Dinner 2016 (Part 11)

[BeeZee]

Making good use of leftovers and clearing out small bits from pantry and freezer...brown rice pliaf (used up the last 1/2 cup of rice and 1/2 cup stock from the freezer), some bits of roasted squash, picked out a couple of cranberries from the leftover compote. Served with salad leftover from Thanksgiving...and fish was the lone fresh purchase.

[robirdstx]

I was away for the holidays, so have no leftovers, but found enough ingredients in the fridge, freezer and pantry to make a Country Captain, served with naan to soak up the gravy.

 

Edited November 28, 2016 by robirdstx (log)

[ChocoMom]

The family ate dinner too fast for me to take pics.  But, I carved out the 30" backstraps on the buck, slice them into medallions, and cooked in olive oil and onions.   Hubby said he couldn't tell the difference between that and filet mignon.   It was a melt-in-your-mouth kind of meal. Complete with mashies and beans.

[quiet1]

On 11/20/2016 at 4:56 PM, Dejah said:

Our second meal with friends, we had mussels steamed in coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass, paella, and avocado salad rolls.
Dessert was Ambrosia Delight: a base of graham crumbs, a layer of bananas, coconut cream pudding stirred with cream cheese and Madarin oranges, topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes.
Forgot about pictures until "leftovers" stage...

                                  

                                           

                             

 

I am quite intrigued by the salad rolls. What kind of wrapper is that? And any tips or suggestions on what does and doesn't work as a filling? 

 

Unrelated, as far as bread with pasta (from an earlier conversation) I often want a relatively plain bread if the pasta sauce is exceptionally good, to get every last drop. Herb butter sauces are particularly likely to get this treatment if they are well made, but any sauce is fair game if I think it will be tasty on bread. Also sometimes I just want the bread to taste someone else's sauce (if we are out at a restaurant) as a small piece of bread can be passed over for dipping and then passed back without a big fuss. At home I rarely serve bread with a meal if it isn't something that explicitly expects it (like naan or similar with Indian.)

Edited November 28, 2016 by quiet1
Remove extra photos, add comment (log)

[dcarch]

Thanksgiving dinner

 

Boneless whole turkey was well worth the effort. Prime ribs were perfect and scallops couldn’t have been better. Sorry, no pictures.

 

While most went smooth, there was one “disaster”.

 

Don’t you hate it when your guests insist on helping with the cooking? So I assigned one guest, Rena, to make the bread. I had planned on a spice bread, which I had all the ingredients already “Mise en place”. The bread was to be made in the bread machine. What could go wrong?

 

A few hours later, the wonderful aroma from the spice bread permeated the house. I went to the machine to check and to my shock, the bread was done, but it did not rise at all. Rena had neglected to put in the yeast! Everyone in the house was rolling on the floor laughing with tears looking at the solid brick of spiced dough. Rena was upset that she messed up. Stores were closed at that time. So it looked like  there was only stuffing for starch for dinner.

 

While the bread did not rise. I managed to rise to the occasion to save the day. I sliced the bread into small pieces, and I made a spiced beet root Spaetzle (dumplings?) with turkey stock. It was out-of-this-world fantastic!

 

Next time I make spice bread, I might forget to put in yeast on purpose. 

dcarch

Failed!!

[nonkeyman]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

Thanksgiving dinner

 

Boneless whole turkey was well worth the effort. Prime ribs were perfect and scallops couldn’t have been better. Sorry, no pictures.

 

While most went smooth, there was one “disaster”.

 

Don’t you hate it when your guests insist on helping with the cooking? So I assigned one guest, Rena, to make the bread. I had planned on a spice bread, which I had all the ingredients already “Mise en place”. The bread was to be made in the bread machine. What could go wrong?

 

A few hours later, the wonderful aroma from the spice bread permeated the house. I went to the machine to check and to my shock, the bread was done, but it did not rise at all. Rena had neglected to put in the yeast! Everyone in the house was rolling on the floor laughing with tears looking at the solid brick of spiced dough. Rena was upset that she messed up. Stores were closed at that time. So it looked like  there was only stuffing for starch for dinner.

 

While the bread did not rise. I managed to rise to the occasion to save the day. I sliced the bread into small pieces, and I made a spiced beet root Spaetzle (dumplings?) with turkey stock. It was out-of-this-world fantastic!

 

Next time I make spice bread, I might forget to put in yeast on purpose. 

dcarch

Failed!!

Oh dear! That is always a bummer. How many times I have forgotten to put salt in my bread...that causes other problems, like lack of flavor and over proofing...still problems though.

[liuzhou]

A bit beige, perhaps but tonight's repast hit the spot.

 

 

Duck breast rubbed with ground Sichuan peppercorns and sea salt and left to think about it for a couple of hours. Then pan fried. New potatoes and mushrooms (fried in the spicy duck fat).

Could have done with some greenery but I didn't have any and was working from home while cooking, so couldn't really spare time to go to the nearest purveyor of things green and edible. But I was happy with the pinkness of the duck.

[Dejah]

16 hours ago, quiet1 said:

 

I am quite intrigued by the salad rolls. What kind of wrapper is that? And any tips or suggestions on what does and doesn't work as a filling?

Rice paper, a layer of over-lapping sliced avocado, lettuce leaf, shredded red cabbage, julienne carrot, cucumber.

 

[Dejah]

Went to one of the stores for a couple of items and saw lovely fresh beef kidneys!

Weather was blustery yesterday and we were rushing to finish putting up the gazillions of Xmas lights on the trees, bushes, house.

Something warm and comforting was needed for the end of the day, and meat pie was perfect!

Steak and kidney pie with puff pastry top: equal amounts of kidney and chuck steak, onion, celery, carrots, and poultry seasoning? Yup...

It was great! Eaten with stir-fried sugar snap peas and salad.

                                  

 

[Captain]

Succulent crispy skin roast Duck.

 

Chopped it up and it was gone...

The only thing they left me was that lovely duck fat.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Captain (log)

[sartoric]

Clean out the fridge celery soup (with bacon, which sank), plus roast chicken and cheddar toasties.

 

[Anna N]

 

Sous vide pork chop (from the freezer)  and roasted roots. These tiny red potatoes were quite a revelation. I have heard of potatoes called "creamers" and these must truly belong to that family.  

 

[chefmd]

What can I say.  Russians love their beets.  Shredded beets, pickles, minced garlic, mayo, lime juice, salt.

 

And roasted chicken

[Okanagancook]

Captain:  Wow!  Fantastic looking duck and yes, now you can enjoy the duck fat over the next month or so.  I just bought a nice plump Fraser Valley frozen duck, now I can almost taste it.

Chefmd:  Another lovely looking roasted bird.  Looks like you used the high heat method!  I've got a half a one ready to go on my BGE tonight.  I am going to try my piri piri sauce, yes the real thing:  piri piri peppers soaked in olive oil for three months.  I opened the jar and immediately started coughing.....so my plan is to use 1/2 teaspoon on the non-skin side of the bird after it is about half way cooked.

Question about the beets:  are they raw?

Anna N:  Nice sear on that chop!  Glad you discovered those little gems....just like candy.

sartoric:  chicken cheddar toasties!  sounds weirdly delicious....perhaps some chopped jalapeños on top!

 

I keep forgetting to take a picture of dinner.  Here is some beef fillet; steamed broccoli and Deb Madison's rice and squash gratin.  I made four then baked them.  I also made two more recipes for the freezer but I left out the béchamel sauce which I will make when I use them.  This is a really nice gratin, from her Veggies for Everyone cookbook.

 

[chefmd]

2 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

 

Chefmd:  Another lovely looking roasted bird.  Looks like you used the high heat method!  I've got a half a one ready to go on my BGE tonight.  I am going to try my piri piri sauce, yes the real thing:  piri piri peppers soaked in olive oil for three months.  I opened the jar and immediately started coughing.....so my plan is to use 1/2 teaspoon on the non-skin side of the bird after it is about half way cooked.

Question about the beets:  are they raw?

 

 

 

Okanagancook, thank you.  My oven does not go beyond 450 degrees and that what I use to roast chicken in a pre heated cast iron pan.  Air drying the bird when I have time prior to roasting.

 

Beets are cooked in Cuisinart steam oven.

[Okanagancook]

Ok, cooked beets....shall have to try this, thanks.

[Anna N]

@Okanagancook

 

 Thank you for the compliment on my chop. Must share my technique.  Stolen, if my memory serves me, from ChefSteps. Put the oiled protein in the hot pan and then use a clean kitchen towel to hold its feet to the fire as it were for the first couple of minutes to get good contact between the protein and the hot pan.  I have been very pleased with the results since I started using this technique.   You might wonder why not use a spatula but you do not get the same level of intimacy. 

[Okanagancook]

Taste and Technique cookbook also recommends the pressure on top method.  I just bought and seasoned my steel frying pan and tried to get a nice sear on my sous vide chops but I neglected to apply pressure.  I'm a "stupidoop", next time.

[Anna N]

13 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Taste and Technique cookbook also recommends the pressure on top method.  I just bought and seasoned my steel frying pan and tried to get a nice sear on my sous vide chops but I neglected to apply pressure.  I'm a "stupidoop", next time.

Nah. Saw your bacon. Stupidoops can't make bacon that looks that good!  

[Dejah]

This happened when I inadvertently left a bag of 4 lobster tails out of the freezer in the garage. The tails were just thawed by the time I got home from work.

Pulled out a rib steak and grilled it in a heavy fry pan with Montreal steak spice. In another pan,  the split lobster tails were cooked in chipotle-lime butter (from Sobeys).
All eaten with roasted cauliflower.

                     

[Ann_T]

 

Tonight's dinner.  Grilled Rack of Lamb with a fresh mint sauce.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Last night's dinner:

 

 

 

Tonight's dinner was a lovely club steak, pan seared in hot oil.  Yes, I poured smoking oil over my foot.  And, yes it, hurts, but not nearly as much as the other foot.  Not to worry I am going to the doctor in a few hours.

 

The sad thing is it stained my sandals.

 

[liuzhou]

47 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Tonight's dinner.  Grilled Rack of Lamb with a fresh mint sauce.

 

That looks beautiful. Very edible!

[liuzhou]

 

Stir fried chicken (marinated in soy sauce and osmanthus wine, dried chilli and ginger), Jinhua sausages and yellow hothouse chives. Rice.

Jinhua ham is probably China's best - in my opinion up there with the great Italian and Spanish hams. The sausages are regular Chinese sausages, but made from the meat of the same breed of pig as the ham. I'm not a big fan of Chinese sausage (too sweet and I can taste the foul Chinese alcohol (白酒）) but these are a notch above most. 

Jinhua Sausage

 

And plenty leftover for a microwaveable lunch tomorrow. I'm off on my travels again for a few days.

 

Followed by more Hong Kong style egg tarts than a young man should eat in one sitting.

Edited November 29, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[sartoric]

Pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagna with bacon and mushrooms, plus a salad.