Dinner! 2011

[ScottyBoy]

Hot damn Prawn, master of the pig!

[Prawncrackers]

Just AMAZING Prawn.

How did you get the pork rind so crispy, is it fried?

Yup, I usually bake them but I got impatient and finished them in the fryer this time. Turned out pretty well, seasoned them with seaweed salt and white pepper. I think I could eat a whole bowl of these, they were very light and crispy.

Hot damn Prawn, master of the pig!

Thanks Scotty that means a lot coming from a pork-meister like yourself. I remember that pig you roasted a month or so ago with the incredible crackling skin like stained glass. You want some more pig porn? Well, here's some Cantonese style crispy pork belly, aka roast five layer belly (燒五花腩):

Here in the UK when we ask "have you had your tea?" it means have you had your evening meal. The term 'tea' in this respect is interchangeable with dinner or even supper. There's a funny adage about Scottish hospitality; when greeting guests a Scots host will state "you'd have had your tea", meaning don't expect to get fed a meal! It's not to be confused with afternoon tea or high tea, which has tea (the beverage) served with a small selection of cakes, usually scones and sandwiches. But what happens when you have high tea for your tea?

Well a couple of Sundays ago, we had just that. My wife baked some scones, lemon biscuits and matcha cake. Our friends brought round a lovely cherry buttercream frangipane tart and I made some sandwiches, smoked salmon cream cheese, crab mayo and truffled egg. With the crusts cut off of course. We had Darjeeling and White Peach teas and lashings of clotted cream and jams too. So stuffed were we that our high tea became our tea!

Edited August 5, 2011 by Prawncrackers (log)

[nickrey]

Wandered into the local fish shop and saw some lovely calamari.

Decided to try stuffed calamari. Stuffed it with minced pork, pine nuts, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili. Cooked it sous vide at 80C for a few hours then browned off in a hot pan.

Also decided to try new take on potato cakes. They were going to be quite thick so after slicing them with my Benriner rotary "cook help," I stuffed them into stainless steel food stack rings, vacuum packed them and cooked sous vide at 80C for a few hours. Finished these off by removing from rings and frying in duck fat.

Other vegetable is a melange of puy lentils, onion, carrot and celery cooked in chicken stock.

Was tasty. Filling of squid was a bit dry. Not sure whether I had enough fat in or it it was the sous vide cooking. Made up leftover mixture into sausages so will try one of those and decide. Will definitely try again, perhaps making rich sauce from tentacles, etc.

Edited August 6, 2011 by nickrey (log)

[mgaretz]

Last night we had salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and fennel from the CSA and carrots and celery.

Along with top sirloin prepared sous vide and then finished on the grill - a little too long on one side as you can see:

[rarerollingobject]

Prawncrackers, that entire meal is amazing..I also bow to you, King of Pork..

nickrey, very good-looking meal there. I like the sound of the stuffed squid especially.

Dinner here (a very early dinner, or a very late second lunch, depending how you look at it, since am going into project lockdown tonight at work and am not going to get to eat again till tomorrow ) was an old favourite using hzrt8w's fantastic pictorial for Steamed Garlic Prawns, here.

Cut the eyes and feelers off some very large prawns and deveined them, crushed 8 cloves of garlic and softened it in a lot of butter with a little salt, soy sauce and sugar (my addition), and then steamed the lot on top of softened vermicelli for 7 minutes..the vermicelli soaks up the buttery garlic and all the juices from the prawn heads..

Edited August 6, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Norm Matthews]

I cut up a chicken and made boneless, brined it with salt, thyme and brown sugar, then in buttermilk and an egg then took the skinless strips with the breasts and breaded them with panko seasoned with garlic powder and curry and fried them The rest of the chicken got breaded with half flour and half corn starch with thyme, garlic powder and salt and pepper and fried.

I also am making fettucini with Alfredo sauce.

[heidih]

Steamed Garlic Prawns

Cut the eyes and feelers off some very large prawns and deveined them, crushed 8 cloves of garlic and softened it in a lot of butter with a little salt, soy sauce and sugar (my addition), and then steamed the lot on top of softened vermicelli for 7 minutes..the vermicelli soaks up the buttery garlic and all the juices from the prawn heads..

I can get some fresh water (previously frozen and probably farmed ..) big blue prawns here - this sounds like a treat. Assuming that was rice vermicelli. I have heard of the simple but direct flavor combo and this seems like a perfect vehicle.

[Norm Matthews]

Here is a picture of dinner. Fettucini with alfredo sauce. parsley and peas, and for the chicken I cut up the breast into boneless, skinless strips and the rest skin on and bone-in, marinated all of it in water with salt, thyme and brown sugar, then in buttermilk, finally breaded the strips with panko, garlic powder, salt and pepper and a tiny bit of curry and fried them. I breaded the rest with flour and corn starch plus thyme and garlic powder.

Edited August 7, 2011 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Dakki]

Sick for the last couple of weeks (leave it to me to catch a bad cold in the middle of a summer heat wave...) so its been Campbell's chicken soup and white rice for Dakki. Thought I'd make a list of things to prepare this week now that my sense of smell is back, looked at this thread to get some inspiration.

percyn, bacon jam is on the list. Near the top.

dcarch, that cornish with the squash blossoms is the supermodel of poultry.

RRO, the snapper is perfection, and those prawns!

Panaderia Canadiense, nice burgers, and serving a variety in "slider" size is brilliant. Doing that next cookout.

Parmhero, how did you get that color on the kebobs? It's lovely.

Prawncrackers, pig porn was amazing, and now I want macha cake.

[Paul Bacino]

Braised Pork Belly BLT/ I also added a bit of shoulder bacon.

Romaine lettuce, Beef Steak tomato, Hellmans and Trader Joe's WW Bread

[PopsicleToze]

Mom and I cooked for a family who lost someone in a tragic accident. Nothing fancy and things that would reheat well: stuffed bell peppers, fresh corn, mexican cornbread and a homemade peach cobbler.

We were pressed for time, and as I was peeling the fresh peaches, I thought, "Why did I insist on a fresh peach cobbler? We don't have a lot of time."

Then I smelled the peaches again, and I remembered why. They were delicious! The best peaches in the farmers market were from South Carolina, and you could smell them before you even picked them up.

[Shelby]

Mom and I cooked for a family who lost someone in a tragic accident. Nothing fancy and things that would reheat well: stuffed bell peppers, fresh corn, mexican cornbread and a homemade peach cobbler.

We were pressed for time, and as I was peeling the fresh peaches, I thought, "Why did I insist on a fresh peach cobbler? We don't have a lot of time."

Then I smelled the peaches again, and I remembered why. They were delicious! The best peaches in the farmers market were from South Carolina, and you could smell them before you even picked them up.

What a lovely thing to do. Prayers for the family and friends.

That cobbler looks so wonderful. We used to have access to peaches like that, but this year the heat shut all of the fruit down.

[nikkib]

The cornbread looks amazing! Sorry for your loss

[PopsicleToze]

Shelby, thanks. It's a tradition here. When someone passes away, the family has more food than they know what to do with -- typically for the wake and then people bring food to the home for when everyone goes to the family's home after the service. We cooked early -- the day they were making the arrangements -- so that's why we cooked a complete meal.

Nikki, thanks! They're dear people, and it was an unexpected loss. The cornbread is an old comfort food favorite from Mom's recipes with sour cream, cheese and jalapenos.

Since I'm posting, here is another meal around we had, steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus. The steak was a little over-cooked. I can hear Gordon Ramsey screaming, "@#$% me now!" But it was still good.

[menuinprogress]

Tagine Kefta Mkawra (Tagine of Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Eggs), from Claudia Roden's "The New Book of Middle Eastern Food":

[nolnacs]

Not the prettiest picture, but here is a shot of the tomato pie that I had for dinner last night.

You can't see them below the tomatoes, but there is a layer of sharp provolone and parmesan on the bottom and in the middle are some caramelized onions.

[Shelby]

Not the prettiest picture, but here is a shot of the tomato pie that I had for dinner last night.

You can't see them below the tomatoes, but there is a layer of sharp provolone and parmesan on the bottom and in the middle are some caramelized onions.

Oh my this looks soooooo freaking good. I want, I want I want.

[PopsicleToze]

Scallops

Devilled eggs and pickled shrimp

[judiu]

Scallops

Devilled eggs and pickled shrimp

OMG! Yum!

[robirdstx]

Dinner tonight was Crawfish Monica

[ScottyBoy]

Yum, what goes into a Monica?

[robirdstx]

Yum, what goes into a Monica?

Yes, very yum! Ingredients include butter, green onions, garlic, half and half, heavy whipping cream, grated parmesan, creole/cajun seasoning, the crawfish tails and pasta. The onions and garlic are cooked in the butter for a few minutes, then the crawfish is added. After another couple of minutes, you add the creams, cheese, and seasoning to taste and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stir often. Cook the pasta, drain and add to the crawfish mixture, toss well and then let sit on very low heat for about ten minutes to come together.

[Honkman]

Chicken and Crab Callaloo - Caribbean version of Gumbo. Every part of the Caribbean has its own variation, here we tried one from Trinidad and Tobago with rice, crab, chicken, ham, bacon, okra, spinach and coconut milk (and a few other ingredients).

[ScottyBoy]

robirdstx - That sounds right up my comfort food alley.

[threestars]

Oh my gosh! I've been craving for asparagus and pasta lately. Im drooling over the foods right now.