Dinner 2015 (Part 5)

[scamhi]

Simple stir fry

beef, fresh peas with scallions, onion, ginger, garlic and egg

[ElainaA]

 

WOW. There are some amazing meals here!

This is not so complex - but good.  Grilled chicken thighs with a cashew, lime  and soy marinade, Peppers and tomatoes over brown rice with frico. Both reccipes from a NYTimes "week day meals' article. Also, without a picture, a plate of tomatoes and cucumber slices with oil and balsamic vinegar.

Edited September 22, 2015 by ElainaA (log)

[weinoo]

Big Yum

 

did you try to catch any Fish ?

 

just saying

 

still  A big Yum.

I did, rotuts. I bought a weekend fishing license, worms, etc.

 

Fished for 5 minutes and decided to have a cigar.  I have no idea what lake fishing is about!

[scubadoo97]

Fished for 5 minutes and decided to have a cigar.

[emoji106]

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Dinner tonight was deconstructed stuffed peppers. It's still hot here, so the dish was made on the stovetop with chopped peppers.

 

I found the largest green bell pepper I have ever seen in my life at my Asian market. It weighed 1.03 pounds before I used half of it in this dish with 12 oz, ground chuck, a cup of raw white rice, a little onion, a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes and juice, and a Knorr caldo de tomate cube of bullion. This was served with salad dressed with a mustard vinaigrette dressing I remember from the original Pancho's restaurant at 3600 E, Broadway St., West Memphis AR.

 

The dressing has oregano in it. I have a huge container of Badia brand Mexican oregano, but can't bring myself to use it even in Mex dishes. It stinks, while the Italian version is fragrant? I guess I have an impaired palate? Or maybe I just prefer good stuff?

 

A neighbor who's fixing to get evicted kept texting my husband with very irritating noises through dinner, which are unfortunately not a stranger to me. Husband did not want to help him, but I said, if he's hungry, we have to help. I sent some deconstructed stuffed peppers and salad. Husband came back and told me he was over there throwing his fit with half a pound of cheese and grapes. This guy deserves to get evicted.

 

weinoo,

 

I share your disdain for fishing, but I have been a voluntary captive of it because I adore being on the water. At one point I owned my own 22" cabin cruiser. Fishing is really fun, though, when they are striking like crazy as fast as you can bait your hook with minnows for crappie. This only happened one time to me on a Valentines Day at the Haw River at the abandoned hydroelectric plant. Usually I find fishing boring to the extreme, but when they are biting everything thrown at them, it will keep you engaged. 

 

Then you get to eat the fruits. We had these freshly killed and cleaned crappie grilled over charcoal in a pan for dinner with onions on the bottom, thinly sliced, then butter and lemon slices over the top. Also paprika was involved.

[huiray]

So many incredible meals... Dejah, Tri2Cook, huiray, weinoo (2X) and others too numerous to name.

 

.....

 

I had a hankering for the American spaghetti with meat sauce of my youth (note: not Italian, and not Italian-American either), but also decided that since it's tomato season I needed to make it with fresh tomatoes.

 

Heated a bunch of good plum tomatoes and then put them through the food mill with the coarse attachment. for a nice thick sweet and tart sauce.

 

Browned 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/4 ground pork in small batches in the Griswold No. 10:

 

pork_browning.jpg

 

Really crisped it. Also saved a smattering of the ground beef unbrowned, and didn't brown the beef all the way through (good Kenji tip for juicier chili - it really works). Deglazed with water and didn't clean the pan.

 

Added olive oil and sauted a chopped onion and 3 cloves of Ranch something garlic from Eataly. Deglazed with water again. Place the whole mess in a dutch oven with the tomatoes, salt, lots and lots of black pepper, Greek oregano from the Spice House, about 1/8 can of ancient tomato paste from the fridge (I actually think that stuff gets better the longer it sits open in the fridge - this stuff was almost black), and about 1/4 can of San Marzano to add a little liquid. 

 

Brought it to a boil and then simmered for about 60-75 mins. Although I used Afeltra pasta, I didn't attempt to toss in the pot, and served the sauce on top of the pasta like we used to have it when I was a kid:

 

spaghet.jpg

 

I will admit that the dusting on top is a really good Romano 

 

.....

 

Thanks, patrickamory.

 

That spag & meat sauce looks very good! I confess I would not have the courage to use that tomato paste from the fridge. :-) 

[huiray]

Kangkong belacan.

Hot peanut oil, garlic, "extra hot" sambal terasi [Cap Ibu], trimmed kangkong (ong choy; water morning glory; Ipomoea aquatica; etc], rock sugar, sliced de-seeded hot red chilli.

 

A stir-fried concoction of shrimp, ripening poblano, Thai eggplants, shallots (as a vegetable), garlic, chili paste with holy basil leaves [JHC], orange mini sweet peppers.  

White rice.

Shrimp de-shelled, de-veined, soaked in cool running water. Barely sautéed in peanut oil w/ a little garlic then removed & reserved. Then in sequence, to the hot un-deglazed pan: more garlic, the chili paste w/ holy basil, sliced de-seeded poblano, quartered Thai eggplants, halved shallots, sliced de-seeded sweet peppers, stir around, then the reserved shrimp, stir, serve. Oh, a good splash of ryori-shu [Morita] went in there somewhere too.

[ChrisTaylor]

I bought some blue swimmer crabs this morning ...

 

 

... and made the chilli crab recipe from Zak Pelaccio's Eat With Your Hands.

 

[liuzhou]

Just a simple dinner tonight. It's been a long, traumatic day. My favourite shoes developed a hole and needed replacement. I hate shopping for anything except food and books, but shoe shops were imperative.

 

I don't understand these idiots who open self service shops, then follow you around the store asking you what you want! And I detest the uber-idiots who shove random shoes (or other provisions) under your nose and insist that these are exactly what you are looking for, even though they have no idea what's in their hands. I did once call one out in  a CD store when some mumpty rammed a random CD up my nostrils and declared it the best thing since a caveman discovered he could sing in more than one note. I grabbed the CD from her hands, held it behind my back and asked her what it was. She had no idea.

 

I know she was only doing her job, but...

 

Anyway, I relatively painlessly scored some shoes in the 12th shop, went home for a long lie down and, when I awoke, still had no real cooking mojo left, so fell back on the old standby - all from the freezer and pantry.

 

 

Spaghetti with  minced pork  in a fresh tomato sauce with shallots and chilli pepper. I accidentally introduced slightly more anchovies than I usually do, so it smelled a bit fishy, but there was no such taste. Finished off with Parmigiano-Reggiano imported from Italy at great expense (but fortunately not mine -   it was a gift) and a bottle of decent Italian Sangiovese wine.

Edited September 22, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

[liamsaunt]

I bought some blue swimmer crabs this morning ...

 

 

 

... and made the chilli crab recipe from Zak Pelaccio's Eat With Your Hands.

 

 

 

Did you enjoy it?  It looks delicious.   I have eaten at his restaurant Fatty Crab a handful of times (ironically in a location--now closed--that had no crab on the menu!) and have that cookbook but have never made anything from it.

 

Last night's dinner was a hake and clam stew.  That's a roasted red pepper rouille on the toast.

 

[Norm Matthews]

Son and DIL just got back from almost a week in Seattle so I started cooking again.  I still ate alone though because they are conked out asleep until later and I am not on East Coast time. I got too hungry to wait.  This is grilled Huli Huli Chicken thighs over rice, a tossed salad with Southwest Airlines peanuts tossed in and baby bella mushrooms with some corn.

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by Norm Matthews (log)

[gfweb]

Couple recent dinners...

 

SV flank steak with a savory bbq sauce

 

Roast cauliflower

 

 

Braised Costco chuck short ribs with onions and crimini mushrooms and mashed potatoes

 

[ChrisTaylor]

Did you enjoy it?  It looks delicious.   I have eaten at his restaurant Fatty Crab a handful of times (ironically in a location--now closed--that had no crab on the menu!) and have that cookbook but have never made anything from it.

 

 

It was alright. The sauce itself needs something more, I feel. I don't know what. Something acidic--a squeeze of citrus juice or a spurt of vinegar, maybe. Or maybe something like some whole (possibly pickled) chillies. To my taste all those canned and bottled products--the hot sauce, the tomato sauce, the tomato puree, the soy sauce, et al--are screaming out for greater acidity and/or something fresh. Maybe I should've served it with the papaya salad.

 

I've cooked a few recipes from the book. The aforementioned salad is now a go-to recipe. I've had mixed success with other recipes. Nothing has been overtly bad when I've followed the recipe to the letter but some dishes haven't impressed me enough to warrant revisiting. 

[kayb]

Dinner tonight was deconstructed stuffed peppers. It's still hot here, so the dish was made on the stovetop with chopped peppers.

 

I found the largest green bell pepper I have ever seen in my life at my Asian market. It weighed 1.03 pounds before I used half of it in this dish with 12 oz, ground chuck, a cup of raw white rice, a little onion, a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes and juice, and a Knorr caldo de tomate cube of bullion. This was served with salad dressed with a mustard vinaigrette dressing I remember from the original Pancho's restaurant at 3600 E, Broadway St., West Memphis AR.

 

 

 

TFTC, I ate lunch at that very Pancho's -- the only one left, to my knowledge! -- on Labor Day. First time I've been to Pancho's in a year or more. I had the El Quatro, with a taco, Shrimp Veracruz, and a cheese tostada (the Veracruz, you may recall, counts as two choices!) I purely love a cheese tostada with some salad scattered atop it, slathered heavily with Pancho's dressing. They now charge you an extra $0.89 for refills on your cheese dip and "hot dip." The Sangria is still excellent.

 

My daughter loves their Mexican cheeseburger.

 

The food, as always, is only vaguely Mexican. Jimmy Hoffa is still thought to be buried somewhere about the premises. It's a piece of Arkansas history! And, damn, that dressing is amazingly good.

 

Elsewhere in the culinary world, I have not cooked in a week or more. It's been bats*** crazy in the work world, and meals have been catch-as-catch-can, carryout, and what's-in-the-fridge. Tonight I warmed up a tray of frozen chicken alfredo linguine, which was quite good, if not at all photogenic. Tomorrow, when I think I may actually have time to get in the kitchen, I'm planning ratatouille, to use up some late summer veggies, and Thursday, when I have a house guest, it's coq au vin. I am also jonesing for a good old-fashioned pot roast; unfortunately, my quarter-steer was a bit roast-short (if steak-heavy; I can't complain!) this year, so there are no roasts in the freezer.Will either have to buy a roast on the side my next market trip, or wait until early November.

[huiray]

Lotus root soup.

Oil, garlic, pork ribs, sea salt, water, raw peanuts, dried Chinese jujubes ("hak jou" (black jujubes) variety), honey jujubes, sliced dried Solomon's Seal rhizomes, dried cuttlefish, sliced lotus roots, dried wolfberry fruits (goji berries).

[FauxPas]

Last year the weather stayed warm and sunny and dry right through September, but this year we are getting a bit of cool and rainy weather already. It's starting to feel like autumn and I couldn't resist buying a Carnival squash from the farm when I went produce shopping. I steam-roasted the halves in the Cuisinart steam oven and filled them with a mix of cooked beans, tomatoes and onions. Some fresh tomatoes on the side. Forgot to take a pic after filling. We loved this meal, almost forgot how lovely these taste. 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner was supposed to have been filet mignon, roast potatoes, broccolini, béarnaise.  It didn't happen.  I just now took the eggs and meat out of the bath, and it is almost 2:00 am.

 

Instead dinner was tomatoes and canned black bean soup, Amy's, which I did not like at all.  Horrible stuff, in my opinion, and expensive.  First time I had tried it.  Sadly I have two more cans.  Vile.  It came highly recommended.

 

In addition to the beef, I poached a Berkshire pork chop that almost did not fit into the bath.  Eggs and meat are now chilling on ice, for which I had to use a fish poacher to get the chop to fit.

[FauxPas]

Instead dinner was tomatoes and canned black bean soup, Amy's, which I did not like at all.  Horrible stuff, in my opinion, and expensive.  First time I had tried it.  Sadly I have two more cans.  Vile.  It came highly recommended.

 

 

Jo, sorry your planned dinner didn't work out. I completely agree that the Amy's soup is vile. I felt the same way. I do keep the Gardennay/Campbell's Red Pepper & Black Bean on hand. My husband and I both like it enough and we can use it when we are really pressed for a quick lunch or dinner. I always add a little bit of water/stock to it and sometimes add leftover beans/rice/tomatoes/onions/peppers etc and it's not too bad. It'll do for dinner in a pinch! 

 

You can always donate the extra cans of Amy's to a food bank. Of course, you are sticking someone else with them, but someone must like them. They keep making them.  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Jo Norvelle Walker,

 

I'm glad I'm not alone in not caring for the Amy's brand of organic food products.

 

I tried an "award-winning" recipe for tuna casserole that included Amy's organic white cheddar shells. Both my husband and I agreed that my regular recipe blew that one completely out of the water.

 

Some people make fun of tuna casserole, but when, in a conversation, I discovered it's a favorite for my husband, I made it with my original recipe and it is one of his most requested and appreciated dishes. He's always excited when I make it.

 

Dinner tonight was boiled shrimp with Old Bay, baked potatoes and creamed spinach.

 

After dumping the microwavable plastic pouch of spinach into a glass bowl, covering with a glass plate, and nuking, I declined to eat any. I don't microwave anything in plastic. It looked soupy, gloopy, and smelled nasty. Husband liked it and will eat the rest. My homemade creamed spinach is much better. I do like Stouffer's spinach souffle, so I tried the creamed spinach because it was a gift from someone who was moving. Not recommended.

 

The shrimp and taters were good. There are a surprising amount of vitamins and minerals in potatoes, so I'm not worried about missing those in the spinach dish, which was little spinach and lots of gloop.

[liuzhou]

Tonight I went for fish despite having had a seafood lunch.

 

 

Pan fried sea bass (crisp skin) with shiitake couscous and stir-fried Shanghai Bok Choy. I dusted the couscous with Shichimi Togarishi after taking the pictures.

 

Edited September 23, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

[ElsieD]

Nothing at all like the fabulous looking meals here, but this was pretty good. Thai Coconut Curry soup.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Jo, sorry your planned dinner didn't work out. I completely agree that the Amy's soup is vile. I felt the same way. I do keep the Gardennay/Campbell's Red Pepper & Black Bean on hand. My husband and I both like it enough and we can use it when we are really pressed for a quick lunch or dinner. I always add a little bit of water/stock to it and sometimes add leftover beans/rice/tomatoes/onions/peppers etc and it's not too bad. It'll do for dinner in a pinch! 

 

You can always donate the extra cans of Amy's to a food bank. Of course, you are sticking someone else with them, but someone must like them. They keep making them.  

 

I hate giving away something that I wouldn't eat, however it's that or returning Amy to the store.  In contrast, I am quite fond of Progresso Hearty Black Bean soup, better I'd say than what I can make myself.  But in its wisdom my wretched local Shoprite seems to have stopped selling it.

 

Tonight is another work night but I plan to try again for steak and béarnaise, before the potatoes rot.  Realistically I know I may run out of time and energy, though now at least the meat and eggs are cooked.

[Kim Shook]

We had a water main leak last week and didn’t have water for a few days, so not much cooking here.  I DID, at least, serve a meal this weekend - pre-dinner snack:

Hummus and Gouda and garlic crispbread chips.  Dinner was Mike’s mom’s beef vegetable soup and some Cheddar rolls from Fresh Market:

The rolls were especially cheesy and good:

 

As you can see, I made absolutely nothing for that meal.  Other than my MIL’s contribution, it was all purchased food.  I could make the excuse of the water main break.  But it was fixed on Friday and I had water all weekend.  So no excuse but laziness!

[TicTac]

Looks good Elise.

 

I had a Thai Coconut curry soup at Vong many years ago that we now re-create.

 

Making a first attempt at ramen tonight.

[suzilightning]

Lamb Chops with mango chutney, mushrooms and sweet potato/onion hash

 

122.jpg

if I bring more chops will you cook them for me.....