Dinner 2018

[CantCookStillTry]

I had men at work tonight. The work took a little longer than expected, so, I decided to help out and make their BBQ Dinner.

Note the shape of the eggs.  Cracked them way too close, burnt the beejezus out of my finger. Thats performance art 

They boys were too tired to detect any human fleshy additions. I wasn't. 

 

Sirloin/Porter, onion, egg, bacon - I promise there was salad on the table. 

 

 

 

[HungryChris]

Having had a rather disappointing lunch buffet at a local casino, I opted for dinner a little later than usual, with a cicchetti motif. Buffalo wings, pasta salad and a shrimp cocktail. We enjoyed it much more than we did lunch.

HC

[Duvel]

Last night of the CNY holidays here in Hong Kong ... time for hot pot !

 

Two differents broths: chicken/pork with mushrooms and goji berries as the Chinese element and dashi with dried sardines and a bit of miso for the Japanese part.

 

 

Something for everyone ...

 

 

It was good - my in-laws enjoyed it and even more so my son. Happy me  

 

 

[lindag]

12 hours ago, KennethT said:

Keep in mind that some branches are better than others...  just about all of them are better than KFC!

 

I've learned that over time, however, the one nearest me is quite good....except for their fish, I didn't like that at all.

[liuzhou]

16 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Last night of the CNY holidays here in Hong Kong

 

Last night? We still have two weeks to go on the mainland! March 2nd I can relax.

[Tropicalsenior]

Does that mean two more weeks of fireworks? OMG

[ElsieD]

Another Cooking Light Diet protein, maple-mustard chicken thighs with roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli.

[liuzhou]

5 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Does that mean two more weeks of fireworks? OMG

 

Yes, They are going off right now outside my apartment. 10 pm.

And I have to eat the same food almost every day with the same people, but in different houses each evening. You invited my family for dinner yesterday, so I must invite yours tomorrow,  but will cook exactly the same food. I escaped the circuit today, but I don't think I can keep it up.

[Duvel]

24 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Last night? We still have two weeks to go on the mainland! March 2nd I can relax.

The festivities might go on here as well, but I am expected at work tomorrow 

[Tropicalsenior]

21 hours ago, liuzhou said:

same food almost every day

I know what you mean. I was invited to dinner the other night and it was the usual arroz con pollo with smashed sweet plantains. Whatever the event, it is the ubiquitous arroz con pollo. And the more people that there are, the less chicken there is. I swear to God, they can feed a hundred people on one chicken. Jesus would be jealous.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Tropicalsenior
spelling error (log)

[ElsieD]

@Duvel  That looks like one amazing feast!

[liamsaunt]

19 hours ago, chileheadmike said:

I hate all things Frigidaire. The stove probably the least of our appliances. We bought our house new about five years ago. Our builder requires Frigidaire appliances in all of their construction. We upgraded to the Gallery line. The dishwasher died and leaked water all over the carpet in the adjacent room, we replaced it with a Whirlpool. The light socket in the microwave disintegrated the first time I changed a bulb. They replaced the refrigerator due to ongoing issues with the ice maker. The ice maker in the new fridge does not work either. I gave up and we're just making ice in trays.

 

We had an element go out in the stove the first week we lived here.   The oven part works fine. I don't think it cooks too hot, but I'm no fan of glass cooktops. I much prefer gas, but there is no gas in the neighborhood. My theory is Kentucky coal had something to do with that.  

 

My dishwasher is the Frigidaire Professional.  It stinks!  I have had it repaired twice since buying it three years ago.  And then recently, the handle fell off!  That cannot be repaired because a screw on the upper right corner is stripped and won't come out, so you can't get to the area where you would reattach the handle. I have to stick chopsticks in the holes where the handle was attached to open it.  Did I mention that it's only three years old?  I am replacing it with a Bosch that does not have a handle.

 

18 hours ago, gfweb said:

Our GE profile fridge is just a POS too. Ice maker died after a year. Replaced five times and we gave up. Ice trays now.  Control screen dark, but controls still work but I have to guess at temp.  Defrost clogged and soaked floor. Junk

 

Argh, that is the fridge I have in my second kitchen, and I had the exact same issues!  First the ice maker died, then the defrost clogged and flooded my wooden floor.  I'm moving the Amana in my main kitchen over there to replace it once the demo starts on my main kitchen.  My new fridge is a Sub Zero.  I was able to get a floor model which saved a couple thousand dollars.

 

Dinner last night was roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, french cut green beans, and carrots.  No photos.  

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

Last night of the CNY holidays here in Hong Kong ... time for hot pot !

 

Two differents broths: chicken/pork with mushrooms and goji berries as the Chinese element and dashi with dried sardines and a bit of miso for the Japanese part.

 

 

Something for everyone ...

 

 

It was good - my in-laws enjoyed it and even more so my son. Happy me  

 

 

 

The food is spectacular...but I am lusting for that tablecloth. So very beautiful.

 

[Shelby]

Gah everyone's food looks amazing.  Very jealous of @liuzhou and @Duvel

 

Summer rolls (yeah, I didn't do a good job rolling) and pork belly noodle bowls.

 

[lindag]

37 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

 

  My new fridge is a Sub Zero.  I was able to get a floor model which saved a couple thousand dollars.

 

 

 

My dream kitchen has  Sub Zero.  In my dreams only.

[gfweb]

@liamsaunt

 

Magimous Screw Extractor Set 

 

Screw remover bits ...cheap

Edited February 19, 2018 by Smithy
Adjusted Amazon link (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

@Shelby

That pork belly looks great. At least you have nothing to be jealous of with my dinner. My housemate brought home chicken take out last night. He likes to contribute to dinner once in awhile, either that, or he just gets hungry for fried chicken. I don't make fried chicken because I'm never quite satisfied with the results so I'm just as happy with takeout. All I had to make was coleslaw.

I’m not so happy with the condiments that come with the chicken. These tortillas that they hand out, have to be the worst in Costa Rica. They have the flavor and texture of a paper towel made of corn and are scientifically designed to disintegrate when you try to wrap them around something.

They call this interesting little item banana ceviche. it consists of green bananas and jalapenos steeped in a banana vinegar. It is vile. My housemate won't touch the peppers but he loves the bananas. He's welcome to them.

The chicken was done well, very moist with a well seasoned crispy crust. They do chicken well here, and they do a lot of it. There are six take out chicken restaurants within a five block radius of my home. This one came from a takeout place about a mile from the house.

[Paul Bacino]

Zuccini Crust Hamburger Pizza

 

The Shred

 

The Dough--dried Zucchini/Asiago cheese/ Garlic /Basil/Almond Flour

 

 

ParBake 475 20 mins on a stone

 

 

Topped with Proval cheese/ Sauce/Burger

 

 

The finish

 

The Slice:

 

 

 

[cakewalk]

Okay, we need to know more about that crust. I've seen a lot of cauliflower pizza crusts around the web but they don't look too hot to me. But that zucchini crust actually looks like it could stand up to its toppings. Can you tell us what you do?

[Kim Shook]

On 2/17/2018 at 9:33 AM, kayb said:

 

Oh, my...this brings back memories of the late, great Little Italy, one of a fine crop of once-upon-a-time Italian eateries in Memphis, which has a surprising number of very fine Italian restaurants. I used to eat there with my co-workers from The Commercial Appeal, back when it was a real newspaper (ahem) 40 years ago and I was in college. Always got their linguine with white clam sauce, after I tried it one time when we'd gone to eat after watching the Super Bowl in a bar. First time, to my knowledge, this West Tennessee country girl had ever eaten a clam. I fell in love. 

 

Little Italy, along with so many more, has gone by the wayside, and the 'hood where it was located is not necessarily one where you'd go for dinner now. 

 

Interesting background about the Italian community (and the amazing number of good Italian restaurants in Memphis): In 1927, there was a huge flood in the Lower Mississippi Valley, with several levee breaks in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. Many of the black sharecroppers, whose conditions were not good anyway, suffered horribly during the flood, living in camps atop the levees. After the flood, many left, migrating northward in the second of the major migrations of African Americans from the South to the industrial cities of the upper Midwest, leaving the Delta plantation owners short of labor for the following year's crops (the '27 crop year was mostly shot). Many "imported" shiploads of Italian peasants to work their farms. The sharecroppers eventually migrated upriver, settling in many of the river towns up to and past Memphis, with the result there is barely a Delta town in Arkansas or Mississippi that doesn't have its long-time Italian restaurant, which initially sprang up to serve its Italian community.

 

One of the finest Italian restaurants I know is Uncle John's, in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, where it is one of three retail establishments (the others are a convenience store/gas station and a liquor store). They also serve steak, barbecue and fried catfish. But their ravioli and "spaghetti gravy" is a thing of beauty, and I will from time to time drive an hour to enjoy it. 

 

In Memphis, "Big John" Grisanti founded the flagship Italian restaurant in the city in the 1940s, at the corner of Airways and Lamar (another 'hood where you would not necessarily go to eat today). It was still operating in the 1970s, when I came to Memphis for college. By the '80s, it had closed, but several of John's sons had opened restaurants elsewhere in the city. Today, his great-grandchildren have Italian restaurants from the riverbank to Germantown, and all of them serve "Miss Mary's Salad" and "Miss Mary's Lasagna," as nearly as anyone can remember identical to that Big John served.

 

It's a wonderful culinary tradition.

@kayb - My Italian-American family came from around and near the Delta area – Shelby and Rosedale Mississippi, Little Rock and Memphis, up from NOLA for jobs.  They mostly ended up in the Washington DC area.  I grew up in a tamale loving family and couldn’t figure out why none of my friends had even heard of them.  Years later I discovered the tamale/Delta connection.  @caroled has roots in the same area and (I think) great uncles who married Italian girls.  Her mother (@racheld)and I have always hoped that we were related by marriage in some way!

 

@Shelby – I’m having the best time looking at all the food you are making from your food adventure in the big city!

 

@CantCookStillTry – I am enjoying the meals that you are posting and I have to say that I love your writing – your “voice” really comes through.  LOL is an overused thing, but I truly have found myself laughing out loud at some of your posts.  So glad you found us!

 

@Paul Bacino – I agree with @cakewalk!  That actually looks good.  I don’t care for zucchini ordinarily, but I like it in fritters and that looks just crispy enough to pass the test. 

 

We have been mostly eating out for the last couple of weeks.  We had almost every room in our house painted last week so I spent the week before clearing out things, then a week and a half basically sitting in the dining room (only large room NOT being painted) and now am in the midst of putting stuff back together.  Thrilled to have the work done, but not conducive to cooking!  I did make @caroled's baked beans for a church potluck.  They are my go-to for baked beans now, if I don’t do them from scratch.  Everyone loves them. 

I also made Paula Deen’s “Chinese Salad” ().  I could only find incredibly enormous Napa cabbage heads, so we’ve been eating THAT for awhile.  A couple of nights ago:

 

Chili dogs and carole beans:

 

[Paul Bacino]

23 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

Okay, we need to know more about that crust. I've seen a lot of cauliflower pizza crusts around the web but they don't look too hot to me. But that zucchini crust actually looks like it could stand up to its toppings. Can you tell us what you do?

 

I grated in a food processor 2 zucchinis.  pre-salt  15 mins or so./  squeezed the heck out of them in a tea towel about 30 mins later/ then changed the tea towel. to a dry one and placed on a tray and pressed with heavy cans for about 4 hrs..to really dry it out.

 

Then in a bowl I added the shred/ then asigo cheese about 2/3 C/ followed by almond flour/ garlic and Basil and then  spread it on parchment..Par baked 20 minas @475 in Bottom of oven on a stone

 

After the dress I moved the Pizza stone to top of oven to finish

Edited February 19, 2018 by Paul Bacino (log)

[Paul Bacino]

@cakewalk---  forgot to tell u I added and egg also

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

Dinner for four:

 

Insalata di puntarelle (puntarelle with a dressing of olive oil, anchovy, Meyer lemon juice and garlic)

Spareribs braised in tomato sauce (lard, garlic, canned plum tomatoes, salt, pepper)

Broccolini with garlic, anchovy and olio nuevo

Homemade lactose-free pistachio ice cream

[dcarch]

6 hours ago, Duvel said:

 

 

 

OK the food is fantastic, but that table cloth is also amazing, like New Years fireworks going off everywhere! :-)

 

dcarch

[kayb]

3 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

@kayb - My Italian-American family came from around and near the Delta area – Shelby and Rosedale Mississippi, Little Rock and Memphis, up from NOLA for jobs.  They mostly ended up in the Washington DC area.  I grew up in a tamale loving family and couldn’t figure out why none of my friends had even heard of them.  Years later I discovered the tamale/Delta connection.  @caroled has roots in the same area and (I think) great uncles who married Italian girls.  Her mother (@racheld)and I have always hoped that we were related by marriage in some way!

 

 

 

I know Shelby and Rosedale! And I love me some Delta tamales. I get mine either at Pasquale's in Helena or Miss Rhoda's in Lake Village, both on the Arkansas side of the river, but I definitely enjoy the ones from both Abe's and Larry's in Clarksdale. 

 

I love the ethnic diversity in the Delta. In the small Delta town where I used to live, we had Italian, Chinese, Lebanese and Syrian families, all of whom had been there for generations. The Garden Club had as its big fundraiser an "international food fair" every year where all those little old ladies made dishes from their home countries, and it was a do-not-miss event. I still lust for the stuffed grape leaves, the tabbouleh, the toasted ravioli, the cannoli, the dumplings, the noodles...