Dinner! 2014 (Part 1)

[scubadoo97]

Nice!

[Franci]

Franci - can't believe I missed your post! Glad you made the duck - did it turn out well?

Thanks Patrick, it turned out very well. The skin was very crunchy, I didn't have an even, nice browning, as you did, I think is a matter of the soy sauce I used, maybe was not as thick. I think I overcooked it bit but it was still very good. I like very duck the deep fried duck but this was so much less work, I'll make it again for sure.

Basquecook deep fried fish a couple meals ago, was it grouper? So, tonight I did red snapper.

[C. sapidus]

Mrs. C smoked pork and Asian eggplant on the Big Green Egg. She made babaghanoush with the eggplant - really good but I forgot to take a picture. The BBQ pork was fantastic, and I did get a snap of that.

I made mustardy slaw and an improvised some chipotle-tomato-mustard-molasses-whatever BBQ sauce. We pulled the pork, enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches during the Super Bowl, and packed up the extra for future meals.

[liuzhou]

This might look fairly grim, but the taste and aroma was heavenly. Last night.

This is kourou (扣肉 kòu ròu ), which translates as 'bowl meat'.

The dish originated with the Hakka people of south-east China. There are two versions. The most common is pork belly with mustard greens, but round here people go for the other version. Pork Belly with Taro.

Pork belly, called three layer meat (三层肉 sān céng ròu) is a prerequisite. The three layers are skin, fat, and meat. The belly is marinated in soy sauce (light and dark), Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger, star anise, rock sugar and sesame oil. Then it is fried, then boiled with sliced taro.

Then the sliced meat and sliced taro are interleaved in a bowl, then steamed (with added chilli paste, herbs and whatever takes the cook's fancy).

When ready, it is turned out and served as part of most festival meals.

The idea is that you take your chopsticks and pick up a slice of meat and a slice of taro together. The taro is meltingly soft from the fat in the pig. The pig is equally melting and artery clogging.

The dish is sold in restaurants at eye-watering prices (all the preparation) and pre-prepared in supermarkets for slightly less. You get what you pay for.

This version was prepared by yours truly under the watchful and strict eye of my dear friend who rarely allows anyone into her kitchen. I am honoured. As was the pig!

Taro, meat, taro, meat.

[Dejah]

Liuzhou: Taro and pork belly was my Mom's favourite dish. Haven't made it for a few years. Yours look SO tempting, but I'd be the only one who'd enjoy it.

I am waiting to be blowing away by food feasts from Chinese New Year! Prawncracker! Where are you? We can always count on you to show us your feasts.

I was laid low by the "flu", so by the time I was able to cook this past weekend, I just made JAI - the vegetarian dish - or called Buddha's Delight. There's something about seamoss that really appeals to me, especially mixed with siu choy and gingko nuts.

Gung Hai Fat Choy, Everyone!

This combination was well received by my stomach. My 1.8 year-old granddaughter loved picking up the different ingredients and trying them out. Gotta start them young.

[dcarch]

"-----Gung Hai Fat Choy, Everyone!----"

Yes, good luck to all! Year Of The Horse apparently not too good for the Broncos. :-)

I was responsible for a few items for a Chinese New Year Super Bowl afternoon.

For dinner I understand a whole fish, head to tail is a must have. So I got a live tilapia from a Korean store, and made a poached fish dish.

It is also traditional to have pot stickers for New Year. So I made pan fried beef pot stickers.

Since it is the year of the Horse (Broncos?), I made smoked pineapple pork spareribs. What?! Pork? Horse? Oh, relax. I used a recipe from the Galloping Gourmet. LOL!

dcarch

[huiray]

That's a nice spread, dcarch. Perhaps you might consider not trimming the fins (any of them) the next time. There is a Chinese saying, "Yow tou yow mei", or "have head have tail" indicating completeness of head and tail, relating to the completeness of one's year/endeavours, whatever. So a truncated tail and trimmed fins (even if some part of the fins are present) suggests some sort of...truncation...of one's year/luck/whatever. So what if it spreads over the edges of one's plate...one could even view it as "overflowing bounty".

[Kim Shook]

Thank you all for the welcome back and good wishes! I’ve had a hard time typing, but I can sit and read just fine, so I’ve gone back and looked at the years’ past dinner threads. A thoroughly wonderful couple of days adventure. I went back to 2006 and it is amazing how some things had changed and others not at all. It was poignant to see all the folks that don’t come to eG anymore – some have passed away and others just wandered off. I miss them. It was so great seeing the advent of folks who are almost ‘old timers’ now – wonderful seeing Shelby’s, dcarch’s, etc. first Dinner posts. Even seeing children grow up – in Bruce’s early posts, he mentions making spaghetti & meatballs for his boys because they won’t eat his spicy Mexican and Asian dishes – THAT has changed! Anyway, it was great – I highly recommend it. Especially on those sleepless nights!

Mark – I love your faux char siu buns. I’ve been wanting them and I might actually be able to manage that. But…what is char siu powder?

Franci – your xiaolongbao are beautiful. I wish I could find a restaurant here that made them.

Norm – I adore creamed spinach and have only had limited success making my own. I’ll be trying your method!

David – I love the shrimp tostada – but HOW did you eat it? Didn’t it break into a million pieces on the first bite? It just looks so gorgeous and crisp!

Basquecook – beautiful, beautiful lamb chops!

Ann – hauntingly gorgeous pizzas! I want one right now and there isn’t one place in Richmond that sells one that good.

Bruce – Mrs. C’s pulled pork is gorgeous! Mr. Kim is so anxious to get to the smoker!

Dcarch – gorgeous food! I especially love the dumplings and the pork.

Super Bowl at friends’ house – I made Food Network Sweet Chili, cornbread muffins and tortilla roll ups:

I have made this chili for years – it was one of the first recipes that I ever made from Food Network.

Just a flour tortilla spread with a mixture of cream cheese, shredded cheese, salsa, black beans and taco seasoning rolled up and sliced.

[Ann_T]

Kim, welcome back. You have had a tough year. Hope 2014 is much better.

Mexican tonight. Pork Chile Verde with homemade flour tortillas.

Starting with a drink

A Paloma - Tequila, Grapefruit Soda and fresh lime.

Flour Tortillas

Pork Chile Verde.

[Dejah]

dcarch: Thanks for the CNY contributions. Wishing I had easy access to LIVE tilapia...
The fish seemed to fit perfectly on the plate. What did you layer on top of the fish? Lapcheung? Deep fried? They look pretty lean, so I wondered...

[mgaretz]

Mark – I love your faux char siu buns. I’ve been wanting them and I might actually be able to manage that. But…what is char siu powder?

Thanks Kim. It's NOH brand Char Siu Marinade Mix. I think I've only used it once as a marinade. Instead I use it as a dry rub for my Char Siu Vide and for the quick and dirty Char Siu with ham above.

I usually get it at my local Asian Grocery (99 Ranch), but it's also usually available in any well stocked grocery store's Asian food section. For those that live near a Smart and Final, they also carry it.

[mgaretz]

Last night's dinner was simple but hit the spot. Split pea soup with chunks of ham, lots of carrots, onion, a splash of cream sherry and a touch of liquid hickory smoke. Made in the pressure cooker.

Picture's not much to look at!

[judiu]

Mark, will the spoom stand up in it? That was our (LH and I) criteria!

[mm84321]

Sweetbreads with angel hair pasta, truffles, walnut oil

[basquecook]

Last night I made the little one pasta. The wife and I were not having dinner as we all had a late

Lunch but, Miss K was hungry.

With very few ingredients on hand, I put the last of our dried spaghetti (one serving) into water. Prior I had put a cup of cream into a pan, reduced it. Added a sprig of thyme while it was happening. Turned off the heat, added salt and pepper, then parm cheese and added the spaghetti and turned the heat back on. Let them marry for 3 minutes. Added our last tablespoon of homemade ricotta cheese

and topped with some chives.

She was besides herself.

Edited February 4, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[rotuts]

so ... this is a re-hydration technique for dried pasta ?

"" I put the last of our dried spaghetti (one serving) into water ""

how long in the water? cold water ?

[basquecook]

Sorry, no meant in a pot of boiling water!

In order to cook. Stuck waiting 3 hours for a

Vendor to arrive. I posted from my Cell phone.

Edited February 4, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[judiu]

BAD vendor! No cookie! %)

[C. sapidus]

. . . in Bruce’s early posts, he mentions making spaghetti & meatballs for his boys because they won’t eat his spicy Mexican and Asian dishes – THAT has changed!

Now that is a trip down memory lane. Younger son made the guacamole tonight - I couldn't be prouder. I hope Mr. Kim enjoys the smoker, and best wishes to you.

Chipotle meatballs, chayote al vapor, corn tortillas, and guacamole. I baked the meatballs (ground turkey, bacon, eggs, panko, garlic, and fresh mint), with pureed tomato, chipotle en adobo, garlic, oregano, and chicken stock to thin.

Chayote al vapor is one of my all-time favorite easy dishes – peel and julienne chayote, sautee with chopped Serrano chiles, cover to steam, and finish with chopped cilantro and crumbled cheese (I used feta).

[robirdstx]

Asiago and Almond Meal Crusted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with Creamy Garlic Sauce

[Franci]

I had blue fish for the first time a couple weeks ago. My husband asked me: how is that you never had blue fish? Your father eats "pesce azzurro" all the time!

In Italian with the name we mean all the oily fishes but blue fish I discovered it's pesce serra. I cooked it buried in salt and it was really very good! I liked it much more than mackerel. Tonight I cooked en papillotte...bad choice! If I tried this cooking method first time around I would have just banned blue fish from my kitchen. So, don't cook blue fish en papillotte.

[dcarch]

dcarch: Thanks for the CNY contributions. Wishing I had easy access to LIVE tilapia...

The fish seemed to fit perfectly on the plate. What did you layer on top of the fish? Lapcheung? Deep fried? They look pretty lean, so I wondered...

Thank you Dejah. The fish was amazing, but I messed up. The skin came off. So I used Lapcheung to hide the imperfections.

I also messed up the pot stickers. None of them stuck to the pot, They came right off. LOL!

dcarch

[Franci]

I also messed up the pot stickers. None of them stuck to the pot, They came right off. LOL!

dcarch

Fish and potstickers look still very nice!

Did you brown the bottom before adding the liquid? You can keep browning a little more after the water and/or stock is gone and the potsticker will have some brown bits they can stuck to.

[patrickamory]

Franci, I love bluefish. I think it's underrated.

[huiray]

Franci, I love bluefish. I think it's underrated.

Some ammo for you, then...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/green-light-for-bluefish/2011/05/05/AFsGBJiG_story.html