Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

[Shelby]

25 minutes ago, weedy said:

Instant Pot broth ... beef Faux Pho

 

 

That looks AMAZING

[Shelby]

18 minutes ago, Norm Matthews said:

Tacos

I'm craving tacos.  If and when I ever get to the store to get some lettuce, tacos will be happening.

[robirdstx]

 

Instant Pot Flat Iron Steak with Onions, Tomatoes and Gravy and Green Beans

[Kim Shook]

I am hardly cooking at all lately.  We seem to be doing nothing but grabbing quick bites.  And I have 3 FULL freezers (one is just the fridge one) that I need to get empty for loading up with Christmas stuff and church bake sale things.  So I really need to be cooking.  A couple of recent throw together meals:

pickley stuff:

 

Salad:

 

And Dianne’s Garlic Shrimp:

 

Another night  – chopped salad:

Which is obviously completely different from yesterday’s salad.  LOL.  And Stouffer’s lasagna:

Sigh. 

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I am hardly cooking at all lately.  We seem to be doing nothing but grabbing quick bites.  And I have 3 FULL freezers (one is just the fridge one) that I need to get empty for loading up with Christmas stuff and church bake sale things.  So I really need to be cooking.  A couple of recent throw together meals:

pickley stuff:

 

Salad:

 

And Dianne’s Garlic Shrimp:

 

Another night  – chopped salad:

Which is obviously completely different from yesterday’s salad.  LOL.  And Stouffer’s lasagna:

Sigh. 

STOP beating  yourself up!  I love seeing your meals.  And, you'll get done with what you can get done.  We all put too much pressure on ourselves and I'm tired of it.

[scubadoo97]

Grilled flank steak with grilled Caesar salad, baked potato and sauted mushrooms

 

[Shelby]

35 minutes ago, Shelby said:

STOP beating  yourself up!  I love seeing your meals.  And, you'll get done with what you can get done.  We all put too much pressure on ourselves and I'm tired of it.

That sounded really bossy and angry lol.  I didn't mean to.  I just meant that every meal is always made with love no matter if it's for one person or more or it's a frozen dinner or whatever,  it's just wonderful to see all meals here.  And, I know that church and other groups have many things going on especially during the holidays but please remember that it's time for you too.

 

I will shut up now.

[Dejah]

Our Superstore brought in a new clam along side of the usual Manila clams - Savory Clams. I wasn't too sure of them as the shells looked really thin as opposed to the rounded Manila ones.
The Savory clams were $3.99 / lb; the Manila ones were $5.99. Had no idea what the Savory ones are like, but decided to give them a try.

Steamed both kinds tonight as appetizer - with coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, cilantro. Eaten with a dip of Ponzu and grind of Habanero peppers and lime (commercial shaker).
I was happy to see the plump meat in both kinds of clams! Shells worked great for scooping and slurping.

                                                     

 

Pan fried turkey kolbassa, sauteed cabbage with ghee and cumin seeds, cauliflower "Mac'n'Cheese", and cole slaw dinner about an hour after the clams.

                                                    

 

[Ann_T]

Tex Mex pressured cooked in the Breville.

 

Pinto beans cooked first.    Took about 25 minutes.  A few minutes longer because I hadn't soaked first. 

Chicken Chile Verde took 20 minutes. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I had kind of a fun dinner tonight, although it probably doesn't take much to amuse me at this stage of life.  I started off making a wilted spinach salad with bacon, hard boiled egg, onion and a Campari tomato dressed with a little bacon fat, vinegar, a smidge of sugar salt and pepper. I had found a bag of the curly, thick kind of spinach at Harris Teeter for the first time in a long time.

 

Then while looking for smoked turkey legs or wings, I had to enlist the help of the meat/seafood counter man, and he confirmed they were out of them temporarily. I had spied fresh oysters in the shell for 99 cents a piece, though, so brought 6 of those home and steamed just until they popped. These were the first of the season for me and they were very good. Same price as the dedicated seafood store, but these had already been scrubbed well, and were fresh and delicious. I think the prevailing wisdom is to only clean them right before cooking, but I was going to be using these shortly after I got home, and it sure was a value added convenience to have them already scrubbed.

 

I scored another 4-pack of fresh white sweetcorn and cooked up an ear to have on the cob with butter while the Athens branded Spanakopita  I found in the freezer case at Harris Teeter baked in the CSO. Once I took the Spanakopita out of the outer packaging,  I thought, "This looks exactly like the Trader Joe's Spanakopita". I mean the product, the foil tray and the plastic overwrap, the number of triangles (12) and the weight (12 oz.) looks exactly the same. Guess what? They taste the same too, and I think it's the same manufacturer. Only difference is the Athens was $6.99 and I think I only paid $3.99 for TJ's the last time I was there a couple years ago. Gotta love TJ's for quality and value! But if you can't get to TJ's the Athens brand is just as good, albeit more expensive.

 

Dinner was rounded out with a couple slices of Band of Bakers jalapeno cheddar bread with the salad and oysters and a few huge blackberries for dessert. The berries were from MegaBerry out of Mexico and had a lot of good flavor.

 

I love leisurely grazing dinners like this, and between preparing, eating, cleaning up between courses, it took over 3 hours. Three hours well spent, say I.

[HungryChris]

I have wanted to make a clear broth clam chowder with the clams I have been harvesting, thanks to my most recent hobby. I was trying to think of something to have along side of it that would be a nice compliment, but not overshadow. @ChocoMom came to the rescue with her garlic cheese biscuits and in subsequent chatter, @Thanks for the Crepes came up with a recipe using Bisquick. Next to the Bisquick, I happened to see this much smaller (and cheaper) product that seemed to be the answer. So, I pulled the trigger.

Back to the clams. I used a recipe that I found online from a favorite local oyster bar.

https://www.almanac.com/recipe/matunuck-clear-broth-clam-chowder

I followed the recipe to the T, except that I used salt pork instead of bacon, because that is what I had.

Here are the 8 pounds of clams the recipe calls for:

Here is the finished chowder:

The biscuits, which were excellent, and perfect for the side I was looking for:

Winner, winner, chicken chowder dinner!!!

HC

Edited October 25, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

[liuzhou]

I was a happy chappie when I hit the market this morning. For days now, I've lived in hope and today it all came together. They have spinach, again! My favourite vegetable. I am never sure whether or not I like that most produce here in China is very seasonal. It's good that they are not flying stuff in from distant lands, but some things I just plain miss in the off season.

 

I will probably bore you death over the next month or two with spinach. Just call me Popeye.

 

So, tonight I had, guess what. Spinach. Cooked my favourite way. Simply wilted with some sea salt.

 

Along with some stir fried pig's kidney, shallots, chilli, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and jade gill mushrooms. I would normally finish this with some scallions or Chinese chives, but when I got there the cupboard was bare. Tasted fine without them.

 

 

Still have half the spinach I bought. Breakfast!

Edited October 25, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[mgaretz]

Pot roast made in the slow cooker with carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, peas and mushrooms, served over roasted spaghetti squash.  Salad.

 

[ninagluck]

I officially opened the soup season tonight: beef broth with fried bread dumplings, with lots of mountain cheese. this is a very traditional dish, served all over the country during the cold seasons.

[Anna N]

@ninagluck

Your soup looks very inviting. Can you please say more about the fried bread dumplings?  When you say mountain cheese do you mean something like Gruyere?  

[ninagluck]

@Anna N, it is so simple: 250 g of dried white bread, cut into cubes of abt 1cm, 150 ml milk, 2 eggs, 200 g cheese, grated (Gruyere is fine), 1 shallot, s+p, parsley, nutmeg. sweat the onions in some butter, add parsley and let it cool. mix eggs with milk and pour over the bread. add onions and cheese.  mix it well, season it and let it stand for abt 1 hr. adjust with milk if too dry. form patties and fry them in ghee. we serve them as here in a boullion or with a crisp salad on the side. the more stinky the cheese, the better the dumplings ;-)

Edited October 25, 2017 by ninagluck (log)

[Anna N]

Thank you so much, @ninagluck    Such an interesting use of cheese and leftover bread.  

[ninagluck]

@Anna N,  we can buy this dried cubes in every supermarket. example in german http://www.janatuerlich.at/Sonderkapitel/Produkte/Produkte/Portal.aspx?produktgruppe=5101&produkt=1532

[liamsaunt]

Monday, hake steamed on kale wth rice pilaf

 

 

Last night, rare roasted pistachio crusted salmon on an arugula salad with goat cheese and polenta croutons

 

[robirdstx]

 

Flat Iron Steak and Pepper Jack Cheese on a toasted Ciabatta Roll with horseradish mustard and mayo

Edited October 26, 2017 by robirdstx (log)

[Norm Matthews]

I saw some White Lily flour at the store yesterday. It is the first time I have seen it here. I hope it does not turn out to be a seasonal thing.  In the town I lived before I moved back here to KC, they had Martha White flour for a couple years.  The very first thing I made with it is Shirley Corriher's fluffy biscuits, a favorite with us.  We had them tonight with a steak dinner.

[ElsieD]

Shiitake and pea risotto with steamed green beans and roasted asparagus.  Trying to lose a pound of two hence all the veg.  That is not my plate, which is half the size shown.☺

 

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, Norm Matthews said:

I saw some White Lily flour at the store yesterday. It is the first time I have seen it here. I hope it does not turn out to be a seasonal thing.  In the town I lived before I moved back here to KC, they had Martha White flour for a couple years.  The very first thing I made with it is Shirley Corriher's fluffy biscuits, a favorite with us.  We had them tonight with a steak dinner.

O M G Norm...those biscuits look AMAZING.  I am so biscuit challenged.  Is the recipe on your blog?  I realize that the flour makes a difference.  I will have to find some.

[Norm Matthews]

@Shelby Yes the recipe is on the blog and there are directions on what to use if you don't have a soft flour.  I have made it with regular self rising flour alone and it is good but does not rise quite as high. 

[Dejah]

9 hours ago, mgaretz said:

Pot roast made in the slow cooker with carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, peas and mushrooms, served over roasted spaghetti squash.  Salad.

 

 

Have never made pot roast. Might have to try that in the Instant Pot...