Dinner 2016 (Part 2)

[kayb]

7 hours ago, David Ross said:

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-

 

 

Grouper is possibly my favorite fish in the world; I brought some back when we were on the Gulf coast last fall. I love to just pan-saute it, with salt and pepper, and finish off with a little bit of lemon butter. Wild rice and sweet peas are my preferred accompaniment.

 

You seldom see grouper in the stores in Mid-America; does it not freeze well?

 

[kayb]

Many thanks, @paulraphael, for your detailed scallop-cooking instructions. I did frozen scallops tonight, and they were excellent. With roasted broccoli (left in the onion a tad too long) and sriracha-garlic-cheese grits.

 

Very good. 

 

[rarerollingobject]

Not sure this entirely counts as cooking, but it WAS my dinner, and I did do a lot of unwrapping and plating!

 

Travelling interstate at the moment, through the Yarra Valley, just outside the Victorian capital of Melbourne. So I stopped at the excellent cheese room of the Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder before driving out of Melbourne, and then at Mandala Estate Winery for a wonderful chardonnay (and I don't normally like chardonnay, but this one was extraordinary), so had a lovely dinner of 24 month aged Comté, a highly stinky Epoisses that smells and tastes just like a very sweaty man, a Monte Enebro ashed goats' cheese, a fresh chèvre and a very good pork pie.

 

Eaten in this beautiful garden, I'm pretty happy with this dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2016 by rarerollingobject (log)

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, rarerollingobject said:

Not sure this entirely counts as cooking, but it WAS my dinner, and I did do a lot of unwrapping and plating!

 

Counts with me! Looks stunning. I'd eat that very happily! And call it dinner.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Stunning dinners everyone! 

 

I've been watching the Spiralizer topic/thread, and was feeling left out. The linked post covers an idea I had to make zucchini "pasta" that I gave a go tonight.

 

My idea of using a veg peeler didn't work out, and neither did my lengthwise scoring with knife, really. The old peeler, which is useless for peeling, because it takes off too much, so I use it for carrot curls or veg ribbons. It made "zoodles" (Shelby's coined word, I think) that were still too thin. I immediately switched to my trusty boning/fillet knife to slice down the length of the zucchini standing on end. The core was softer than the outer edges, so this wasn't a good idea either. I made it work with the knife alone, and ended up with zoodles that were about 1/8" square, and the length of my squash for the most part. Next time, I'll just take off thin slices and then cut the slices into noodles, all with the knife. No scoring first. Also, next time, even though my squash had very small seeds, the interior cooked more quickly the the exterior, so I will set that aside until sauteing the harder parts for a while.

 

I used one large zucchini, a little less than a tablespoon of butter, one crushed garlic clove and salt. Melted butter, sauteed the garlic just a bit over low heat, added the zucchini strips, salted lightly and let them go over med-high heat for a bit, tossing occasionally. Plated when it was crisp-tender in the thickest pieces. Finished with grated parm after plating on pre-heated plates.

 

This turned out great!

 

Husband didn't recognize what he was eating, and is always skeptical when that happens, but ended up loving it too after the first bite. I licked my plate on the way from the dining table to the sink for clean up.  No one saw me.  Sshh.

 

It made a great starter, and will happen again with the two other zucchini I have in the crisper.

 

This was followed by a frozen pizza fix-up. I know. I'm not eG worthy. BUT this was a pizza born in Italy, par-baked in a wood-fired oven, with a short ingredient list including Grana Padano Cheese, y'all! Then it was shipped over here for my enjoyment. It was very good too, and for those of us who may not possess the skills, energy and specialty ovens of the pizza gods and goddesses, a good alternative. The sauce on this pizza was more flavorful than many restaurants. You can get yours at your neighborhood Trader Joe's.

 

 

[liuzhou]

Dinner tonight was not at all what I planned, but plans go astray sometimes.

 

So it was a very simple capellini with clams (done in wine and garlic) w\ith Chinese chives and coriander leaf.

 

 

This was followed by three Hong Kong style egg tarts.

 

 

OK. I confess. There were four, but here there is a taboo against serving four of anything, even to yourself. The Chinese for "four" and for "die" are homophonous, so I ate one earlier. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 

Edited February 20, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[shain]

Thick Sicilian style pizzas.

AP flour for soft crumb, 80% hydration. cold retarded for 3 days.

Baked in 26cm round pan, oiled with some EVOO. Placed on a preheated steel plate and baked in a 250 deg C oven.

 

First one is "sfincione" style: thick tomato sauce with brown caramelized onion, garlic, oregano, bread crumbs, olive oil, Parmesan and olives.

Second is tomato sauce, mozzarella, a little cheddar and mushrooms.

 

[kayb]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Dinner tonight was not at all what I planned, but plans go astray sometimes.

 

So it was a very simple capellini with clams (done in wine and garlic) w\ith Chinese chives and coriander leaf.

 

 

This was followed by three Hong Kong style egg tarts.

 

 

OK. I confess. There were four, but here there is a taboo against serving four of anything, even to yourself. The Chinese for "four" and for "die" are homophonous, so I ate one earlier. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 

Details on the egg tart, please?

 

[BonVivant]

7 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

Not sure this entirely counts as cooking, but it WAS my dinner, and I did do a lot of unwrapping and plating!

.....Eaten in this beautiful garden, I'm pretty happy with this dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a cheese fanatic so your plate above would easily be my dinner, lunch, breakfast or snack! Époisses is lovely. If you see Chaource give it a go. It's rich, oozy and doesn't have that "sweaty man" smell (according to you lol...).

 

 

Edited February 20, 2016 by BonVivant (log)

[Shelby]

Kayb---Your scallops look perfect and your grits have me wanting them.  

 

RRO-SUCH a beautiful setting with a lovely plate of cheeses.

 

Thanksforthecrepes--I wish I had coined the "zoodles" name.  So creative but I can't take credit for it   Glad yours were a hit.  Now we need to get you a spiralizer so that it's easier for you to make them

 

Shain--Your pizzas caught my eye.  Time for pizza soon around here.

 

Chicken enchiladas using up some of the rotiss. chx I made the other night.

 

 

The last of the kielbasa from that Polish deli .....I wish I had ordered more of that.

 

 

Frog legs, shrimp, garlic cheese biscuits and tater salad last night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

how were the F.L.'s ?

 

taste like chicken ?

 

where did you get them ?   " The Pond ? "

 

Edited February 20, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

how were the F.L.'s ?

 

taste like chicken ?

 

where did you get them ?   " The Pond ? "

 

They were dang good.  I fried them a little too long last time...learned my lesson this time.  A bit like chicken only kind of like fish too.

 

I ordered them from Cajun Grocer (love that place).  The box says they are from a farm in China.

[rotuts]

yep   F.L.'s are dang good.

 

so  this spring you need to find a Pond, and in the fall   etc  etc  etc

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

yep   F.L.'s are dang good.

 

so  this spring you need to find a Pond, and in the fall   etc  etc  etc

We used to be able to get them in the river here at the house.  Frog season starts every July 1st.  There just aren't that many around here anymore...but, we haven't gone for years.  There might be more now....I can hear them at night in the summer time.

[ninagluck]

no meat Saturday again, did not miss it! crispy sweet potatoes, caramelized walnuts, stilton, sage 

[blue_dolphin]

43 minutes ago, ninagluck said:

crispy sweet potatoes, caramelized walnuts, stilton, sage 

 

I'm in LOVE with that flavor combination !

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I'm in LOVE with that flavor combination !

We'd have to ditch the sage.

[kayb]

2 hours ago, ninagluck said:

no meat Saturday again, did not miss it! crispy sweet potatoes, caramelized walnuts, stilton, sage 

 

That just went on my list to try, as I have Stilton in the fridge. Sans sage, though, as my sage plant didn't make it through the winter.

 

[sartoric]

Chicken Shawarma, with pita bread, sliced lettuce, tomato salsa, pickled chillies, yoghurt sauce and harissa hummus.

Shawarma is a word I didn't know until joining this forum. We call em doner kebabs.

Recipe from the NYT cooking section.

 

[liuzhou]

10 hours ago, kayb said:

Details on the egg tart, please?

 

Sorry. Those were shop bought from my local bakery.

 

However, I have made them in the past using this recipe..

[rarerollingobject]

10 hours ago, BonVivant said:

 

I'm a cheese fanatic so your plate above would easily be my dinner, lunch, breakfast or snack! Époisses is lovely. If you see Chaource give it a go. It's rich, oozy and doesn't have that "sweaty man" smell (according to you lol...).

 

 

 

 

 

Um, 'sweaty man reminiscent' is totally the best part!  I'll look out for the Chaource, thanks for the recommendation.. We tend to be a bit lacking in Northern Hemisphere cheese in Australia.

[kayb]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Sorry. Those were shop bought from my local bakery.

 

However, I have made them in the past using this recipe..

 

Many thanks. Saving that.

 

Like @Sartoric, I turned to Sam Sifton's chicken shawarma recipe on the NYT Cooking site for tonight. I used a cut-up whole bird, bone-in, and agree with the recipe's recommendation to use boneless pieces, perhaps even cut in two or three pieces. Marinade just doesn't penetrate the whole thighs and half-breast pieces well enough. 

 

 

Warmed up cauliflower/tomato curry over basmati rice; roasted (a bit too long) Brussels sprouts, and cucumber salad in rice vinegar, mirin, ginger, lemongrass, sesame oil and fish sauce.

 

Chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2016 by kayb (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Sausage, over easy eggs and white American cheese on homemade cat head biscuits. Sausage was Jimmy Dean hot, and spiced up with extra sage, red and black pepper. Blood orange segments with the last of the delicious blueberries to go with.

 

There was supposed to be hash browns too, and I had even nuked potatoes expressly for the purpose and refrigerated overnight, but I was running late with dinner, so hash browns will be served tomorrow.

 

Because I was running late, the husband asked if I wanted McDonald's for dinner while i was busily stowing a big grocery haul. After dinner, he said, "I'm sorry I insulted you by asking if you you wanted McDonald's." I guess he enjoyed his biscuits. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@rarerollingobject my dinner was also a cheese platter with copious bread and wine!  I don't tend to care for the scent of sweaty men, myself -- except for my two sons -- and, alas, there are no (even semi) tropical flowers here.  (Though I do have sage and mint and rosemary living in my dining room.)

 

My cheese was not nearly as photogenic as yours, though the bread came out pretty well, if I don't mind saying so myself.

[blue_dolphin]

Chipotle rice with shrimp from More Mexican Everyday.  I planned to saute the summer squash, sugar snap peas and red peppers as a side dish but the rice was salty to my taste so I tossed them in to steam as the rice finished cooking and mixed everything together.

 

I didn't like the cooking directions for this recipe which would have had the shrimp cooking in with the rice for 25 + minutes.  It also used 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 to 1.5 t of salt for one cup of rice, both of which I thought were on the high side and I failed to find any direction as to when the rice was to be added to the cooker.  But cooking the rice with the garlic, chipotles and a bit of oil was a super easy way infuse the rice with a ton of flavor. I will certainly riff on that part of the recipe again.