Dinner 2016 (Part 3)

[rarerollingobject]

All I had for dinner was potato chips, but at least I made them myself. Laminated potato chips - I mean, there are definitely better ways to spend a Saturday night than mandolining a potato into slices the thickness of silk, soaking them in salted cold water, drying each slice individually, brushing them in melted butter and topping with a sprig of dill and another silk potato slice, pressing out all the air bubbles with a finger and brushing with more melted butter, sandwiching them between two red-hot baking sheets and baking them till they're crisp and golden and buttery. And then dousing them in fine salt and crunching through them with a cold glass of riesling for the entirety of your dinner.

 

But there are worse ways, too.

 

 

[kayb]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

SV'd pork chop, steamed broccoli and sauteed cherry tomatoes. 

In what do you saute your tomatoes, butter or oil? Any spices? Those look lovely.

 

@rarerollingobject, have mercy! Those look GORGEOUS!

Edited April 9, 2016 by kayb (log)

[Anna N]

@kayb

 

The tomatoes were sauteed in (mostly) olive oil, a minced clove of garlic and a smidgen of hot pepper flakes.   Seasoned lightly with salt and pepper.   Mostly olive oil because I ran out and had to supplement with some grapeseed.  

[liuzhou]

Not the healthiest meal I've cooked in a while. but it was what I fancied at the time and I refuse to apologise.

 

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Not the healthiest meal I've cooked in a while. but it was what I fancied at the time and I refuse to apologise.

 

 

No apology needed. As my gran always said - a bit o' what thee fancies does thee good.  

[huiray]

Wild Alaskan Halibut, Part 1.

 

Poached in chicken stock, fresh thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, hon-mirin [Takara],  sake [Rihaku Junmai Ginjo 'Wandering Poet'].  The halbut came from Caplinger's Fresh Catch. Good price this time, $25/lb.

With sautéed asparagus, yellow & orange sweet mini-peppers. Baby purple, yellow, red potatoes simmered in salted water then tossed w/ a nice butter [Charentes Poitou beurre demi-sel] & chopped parsley. 

Plus the "skin chip" from pan-frying the skin knifed off the piece of halibut.

 

At the start:

Brought to a simmer, with the lemon zest and other stuff (see above) added in, and the mixture simmered for a few minutes.

 

The halibut pieces (about a half-pound each) went in afterwards.

 

One of the pieces, plated w/ the asparagus & sweet peppers (sautéed separately in a pan), the potatoes (cooked separately & dressed as previously described) & garnished w/ a thyme sprig.

 

With the skin chip placed on it.

 

Eating it...

[huiray]

Following from the above, Wild Alaskan halibut Part 2.

 

The second piece of halibut, held (at RT) for the second plate.

 

Cipriani tagliarelle cooked in the poaching liquid (see the previous post) with water added as needed then cooking down as the pasta reached "done-ness". Plated w/ the RT halibut piece, drizzles of oil, salt, rapini flowers, parsley.

 

The pasta was one of the most delicious I've had and overshadowed the fish by quite a bit!

 

Plus chiffonaded young collard greens in chicken stock.

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Salad.

Shaved green cabbage, kai-lan flowers & stems, orange & red sweet mini-peppers, asparagus, Arbosana EV olive oil [California Ranch], Maldon sea salt, ground black pepper, AgroDolce Bianco Delizia Estense.

 

Pasta in the style of the "Bluebeard Pasta". See here for a basis on which this was done. I have done this several times in past iterations that I have posted here.

 

On the way there:

 

 

[mgaretz]

Split pea soup made in the electric pressure cooker.

 

[ninagluck]

simple dinner: dumplings with wild  garlic, jersusaleme artichoke-crisp an dcream, hazelnut shavings

[shain]

Toasted spaghetti with roasted bell peppers and some roasted cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, toasted almonds and peppery arugula. A little chili, lemon juice and zest, olive oil and extra black pepper.

I'll use fusilli next time, the spaghetti doesn't hold well to the roasted vegetables.

[Okanagancook]

Oven baked fries, sautéed mushers, sous vide tri tip steak with Les Halles herb butter and a salad made with garden asparagus/lettuce topped with pistachios.  The steak was a quite chewy....should have cooked it longer than 3 hours....more like 12 hours, it was work for the old jaw bone.  The fries turned out great.  Use the cut and soak for at least 4 hours method then tossed in a little duck fat and some of Ted Readers Bone Dust seasoning then into a 475F convection oven until crispy.  Notice that we have half a plate full of those beauties....one russet, all be it a very large one.

[Norm Matthews]

I smoked two trimmed slabs of pork spare ribs. The first picture is after the first two hours on.  I am going to freeze one and we had the other one for dinner.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Norm Matthews (log)

[ElsieD]

Okanagancook, can you elaborate on your french fry method? 

[Okanagancook]

Forgot where I got this recipe but the key is to soak the cut fries for at least 30 minutes before drying and baking at 450 convection for around 35 minutes flipping them over half way through.  Could take a little longer and do not crowd them on the sheet pan.  I also cut them quite skinny, like MacDonalds fries size. I try to use minimal fat, just to coat.  Also, wash the starch off the cut fries then refill the container with fresh water for soaking.  Mine were soaked over night because dinner plans changed and they were fine.  I used russets.

cheers

[Anna N]

SV'd chicken breast and roasted carrots and broccoli tossed with an Asian-inspired combination of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar and sriracha.  Drizzled a little over the chicken, too.

[sartoric]

Dinner last night was Ma Po tofu, served with rice and stir fried veggies.

I clearly need to work on my chilli oil technique. I used 10 dried and 5 fresh birds eye chillies, and while it was damn hot, it doesn't have the distinctive red colour. 

 

 

[HungryChris]

Linguini with clam sauce  and toasted homemade garlic bread. One of our favorites. I don't cut daffodils usually, but these were just flopped over because of the

sudden cold weather, so I did.

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, sartoric said:

Dinner last night was Ma Po tofu, served with rice and stir fried veggies.

I clearly need to work on my chilli oil technique. I used 10 dried and 5 fresh birds eye chillies, and while it was damn hot, it doesn't have the distinctive red colour.

 

 

The red colour in most Mapo Doufu comes from Sichuanese chilli bean paste (豆瓣酱 dòu bàn jiàng) rather than from chillies. .

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

Burger and crinkle cut double fried fries. 

 

Hand-cut.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I charcoal broiled a couple of thick chuck eye steaks. It's still cold and windy, but at least it was clear, and it doesn't take long to broil off steaks because we both like 'em Pittsburgh rare. They were not the tenderest steak, but brought plenty of beefy flavor to the table. We had baked potatoes with butter, colby jack cheese, chives and sour cream, and asparagus to go with. Then I roasted some marshmallows for dessert.

[sartoric]

1 minute ago, sartoric said:

I did use chilli bean paste, not that brand though. More work on this needed

 

[liuzhou]

21 minutes ago, sartoric said:

I did use chilli bean paste, not that brand though. More work on this needed

 

No need to use that brand, although it is considered the best (if you can find it). Lee Kum Kee's is OK.

 

More important is how much you use. Fuchsia Dunlop suggests 2½ Tablespoons for 500g tofu. I might up that to 3!

[liuzhou]

Another late dinner. Wild Prawn Curry. With rice and home made yoghurt.

 

[Shelby]

Ordered a 15 lb. bag of crawfish from Cajun Grocer.  Ohhhhhh soooooo gooooooooood.

 

 

 

 

 

They were very lively...we only found 2 dead ones in the whole bag.

 

 

I like to throw a bunch of stuff in my boil....corn on the cob, garlic cloves, brussels sprouts, sausages, hot dogs, broccoli......and of course the requisite lemons and onions.

 

 

 

Lots left over...going to be peeling for a while today.  I see crawfish pasta and crawfish pie in our future