Dinner 2019

[Ann_T]

Not working today and I didn't make breakfast so I made an early lunch.

Southern Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and a cream gravy.

[CantCookStillTry]

9 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

@CantCookStillTry –I’m wondering if it is a British thing?

 

 

 

 

Yeah I think its pretty British. I grew up with it as a staple - I thought a Grilled Cheese was Cheese on Toast for a long time though - seeing as one puts Cheese on Toast then grills it but it turns out a grilled cheese is in fact just a Toastie.  Semantics hey.

 

The Cymyr have been perfecting their fancy pants version for centuries I believe, Perfect Welsh Rarebit although its still not fancy pants by many's standards - the additions are usually beer / mustard etc its still fancier than slapping some cheese on bread I guess - but for me you couldn't get much closer to heaven.

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Recipe called for betal leaves.    Surprisingly, not on hand!

 

Actually, lá lốt isn't betel leaf, but a similar looking but only distantly related plant, Piper sarmentosum. They do not taste the same - in fact,  I wouldn't use betel leaves; the taste is too strong. I've never seen lá lốt outside of SE Asia, but the leaves may be available in Vietnamese markets in places with a largish Vietnamese settler community, I suppose.

 

Vine leaves are sometimes suggested as a substitute, and I can see that your lettuce worked, but you are not getting the fragrance of the real deal.

I'm sure yours were great, but if you ever manage to track down the leaves, you''ll appreciate the difference.

Edited June 25, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

12 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I’m wondering if it is a British thing?

 

I think it is, or was until I introduced it to China some 20 years ago! So far I have converted at least 5 people! Only 1.4 billion to go!

[Duvel]

7 hours ago, robirdstx said:

 

Marinated Flank Steak “Gyros”

 

Would you please share some details on that marinade / cooking method ? 🙏

[robirdstx]

3 hours ago, Duvel said:

Would you please share some details on that marinade / cooking method ? 🙏

 

Certainly! After the meat has been left to marinate for an hour or so, I pan fry it in small batches in butter.

 

 

Marinade Ingredients for 1 lb. Flank Steak

 

- 1/2 cup Dry red wine

- 2 tablespoons Olive oil

- 2 teaspoons Garlic, minced

- 1/2 teaspoon Dried oregano, crushed

- 1/2 teaspoon Salt

- Ground black pepper, to taste

 

[KennethT]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Actually, lá lốt isn't betel leaf, but a similar looking but only distantly related plant, Piper sarmentosum. They do not taste the same - in fact,  I wouldn't use betel leaves; the taste is too strong. I've never seen lá lốt outside of SE Asia, but the leaves may be available in Vietnamese markets in places with a largish Vietnamese settler community, I suppose.

 

Vine leaves are sometimes suggested as a substitute, and I can see that your lettuce worked, but you are not getting the fragrance of the real deal.

I'm sure yours were great, but if you ever manage to track down the leaves, you''ll appreciate the difference.

 

I've always seen la lot translated as betel leaves, but they are also called "wild betel leaves" and are completely different from the thick betel leaves used for chewing.  As liuzhou said, they are distantly related - the leaves for eating are piper sarmentosum, while the ones for chewing are piper betle.  I can find the sarmentosum leaves here in NYC on rare occasion if I go to a thai store... in Thailand, one of the uses is mieng kum which is a snack that uses the raw betel leaf as the mouth delivery device....  One time I was planning on making mieng kum and was talking to the owner of my typical thai store (he's from Chiang Mai) who usually stocks the betel leaves - he was out of stock, but he recommended using spinach leaves as a substitute... it's not really close either, but I think it would be slightly closer than lettuce.

[liuzhou]

Early tomorrow morning, I'm off travelling for about three weeks in erotic exotic lands where I'll no doubt be eating strange delicacies and worse!

 

Tonight's rather uninspiring dinner was a final fridge and larder clearance effort.

 

Pork tenderloin medalions, baked spud with blood sausage, Shanghai bok choy.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Grilled shrimp and eggplant with fish sauce, mint, cilantro and lime

 

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Early tomorrow morning, I'm off travelling for about three weeks in erotic exotic lands where I'll no doubt be eating strange delicacies and worse!

 

Tonight's rather uninspiring dinner was a final fridge and larder clearance effort.

 

Pork tenderloin medalions, baked spud with blood sausage, Shanghai bok choy.

 

 

Hopefully you'll be posting some of those erotic exotic dishes....  can we get a preview of where you're headed?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

Grilled shrimp and eggplant with fish sauce, mint, cilantro and lime

 

Liam's a lucky guy!

[Norm Matthews]

  I made 2 pizzas with sourdough dough. One was thick crusted and the other one was a little thinner.  Charlie likes pepperoni so half is for him and the other half has sausage, mushrooms and black olives.  I used quesadilla cheese which I think is similar to mozzarella but I think it tastes a little better. 

[Paul Bacino]

Cauliflower Gnocchi in a veggie broth with peas and carrot noodles-- so actually the gnocchi held pretty well,  I roasted the cauliflower, using mostly florets/ squeezed the crap out of it ( moister reduction ) placed it into a food processor and 00 flour Blitzed till it came together, rolled it and then froze it.  It was a bit grainy..so next time I might use a tamis or process it longer then add flour

 

 

 

 

 

[gfweb]

Some recent meals

 

Steak salad

 

 

 

Steak Pizzaiola

 

 

 

Pork tenderloin piccata with roasted red cabbage

 

Ginger Beef

 

[Okanagancook]

A couple of dinners.  Braised chicken and fennel from Perisiana (braised for two hours with barberries); basmati rice with nuts/fried red onions and rose petals; zucchini salad and roasted eggplant with peppers.  I didn't really like the chicken dish.  The fennel was way to mushy for my tastes...won't make again.  But the rice was delicious as well as the salads.

 

The other one is a baked stuffed mushroom; pan fried pork tenderloin; pasta with fennel in a béchamel-type sauce.  I steam-baked the fennel in the CSO then heated the sauce in a double boiler.

[Norm Matthews]

Is anyone here a pepperoni "expert"?  I never noticed this before but both Charlie and I were disappointed in the taste of the Hormel Pepperoni I used on the pizza today.  Is there a change in the ingredients or another brand that is more like what we get from restaurants?  We found this new taste in pepperoni on our pizza to be very disappointing. 

[liuzhou]

10 hours ago, KennethT said:

Hopefully you'll be posting some of those erotic exotic dishes....  can we get a preview of where you're headed?

 

For reasons I cannot disclose just yet, I cannot reveal the destination(s) now but posts of dishes shall appear in due course.

Edited June 26, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[Smithy]

I had time to try a couple of new recipes tonight. One was catfish coated with blue cornmeal, diced jalapenos and garlic, then fried, from a cookbook I picked up this spring. Meh. We couldn't tell that the blue cornmeal made a difference, and I really do hate frying in the kitchen! I might have been less disillusioned if I'd kept the mess outside.

 

On the other hand, the vegetable dish was a smashing success: Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini and Lemon, from the July-August issue of Milk Street.* I ended up having to make several substitutions (how the heck could I have run out of tomato paste?) but it was good anyway. We'll be doing this again. And again. And again. Any time I can convince my darling that vegetables are good, as opposed to expedient, it's a hit. This could be a stand-alone meal.

 

 

*I am easily amused: I've been looking at the July-August issue since early June!

[Ann_T]

Started a 1000g batch of dough this morning. Decided to put half in the fridge and bake baguettes tomorrow and the other half became three pizzas.

 

Matt picked enough basil from the garden to make a pesto sauce and his pizza was artichoke and pesto. Didn't get a picture.

 

And I baked two "Rachetta" pizzas. Gave Moe the first one to start while I got the second one on the grill to bake.

 

Both with Italian sausage and mushrooms and I used Fior Di Latte, a soft cow's milk mozzarella.

Pictures are of the second Rachetta pizza with a slice of the first. The crust was so good. Especially for a same day dough.

[liuzhou]

Pre-flight dinner in Hong Kong airport. O'Leary's Food and Drinks. Fish and chips.

 

 

Good chips, but over-salted; bland tartare sauce.  The fish arrived with a crisp batter which immediately de-crisped itself. The fish was mushy. Airport food!

 

A pint of Asahi beer was spot on!

 

 

The second was even better.

Edited June 30, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[gfweb]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

I had time to try a couple of new recipes tonight. One was catfish coated with blue cornmeal, diced jalapenos and garlic, then fried, from a cookbook I picked up this spring. Meh. We couldn't tell that the blue cornmeal made a difference, and I really do hate frying in the kitchen! I might have been less disillusioned if I'd kept the mess outside.

 

On the other hand, the vegetable dish was a smashing success: Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini and Lemon, from the July-August issue of Milk Street.* I ended up having to make several substitutions (how the heck could I have run out of tomato paste?) but it was good anyway. We'll be doing this again. And again. And again. Any time I can convince my darling that vegetables are good, as opposed to expedient, it's a hit. This could be a stand-alone meal.

 

 

*I am easily amused: I've been looking at the July-August issue since early June!

 

What time and temp? (link is pay-walled)

[Shelby]

13 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

Is anyone here a pepperoni "expert"?  I never noticed this before but both Charlie and I were disappointed in the taste of the Hormel Pepperoni I used on the pizza today.  Is there a change in the ingredients or another brand that is more like what we get from restaurants?  We found this new taste in pepperoni on our pizza to be very disappointing. 

Norm, we discovered Boar's Head pepperoni a while ago and we really like it.  You have to slice it yourself.  The flavor is excellent.  Not too greasy.  If you have a Boar's Head section in your grocery store, you should find it there.

[Ann_T]

13 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

Is anyone here a pepperoni "expert"?  I never noticed this before but both Charlie and I were disappointed in the taste of the Hormel Pepperoni I used on the pizza today.  Is there a change in the ingredients or another brand that is more like what we get from restaurants?  We found this new taste in pepperoni on our pizza to be very disappointing. 

@Norm Matthews, it is one of the reasons that I always use Italian sausage.  I have not been able to find a pepperoni that I like.   

[Smithy]

57 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

What time and temp? (link is pay-walled)

 

500F for 25 - 30 minutes, until lightly charred. I pulled mine at the 28 minute mark and that was almost overdone: not the cauliflower as much as the coating. The coating is (supposed to be) a mix of tomato paste, olive oil, tahini, hot sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper. and water to thin it slightly. Mix it all well, then dredge the cauliflower chunks until they're thoroughly coated, then roast on a lined and oiled pan. The finished product is then garnished with cilantro, lemon zest and a drizzle of more tahini.

 

As noted above, I was flat out of tomato paste! I ended up subbing salsa and a bit of ketchup for the tomato paste and hot sauce. In addition, I quite forgot the S&P, and I missed that water was called for. It was all still good.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Night of arrival country dinner.    Warm night called for a favorite pasta: spaghetti with uncooked tomato sauce.    Essentially, chopped tomato, onion, basil, garlic, herbs des provence, splash of EVOO, sherry vinegar, balsamic, red pepper flakes.   

 

 

Accompanied by his and her green salads.     Summer on our plates.