Dinner 2017 (Part 2)

[sartoric]

@Porthos, thanks, we have a big barbie. I could drag out the small gas stove I guess. Over the past few days it's been only a degree or two difference between inside the house and outside !

[sartoric]

Finally it's slightly cooler, so my long awaited South Indian meal happened.

Chidambaram eggplant, dal parriparu, fresh tomato chutney, steamed rice and parathas.

 

 

If you're interested in the food, produce and markets of Southern India, pop over to the "India Dining" section for a look at some photos from our recent trip.

[Arey]

The local ACME supermarket had a frozen capon in the poultry freezer, but they wanted  $47.00 for it which I through was outrageous.  I decided I was going to have real  roast chicken Sunday dinner.  Not one of those nice 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 lbs chickens but a real roaster from here.  I decided to follow the Julia Child method from How to cook even though it requires multiple bastings and turnings.  I was hoping for a 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 chicken but they only had two roasters and I took the smaller one at 7 1/3 lbs and it cost $22.00.  I also got some chicken legs, and a couple of turkey thighs, and over at the meat section their Valentines special was chuck roast at $5.00 a lb,and a omanticist like  me cannot pass up chuck at $5.00 a lb.

A 7 1/3 chicken  is really rather unwieldy no matter how well trussed. When the one on one with the was done I had it with chicken gravy, rice pilaf and green beans.  There would have been a photo but by the time the chicken made it to the table I just wanted to sit down and eat. The gravy was over salted(not the first time I've reduced Swanson's 33% less sodium chicken broth to the point where it has more sodium than the regular broth), when tasted out of a spoon, but it was fine on the chicken which  I only lightly salted. the pilaf was out of the freezer, as were the green beans which I had bought frozen.   I'm not fond of frozen green beans, and even had some fresh ones in the fridge, but getting up every ten minutes to baste a chicken, and flipping it from side to side 4 or 5 times can tire a person.  Especially if the dish-washer side of a person insists that while the chicken rests for twenty minutes there's enough time to wash the roasting pan, the roasting rack, the fat separator and any utensils not needed any longer.

The chicken was good, the  beans edible, and I'll  get three more dinners and three lunches out of the bird. Tonight's leftover chicken breast on noodles with chicken  gravy and peas.  Leftovers are good, and usually less work and less mess to clean up.  Since I'm only cooking for myself, when I cook anything such as yesterday's dinner I count on having a good amount of leftovers to make it worth the mess and effort.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Arey (log)

[ElainaA]

Normally Sunday is my main shopping day but yesterday I looked out the window and decided to stay home. There was a pork tenderloin in the freezer that I seasoned (salt, pepper, coriander) seared and then roasted. Served with a Marsala sauce. I also had peas in the freezer that i cooked with shallots and garlic. I had a whole 'sweet meat Oregon homestead' squash given to me by a friend (we grow different varieties and trade). I roasted half of it and mashed it with orange juice, ginger, a little brown sugar and salt and pepper. I liked the squash a lot - good flavor and a smaller than usual cavity - so more to eat - so I saved some seeds to plant this summer. 

o day is actually worse than yesterday so still no grocery shopping. I'm going to have to dig around in the pantry and freezer for tonight's dinner.

[Captain]

Monday night dinner.  Marinated BBQ Chicken wings over coals in the Kettle BBQ.

 

 I don't mind the heat to much @sartoric apart from working during the day.  But yes  aircon in the kitchen and other parts of the house not that we use it much.  Mostly in the bed room these last few nights.

[liamsaunt]

My sister and I started a new food challenge a couple of weeks ago: we put every country in the world, plus every regional cuisine we could think of, into a jar.  I pick the country on Monday and we work on a menu during the week and then cook on Saturday.  It has to be something that everyone will eat so it is challenging.  So far we have gotten Poland (that was the pierogi meal I posted), Canada, and this weekend our first regional cuisine which was West African. It's not meant to be authentic, but just a way to expand our cooking horizons.  I made a bunch of dips. Left to right starting with the white one, a feta yogurt whipped dip, then a "papaya" samba (I used mango because there was no ripe papaya to be had)l, roasted red pepper hummus, a very spicy cilantro charmoula, and finally a lemon-paprika oil with cilantro:

 

 

with flatbread

 

 

and groundnut soup

 

 

My niece and nephew liked this so much that they requested all of the leftovers for dinner tonight.  The adults had turkey

 

 

mashed potatoes, spinach, and butternut squash.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Last night:

 

 

 

Details in the What Are You Cooking Sous Vide thread:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/151649-what-are-you-cooking-sous-vide-today-part-2/?do=findComment&comment=2094435

 

Dessert was the remainder of the béarnaise.  And yes, I ate a stick of butter.

 

 

[Mysstwalker]

Excuse my bad camera photos, can never get them the way I want. I have been down with the flu, today is really the first time I have felt like doing dinner. Poor Chris has been fending for himself, and by now is sick of hot dogs lol. So, tonight was Havarti grilled cheese on light rye, a beautiful perfect avocado from Costco, deviled eggs, green olives, and some tomato basil soup, all served on the fine china!

[MetsFan5]

8 hours ago, Captain said:

Monday night dinner.  Marinated BBQ Chicken wings over coals in the Kettle BBQ.

 

 I don't mind the heat to much @sartoric apart from working during the day.  But yes  aircon in the kitchen and other parts of the house not that we use it much.  Mostly in the bed room these last few nights.

 

 

  You guys are champs. I have central A/C and keep my home at 63 degrees in the summers (which are thick with humidity) and I still don't like to turn on the oven. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner was delayed due to the incompetence of the sommelier.  One cannot properly make methode rotuts with room temperature Soave.

 

Be that as it may:

 

 

 

Lobster Newberg, more or less* by Joy of Cooking.  The sauce itself was far too unctuous.  This from the girl who last night ate a stick of butter.  I think it needed acid.  However the sauce possessed a full quarter cup of fine Sercial.

 

I cannot speak highly enough of the lobster meat.**  It came from a vendor called The Lobster Place in Philadelphia, affiliated with amazon fresh.  I was expecting bits of lobster flesh but what I received was a couple of whole, sweet lobster tails and claws.

 

I could have toasted another English muffin and gone for a second portion, however I remembered William Penn's injunction:  "If thou rise with an Appetite, thou art sure never to sit down without one."

 

Digestive is a glass of Whistlepig.

 

 

*Every second recipe Rombauer calls for a bain marie:  "...over -- not in -- boiling water."  I put up with this for ten years of my life.

 

**Unless I get violently ill overnight, as has happened every time with lobster bought from Shoprite.

 

[HungryChris]

I was inspired by @Shelby when she posted her chicken paws in the instant pot for stock. I was intent on recreating the Hakata ramen from  Menchanko-Tei that we used to enjoy in Manhattan, before they closed. I know the broth is pork bone based , but pigs feet were the only  pork bones I could find. I chose to add chicken paws as well. I roasted them both in the oven at 425 F for an hour and cooked the broth down at a very low simmer, based on what I have read. A minimal amount of salt , seasoned by the last minute addition of garlic and onion got the job done.  Dried ramen clusters that were simmered into submission, black fungus (tree ears, that had been soaked in hot water and sliced), turnip greens that had been simmered in the broth, just because I wanted some greens and the last minute addition of half & half to give the characteristic white sheen of tonkotsu broth, three slices of tender roast pork in each bowl finished off by the little pile of red pickled ginger garnish along with some chopped green onion.  We were both happy with a visit to the past! Oh, and I opened a bottle of "two buck chuck", just for the occasion.

HC

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

[Shelby]

4 hours ago, HungryChris said:

I was inspired by @Shelby when she posted her chicken paws in the instant pot for stock. I was intent on recreating the Hakata ramen from  Menchanko-Tei that we used to enjoy in Manhattan, before they closed. I know the broth is pork bone based , but pigs feet were the only  pork bones I could find. I chose to add chicken paws as well. I roasted them both in the oven at 425 F for an hour and cooked the broth down at a very low simmer, based on what I have read. A minimal amount of salt , seasoned by the last minute addition of garlic and onion got the job done.  Dried ramen clusters that were simmered into submission, black fungus (tree ears, that had been soaked in hot water and sliced), turnip greens that had been simmered in the broth, just because I wanted some greens and the last minute addition of half & half to give the characteristic white sheen of tonkotsu broth, three slices of tender roast pork in each bowl finished off by the little pile of red pickled ginger garnish along with some chopped green onion.  We were both happy with a visit to the past! Oh, and I opened a bottle of "two buck chuck", just for the occasion.

HC

 

 

 

This looks awesome.  "Chicken Paws" 

 

I found a container of Hatch Chile enchilada sauce in the freezer.  So, I made chicken enchiladas.  I was craving them and they smelled so good.  I took a bite and about died.  Holy crap the sauce was like XXXXXX HOT.  I don't know why I didn't label it better.  Ronnie loved them.  I ate the beans lol.

 

[HungryChris]

6 minutes ago, Shelby said:

This looks awesome.  "Chicken Paws" 

 

 

I first heard the term when chicken exports to China was being discussed. I thought it was unusual, but catchy. That is how they were labeled in the store, so i went with it.

HC

[Shelby]

Just now, HungryChris said:

I first heard the term when chicken exports to China was being discussed. I thought it was unusual, but catchy. That is how they were labeled in the store, so i went with it.

HC

OH!  It's a real label!  I guess they think it sounds better than feet?  lol.

[liuzhou]

This may look very similar to the dinner I posted last night. Largely the same ingredients, but different spicing. Although getting over yesterday's mild malady, I still didn't feel like venturing out today, so leftover leftovers.

 

 

Fried rice with chicken, mushrooms, spinach, garlic. Turmeric and ground fennel seeds. Chili.

Edited February 15, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

 

Roasted a couple of small chickens last night.

 

One for dinner and the other was morphed into today's Valentine's Day breakfast.

 

 

[sartoric]

Thai beef salad. Loosely based on this recipe. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-steak-and-noodle-salad

 

[shain]

Baked macaroni and cheese, with a topping of lightly buttered cornflakes. The cheese mixer is composed mostly of cheddar, with some parmesan and some smoked gouda, enough to be noticed, but not distinctively smoky, it comes more as a savory note. (No milk BTW, I find milk to override the cheese flavors).

[HungryChris]

OK, it's Valentines Day. Since Deb still works, I chose to have the big meal on Friday night and opted for calamari tonight. Deb likes hers with ketchup, while I made a pepperoni aioli for mine.

HC

 

 

The price wasn't too bad and it did look fresh as hell.

 They were what I think of as the perfrect size.

Edited February 15, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

[robirdstx]

Dinner tonight was not very romantic. We are finally using up (most of) the last of the leftovers from Saturday's restaurant delivery. (At least the BBQ sauce on the ribs was red!) Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

 

 

Bar-B-Q Spare Ribs and Broccoli

 

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by robirdstx (log)

[scubadoo97]

One of my wife's favs, rare seared tuna.   

 

[scubadoo97]

On February 14, 2017 at 1:15 AM, MetsFan5 said:

 

 

  You guys are champs. I have central A/C and keep my home at 63 degrees in the summers (which are thick with humidity) and I still don't like to turn on the oven. 

I certainly have no issue with heat up to a point.   Coastal Fla., average house temp with a/c in the summer is 78 and I'll turn the big oven on in a heartbeat even when it's in the 90's outside if I have a desire for something that needs baking or roasting.  The toaster oven comes in handy for roasted vegetables like potatoes or beets.   I guess it's what you're use to.  I hate being cold more than being hot 

[liamsaunt]

Heart shaped ravioli (my concession to Valentine's Day), toasted in browned butter with pine nuts, a beet sauce, and a little arugula salad. 

 

[liuzhou]

I know what you are going to say. 

 

"The idiot burned his dinner again!"



But no. I prefer to call them well-charred. Actually, there is no burning, The black exterior hides succulent, tooth-tender, juicy meat slipping from the bones.My kids used often to ask for black bones.

 

I was in the supermarket yesterday and spotted beef ribs, something they rarely have. So I leapt in and bought some. The butcher kindly chopped them into pieces to my liking. I intended to deal with them when I got home, but life intervened and they remained untouched in the fridge overnight.

 

This morning, I made up a marinade mix consisting of honey, vinegar, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, oil, fennel seed, coriander seed, cumin seeds, cracked black pepper, chiili flakes and garlic. The ribs were then left in this marinade for three hours, being rubbed and stirred every half hour. They then went into a low oven and were roasted for four hours, being turned and brushed with marinade every half hour or so.

 

Made some chips/fries and ate them. 

 

I did have a Chinese friend with me for dinner who looked at the ribs most suspiciously but was brave enough to try. She then asked for more. That's what I like to hear!. I froze half the uncooked ribs that I bought, so they will make a reappearance sometime soon.

Edited February 15, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

11 hours ago, robirdstx said:

Dinner tonight was not very romantic. We are finally using up the last of the leftovers from Saturday's restaurant delivery. (At least the BBQ sauce on the ribs was red!) Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

 

It was leftovers chez Chrome, too. After four hours of shovelling, then three hours at my GF's former marital home attempting to turn the water on so it can finally be sold (turned out ex-hubby had not, in fact, sent someone to winterize the place, so pipes have burst and I have to go back again tonight with the plumber), we got home somewhat past dinnertime and ate leftover roast chicken and mashed.