Dinner 2018

[chord]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

That looks good, and a better result than I've had for country-style ribs in a very long time. What temperature did you use at the sous vide stage? What were the finishing steps that produced that glaze?

 

I was basically following the Serious Eats guide for pork ribs.

 

For the temperature, I used 145 F for 36 hours. I rubbed the pork with a spice rub before SV'ing. Once they came out of the water, I iced them down and then put them in a 300 F oven. After 15 minutes, I glazed them with some homemade bbq sauce, and then repeated the glazing a couple more times at 10 minute intervals. I think they spent a total of 35-40 minutes in the oven. For the rub and the bbq sauce, I more or less used the proportions in the Serious Eats recipe, although with a fair bit of substitutions.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Grilled kielbasa and chorizo:

 

With green beans, sauerkraut and noodles:

[shain]

Green beans with chickpeas in tomato sauce.

Bulgar and vegetable salad, with tahini, silan, fennel seeds, pomegranate, pistachios.

[ElsieD]

45 minutes ago, shain said:

Green beans with chickpeas in tomato sauce.

Bulgar and vegetable salad, with tahini, silan, fennel seeds, pomegranate, pistachios.

 

If I could eat at your house every day, I just might become a vegetarian.  Beautiful food.

[dcarch]

SV Rainbow trout with vegetables from the garden.

 

dcarch

 

[Shelby]

@dcarch  I love the expression on Mr. Trout.  How long and what temp in the SV please?

[ElsieD]

Tonight we had chicken teriyaki burgers.  Rather different.  On the bun was sriracha mayonnaise, grilled pineapple and grilled red onions.  The buns were buttered, topped with unsweetened coconut and broiled.  I'd do them a bit differently next time but they were pretty good.  Served with Heston Blumenthal's french fries done on the control freak.  One of us had them with ketchup.😬

[Dejah]

Had to make Pickerel Fish 'n' Chips again for son and family.  He thought we should have it for Thanksgiving...but I couldn't see myself deep frying for 16 people! Told him if they come home a day early, I'd make it for him. They did!

One granddaughter, Oriyen the teenager, has been a vegetarian for  about 2 years, so I made deep fried tofu, crispy sweet potato fries, and battered cauliflower for her. The rest of us had fish, chips, etc. Granddaughter River is 4 and she loves fish. I was pleased that these fillets were bone-free.

                                                 

                                                 

                                                

                                                

 

All done, Nana!

 

                                              

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 minutes ago, Dejah said:

Had to make Pickerel Fish 'n' Chips again for son and family.  He thought we should have it for Thanksgiving...but I couldn't see myself deep frying for 16 people! Told him if they come home a day early, I'd make it for him. They did!

One granddaughter, Oriyen the teenager, has been a vegetarian for  about 2 years, so I made deep fried tofu, crispy sweet potato fries, and battered cauliflower for her. The rest of us had fish, chips, etc. Granddaughter River is 4 and she loves fish. I was pleased that these fillets were bone-free.

                                                 

                                                 

                                                

                                                

 

All done, Nana!

 

                                              

 

I am most surprised and delighted yours was bone free!

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Roast chicken breast, baked potato, roast Brussels sprouts.  This created a conundrum as I could use only one Cuisinart Steam Oven.*  Then I searched around for a small roasting pan and found it full of chocolate.

 

 

*Astute observers will recall I actually have two Cuisinart Steam Ovens, but the second is in its box in the living room, with no place to put it.

 

[HungryChris]

My version of the locally famed Hughie's 'Love salad', with the requisite garlic bread. We both had our hands full today, Deb with her grandson, and me with firewood, for the winter. It was good to unwind over dinner, but we both have tomorrow to ourselves, and that just might include a walk on the beach.

HC

Edited October 7, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 hour ago, HungryChris said:

that just might include a walk on the beach.

 

Beautiful meal, as usual, and I will be sincerely hoping for that romantic walk on the beach. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

So I finally have something to share with you that doesn't involve a lonely old lady eating by herself again!

 

Today my sister came and picked me up and transported me to a family reunion. This was prompted by the birth of my grand niece to the son of my late brother and his wife. Most everyone was there, with the notable exception (at least to me) of my eldest niece who is very special to me in many ways. I infected here with the horse bug early in her life with a gift of the book "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell. It really took! Horses are her life to this day, so I missed her, but everyone else was there.

 

Step bro cooked ribs and hamburgers. I asked to help in the kitchen, but was told none was needed. Step bro's girlfriend, who lives with him in a huge and lovely home and ex SIL (was married to late bro) prepared side dishes. I have to say if I'd been in charge, the proceedings would have gone much differently. The ribs and hamburgers came off the grill before the sides were even finished and so were served luke warm. The long folding table needed to accommodate all the guests was only broken out, wiped down, while a vain search for a tablecloth was conducted, while the hot food cooled. Mmmmkay, I'm just bitchin' here a bit because I was shunted to the side and could have really helped with coordination, if nothing else.

 

Ha Ha, I was in the bathroom when I recognized my step bro's voice cursing very loudly. and that is atypical of him. I limped out to find that much of the huge platter of ribs had been dropped on the kitchen floor! Okay, I thought, I'll just eat one of the burgers. Everyone else was telling their stories of big kitchen disasters, like the time step bro's girlfriend's birthday cake slid off the plate onto the floor. The moment was over before I could add my own story from thirty or more years ago when I tripped on the steps coming up the deck into the kitchen and spilled a platter of 4 rib eyes, outdoors, onto my deck when entertaining twenty people. I was cooking to order and it was a frantic experience, even though the salad, baked potatoes and dessert were already in the hole.  I told no one about what happened after picking up the steaks, perfectly cooked, I might add, except my late bro. He was in catering and restaurant business at the time before he pursued a law degree. He laughs and tells me to wipe 'em off and serve 'em up. That is what I did.

 

Perhaps it's a good thing that I wasn't able to get a word in edgewise, because a whole lot of the people at the gathering 30 some years ago were also there today.  That is what happened today as well. I saw no wiping off happen.

 

So it was the mother of grand niece invited first to the line for the buffet food and then ladies first per my step bro, with him personally inviting me. This means a lot since we come from an upbringing where males rule all. I was also delighted to see my nephew volunteering to change his daughter, the star of this show. He is such a proud dad, I think he's about ready to bust wide open! I'm so glad to see this family dynamic changing. We didn't have good exemplars, but things can change for the better, and they certainly are in my family. 

 

Okay, so when I get to the front of the line, limping around, and persuading Pepper and Dora, the dogs to move out of the way, which is hard when you are lame,  I find the burgers that I had intended to get. Uhmmm, they did not look like any burgers I'd ever seen. Inconsistent in size and shape. I am meticulous in my burger shaping. Beyond that they seemed to be cooked way beyond a good juicy temp for me and we are now approaching room temp along with the room temp, not grilled buns. Uhmmkay. Still not deterred, I had picked out a reasonably-sized one for the size of the buns. I had seen some good-looking sliced tomatoes and red onion, and knew that mayo in a squeeze bottle was available. The deal breaker was that there was no lettuce of any kind. I have to have lettuce on a burger, especially if it's cold and a bunch of other things are wrong. I couldn't do it. I caved for the ribs, which were also room temp, but looked pretty good except for their little trip to the floor of the kitchen.

 

After that the news is better. There was good potato salad and coleslaw, that I found out later were doctored up versions of deli salad or salad kits. I partook of the flavorful sliced tomatoes and some "grilled" corn. The corn was done unhusked in foil, barely done, and I picked the most done-looking ear I found. Unfortunately, their was an unpalatable spice blend on it that allowed me to take only a few bites  before discarding it. The ribs were actually not bad if probably contaminated. 

 

I did get a compliment from my late bros ex wife when she said in front of everyone that her cooking had not improved over the years, when I asked about the potato salad. She said there were two excellent cooks in the room, my sister and me. But she went on to say that I was the best of the best.  While that felt good, I have to say that I was just able to pursue fancier and more elaborate ways of cooking over the years because I never had the burden of producing tiny human beings. Sis is certainly a very solid cook too.

 

So while the food may have left a lot to be desired by our standards here on eG, sometimes even subpar food can serve as the locus of something much greater.

 

I received some very sincere hugs from people I care about and after so much isolation, you probably can''t imagine how much that means to me. I got to pet two wonderful dogs, who seemed to sense my Pet Deprivation Syndrome, I got to see some of the old familiar faces again and meet a few new ones, including my grand niece! AND I was able to limp around and do it all without the aid of a wheelchair or crutches!

 

I would call this the best dinner I have had in a very long time, is spite of some technical flaws.

 

[Anna N]

 

Pickled cabbage, leftover roast pork, beef tataki, red wine and sweet potatoes.  A fridge cleaning exercise.  

 

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

"I actually have two Cuisinart Steam Ovens, but the second is in its box in the living room "

 

as do I .

 

my issue  is  Amps in the kitchen.  have yet to get around to having an electrician look into this.

 

MC however  , enjoys sitting on the box.

[kayb]

@Thanks for the Crepes -- glad you had a good outing, even if the food left a bit to be desired!

 

[Shelby]

Chicken strips and gizzards

 

 

Pork belly noodle bowls

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

"I actually have two Cuisinart Steam Ovens, but the second is in its box in the living room "

 

as do I .

 

my issue  is  Amps in the kitchen.  have yet to get around to having an electrician look into this.

 

MC however  , enjoys sitting on the box.

 

I live in an apartment so more amps in the kitchen is not going to happen.  If I run the CSO and, say, the DeLonghi griddle the breaker trips.

 

[robirdstx]

 

Pizza delivery from Marco’s last night!

 

 

[BonVivant]

Already a week of eating and drinking 3 times my capacity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

People waiting to get in when I was leaving.

 

[mm84321]

Fantastic Robuchon recipe..lobster in civet sauce.

[mgaretz]

Stir fry with noodles, bok choy, mushrooms, assorted other veggies and char siu.

 

[Kim Shook]

Starting my turkey gravy today for Thanksgiving (and a sooner than that turkey dinner - had to take a turkey out of the freezer to make room for all the soon to be goodies I'll be making for our church Holiday Market):

Currently roasting turkey necks, onions, celery, carrots, tomato paste, Bell’s seasoning and sage.  When done roasting it will all go into slow cookers with chicken broth to make my stock.  We'll all wake up tomorrow morning craving a turkey dinner!

[dcarch]

21 hours ago, Shelby said:

@dcarch  I love the expression on Mr. Trout.  How long and what temp in the SV please?

4 hours at 142F.

It was very good.

 

dcarch

[Norm Matthews]

Our dinner was Korean al Pastor and gochuchang asparagus, both from Korean BBQ. It was raining so I cooked inside.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Norm Matthews (log)