Dinner 2016 (Part 4)

[sartoric]

Dinner at a home stay. Roughly clockwise from the left - stir fried bean sprouts with pork, nem (spring rolls) with mushroom and pork, chicken with bamboo shoots, green beans, tofu in tomato chilli sauce, stir fried morning glory, white fish in interesting sauce, and banana flower salad. Served with steamed rice, soup with vegetables (both mandatory at most Vietnamese meals) and a beer !

 

 

[huiray]

Rice w/ Mexican chorizo & tomatoes & stuff.

Eaten w/ sautéed rapini flowers.

 

 

Ingredients included shallots, garlic, Mexican chorizo (casing removed), thinly-sliced beef brisket, sliced mini orange & yellow sweet peppers, dried oregano entero, chopped-up canned de-skinned whole tomatoes [Red Gold] w/ the juices, sea salt, ajinomoto, sliced baby/young leeks, sliced negi, basmati rice, a cube of Caldo de Tomate con Sabor de Pollo [Knorr], water.

 

On the way there:

 

 

[huiray]

5 minutes ago, sartoric said:

...soup with vegetables (both mandatory at most Vietnamese meals)...

 

Not just at Vietnamese meals.

 

Soup (including "with vegetables") is an integral part of many E/SE Asian meals. The Cantonese, as one example of a soup-drinking culture, almost requires some sort of soup in almost all meals. (And I count myself as one who drinks soup routinely almost all the time, as my posts here illustrate)

 

By "soup" one also means the "E/SE Asian style of soups (frequently a broth-like mixture with solid components in it, unlike the puréed and strained stuff that Western cuisine considers as "soup", although "Asian soups" do also include certain examples of these puréed stuff) It is always a source of amusement to me to read about how "soup" in Western cuisines is sometimes consigned to "Old Folk's Diets" or to specific seasons of the year (Winter) whereas soup is eaten/drunk year-round in so many other cuisines including E/SE Asian ones.

[sartoric]

@huiray, agree absolutely that soup at every meal is a part of many SE Asian countries food regime.

In Myanmar it's common to share the spoon amongst friends too !

[huiray]

25 minutes ago, sartoric said:

@huiray, agree absolutely that soup at every meal is a part of many SE Asian countries food regime.

In Myanmar it's common to share the spoon amongst friends too !

 

Yes.

I also often wonder about the expectation that soup, in the Western tradition, HAS to follow the FRENCH model. IMO, illustrative of the ethnocentric bias that some folks have about what constitutes "food". Of course, one talks about what one grew up with - so this is not a blanket statement about the proclivities of folks here or elsewhere.

Edited April 27, 2016 by huiray (log)

[kayb]

Thanks, @huiray. The linked posts are informative.

 

[mgaretz]

Ribs two ways again (smoked and char siu style).

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Ok, I'm licking the screen.  Boy, those really good with the crusty outside and moist pinkish inside.  Good job as usual.

[Norm Matthews]

I was surprised to see D'Artagnan products at the local grocery store.  Prices weren't as bad as when you have to add on shipping .  I got some chorizo and Andouille sausages. I got some duck fat too, but didn't use that today.  Since Cassie isn't here, I could get stuff that she doesn't like and she doesn't like chorizo.   We also used some homemade mustard, hollandaise, kraut, asparagus, pickles and baked potato.

[ElainaA]

Several recent meals:

 

From the NY Times: Chicken with artichokes with garlic mashed potatoes. And, of course, salad.

 

 

Roasted pork butt with artichokes, roasted potatoes and carrots. 

 

 

Italian frying peppers stuffed with breadcrumbs, Parmesan, capers, garlic and shallot cooked in a quick tomato sauce, served with bread I made today and salad

 

Risotto with asparagus and peas and shrimp - which were supposed to be grilled but it was 30 F and raining/sleeting so they were sautéed.

Edited April 28, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[kayb]

@ElainaA -- Awwww, c'mon. No grilling when it's 30 degrees and sleeting? Where's your sense of adventure?

 

Glad I'm a Southerner. 76 here today. Planted pole beans. Life is good.

[robirdstx]

Chicken Fajitas!

 

 

 

 

[shain]

Experimental dish: crepe ravioli with ricotta, Parmesan and lemon peel filling. The "ravioli" were sauteed in olive oil, with sliced cherry tomatoes, basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic and some chill. Really nice, but I think that my crepe batter results in a ravioli which is slightly too tender. Never thought I'll ask this, but any tips for making chewy crepes? I removed all fat from the batter, other then the egg yolk. It's nice, but I'd like it to have some more bite to it.

[liamsaunt]

Bin ends fried rice: leftover rice, the end of a jar of kimchi, minced, the last bunch of (slightly wilted) scallions, a piece of chopped up leftover chicken, the last of the cilantro, and some beaten eggs.  Topped with fried shallots from the Asian market.  I really need to go grocery shopping.

 

[liuzhou]

A quick, late dinner. Spaghetti with chicken livers and olives. There is some shallot and chilli in there, too. Finished off with my secret ingredient - Green Tabasco sauce. Not the most beautiful or inspired dish here, but it filled the hole and tasted fine.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[gfweb]

21 hours ago, huiray said:

 It is always a source of amusement to me to read about how "soup" in Western cuisines is sometimes consigned to "Old Folk's Diets" or to specific seasons of the year (Winter) whereas soup is eaten/drunk year-round in so many other cuisines including E/SE Asian ones.

 

True indeed. My vision of soup is cold weather only...unless you are an old guy at the race track who uses it to load up on the free saltines.

[mgaretz]

Bought a "store cooked" meatloaf because it was on sale and I'd never tried that store's meatloaf before.  It was just OK, a little bready and mushy for my taste to eat by itself, so I made it into a casserole with a sauce consisting of primarily ketchup and sugar with salt, pepper, onion and garlic.  Topped with panko.  Served with steamed and buttered Brussels Sprouts, salad and a nice glass of Petite Syrah.

 

 

[huiray]

Halibut steamed w/ ginger & scallions.

The halibut was marinated w/ sliced scallions, julienned ginger, sea salt, bit of rice bran oil; then simply steamed. The piece of fish was retrieved (discarding all solids & liquids) and plated on a fresh dish, then dressed w/ fresh scallions, ginger & coriander leaves and a sauce of {hot oil quenched w/ a mixture of (Higeta Honzen choutokusen koikuchi, Takara hon-mirin, good Shaohsing wine, water, dash of sesame oil and ground white pepper)} poured gently over.

 

Eaten w/ white rice & cabbage soup (in chicken broth).

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

18 hours ago, shain said:

Never thought I'll ask this, but any tips for making chewy crepes? I removed all fat from the batter, other then the egg yolk. It's nice, but I'd like it to have some more bite to it.

 

shain, that's a pretty and imaginative dish. I don't think I'll be trying it because I love my crepes crispy and light, so I never put any sauce on top, but do use it inside. I actually use Marcella Hazan's recipe for crepes. She calls them crespelle, but they are exactly the same. The Italians use them like cannelloni, roll them around fillings, top them with a little meat/tomato or bechamel sauce and bake. Marcella has some recipes for crespelle stuffed with spinach or meat sauce, and I don't see why your cheese filling couldn't work. She also has a good recipe for homemade pasta and several recipes for stuffed ravioli.  If you want toothsome ravioli, I would go with standard recipes that have been developed over centuries. Or you could just enjoy your fusion creation for what it is. It looks very nice to me.

 

Leftovers here at our house again, but they were good.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[Anna N]

 

Tongue hash. For an explanation of "why tongue" see the lunch topic. 

[shain]

4 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

shain, that's a pretty and imaginative dish. I don't think I'll be trying it because I love my crepes crispy and light, so I never put any sauce on top, but do use it inside. I actually use Marcella Hazan's recipe for crepes. She calls them crespelle, but they are exactly the same. The Italians use them like cannelloni, roll them around fillings, top them with a little meat/tomato or bechamel sauce and bake. Marcella has some recipes for crespelle stuffed with spinach or meat sauce, and I don't see why your cheese filling couldn't work. She also has a good recipe for homemade pasta and several recipes for stuffed ravioli.  If you want toothsome ravioli, I would go with standard recipes that have been developed over centuries. Or you could just enjoy your fusion creation for what it is. It looks very nice to me.

 

Leftovers here at our house again, but they were good.

 

I also prefer my crepes without sauce, and preferably very thin and light, but thicker, moist and toothsome has its place. I'm pretty sure that this shaping will work without sauce, simply fried in butter. I kind of like the no knife - two bites crepe aspect of this form. 

For my ravioli inspired take I might use bread flour next time, or maybe more eggs. 

[huiray]

Soup.

Oil, chopped smashed garlic, julienned ginger, shot-cut pork spare ribs, sliced pre-poached winter bamboo shoot, chicken stock, water, rehydrated snow fungus, soft tofu chunks. Seasoning adjusted. Two large bowls worth eaten.

[Shelby]

Because sometimes you just need a big plate of asparagus

 

 

And last night boudin, fried taters, fresh egg and hollandaise 

 

[liuzhou]

A sort of a Asia-Scottish dinner tonight. Mince and Tatties. The minced beef was cooked with shallots (I forgot to buy onions) and celery. Purists will be asking "Where are the carrots?" They were on the "forget list", too. I had things on my mind.The mince was cooked with star anise and Thai fish sauce. And canned peas. China can't do peas. They are all awful!

 

Buttery new potatoes.

 

[kayb]

Apologies for the very bad cell phone photo, but the dinner was quite good. Tilapia in a coconut curry sauce over brown rice, with a side of roasted broccoli which had overstayed its welcome in the oven and was overdone....but still good.