Dinner 2017 (Part 1)

[liuzhou]

Host's note: Happy New Year, everyone! This ever-popular topic is broken into segments to reduce load on our servers; the previous segment is here: Dinner 2016 (Part 11).

 

 

New Year's Day dinner - China style.

 

My dearest, best friend J invited me to join her and her boyfriend with his family for a (mostly) home cooked New Year dinner. She said that she asked me because I am the only family she has in town (she is from another city) - I felt so moved by that - but she is like family. My only family in town. Here is what we ate. 6 people.

 

The spread

The red wine is unusual. I supplied that.

 

Squid with peppers

 

Beijing Duck

 

Pork and Chinese Yam Soup

 

White Cut Chicken

 

Broccoli

 

Beef with Peppers

 

Steamed Pork Balls with Sticky Rice

 

The Universal Dip served with all meals in this part of China.

 

These dishes were all home cooked apart from the Beijing duck. That was bought from the market and served with the usual accompaniments. J cooked the squid. I taught her how to cook squid years ago and she is now brave enough to depart slightly from my way by adding bell peppers instead of the hot peppers I use. Being from southern Guangxi, she is not a spice girl.

Everything was very good, but the pork balls with sticky rice were outstanding. And I don't usually like sticky rice much. I only ate the first one to be polite, then had several more. Mama was over the moon but in true Chinese style claimed she hadn't made them properly. Denigrating your own cooking is the height of good manners.

A great start to 2017 eating.

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)

[Ann_T]

Liuzhou,   what a feast.  I would have loved your New Year's Eve dinner. 

We had our traditional New Year's Eve dinner  -  Lobster and Champagne.

 

Moe and I shared four 1 1/2 pound lobsters.

We learned a long time ago, that all you need is lobster no sides.  

 

 

[chefmd]

4 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Liuzhou,   what a feast.  I would have loved your New Year's Eve dinner. 

We had our traditional New Year's Eve dinner  -  Lobster and Champagne.

 

Moe and I shared four 1 1/2 pound lobsters.

We learned a long time ago, that all you need is lobster no sides.  

 

 

I want to like it twice!  One for lobster and one for no sides.  

[Shelby]

We got married on New Year's Eve, so it's a double special day   This marks 17 years.  We bought a nice prime rib (no bones) the other day and cut it in half.  I froze one half and the other has been in the fridge on an open tray covered with salt and pepper for a few days.

 

 

Here he is out of the oven.  Oh it was sooooo good.  

Twice baked taters and brussels sprouts to go with.  I had planned on piping the potatoes into the skins but I couldn't find my thingy that does that so I settled for a ziplock bag with the corner cut off.

 

 

[David Ross]

Shelby that prime rib is cooked perfectly.

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, David Ross said:

Shelby that prime rib is cooked perfectly.

Thank you so much, David!  I roasted it in the oven at 200F until it hit 120F in the center (took about 2 hours).  Then I let it rest for 30 mins or so.  Finally I put it back in the oven at 500F for 10 mins until the outside was nice and browned.  Worked like a charm.

[Anna N]

@liuzhou

 

 I am insanely jealous.  Just touching the "like" button was not going to get across how I really feel.  Not just the food either but the way you were welcomed into a family.

[shain]

Pasta e fagioli.
Borlotti beans, with onion, celery, carrot, rosemary, sage, garlic. The vegetables and half of the beans are blended smooth and creamy, the remaining beans left whole and soft. 
Ditalini pasta, a little parmesan, plenty of pepper, and a drizzle of strong olive oil from the tree in our garden.

 

 

[mgaretz]

New year's eve dinner:  Tri-tip, cooked SV at 131F for 8 hours then torch-seared (finally ran out of my first gas tank).  Served with baked potato, mixed veggies in butter and salad.

 

 

 

[sartoric]

Too hot to cook much, so here's a ham, cheese and red onion toasted sandwich with blue cheese butter, plus a little tomato chutney.

 

[TicTac]

liuzhou - the 'universal dip' = (from what I can identify).... Scallions, chili, cilantro, soy & some type of oil?  Anything else?

[Norm Matthews]

I used to do this New Years Day meal for fun and in remembrance of my Southern mom. Lately I have been doing it a little out of superstition. Three years ago we had what Cassie said was a traditional Mexican New Years dinner.  We had none of the Southern food that was representative of good luck and health in the year to come. The very next day, I fell and broke every bone in my ankle. 

 

Charlie is not a fan of black eyed peas with ham so I made my sister's chip dip with them instead. He like the dip.  The ham hocks were cooked with canary or  Mayocoba beans.  We had collard greens, deviled eggs, corn bread, green beans with new potatoes,  and pumpkin pie.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Norm Matthews (log)

[kayb]

Well, I only THOUGHT there'd be no really interesting meals on this trip. Went out yesterday afternoon to take the kids to a drop-off childcare center they love, so I could get a little shopping done and they could burn off some energy, and decided, since they would eat "dinner" at the facility, I'd treat myself to a meal at a little Greek place I like in the same shopping center.

 

They told me their specials, which included a barbecued brisket plate that included a Greek salad. OK, sez I; I've never had Greek barbecue, and the notion is somewhat intriguing.

 

 

The waitress brought out a healthy portion of sliced brisket, tender and well-smoked, in a barbecue sauce that was pure Tennessee; sweet, smoky, spicy. It was served over small redskin potatoes that had been quartered and, it looked like, parboiled and then roasted. With an order of hummus and some pita bread on the side, as well as the Greek salad.

 

Certainly one of the more "different" barbecue plates I've ever experienced, but I enjoyed it.

 

[kayb]

Aaaannnddd, here's the traditional New Year's Day fare. Minus cornbread, because I wasn't in the mood.

 

[liuzhou]

5 hours ago, TicTac said:

liuzhou - the 'universal dip' = (from what I can identify).... Scallions, chili, cilantro, soy & some type of oil?  Anything else?

 

No. That's it. The oil is sesame.

[Ann_T]

Simple prime rib dinner.  

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Leftovers here:  grilled pork rib chop...cleaned the bone pretty well.  Chilled thirty second green beans dressed with olive oil and balsamic.  CSO frozen French fries dressed with Peruvian green sauce.

 

Hard to think of better.

 

[quiet1]

New Year's leftovers here - sausage in sauerkraut and cabbage (which got even better with a night in the fridge) and sautéed Brussels sprouts and microwave "baked" potatoes since there wasn't enough mashed potato leftover to go around. Finished with leftover apple crisp.

 

Unfortunately our microwave seems to have died so now I have to figure out what to replace it with.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

34 minutes ago, quiet1 said:

New Year's leftovers here - sausage in sauerkraut and cabbage (which got even better with a night in the fridge) and sautéed Brussels sprouts and microwave "baked" potatoes since there wasn't enough mashed potato leftover to go around. Finished with leftover apple crisp.

 

Unfortunately our microwave seems to have died so now I have to figure out what to replace it with.

 

Cuisinart Steam Oven?

 

[rarerollingobject]

Tartiflette! Given that it's basically just potatoes, pancetta, caramelised onions, thyme, an entire wheel of Epoisses cheese and half a bottle of Alsace Riesling, there's no way THAT'S going to taste bad. 

[Shelby]

New Year's Day dinner

 

Cornbread--  jalapeños , onions, hatch chile and cheddar

 

 

BBQ chicken wings done in the IP and finished in the CSO along with black eyed peas and country ham --OH so good.  Spinach and mac and cheese.  Hopefully I covered all the lucky foods.  We need all the luck we can get.

 

[quiet1]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Cuisinart Steam Oven?

 

 

We definitely need an actual microwave.  I'm pondering a combo one, I liked it a lot when I had one in England.

 

9 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

Tartiflette! Given that it's basically just potatoes, pancetta, caramelised onions, thyme, an entire wheel of Epoisses cheese and half a bottle of Alsace Riesling, there's no way THAT'S going to taste bad. 

 

My housemate is super excited for dinner some night now and has no idea why. (Potatoes and melty cheese = awesome in his opinion.  ) That looks fantastic.

[sartoric]

Spicy Korean pork stew with potatoes. Served with steamed rice and garlic spinach.

 

[Mysstwalker]

Finally remembered to take a picture so here is last nights dinner, first time making ramen at home!  Not the best picture, my phone isnt that great, but wow, I love homemade ramen now!

[Norm Matthews]

I didn't take any pictures but I used the Instant Pot to make Chicken Pho.