Dinner 2018

[FauxPas]

10 hours ago, Shelby said:

Made a little casserole out of some zoodles

 

 

 

Oh, your casserole looks so pretty! Was it as tasty as it looks? Did you use a recipe or just make it up as you went along? 

[scubadoo97]

23 hours ago, chord said:

Braised citrus chicken and roasted vegetables (potatoes, zucchini, and radishes).

 

 

 

 

I like this combination.  Very available ingredients 

 

Looks great

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 

Gyudon. Japanese beef with onions over rice and topped with a soft egg.

 

Looks lovely Anna.  Something I'd not heard about.  What did you use for beef?  I see Kenji suggests frozen shaved steak intended for cheese steak.  (That's Philadelphia cheese steak for the benefit of any Philistines not from Philadelphia.)  I have a couple of strip steaks* in the refrigerator.  Might be interesting to try to slice the meat thin enough for gyudon.

 

*denizens of the respective municipalities may feel free to debate their issues for our amusement.

 

 

[chord]

Shrimp and red lentils

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

19 hours ago, CantCookStillTry said:

While I gather your 'hatred' is caused by your current glut, I'm the unfortunate soul that actually does. 

Canned tomatos fine, puree fine, on a pizza fine. 

 Fresh and Raw straight from the garden, the Holy Grail of so very many people on this forums Summer? Even the thought turns my stomach. It saddens me. But not enough to try and change my tastes! 

 

If all you have ever had for fresh tomatoes is the grocery store kind that are engineered by Big Ag to be practically indestructible for long-distance shipping, then I understand completely. I call these substitutes for real tomatoes "styromates". They look fine, but they taste like styrofoam and water. Having grown up on garden grown tomatoes, I know there is a better way. The reason the canned ones taste better is that they are harvested at ripeness and not designed to be bashed around in shipping. There is nothing like a home grown tomato. If there are Gods and They eat food, they would eat home grown tomatoes. 

 

I am stuck with 3 pounds of hothouse "styromates" due to a grocery delivery order. I'm not at all sure that I will be able to eat them, despite having to be very thrifty. Perhaps I can reduce them by roasting or something to make them at least edible?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

8 hours ago, HungryChris said:

Given the choice, I'd like to try some more creative things with lobster as well, but just plain old boiled lobster, the right tools and some melted butter makes Deb a very happy camper. So I don't mess with success.

HC

 

 

Yes! Perfectly cooked fresh lobster with butter kept melted with candle warmers cannot be beat, I think.

 

Now, if you ate it every day and got bored, then you might need to branch out, but here, we do not get bored with the few lobsters we find.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Looks lovely Anna.  Something I'd not heard about.  What did you use for beef?  I see Kenji suggests frozen shaved steak intended for cheese steak.  (That's Philadelphia cheese steak for the benefit of any Philistines not from Philadelphia.)  I have a couple of strip steaks* in the refrigerator.  Might be interesting to try to slice the meat thin enough for gyudon.

 

*denizens of the respective municipalities may feel free to debate their issues for our amusement.

 

 

 

S-Mart that went out of business a couple years ago used to have thin shaved rib eye steak it was wonderful for cheesesteaks or Asian stir fries like pepper steak. I really miss that place. They were in trouble with the IRS, according to signs on the locked doors. 

 

Also Steak-Ums, are horrible! Just gross.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I was feeling frisky the other day and made my first ever cheese souffle. It was okay, but not worth the faffing around and dirty dishes. I used Betty Crocker's recipe, but I'm not going to quit until I try maybe "Joy of Cooking" recipe for the spinach version, since @JoNorvelleWalkersaid she has had good results with JoC for souffles.

 

I could not believe how danged thick the bechamel and melted cheese combination was before adding the yolks which loosened it up a little and then the whipped egg whites, which loosened it up more. I was fantasizing about ethereal, but got nowhere near that. I think I will try a spinach version, but if that falls flat too, I might be done with souffles, unless I rope myself into a chocolate version.

 

I served my less than fantastic cheese souffle with steamed asparagus, which was fantastic with a lemon wedge.

 

Ice cream bar for dessert. It's just the Food Lion brand of vanilla ice cream dipped in dark chocolate. You get twelve of these for 3 bucks. So these suckers cost a quarter, and are so danged good! 140 calories each and you get calcium and protein too.

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Looks lovely Anna.  Something I'd not heard about.  What did you use for beef?

Thank you. It was very tasty. For the beef I used the only beef I had in the house which was a small skirt steak. The more I study Japanese cuisine the more I realize that, like any other cuisine, it is both evolving and amoebic. 

[Duvel]

Seems I am a bit on a Japanese food spree recently (hello @Anna N) ..

 

Tonight is movie night with the little one and we are watching “Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi” (“Spirited away”) from Studio Ghibli. In case you haven’t seen it yet, please do. One of the masterpieces of Hayao Miyazaki and very approachable. 

 

Fitting to the movie I prepared some Izakaya-style food:

 

 

Cold tofu with sesame and ponzu.

 

 

Aubergine agedashi.

 

 

Cucumber tsukemono with shiso.

 

 

Tamagoyaki.

 

 

Cold soba with walnut tsuyu.

 

 

Simmered daikon with pork-miso sauce.

 

 

Yakitori (SV, then seared over the gas stove).

 

 

All enjoyed with some sake.

 

Oishii 😊

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Seems I am a bit on a Japanese food spree recently (hello @Anna N) ..

 

Beautiful. Far beyond what I would even dream of attempting but I do enjoy it vicariously. Thank you for sharing. 

[Duvel]

7 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Beautiful. Far beyond what I would even dream of attempting but I do enjoy it vicariously. Thank you for sharing. 

Hahaha ... no false modesty 😋

 

Part of today’s dinner was inspired by “Izakaya - the Japanese pub cookbook” by Mark Robinson. Give it a go - I’ve seen your meals; you will enjoy it ...

Edited August 25, 2018 by Duvel (log)

[HungryChris]

Chorizo stuffed clams (the last of my most recent haul) garden fresh tomatoes and some great local farm stand corn. You gotta love this time of the year!

HC

[Shelby]

11 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

Oh, your casserole looks so pretty! Was it as tasty as it looks? Did you use a recipe or just make it up as you went along? 

Aw thank you! No recipe, really.  I was kind of thinking about spaghetti casserole for some reason ......I made zoodles and then wrapped them in a paper towel for a while to dry them a bit.  Next I halved some cherry tomatoes and chopped up some basil.  Then I took a bowl and whipped a couple of eggs, added a splash or two of milk and some flour, shredded cheddar and seasoning--black pepper, Lawry's Salt and a bit of grated garlic.  To the bowl I added the noodles and the tomatoes and stirred it up.  I dumped all of that into a buttered pie plate and baked it in the CSO--steam bake at 375 for about 45 mins or until it was set in the middle.  

 

Quail last night

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Shelby (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I was feeling frisky the other day and made my first ever cheese souffle. It was okay, but not worth the faffing around and dirty dishes. I used Betty Crocker's recipe, but I'm not going to quit until I try maybe "Joy of Cooking" recipe for the spinach version, since @JoNorvelleWalkersaid she has had good results with JoC for souffles.

 

I could not believe how danged thick the bechamel and melted cheese combination was before adding the yolks which loosened it up a little and then the whipped egg whites, which loosened it up more. I was fantasizing about ethereal, but got nowhere near that. I think I will try a spinach version, but if that falls flat too, I might be done with souffles, unless I rope myself into a chocolate version.

 

I served my less than fantastic cheese souffle with steamed asparagus, which was fantastic with a lemon wedge.

 

Ice cream bar for dessert. It's just the Food Lion brand of vanilla ice cream dipped in dark chocolate. You get twelve of these for 3 bucks. So these suckers cost a quarter, and are so danged good! 140 calories each and you get calcium and protein too.

 

It's still early morning but as best I recall I've only made Joy Cooking dessert souffles.  But yes I remember good results.  The spinach thing I made from Joy was her timbale.

[liuzhou]

 

Chicken with okra, shallots, garlic, chilli, olives. Served with couscous and jade gill mushrooms. 

 

[mgaretz]

Meatloaf, served with salad and broccoli cooked in the IP.

 

 

 

 

[suzilightning]

Oh @mgaretz..I so covet that meatloaf.  I can picture it with some creamy mashed potatoes or on some rye bread with Miracle Whip and ketchup.

 

Sent Johnnybird up to Poughkeepsie with smooch, shrimp shumai, potato salad made with a dressing of pesto, mayo and a touch of cooked dressing, cold cuts, guac and hummus.

I roasted a couple of sweet Italian sausages then sliced them and put them into a red pepper, onion and tomato sauce and ate it over capellini with a scattering of cheeses.  Finished with a salad of local lettuce and heirloom tomatoes.

Edited August 25, 2018 by suzilightning
to add to my fantasy (log)

[Dante]

Chicken breast cooked with cayenne, black pepper, lime juice, and green olives, with lacinato kale, over orzo, garnished with fried eddoe slices

[scubadoo97]

15 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

If all you have ever had for fresh tomatoes is the grocery store kind that are engineered by Big Ag to be practically indestructible for long-distance shipping, then I understand completely. I call these substitutes for real tomatoes "styromates". They look fine, but they taste like styrofoam and water. Having grown up on garden grown tomatoes, I know there is a better way. The reason the canned ones taste better is that they are harvested at ripeness and not designed to be bashed around in shipping. There is nothing like a home grown tomato. If there are Gods and They eat food, they would eat home grown tomatoes. 

 

I am stuck with 3 pounds of hothouse "styromates" due to a grocery delivery order. I'm not at all sure that I will be able to eat them, despite having to be very thrifty. Perhaps I can reduce them by roasting or something to make them at least edible?

Make salsa or cook them down to concentrate the flavor

[shain]

@Duvel Your japanese meal looks amazing. I've never heard of eggplant agedashi, but it makes a lot of sense to me, I never really loved tofu agedashi (even though I really like tofu) and i think an eggplant texture might be more to my liking. Also, I now have to make soba with walnut sauce sometime soon. Thanks for the ideas  

 

@liuzhou I see that you make couscous quite often, have you ever had it with Moroccan style stew?

[shain]

Rice with coconut cream, lentils, okra, ginger, a little Thai red curry paste, toasted cashews.

Scrambled egg and green beans curry with mung beans, turmeric, fresh chilis, plenty of hingh, coriander.

Served with yogurt, mango chutney, and vegetable salad.

[Anna N]

10 hours ago, Duvel said:

Part of today’s dinner was inspired by “Izakaya - the Japanese pub cookbook” by Mark Robinson. Give it a go - I’ve seen your meals; you will enjoy it ...

A copy of this book is on its way to me as I found it last week very cheaply on a used book site. May take a while.  It’s coming from the UK. 

[Anna N]

 

Chicken nanban. Similar to this.  Definitely worth repeating. 

 

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

Chicken nanban. Similar to this.  Definitely worth repeating. 

 

Geez, @Anna N you are really hitting it out of the ballpark lately!  Am making note of this to try.