Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

[HungryChris]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

 No it doesn't. 

I'm on @Shelby's side. Yes it does!!!!!!

[HungryChris]

Baked stuffed boneless chicken leg quarters, fresh garden tomatoes, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and peas.

HC

[Thanks for the Crepes]

6 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

It was a change.  I cut it smaller than the recipe said to but if I make it again, I'll chop it even smaller.  I am tempted to add some beans too. (ducking)  It was very spicy and I cut back on the heat at that. I wanted to try a different recipe because the last time I made my recipe, I felt it was not as good as I used to think it was.

 

I can't believe that after all the discussion about beans vs. no beans chili no one has picked up on this recent post by @robirdstx. She's a Texan and seems to be in the beans camp (at least sometimes) with me and a few others.  But people should eat chili that makes them happy, beans or not. Hot or not, whateves. Me? I like hot with beans sometimes on top of spaghetti.

 

My dinner was a mushroom pizza at Primo Pizza on an errand run over in the vicinity. This is so good when it's hot! It cools quickly, though, and while still good, I sort of wish I could eat it faster because only the first slice is perfect. It slightly burned my mouth, but weirdly, that's the way I like it ever since a small child. I have been fantasizing about pizza since getting the CSO, but I need to do more research before trying it in there. There isn't a recipe for pizza in the owner's manual.

 

I have half of the mushroom pizza left for dinner tomorrow, which is good, because I have another errand.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I can't believe that after all the discussion about beans vs. no beans chili no one has picked up on this recent post by @robirdstx. She's a Texan and seems to be in the beans camp (at least sometimes) with me and a few others.  But people should eat chili that makes them happy, beans or not. Hot or not, whateves. Me? I like hot with beans sometimes on top of spaghetti.

 

My dinner was a mushroom pizza at Primo Pizza on an errand run over in the vicinity. This is so good when it's hot! It cools quickly, though, and while still good, I sort of wish I could eat it faster because only the first slice is perfect. It slightly burned my mouth, but weirdly, that's the way I like it ever since a small child. I have been fantasizing about pizza since getting the CSO, but I need to do more research before trying it in there. There isn't a recipe for pizza in the owner's manual.

 

I have half of the mushroom pizza left for dinner tomorrow, which is good, because I have another errand.

 

Not that I've tried but the CSO should be good for reheating pizza.  I love how it can reheat the second half of a baguette.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Not that I've tried but the CSO should be good for reheating pizza.  I love how it can reheat the second half of a baguette.

 

 

Steam bake? How long for your baguette?

 

I have used Serious Eats covered skillet method successfully, but I bet steam bake in the CSO would do very well too, maybe better. I'm gonna give it a try, thanks.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Steam bake? How long for your baguette?

 

I have used Serious Eats covered skillet method successfully, but I bet steam bake in the CSO would do very well too, maybe better. I'm gonna give it a try, thanks.

 

For a day old half of a baguette I do about five minutes on steam bake 325 to retrograde the starch then about five minutes on convection bake to repair the crust.  Good as new except for the outermost slice and even that is most enjoyable.

 

[scubadoo97]

Group dinner.  Brats, sauerkraut and a pork loin.   Pasta dishes for vegans and non pork eaters 

 

[Dejah]

1 hour ago, scubadoo97 said:

Group dinner.  Brats, sauerkraut and a pork loin.   Pasta dishes for vegans and non pork eaters 

 

Sauerkraut was what we didn't have with our meal, and I was too tired to go to the store.

Instead, we had stir-fried cabbage with caraway seeds with our spicy Italian sausages along with the last of my frozen cranberry / raisin/pecan chutney. Warmed the cockles of my tummy on a fall day...

                                              

[Dejah]

20 hours ago, Ann_T said:

Dejah,  I'm seriously considering buying an electric pressure cooker.      Just wondering which size you have or would recommend.  The six or the eight?

 

Many have minis, 3qt, 6, and 8 - ALL the sizes.
I bought the 8-qt when Amazon Prime had them on 50% off. I think it would be the most versatile as the size allows for batch cooking, baking a cheese cake, etc (which I haven't tried).
It takes up room on the counter, but I use it nearly every day, so it's fine sitting in the corner.

[Norm Matthews]

5 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I can't believe that after all the discussion about beans vs. no beans chili no one has picked up on this recent post by @robirdstx. She's a Texan and seems to be in the beans camp (at least sometimes) with me and a few others.  But people should eat chili that makes them happy, beans or not. Hot or not, whateves. Me? I like hot with beans sometimes on top of spaghetti.

 

My dinner was a mushroom pizza at Primo Pizza on an errand run over in the vicinity. This is so good when it's hot! It cools quickly, though, and while still good, I sort of wish I could eat it faster because only the first slice is perfect. It slightly burned my mouth, but weirdly, that's the way I like it ever since a small child. I have been fantasizing about pizza since getting the CSO, but I need to do more research before trying it in there. There isn't a recipe for pizza in the owner's manual.

 

I have half of the mushroom pizza left for dinner tomorrow, which is good, because I have another errand.

 

Before I started making the chili, I was thinking I'd serve beans on the side but by the time I started cooking, I was so frazzled I forgot about beans.  At first I went to Whole Foods because I thought they'd have some ingredients that HyVee didn't.. like whole spices and pure chili powder-not a blend.  They only had one of those and chuck steak was $9. a pound. No thanks.  I went to HyVee to get the rest of the stuff then across the street to get one bottle of beer.  The liquor store was locked and the inside was empty. I went to another liquor store and got a bottle of beer.  When I got home, I dropped the beer and it broke in the driveway. I spent the next ten minutes cleaning up all the broken glass and decided to make the chili without beer but when I started reading the recipe again, I realized I forgot to get any Ro-Tel.  I decided to go to the Mexican grocery just down the street and pick up another bottle of beer on the way home.  The Mexican store didn't have Ro-Tel tomatoes and no one even knew what i was talking about when I asked so I went to Hen House to get the tomatoes and picked up some tortillas while I was there and got another bottle of beer on the way home.  So I started making the chili about two hours later than i had planned.  Glad my son liked it. I think I need to do some tweaking with it next time.... and double check my list before I leave the house.

 

PS Hen House didn't have any RoTel on the Mexican aisle. It was with the rest of the tomatoes so maybe it isn't a Mexican food item after all.

Edited September 27, 2017 by Norm Matthews (log)

[robirdstx]

6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I can't believe that after all the discussion about beans vs. no beans chili no one has picked up on this recent post by @robirdstx. She's a Texan and seems to be in the beans camp...

 

Actually, I am a native Californian, but was raised in St. Louis. I've only been in Texas for the last 31 years.  I like all kinds of chili, with and without beans!

Edited September 27, 2017 by robirdstx (log)

[rotuts]

@Norm Matthews 

 

that looks to me like a perfect

 

Bowl of Red.

 

P.S.:  No Bean.  On the side : maybe

 

its called Chilli con Carne for a reason.

Edited September 27, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[liuzhou]

Tonight, an unphotogenic pork and veg curry which had been in the slow cooker at its lowest setting for almost 24 hours. Melted in the mouth.

 

[lindag]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Not that I've tried but the CSO should be good for reheating pizza.  I love how it can reheat the second half of a baguette.

 

I do use the CSO for reheating my Papa Murphy's pizza.  So much better than the microwave.  Takes a few minutes rather than a few seconds but the pizza doesn't get tough or rubbery.

 

[suzilightning]

Over the years I have combined the East Texas style I learned with the Northeast style I grew up with:

 

That means half the beef is diced and the other half is ground(in our case either venison or bison), a little bit sweet and with beans.  Whatever floats your boat.

 

Sauteed shrimp with roasted red peppers, capers, black olives and sun-dried tomato pesto and penne for John,

Tiny forelle pears, grapes, pumpernickel bread, Cashel blue cheese and Finlandia lacey Swiss for me.

Maybe today will be a better one for me.

 

Leftover coq au vin for John.

[MelissaH]

17 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

 

The mustard is a German medium hot from a tube. 

I can't believe nobody's said anything yet, but I love your mustard holder dish!

[chileheadmike]

4 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

 

Before I started making the chili, I was thinking I'd serve beans on the side but by the time I started cooking, I was so frazzled I forgot about beans.  At first I went to Whole Foods because I thought they'd have some ingredients that HyVee didn't.. like whole spices and pure chili powder-not a blend.  They only had one of those and chuck steak was $9. a pound. No thanks.  I went to HyVee to get the rest of the stuff then across the street to get one bottle of beer.  The liquor store was locked and the inside was empty. I went to another liquor store and got a bottle of beer.  When I got home, I dropped the beer and it broke in the driveway. I spent the next ten minutes cleaning up all the broken glass and decided to make the chili without beer but when I started reading the recipe again, I realized I forgot to get any Ro-Tel.  I decided to go to the Mexican grocery just down the street and pick up another bottle of beer on the way home.  The Mexican store didn't have Ro-Tel tomatoes and no one even knew what i was talking about when I asked so I went to Hen House to get the tomatoes and picked up some tortillas while I was there and got another bottle of beer on the way home.  So I started making the chili about two hours later than i had planned.  Glad my son liked it. I think I need to do some tweaking with it next time.... and double check my list before I leave the house.

 

PS Hen House didn't have any RoTel on the Mexican aisle. It was with the rest of the tomatoes so maybe it isn't a Mexican food item after all.

 

You are a dedicated man. 

[Katie Meadow]

There must be a dedicated thread for chili and/or chile, but I don't see it. Growing up in NY no one I knew ever made either. When I moved to New Mexico in the late sixties I discovered CHILE. You got either a bowl of green or a bowl of red. Both used chunks of pork, never ground, and rarely beef. Neither used tomatoes. The red in red chile came from a paste made from ripened, dried, rehydrated long chiles. Although pinto beans are ubiquitous in all kinds of New Mexican dishes or as a side dish, they didn't appear in a bowl of chile. Very often potatoes were included in the bowl, which have a wonderful way of absorbing the flavor. The accompaniment was typically flour tortillas.

 

When you say "chile" you could also mean a type of hot pepper: ancho chiles, Chipotle chiles, Hatch chiles, etc.

 

CHILI with an I is an American adaptation. If you are making a Texas-style dish it would be called "Chili." And by the way, in the New World there is no such thing as Chilli, with two L's; that is a British twist, or massacre if you prefer.

 

Ingredients that typically go into Texas style chili are beef (ground or not), tomatoes and beer. Often CHILE powder is used. As for beans, well, it's just one of those things people have strong opinions about. I recently made a Texas style chili using short ribs (I'm not a fan of ground beef), a bottle of beer and fresh tomatoes, which I happened to have a lot of and needed to use up. The short ribs made a very nice beefy broth and were fall off the bone tender. I used some ancho chile powder, RG Indio oregano  and a little bit of cocoa powder. I had a modest amount of leftover beans, so, yep, I included them. I served a vinegary hot sauce on the side. I served it over rice, but warm corn bread would be a great go-with. For inspiration I used a recipe from David Leibovitz called Chili with Chocolate. As for chocolate, of course Mexico had it first, but any Texan must admit that, like bacon, a little chocolate is usually a very good thing.

 

I don't believe I've ever knowingly used Ro-Tel canned tomatoes. I know that some Texans swear by them for a variety of dishes. I am guessing that if a Texan had a surplus of home grown tomatoes he or she wouldn't hesitate to use them instead, and it would not make their chili any less Texan. Lisa Fain, of the Homesick Texan cookbooks, clearly had them growing up, but she never fails to acknowledge that Velveeta and Ro-Tel are heavily nostalgic ingredients and that updating those old tried and true recipes like Queso is in no way criminal.

 

So Norm, I have no doubt that your chili was very good, which is the most important thing.

 

 

[kayb]

My nickel's worth: Beans, unless you're putting your chili over tamales, in which case, no beans. I am not certain why. It's just that way.

 

I've made it with both chuck and ground beef, and like @Shelby, prefer it with venison. If I'm pulling meat out of the freezer specifically to make it, I'll generally use ground beef, to use up what usually winds up surplus in my annual beef share. I do use tomatoes, and a variety of chiles/chili powder. I do use RoTel, when I have it on hand, or I'll dump in a can of diced green chiles with my tomatoes. I do use beer. I do use chocolate (generic cocoa powder), and lots of cumin, and generally some allspice. 

 

i may serve it any number of ways; with rice, inside a baked potato, in a bread bowl, with a wedge of cornbread, with a grilled cheese sandwich, or just with a stack of saltines. And significantly more beer. It is one of those meals, like grilled burgers, that call for accompaniment by beer. Negra Modelo is my favorite with chili.

 

I also love it over cheese enchiladas.

 

I'm making myself hungry.

 

[scubadoo97]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Tonight, an unphotogenic pork and veg curry which had been in the slow cooker at its lowest setting for almost 24 hours. Melted in the mouth.

 

Well if the veg included collards or similar greens I'm on top of it 100%, no apology needed

[scubadoo97]

Dinner with friends in Oberageri Switzerland.   

Smoked chicken thighs not pictured with multiple sides, salad and cheese 

Preprandial cigar and spirits 

[Captain]

Beef Fajita and Spanish Omelette.

All done on the BBQ.

Ignore the spring..

[Anna N]

35 minutes ago, Captain said:

Ignore the spring..

It's very large and very prominent to ignore. 

[Tropicalsenior]

51 minutes ago, Captain said:

Ignore the spring..

It all looks delicious... except for the spring!

[cakewalk]

What spring?