Dinner 2016 (Part 2)

[liuzhou]

After last night's food overload, I wanted something more simple tonight, so I went for a basic stir-fry.

 

 

Donkey meat marinated in Shaoxing wine and soy sauce. Fried with garlic, ginger and bird's eye chilli. Added leeks and mushrooms. That's it. Served with rice.

 

 

[HungryChris]

Finally got to try out the new smoker. Hickory smoked baby backs, vinegar based BBQ sauce and slaw. The old one you plugged in and it reached whatever temp it reached. The new one lets you set the temp and the time. Much happier with that and the fact that

you can simply open the door, pull out the racks and mop or spray. The old one you would have to take them out to get at them..

HC

Edited February 18, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[scubadoo97]

I have the same smoker.  When I got it some 7-8  yrs ago there were wiring issues with this model. I rewired it and added  better connectors and it's been chugging along quite well.    I've been wanting a Cookshack when this one dies but I'm still waiting 

[nickrey]

A few days ago, I made some Vitelli Tonnato for 40 people using marinated Veal Girello that had been cooked sous vide at 69C until core temperature was 55C. The meat was cut on my meat slicer.

 

There was some left over so last night we had home-made Thai beef veal salad, as pictured.

 

 

[sartoric]

The last of the roast chicken turned into nachos.

Sauteed onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes, a few roast veggies and chilli paste.

Served with guacamole, sour cream with garlic chives, and cheesy corn chips.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

My meals have been extremely disrupted this week thanks to commuter train problems.  Tuesday our train stalled for over an hour.  A mixed veggie stir fry became only bok choy with shrimp because I was so hungry when I got home.  Brother in law started the rice cooker for me or we would not have had rice!

 

 

Tonight was terrible.  Could not even fit into the station.  I ended up walking to my husband's office and we took a taxi home.  One hour and 15 minutes later thanks to gridlock, and many dollars poorer, we were home.  I live 12 miles from the city.  Mass transit is so annoying when it goes wrong.  I was mad.  I made bucatini puttanesca with extra garlic and anchovies to reflect my mood

 

 

On vacation as of tomorrow so my mind is already in a better place :-)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

32 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

 

Tonight was terrible.  Could not even fit into the station.  I ended up walking to my husband's office and we took a taxi home.  One hour and 15 minutes later thanks to gridlock, and many dollars poorer, we were home.  I live 12 miles from the city.  Mass transit is so annoying when it goes wrong.  I was mad.  I made bucatini puttanesca with extra garlic and anchovies to reflect my mood

 

 

On vacation as of tomorrow so my mind is already in a better place :-)

 

 

@liamsauntVery nice meals and beautiful photos, as usual. Sorry about your transportation issues, but happy you have vacation time to get away from them. You might want to keep in mind all'arrabbiata sauce if you get stranded and home late again. The linked version is ultra- quick to prepare, and the name means "in the angry way". 

 

There are so many great and inspiring meals in this thread, mine comes off as pretty pedestrian, but we enjoyed it a lot, and bonus, it was pretty healthy.

 

I broiled a pork sirloin steak with only seasoned meat tenderizer and black pepper. I split one of my out-of-season, not so great red plums, and broiled it alongside the pork. This really gave the plum some much needed help, so thanks for that idea @Smithy. Finished the plum with a touch of good balsamic, that I tend to hoard.

 

This was served with applesauce, microwaved sweet potatoes with just butter and salt, and brussel sprouts.

 

We raise so much pork and so many sweet potatoes in this state, that it tends to be an inexpensive staple. Even the supermarket offerings of fresh pork seem to be very acceptable, as long as you avoid the adulterated versions.

[Okanagancook]

I am dieting, for the 7 th week and my dinners or not noteworthy, at all, sheesh.  One day soon I shall have something  to post.    in the mean time I am soooo impressed with everyone's dinners which are swoon worthy .

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@OkanagancookI have to diet too, at times. It's sort of a lifestyle for me, so that I don't let my love of (obsession with?) food turn me into a behemoth.   I venture to say that others would be interested in what a fellow eGulleter eats when cutting calories. I know I sure would. 

[Anna N]

 

 Pita bread filled with doggy bag contents from lunch -- chicken shawarma and salads. 

[rarerollingobject]

I recently read a book about Victorian cooking techniques, and was highly intrigued by the larding needle. It’s an implement they used to thread small pieces of fat or butter throughout dry meat. 

I couldn’t find a single contemporary photo of this being done to a chicken (I did find one of quail.) But anyway, so determined was I to try this out on some desiccated protein that I tracked down a larding needle online, ordered it from America, and created a fat-infused Coronary Chicken; one half of it threaded with pancetta, the other with butter. And roasted with fennel, apples, carrots, garlic and thyme.

 

It looks a bit unappealing in the before and after, to be sure, but MAN was that a juicy, tasty, delicious roast chicken.

 

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Anna N]

I was always equally intrigued by the idea of a larding needle. What did you lard with?  

[liuzhou]

Tonight.

 

 

Chicken with lentils and beans.

 

P.S. I have a larding needle and don't see it as Victorian in the least. Never used it on chicken, though.

[Vlcatko]

4 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

I recently read a book about Victorian cooking techniques, and was highly intrigued by the larding needle.

Hmm, so it's not a common practice then - to lard dryer meats? Quite a few of Czech dishes (that are now quite commonly called traditional) use larding so I thought it was a regular thing... Then again, I'd never heard of larding with butter before, so there's that

[kayb]

9 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

@OkanagancookI have to diet too, at times. It's sort of a lifestyle for me, so that I don't let my love of (obsession with?) food turn me into a behemoth.   I venture to say that others would be interested in what a fellow eGulleter eats when cutting calories. I know I sure would. 

 

I've been in a not so much diet group, but a "healthier living" group since mid-January. Rather than the proscriptions of a diet, it simply has you earn points if: 

1. You eat three servings of veggies a day

2. You eat two servings of fruit a day

3. You eat no added sugar or sweets (exceptions made for natural sweeteners)

 

You earn points for each of those, as well as other activiites like exercise, drinking a minimum of 64 oz of water a day, etc., and for maintaining or losing weight.

 

So, I've taken to fruit smoothies with protein powder for breakfast, sometimes with a rice cake with peanut butter. That knocks out my two fruit servings (1/2 cup each) first thing in the morning, except on the days like yesterday when I decide I want bacon and eggs. I tend to snack on fruit anyway, so I never have a problem getting that in. At present, tangerines are my favorite. Surprisingly, vegetables are a different story, as a "serving" of veggies is a full cup, and three cups of veggies a day is a LOT of veggies. I've made a vegetable juice I keep in the fridge that I like, as well as keeping a pot of vegetable soup in the fridge all the time to have for lunch and dinner. I snack a lot of raw cabbage and carrot sticks with hummus, and fortunately, I love a baked sweet potato. This would be a lot easier if it were summer, with fresh vegetables!

 

I try to be reasonable on carbs -- if I have a sandwich for lunch, I'll do it with thin-sliced bread and just one slice, and then I'll try to have less carbs at dinner. Potatoes -- I love anything you can do with a potato --and fat are my downfall, so I try to police that pretty closely. Trying to incorporate more fish into my diet, as well; I eat a lot of beef because I have a freezer-full.

 

[blue_dolphin]

The Creamy Zucchini, Corn and Roasted Poblanos from More Mexican Everyday, topped with a bit of queso fresco and served with a Cuisi-oven steam-roasted chicken thigh:

[suzilightning]

That larding needle resembles the awl we use to fix leather items.  Interesting enough I have a piece of meat marinating for sauerbraten  and one of the recipes calls for larding with salt pork.  In the kitchen we used to use a cleaned steel or a fine boning knife to create larding pockets.

 

Came down with a horrid cold on Saturday...can't taste anything but in my head.  It's funny but I can think of a food and "taste" it in my sense memory fully blown.

Made Marlene's cottage pie last night with ground bison, onion ,garlic, sauteed porcini, carrots, peas and some Worchestshire sauce topped with some mashed potatoes.  Johnnybird said it was very good but I tasted nothing.

Tried some of the new Lay's smoked gouda and chive chips and ... nothing.

Last cold day for a few days so will make the sauerbraten that has been marinating in red wine, vinegar, juniper, garlic, black peppercorns and bay leaves since Sunday.  Carrots, onions and the marinade then some red cabbage with shredded apple and Grandma Rose's spaetzle will round out dinner tonight.

[ElainaA]

9 minutes ago, suzilightning said:

 

Came down with a horrid cold on Saturday...can't taste anything but in my head.  It's funny but I can think of a food and "taste" it in my sense memory fully blown.

Made Marlene's cottage pie last night with ground bison, onion ,garlic, sauteed porcini, carrots, peas and some Worchestshire sauce topped with some mashed potatoes.  Johnnybird said it was very good but I tasted nothing.

Tried some of the new Lay's smoked gouda and chive chips and ... nothing.

Last cold day for a few days so will make the sauerbraten that has been marinating in red wine, vinegar, juniper, garlic, black peppercorns and bay leaves since Sunday.  Carrots, onions and the marinade then some red cabbage with shredded apple and Grandma Rose's spaetzle will round out dinner tonight.

Those sound like lovely meals - I'm so sorry that you couldn't taste them! I'd love to.......

 

Last night's dinner - a bean, cabbage and sausage stew. The beans are cannellini that I grew and dried last summer. The local grocery was out of the locally made Italian sweet sausage that I normally use and I made what turned out to be a mistake and purchased the store brand (PriceChopper). It turned out to be very bland - one of the more tasteless sausages that I have eaten. I compensated with some extra spices and the end result was pretty good. It would have been better with good sausage though.

 

[David Ross]

During a recent trip to Oregon, I stopped by my favorite seafood store in Portland and found fresh Grouper. We rarely find Grouper in our one seafood shop in Spokane, and being set with my cooler filled with ice, in 6 hours I had fresh Grouper at home.  The salad was a mix of green and black olives, red onion, tiny mushrooms, green beans and blood orange.  I had planned on adding some fried polenta and a blood orange buerre blanc, but the dish only needed the crisp salad and sweet oranges paired with the Grouper.  And next time I won't season the Grouper with the Cajun spice mix I used--it only needed salt and pepper.

 

Grouper with a Blood Orange Salad-

 

[shain]

Toasted pasta with ricotta and walnuts. Plenty of black pepper, some Parmesan, a touch of nutmeg, lemon peel and a small drizzle of honey.

 

 

The toasted pasta, prior to cooking:

Edited February 19, 2016 by shain (log)

[Vlcatko]

Duck confit with "cold oil" french fries (inspired by one of the previous posts here - thanks!) and garlicky young broccoli and choi sum

[mmille24]

Brussells Sprouts and Pancetta (should have evened out the pancetta better). My attempt to re-create Motorino's masterpiece.

Caputo Pizzeria
68% hydration
Buff Motz
Garlic
Pancetta
Brussels

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by mmille24 (log)

[sartoric]

Hey  Vicatko, I made the cold oil fries last night too. What a great method, they will be cooked again !

 

Fish and chips - served with a mixed salad. The fish is king snapper, dredged in seasoned flour and fried in butter.  The green stuff is salsa verde made with Italian parsley, basil, garlic, capers and EVOO. The chips were legendary.

 

 

[Anna N]

 

A very light dinner. A negroni and a bowl of caulflower soup dusted with some nutmeg. Thought about having a negroni for dessert too but that would be just overkill. 

[HungryChris]

I am surprised that on the first Friday of Lent, I had to search so hard  for fresh fish, but I covered a lot of ground before

I found some. I had my heart set on fish and chips and finally found some fresh Stonington fleet cod. I spent one summer

working for a local fish market and would often be sent to the fish docks to buy boxes of fresh whole fish. As part of that experience,

I would see older individuals buying whole fish off the boats and that is what I want to do. I just have to work my way into that

schedule.  

Anyway, we got our fish and chip fix tonight.