Dinner 2016 (Part 10)

[Shelby]

Just now, Smithy said:

So, if I were to find a fishmonger that sells catfish, what should I ask for?  Small filets? What about wild-caught vs, farmed? If you give me enough guidance I'll give it a whirl during our winter travels.

I've never had farmed......I'd go for wild-caught and smaller filets.  But, even if they're bigger, you will see the red meat and can get rid of it.

 

Come to think of it, do they sell wild-caught?  I don't get out much to the big stores...

[Smithy]

12 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I've never had farmed......I'd go for wild-caught and smaller filets.  But, even if they're bigger, you will see the red meat and can get rid of it.

 

Come to think of it, do they sell wild-caught?  I don't get out much to the big stores...

I don't know whether wild-caught catfish can be purchased; I haven't paid attention since I had no intention of buying it, so I'm not sure of the sources. The big grocery stores state their fish sources, and the little backwoods shops in Florida seem to carry stuff they, their families or contractors caught wild. (There's nothing like opening a freezer and being greeted by an alligator head that takes up an entire shelf.) I'll pay more attention to catfish this year.  If I find it, I'll ask here how to cook it!

Edited October 19, 2016 by Smithy
Clarity...and then punctuation (log)

[kayb]

6 hours ago, ElainaA said:

I picked up a London broil (top round) heavily discounted in the "Use today or die" shelf of the meat section of my local supermarket. Marinated over night in red wine, balsamic vinegar, a little brown sugar and some assorted herbs then grilled. Accompanied by asparagus (also grilled), mushrooms Berkeley and roasted potatoes. Plenty left for nice sandwiches for lunch.

 

 

I love London broil, but haven't seen one in the grocery in ages, and apparently the butcher who does my farmer's beef doesn't cut them. Just exactly where does that come from on the cow, anyway? It is apparently not a real popular cut in this part of the world. I haven't seen one, in fact, since well before I got my Anova, which I think would be a wonderful technique for it. And I don't know what to ask for, other than London broil. Does it go by any other name?

 

3 hours ago, Smithy said:

So, if I were to find a fishmonger that sells catfish, what should I ask for?  Small filets? What about wild-caught vs, farmed? If you give me enough guidance I'll give it a whirl during our winter travels.

 

You can buy river cat in some of the smaller, local fish markets. Shelby is exactly right; it depends entirely on how they're cleaned. But farmed catfish, which is the bulk of what Americans eat, isn't bad at all. 

 

My preference, if I'm eating river cat, is "fiddlers," or small, whole fish, sans heads and skins. You will occasionally see one with a slit down the backbone where the "red meat" Shelby mentions has been taken out, but it's not as prevalent in smaller fish. Fiddlers are generally about four to six ounces of meat. I have been known to eat eight at a sitting.

[Anna N]

 

Pork chop cooked sous vide with maple syrup, butter, cayenne, thyme. Rutabaga cooked with parmesan rinds then pureed with butter and a bit more parmesan (a riff off a recipe in Deep Run Roots) and some spinach barely dipped in boiling water. 

 

 

 Weapon of choice for splitting a rutabaga.

[HungryChris]

Linguini fini with white clam sauce and last tomatoes of the season bruschetta

HC

Edited October 20, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[sartoric]

Donburi- chicken, egg, snow peas, spring onion and stock over rice.

 

[sartoric]

36 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

Pork chop cooked sous vide with maple syrup, butter, cayenne, thyme. Rutabaga cooked with parmesan rinds then pureed with butter and a bit more parmesan (a riff off a recipe in Deep Run Roots) and some spinach barely dipped in boiling water. 

 

 

 Weapon of choice for splitting a rutabaga.

I've got one of those weapons in the kitchen too. Comes in handy for some extra persuasion when cutting through bones with a cleaver

[MetsFan5]

@Shelby your Mac and cheese always looks so so good to me. Would you share your recipe?

[ElainaA]

4 hours ago, kayb said:

 

I love London broil, but haven't seen one in the grocery in ages, and apparently the butcher who does my farmer's beef doesn't cut them. Just exactly where does that come from on the cow, anyway? It is apparently not a real popular cut in this part of the world. I haven't seen one, in fact, since well before I got my Anova, which I think would be a wonderful technique for it. And I don't know what to ask for, other than London broil. Does it go by any other name?

 

What is sold as "London broil" here is usually a thick piece of top round. Just plain 'top round' is usually available and I am not sure there is really much difference.  I find it a cut that needs marination - at least over night if not longer - unless it is sliced very thin for a sit fry. Marinated and grilled, I like it a lot.

[Shelby]

54 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

@Shelby your Mac and cheese always looks so so good to me. Would you share your recipe?

Oh it's so easy..don't judge me lol.

 

I sautee diced onions in some butter with salt and pepper in the same pot that I use to boil the water for the macaroni  ...then I add diced tomatoes...if they are out of season I either skip or I open a jar of my canned.   Sautee both until onions are soft.

 

Set aside the onions and 'maters on a paper plate.  

 

Add water to the pot that held the veggies --with some salt--boil, cook the macaroni until done..but not too too soft.

 

Drain, add the onions and tomatoes back in along with Velveeta cheese--for us I use one 4 inch chunk--depends on how much pasta of course.  I also sprinkle in some shredded sharp cheddar and some shredded parm if I have it.  

 

Stir....add milk.....not a lot...then turn burner on low, put a lid on and melt ...stir...melt ..stir....add more milk if needed.

 

I also love a sprinkle of fresh dill or some lemon pepper.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I made stuffed butternut squash out of the halved bulbous end where the seed cavity is. The stuffing was pork sausage, celery and white onion sauteed in some butter, and then combined with toasted bread slices cut into cubes and further dried in the oven. The stuffing was seasoned with ground sage and parsley, and moistened with chicken stock from the freezer. I had too much stuffing, so heated some alongside in individual casseroles as the stuffed squash baked. The squash was nuked to softness before stuffing and baking, and everything was put together hot, so I just heated everything for 20 minutes at 350 F/177 C.

 

We also had a Greek salad with the last of the Romaine and feta.

 

The salad and squash were great to me, but the stuffing was too meat heavy for my tastes.

 

I'm making pancakes with warm maple syrup for tomorrow's dinner. I don't see how I can mess that up, but lately, I have been finding ways to mess up foolproof stuff, so we shall see.

 

P.S. - I had to throw out the first batch of bread cubes after not really burning them, but when I tasted them they were bitter. See what I mean about messing stuff up? 

Edited October 20, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My dinner was leftover bryani with perfectly pan seared Australian rib lamb.  But that's not what was interesting.

 

I'm sitting here at the moment with my bottle of poitin.  Tonight a Bolivian friend had asked if I'd ever had poutine -- a new favorite food of hers -- which apparently is pronounced exactly as poitin*.  A few moments of cultural hilarity ensued. 

 

 

*At least with a central New Jersey accent.  And for those who may not know, poitin serves exactly the same purpose as singani in Bolivia.

 

[liamsaunt]

A couple of quick dinners.  Chicken and broccoli pasta

 

 

Lettuce cups.  That's pineapple rice in the back.  I usually serve these with just plain rice, but pineapple rice is my niece's favorite and she was joining me for dinner.  She had three servings.

 

[shain]

Pad woon sen - Mung bean noodles with tofu, mushrooms, peas, carrot, kohlrabi, scallions, cashews; with a smoky sauce.

 

 

 

I also made a big batch of gefilte fish to give to my parents (I don't eat fish, and definitely don't eat gefilte fish ).

 

Edited October 20, 2016 by shain (log)

[Shelby]

BLT's 

 

[Anna N]

@Shelby

 

 I believe the correct name for that sandwich is a BBBLT.

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

A couple of quick dinners.  Chicken and broccoli pasta

 

 

Lettuce cups.  That's pineapple rice in the back.  I usually serve these with just plain rice, but pineapple rice is my niece's favorite and she was joining me for dinner.  She had three servings.

 

 

I spent some time yesterday trying to find a recipe for pineapple rice and couldn't fine one so settled on coconut rice.  Any chance you would share the recipe?

[liuzhou]

I know I've posted similar before, but this was slightly different. I fried far too much garlic* in butter and olive oil, then added wild shrimp  and the spaghetti I had cooked minutes before. Finished with some green onions and a tiny bit of fish sauce to bring out umami.

 

A get-home-late midweek, have to cook favourite.

 

 

* Far too much garlic means "enough". About six cloves in this dish. Very garlicky. My love life is shot to pieces anyway, so it doesn't matter!

Edited October 21, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[kayb]

No photos because soup is not particularly photogenic, but I took a big pot of posole to the church soup potluck last night. Had leftover pork roast; pulled and chopped. Cooked some Rancho Gordo pintos in chicken stock, added a quart of tomatoes, two drained 14-oz cans of hominy, a chopped up zucchini and some chopped up yellow squash. Spices were cumin, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika and oregano. Another 20 minutes low pressure in the IP, and then slow cook until time to take it to church. Made some corn muffins with frozen corn and masa harina. It was a hit.

 

Have never put squash in posole before (beans either, for that matter) but I thought it sounded like a good idea. It was.

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

* Far too much garlic means "enough". About six cloves in this dish. Very garlicky. My love life is shot to pieces anyway, so it doesn't matter!

 

I'm with you on the garlic thing. My father grows his own and has been selecting for size for 20-odd years, so one clove from his equals 2 to 3 (or more) from supermarket garlic. I've gotten up to 1/4 cup of finely minced garlic from one clove. 

 

Makes "far too much" far easier to achieve.

[sartoric]

Fettuccine carbonara with speck lardons instead of bacon.

 

[rotuts]

@sartoric 

 

nice

 

Im just going to have to find me some speck.

[ElainaA]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I know I've posted similar before, but this was slightly different. I fried far too much garlic* in butter and olive oil, then added wild shrimp  and the spaghetti I had cooked minutes before.

 

A get-home-late midweek, have to cook favourite.

 

* Far too much garlic means "enough". About six cloves in this dish. Very garlicky. My love life is shot to pieces anyway, so it doesn't matter!

That looks lovely. This is exactly one of my favorite dishes for just the circumstance you describe - except I have never seen wild shrimp here. And this is another household where enough garlic would probably be FAR too much for many people. I grow my own and harvested just over 200 heads in August. After pulling out the seed for next year;s crop (planted yesterday) we have about 150 heads - that should get us through the years. 

[TicTac]

2 hours ago, sartoric said:

Fettuccine carbonara with speck lardons instead of bacon.

 

 

Looks tasty - but I think you meant 'Instead of pancetta'!

 

 

[robirdstx]

Beef Stew made in the Instant Pot. Cooking details have been reported on the Instant Pot thread.