Dinner 2016 (Part 3)

[Anna N]

 

 Rare roast beef on pumpernickel with some cucumber pickles.

[kayb]

 

Boiled shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce, roasted broccoli, roasted pineapple glazed with a vaguely Asian glaze.

[ElsieD]

Taco seasoned beef stuffed into pasta shells, topped with cheese and tomato.  Served with salad on a chipped plate.  I need new plates.

[Ann_T]

Slow roasted a brisket for dinner.

 

And made sandwiches.  Served with home-made fries and a dill pickle.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

The stars finally aligned, and I had a whole chicken in the house and the weather cooperated. I also had the critical element of motivation to cook the chicken outside over fire. I was really looking forward to cooking over mesquite wood that @Smithytalked about when she was in Texas sampling their great barbecue. I think it was winter before last, so you can see how long I have been looking forward to this. I just wish I had a better report instead of a cautionary tale on how not to do a cookout. 

 

I started at 6:00 PM, knowing that sunset comes around 8:00 here, and confident that it would give me plenty of time for everything. I cleaned out the grill, and laid a fire with Kingsford charcoal in a layer on the bottom, mesquite chunks in the middle of the pyramid and more charcoal at the apex. Then I started it as usual with lighter fluid and went in to scrub and pierce a couple baking potatoes, and make a salad. All I had to do was mix up Sadaf pomegranate molasses, white vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce and a little sesame oil for the dressing. Then I cleaned, capped and sliced some strawberries to macerate in the dressing in the fridge while I went on with prep. Well, by the time I had washed, split and dug the kidneys out of the chicken and seasoned it, and was ready to grill, my mesquite and most of the charcoal was too far gone to have enough heat left to cook a raw chicken, I thought. It was now 7:00 PM. What could I do but put on more charcoal and let it catch and go ashy?

 

While this was happening, I put the chicken halves on a large glass serving platter and nuked them at intervals on 40% power to get them going while the fire came back up to speed. At 7:30, the chicken was beginning to exude juices and had warmed up, but the platter was still not too hot to carry outside with bare hands. So out I went and plunked her on the grill where the added charcoal was ready to cook.

 

It has been many years since I cooked a chicken over fire, and it was immediately obvious I needed a squirt bottle to put out flare-ups, so went in and rinsed one out and filled it with fresh cold water. I cooked the chicken for twenty minutes on the bone side and ten on the skin side, and lost my daylight. By flashlight it was obvious that I was burning my chicken and it was not cooking evenly. Maybe I would have been better off just going with my initial fire I thought was too far gone? I pulled the chicken off onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for another thirty minutes. Chicken cooked three ways anyone? 

 

It came out better than I expected, and was much more than edible, but made me remember why I haven't cooked chicken over fire in long time. You pretty much have to babysit it every single minute. You could definitely tell there was mesquite in the fire, and it was a good flavor. I liked it a lot better than my attempts to smoke with soaked chunks of this wood.

 

The salad dressing was my first attempt with pomegranate molasses and it was a hit. There's citric acid in it which is a very nice balance to the sweetness from the real sugar. Oh, after I came in, I added spinach to the macerated strawberries and tossed just before plating.

 

The husband was pleased and asked to take a chicken leg and half of one of the huge potatoes I baked for lunch tomorrow, so that's a good thing. He really liked the salad too, so that dressing is definitely a keeper, but I will probably add grated ginger next time, and maybe a little scallion or garlic. I wanted a simpler dressing this time so I could see how the pomegranate molasses did, as it was my first time working with this ingredient. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes
I have no idea what happened to the time! (log)

[sartoric]

3 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

The stars finally aligned, and I had a whole chicken in the house and the weather cooperated. I also had the critical element of motivation to cook the chicken outside over fire. I was really looking forward to cooking over mesquite wood that @Smithytalked about when she was in Texas sampling their great barbecue. I think it was winter before last, so you can see how long I have been looking forward to this. I just wish I had a better report instead of a cautionary tale on how not to do a cookout. 

 

I started at 6:00 PM, knowing that sunset comes around 8:00 here, and confident that it would give me plenty of time for everything. I cleaned out the grill, and laid a fire with Kingsford charcoal in a layer on the bottom, mesquite chunks in the middle of the pyramid and more charcoal at the apex. Then I started it as usual with lighter fluid and went in to scrub and pierce a couple baking potatoes, and make a salad. All I had to do was mix up Sadaf pomegranate molasses, white vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce and a little sesame oil for the dressing. Then I cleaned, capped and sliced some strawberries to macerate in the dressing in the fridge while I went on with prep. Well, by the time I had washed, split and dug the kidneys out of the chicken and seasoned it, and was ready to grill, my mesquite and most of the charcoal was too far gone to have enough heat left to cook a raw chicken, I thought. It was now 7:00 PM. What could I do but put on more charcoal and let it catch and go ashy?

 

While this was happening, I put the chicken halves on a large glass serving platter and nuked them at intervals on 40% power to get them going while the fire came back up to speed. At 7:30, the chicken was beginning to exude juices and had warmed up, but the platter was still not too hot to carry outside with bare hands. So out I went and plunked her on the grill where the added charcoal was ready to cook.

 

It has been many years since I cooked a chicken over fire, and it was immediately obvious I needed a squirt bottle to put out flare-ups, so went in and rinsed one out and filled it with fresh cold water. I cooked the chicken for twenty minutes on the bone side and ten on the skin side, and lost my daylight. By flashlight it was obvious that I was burning my chicken and it was not cooking evenly. Maybe I would have been better off just going with my initial fire I thought was too far gone? I pulled the chicken off onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for another thirty minutes. Chicken cooked three ways anyone? 

 

It came out better than I expected, and was much more than edible, but made me remember why I haven't cooked chicken over fire in long time. You pretty much have to babysit it every single minute. You could definitely tell there was mesquite in the fire, and it was a good flavor. I liked it a lot better than my attempts to smoke with soaked chunks of this wood.

 

The salad dressing was my first attempt with pomegranate molasses and it was a hit. There's citric acid in it which is a very nice balance to the sweetness from the real sugar. Oh, after I came in, I added spinach to the macerated strawberries and tossed just before plating.

 

The husband was pleased and asked to take a chicken leg and half of one of the huge potatoes I baked for lunch tomorrow, so that's a good thing. He really liked the salad too, so that dressing is definitely a keeper, but I will probably add grated ginger next time, and maybe a little scallion or garlic. I wanted a simpler dressing this time so I could see how the pomegranate molasses did, as it was my first time working with this ingredient. 

I feel for you, fires can be tricky. Most important is you got to eat delicious chicken.

3 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

 

[liamsaunt]

sear-roasted salmon with cherry tomato ragout and arugula on a crispy potato cake made with leftover potatoes from Easter

 

[sartoric]

Mezze platter for sharing.

We have cevapcici, dolmades and falafels.
The dips are both homemade, hummus and tzatziki. 
I have sticks of carrot, cucumber and celery, slow roasted tomatoes, garlic cloves, zucchini and a few sliced green chillies. Also, two kinds of olives (one our home grown/cured), polski gorki and lots of fresh pita bread.

 

 

[shain]

Red cabbage filled with toasted buckwheat (kasha), mushrooms, and caramelized onion. Sauce is a light roux with sour cream, tomatoes, dill and paprika.

 

Un-photogenic peas and eggs salad with onion, dill pickle, mayonnaise, dill weed.

[ElainaA]

Risotto with the last of the Easter grilled lamb and artichokes. And a salad with micro greens.

 

 

[BonVivant]

Looks like a steak but it's actually a very thick piece of lamb's liver. The thinner outer edges were trimmed and chopped up and all went in the dumplings. Fried onions were on the side, though usually I pile them on the liver.

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Elaina, that risotto looks fantastic especially with the browned pieces of lamb scattered throughout!

BonVivan, were those bread dumplings?  They look so creamy and soft.

[Okanagancook]

10 hours ago, sartoric said:

Mezze platter for sharing.

We have cevapcici, dolmades and falafels.
The dips are both homemade, hummus and tzatziki. 
I have sticks of carrot, cucumber and celery, slow roasted tomatoes, garlic cloves, zucchini and a few sliced green chillies. Also, two kinds of olives (one our home grown/cured), polski gorki and lots of fresh pita bread.

 

 

Lovely looking platter.  Did you take the skins off the chick peas for the hummus?

[BonVivant]

8 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

BonVivan, were those bread dumplings?  They look so creamy and soft.

 

No, not the bread kind. Besides liver bits there were mashed potatoes, flour, egg, thyme, some nutmeg.

[ElainaA]

15 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Elaina, that risotto looks fantastic especially with the browned pieces of lamb scattered throughout!

 

Thanks!

[sartoric]

2 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

Lovely looking platter.  Did you take the skins off the chick peas for the hummus?

I cheated and used a can, but when I do it from scratch I do remove the skins. That's usually a weekend job, so I have an extra pair of hands...

[Okanagancook]

I hear you about taking those skins off.  Time consuming, open a beer.  I've tried various methods but really, one at a time.  But the result is so superior.

[ElsieD]

A stir fry of pork in satay sauce with Chinese broccoli and yellow peppers on soba noodles.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

We had country ham from SunCrest Farms in Wilkesboro, NC tonight. It was served with fried eggs and melted American cheese on homemade biscuits. The sides were diced mango, sliced banana and sliced strawberries along with grits with red eye gravy.

 

The SunCrest ham was fine, but I sure miss the Stadler's from Elon, NC that I used to be able to get. The Stadler ham was much better. Virgil Stadler sold out to Smithfield and retired a few years ago. I'm happy that he has a comfortable and deserved retirement, but I sure will miss his wonderful country ham. *Sigh* It was a good dinner, but with Stadler's it could have been a great dinner.

 

I always soak the ham for a few minutes in warm water to remove some of the salt cure. This ham tonight had 54% of the daily sodium allotment in a mere 2 ounces, before soaking.  I put 4 ounces (before cooking, so probably closer to 3) on each biscuit, and we each have a leftover one for lunch.

[Ann_T]

Fettuccine with Meatballs.

[scubadoo97]

Crab cakes and slaw last night

 

[shain]

Bucatini alla Puttanesca.

[Anna N]

 

 Portobello caps with scrambled eggs, goat cheese and roasted red pepper.

[sartoric]

Tuna veggie bake, kinda like mornay. Served with a mixed salad and toasted seed bread.

It's bin night, time to chuck or use whatever's in the fridge.

There's mirepoix, roasted garlic and pumpkin, the kernels from a corn cob, mashed potato, milk, cream, torn bocconcini and grated cheddar cheese. Topped with breadcrumbs and a bit more cheese.

Straight out of the oven.

 

Our homegrown cherry tomatoes. Dressing made with the tuna oil and red wine vinegar..

 

Comfort food.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Pork is $1.79 this week -- I'm not talking about Berkshire here -- but I am feeling poor at the moment and need to pay the rent.

 

I bought a boneless rib end roast this afternoon and portioned it into four thick chops, which I anovaed at 61 deg C.  Bagged with generous amounts of fresh plucked sage leaves from my dining room.  One of these chops I seared in just smoking grapeseed oil and served with leftover scalloped potatoes and barely blanched Brussels sprouts, bright green and crunchy as I like them.

 

The potatoes were vilely over salted, but I didn't salt the sprouts and I forgot to salt the pork, so it pretty much all worked out.  Clearly my scalloped potatoes need more work.

 

Dessert is a tryst with the green fairy.