Dinner 2016 (Part 6)

[ElainaA]

No pictures tonight - my daughter is briefly home and we are too busy talking to take pictures. Inspired by the mentions on the gardening thread (and all my zucchini) I looked at the recipe from Sara Moulton  (linked to by blue_dolphin) and decided - ok, I'll do the entire dinner. And I did. The results were mixed. We basically  all looked at each other and said "This doesn't work together." Each element was good but as my daughter said " The zucchini is fighting with the fish." And I agreed. Both preparations were good but both had a sharp element  - spice in the fish and lemon in the squash - that did not complement each other. I would do either one again but not put them on a plate together.  The potatoes were really good.

Edited July 20, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[Martin Fisher]

Yum! Especially the green beans in anchovy, etc.

 

2 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

green beans in anchovy, garlic, lemon and oil dressing

 

[zend]

Hangover smoked pork sour kimchi soup - for the horrible drunk within. 

 

Had a batch of kimchi that was terrorizing my fridge, my house and probably my neighbors (twas 9-10 months old), and had to do something about it. Was a bit hung over to even weigh the possibilities. So I threw it in the pressure cooker together with smoked pork ribs, couple of oyster mushrooms, pork stock, onion, bit of ginger and Korean chile flakes / gochukaru. 

 

Scores high up there with Tom Yum for booze-relieving broths.

[scubadoo97]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

Corn fritters are SO on my radar. And yours look fabulous. 

 

I recently cut kernels from 5 ears of toasted corn before leaving town for a few days.   All stashed in the freezer

 

It's been a while since I've  made corn fritters and Nina's look great. Just the inspiration I needed.  

[liuzhou]

12 hours ago, huiray said:

Well, to each his or her own. I'll happily use what I like, you use what you like. Nowadays I try to avoid telling people what they should or should not eat. I list stuff that I use, but that's it - simply what I used.

 

 

No one was telling anyone what they should or shouldn't eat.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner was most tasty:  bread baked in the Cuisinart CSO-300N, served with Boursin.  Chicken thigh and balsamic thyme red potato chunks, also baked in the Cuisinart CSO-300N.  Thirty second green beans...not baked in the Cuisinart CSO-300N.

 

Soave.

 

[liamsaunt]

cedar planked salmon with a sour cream, yogurt, onion, parsley and lemon sauce, arugula salad and zucchini-feta fritters

 

 

I want to make one of the chicken curries from Made in India this evening.  If anyone has the book and has cooked any of the chicken curries, I am trying to decide between making the creamy fig curry, the pistachio yogurt curry, and the Mum's chicken curry.  Any opinions welcome. (I'll also check the cookbook subforum for any input)

[ElainaA]

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

 

 

I want to make one of the chicken curries from Made in India this evening.  If anyone has the book and has cooked any of the chicken curries, I am trying to decide between making the creamy fig curry, the pistachio yogurt curry, and the Mum's chicken curry.  Any opinions welcome. (I'll also check the cookbook subforum for any input)

I have made Mum's chicken curry twice - we like it a lot. I made the papadum chat and naan to go with. I'd love to know what other recipes you (or anyone) has made from that book.

[liuzhou]

In my life, I've done things I'm ashamed of. I've done things other people think I should be ashamed of, but I'm not. I've done things other people think I should be ashamed of, but instead I'm proud of.

But the lowest ebb, the pit from which all my shame arises, the reason my head hangs low, and I can't face the rest of humanity is frigging fish cakes! I love a good fish cake, but I just can't cook them. I have tried a zillion times. They taste fine, but look like the droppings of some so-far unidentified ruminant. When it didn't feel well.

Tonight, probably unwisely, I rethought fish cakes. Every recipe tells me to dip in flour, coat in egg and then breadcrumbs. I don't want an egg sandwich! So I decided to oven bake them without all that palaver.

I found a recipe which gave me the ideal (according to them) temperature and timing. The timing confused me. "They take at least 30 minutes to cook", they solemnly declared.

"30 minutes to cook already cooked potato and already cooked fish?

But, I bashed on, mixed my fish with riced potatoes, chilli and mint, (was right out of coriander leaf), formed cakes and bunged them in the fridge for maybe 20 minutes, then into the oven.

After the recommended timing and temperature, two had collapsed into unattractive objects reminiscent of things you avoid while walking in pasture land; two were just presentable; and one had somehow been sacrificed to the god of fish cakes. I swear I put 5 in there!

Anyway, as usual, they all tasted fine - even the landfill first two. I hope whoever ate No 5 was happy.

So no images tonight. Even my camera was too ashamed to record them.

But here is one of the chillies I used. It is from my balcony but can't decide if it's red or green.

 

Edited July 20, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

Yeah, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  Really good meal last night.  I still have most of the steak left.  It's super rare (yum) might be good in a Pho.......

 

[huiray]

Second & Third Acts of a Soup. :-) 

 

Well, I still had some meatballs and some watercress in a fair bit of broth from the soup posted here...so I added in a few dollops of gelled chicken stock, water, and handfuls of trimmed sweet basil, used as a vegetable. (I often do this) Simmered to rewarm before adding the basil to wilt into it then simmering for less than a minute more. But – I was also chomping on this-and-that, and managed to eat only part of the bowl of soup. Soooo...later, I boosted the soup with more water & gelled chicken stock, added in chunks of firm tofu, and at the end put in several "pieces"/"sheets" of "fresh" fine rice noodles (Vietnamese-type). This I demolished. :-)

 

The trimmed basil soaking...

About 3/4 of the batch shown in the picture; there's about 5-6 inches of trimmed basil below the surface... ;-)

 

Soup, Act 2.   Soup, Act 3.

 

The fine rice noodles used.

 

And, afterwards, two slices of the cantaloupe-honeydew hybrid that Van Antwerp's Farm grows...

Edited July 20, 2016 by huiray (log)

[rotuts]

Id bone out what little is left of that steak, and cut it as thinly as you can across the grain for a Steak Sandswich

 

get the meat very cold for a few minutes in the freezer for easier slicing.

 

Lettuce, tomato, mayo  etc

 

you won't regret it.

[Ashen]

On 18/07/2016 at 6:29 PM, Okanagancook said:

Peach Habenaro BBq?  I have some extra peaches and was thinking of making some kind of bbq sauce/gaze with it.  Do you have a recipe for your? 

 

 

Sorry she wasn't able to find the recipe.   There are a few peach habanero sauce recipes on google though, that look like they would be just as nice, if you are still looking to try it. 

[sartoric]

Kountry Fried Chicken - baked not fried, so technically healthier. 

Served with a lettuce and pickled cabbage salad with a wafu dressing and chilli jam sauce.

 

 

[robirdstx]

Grilled Chicken Wings! The wing segments were cajun seasoned and served with ranch dressing. I had my wings "naked", but my other half likes them spicy and had his tossed in melted butter and tabasco sauce.

 

 

[HungryChris]

I bought a 4 1/2 lb chicken at Aldi and spatchcocked it, then removed the breast bone and cut it in half. I poked  little holes in the breast skin (Julia Child episode I happened to see) and poked the drumstick ends through and cocked the wings per Julia.

 

Both halves were marinated over night in Korean BBQ sauce(I now get my gochujang from Amazon).

 

Grilled them for 45 minutes over indirect 350 F heat.

 

 

Made a few nice  salads.

 

And called it dinner.

HC

 

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[huiray]

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass.

Sort-of a modified Cantonese-style, with Chinese mushrooms and Thai chillies added in.

About 1.1 lbs of fish.

 

Close-up.

 

On the way there.

 

Plus "stir-fried" yu choy sum w/ oyster sauce & garlic.

 

Several bowls of white rice.

[liamsaunt]

23 hours ago, ElainaA said:

I have made Mum's chicken curry twice - we like it a lot. I made the papadum chat and naan to go with. I'd love to know what other recipes you (or anyone) has made from that book.

 

I ended up choosing to make the pistachio and yogurt chicken curry.  It was very nice.  My husband thought that because of the richness of the sauce, he would like it even more in winter.  If I make it again I would go heavier on the chopped pistachio garnish (the pantry was low on pistachios).  I added cilantro because I like it, and served the curry with rice and naan.

 

 

As for other recipes, I have not cooked much from the book yet, but have made and really enjoyed the coconut fish curry and the green beans with mustard seeds and ginger.  The vegetable curries sound especially appealing to me so I am guessing I'll be cooking from that section of the book for a while next.

[liuzhou]

Seafood sanatorium here tonight.

 

First a prelude of sea snails simply boiled for a minute in heavily salted water with the juice of a lemon,

 

 

Picked them out and followed with a main of razor clams with linguine and flowering garlic chives and a shed load of black pepper.

 

Very simple cooking on a very hot day.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Seafood sanatorium here tonight.

 

First a prelude of sea snails simply boiled for a minute in heavily salted water with the juice of a lemon,

 

 

Picked them out and followed with a main of razor clams with linguine and flowering garlic chives and a shed load of black pepper.

 

Very simple cooking on a very hot day.

Oh gosh, that looks good.  What sort of tool do you use to pick the snail meat out?  A toothpick?  I could eat a huge plate of all of that right now.

 

It's hot here, too.  I mean, I know it's summer but this week is super hot.  Heat advisories every day.  I think today is supposed to feel like 108.  Anyway, I was not in the mood for anything besides salad last night.  I used some of the left over steak and some shrimp.  Rotuts, ignore the olives, please lol.

 

 

[liuzhou]

15 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Oh gosh, that looks good.  What sort of tool do you use to pick the snail meat out?  A toothpick?  I could eat a huge plate of all of that right now.

 

Yes. A toothpick.

[mgaretz]

Smoked salmon, glazed with a honey, mustard, bourbon, orange sauce.  Served with roasted Brussels Sprouts and salad.

 

 

[shain]

My favorite summer pasta: Penna with cherry tomato rosé sauce, light on the cream. Grated pecorino Romano, with some Parmesan, and loads of chives to finish.

Roasted vegetables as a side. I find it best to use two sheet pans and high heat, so that everything stays crisp, yet browned.

Lightly spiced with oregano and thyme. A touch of balsamic vinegar to finish.

[sartoric]

Pork and fennel sausages with mushroom gravy.

Served with horseradish mash and Brussels sprouts sautéed with bacon & garlic.

 

[Ashen]

served with steamed yellow and green beans and baked yukon gold pots.