Dinner 2016 (Part 8)

[FauxPas]

Pork side ribs pressure-cooked in the Instant Pot and finished in the oven with BBQ sauce. I love using the IP for ribs! Steamed corn. 

 

 

Chicken wings steam-roasted in the Cuisinart steam oven with a bit of olive oil and S+P, my favourite way of cooking wings. To use up some cabbage, onion and mixed carrots from the CSA box, I made a batch of Molly Stevens' World's Best Braised Green Cabbage. 

 

 

And one night I made Spaghetti Squash Aglio e Olio, since i had a couple of spaghetti squashes in the CSA goodies. Same as I would do with pasta, but used the spaghetti squash strands instead. I pressure-cooked the squash but the strands didn't turn out quite as well as usual. Not as defined, but still tasty. 

 

  

[Okanagancook]

Fauxpas, how do you do your ribs?  I have two racks to cook for tomorrow.  They are the Chilean back ribs.  I was thinking about meat/stew setting at high pressure for 15 min, slow release cooked with some liquid then brushed with bbq sauce, in the oven at 400 for about 6 to 10 minutes.

??

thanks

[FauxPas]

I'm somewhat inexact. I usually do them about 20 to 25 mins on Meat/Stew or Steam and usually I'm busy with something else and I leave them for at least a few mins before doing a quick release. I like to put apple juice + a bit of apple cider vinegar in the Instant Pot with them and sprinkle a bit of S+P on the ribs themselves before they go in. Then I brush with sauce and finish them in the oven at 400F for at least 10 mins - I like them browned a bit. 

 

I was also going to try this recipe with a double-rub and the IP. His recommendation is 20 mins on steam, leave for 5 mins then release. 

 

Edited to add: 15 mins + slow release is probably just fine. You'll get that extra little bit of cooking time with the slow release and they are less likely to fall apart on you when you take them out. Sometimes, mine are falling off the bone a bit too soon... 

Edited August 27, 2016 by FauxPas (log)

[Okanagancook]

Excellent, thank you so much.  I made the bbq sauce from Ferran Andria Family meals.  It is a bit sweet but he has you grate some orange zest over the cooked ribs.

[robirdstx]

A very rich meal tonight! Freshly Made Pasta with lump crab meat and a lemon butter sauce and Chicken Scaloppini with bacon, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. And for their green color, a couple of sprigs of parsley from my yard!

 

 

Edited August 28, 2016 by robirdstx (log)

[Steve Irby]

A couple of quick dishes tonight.  Spinach meat balls from the freezer summerized with gremolata.

 

And very ripe plantains with caramelized brown sugar and butter.  Topped with Ben & Jerry's ice cream, heavy cream from the ISI whipper, and walnuts. 

 

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

3 pints assorted cherry tomatoes (Sungold cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, Juliet tomatoes, pear tomatoes), seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper, then roasted at 250 F for 2 hours and 200 F for 90 minutes.

 

I've gotten my partner addicted to them...mission accomplished.

 

Then combined with:  roasted Romano beans (1 1/2 lbs., seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper, and roasted for 20 minutes at 500 F), chopped assorted pitted olives (Kalamata, Castelvetrano, oil-cured, picholine), slow-cooked onion, San Marzano tomato paste and seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper, red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and basil.  We served that with some orecchiette.  Green salad on the side (Little Gem lettuces, baby spinach, arugula) with an anchovy vinaigrette.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner was the tenderloin cut from a porterhouse, sous vide  55.5 deg C.  Nothing wrong with that temperature, but the beef was cooked way too long and was mealy.  This was because of the flies, or more specifically one particular fly that kept me occupied for hours.

 

As I was madly whisking the Hollandaise it sat on the control wheel of my CSO and mocked me.  The Hollandaise ended up too stiff, and the bread was overdone.  A couple of times I thought I might have gotten the fly but it kept coming back.

 

Sometimes you think you've hit the fly but unless you find the body, most likely you did not.  This time there was no mistake -- barehanded.  Very satisfying.  My dinner I enjoyed in peace, but as I said it was not a very good dinner.

 

My beloved CSO I then wiped down with bleach.

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Last night we went to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Cary. My husband ordered the carne asada burritos and I ordered a couple of cheese enchiladas and a chalupa with picadillo. Picadillo is a stewed seasoned pork and beef shredded concoction here, and quite good. The chalupa is unusual here, as it's a big crisp-fried flour tortilla filled with meat of your choice, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar and a little cilantro. It's like a giant flour shell crisp taco on steroids, and was very good, as usual. Unfortunately, my cheese enchiladas, for which I have had a severe craving since we went to Bravo's Mexican, and received substandard food, came out on a hot plate, but with unmelted cheese. I asked the waitress to take them back and have the cheese melted, and although she remembers me, because I always press cash into her hand for a generous tip, seemed confused. English is her second language, and she told me the cheese is melted. I later figured out, she meant the cheese scattered over the top of the enchiladas. I showed her the unmelted shredded cheese inside the enchiladas, and she immediately offered to take them back. I hate sending anything back. I have worked as a waitress, but I just couldn't eat them like that. She brought back my chalupa shortly so I could chow down on that while I waited on the enchiladas to be properly cooked. When she did bring the separate plate of enchiladas, they hit my craving spot, so well! Oozy melted cheese, perfect chili sauce, and so good. Between the frozen margarita ($4.99) delicious, and strongest in the area, and the great food I ordered ($8.75), I was nearly in a food/tequila coma. It was worth it though. No geese in the parking lot tonight, although we finished our drinks on the patio, hoping to see some.

 

The carne asada burritos ($12.50) my husband ordered come two to the order of ten inch flour tortillas stuffed with their version of grilled skirt steak, which is very delicious. I usually order the carne asada not in burrito form, but I had this intense craving for good cheese enchiladas. He only finished one burrito at the restaurant, so took the other home to have for dinner tonight. His burritos also had some refried beans and rice, but they are mostly delicious skirt steak. They also served pico de gallo, minus raw jalapeno, whole grilled jalapeno and spring onions, and topped the burritos with a thick white cheese sauce they call molcajete and Cotija cheese on his giant plate, the size of a pizza pan. It comes sided with big scoops of sour cream and an excellent guacamole on top of green leaf lettuce.

 

Because he doesn't like grilled jalapeno or avocado/guac, and they would go to waste, I salvaged them to my plate when his dish was served.  I ate it all, save the seeds and membranes from the jalapeno which had plenty of heat going on. I even scraped the enchilada plate with my fork. So good, and worth the near food/tequila coma! Oh, I also left some of the picadillo from the chalupa, because I was more interested in the veggie components.

 

Because my husband had great leftovers tonight, this left me free to go vegetarian, as I am wont to do when I don't have to please the carnivore. I had a salad of garden cucumber, tomato, commercial chick peas, green bell pepper and shredded carrot in lemon tahini dressing with garlic powder and a kick of cayenne. Then I made angel hair pasta in butter sauce with a bit of pasta cooking water and parmesan cheese. The last of the muscadine grapes for dessert. I hope I find more this season. It's not too late, I think.

 

I offered him some of everything I made for myself, but he was too full. He will eat the leftover pasta for lunch tomorrow, along with other good stuff, like a piece of blueberry coffee cake.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes
spelling (log)

[huiray]

Tomatoes stir-fried w/ eggs. (番茄炒蛋)

Made with very ripe Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes which sort-of liquefied. White rice. Scallions.

 

Wosun (萵筍) soup.

Gelled chicken stock, water, oil, small fresh thick-cap shiitake mushrooms, trimmed sliced wosun (celtuce, lettuce stems), chopped-up wosun leaves. 

[Anna N]

 

Not very photogenic but tasty. This is a Diana Henry pantry recipe. Sauteed onion, potatoes and canned artichoke hearts topped with a fried egg. 

[liuzhou]

Had a busy but good day. However little time for anything complicated for dinner.

 

Brined a chicken breast then pan roasted it. The red stuff on top of the chicken is a very hot Chinese chili sauce. A bunch of chips/fries. A tomato. There was a small green salad on the side. The picture shows half of what I ate (minus the salad).

 

Edited August 28, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

Spaghetti red using zoodles.  Not my favorite.  Sometimes you just need real pasta.  Ronnie liked it, though.

 

 

Pork chops last night

 

[shain]

Ricotta gnocchi. Slow roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic; kalamata olives, garlic sauteed in olive oil, diced red onion, oregano; white wine and wine vinegar, reduced with a handful of halved grapes. Bread crumbs and chives.

 

[Norm Matthews]

I tried a new slow cooker recipe for Carnitas.  It might have taken longer but it was a lot easier and Charlie liked it better than the recipe I'd used several times before.  We had it with soft flour tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocado and cilantro.

[Spork]

 

The tail end of a venison loin, bathed at 131 and flashed in butter. Onion, garlic and spinach wilt with spaghetti turned in. Tomato and cucumber. 

[chileheadmike]

Hardwood roasted pork loin, fried new potatoes, steamed broccoli. Sauce is white wine, lemon and rosemary with a little garlic.

[sartoric]

Chicken roll ups with a stuffing of shallots, spinach, bacon and garlic. Braised in fresh tomato sauce and served with mishmash - a combo of potato and the stuffing that I made too much of.

 

[chefmd]

Roasted broccoli (450 degrees in pre-heated cast iron skillet).

 

Tuna steak seared in another cast iron skillet.  I love my cast iron, what can I say

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

We had scalloped potatoes, roasted tomatoes and seafood, artichoke and spinach stuffed flounder for dinner tonight.

 

It's a work night, scalloped potatoes take a long time, and I decided to make the quicker version, where you don't have to make a roux and white sauce for the first time in my life. I won't do this again, but the taste of the finished dish was fine, even the texture and mouth feel was fine, but the looks? Not so good. You use all the ingredients you normally would in the white sauce, but instead, sprinkle each layer of potatoes with salt, pepper, finely chopped onion, flour, and then dot with butter. Then pour over scalded milk, which I always do in the microwave in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup, you have to dirty anyway. The process takes nearly as long as the white sauce version, what with futzing around with trying to sprinkle flour evenly in our very humid climate and butter dotting. All you really save is dirtying a saucepan and stirring spatula and less then ten minutes. Then you still have to bake the dish an hour and a half. The "quickie" version, while not tasting of raw flour, which is the reason I've not made it that way before, is grainy looking, although not lumpy, as in improperly made gravy or sauce. So never again for me, although we will eat the leftovers tomorrow, and it tastes very good.

 

The roasted tomatoes were probably the best thing I did. I never think I will get sick of raw garden tomatoes in the winter when the grocers are offering styromates, although they have gotten better lately with tasty Scarlet Pearl grape tomatoes offered nearly year'round and all through the winter. I needed some variation today though. So I looked to Marcella Hazan for inspiration. I knew she would come to my rescue. I cut a huge, ripe red tomato in half. Coated a pie tin with olive oil, put the tomato in and sprinkled salt, pepper, crushed garlic and oregano (Marcella calls for parsley). Then I just drizzled them with more olive oil, popped them in the oven for the hour and half the potatoes were cooking. The result was a very tasty, concentrated, flavorful, easy side dish that provided a break from all the raw ones we've been enjoying. Just when I think I'm catching up with only one large tomato left, here comes my husband with three more large ones and a double handful of cherries from our kind neighbor.  That's okay, though, I love 'em, and now I have a great variation to keep them interesting.

 

I can't take credit for the stuffed flounder. All I did was sprinkle it with parsley and paprika, dot with mo' buttah, and bake about 35 minutes. It's very good. It's a frozen product offered in our local Food Lion grocer from Quality Foods from the Sea, right here in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Elizabeth City is known as the Harbor of Hospitality.

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

Clockwise from center: fresh bay leaves; diced carrots; tomato paste; 1 cup golden raisins; 1 diced onion; 1/2 lb. calves liver, diced; 2 cups Rancho Gordo chickpeas, cooked; 3 cups diced heirloom tomatoes; 1 lb. ground beef.

 

It's not a terribly complicated dish to make -- warm oil, add onion and carrots and sauté for a bit, then add ground beef and liver. Season with salt and black pepper, add bay leaves. Cook for a bit or until meat browns. Add tomato paste, then raisins and tomatoes. Season with salt and black pepper. Add a cup of water if it seems too dry. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and partly cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, then serve.

I think Mom adds potatoes too, but I need to check with her.

 

 

Menudo.

 

I thought it came out rather well. It's very close to Mom's version; I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, and golden raisins instead of the usual kind. We had that by itself instead of with rice. B and I are trying to eat less carbs. I miss my 20s and 30s when I could binge out on pasta, rice and bread.

 

I've decided to start cooking more Filipino food.  The only other way I can get my fix is by going to some restaurant in Excelsior and that's a bit inconvenient for me at the moment....

[Anna N]

 

I think the steak was nothing more than an excuse for the onions which were caramelized slowly, slowly for over an hour.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

2 hours ago, ProfessionalHobbit said:

Menudo.

 

I think of menudo as the Latin tripe dish. So this is very interesting. I'm always learning something here, thanks, Prof. Hobbit.

[liuzhou]

Dinner tonight was a personal favourite which I've posted here more than once already, so I won't trouble you with it this time. I did however prepare two starters.

 

First, purely to test my new oyster knife, half a dozen beautiful babies.



Followed by starter number 2. Huge prawns simply boiled in salted water and eaten. No messing about! These things are about 7-8 inches nose to tail (if uncurled).


 

Edited August 29, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

No noodle lasagna (soon, someone is going to find me face down in a bowl of pasta...)  Used zucchini and eggplant this time.  Twas good.