Dinner! 2012

[liuzhou]

Thai Red Curry Pork with mushrooms, red peppers and a bit of greenery for contrast - served with Thai Hom Mali rice.

Edited December 28, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[rod rock]

Wonderful food and dishes!

[Ashen]

shrimp and grits. sorry no photo, hunger got the best of me. Nora Mill yellow grits ( Thanks Shane aka MrHolloway for sharing ) Tasso is a hard thing to source here , so just to make sure I would like shrimp and grits before going to the trouble of making my own tasso, I subbed in some plain and very lean fresh smoked side bacon from a local deli that I seasoned with the spice mix of garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika and chili de arbol. I definitely will be looking into making my own tasso now. Which reminds me. Shane do you think your friend in Georgia would be willing to ship up some more grits? I will pay for enough for both of us.

[Mr Holloway]

Was just planning a little gift exchange

He loves our President's Choice Sweet with Heat mustard

Georgia Ice Cream on it's way

Shrimp and Grits sounds awsome Dave

Shane

Edited December 29, 2012 by Mr Holloway (log)

[percyn]

Have folks here had fried black pomfret?

Black pomfret fried in Indian spices (tumeric, a little chili powder, garlic and ginger) is delicious.

[chefmd]

It pays to become friends with fishmonger. Today she saved me two colossal shrimp. Those beauties are exactly one pound! U2, not too bad. You can see 10 inch chef knife in the picture just to give an idea about the size...

And cooked with corn grits and sautéed mushrooms.

Very sweet, taste very similar to lobster. Next time will cook sous vide.

[patrickamory]

Shrimps and grits are looking good

[scubadoo97]

I'm a sucker for shrimp and grits. That looks amazing

[patrickamory]

Broke a Steve Sando rule and tried out some homemade salt pork until liquid, then fried onions, celery, garlic, and minced Thai chile. Added a cup of Good Mother Stallards and water and simmered until tender. Served with rice and fresh oregano.

Edited December 29, 2012 by patrickamory (log)

[huiray]

Lovely dinners, all.

@patrickamory - what is this "Steve Sando rule"?

[Ashen]

chefmd that looks amazing.

I am extra glad I didn't post a picture now , that fresh colossal shrimp put my measly frozen ones to shame. ., I have always loved the look of the Ken Onion Shun

Shane.. That is freaky timing.

[SobaAddict70]

Steve Sando is Rancho Gordo. RG is a member here; maybe he'll weigh in on this thread if Patrick doesn't reply back first.

Patrick -- photography is much improved. Congratulations.

re shrimp and grits. tell me more. is it like grillades, only with shrimp?

tonight -- no cooking. 2 friends and I went to New York Noodletown where we had amazing cheap eats, topped off with dessert at a pastry place in Little Italy. Probably spent about $100 total (including tax and tip) for dinner for three people.

some pix:

Roast duck and shrimp wonton noodle soup.

Seafood noodle soup -- squid, shrimp, vegetables.

Baby pig.

OMG so good. Think of juicy, succulent, FATTY slices of pork with skin so crisp that it tasted like pork rinds raised to the power of infinity.

Sizzling oyster and BBQ pork casserole. This was the least successful dish, in my opinion. Good, but not great.

Stir-fried pea shoots, with garlic. Simple = best.

I need to go back there and eat my way through the menu.

[nickrey]

Not full dinner but these were a summer appetiser that we had this evening.

Vacuum compressed watermelon topped with goat's cheese, a small round of basil (not visible), some pepper, and vacuum compressed heirloom tomato.

They look big in the picture but were only around an inch in diameter.

[ScottyBoy]

Dangit.

Note to self,

Don't open this thread at 5am.

[percyn]

P.P.S: Note to self - don't wake up at 5am (though most days I am up by 4:30am )

[Mr Holloway]

Bacon is on!!!!

My first batch

Cold smoking with apple wood chips

Homemade smoke/ray gun

Shane

[patrickamory]

Soba - thanks! It's a work in progress...

I love New York Noodletown. That baby big is miraculous. The char siu there is pretty great too.

huiray - yes, as Soba points out, Steve Sando is the owner of Rancho Gordo, who produced the Good Mother Stallard beans I used in that dish. I was being a bit facetious - he always says the delicate, earthy flavor of the Stallards don't need any bacon or ham hocks or salt pork, and usually I concur. This time I decided to pork it up.

[huiray]

SobaAddict, nice meal at Noodletown. :-) Yum.

Yet more dinners, too, posted from everyone to linger over...

I confess I've never had the urge to make my own bacon. For that matter, I've never been too keen on bacon per se anyway. (My personal preferences - please refrain from bashing me)

[huiray]

patrickamory (& SobaAddict), thanks for the explanation about Steve Sando and his "rule".

[Jason Perlow]

Jerk Chicken, smoked on big green egg. Pork shoulder following

[Jason Perlow]

Plated w/Brussels Slaw & Arroz Moro

[C. sapidus]

Jason – Jerk chicken looks great! As a fairly new Big Green Egg owner, I would welcome cooking details.

We were invited to Russian friends’ house for “soup”, which probably involves a 7-course meal. We are hosting our extended family “Christmas” dinner tomorrow, so we made bourbon sweet potatoes and ChefCrash’s easy baklava this afternoon.

[heidih]

Anticipating a question re ChefCrash's baklava here is the link to the topic that starts the discussion. I incorporated the method this year and have gotten calls out of the blue from happy folks.

Bruce - I hope you can share some highlights of the Russian meal

[C. sapidus]

Thanks for the baklava link, Heidi.

Bruce - I hope you can share some highlights of the Russian meal

So our Russian friends invited us over for “soup”. Starters included beet salad, Russian salad, avocado and tomato ceviche, bread, olives, and plates of cheese and cold cuts, accompanied by drinks. The soup course followed – a delicious cabbage soup called shchi – with more bread. Next came tender pork tenderloin glazed with balsamic vinegar and topped with fried onions, along with mashed potatoes and Indian rice. Imported chocolates and cakes rounded out the meal, accompanied by Russian tea.

I am probably forgetting a few things, but bring your appetite any time a Russian invites you over for soup. We have had similar meals when invited over for "dessert".

[ScottyBoy]

Yay for people cooking for me! Grandma's secret ragu and my noodles.

Had to plate a nice one so she had a nice picture of her work