Dinner 2015 (part 4)

[Shelby]

FauxPas and Scuba, your salmon has me wanting some.  Both look very moist and delicious.

 

Liuzhou, I LOVE cabbage rolls.  I usually stuff with meat, but I may have to try your way.

 

Gfweb, I love how melty the lasagna looks.  Good stuff.

 

 

Venison tostadas and rice for us

 

 

 

 

Edit:  I swear this picture didn't look this blurry before 

Edited July 17, 2015 by Shelby (log)

[liuzhou]

Liuzhou, I LOVE cabbage rolls.  I usually stuff with meat, but I may have to try your way.

 

 

I usually stuff with meat, too. Felt a little experimental today. They were OK but I'm not sure I will repeat the exercise.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Lovely and inspirational dinners, folks.

 

liuzhou,

I was also intrigued by your green stuffed greens. I may try it with well-seasoned spinach with some cheese like in spanakopita or some less common samosas I've had that are stuffed with spinach and paneer. I love stuffed stuff, and the cabbage would make it easier and healthier, so worth a try.

 

We had fried noodles, or chow (lo?) mein. I used garlic, grated frozen ginger, onion, celery (sorry haters), finely shredded cabbage, minced very hot jalapeno, a little broccoli, shrimp, thin spaghetti broken in half, and the tag end of a very ripe diced cocoa tomato. I used soy, rice vinegar, reserved pasta water and a little toasted sesame oil and chopped scallions at the end, and this is a keeper! Very delicious.

 

There are about a gazillion recipes for this dish on the internet, so I decided to wing it with what I had on hand and sounded good. In my research I read about chow/lo mein and thought I understood until Mr. Wiki insisted there's a crispy and a steamed chow mein. I think this is the point where I said to myself, "The heck with this, let's just cook up something we'll like. I'm hungry!" 

 

One fun fact I came across in my fried noodle research is that in Okinawa after WWII, the natives there didn't have much food, and were given Western style supplies. They came up with a yaki soba noodle dish made with spaghetti, ketchup, Spam and canned vegetables fried in mayonnaise.  But you definitely have to admire their creativity with limited resources. Apparently is was even good enough that it became popular with the American troops stationed over there at the time.

 

I put on some mung beans to sprout that will be ready in 4-5 days, and will make another batch then since I used the last of the celery. 

[huiray]

 

 In my research I read about chow/lo mein and thought I understood until Mr. Wiki insisted there's a crispy and a steamed chow mein. 

 

 

TftC, have a look at this.  It's long but worth reading through to the end - note especially the sections dealing with "gwailo chow mein" vs "non-gwailo chow mein" as claimed by some posters, and East Coast (USA) vs West Coast (USA) in terms of chow mein vs lo mein.

 

 

 

As for this – 

 

 

One fun fact I came across in my fried noodle research is that in Okinawa after WWII, the natives there didn't have much food, and were given Western style supplies. They came up with a yaki soba noodle dish made with spaghetti, ketchup, Spam and canned vegetables fried in mayonnaise.    But you definitely have to admire their creativity with limited resources. Apparently is was even good enough that it became popular with the American troops stationed over there at the time.

 

Have a look at this and this for fun. ;-) 

Edited July 17, 2015 by huiray (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

huiray,

 

Thanks for the links.

 

I think from this we can conclude that no one can agree on what chow mein (which translates to English) as "fried noodles" actually is, or even if it includes noodles. No wonder I was confused.   

 

I searched the comments from your first link specifically for "gwailo" and came up with nothing. I Googled, and found a more common translation spelling of "gweilo", but still came up with nothing again in the comments, except a definition from Google to mean foreigners to Canton with a history of racially deprecatory use, but I didn't find any offense in what you said. I guess you mean foreign or native versions? 

 

I came up with my own version that is crave-inducing, as apparently zillions of others have too, so I couldn't be happier. It's also a flexible recipe so I can use what I have on hand. So I'll be making this lots of times. I can't wait until the mung beans sprouts are ready!

 

As to your second links, isn't it wonderful that ingredients and techniques have spread across the globe and allowed us all to share our culinary and horticultural knowledge?

[huiray]

huiray,

 

Thanks for the links.

 

I think from this we can conclude that no one can agree on what chow mein (which translates to English) as "fried noodles" actually is, or even if it includes noodles. No wonder I was confused.   

 

I searched the comments from your first link specifically for "gwailo" and came up with nothing. I Googled, and found a more common translation spelling of "gweilo", but still came up with nothing again in the comments, except a definition from Google to mean foreigners to Canton with a history of racially deprecatory use, but I didn't find any offense in what you said. I guess you mean foreign or native versions? 

 

I came up with my own version that is crave-inducing, as apparently zillions of others have too, so I couldn't be happier. It's also a flexible recipe so I can use what I have on hand. So I'll be making this lots of times. I can't wait until the mung beans sprouts are ready!

 

As to your second links, isn't it wonderful that ingredients and techniques have spread across the globe and allowed us all to share our culinary and horticultural knowledge?

 

TftC, oh, OK -- I should have used the actual terms written by the poster(s) in the post.  See this post and the ones above and below it.

 

As for "no one" can agree on what chow mein is, that may really apply to non-Chinese/American Caucasians (e.g.) with regards to Americanized Chinese food.  "Chow mein" is fairly clear in meaning to a Chinese person, or at least a Cantonese-speaking/comprehending person, I would venture. (The term "chow mein" (炒麵) is transliterated Cantonese)

[patrickamory]

Well, that lasagna is ridiculous.

[patrickamory]

The opposite of the simple GMS beans I made earlier this week. This was with cannellini beans from Purcell Mountain, and not at all a judgment on the beans that I decided to go all ballistic on them.

 

Soaked a cup of the beans overnight in cold water with a bunch of bay leaves a pinch of baking soda and fresh tarragon. Drained the beans, reserving water, and put the beans in a dutch oven with plenty of salt and some more tarragon.

 

Then I browned two meaty pork neck bones aggressively in lard in a cast iron pan. Removed the bones to the bean pot, added chopped half-onion, browned in the fat, added some crushed garlic cloves, continued browning, then deglazed with some of the soaking liquid, and added contents of pan to the pot with the rest of the soaking liquid plus 4 filleted salt-packed anchovies and 1 tsp shiro miso, plus plenty of black pepper.

 

Brought the pot to the boil, then simmered for 2 hours, adding hot water as necessary, adjusting seasoning. Toward the end I added about a teaspoonful of hot chili oil as per F. Dunlop - it's a nice well rounded jar that has been marinating for months.

 

Boiled it down a bit toward the end to make it really saucy, the beans are almost falling apart. Allowed to come down to room temp while I made the rice. The stupid picture shows a bunch of fresh tarragon and an unpeeled onion for some reason - ignore these, I did not use any more of the herbs, and the onion got removed.

 

I can't recommend this preparation highly enough.

 

[huiray]

Turmeric chicken wings.  Sauce from the broiling fond/residues.

Stir-fried Savoy cabbage & wong nga pak.  White rice.

 

On the way there.

 

[huiray]

Thanks for the Crepes, with regards to chow mein - I just noticed I never did directly mention that "Mr Wiki" is correct when it insists that there is a crispy version of chow mein.  It's common in Southern China, specifically Kwangtung/Guangdong and in Hong Kong; as well as in the Chinese Diaspora.  In the USA it is often found described on menus as "Cantonese-style Fried Noodles" (廣式炒麵) or "(Cantonese) Pan-fried Noodles" or, as is stated in Wikipedia, "Hong Kong style Chow Mein/Fried Noodles".  This is actually the version I myself prefer, when I have a choice, and was the more frequent style I and my family ate when dining out when I was growing up in SE Asia. The 1st thread I referenced in my previous post also refers to this version as the one usually ordered by that poster who advised another poster to just order "pan fried noodles" in NYC's Chinatown.

 

Yes, there is no single specific dish with defined ingredients and specific cooking steps -- as you have read, "chow mein" simply means "fried noodles".  Usually "mein" does refer to wheat-based noodles, the default of which (in Cantonese cuisine, at least) would be egg noodles or noodles that are yellow in color, true; if rice noodles are used the term normally changes to "chow fun".

 

Think of another generalized dish, "chow fan" (in Cantonese)(here's an old thread on this) or "nasi goreng" (in Malay/Indonesian)(remember this thread?) which simply means "fried rice".

Edited July 18, 2015 by huiray (log)

[patrickamory]

huiray, please tell me more about the turmeric wings.

[Okanagancook]

At last, the burritos are finished.  All 120 of them plus 15 extra flour tortillas!  Whew   Wasn't so bad because I got to use my new rolling pin the the inlay wood patterns.  Some burritos have been distributed to those in need of a hot cheesy fix and the others are in the freezer ready for winter lunches.

[liamsaunt]

striped bass and greek salad

 

[huiray]

huiray, please tell me more about the turmeric wings.

 

Glad to.  Mind you, I don't especially measure out quantities and usually "wing it" - as with almost any dish I cook.

 

These were done with 8 big fat chicken wings this time, tips removed/set aside.  Marinated w/ powdered turmeric (~2 heaped Tbsp), powdered cumin (~½ heaped Tbsp), peanut oil (? maybe a 2 sec pour?), some sea salt, a quick pour of double fermented soy sauce, plain cane sugar (? ~2 heaped Tbsp), freshly ground black pepper (maybe ~1 semi-heaped Tbsp worth), enough water to make the marinade sludge-like but not runny.  Toss everything by hand.  Leave alone for a while, maybe ~1 hr.  Broil under high flame (gas burners) laid out on aluminum foil on a baking tray, turning over once, spooning the marinade cut with a bit more water over the wings. When "browned/caramelized enough" the gas fire was shut off but the wings left in the closed broiling compartment for a few minutes (? ~4-5 min?) then taken out and plated.  (Taking them out right away is fine too, although with the way I do my wings under the broiler I have if I do that sometimes the wings will retain a slight pinkishness and remain just a tad "bloody" in and at the bones, depending on whether the wings are big fat ones or skinny ones)

 

A tad more oil and some water was added to the residues, everything lightly scraped/mixed w/ a spoon and put under the broiler (full flame) again for a minute or two.  Spooned off into a serving bowl.

 

NB: the result is certainly not a sweet dish - although a sweet note is there, which balances the rest of the savory/salty/spicy (peppery) tastes. The broiling/caramelizing cuts the "sweetness" as I'm sure you know.  There are recipes out there that use honey instead of plain sugar.  I myself might do it with palm sugar or turbinado sugar instead with some batches of this.

[Norm Matthews]

Our dinner tonight was Jerk Shrimp, mango salsa, Spanish rice and beets cooked with Mangue, brown sugar and corn starch.

 

 

Edited July 18, 2015 by Norm Matthews (log)

[FauxPas]

Very simple dinner, but some nice local produce. And very tasty little pork sausages, made by a local grocery. We were surprised how much we enjoyed this meal. 

 

 

 

[huiray]

Tomato soup w/ basil.

 

On the way there. De-skinned, de-seeded, pulp+juices alone.

 

Rigani Loukaniko salami [Olympic Provisions], Dodge City salami [smoking Goose], City Loaf bread [Amelia's], pickled rakkyo [shirakiku].

 

Sautéed French filet beans.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

pre dinner cocktail of basil infused vodka lemonade

 

 

 

fish tacos

 

[dcarch]

Came back from traveling, enjoying all the fantastic dishes by you all. Very pretty and delicious and creative and impressive.

 

Trying to catch up with stuffs that need to get done. Too hot and too humid to cook anyway. So just quickly sliced up some raw fish, and called it a day.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

Stunning Dcarch!!!

[scubadoo97]

Stunning Dcarch!!!

agreed

[BonVivant]

Simple finger food today.

 

 

 

[patrickamory]

huiray, thanks for the RX - now would you recommend powdered over fresh turmeric for this purpose - better, worse, neutral?

 

Marinated some chicken thighs at room temp for about an hour in a mixture of orange and lemon juice, sage, smashed unpeeled garlic, sweet paprika, dried oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil then roasted them on a sheet pan rack at 400F. Served with rice and peas and babaghanoush.

 

[Shelby]

Ohhhhh Patrick, this looks wonderful.  Would you share your babaghanoush recipe?  I'm going to have more ripe eggplants soon.

[kayb]

Old fashioned Southern Sunday dinner here: Chicken fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, purple hull peas, fried okra. 

 

My daughter's plate (mine was minus steak, an afterthought when I have fresh summer veggies around, and plus a wedge of cornbread).

 

 

Blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert.

 

I am happy to report I have mastered the chicken fried steak. I've always found that, even using jacquarded round steak, the quick cook they get when making CFS just doesn't provide a tender bite. So last night, I sous vided the steaks for two hours at 140F, then took them out and tossed them in the fridge. Today, I floured, egg-washed and dredged in panko as usual. Perfect.

 

I forgot the gravy and let it go a bit long, thus it was overly thickened. No one complained.

Edited July 19, 2015 by kayb (log)