Dinner 2015 (Part 2)

[gfweb]

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 Photographs of grilled cheese sandwiches look incredibly appetizing. But the truth of the matter is I am not particularly fond of them. This one was no different. I managed to get down half of it. Yet another case of the triumph of hope over experience!

 

Exactly. Me too.

 

So I only make 1/2 grilled cheese sandwiches and improve them with a slice of ham and a bit of mustard.

 

A few bites and a bit left for the wonderdog to finish.

[rotuts]

a slice of tomato sometimes helps.

[weinoo]

I just look at it as an inside-out fondue.

Edited April 21, 2015 by weinoo (log)

[kayb]

I have get to see the grilled cheese sandwich that is not greatly enhanced by the addition of a slab of leftover meatloaf. Barring the availablility of leftover meatloaf, two or three slices of crisp bacon work wonders.

[rotuts]

"""    three slices of crisp bacon work wonders. """

 

always does.

 

excellent for breakfast w fresh cheerio's or Joe's O's  just crumble on top.

[Anna N]

I just look at it as an inside-out fondue.

And therein lies the rub. Even the thought of cheese fondue can send me running for the Gravol. I love cheese. Most blue cheeses, many stinky cheeses, some fresh cheeses, all show up in my meals and I relish them. And I cannot even say that I dislike cooked cheese. I am quite partial to a good pizza topped with cheese. And I can think of a number of other dishes where cheese plays a major role that I enjoy. Tis a puzzlement.

[CatPoet]

Anna N, a plain cheese sandwich does nothing for me  but  with brie and  cloudberry/ bakeapple  jam it is yummy.

[kayb]

Actually, my favorite grilled cheese sandwich -- besides meatloaf and fromage d'affinois, which is really a meatloaf sandwich, is butterkase with bacon jam.

[FauxPas]

Photographs of grilled cheese sandwiches look incredibly appetizing. But the truth of the matter is I am not particularly fond of them. 

 

That is odd, given that you enjoy the ingredients. Though I prefer cheese toast (melted/broiled cheese on plain toasted bread) more than a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't really like the extra butter or oil that the sandwich is cooked in. Just the melted cheese on bread is tastier to me!

 

You once described the pub cheese & onion sandwich you grew up with (and it sounded really good, I love cheese and onion), but I can't find it now. Was that one toasted? Were the onions cooked? Would onion on the grilled cheese improve it?

Edited April 22, 2015 by FauxPas (log)

[Anna N]

That is odd, given that you enjoy the ingredients. Though I prefer cheese toast (melted/broiled cheese on plain toasted bread) more than a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't really like the extra butter or oil that the sandwich is cooked in. Just the melted cheese on bread is tastier to me!

 

You once described the pub cheese & onion sandwich you grew up with (and it sounded really good, I love cheese and onion), but I can't find it now. Was that one toasted? Were the onions cooked? Would onion on the grilled cheese improve it?

The cheese and onion sandwich I grew up with was not toasted and the onions were not cooked. Sharp cheddar and raw onion were minced in a manual clamp-on meat grinder and "spread" on plain white bread. I don't butter the bread for a grilled cheese sandwich but put a thin layer of mayo on the outside. I bet if we really think about it we all have inexplicable relationships with certain foods while under certain conditions. I have a son who will eat tomatoes any which way but raw!

[btbyrd]

 

Beef cheek pastrami from Modernist Cuisine. French's mustard, swirl rye, lacto pickle.

[mm84321]

Okanagancook, I tend to prefer the thicker spears. I enjoy their texture.

Lobster in a little gem caesar salad

Penne pasta with asparagus

[Okanagancook]

I have to agree about thicker asparagus for cooked. I do use raw in salads where of course thinner is usually better. We have some wild asparagus which is thin and tough unless you take just the tips and use them as a base for soups.

[Ashen]

mm84321: beautiful dishes. I have a question for you seeing that our asparagus season is coming up. Thick or thin stalks? Last year I went for the thick stalks. Snapped off the fibrous end and did gentle peel on the stalks.

 

 

I don't really prefer either, I am more about how  fresh it is.    I don't buy bent tip asparagus , it has to be straight and the tip has to be tightly closed.   When I see a whole display of bent tip asparagus where the tip is starting to open up, I know it has been stored on its side at some point, and probably for at least a couple days.  They continue to elongate after harvesting and grow against gravity  so you can get almost 90 degree bent tips if they lay on their side long enough. 

[liamsaunt]

hake with white wine sauce

 

[weinoo]

I have to agree about thicker asparagus for cooked. I do use raw in salads where of course thinner is usually better. We have some wild asparagus which is thin and tough unless you take just the tips and use them as a base for soups.

Have you tried taking thicker asparagus (which I find more tender and often juicier), and slicing it ultra-thin on the diagonal.  I'll do this for a raw asparagus salad, though I'll peel the lowest portion. Dressed with some good oil, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and a few shavings of pecorino or parmesan, it's really good, and I first had something along these lines at one of Mario's restaurants (probably Lupa).

[huiray]

Pan-fried/seared top sirloin cap, middle cut; fat side down first for a while, then on all other sides.  Finished in oven.  Seasoned w/ salt & pepper only.

Ramp bulbs, sautéed in the fat renderings & pan residues after doing the sirloin.

Fingerlings, simply boiled in salted water.

 

Plus Dragon Tongue mustard greens in chicken broth.  Sour cream.

Edited April 22, 2015 by huiray (log)

[Okanagancook]

Have you tried taking thicker asparagus (which I find more tender and often juicier), and slicing it ultra-thin on the diagonal.  I'll do this for a raw asparagus salad, though I'll peel the lowest portion. Dressed with some good oil, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and a few shavings of pecorino or parmesan, it's really good, and I first had something along these lines at one of Mario's restaurants (probably Lupa).

Have not used the thicker stalks for salad.  Will try that when the spring crop arrives.  Asparagus grows wild in the Okanagan.  Used to be more of it before the use of herbicides wiped a lot of it out but the older farmers have their secret patches!  We get farmed asparagus from north of Lake Okanagan.  Lasts about three weeks at which time we gorge on it.  I don't buy imported asparagus because it just doesn't compare to what we get locally.

[Shelby]

I don't really prefer either, I am more about how  fresh it is.    I don't buy bent tip asparagus , it has to be straight and the tip has to be tightly closed.   When I see a whole display of bent tip asparagus where the tip is starting to open up, I know it has been stored on its side at some point, and probably for at least a couple days.  They continue to elongate after harvesting and grow against gravity  so you can get almost 90 degree bent tips if they lay on their side long enough. 

I didn't know this.

 

Some of mine grows bent like you describe.  

[rotuts]

Bent in the store  might be different than Bent in the garden

 

the key to to buying  ( shelby the garden is different )

 

the key is to get Asp. with tight heads.  full tight heads

 

that says   at least in the market they were not late harvest.

 

you can in the market  "fondle" the bent heads to see if they aren"firm'

 

but Id check the Over Head Cameras first

 

just saying

 

Edited April 22, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Norm Matthews]

I told the kids that if they were going to spend a week in New York, I was going to have a lobster dinner.  The picture represents a lot of firsts for me.  First time I have taken a picture of food with my phone, first time I have taken a picture of food while in a restaurant, first time I have sent myself an email from my phone and first time in almost 20 years since I have been in a Red Lobster restaurant.   Well hey, if you are going to have lobster in Kansas, there aren't many places that have it.  The food was better than I remember but still the lobster was my least favorite thing on the plate. The parts of the crab that weren't overcooked were my favorite.

 

[David Ross]

Oven-Roasted Maltose Ribs (pork) with Fried Garlic-

[gfweb]

Maltose Ribs?

[mm84321]

Salade Niçoise

 

Black bass with baby fava beans, tomatoes and truffle

Strawberries, rhubarb and vanilla ice cream

[Smithy]

the dressing was 1 cup cilantro, 1 avocado, juice of 1 lime, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1.5 tsp vinegar, plus salt and pepper, all blended up in a food processor.  

 

I made a batch of this dressing and am thoroughly enjoying it.  Thank you!  It's a keeper.