Dinner 2017 (Part 5)

[liamsaunt]

monkfish braised with fennel, tomatoes, and white beans from the Zuni Cafe cookbook

 

[ninagluck]

It was raining all day, so I needed some comfort food tonight. leftover pieces of cheese turned into Khachapuri. pickled jalapenos on top to have a reason for a beer ;-)

Edited June 17, 2017 by ninagluck (log)

[shain]

Fried rice. Chinease style stir fried cauliflower, carrot and cabbage with beans paste and vinegar. Smashed cucumber salad with garlic and sesame oil.

[sartoric]

Gormeh sabzi a Persian green stew with lamb, rice pilaf, pita bread, carrot and rocket salad, soy bean hummus.

 

Followed by Black Forest trifle.

 

[Anna N]

 

From Ottolenghi. 

[Tri2Cook]

Not gonna win any photogenic awards but a Cajun shrimp boil was dinner tonight and it was tasty. Washed it down with an Erdinger Dunkel Weissbier.



Yes, I boil the potatoes, corn and sausages first, remove them, bring the spicy liquid back to the boil, toss in the shrimp and kill the heat. I've found that, while it's tasty immediately after cooking if they're all cooked together, the leftovers taste much better the next day if they're cooked separately. Not too much extra effort since it's just me. If I was doing it for a crowd, I'd just toss it all in at once.

[chromedome]

Lobsters were on at a relatively decent price for Father's Day ($7.88/ea for 1 to 1 1/4 pounds) so I bought a couple. More for my GF than for me...she's on day 6 of no tobacco, and I thought she deserved a bit of a treat. 

 

They were precooked at the store, so I just picked the meat and we had them with broad noodles and cream sauce and steamed veg. 

[mm84321]

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 6:30 PM, BonVivant said:

Last few meals:

 

SV flank steaks. In my house the cows and creatures in the sea co-exist in peace.

 

Asparagus gratin. The white spears were overwhelmed by the cream.

 

Too close?

 

It still spring, officially.

 

SV lamb. I have a rosemary plant in the garden.

 

The biggest turbot I have bought thus far. This one was 1.5kg. Lasted 2 meals. Only got it because my brill was not available that day and that it had roe intact. Big roe. Managed to cut it in half cleanly with a heavy cleaver.

 

Roasted the roe attached half in the oven, this half was cooked on the Weber the next day. It started to rain right about here (but didn't last long).

 

Fits the width of the Weber grill grate.

 

There's quite a bit of scotch in it.

 

Hard to pick which I like more: the Riesling, the salmon or the potatoes? They are simply faultless and complement each other perfectly. Didn't have time to photograph the wine, but this is it, brought back by yours truly from the same cellar shop in the article.

These are some great photographs of some damn tasty looking food.

[scubadoo97]

Made grilled chicken sandwiches tonight. 

Breasts were split and pounded then given a short 30 min brine before grilling

 

Used those grill mats which actually work pretty well to keep everything neat and no sticking.  Served on toasted Cuban bread with grilled sliced peppers and radishes along with lettuce.  The radishes were a nice addition.   I torched them then scraped off the charred skin and sliced thin

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I made seven layer salad in a five-cup clear plastic lidded storage container. It was just a layer of iceberg, a layer of frozen thawed petite green peas, a few scallion greens harvested from the deck supplemented with a little finely minced regular onion, small chopped Campari tomatoes, chopped boiled eggs, and shredded Cheddar. At serving, I scooped half of this carefully on a plate so as not to compromise the other leftover half. Then I put a scant tablespoon of Dukes mayo on top salt and black pepper and tossed it all together. I garnished with bacon I'd cooked up crispy and crumbled. I don't make this enough, not in years. This must be remedied. I actually started getting the remnants off the plate with my finger, but then I outright licked the plate. (No one else was here.) Something about the way the mayo dressing comes together with the egg yolks, tomato juice, salt and pepper. I can't explain it, but this is one killer salad, and I love the way the peas burst in your mouth. It is also very pretty made in a trifle dish to show off the layers and take to a potluck. 

 

I was tempted to just eat the other half of the container of salad and call it dinner, but I had shredded the remaining opo squash and salted it to drain in a colander, so I reluctantly proceeded with the original plan. Can't wait until tomorrow to polish off the rest of the salad.

 

I ate a small cup of the defrosted split pea soup, hot in both temp and spiciness, with the last of the cornmeal and wheat flour pancakes with peas, carrots, onion and jalapeno cooked into one side. Then I fried up spicy opo pakoras and had dessert of cherries and blueberries.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Thanks for the Crepes
can't misspell dessert again to supply another joke :-) (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight:

 

 

 

 

An otherwise unremarkable dinner except that for once everything was cooked to perfection.

 

A bit of backstory:  the grease burns on my arms and face are healing nicely.  Not wishing a repeat of the other week, I dug out my surface contact thermapen and researched steak cooking temperature.  No one is brave enough to offer an opinion.  Should the pan be at the smoke point of the oil?  Below?  Above?

 

I put the pan and the thermapen away.  And brought out the Zojirushi from the bedroom.  Zojirushi knows what temperature to grill steak even if I don't.  Five minutes later* I had a rare/medium rare strip steak with a lovely crust.

 

The Stouffer's spinach soufflé was 35 minutes in the CSO on steam bake at 375 deg F.  If it looks good is because it was.  No more overbaked soufflé for me.

 

The potato was typical:  an hour and a half or so at 450 deg F. in a bed of salt.  But because the steak and spinach were very salty, I did not salt the potato.  Worked out perfectly.  Served with a bit of sour cream.

 

Unfortunately I cannot eat a lot at one sitting.  Even though I cooked but half a steak I could not finish it.  I managed only half the package of soufflé and could not finish the potato.  I couldn't begin to think about the bread.  I even left some wine**.

 

Dessert is Franci's Torta Langarola alla Nocciola.  Not shown, and not too sweet.  About half the slice is all I can manage,  The rest may be my breakfast.

 

 

 

*Not counting preheating.

 

**In the bottle, not my glass.

 

[robirdstx]

From Friday Night:

 

 

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

[weedy]

I did a very trad 'steakhouse' lobster dinner

 

2.5 lb. broiled lobsters (par boil 4 mins, split, clean the cavity, stuff, then at service time under the broiler for 10 mins) stuffed with a mix I made of bread crumbs diced cuttlefish and sea urchin, in a lot of melted butter. 

Creamed spinach. 

Corn (which, in a divergence from aforementioned steakhouse tradition) I made Mexican street corn style - roasted to almost a char then brushed with mayonaise and dusted with chile pequin and queso fresco

 

trad martinis - about 3 gin to 1 part vermouth. 

 

[mgaretz]

About 100 degrees here so we had a cold dinner of shrimp, carrots, celery, mini-cucumbers, avocado, red bell pepper and green beans.

 

 

 

[scubadoo97]

This tri tip  is what will be for dinner. .  Will be in the bath @135f X ~6 hrs then a short stint on the grill

 

 

[BonVivant]

A bit of Spain on this hot day, both the food and the summer heat. SV Octopus tentacles. Eaten at room temp.

 

PS: Many thanks, @mm84321 and @JoNorvelleWalker!

[gfweb]

Ginger/garlic glazed shrimp and roasted sweet potato and red onion. Orange meal

 

 

 

SV basil red pepper chicken breast, roasted root veg and broccoli

 

[scubadoo97]

SV tri tip.  Seared with the searzal 

 

[sartoric]

On the plate - cauliflower with coriander & tomato, beetroot leaf & stem curry, tomato chutney, dal mahkni (black lentils & red kidney beans finished with cream & butter), rice, roti bread. On the side - pineapple & cucumber salad, still warm date & tamarind chutney.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Ottolenghi mish mash III. Not a lot of thought went into this collection. I planned to make something from NOPI but suffered from poor time management so this was plan B.

Clockwise from top: 
Stuffed peppers with fondant rutabaga & goat cheese from Plenty More - the recipe calls for regular bell peppers but I wanted to try the little guys.
Focaccia with olive & parsley topping from Ottolenghi - frozen and reheated nicely in the CSO. 
Yogurt with cucumbers from Jerusalem. 
Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad from Plenty. 

 

While cooking, I enjoyed a Sumac martini from NOPI.  I know this should go over in the cocktail forum but this way, I get to include all 5 Ottolenghi books in one post 

[robirdstx]

Father's Day Dinner!

 

 

17 and 18 oz SV Beef Ribeyes with Poached Lobster Tails, both finished on the grill. Totally forgot to take a photo once the beef was sliced - on the rare side of medium/rare. My first time doing sous vide steak - everyone was very pleased with the result!

Edited June 19, 2017 by robirdstx (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Second half of the strip steak from last night -- equally perfect -- thanks to the good folks at Zojirushi:

 

 

 

Asparagus from my beloved daughter-in-law.  Hollandaise Piment d'Espelette.  Maybe went too heavy with the Piment d'Espelette.  Baguette, not shown.  And since it is intolerably hot and humid, a wee sip* o' Glendalough mountain strength poitin.  Such a pretty bottle.

 

 

*or slightly more

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@JoNorvelleWalker,

 

Looks like a great dinner, and I had to look up the Scoville for Espelette. 

 

I have hurt myself a few times since my husband moved to a nursing home and I have only myself to please now with too much capsaicin in a few dishes. I have been able to eat all but one prepared shortly after he left, and that one blew my head off with a few bites. The garbage disposal got that one. I'm not cruel enough to feed it to the wildlife.

 

I'm finding my limits and pleasure zone as I go, and it is the first time I've been able to do this in a very long time. It's one of the small compensations for having to eat alone now. Actually there are other compensations like being able to experiment with food and not being afraid of disappointing anyone else and eating whatever the hell you feel like that day.

 

Overall, cooking and eating alone is not what I would choose to do, had I a choice, though.

 

My dinner this evening was the rest of the seven layer salad. Although I thought I did my best to preserve the leftovers for a day, It is best made and eaten the same day. It was still good though, and the separately stored bacon crumbled at the last minute provided a great texture contrast. I would keep the cheddar separate next time as well for planned overs. It absorbs too much moisture from the veggies. I still didn't kick it off the plate and enjoyed it.

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

@JoNorvelleWalker,

 

I'm finding my limits and pleasure zone as I go, and it is the first time I've been able to do this in a very long time. It's one of the small compensations for having to eat alone now.

My mom's doing the same, as a recent widow. She's also revelling in the luxury of watching an entire show all the way through, as my father'd had the habit of flipping back and forth between shows. Seeing half of each show was more or less the norm. 

[liuzhou]

 

In Chinese, these are known as 花蟹 (huā xiè), literally 'flower crabs'. Bright blue when raw. I buy them live.

 

Stir fried with lots of chopped garlic, grated ginger, chopped green chilli,. Added Vietnamese fish sauce and Chinese oyster sauce. Finished with chopped chives and coriander leaf.

 

With rice to mop up sauce. Skipped vegetation tonight.

 

Messy finger food - there is no dignified way to eat these.

 

Followed by more fresh lychees than is probably safe.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by liuzhou (log)