Dinner 2016 (Part 5)

[kayb]

Huh. Will have to try that. Bet it would be excellent with leaf lettuce.

 

I had grandmothers whose recipes included directions and measurements like that, too.

 

[Spork]

23 minutes ago, kayb said:

.............Bet it would be excellent with leaf lettuce..............

 

 

 

It it is especially good when you are overrun with fresh greens of any kind. Variety...........

 

Or, heat burn, or frost burn. It can cover some ills.

[mm84321]

Lobster salad

 

[suzilightning]

3 hours ago, ElainaA said:

We left Friday morning for Northampton, MA to visit our daughter and just got back this afternoon. Lots of great meals posted while I was away!
Thursday dinner had to be easy as we were getting ready to leave (which primarily meant dealing with all the animal family members). So I picked up some vegetables to grill (zucchini, red bell pepper, sweet onion), some potato salad (which was mediocre) and a package of beef spiedies. Spiedies are a central NY specialty that becomes ubiquitous in the summer - beef, pork or chicken cubes marinated in "spiedie sauce" - a vinegary, herby marinade. Legend says they originated in Binghamton, NY - about 45 minutes south of here. For real authenticity the marinade should be made by one of 2 Binghamton companies - Lupo or Salamida. Out of curiosity, I googled recipes for spiedie sauce and found several - Epicurious, Food Network, etc. - all the usual suspects. The funny thing that for each recipe the comments section was dominated by former or current residents of Binghamton insisting that the recipe was NOT right.  I was amazed that so many people from Binghamton read recipe sites. 

 

Also - the first salad with greens from my garden!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiedies in Binghampton are usually lamb....especially at Sharkey's...a great dive bar back in the day(1972-1976).  After grilling it goes into a pita with some tzaziki.  Lots of garlic , olive oil, red wine vinegar and parsley.

[Martin Fisher]

Hmmmm....I'm in the spiedie region.

They're an Italian-American creation.

'Most' spiedies are either chicken or pork (other meats are much less common) — traditionally served on Italian bread  or a roll with fresh sauce.

Spiedie subs, pizzas and such are also common, but I can't remember ever seeing them served in a pita — not that that's a sin.

[ElainaA]

1 hour ago, suzilightning said:

Spiedies in Binghampton are usually lamb....especially at Sharkey's...a great dive bar back in the day(1972-1976).  After grilling it goes into a pita with some tzaziki.  Lots of garlic , olive oil, red wine vinegar and parsley.

I know that the originals were lamb but that is never available in supermarkets - including those in Binghamton (where I bought the beef ones we had for dinner). (I prefer pork but they were not available.) And traditionally, at least for the past 20 or so years since I have had them,  they are served in very soft Italian bread folded in two.  I prefer to omit the bread.

Edited June 13, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Deryn said:

Shanghai Worchestershire sauce? Is that different from L&P for instance? Contains soy?

 

It is basically a clone of L&P.

 

L&P was introduced to Shanghai (and Hong Kong) by the British way back in the 19th C and the locals developed a taste for the stuff. It wasn't long before they decoded the recipe and started producing it locally.

 

 

 

It doesn't contain soy.

 

 

The Chinese is slightly more informative, adding dried chilli, onion, mustard seeds, tangerine peel, cape jasmine and bamboo shoot to the list.

 

Article here.

Edited June 13, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 6/6/2016 at 7:16 PM, sartoric said:

Sorry, sartoric. Can't delete this quote box.

 

 

5 hours ago, kayb said:

I actually cooked, bum leg and all! I told my daughter I thought I could manage it by rolling around in my desk chair in the kitchen. She got stuff out of upper cabinets so I wouldn't have to, and cleaned up dishes for me. Granted, it was nothing exceptional, just scrambled eggs, an English muffin, and bacon, but I was so pleased to learn I'm not entirely helpless.

 

kayb,

 

I'm so glad you managed to cook. Hope you mend soonest.

 

5 hours ago, ElainaA said:

Spiedies are a central NY specialty that becomes ubiquitous in the summer - beef, pork or chicken cubes marinated in "spiedie sauce" - a vinegary, herby marinade. Legend says they originated in Binghamton, NY - about 45 minutes south of here. For real authenticity the marinade should be made by one of 2 Binghamton companies - Lupo or Salamida.

 

ElainaA,

 

Nice looking dinner. I have never had luck with purchased potato salad either and don't buy it anymore.

 

Can you believe that down here in Cary, a mile from my house, I can buy Lupo's spiedie marinade here? The link is to a fuzzy picture of bottles of the sauce on Yelp.com for reviews of Roma's Italian. They only have chicken and pork spiedies in the restaurant, no lamb or beef.

 

We had the last of the hickory smoked ham on biscuits with egg and cheese. I also served grits with butter and salt, and sliced peach, blueberries and Thompson grapes.

 

There's a few packages of ham left in the freezer and the ham bone for flavoring beans and such, but I don't like to freeze ham for sandwiches and most things, because the moisture seeps out of it and makes it dry. I used the cold water method recommended here somewhere for the grits for a lump-prone batch I am working through. It's the second time I've used the method that goes against package instructions and all the traditional lore for grits cooking, but it worked so well for the recalcitrant batch I'm working through, that I'm going to go confirm it on the original thread too, if I can find it. More people need to know about this stress-free way of cooking grits. As usual, eG rocks!

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 6/6/2016 at 7:16 PM, sartoric said:

Sorry, again.

 

46 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

It doesn't contain soy.

 

 

The Chinese is slightly more informative, adding dried chilli, onion, mustard seeds, tangerine peel, cape jasmine and bamboo shoot to the list.

 

Vegetarians will be happy there are no anchovies in it. This also confirms what I have long suspected. English translations on many imported ingredients are not as useful as they could be. Some of the legally (US) required nutrition info is good for a laugh, because the math doesn't even come close in a lot of cases. I'm still delighted to get imported ingredients and use many of them. Allergy sufferers might want to use caution, though.

[rarerollingobject]

Chinese men ding (door nail) meat pies, with a hot water dough and a filling of pork, garlic chives, sesame oil and soy. Fried till crispy, then steamed in chicken stock, and when that evaporates, the bottoms fry again. Brushed with a ginger/green onion butter after cooking and sprinkled with chilli flakes.

 

I need to work on getting my bottoms as thin and even as my tops, but they tasted good.

 

[Anna N]

@rarerollingobject

 

 These look amazingly delicious.   With a little effort I was able to find a recipe on the site Lady and Pups.  As soon as my cooking mojo  is in fine fettle I shall be attempting these.   I love seeing and reading about your meals as they encompass so many different cuisines.  Even your egg bread amused me yesterday as I tracked down a video on how to make it. 

[huiray]

Various meals.

 

Leftover beef shins braised w/ bamboo shoots (from here) augmented w/ stuff, over softened mei fun (thin rice noodles).

It was re-simmered w/ "Spiced Dry Tofu" (五香厚干; this one) [Wen's Food], pre-soaked & trimmed wood-ear fungus, salt & some stock, and I don't remember what else.

 

Bunching broccoli florets [Nading Farm]

Blanched in simmering water, dressed w/ a mixture of rice bran oil, oyster sauce diluted w/ water, ground white pepper, then drizzled w/ some lemon-"ponzu" sauce [Kikkoman].

 

Remainder of the garlic chicken from here re-simmered w. stuff, over hand-made min sin (手工麵線; Fuzhou-type thin wheat noodles; a.k.a. misua) [Hung-Ming (Taiwanese brand)].

Stuff was simmered w/ more Western celery plus generous Chinese celery, shallots, hon-mirin [Takara], AgroDolce Bianco Delizia Estense, a scoop of gelatin-heavy chicken stock, dried bay leaves, crushed black peppercorns, this-and-that.

Garnished w/ a sprig of chervil from my deck.

 

Lotus leaf-wrapped glutinous rice w/ shiitake mushrooms & pork [commercial], steamed.

Red-green romaine lettuce [Van Antwerp Farm] blanched in oiled simmering water, dressed w/ oyster sauce & black pepper.

 

Fried rice.

Hot oil & pan, sliced young reddish onions ("spring onions") [Nading Farm] fried till just browning, farm-fresh eggs [Schacht Farm] marbled in situ in the pan middle,  2-day-old white rice, some salt, toss/stir on high heat; sliced-up lean siu-yuk (Cantonese roast pork); then slice-up green parts of the young onions plus frozen petite peas, toss/fold in, cover for 30 secs, turn the heat off & leave the cover on for another minute.

Garnished w/ Chinese celery leaves.

Edited June 13, 2016 by huiray (log)

[rarerollingobject]

8 minutes ago, Anna N said:

@rarerollingobject

 

 These look amazingly delicious.   With a little effort I was able to find a recipe on the site Lady and Pups.  As soon as my cooking mojo  is in fine fettle I shall be attempting these.   I love seeing and reading about your meals as they encompass so many different cuisines.  Even your egg bread amused me yesterday as I tracked down a video on how to make it. 

 

Ladyandpups.com is perhaps my favourite cooking site anywhere on the internet..I LOVE her food, she's basically my pork-fat-and-chilli-fiend hero. I'm slowly working my way through all her wonderfully insane ideas, including many I don't post here as they're too abominable (like last night's Korean chicken with ramen and half a kilo of melted mozzarella cheese!)

[rotuts]

thanks for the ref to Ladyandpups.com

 

wonderful site and new to me !

[Deryn]

Just fyi - Huiray's photos are not appearing for me - seem to have the crossed out circle as replacements.

 

Thanks for the heads up on Lady and Pups. Wonderful storyteller/writer - and it is a bonus that apparently her recipes are good too. Those meat pies DO look delicious - just my cup of tea (other than the soy which I will have to figure out how to replace).

[Shelby]

I want to include my thanks to RRO for the ladyandpups site.  New to me and looks fun!

 

Leftover steak--reheated in the SV bath.  Needed biscuits and gravy to go with.

 

[kayb]

Ditto on Lady and Pups. Got it bookmarked. Will browse it later.

 

 

 

[shain]

We had a Shavuot holiday dinner. It's a religious holiday in origin. For the agriculture and secular communities of the kibbutzim and moshavim, the Shavuot holiday was adapted to be focused on celebrating the time of wheat harvest (which is a major part of it's origin), agriculture and natures bounty. The religious part of the holiday is quite neglected by those. As can be excepted from this, this is quite a food focused holiday, with dairy products getting much focus in recent years.

 

And to the food (AKA interesting part ):

 

Palacsintas (similar to blintz, but somewhat more bite / slight chewiness). Filled with browned mushrooms, cream and scallion paste. Fried in butter to be crisp.

 

Quiche with roasted bell peppers, feta cheese and kashkaval. Flaky and buttery crust.

 

 

Bass fillet, breaded on the skin side and pan fried. Served on light but garlicky olive oil based bechamel with some thyme. (Sorry, no plated photo)

 

 

Whole meal couscous, with grilled eggplants, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, purple onion, zaatar, cumin and sumac. Red wine vinegar and some sharp olive oil. Served gently warm.

 

Not pictured:

Baked whole cauliflower with a mildly mustardy glaze.
Nice chopped Israeli/Arabic style vegetable salad.

An OK Cabernet-Merlot blend wine (which was much better the next day) and beer.

 

Dessert was a cold, no-bake cheesecake, with streusel topping and crisp bottom with brown sugar, it's hard to see, but there is a spread of blueberry jam below the cheese.

 

Some grapes, apricot (meh) and plums (quite nice, santa rosa variety).

 

I'm free from cooking for a few days, plenty of leftovers to take care of.

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by shain
Image sizes (log)

[BonVivant]

Yesterday's leftover crab meat and prawns are today's dindin. Steamed asparagus on the side but you've seen more than enough of it. (Pic of full plate is her. It was getting dark so fast I didn't like the photos.)

 

Sichuan chilli oil next to the rice.

 

[kayb]

@shain, Oh, my! What a delectable spread! Would you share the recipe for that cheesecake? I have a wonderful cheesecake recipe, but a no-bake version would be very nice to have!

 

 

[sartoric]

Pan fried blue eye in a lemon, ginger and butter sauce. Served with cold start chips, samphire, pickled ginger and a mixed salad.

 

[Auro]

Brazilian churrasco. 

Short rib, bread, manioc flour roasted, maionese salad, tomato and onions.

[rarerollingobject]

Claypot rice, with chicken thigh, lup cheong sausage, Chinese smoked bacon (lup yuk), dried mushrooms, ginger and a drizzling sauce of oyster sauce, dark and light soys, and sesame oil.

And broccolini on the side.

But forget the broccolini, LOOK AT THAT RICE CRUST!

 

[shain]

19 hours ago, kayb said:

@shain, Oh, my! What a delectable spread! Would you share the recipe for that cheesecake? I have a wonderful cheesecake recipe, but a no-bake version would be very nice to have!

 

 

 

Thank you very much!

Iv'e posted the recipe for you:

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by shain (log)

[Shel_B]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 7:00 AM, mgaretz said:

 

Watermelon chunks that have been compressed using a chamber vacuum sealer.  They have a denser texture and more flavor.

 

I saw an article describing watermelon infused with, or soaked in, rose water.  This interests me.  Would adding rose water to watermelon and then using a vacuum chamber  provide a good, even infusion?