Dinner 2015 (Part 3)

[scubadoo97]

My Father's Day meal

Shrimp, red snapper, grouper and coarse stone ground grits

[liuzhou]

liuzhou  ----  Mushroom Recipe Please?

 

Couldn't be simpler. A couple of cloves of garlic sliced thinly, a similar amount of ginger grated. Wash fresh shiitake under running water and remove stems. Heat oil in and add garlic and ginger; stir until fragrant. Add mushrooms and continue to stir fry. If it looks like burning, add a splash of water. When mushrooms are cooked, season and add enough soy sauce to coat the mushroom. Finish with chopped Chinese chives.

 

Eat.

[FauxPas]

I'm missing so much the days I could buy fresh borage from the market to make the borage fritters the Ligurians love so much. Or ravioli with borage (or better preboggion)

 

But I planted in the garden 10 plants of courgette trombette! Hopefully we can have some flowers.

 

Ravioli like this, Franci? It sounds lovely. I'd like to grow borage again, just for its colour, but I'd love to try the ravioli, though I might use a different sauce. What types of sauces do they Ligurians use? 

 

I am so looking forward to hearing about your courgettes trombettes and hope you will share some pics!!! 

Edited June 22, 2015 by FauxPas (log)

[Franci]

Ravioli like this, Franci? It sounds lovely. I'd like to grow borage again, just for its colour, but I'd love to try the ravioli, though I might use a different sauce. What types of sauces do they Ligurians use? 

 

I am so looking forward to hearing about your courgettes trombettes and hope you will share some pics!!! 

 

Yes, that is a possibility. You can find all sort of ravioli there and east and west side of Liguria is slightly different. I know in Genoa the traditional raviolo is with a mix of borage and escarole and meat (also brain, sweetbreads and "filoni" I need to look for the translation) dressed with "toccu" ,a meat sauce. 

But we, closer to the west side of Liguria, used to buy ravioli with borage and meat (roasted meat, plus some mortadella and/or ham). The walnut sauce is very traditional  to dress the pansoti which is  without meat (like in the link you posted, where you can also omit the ricotta altogether).

In all honesty, I also like them dressed simply with a ligurian oil, some parmigiano and a little bit of fresh marjoram.

 

I'll post some pictures of the trompettes, I don't think we'll be able to try them before we leave for our vacation, hopefully my husband is going to take good care of them.

 

 

Tonight I made a little experiment: a mix between a piadina sfogliata from Emilia Romagna and the technique I use for Chinese scallion pancakes. We had a nice buckwheat piadina to eat with speck.

 

 

[liuzhou]

Couldn't be simpler. A couple of cloves of garlic sliced thinly, a similar amount of ginger grated. Wash fresh shiitake under running water and remove stems. Heat oil in and add garlic and ginger; stir until fragrant. Add mushrooms and continue to stir fry. If it looks like burning, add a splash of water. When mushrooms are cooked, season and add enough soy sauce to coat the mushroom. Finish with chopped Chinese chives.

 

Eat.

 

Aaargh! Oyster Sauce! Not soy sauce.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

 

Didn't eat all the pork chop. Went back for seconds on corn and okra.

 

That was some mighty fine summer on a plate. When I saw the photo, I thought the chop was a chicken breast. My first thought exactly was, "I'd give the chicken a pass, and take or leave the peas, but make a meal out on the creamed corn, okra and tomatoes."

 

The pork looks perfectly cooked, but I'm just not too much of a meat eater, especially when veggies like those on your plate are available.

 

Did you bread the okra yourself? I can get better results from frozen pre-breaded, because my breading tends to mostly fall off in the skillet. Would you mind sharing your technique, please?

[Ranz]

This Durban boy vacationed down in Cape Town this past weekend, and boy was it amazing. In Durban we don't really have internationally renowned restaurants, and the most recognised in Cape Town is The Test Kitchen, recently achieved #28 on The World's Best Restaurants. I called them about a week before I left for CT, only to be told they're booked out until January 2016. Daunted but persistent, I told the booker that I'd come by myself on any day they had a cancellation, and on the day I landed I got a call telling me that two seats had opened up that night. A friend and I had the most amazing experience. He isn't a foodie but I knew he was hooked when every course ended with him declaring it his new favourite.

 

An album of some of the experience is here.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2015 by Ranz (log)

[kayb]

TFTC, I bread my own okra because I always find the pre-breaded to be too heavy. I rinse the okra off and cut it up while it's wet, then put it in a bowl and leave it on the counter for 15-20 minutes to let the "slime" ooze out. Transfer it to a plastic bag, dump in some cornmeal mix (half and half corn and flour), salt and pepper, and shake it until it's coated. Then fry it in medium hot oil, about 1/4 inch deep. That's what's always worked best to me.

 

Mama used to use those brown paper lunch bags to shake it up, but I never have those around.

 

I've found the breading isn't bad to fall off IF (1) I have the oil plenty hot; (2) I don't crowd the okra too much in the skillet, and (3) I leave it along after I put it in for several minutes. I try to stir/turn mine only once while it's cooking.

 

This was exceptionally good okra; most of the pods were 2-3 inches long, but even the few longer ones were not tough at all. The corn, however, WAS a bit on the tough side, and not as sweet as I'd expected; as if it had been picked several days ago, which disappointed me.

Edited June 22, 2015 by kayb (log)

[Baselerd]

Recently made some pea puree (sauteed frozen peas, onions, and garlic, then blended them with a little oil and a good amount of mascarpone) then put some pan seared scallops, peas, and morels on top of it.

 

[Morkai]

I am happy to report that Lobels reached out to me immediately and offered to send two new steaks on the spot. There are absolutely no complaints in the customer service department. I'll post some cooked pictures soon, I am sure they will be spot on. 

Edited June 22, 2015 by Morkai (log)

[rotuts]

this is good news.  glad they stand behind their meat

 

love to see the two new steaks pre- and post cook.

 

congratulations

[Ranz]

 

Ramen joint in CT. Delicious.

[mm84321]

Tempura zucchini blossoms

Wild striped bass with artichokes and borage

[Ann_T]

Sunday night's pizza. Sourdough crust. 

 

 

Pan Pizza for my son.

 

 

I am not a fan of pan pizza. 

 

 

So I made this one for Moe and I.  Topped with sausage and olives.

 

 

There was enough sourdough left to make a baguette.

[mm84321]

You are an exceptional photographer, Ann. Very nice pizzas, too!

[FauxPas]

Tonight I used some of the local new potatoes to make Buvette's warm crushed potatoes with anchovy, garlic and sherry vinegar. It was a slightly cooler day than yesterday, so I made tomato confit this afternoon for topping. Originally inspired by this thread.   

 

 

The potatoes were almost the star of the show, but I also made salt & pepper chicken wings in the Cuisinart - the steam-bake does them so wonderfully that I don't even bother with oil anymore. My husband likes them crisp so I leave them in for awhile. Added some fresh carrots, lightly steamed. 

 

 

 

 

 

[FauxPas]

Tempura zucchini blossoms

 

Those look amazing - so light and crisp. Do you use any kind of sauce or just eat them as they are? 

[BonVivant]

It may be officially summer but the weather here is autumn (and has been so since last autumn).

 

Taiwanese (style) food from last night:

 

Beef with watercress, contains shacha sauce.

Smoked tofu with soy beans.

 

 

 

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Everyone has outdone themselves, lately. Beautiful meals! The tempura zucchini blossoms from mm84321, and the stellar pizzas and bread from Ann_T particularly speak to me.

 

kayb,

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to describe your okra breading method.  That makes perfect sense to put the "slime" to work as an adherent for the breading. I usually use all cornmeal, but the flour will probably also help it to stick better. I'll try your method next time I get some okra, which should be soon, because the neighborhood vegetarian Southern Indian market almost always has some. 

 

Meals here have been mostly based on the roast chicken from earlier: chicken tacos, burritos, ramen noodle soup, sliced chicken sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches for the husband's lunch tomorrow. We have one more round of roast chicken for dinner tomorrow, probably with mashed potatoes and broccoli and cheese. There is a saying about a ham and two people being the definition of forever, but for me and my husband, with our older diminished appetites, a big agribusiness chicken sure lasts a long time.  I can't eat much of it myself, but I had a chicken salad sandwich a while ago, and it was actually pretty good. I put a little thyme in it with onion, celery, Duke's mayo, salt and pepper.

 

Edit:

 

Morkai,

 

So glad that Lobel's is going to do right by you. I hope you get you mega-money's worth.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[Paul Bacino]

I am happy to report that Lobels reached out to me immediately and offered to send two new steaks on the spot. There are absolutely no complaints in the customer service department. I'll post some cooked pictures soon, I am sure they will be spot on. 

 

Please some un cooked  !!       TOO

[Shelby]

I am slowly running out of my precious, hoarded peas from the garden.  I know you're supposed to eat them right away after picking, but these are still good even after a few days in the fridge.  We needed creamed peas and new potatoes last night.  I so wish that we had some ripe tomatoes to go with, but soon.....I must have patience lol.

 

Salad all from the garden except the tomatoes.  I've been making a simple oil/champagne vinegar dressing with dill to go on top.

 

 

 My husband fired the grill up and did our venison steaks.  Nice summer meal

 

[rotuts]

"We needed creamed peas and new potatoes"

 

you can add me to that list.

 

i never make creamed peas any more.   do I miss them.

[huiray]

Some meals from days past.

 

 

Small clams with taucheo & stuff.  Blanched (oiled hot water) yu choy sum w/ oyster sauce & white pepper.  White rice.

 

 

Fresh tamales from Carniceria Guanajuato #3 in Indy.  Pork & red chili, chicken & green chili, cheese & jalapeño.

 

 

Pan-fried shrimp & garlic/oil/etc, various sauces incld fish sauce, Thai basil, mung bean sprouts, fresh rice noodle sheets cut into ribbons.

 

[huiray]

Yesterday.

 

 

Soup. Garlic, oil, chicken broth, sliced fat-type bamboo shoots, fresh wood-ear fungus, sliced soft tofu, chopped scallions.

 

 

Cánh gà chiên nước mắm. (chicken wings w/ caramelized fish sauce)

Sautéed frenched green beans  Several bowls of white rice.

 

[TicTac]

I don't believe I have posted an image in this thread yet, but I sure have enjoyed seeing everyone elses - now I can say I contributed!

 

Ramp Dinner -

 

Raw -

 

Processing

 

Result

 

And another meal, a most generous family member recently returned from France shared a haul:

Edited June 23, 2015 by TicTac (log)