called up as backup in case we anyone drops the ball!)