Dinner 2016 (Part 2)

[liuzhou]

I've been a bit quiet round here recently - no doubt to your relief. A mixture of being busy with Chinese New Year and a couple of days on the sick list. Nothing gastronomic, I hasten to point out.

 

So tonight I cooked myself an old favourite. Spicy beef with black beans and fresh shiitake mushrooms. Served with stir-fried chayote shoots and rice.

 

 

 

 

Couldn't decide which picture to post, so you get both!

[Shelby]

@liuzhou  I don't like it when you're quiet  Lovely looking meal.  I am hungry for shiitake 'rooms.

 

To keep the celebration going I thawed out a couple of beef steaks (part of a prime rib) to SV.  First time doing steaks.  The one that is pictured was a thinner cut than the other one.   This one was a little too done for my tastes, but it was so tender that I could ignore that.  Ronnie's was perfect.

 

[liuzhou]

18 hours ago, Shelby said:

@liuzhou  I don't like it when you're quiet  Lovely looking meal.  I am hungry for shiitake 'rooms.

Shiitake mushrooms, as I'm sure you know. are the default here.

 

I would sell my grandmother for some Brussels spouts. Most of my Chinese friends don't believe they even exist! Cabbages the size of small eggs. You are joking. Don't be crazy!

 

I love 'em! If they are cooked right. My mother had a foolproof method of making them inedible. Took me years to get over it!

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by liuzhou
appalling typo (log)

[Shelby]

Just now, liuzhou said:

Shiitake mushrooms, as I'm sure you know. are the default here.

 

I would sell my grandmother for some Brussels spouts. Most of my Chinese friends don't believe they even exist! Cabbages the size of than eggs. You are joking. Don't be crazy!

 

I love 'em! If they are cooked right. My mother had a foolproof method of making them inedible. Took me years to get over it!

 

We like our Brussels sprouts, too.  They have to be soft...but not a ball of mush.  I steamed these with butter and lemon pepper.  Probably too much butter and it negated the vegetable benefits lol.

[liuzhou]

4 minutes ago, Shelby said:

We like our Brussels sprouts, too.  They have to be soft...but not a ball of mush.  I steamed these with butter and lemon pepper.  Probably too much butter and it negated the vegetable benefits lol.

 

I pan roast them. When I have them.Haven't had for about  twenty years!

 

But I managed to have some other things. Things I'd never heard of , Never met anything that beats well cooked sprouts, though.

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[huiray]

For "Chor Yut" (1st day) of CNY I polished off the quasi-vegetarian dish I made here (the chicken stock renders it not really vegetarian) plus the rest of the steamed fish, with rice; then also plus this-and-that plus a big very nice fresh winter spinach [Full Hand Farm] & parsley salad & other stuff dressed w/ Arbosana EV olive oil, Agrodolce white balsamic vinegar (this is quite wonderful, IMO) and fresh ground pepper & Maldon sea salt. (i.e. no cooking) Fresh longans. Ghiradelli & Lindt chocolates. This-and-that alcoholic beverages.

Edited February 9, 2016 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

5 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

Kou rou, or Sichuanese bowl-steamed pork belly. You poach some pork, and then fry it till the skin is crispy, and then soak it in water till the skin puffs up, then slice it and line a bowl with it. You then fill the rest of the bowl with pickled chillis, black beans, preserved Sichuanese mustard greens and glutinous rice and steam it for three hours.

 

Pork belly cake abomination. 

 

A nice Szechuanese rendition of 扣肉.  Just curious - have you had, or made, the original Hakka versions of 扣肉? With either preserved greens or with taro?

[huiray]

On 2/8/2016 at 5:27 AM, rarerollingobject said:

Thai wing beans

 

Just as an aside - for those curious - these wing beans are known in many cuisines ranging from African to large swaths of Asia. See here. My mother (in SE Asia) was very fond of them; I was less so as a youth when growing up, because of the specific taste they had, but I might feel differently today. For a while she grew them in our garden too.

[Paul Bacino]

Did  :    Abalone crusted in Corn Flakes / Parm Risotto / Green Beans

 

 

This was a pre tenderized steak

 

 

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

I normally remove the membrane but this time the roe is left whole. Sichuan chili in oil and sesame oil on top. There was also a beef shin broth with maitake on the side.

 

 

[ninagluck]

last weekend I produced variations of bratwurst. tonight I tried rabbit with some carrots on the side......... carrot puree, braised in goose fat, carrot salad, pesto from the green and deep fried carrot green

Edited February 9, 2016 by ninagluck (log)

[rarerollingobject]

6 hours ago, huiray said:

 

A nice Szechuanese rendition of 扣肉.  Just curious - have you had, or made, the original Hakka versions of 扣肉? With either preserved greens or with taro?

 

Never made it. I've eaten it in restaurants, but only the preserved greens version..have a distinct aversion to taro in all its forms!

[sartoric]

Started with an antipasto of melon wrapped in prosciutto.

 

 

Then a simple pesto linguine with a green salad and sourdough.

 

 

 

[rarerollingobject]

4 hours ago, BonVivant said:

I normally remove the membrane but this time the roe is left whole. Sichuan chili in oil and sesame oil on top. There was also a beef shin broth with maitake on the side.

 

 

 

That's a hell of a meal, @BonVivant. Very impressive.

Edited February 10, 2016 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Ann_T]

 Arctic Char.  Loosely following Huiray.    Steamed in a bamboo steamer - Arctic Char ( Shao Hsing  wine, sesame oil, a little chicken broth, minced garlic, ginger, green onion. Served with baby bok choy.)

Edited February 10, 2016 by Ann_T (log)

[huiray]

My CNY 開年餐 (opening the year meal).  See here.

Edited February 10, 2016 by huiray (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, huiray said:

My CNY 開年餐 (opening the year meal).  See here.

 

 

Peanuts are always good.

 

[huiray]

40 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

2 hours ago, huiray said:

My CNY 開年餐 (opening the year meal).  See here.

 

 

Peanuts are always good.

 

Significance of peanuts. (scroll down)

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/food_symbolism.htm

Oh, these were very nice and tasty ones too.

Edited February 10, 2016 by huiray (log)

[rarerollingobject]

Very nice fish, @Ann_T.

 

Here, Korean drinking food; dak galbi ramyun, or chicken pan fried in lots of gochujang chilli paste, maesil sour plum syrup, sesame oil, and soy sauce, with chopped cabbage, onions, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Then at the end of cooking, you stir in blanched ramen noodles (Shin Ramyun brand) and sprinkle it with cheese (I used provolone and Laughing Cow) and grill till the cheese bubbles. Sprinkle over some toasted Korean seaweed and roasted sesame seeds. 

 

Insert existing attachment

[liamsaunt]

Gai lan with oyster sauce

 

 

And a big platter of fried rice with chicken

 

[Kim Shook]

kayb – Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures!  I like crunchy tacos, but am addicted to their Crunchwrap Supreme!

 

Shelby – I really, really need to give bierocks a try.  They look SO good.

 

For Jessica’s BD celebration, I did three different flatbread pizzas by request.  The first (and most popular) was this:

Honey, bacon, Brie and Walnut (except it was pecans, since I didn’t have walnuts).  Really fantastic.  We felt that it could have used a good grind of black pepper or perhaps some pepper infused honey.  Next was the grape, Brie and arugula:

Plus a handful of bleu cheese.  This also would have benefitted from some black pepper, but otherwise really good.  The last one I wasn’t entirely happy with – Thai Chicken:

It was very popular, including with a friend who used to live in Thailand.  She said that the flavors of the chicken were quite authentic.  I liked the flavor pretty well (it had too much PB in the sauce for me) and the toppings were good – especially the drizzle of coconut crema.  But I tried to shortcut the chicken and use a rotisserie and this was a BIG mistake.  The chicken layer, which should have been bite-sized pieces of sauced chicken, was mushy shreds. 

 

A recent dinner started with a salad made up of leftovers from Jessica’s party:

Arugula, grapes, bleu cheese and bean sprouts.  Plus other fridge things that needed using.  Mr. Kim’s chicken lady at work is being incredibly generous, so I have 3 dozen raw eggs and a half dozen hard boiled!  So dinner was scrambled eggs and creamed chipped beef on Texas toast:

We will be eating a LOT of eggs in the next week!

 

Super Bowl food – chips and dips:

 

7-Layer dip and pita chips:

 

Jessica’s deviled eggs:

 

My wings and some frozen Buffalo bites:

 

Jessica’s ‘calzone’:

 

Slices:

Served with pizza sauce for dipping.

[Tere]

Shabu-shabu on Sunday night prepped up and ready to go. Kombu fish stock (came in a teabag because of course it did). Chestnut mushrooms, eringi, oyster and the er, little ones. Rocket in place of mizuna. Silken tofu, udon and worms of beef escalopes, plus masses of ponzu and sesame dipping sauces that will be repurposed into salad dressing (I forgot the daikon for the ponzu). Sake was a gift from someone. Tried our new sake set out, worked very well as it keeps it nicely cold  Apologies for the upside down rabbits!

 

[ElainaA]

It seems that the meals posted here keep getting better and better - so beautiful and complex!

 

Our last night's dinner was pretty simple - and good. Boneless pork chops with an apple juice glaze (it was supposed to be cider but the local cider mill only sells cider in gallons or half gallons and we never use it up before it threatens to explode)  with mashed sweet potatoes with orange zest and a bit of maple syrup. Also a spinach salad with pears, dried cranberries, red onion and pecans.

It is just about sugaring time here but a good sap run depends on cold nights and warmer days - and the night's have not been as cold as is normal. So possibly not a good year for syrup. My brother in law sugars so we usually get a good supply of both grade A and the darker, thicker grades which I prefer for cooking. 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday I made a corn and beef pastel which was very good but seriously un-photogenic - looking a bit too much like train wreck. The recipe was from a very old (1982!)clipping from Cuisine magazine. Cuisine was my first exposure to a 'foodie' magazine (although I don't think the term existed then) and I was so sad when it went out of business in, I believe, 1984. This recipe was from an article on casseroles - I have made almost all of the recipes at various times - several I come back to over and over. 

[Tere]

Could you freeze cider in ice cube trays if you like cooking with it? I don't see why not?

[ElainaA]

4 minutes ago, Tere said:

Could you freeze cider in ice cube trays if you like cooking with it? I don't see why not?

You can and I have - when I remember. In fact I should get some of the excellent local cider to freeze before the mill closes for the year. Thanks for the reminder.