Dinner 2018

[liuzhou]

Picket myself up an eggplant this morning. I had a plan. This is one of two types I saw. The other was the more common  long thin Asian aubergine (茄子 qié zi), where this more bulbous one is called 墨茄 mò qié, literally dark or black eggplant. It is nearer to black than the bright purple of the former.

 

 

What I had in mind was 肉末茄子 (ròu mò qié zi), or minced pork with eggplant. Not the prettiest dish in the Chinese canon, but a very tasty one.

 

 

 

Served with rice.

 

I made it more or less to this recipe from Fuchsia Dunlop, although I reduced the quantities. It's only for me. I do also make a Sichuanese version of it, but having paralysed myself last night with Sichuan peppercorns, decided to go with the eastern China version. I very much enjoy both.

Edited May 17, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

Last night I roasted a small New York Strip Loin roast.

Served with a Yorkshire Pudding baked in the same pan the beef was roasted in.

 

 

 

 

[gulfporter]

23 hours ago, Toliver said:

It sounds like heresy to some, but as I've posted before, when it gets hot here where I live, my oven or my stovetop does not get turned on.

I use the microwave and that's it. It sometimes calls for a lot of creativity to figure what I can do with just a microwave for my meals but I accept that challenge. Anything is better than heating up the interior of my house more than what the weather is already doing to it.

 

Full agreement here from someone who has lived in Arizona, Mexico and FLorida for the past 15 years.

 

Time to whip out the food processor and light the outdoor gas grill. 

 

Mangos are just coming into season here in Central Mexico.  Our local trees are heavily fruited, but a week or two from full ripening when the splats! on the streets and sidewalks require some delicate footwork and an occasional glance upward. 

 

BTW the local rule is:  any mangos hanging over the sidewalk or street are fair game for anyone.  Soon the local eateries will send out their workers armed with long-polls with netted ends.  It's quite the show! 

 

This is a mango and tomato gazpacho with fresh basil and mint.  Topped with chilled grilled shrimp.

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by gulfporter (log)

[ElsieD]

@gulfporter  is there a recipe somewhere for that soup?  It looks like something we would enjoy once we get local tomatoes.  Sadly, that won't happen until August but It's good to be prepared!

[gulfporter]

22 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@gulfporter  is there a recipe somewhere for that soup?  It looks like something we would enjoy once we get local tomatoes.  Sadly, that won't happen until August but It's good to be prepared!

I used this one, more or less.  Stayed with it for the amounts of mango, tomato, onion and red bell pepper.  Subbed a serrano for the jalapeno (we like heat).  Skipped the OJ and lime juice and subbed a bit of cider vinegar (to taste)....the mango added a lot of sweetness and vinegar seemed a better acid.  Instead of cilantro, I used fresh basil and mint, mostly because I didn't want it to be too similar to a standard red gazpacho.

https://www.mygourmetconnection.com/mango-gazpacho-soup/

 

Edit:  Made it early in morning to let flavor meld all day.  Took it out of fridge 10 minutes before serving to take a bit of the chill off and loosen a bit. 

Edited May 16, 2018 by gulfporter (log)

[kayb]

3 hours ago, gulfporter said:

I used this one, more or less.  Stayed with it for the amounts of mango, tomato, onion and red bell pepper.  Subbed a serrano for the jalapeno (we like heat).  Skipped the OJ and lime juice and subbed a bit of cider vinegar (to taste)....the mango added a lot of sweetness and vinegar seemed a better acid.  Instead of cilantro, I used fresh basil and mint, mostly because I didn't want it to be too similar to a standard red gazpacho.

https://www.mygourmetconnection.com/mango-gazpacho-soup/

 

Edit:  Made it early in morning to let flavor meld all day.  Took it out of fridge 10 minutes before serving to take a bit of the chill off and loosen a bit. 

 

 

Had to save that one. I like the idea of the Jamaican jerk version, too.

 

[Norm Matthews]

Made a chuck pot roast in the Instant Pot for dinner tonight. The picture shows a small amount of the whole roast.

[robirdstx]

 

Grilled Chicken Thigh and Vegetables (Zucchini, Yellow Bell Pepper, Cremini Mushrooms and White Onion) with Slaw

 

 

Edited May 17, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

[Kim Shook]

A recent dinner out at a local Italian restaurant we hadn’t tried yet and then an odd experience.  We started with Risotto “Fries”:

Very like arancini – delicious.

 

I had the Linguini w/ Clams:

Wonderful – even better the next day when all the juices had been soaked into the pasta.

 

Mr. Kim had the Veal Saltimbocca with Sautéed Spinach, Prosciutto di Parma, Fresh Mozzarella & Garlic Potatoes:

Every single thing was delicious and we had perfect service.  The potatoes seemed odd, but were the perfect accompaniment.  We were so impressed that we went back for my mother’s birthday.  Things were considerably less delicious and perfect that trip.  Still decent, but not nearly as good.  And the service was incredibly slow – both the food service and table service.  Our town has really had a restaurant renaissance in the last few years and there are so many really excellent options.  If you disappoint a customer, they likely won’t be back.  Because we had such a good first experience, we probably will give them a second chance – especially since good Italian is, for some reason, hard to find here.  But there were surely folks there that night for the first time – and the lackluster performance might very well have chased them away for good.  Really too bad, considering what I know what this place CAN do when they try.

 

A completely different experience on Mother’s Day.  We ate at Note Bene – a place we’ve been to again and again and never had anything less than stellar.  This is the kind of place that I take food loving guests from out of town, because we know we can count on them.  We started with Fig and Pig pizza:

Wood-fired with fig preserves, prosciutto, gorgonzola.  Just amazing.  And Sullivan’s Pond Baked Goat Cheese:

With olive oil, pepper, local honey. 

 

I had the roasted whole flounder:

 

Mr. Kim had the Pappardelle Lamb Sugo:

 

Jessica had the Pappardelle Wild Mushrooms with mixed mushrooms, porcini broth, cream, thyme (no picture). 

 

Dessert was biscotti with whipped ricotta:

 

And almond cake:

The chef is a friend of Jessica’s and came out to apologize for the not crispy enough biscotti and bitch about trying to bake crisp things in a 100+ degree, humid kitchen in a 19^th century brick building that can’t really be insulated.  The texture of the biscotti was somewhere between biscotti and oatmeal cookies.  But they were delectable and the whipped ricotta was heavenly.  We tried to reassure, but chefs are tough on themselves.  Wow, it was good.  All house made pastas, everything that can be put in the wood fired oven is.  Everything was delicious!

[Dante]

Tonight's dinner- Beijing style meat sauce over lo mein noodles (with veggies added as I'm trying to cut back on the pastas), with sliced cucumber on top

 

 

[liuzhou]

Stir fried fresh ramen noodles with chicken, shiitake, garlic, ginger, chilli, Sichuan peppercorns, Shaoxing wine, a trickle of soy sauce. Finished with yellow, hothouse garlic chives and coriander leaf/cilantro.

 

 

[kayb]

No photos, but I made the cheesy chicken fritters last night. Used havarti instead of mozzarella, as I had no mozz. Also coated them in panko because I hallucinated that into the recipe. I liked the panko addition. Otherwise, they were pretty bland. I'll add some sort of peppery element next time. Served them with a chili sauce/soy sauce mayo, and a combo of sugar snaps and corn in a cream sauce with mint, which was pretty good.

 

Tonight, I'm looking at a "hash" of apples, onions and smoked sausage, with fried potatoes and kraut. Just sounds good. And easy.

[mgaretz]

Pizza, Mary's thin crust, tomato sauce, mozzarella, onions, mushrooms, red bell pepper and chicken apple sausage.  First pizza in the BSOA and at 450 with convection it was done in 8 minutes and it came out great (but mind you this was a pre-made crust).  Did not use a stone, just the included pizza pan.  

 

 

[suzilightning]

Just baked some chicken breasts to make chicken salad with for John on his weekend trip to Poughkeepsie.  Also baked a small piece of salmon I had marinated with some rice wine vinegar, sesame oil , garlic and tamari.  I made some gluten free short pasta and will mix it with the flaked salmon, scallion and a sauce with some Marzetti Simply dressed lemon vinaigrette mixed with some mayonnaise.

[Dante]

Tonight's dinner: Gatta curry over bulgur with rapini

[scubadoo97]

And the hits just keep coming.   Great meals everyone.  

 

No pics but fish tacos with oven sweet potato fries, arugula, heirloom tomatoes and sliced sweet peppers all tucked into toasted corn tortillas 

[robirdstx]

 

The plan was to cook the burgers Sous Vide and finish on the grill. However, the power went out and the burgers went straight to the grill. The buns were also toasted on the grill. All was good! Still waiting for the power to come back on, but in the meantime, we have the generator working, so we have fridge, lights, fans, and internet.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

According to nuts.com yesterday was National Walnut Day.  I told a friend my dinner was going to be Georgian beef and walnut stew.  But I didn't finish gardening till well past the end of civil twilight and I knew the stew was not about to happen.

 

Fear not, dinner was Georgian and it involved a lot of wine and walnuts.

 

[liamsaunt]

sandwich night.  chicken for me

 

 

steak for husband

 

[liuzhou]

Kept it simple tonight and went non-Asian for a change.

 

Pork cutlets with boiled spuds and asparagus.

 

 

Salted and peppered the cutlets on both side and let them sit  for an hour. Drizzled the trimmed asparagus with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Boiled the spuds along with the  asparagus trimmings. Discarded trimmings. Pan fried the pork and nuked the asparagus for one minute. Ate.

[shain]

Focaccias.

Zucchini, onion, sesame, sumac.

 

Garlic rosemary.

 

Served with veggies, fresh cheeses, tahini, olives and olive oil.

[Anna N]

 

Lamb kheema from my freezer with  basmati rice, some peas and a side of spicy mango chutney. 

[Okanagancook]

Smothered chicken out of Donald Link's Down South which by the way is a marvellous cook book.  Absolutely delicious and so simple to make but the really, really good chicken stock made it so.  Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice and CSO steam-baked local asparagus with a drizzle of lemon juice to counter balance the rich chicken.  The rice is unlike any rice I have ever had.  Very, delicate and nutty.  I followed the exact cooking method from their website:  boiled x 15 minutes in salted filtered water; drained; rinsed with cold water; put on a sheet pan and dried in a 300F oven for five minutes..flipping the rice a couple of times; taken out and dotted with some butter and a few cracks of black pepper and back in the oven for another five minutes with a few more flips.  Perfectly separate grains.

[Anna N]

 I was intrigued by this.    And having been under the weather for the last couple of days needed something simple but good.

 

 

 I shall be replenishing my supply of canned artichoke hearts should another occasion arise or just because.  

[robirdstx]

 

Linguine Alfredo with Sweet Italian Sausage and Spicy Spanish Chorizo