Dinner! 2013 (Part 6)

[C. sapidus]

Dejah – We are getting some of your weather (and, um, you can have it back ), otherwise I would have been out making ribs with pineapple sauce.

Patrick – I love seeing your bean dishes

Made a batch of chile paste with toasted pasilla and mulato chiles, roasted garlic, Mexican oregano, black pepper, cumin, and some of Mrs. C’s chicken stock. Chile paste should show up later this week.

Beef and butternut squash with pasilla-honey sauce – Seared beef chuck and fried chile paste simmered with chicken stock. Cubed butternut squash added about half-way through, and honey drizzled in at the end. Garnished with cilantro and served with diced white onion. Supremely popular.

Cucumber, orange, and radish salad – Tossed with lime juice, salt, cilantro, and mild chile powder, and topped with pickled red onion (parboiled red onion slices, cider vinegar, cumin, garlic cloves, S&P, and Mexican oregano)

[Dejah]

C.sapidus: How is the Mexican oregano different from the "usual" variety? I have asked friends down in Mexico to bring some back for me.

Love how that pickled onion adds so much colour to an already colourful salad. Do I have to use Mexican oregano to achieve the same flavour if I try to make the recipe now?

[MikeHartnett]

Beef and butternut squash with pasilla-honey sauce – Seared beef chuck and fried chile paste simmered with chicken stock. Cubed butternut squash added about half-way through, and honey drizzled in at the end. Garnished with cilantro and served with diced white onion. Supremely popular.

Do you have a recipe for this? Sounds fantastic!

[judiu]

A treat the first week of December every year (depending on conditions and limits), fresh Dungeness Crab. Steamed, chilled, cracked served with melted butter and fresh lemon.

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David, you are truly evil %)! I live in South Florida, and all the Dungeness crab I've ever seen has been frozen, and not very good rewarmed! That looks SO good!

[C. sapidus]

C.sapidus: How is the Mexican oregano different from the "usual" variety? I have asked friends down in Mexico to bring some back for me.

Love how that pickled onion adds so much colour to an already colourful salad. Do I have to use Mexican oregano to achieve the same flavour if I try to make the recipe now?

Dejah – If I am out of Mexican oregano I substitute regular (dried) oregano without much change in flavor. I do prefer Mexican oregano, though, although I can’t say exactly why. You can mail-order from Penzeys or Spice House, but I’m not sure about their policies/costs on shipping to Canada.

I have not tried fresh Mexican oregano. My understanding is that there is more than one similar plant species that is called by that name in the kitchen.

Beef and butternut squash with pasilla-honey sauce – Seared beef chuck and fried chile paste simmered with chicken stock. Cubed butternut squash added about half-way through, and honey drizzled in at the end. Garnished with cilantro and served with diced white onion. Supremely popular.

Do you have a recipe for this? Sounds fantastic!

MikeHartnett – Thanks! Recipe was adapted liberally from “seared lamb (or pork) in swarthy pasilla-honey sauce” in Rick Bayless Mexican Kitchen. The recipe pops up pretty readily on a search.

[Norm Matthews]

Cassie asked for meatloaf so that is what is for dinner tonight.

L

Edited December 9, 2013 by Norm Matthews (log)

[dcarch]

$12.00 per pound. Some supermarkets in the Northwest sell crab this time of year for as low as $3.99 per pound, but sometimes it's crab that's a few weeks old. My fishmonger only sells deep-water crabs that have a harder shell and larger body and he gets them in fresh daily within a day of harvest. Last year's commercial season was terrible, but we think this season is looking pretty good.

Sometimes you can go to an Asian store and get great deal, 1/2 price, on crippled crabs and lobsters.

They are just as fresh, but with one claw or a couple of legs missing.

dcarch

[MikeHartnett]

Beef and butternut squash with pasilla-honey sauce – Seared beef chuck and fried chile paste simmered with chicken stock. Cubed butternut squash added about half-way through, and honey drizzled in at the end. Garnished with cilantro and served with diced white onion. Supremely popular.

Do you have a recipe for this? Sounds fantastic!

MikeHartnett – Thanks! Recipe was adapted liberally from “seared lamb (or pork) in swarthy pasilla-honey sauce” in Rick Bayless Mexican Kitchen. The recipe pops up pretty readily on a search.

Awesome. Thanks!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Norm, I'm totally stealing that woven bacon barding for my next meatloaf. Looks delicious!

[Norm Matthews]

Norm, I'm totally stealing that woven bacon barding for my next meatloaf. Looks delicious!

Thanks. I sent you a copy of my recipe.

[Shel_B]

This looks very nice. What are the ingredients or what's the recipe?

Cassie asked for meatloaf so that is what is for dinner tonight.

[Norm Matthews]

Here is my recipe. I have changed some of ingredients to cater to the tastes of my family. We prefer bratwurst instead of any other kind of sausage. The "kids" don't like Italian sausage. I often use just bratwurst and no plain ground pork.

MEATLOAF

4 slices white bread, crusts removed

2-3 Tbs. milk

2 tblsp. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped Cassie does not like celery so I used chopped water chestnuts and ground black pepper.

2 cloves garlic, minced ( or 3 or 4)

1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 lb. ground sirloin

2 bratwurst, skinned + 1/2 lb ground pork

2 large eggs

1/4 c. roughly chopped parsley

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. coarse salt & more to taste

1/2 tbsp. freshly ground pepper & more to taste

1/2 lb. sliced smoked bacon

1 lb. of potatoes cut in 2-inch pieces, oiled, salted and peppered or small sized whole potatoes.

Glaze to put on top of meatloaf and under bacon

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1 tbsp. Coleman's yellow ground mustard

1 tsp. tomato paste Or catsup, mix in enough to make a paste, brush over meatloaf. After adding bacon, you may brush on a light layer of the glaze over the bacon... optional

Heat the oven to 375F.

Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes and place in a large

bowl. Pour milk over it & set aside for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery & garlic; cook until

soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. remove from heat; let cool 5 minutes.

To bread mixture, add meat, eggs, parsley, Dijon, salt, & pepper,onion mixture. Combine well.

Place mixture in a large ungreased, foil lined baking dish or roasting pan. Shape into a 5 X 12 inch loaf. Overlap bacon across the top, covering meat. Place potatoes

around loaf. Season with salt & pepper.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, ground mustard & tomato paste to make a

glaze. Brush meatloaf all over with glaze.

Bake, until juices run clear when loaf is pierced with a 2 pronged fork & the bacon is crisp, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with potatoes or mash them coarsely and serve with peas and gravy.

[rotuts]

MeatLoaf.

Pure Americana.

not Pate !

each of us loves our own Rx !

as long as it has Bacon on the top !

good idea on the potatoes and the karots on the side !

[David Ross]

$12.00 per pound. Some supermarkets in the Northwest sell crab this time of year for as low as $3.99 per pound, but sometimes it's crab that's a few weeks old. My fishmonger only sells deep-water crabs that have a harder shell and larger body and he gets them in fresh daily within a day of harvest. Last year's commercial season was terrible, but we think this season is looking pretty good.

Sometimes you can go to an Asian store and get great deal, 1/2 price, on crippled crabs and lobsters.

They are just as fresh, but with one claw or a couple of legs missing.

dcarch

Nothing beats the freshness of Dungeness crab.

[C. sapidus]

Beef and mushroom tacos – Beef chuck cubed and braised in pasilla-mulato chile paste and Mrs. C’s chicken stock. Portobello mushrooms cubed, dry-fried, and added to the braise. Seasoned to taste with a little honey, and then served on corn tortillas with sliced radish, diced white onion, and crumbled queso seco para frijoles.

Same chile paste from the other day, just cooked down further for tacos. Unpictured salad to go with.

[patrickamory]

Bruce, those pasilla-mulato beef tacos look so intensely dark and lovely.

I realize the endless procession of bean dishes must seem a little monotonous... imagine the toll it's taking on me!

A rather thick rajma:

[Baselerd]

It's been a while since I've posted anything - here's a Yuzu-cured salmon crudo I put together of when I noticed all of the interesting citrus fruits in season right now. Other components include thinly shaved fennel, various citrus supremes, grapefruit-white soy vinaigrette, yuzu-orange foam, mandarin orange creme fraiche, candied limequats, and dehydrated fennel chips.

The salmon turned out great. I made a cure with sugar, salt, yuzu zest, a little bit of gin, juniper berries, coriander, and black peppercorns. I covered a good sized chunk of frozen "sashimi-grade" salmon belly in the cure, let it refrigerate for about 14 hours, then rinsed it off and kept it in the fridge until ready for eating.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Baselerd (log)

[Ann_T]

A few of our meals since I posted last.

Stir fried chicken with green beans in black bean sauce. Based on Hzrt8w's recipe.

And another one of his recipes

Pork with Honey Garlic Sauce.

Homemade bagels with smoked salmon.

Steak a couple of times

Green Peppercorn Steak

And another night

Just a simple grilled New York Strip.

Roasted a chicken one morning before going to work so we could have

Hot chicken sandwiches with fries for dinner.

[rotuts]

are those canned peas?

i love baby canned peas with the types of dinners youve recently made. i think they go well w plates that have gravy.

its probably just me.

[Ann_T]

Rotus, Good eye. Got to have canned peas with Hot Chicken/Turkey Sandwiches. Nothing else will do. We call it "diner" food.

~Ann

[rotuts]

A must with home made Meatloaf and gravy.

had not thought of it in terms of diner food, but that's it exactly.

Roast Turkey 'platter' etc. etc.

Edited December 11, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

are those canned peas?

i love baby canned peas with the types of dinners youve recently made. i think they go well w plates that have gravy.

its probably just me.

peas.jpg

So do I. Don't tell anyone..

[Anna N]

Ann_T,

Hot sandwiches are my downfall but I couldn't do the canned peas. All your meals look so very appetising.

[rotuts]

and they dont even have to be 'baby' peas either. just canned. that's where they get the characteristic color

I drain the can, rise the peas under cold water, add the peas to a 2-cup Pyrex measuring 'cup' will with cold water and 'cap' with

a pyrex prep bowl and when needed microwave at the last minute in the water then drain and enjoy.

[Unpopular Poet]

My grandfather taught me the wonders of eating peas out of a can, with a bit of salt and pepper. I think I ate that for lunch a thousand times in college. Such a distinct flavor...nothing like fresh or even frozen peas - a treat all its own..I love it. My grandmother also used them in her chicken cacciatore growing up...It would make sense though from the diner perspective, since they owned a small family type (in that checkered table cloth way) Italian restaurant that served the basics and pizza. Kind of like a diner....anyway, just seeing them made me smile.