Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

JoNorvelleWalker · August 12, 2017

Polenta here too last night:

This was an attempt at the Simple Beef Ragu and polenta recipe in the current issue of Cook's Illustrated, page 6.

Unfortunately I had read the recipe a couple days before at work and had not thought to make a copy. Memory being what it is my ragu is not Cook's Illustrated. Perfectly nice, mind you, just not as written. I did remember to add the anchovy.

My polenta is The Romagnolis' Table method of adding half the water to the cornmeal before stirring into the boiling water. And I followed Bugialli's injunction to use an unlined copped pot. Liberal M.R. made a pleasant hour and a quarter stirring at the stove.

Anna N · August 12, 2017

3 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Liberal M.R. made a pleasant hour and a quarter stirring at the stove.

It would take much more than a liberal amount of MR to persuade me to spend an hour and a quarter stirring. Without the Instant Pot there would be no polenta in this house! Just saying.

scubadoo97 · August 12, 2017

Picked up some stealhead trout and salmon from Costco today. After skinning the trout and portioning all the fish, I used the tails and bellies and dry brined in dark brn sugar and salt then tossed on the smoker.

Served with a tomato and cucumber salad with cubes of a garlic loaf

robirdstx · August 12, 2017

What I am calling "Deconstructed Porcupine Meatballs" - my meat sauce tossed with steamed rice and topped with shredded Parmesan.

JoNorvelleWalker · August 12, 2017

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

It would take much more than a liberal amount of MR to persuade me to spend an hour and a quarter stirring. Without the Instant Pot there would be no polenta in this house! Just saying.

I don't know...how much M.R. can you drink per hour?

Pressure cooked beans and oatmeal work OK for me. Risotto and polenta, not so much.

C. sapidus · August 12, 2017

Vietnamese caramel pork with green beans and basil. Jasmine rice.

gfweb · August 12, 2017

8 hours ago, rotuts said:

@gfweb

Yikes !

fantastic Stuff !

however

Im sure there were reason for the TenderLoin

yours looks tasty

RibCap might have been better

Soooooo the TL was a Gift ?

that just explains it

cjeers

Thanks, @rotuts.

T-loin was left over from the Xmas extravaganza where I go postal at Costco and serve a mob filet mignon. There's always extra, which aint bad. The butt end of a tenderloin makes a lovely roast beef. Looks like 3 muscles in the butt, including psoas, but it roasts great.

And BTW, the blue tablecloth completely screws up the color balance thing on my phone. Meat looks grey. In reality it was a warm brown.

My cooking is rarely planned. And planning is required to acquire a rib cap. Normally I look in the freezer and see what's looking tasty at lunch time or later.

But, yeah, rib cap would've been great indeed.

gfweb · August 12, 2017

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

It would take much more than a liberal amount of MR to persuade me to spend an hour and a quarter stirring. Without the Instant Pot there would be no polenta in this house! Just saying.

There is a zen/rhythm to polenta and risotto.

You stir, you sip.

Ponder a recipe.

Stir...sip.

The time flies

robirdstx · August 12, 2017

Saturday Night ~ Steak Night!

ChocoMom · August 13, 2017

Never wishing to be accused of thwarting the creativity of a budding chef....I indulged my 4 year old granddaughter's "Cooking" whim this evening, and allowed her some freedom in the kitchen (and garden). She picked ALL of my peas, shucked them, mixed them with hardboiled eggs that she peeled and crumbled, and topped it onto sloppy joe. She called it "Sloppy Joe Salad". As she is sitting right here next to me, I will indulge her further and post her creation here on the dinner thread: Yes, she and Grammie shared this delicacy.

kayb · August 13, 2017

And a fine delicacy I'm sure it was! I like boiled eggs with green peas. Don't see why they wouldn't combine well with Sloppy Joes.

ninagluck · August 13, 2017

@Anna N, ask 10 Hungarians and you get 10 different recipes ;-) I sweated 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 3 sliced white peppers in some vegetable oil. 1 large peeled and deseeded tomato, some tomato concentrate, s+p, (if you wish you can add some heat) let it simmer until the vegetables are really soft. pour into baking dishes, break an egg into the middle and put it into the oven until the eggwhites are set. variations do include sausages.

**Shelby** · August 13, 2017

Spaghetti night with a Caprese salad

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HungryChris · August 13, 2017

Shrimp Fra Diavolo (jalapenos from the garden) on angel hair pasta.

HC

Edited August 13, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

MelissaH · August 13, 2017

On 8/10/2017 at 8:04 PM, Norm Matthews said:

The recipe said it was Mexican Stuffed Shells but I suspect that it isn't really Mexican in origin.

Coincidentally, when we visited my MIL a couple of weeks ago, she also made a Mexican stuffed shell recipe that turned out to be the hit of a family dinner. Hers was torn out of one or another magazine, and included ground beef, salsa, and a bit of cream cheese. What went into yours?

ninagluck · August 13, 2017

the pic of tonights dinner is not appealing, the taste was. calfs liver with chanterelles and hash brown. I put a hint of licorice powder in the sauce, which compliments the liver

ChocoMom · August 13, 2017

Not the Sunday dinner I had planned, but when there is rain coming and the hay bales need to come in off the field, one does what one must do. So, dinner this evening came from the nearby gas station: 1/2 bag of Funions, 1/2 can grapefruit Redbull, and for dessert....an almond Snickers bar. Gobbled it up while driving the truck/trailor through the hayfield.

I feel waaaayyyyy better confessing these atrocities to you all, as opposed to my doctor. Everyone here is far more understanding.

Anna N · August 13, 2017

Potatoes, zucchini, sliced portobellos, all roasted separately then sprinkled with some Gruyere and some cheddar and given a few minutes under the broiler. Simple but good.

Norm Matthews · August 14, 2017

9 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Coincidentally, when we visited my MIL a couple of weeks ago, she also made a Mexican stuffed shell recipe that turned out to be the hit of a family dinner. Hers was torn out of one or another magazine, and included ground beef, salsa, and a bit of cream cheese. What went into yours?

That sounds like the same recipe. Mine had ground beef, yellow onion, taco seasoning, cream cheese, jumbo pasta shells, enchilada sauce, salsa, cheddar and, mozzarella. My recipes are almost always posted at the blog address listed at the bottom of my posts.

Norm Matthews · August 14, 2017

I was hungry for something curry so I made a curried pork stew. I also tried a recipe for Coca Cola cake. For me, it didn't work out until I made some changes. I had to add more flour and bake it about 10 minutes longer and the frosting which was supposed to be poured on when the cake was still hot just ran off and puddled at the bottom. The picture is the cake turned upside down so the frosting looks like it is where it is supposed to be. Afterward I looked at several other recipes with the same name and they all had the same ingredients but some listed 8 ounces of coke and the one I used said to use 12 ounces. 8 oz. should be closer to a correct amount. My son really liked it and vanilla ice cream is perfect with it.

kayb · August 14, 2017

4 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

Not the Sunday dinner I had planned, but when there is rain coming and the hay bales need to come in off the field, one does what one must do. So, dinner this evening came from the nearby gas station: 1/2 bag of Funions, 1/2 can grapefruit Redbull, and for dessert....an almond Snickers bar. Gobbled it up while driving the truck/trailor through the hayfield.

I feel waaaayyyyy better confessing these atrocities to you all, as opposed to my doctor. Everyone here is far more understanding.

When you've gotta get the hay in, you've gotta get the hay in. Been there, done it. The little country store that would dish you up a bologna sandwich in a hurry was our go-to. With a Coke and a bag of peanuts.

mgaretz · August 14, 2017

No pics for a while until I get around to deleting old pics from my phone, but tonight's dinner was tri-tip with corn on the cob for me, sweet potato for Ellen and salad. Dessert will be fresh cherries.

liuzhou · August 14, 2017

Dinner last night was eventful, but un-photographed.

I had a all the makings for dinner in the fridge and was ready to start cooking, but decided I rather fancied a beer or three to wash it down. So, before starting, I nipped out to the local supermarket which is five minutes walk at most from my apartment. I picked up a six-pack of my beer of choice and started to head back.

I had to stop for a moment as a car was reversing out of the entrance to the gated area in which my apartment is. But I recognised the registration plate number, if not the car. It was a friend, but he has had his white car re-sprayed black. He spotted me, rolled down his window and asked, “Have you had dinner?”

I informed him of the negative and he told me to get in and join him. It turned out he had been invited to dinner by friends of his and was taking me along, too. Perfectly acceptable in China. Anyway, I was told, I had met the hostess ever-so briefly in 1999, so that makes it even more OK.

So off we set. I don’t have a car, but if I did I wouldn’t drive to that restaurant. It is a few minutes walk away. But my friend is a lazy sod in some ways. I mean he works hard but he won’t walk anywhere that has the possibility of being driven to.

We got to the restaurant to find that the automatic barrier to their car park was broken and we couldn’t get in, but were told that there is a secret rear entrance. So we headed there. As my friend drove into the secret sentence he failed to notice a stone ‘island’ in the middle of the road to separate ingoing and exiting traffic and drove straight into it. I was in the back of the car, but banged my head into the empty front passenger seat, cutting my lip. There were no other injuries apart from to the vehicle which had a somewhat bashed front.

In Chinese way, we stopped, completely blocking the exit and called our hostess to say we would be delayed, then took lots of photos of the wall and car etc for insurance purposes. My friend was sure he could claim, despite the accident being entirely his fault.

Finally, we limped on to the restaurant. This was a huge barn-like room full of large round tables for 8 or more and every one was full. There must have been around 400 people there and the noise was overwhelming, as usual. We found out hostess (whom I didn’t recognise, at all), her husband and another male friend (whom I didn’t know either).

After the customary hellos and an explanation of our lateness, I was asked if I would like a beer with dinner. “Why not?” I thought. A waitress was called over and was asked what beers they carry.

“蓝带“

“and…?”

“Only蓝带”

蓝带 is Pabst Blue Ribbon, a liquid which I don’t even consider to be beer. I know America does some excellent craft beers, but the stuff you export to China is dreadful. Actually, Blurgh Ribbon is made here under licence.

Many of the Chinese breweries were started by Germans and still employ German master brewers. The local beer was an Austrian company until Mao took it into Chinese hands after the revolution. Their master brewer is still Austrian, though. Nice man. I've met him.

I was thinking of going out to the car where my six-pack of local beer was waiting for me, but the hostess’s husband shot off to a nearby store and bought the necessary. China restaurants seldom object to you bringing in consumables from elsewhere.

.

They had already ordered, but as is customary, we late arrivals were instructed to order one more dish – this duty fell to me. It was a Hunan restaurant, a cuisine with which I am very familiar having lived there for two years, so I was happy to choose something. I went for a frog dish with a ridiculous amount of green and red chillies. Other dishes included a lovely chicken soup, a beef and bone marrow dish, some kind of fish, very spicy shell-on shrimp, another chicken dish, mixed pig offal with chillies, potato fritters, eggplant fritters, steamed buns and I’m sure I have forgotten something.

The food was very good and I regret that I have no pictures to show you. Remember I had just nipped out to the local shops and didn’t take my cell phone or camera.

About half way through the meal, a waitress toddled up and tried to hand me a fork and knife. In 21 years in China that is the first time that has happened. I thanked her but declined. It doesn’t make sense to use a fork and knife in that setting. Chopsticks are easier.

We made our way through the food and the beer, except my friend who was driving. The conversation was interesting and the restaurant started to empty around us. By 8pm, it was all but deserted. Another Chinese habit.

Finally, we decided we had done as much damage to the food as we could and we had definitely finished the beer, so we left with many a goodbye.

Before leaving the car park, my friend, for some reason, decided to re-stage the accident and take more photographs. By the time he was satisfied with his photographic skills, I was feeling the need to void some of the beer, so I nipped back to the restaurant to avail myself of their facilities. I informed my friend as to my intentions and he said “OK.”

When I returned to the car there was no car to be seen. I looked around, but couldn’t see it or my friend (and remember I had no cell phone) so I set out to walk back. After about two minutes, friend (and car) pulled up beside me, my friend asking why I had abandoned him.

I still don’t know where he had wandered off to in the meantime. I’m not sure he does either. Three minutes later I was home.

Tonight, I will cook what I planned for last night’s dinner and thankfully I didn’t have to go shopping in today’s monsoon-like rain. Hopefully I'll have a quiet uneventful meal by myself.

Edited September 23, 2017 by liuzhou
typos (log)

Anna N · August 14, 2017

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Dinner last night was eventful, but un-photographed.

I had a all the makings for dinner in the fridge and was ready to start cooking, but decided I rather fancied a beer or three to wash it down. So, before starting, I nipped out to the local supermarket which is five minutes walk at most from my apartment. I picked up a six-pack of my beer of choice and started to head back.

Sometimes a beer is worth it. Sometimes not so much. Thanks for a great and enlightening story.

Edited August 14, 2017 by Anna N (log)