Dinner 2017 (Part 5)

[Shelby]

Host's note: this topic has grown too large for our servers to handle effficiently, so it has been broken into segments; the previous segment is here: Dinner 2017 (Part 4).

 

 

Lasagna last night.  Mom brought me some stuff from Grammy's kitchen and this glass bread pan was included.  Perfect for making a very small amount of lasagna.

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)

[liuzhou]

Penne with beef and pomodorini ragu.  Grana padano.

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

Memories of Persia (from my freezer). 

[BonVivant]

Squid and mince, neither Thai or Vietnamese. I just used Vietnamese fish sauce, garlic, ginger, onions, palm sugar, Shaoxing wine to give it taste.

 

Very small squid from the North Sea. Easy to clean if they are cut open on 1 side so that they curl up on contact with heat. Squid and mince go exceptionally well together, especially if there's also copious amounts of garlic and chilies. (I make my own habanero chili sauce though, this plate was for someone else who can't eat too spicy.)

 

Where's the mince? It's there, kind of hard to see.

[scubadoo97]

Good looking and inspiring meals everyone.   

 

Been out out of town the last few days and tonight was a clean out the fridge meal.  I was looking to do a quick dashi broth with instant dashi and soba noodles but had to settle for Thai red chili paste based on what I had available.  Carrot, red radish, kale and garlic.  Popped a quick seared piece of steelhead trout in the broth to finish cooking 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2017 by scubadoo97 (log)

[chefmd]

We had a few people over.

beet gazpacho with crab meat

 

sous vide pork chops

[liuzhou]

My dinner tonight has been an avocado with a vinaigrette and a couple of cheese sandwiches.

 

This was not my plan. Very much not my plan. No damned relation of my plan!

 

I planned a simple, but delicious prawn curry. I spent all day waiting for my yoghurt to be ready. 8 hours plus cooling time.

 

Unusually, and probably for the last time, I intended to use some frozen prawns which I set to defrost. As I was slicing some shallots for the curry sauce, I noticed a vague odd smell around the kitchen but couldn't locate its source at first.

 

I stuck some rice in the rice cooker and continued the search. I checked my garbage disposal arrangements, but they were fine. I sniffed at the drains. I even hung my head out the window to see if it was one of my neighbours.

 

Then, as the prawns defrosted, it became clear. They were rank. I swear, those critters were last fresh when Chairman Mao was a boy. They stank. I have wrapped them in several layers of plastic wrap, carried them down six floors to the furthest away garbage dump in my residential area and I can still smell them.

 

Unfortunately, I'm off at 5:30 am on one of my too regular trips and have no meaningful substitute. Fortunately, I had baked some bread and have cheddar in my fridge, so that's dinner. With my favourite mango relish.

 

I'll survive, but I was looking forward to a nice Ruby.

Edited May 22, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[kayb]

Dinner from Deep Run Roots. I'd been eyeing the Blue-Q chicken since I first read it, so I decided this weekend would make a good time to try it. I pulled a five-pound bird out of the freezer, cut him into quarters rather than spatchcock him, and made up the sauce on Saturday. Perhaps I reduced it a bit much; when it cooled, it gelled. But I scooped some out into a cereal bowl and nuked it for a minute, and it worked a treat. I have lots of sauce left; the recipe made almost a quart, and I used about a third of it on the chicken. I think it will be quite excellent on pork chops or pork tenderloin.

 

 

Everyone agreed it was very good chicken. Would have likely been better had I put it on the grill.

 

Sticking to the book, I decided on the green bean and corn succotash for a side. Went mostly by the recipe, but for subbing the small purple onions from the market for the called-for leeks. At the last minute, I decided to chop up some of hte onion tops to throw in at the end with the basil.

 

This was...OK. I normally love basil in anything, but it seemed a bit off-putting, here. I think I'll try it again, but with tarragon, which seems to offer a more complementary flavor. Overall, though, I give it a good solid B+ as it was.

 

I rounded out dinner with a squash casserole, made from the leftover sauteed squash and onions of Saturday. Very simple -- squash and onions, eggs, half and half, grated cheddar, seasoned breadcrumbs. Doesn't get a lot easier. You can also make it a little thicker and fry it up as fritters..

And sliced tomatoes, and a raspberry ricotta tart.

 

 

[Anna N]

@liuzhou

 

 What a shame about your shrimp.   Hope you get over it quickly. Usually takes me quite a while when I've had an experience like that before I can appreciate the food once more.   But I'm all in favour of bread and cheese as long as it's not banana bread.

[mgaretz]

Pork loin chops, cooked SV then torch-seared with a maple-bourbon glaze.  Served with buttered peas and salad.

 

 

[chileheadmike]

Chicken and green chile enchiladas with Spanish rice and refried beans. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Last night's dinner...

 

 

Chicken Marsala.  The chicken is half of a locally raised Griggstown Quail Farm poussin.

 

 

[scubadoo97]

The color on those mushrooms is amazing 

[blue_dolphin]

Made the recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Anchovy Bread Crumbs from Julia Turshen's Small Victories (recipe online here) and served it on spaghetti with lots of black pepper

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight a rare treat, fiddleheads...

 

 

 

Blanched, shocked, and sautéed with garlic.  Served with perfectly grilled rib lamb chop and ciabatta.  Thankfully the lighting in the high end grocery was dim and I couldn't read the price per pound till I got home.

 

[HungryChris]

Last night was a cicchetti night, with pork and leek pot stickers, pan fried artichoke hearts and a cucumber salad.

HC

[Shelby]

22 hours ago, chileheadmike said:

Chicken and green chile enchiladas with Spanish rice and refried beans. 

This looks amazing.  

13 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

The color on those mushrooms is amazing 

I was going to say the same thing.

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Tonight a rare treat, fiddleheads...

 

 

 

Blanched, shocked, and sautéed with garlic.  Served with perfectly grilled rib lamb chop and ciabatta.  Thankfully the lighting in the high end grocery was dim and I couldn't read the price per pound till I got home.

 

I need to try these before I die.  I just can't believe I can't get them around here.  It's not fair lol.

 

I seem to be on a roasted chicken kick.  And Ronnie seems to be on a collard greens kick.

 

Found some doves that had buried themselves in the freezer.  Made risotto in the Instant Pot to go with.  Super good.

 

 

 

[sartoric]

Arrived home Monday night (after a week away) to someone ecstatic to absolve all meal planning and little food in the fridge. This was cobbled together, onions, garlic, tomato, harissa and potato cooked in chicken stock with an egg on top and a spoon of yoghurt. Served with pocket bread as an outer case.

 

 

 

[sartoric]

Now back to regular life, home style fish curry, dal, roti, rice, fresh tomato chutney, radish raita and lime pickle.

[Kasia]

Today I would like to share with you a recipe for a weekend breakfast/dinner, with yummy green asparagus spears, which is both energizing and light. Serve it with slices of granary toast or without, and eat it slowly and lazily in nice company. I think that in spring the nicest thing is to enjoy the small pleasures.

The inspiration for this dish comes from "Smaki życia" ("Flavour of Life") by Agnieszka Maciąg.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
4 eggs
10 green asparagus spears
1 teaspoon of fresh minced rosemary
2 tablespoons of minced chives
4 tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese
10 cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper

Heat the oven up to 180C.
Clean the asparagus spears, remove the lignified parts and blanch for 2-3 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain them and leave for a while. Smooth some small casserole dishes with the butter. Put the asparagus spears and halved cherry tomatoes into them. Sprinkle with the grated mozzarella cheese, rosemary and the rest of the butter. Put two eggs into each dish and spice them up with salt and pepper.
Put the dishes in a bain-marie. Bake without the lid for 15-20 minutes, depending on how well done you like your eggs. Before serving, sprinkle with minced chives.

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

flounder stuffed with mushrooms, local asparagus, and crispy potatoes

 

[gfweb]

Some recent dinners...

 

Apricot glazed duck confit over barley risotto with browned squash

 

 

Mustard/honey/balsamic glazed salmon

 

 

 

SV flank steak with BBQ sauce, potato salad and coleslaw

 

 

NY strip over creamed mushrooms, jalapeno/parmesan grits, broccoli

[blue_dolphin]

Another plate of pasta.  This one is Fusilli (standing in for the specified orecchiette) with Spicy Sausage & Parmesan from Julia Turshen's Small Victories.

I'm not sure what I think about the use of cream in this one. 

[liuzhou]

They meant well. Some people I am visiting (work) invited me for dinner and decided I would prefer western food.

 

Well, I might for a change, but there is no western food in a 1000 mile radius. There is only what some culinarily challenged buffoon "thinks"* might be western.

 

 A photo menu depicts a number of unidentifiable "steaks" decorated with bizarre accompaniments. I choose one at random, request medium rare, but am not asked for my choice of sauce. My hosts all choose "incinerated shoe leather" as their preference.

 

Suspiciously quickly, this arrives.

 

 

It is medium to well done, fatty in all the wrong ways, unseasoned and totally devoid of anything resembling taste.

 

The side of undressed spaghetti is overcooked, cold and glued together, but there is the salad - one slice of cucumber, the smallest cherry tomato I've ever seen and a sliver of carrot. 

 

The meat is topped by some unrequested mushroom sauce - also unseasoned and tasteless.

 

Finally, something pleasantly edible. A fried egg.

 

My hosts announce it to be the pinnacle of western cooking and we bid each other goodnight. I head for the nearest noodle shack.

 

 

* Chance would be a fine thing.

Edited May 24, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[liamsaunt]

@liuzhou, it's the thought that counts?  I guess?  That steak looks pretty grim.  Glad you were able to find a noodle stand after.

 

Last night, flounder reuben and garlic-dill oven fries