Dinner 2016 (Part 6)

[HungryChris]

Did a chicken thigh coq au vin with TJ's east coast 3 buck chuck (Cab) and IP jasmine rice, bay leaves, fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano. We both were  pretty happy with the results.

HC

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[huiray]

12 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

I looked up a recipe for Vietnamese Chicken Wings and they look good. I will try them.  Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Nyonya wings looks good too.

 

You're welcome.

 

Here are two versions of cánh gà chiên nước mắm that I made and posted about some time ago – here, here. (scroll down a bit in both cases)

Did you look also at "Ike's Chicken Wings" (a.k.a. Pok Pok Wings)?

[liuzhou]

 

Chicken with garlic, ginger, chilli, black fermented beans, corn starch, light and dark soy sauces, flowering garlic chives. Served with rice and spicy mango relish.

[huiray]

Stewed beef shank/shin, beef tendon. A snack after getting home from shopping. Both cooked in-house from East Asia Market.

 

Baby zucchini w/ flowers on [Azalia Farm Market], stigmas removed, stuffed w/ a mixture of ricotta cheese [Galbani], chopped Western chives (from my deck) & sea salt.

 

Stuffed zucchini+flowers, deep fried.

Lightly coated w/ a thin batter of GP flour, rice flour, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), salt, water. Left-over batter drizzled into the hot oil and the crispy bits added to the plate.

 

Ligurian-style inspired pasta w/ pesto.

Pesto made w/ fresh basil [Silverthorn Farm], garlic, pine nuts, Maldon salt, Pecorino Romano & Parmigiano Reggiano, Arbequina EV olive oil [California Olive Ranch].

Spaghetti [Garofalo] cooked in salted boiling water as usual, quartered new potatoes [Wild's Apple Farm] added halfway through, Romano beans [Nading Farm] (sliced diagonally) added in towards the end.

Everything just assembled.

After tossing.

Plated. Garnished w/ Genovese basil from my deck.

 

Fresh lychees [East Asia Market].

Edited July 3, 2016 by huiray (log)

[Shelby]

SV'd steaks last night

 

 

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

Last night was vegan night at Casa Hobbit.

 

Insalata cruda e cotta ("raw and cooked salad") -- roasted onion and boiled potatoes and green beans mixed with lettuce, tomato, capers, olives and pickled cherry peppers with a simple dressing made of a 2:1 olive oil and red wine mixture seasoned with salt and black pepper.

 

And we started on tonight's dinner...

 

 

Clockwise from center:  1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes; kosher salt; 2 tbsp. chopped rosemary leaves; 1 tbsp. cracked black peppercorns; 1 tbsp. fennel seeds; 2 garlic cloves, minced.

 

 

Pristine pork loin from Golden Gate Meat Company.

http://www.goldengatemeatcompany.com/

 

Not cheap -- it cost something like $30.

 

 

Massaged the seasonings into the meat, then wrapped in wax paper and foil overnight. I'll bring out the meat around 2 pm so it can come to room temperature before roasting it.

To be continued...

[David Ross]

Posole with pigs feet, oxtail, pork neck and hominy.  Garnished with radishes, cabbage, cilantro.  I was so dang hungry I forgot the lime wedge!

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Gosh, all the meals look pretty darn good to me!  Well done everyone.  Here's a dinner I made for a friend.  She had never had sous vide meat so I did a Berkshire pork chop then used the magic browning powder to get a nice sear on it.  Potatoes from the garden just steamed; caramelized onions and snap peas both from the garden also.  On the pork chop is some finishing herb butter.

[ElsieD]

22 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Gosh, all the meals look pretty darn good to me!  Well done everyone.  Here's a dinner I made for a friend.  She had never had sous vide meat so I did a Berkshire pork chop then used the magic browning powder to get a nice sear on it.  Potatoes from the garden just steamed; caramelized onions and snap peas both from the garden also.  On the pork chop is some finishing herb butter.

 

Magic browning powder?

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

SV'd steaks last night

 

 

 

That confused me for a second! I didn't realise sous Vidal Sassoon had the power to change steak into prawns. I have to become a late convert!

But to get to the point, what is your dip/sauce, please ?

[Okanagancook]

Magic browning powder

 

2 parts baking soda

3 parts dextrose

 

put in a fine sieve and sprinkle over meat

apply heat

amazingly fast

[shain]

 

@Okanagancook Nice concept!

 

My dinner was cornmeal muffins, with added corn kernels and scallion greens. A gentle touch of chili and smoked paprika.

 

The muffins are more savory, with a touch of honey for gentle sweetness. 
The mixture is mostly cornmeal, part of it cooked into a roux of sorts with butter and milk. Some wheat flour for lightness. Sour cream for flavor and a moist crumb.

 

 

Served with leftover ratatouille.
I'm in the "best on fresh made camp" when it comes to ratatouille, but some of my family are on the "best the next day" camp.

Edited July 3, 2016 by shain (log)

[Okanagancook]

I can't take credit for the magic browning powder.  Can't remember who it was over on the sous vide thread that posted about it.

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

That confused me for a second! I didn't realise sous Vidal Sassoon had the power to change steak into prawns. I have to become a late convert!

But to get to the point, what is your dip/sauce, please ?

LOL yes I have a special SV set up......takes a few hours but then presto....

 

Sauce is just run-of-the-mill cocktail sauce.  Ketchup, horseradish and lemon juice.

[sartoric]

Chicken wings kinda Vietnamese marinated with fish sauce, soy, garlic, onion and sugar then baked.

Served with rice, garlic spinach and chopped kimchi.

 

[BonVivant]

Succulent kebab.

 

With narrower aperature

[Tere]

So we entertained our strict vegetarian quite picky friend this weekend, and I am quite happy with the output. She ate everything!

 

Saturday lunch was tomato crustless quiche and baltic style sour cream, dill, tomato and cucumber salad with garlic bread.

 

For Saturday supper, Kamado Joe barbecued pizza from scratch in three acts, goats cheese and spinach beet, quornaroni on veggie mozzarella, and veggie margarita pizza, with leftover baltic salad and heritage cherry tomatoes with homemade raspberry and mint vinagrette. Followed this with plum and ginger crumble with cream.

 

Today breakfast was cooked breakfast with beans, roasted mushrooms in garlic butter sauce, spicy oil anointed roasted heritage tomatoes, hash browns, veggie cumberland sausage, not bacon, free range fried eggs and local ketchup.

 

Just finished cooking a roasted mushroom, spinach beet and yuzu risotto, with salad leaves in the raspberry vinagrette, followed by spiced poached pears a la Prue Leith with cream.

 

Tomorrow's breakfast will be toast and butter and jam and cereal with mushroom pate if she fancies savoury, and veggie friendly cheese and the pate if she wants to take a packed lunch. With plenty of  chutney and ripe tomatoes to accompany.

 

I think I won on vegetarian cookery \o/ I even remembered to check the cheeses were veggie friendly  (Sainsbury's labelling makes such things very easy these days, for which I am grateful).

 

And relax...

Edited July 4, 2016 by Tere (log)

[Norm Matthews]

Yesterday a chicken wings recipe from a friend in Seattle, today chicken thighs from a friend in Florida as well as green beans from the English language version of The Silver Spoon and a recipe that says it is a Japanese style potato salad.

[ElsieD]

Tonight we had chicken wings à la Norm Matthews.  I made two changes to the recipe in that I used sesame oil rather than vegetable oil and I added a tablespoon of gochujang because we love the stuff.  These were amazing.  They stayed crispy even after the sauce hit them.  We really, really liked them.  Thanks, Norm!  

[liuzhou]

6 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

a recipe that says it is a Japanese style potato salad.

 

Your mention of Japanese potato salad reminded of this dinner I ate in October 2009, but never posted. Not sure why.

 

A young Japanese woman who had been working here in China for three years was due to return home and so, she "borrowed" a restaurant and kitchen for the day and cooked a farewell dinner for her friends, including myself. First let me explain the restaurant. It is near my home and is owned by a lovely Chinese man and his wife. He spent some years in Japan and returned to China to open a ramen restaurant. And a fine ramen restaurant it is, too. My Japanese friend had somehow met the couple and developed a warm friendship (which allowed him to keep up his Japanese). So, he was happy to lend her his restaurant for the day.

She promised us real Japanese home cooking. "The sort of thing my mama makes."

I can't remember all we ate, or even looking at some pictures remember what they are but I do remember this.

 

Japanese Potato Salad

 

Pork Stew

 

The pork stew surprised me. Not at all what I thought of as Japanese. In fact, it was very similar to a dish my mama made in Scotland. But this one was better. Sorry mama!

Japanese Fried Rice

 

The rice was the star of the show. So much so, that you are getting second helpings.

 

 

And thirds.

 

Tofu, mushroom and onions in a rich broth

 

Spicy Chicken Salad

 

Ready to eat?

The woman in the striped dress is our hostess and cook, while the bespectacled man is the restaurant owner.

It was a tasty, if surprising meal. Nothing like I expected.

Edited July 4, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

 

Pork loin, porchetta-style, from "A Platter of Figs" by David Tanis, page 134

Spinach sauteed in olive oil with shallots, seasoned with sesame oil and shichi-mi tōgarashi

 

There was also a first course of grape and caramelized onion focaccia which we served with prosciutto and ricotta salata.

 

 

1/2 cup warm water, 1 tbsp. yeast, 3 tbsp. AP flour

 

 

Mix together.  Set aside -- let mixture become bubbly, about 5 minutes.

 

 

1 cup warm water, 3 cups AP flour, 2 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 cup olive oil

 

 

Add the remaining flour, the water, salt and olive oil.  Mix until you obtain a rough sticky mass of dough.

 

 

Nearly there.

 

 

Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead a bit.

 

 

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or preferably overnight.  I was supposed to have started this last night but I fell asleep watching Gilda.  Oops.

 

 

Dough after 8 hours.  Place onto a well-greased cookie or baking sheet.  

 

 

 

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

 

 

Meanwhile, make your caramelized onions.

 

One onion, thinly sliced and cooked with 4 tbsp. olive oil over medium-low heat for 45 minutes.  If someone tells you they can make caramelized onions in 5 minutes, they're full of horse puckey....or they don't know what they're talking about.  This Slate article describes my feelings exactly:  http://www.slate.com/articles/life/scocca/2012/05/how_to_cook_onions_why_recipe_writers_lie_and_lie_about_how_long_they_take_to_caramelize_.html

 

 

I usually make mine with the addition of a very small amount of salt, like less than 1/4 tsp. per 1-2 onions, but this time I decided to do without.

 

 

Salt hastens the process...and really, there's no right or wrong way, as long as you're satisfied with the results in the end.

 

But caramelized onions in 5 minutes is something I have difficulty believing.

 

 

Low and slow is the way to go.

 

 

 

When the dough has risen after its 2nd rise, remove the wax paper.  Top with grapes and caramelized onions.  Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt.

 

Bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 30 minutes.

 

 

Grape and caramelized onion focaccia from "Heart of the Artichoke" by David Tanis, page 167-168.

 

Things that went wrong today...

The dough was way too moist which suggests that either I added way too much liquid or not enough flour or both.

It didn't rise properly -- and that was after I had thrown out the first batch of water, flour and yeast because it didn't bubble properly after 10 minutes waiting.

I wrapped the dough with wax paper for its second rise, and when I lifted the paper off, a third of dough went with it.

The oven was too hot or the onions browned too much, so when the focaccia was done, half the onions were burnt.

B said "this was good", but I was going over the things that went wrong in my mind for next time. I am a little bit of a perfectionist sometimes. He also mentioned that "you're brave for trying to bake" this morning, to which I replied "Well, we have the kitchen for it, so I might as well try things I've never attempted before".

 

Edited July 4, 2016 by ProfessionalHobbit (log)

[sartoric]

Geez, it all sounded so promising....until the end. I feel your bread pain, a tricky beast at times.

[huiray]

A pan-fried ho fun (河粉) dish.

Wild American shrimp (de-shelled, de-veined) marinated w/ Shaohsing wine, fish sauce, dash of sesame oil, some double fermented soy sauce, water, rock sugar; then flash stir-fried w/ rice bran oil till barely cooked (30 secs) then removed and reserved. More oil added into the pan, then on high heat: chopped smashed garlic, sliced de-boned chicken leg quarter, sliced Taiwanese cabbage (a form of flathead cabbage), a chopped-up Vidalia onion, the shrimp marinade, trimmed baby kai-lan [from Viet Hua], freshly made loose/bulk ho fun [from East Asia Market], trimmed scallions, seasoning adjusted, the reserved shrimp added back and folded in. Served.

 

Fresh lychees afterwards.

[ElainaA]

Saturday night: Perhaps the fasted dinner I have ever made. Even if you count the time husking the corn and getting the water to a boil it took under 20 minutes. Cooking time: about 8 minutes max. Grilled tuna, snap peas a la @HungryChris  (Thanks! delicious!), and corn. Not local corn yet but acceptable.

 

Sunday night. I can't take any credit here - Barney cooked. Mixed garden greens with a dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, chili-garlic sauce and oil, topped with sauteed mushrooms and steak that was brushed with sesame oil and seasoned with s&p and toasted sesame seeds. With a plate of tomatoes, cucumber and red onion with oil & vinegar. Not from my garden yet but local farm stands are bringing in almost local produce from the farms and orchards up on the lake where the season is ahead of us.

 No cooking tonight as we have a reservation at a heuriger on Seneca Lake. (Dano's on Seneca). Dano was born and worked in Vienna until coming here in midlife so it is quite authentic. And a gorgeous setting.

Edited July 4, 2016 by ElainaA
Edited because I can not spell. (log)

[Norm Matthews]

Pork ribs were on sale for under $7. a slab.  I wanted to put them in my smoker and do them 'my' way. Son wished I'd do Daeji Kalbi with them.  Heck they were cheap so I got two slabs and did one of each.  We will either have to give some away or freeze some because there is more than we'll eat in the next couple of days. Korean Spicy spare rib were from the KoreaTown cookbook.  

 

One thing I discovered was that the convection heat diffuser I put in my smoker last year didn't work very well.  Just before I put the ribs in the smoker this year, I moved the diffuser away from the heat box by about 3 inches and the thing worked quite well.  There was generally less then 10 degrees difference between the thermometer in the middle and the one higher up and back by the smoke stack.