Dinner 2018

[Dejah]

Busy time of the year! But enjoying all the lovely meals from everyone!
 

Picked up 2 whole AAA tenderloins on sale for $9.98/lb. Trimmed them up for Beef Wellingtons next week for family Christmas dinner. Took off a "stray chunk and quick sear followed by short roast in the oven. Enjoyed the beef with roasted beets, carrots and turnips.

 

                                           

 

Been busy doing up baking...shortbread cookies and New Zealand Birdseed bars. Sample a bit of both for dessert with tea.

 

                                        

 

Tonight was whole grain mustard and rosemary crusted Roast Lamb with potatoes, green beans and leftover beets and carrots.

 

                                      

 

[heidih]

I think we will all brave the weather in Manitoba and park on Dejah's door step regularly. https://www.google.com/search?q=weather+in+manitoba&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS755US755&oq=weather+in+manitoba&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.5745j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[HungryChris]

Fried shrimp po'boys, dressed.

HC

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 12/12/2018 at 10:01 AM, kayb said:

Some days you're the windshield; last night, I was the bug. I've always loved Chicken Eden Isle, a regional favorite that pairs chicken breasts with bacon and dried beef in a sauce of cream of chicken soup, sour cream and cream cheese. I decided I'd riff on that and make chicken noodle casserole.

 

Rather than use cream of chicken soup, I poached a couple of chicken breasts and made a white sauce, using the broth. Added cream cheese and sour cream, shredded up the chicken, cut the dried beef and bacon into small bits, and stirred that all in. Added a package of frozen green peas for good measure. Cooked egg noodles. Combined everything.

 

It was tremendously bland. I'd used onion powder and garlic powder when I poached the chicken. Added black pepper and a bit of nutmeg to the sauce. 

 

It made a ton, which I did not keep. Sigh.

 

 

We have a similar recipe down here. This one is from "Homespun Cookin'" published by the North Carolina Chapter Order of the Eastern star back in 1984. It's been called "Virginia Beach Chicken", but the one I like best is pretty simple. 

 

It calls for chix breasts, a jar of dried beef, bacon, a can of cream of mushroom soup and 8 oz. sour cream. I usually hate chix breast as it's so very easy to dry out. This comes out not only edible, but quite cravable. Maybe put buttered egg noodles on the side because the cook time is 2-1/2 hours at 300 degrees F, then uncover turn up the heat to 350 F and cook another half an hour.

 

You would think that the non-crispy chix breast skin would be a turn-off, but with the gentle cooking, it turns tender, releases all of its lovely fat into the dish and while it is a non-standard way to cook chicken, it is very popular will all who have been exposed to it.

 

The only thing I would add to the traditional recipe is maybe a third cup of minced onion. Certainly no salt is needed because the dried beef is loaded with it and the mushroom soup has some as well.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On Friday night last Sis and eldest niece came to pick me up and take me to visit my husband in his nursing home. I had researched where to get something to eat close to the nursing home online and came up with Taqueria El Toro in Raleigh. It's an authentic Mexican place and I thought it would be more popular than it turned out to be, since I know my Sis and niece adore Torero's in Cary, where there's a lot of Tex-Mex offerings, but also authentic Mexican ones too. El Toro has a great rating on Yelp, and that was certainly part of my decision to recommend it. 

 

I ordered up tacos Carne Azada, Pescado, Hongos, and Cabeza, along with a Sope with Chicken Tinga. Husband wanted a torta with chicken milanesa, which he seemed to enjoy with an order of french fries. Niece ordered up beef fajitas which looked and smelled absolutely fabulous! She devoured them. Unfortunately, Sis ordered a chix quesadilla and refused to even touch it. She can be kinda picky, but it made for a very uncomfortable situation with her sitting there not eating. 

 

I have to say that all of my tacos were very good except of the hongo (mushroom) one. It had very few mushrooms and those it had were not even cooked! So major fail for a vegetarian leaning person. The carne asada was tough and dry, but the cabeza or cachete, like they call it in Esmeralda Grill in Cary was beef cheek braised to perfection, and perfect. The fish could have been fresher, but did not make me sick, which is always a big plus.

 

The sope was unlike the ones I have had at Rancho Grande in Cary which are soft inside, but crispy on the outside. This sope which was ordered with chicken Tinga had a very small amount of chix, on top of a lot of refried beans (which I loved) and a very small amount of wilted lettuce (iceburg). Kind of a fail if you were expecting major protein, and also the thing was not able to be cut in its styrofoam takeout container with the plastic knife and fork supplied. I was able to bite through it after picking it up and was able to eat it, but for the price, that was a major fail as well.

 

So I'm not really on board with this high Yelp rating, especially after my sister informed me after I told her I'd brought little takeout containers for salsas from the salsa bar after reading the reviews that they were not supplied. I'm half-blind without glasses and I broke my glasses a while back. Sis said there was a sign over the salsa bar that it was for eat-in customers only! Damn! Two hundred reviews and no, and I mean NO one says anything about that! They were even very skimpy on the cilantro and onion on the tacos, while I admit the meat portion was generous. Do NOT do take out at this place! I guess a homeless person once wronged them and now they have a policy against takeout? Dunno, but do not do takeout here. 

 

So I recommend if you want an authentico Mexican taqueria experience in this area that you go to Rancho Grande which has a salsa bar and provides takeout containers for salsa and cilantro/limes/pico de gallo, blistered jalapenos, etc. I have eaten there many times and can get behind their high rating on Yelp.

 

There is a Latino grocer in the same strip mall as El Toro where I was able to have a glorious few minutes and I'll write about it in the Grocery Shopping topic, if you're interested.

[liamsaunt]

20 hours ago, Ann_T said:

 

Thanks @liamsaunt  Not sure if I will be able to find EverCrisp breader here.  But I will look for it.

 

 

 

I ordered mine on amazon.  It comes in packages of two.

[Dejah]

14 hours ago, heidih said:

I think we will all brave the weather in Manitoba and park on Dejah's door step regularly. https://www.google.com/search?q=weather+in+manitoba&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS755US755&oq=weather+in+manitoba&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.5745j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

@heidih Visitors are always welcome at my table...

But...remember, I am in BRANDON, 2.5 hours west of Winnipeg, but weather is similar! 😊

 

[Norm Matthews]

We had Christmas eve dinner today a short time ago. Tomorrow we will be at my sister's.

We had smoked salmon appetizers with sour cream on apple chips. Rib roast, salad, potatoes, Brussels sprout hash, sour dough bread and chocolate cake. I made the cake and bread yesterday.  My initial plan was to make a flourless chocolate cake but better sense took over and I just got a Duncan Hines cake mix instead. Why is it that when you watch someone frost a cake, it looks so much easier?  Also why do they never put enough icing in those store bought tubs and too much in two?  I put cream cheese icing on top and the middle and chocolate around the side. Charlie cut some before I took the picture of it.  A friend told me that Yorkshire pudding is normally served with gravy so I made some beef gravy and put a dash of Irish Cream in it. Some of the oil in the popover pan must have spilled out in the oven because it started smoking a lot and I took them out early.  They were still good and had a creamier texture in the middle that they didn't have when I made them before. That is probably because I took them out early but I liked them better that way.

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Norm Matthews (log)

[kayb]

Christmas dinner, early (Sunday, so maybe it was Festivus dinner). Tablescapes have never been my thing because I have never had room. One day, Lord...

 

Child B (background) and Child C's arm as they help themselves.

 

Fruit salad with dressing on the side, and cranberry salad. The dressing is one their grandmother used to make that they dearly love -- cream cheese, marshmallow cream and lime juice. Too sweet for some folks.

 

Ham, smoked turkey, sweet potatoes.

 

Cranberry salad, deviled egg and pickle platter (note @HungryChris' mushrooms in the place of honor in the center) and fried Broadbent's country ham.

 

Dessert: Caramel Apple Pound Cake

 

A few other odds and ends not posted. Much joy and chaos upon opening gifts. Three kids aged 6-8 with new kiddie polaroid cameras (who knew they made such a thing?) were a hoot.

 

Not food related, but something I like to share with friends around Christmas time:

 

Clarabell The Christmas Cow

 

Take 15 minutes and read it. Have the Kleenex ready. The author, sadly no longer among us, was a fella with whom I went to college and later worked at The Commercial Appeal. 

 

Merry Christmas, and may 2019 bring you all the happiness, joy and good food you can stand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

A temporary pause from Okinawan dinners. Today my dinner is in Fez, culinary capital of Morocco. The medina is enthralling, the tiles are gorgeous. The fascination is immediate and intense.

 

Unfortunate looking food but it's good. Mince is springy and nicely seasoned.

 

Meat is very tender and mild.

 

 

There are so many tiny grilled meat shops in the medina but this little poster caught my attention so I decided to go in to try the lamb. Turned out I made a good choice.

 

When I say the shop is tiny... about 2 metres across, one communal table and three benches around it, one florescent lamp, blaring tiny old tv above me. You are given a sheet of paper to eat your bread on it. Kind owners and customers. Man on my right gave me half of his olives. This place allows customers to bring their own store-bought olives and greens. He's a teacher and speaks English. He drank the rest of his chilli sauce. And partner thought only I would do such a thing.

 

Watching football on tv above me and tending the bbq.

 

Her partner's turn.

 

She was taking a break. Today I learnt how Moroccans eat their kebab. There's no white, garlicky sauce and raw onion rings like how Turks like theirs.

 

She offered me a piece of chicken to try but I was already full. She let me make this photo then wanted to see other photos I made of this meal.  They brought a wide smile to her face.

Edited December 24, 2018 by BonVivant (log)

[Shelby]

Quail and pasta last night

 

[rotuts]

if that a quail

 

@Shelby

 

Ill have to trust you on it.

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

if that a quail

 

@Shelby

 

Ill have to trust you on it.

I promise.  Ronnie shot it Saturday.

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Norm Matthews said:

We had Christmas eve dinner today a short time ago. Tomorrow we will be at my sister's.

We had smoked salmon appetizers with sour cream on apple chips.

 

 

I like the apple chip idea. How were they done?

[Norm Matthews]

@heidih They were Seneca brand Granny Smith Apple chips. I suppose they were made like potato chips. The recipe said to use potato chips but I thought I'd try apple chips instead.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Edward Dekker]

2 hours ago, kayb said:

Dessert: Caramel Apple Pound Cake

 

What is the recipe for the Caramel Apple Pound Cake?

 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Edward Dekker said:

 

What is the recipe for the Caramel Apple Pound Cake?

 

 

1 box butter recipe cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup  all purpose flour

2/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 or 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced small

1 cup caramel chips

1 cup chopped pecan (I expect walnuts would work)

 

Bake in well-greased bundt pan 90 minutes at 325, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely, then glaze with:

 

1/2 cup half and hal

1/2 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 pinches salt

 

boil over medium low heat until it thickens somewhat. Cool a bit, pour over cake.

 

This is one of the best cakes I've ever made.

 

[chord]

Pork tenderloin medium rare with peas and garlic bread

 

[robirdstx]

Christmas Eve Dinner

 

 

Petite Crab Cakes with Black Bean and Corn Salad

[Duvel]

Christmas Dinner in a rental cabin in Taupo, NZ: Rosemary-crusted lamb rump with Kūmara purée and gravy* ...

 

Not bad for being made on this equipment, if I may say so myself 😉

 

—

*Gravy being improvised from onions, garlic, tomato, Sauvignon blanc, rosemary, sweet ham, instant coffee, a dash of BBQ sauce, roasted and finely ground toast bread and a bit of blue cheese. Strained it made a rich, balanced and very umami sauce.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

When things get warm, things go very fast.

 

 

 

A little over three minutes.  Bottom crust was rather dark but still delightful.

 

[TicTac]

6 hours ago, Duvel said:

Christmas Dinner in a rental cabin in Taupo, NZ: Rosemary-crusted lamb rump with Kūmara purée and gravy* ...

 

Not bad for being made on this equipment, if I may say so myself 😉

 

—

*Gravy being improvised from onions, garlic, tomato, Sauvignon blanc, rosemary, sweet ham, instant coffee, a dash of BBQ sauce, roasted and finely ground toast bread and a bit of blue cheese. Strained it made a rich, balanced and very umami sauce.

 

That lamb looks especially tender!

 

What cut is the 'rump' and how did you prepare it?

 

Also, good call on the Rice Bran oil - learned about that on EG a year or so ago and have used it ever since for all high heat applications.

[ElsieD]

@kayb  Loved the story.  Thank you for posting the link to it.

[Shelby]

Oysters, king crab legs and salad for Christmas Eve.  Perfect ending to the day

 

 

[kayb]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

@kayb  Loved the story.  Thank you for posting the link to it.

 

Glad you did. I used to read it to my kids when they were tiny. I think Dan wrote it in the late 1970s. I read it every year.