Dinner 2020

[weinoo]

50 minutes ago, scamhi said:

I have a very hard time matching wine to spicy soy flavors. We usually do Riesling or Sake but didn't feel like it.

Yeah - it's a tough pairing. Last night, I opened a Nathan K NY State riesling thinking we'd enjoy it with Thai food but didn't really work out - fortunately, most of the bottle was done before the food got served, and then I just had a beer.

 

 

As my Thai ingredients treasure hunt becomes more and more successful, the Thai dishes are starting to taste like the real deal. Here, a vegetable curry, with the only thing preventing it from being a vegan dish the little addition of chicken stock along with the coconut milk. The makrut lime leaves and extra chilies really helped too - but I ate one of the red ones, and it was a burner!

 

 

A first attempt at Hainanese chicken rice.  And not a bad one at that.  The chicken breast (from the last poulet rouge I cut up) had been salted and hung out in the fridge for a day plus. The Jasmine rice was rinsed, then rendered some chicken fat from some cut up skin (and left that in the pot), sautéed a fair amount of ginger and garlic prior to adding the rice, which was cooked in stock. The recipe I was sorta following said to put the chicken on top of the rice as it cooks, which I could see doing if I was cooking thighs; but in this case, I waited until the rice had cooked for 15 minutes, and then added the chicken breast halves for the last 5 or so minutes of cooking, which was plenty. On the side, a couple of sauces, including scallion and ginger as well as spicy oil.  

 

All in all, a quite successful endeavor. Followed by strawberry sherbet.

[TicTac]

39 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Yeah - it's a tough pairing. Last night, I opened a Nathan K NY State riesling thinking we'd enjoy it with Thai food but didn't really work out - fortunately, most of the bottle was done before the food got served, and then I just had a beer.

 

 

As my Thai ingredients treasure hunt becomes more and more successful, the Thai dishes are starting to taste like the real deal. Here, a vegetable curry, with the only thing preventing it from being a vegan dish the little addition of chicken stock along with the coconut milk. The makrut lime leaves and extra chilies really helped too - but I ate one of the red ones, and it was a burner!

 

 

A first attempt at Hainanese chicken rice.  And not a bad one at that.  The chicken breast (from the last poulet rouge I cut up) had been salted and hung out in the fridge for a day plus. The Jasmine rice was rinsed, then rendered some chicken fat from some cut up skin (and left that in the pot), sautéed a fair amount of ginger and garlic prior to adding the rice, which was cooked in stock. The recipe I was sorta following said to put the chicken on top of the rice as it cooks, which I could see doing if I was cooking thighs; but in this case, I waited until the rice had cooked for 15 minutes, and then added the chicken breast halves for the last 5 or so minutes of cooking, which was plenty. On the side, a couple of sauces, including scallion and ginger as well as spicy oil.  

 

All in all, a quite successful endeavor. Followed by strawberry sherbet.

Looks good.  On the Hainanese chicken, from my limited exposure at local Malay restaurants, there is typically a sweet soy sauce which everything sits atop - makes for a nice balance to the scallion/ginger/chili/lime sauce.

 

Did you have some chicken stock to enjoy with the dish as well?

 

Simple, but if done right, a killer 'comfort food' dish.

[weinoo]

10 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Looks good.  On the Hainanese chicken, from my limited exposure at local Malay restaurants, there is typically a sweet soy sauce which everything sits atop - makes for a nice balance to the scallion/ginger/chili/lime sauce.

 

Did you have some chicken stock to enjoy with the dish as well?

 

Simple, but if done right, a killer 'comfort food' dish.

 

Yeah, the sauce with the recipe linked is more complicated than the dish.  I eschewed the chicken stock on the side, since I only have like a cup of the recently made stuff left, and want to use it in some other dishes!

 

Absolutely a great comfort food dish - next time, thighs will be used!  The rice was absolutely delicious.

[KennethT]

@weinoo @TicTac I've made HTK's chicken rice - it's really good - but keep in mind that that is a Thai version.... chicken rice exists in basically every country in Asia (I don't know about Japan/Korea, but definitely China and every SE Asian country I can think of).  In each country (or even in a region in a country) it varies - sometimes varying a lot to what's found in other countries.  The Singapore/Malay version uses a chili sauce made with lots of ginger and usually a sweet soy sauce is on the table if you want to add it. In Central Vietnam, they typically add a bit of turmeric to the rice, add some black peppercorn, sliced raw onions and some rau ram on top, and there is no chili sauce - but instead, they will use the accompanying soup as a dipping sauce.  Pai's version found in HTK is what's commonly found in Thailand - or atleast it resembles what I had in Bangkok - I don't know if it varies throughout Thailand, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Edited August 19, 2020 by KennethT (log)

[Nicolai]

Now it is Lobster week..... no more Pizze.....

 

So we booked this fancy beach side restaurant to enjoy Oman Lobsters. The Oman Lobsters are small in size but the meat is sweet and juicy and very tasteful.

The Main Lobsters are of course famous but they tend to travel with lot of lost luggage......I mean lost taste.

Sp obviously, freshness beats fame.

 

We started with sharing a Green salad Balsamic Vinaigrette

 

 

 

 

 

 

and followed for my better half with a grilled Lobster marinated with Beurre Blanc Provençale which is a design mess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and pour moi , I ordered a grill Lobster with no marinade but The sauce of Lemon Beurre Bland on the side as well as the sides on the side......(.I know sides on the sides sounds goofy).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert was a real Tiramisu with Kahlua but I prefer our golden girl Tiramisu made with a three quarter bottle of Mozart Liqueur.......followed with a long nap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward couple of days later....... a Lobster shack, a hole in the wall eatery which offers Lobsters. So we dived in and you will have to guess which food joint was better

 

Same Oman Lobsters but boiled instead of grilled and no side frills except either French Fries or steamed baby potatoes.

The sauce was crude liquid butter with Lemon and black Pepper or liquid Butter and Garlic.

 

You get a pair of surgical gloves, a plastic Bib and a pair of scissors. The Lobster comes in a plastic bag and you pour the butter in and shake and empty the bag straight on the plastic table cloth .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ughhhh, You get wet wipes to clean up......

 

 

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[liamsaunt]

Chopped salmon and eggplant stir fry.  I really wish my fish share would stop giving me tail pieces of salmon.  I have been wanting to make cedar planked salmon with a nice thick piece like they used to give me for weeks.

 

[heidih]

3 minutes ago, Nicolai said:

Now it is Lobster week..... no more Pizze.....

 

So we booked this fancy beach side restaurant to enjoy Oman Lobsters. The Oman Lobsters are small in size but the meat is sweet and juicy and very tasteful.

The Main Lobsters are of course famous but they tend to travel with lot of lost luggage......I mean lost taste.

Sp obviously, freshness beats fame.

 

 

 

Oh my Oman lobster. Quite envious.  I agree local is the way to enjoy.  I prefer our local spiny lobster. Season not open yet. The simple preps are my favprite. I never understood the lobster with butter thing. Maybe good mayo dip on the side but I am not the norm. My son did clean up at a local lobster fest and was slathered with fake butter - he tans easily and was brown by the end.  You brought back happy memories from Puerto Nuevo, Mexico   

[mgaretz]

Egg salad with carrots, pop corners, and at @heidih's suggestion, thin sliced squash under the broiler.  It was all good.

 

[Kim Shook]

To put in my two cents on the broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts issue – I am that weird person who dislikes SO many vegetables but loves all three of those and always has!

 

I ended up with an embarrassment of riches last night:

I bought a carton of figs (the white ones) at Wegman’s when I was there on Friday.  Then when Mr. Kim went by his mom’s after work last night, she gave him the others.  I made a pre-dinner snack that ended up as dinner.  Naan, our favorite creamy dolce Gorgonzola, sliced figs, and toasted almonds:

 

425F for a few minutes and drizzled with local honey:

 

And topped with some dressed arugula:

Just amazingly good. 

 

I said to Mr. Kim that I need to go through all my recipes (Ha!) and pull out all the ones that call for fresh figs and file them all together.  Fig season is SO short and when you buy them you only have a couple of days to use them.  It always seems to sneak up on me and I have a pile of figs to deal with and I’m not at all prepared.  I end up candying them all.  That’s delicious, but I’d love to do more actual cooking with them!

[Nicolai]

56 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Oh my Oman lobster. Quite envious.  I agree local is the way to enjoy.  I prefer our local spiny lobster. Season not open yet. The simple preps are my favprite. I never understood the lobster with butter thing. Maybe good mayo dip on the side but I am not the norm. My son did clean up at a local lobster fest and was slathered with fake butter - he tans easily and was brown by the end.  You brought back happy memories from Puerto Nuevo, Mexico   

 

Yes. we are in agreement. That's why I ordered my grilled Lobster without any marinade and used the Beurre Blanc as a dip which I barely used. Same with the boiled Lobster.

[blue_dolphin]

28 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I made a pre-dinner snack that ended up as dinner.  Naan, our favorite creamy dolce Gorgonzola, sliced figs, and toasted almonds:

...

I said to Mr. Kim that I need to go through all my recipes (Ha!) and pull out all the ones that call for fresh figs and file them all together.  Fig season is SO short and when you buy them you only have a couple of days to use them.  It always seems to sneak up on me and I have a pile of figs to deal with and I’m not at all prepared.  I end up candying them all.  That’s delicious, but I’d love to do more actual cooking with them!

 

Yum!  When I get perfect fresh figs, all I want is a crusty baguette, gorgonzola, a handful of walnuts and a great bottle of wine!

[Kim Shook]

2 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Yum!  When I get perfect fresh figs, all I want is a crusty baguette, gorgonzola, a handful of walnuts and a great bottle of wine!

Yep!  Us, too.  That's why we're going to slip back up to Wegman's today and get some more of that gorgeous creamy cheese.  We have more of everything else.  

[heidih]

23 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

To put in my two cents on the broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts issue – I am that weird person who dislikes SO many vegetables but loves all three of those and always has!

 

I ended up with an embarrassment of riches last night:

 

I bought a carton of figs (the white ones) at Wegman’s when I was there on Friday.  Then when Mr. Kim went by his mom’s after work last night, she gave him the others.  I made a pre-dinner snack that ended up as dinner.  Naan, our favorite creamy dolce Gorgonzola, sliced figs, and toasted almonds:

 

425F for a few minutes and drizzled with local honey:

 

And topped with some dressed arugula:

 

Just amazingly good. 

 

I said to Mr. Kim that I need to go through all my recipes (Ha!) and pull out all the ones that call for fresh figs and file them all together.  Fig season is SO short and when you buy them you only have a couple of days to use them.  It always seems to sneak up on me and I have a pile of figs to deal with and I’m not at all prepared.  I end up candying them all.  That’s delicious, but I’d love to do more actual cooking with them!

 

Beautiful!  I don't think I would have dressed the greens  - but I like bitter and contrast. I had a neighbor whose huge white fig tree hung over my back fence. They did not eat them and told me I was helping them by picking so they did not rot on the ground. My other neighbor doted on them. We would take the figs (halved) and pears from my 2 ancient trees , add some butter and cardamom and bake them to desired softness and sprinkle with toasted nuts (whatever each household had in pantry). Dinner & dessert - done.

[MokaPot]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

You brought back happy memories from Puerto Nuevo, Mexico

 

 

 

Great photo, @heidih. I got to eat lobster at Puerto Nuevo as well. Very affordable, for lobster.

[Shelby]

Oh @Kim Shook once again I have fig envy.

 

Another squash carpaccio

 

 

And a cajun chicken Alfredo of sorts

 

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

The simple preps are my favprite. I never understood the lobster with butter thing. Maybe good mayo dip on the side but I am not the norm.

For me lobster is, like toast or mashed potatoes, primarily a vehicle for butter.

[kayb]

12 minutes ago, chromedome said:

For me lobster is, like toast or mashed potatoes, primarily a vehicle for butter.

 

Me and you. Here in the landlocked South, lobster is an expensive treat; I'll periodically splurge for frozen tails, and we used to have a fundraiser that involved live lobsters flown in from Maine and boiled while you waited (complete with potatoes and corn). I still think with deep pleasure of the lobsters we bought off the boat in Marblehead, Mass., took home and baked with buttered bread crumbs on top, and ate with gallons of drawn butter (ok, I exaggerate, but not a lot). I do love 'em. They laughed at me in Boston for eating all the lobster out of the roll and leaving the bread.

[heidih]

8 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

 

Great photo, @heidih. I got to eat lobster at Puerto Nuevo as well. Very affordable, for lobster.

 

It is a stock photo not mine. I was there frequently before cell phone pics...  I still call my seafood guys to check on the harvest when season is underway. They use pressure steamers like autoclaves - really ancient machines . But they are good at their job.  http://qualityseafood.com/  I just called - season opens for commercial sale first Sunday in October which is day before my birthday - all good!

[Robenco15]

Pizza oven came yesterday so I’ve been busy! These are a Margarita and a Bee Sting. 
 

 

[heidih]

6 minutes ago, Robenco15 said:

Pizza oven came yesterday so I’ve been busy! These are a Margarita and a Bee Sting. 
 

 

Well that looks blistery hot . what did you think taste and texture wise versus your old method

Edited August 19, 2020 by heidih (log)

[shain]

31 minutes ago, Robenco15 said:

Pizza oven came yesterday so I’ve been busy! These are a Margarita and a Bee Sting. 
 

 

 

I envy you. What stunning pizzas. The char, the cheese level of (not) melting, and the ratio of puffed crust width are all what the pizzas in my dreams are like.

 

( I dream of pizzas, I'm sure of it even if I can't ever remember what I dream. One just knows )

Edited August 19, 2020 by shain (log)

[heidih]

22 minutes ago, shain said:

( I dream of pizzas, I'm sure of it even if I can't ever remember what I dream. One just knows )

 

Well said. I heard it in a movie re love the other day - you just know.In a distant part of my tiny mind I dream of fried zucchini flowers - nothing specific, Human mind - kinda special, 

[Norm Matthews]

I smoked today's brisket with oak wood, Texas style, seasoned with just salt and pepper.  My smoker was running hot- around 300º.  I don't know what was different but it got done in about 8 hours.... well the front half got done, I am finishing the last half in the oven now.  

The last picture is the crispy end that was closest to the fire.  Arthur Bryant used to put these trimmings out for people to take and nibble on while waiting  in line to order.  They were very popular but he couldn't put them on the menu because this is about all there is on one brisket.  There were never enough to make complete servings for one without running out very quickly.  After his death, someone reimagined his" burnt ends" by cubing the almost done  large end of the brisket, putting some more rub on it and a little sauce and finishing it in the smoker.  That is what you will get when you order burnt ends at BBQ restaurants today.

[heidih]

Thanks @Norm Matthews Pittmasters  the high priests of BBQ

[pastameshugana]

3 minutes ago, heidih said:

Thanks @Norm Matthews Pittmasters  the high priests of BBQ

Hear, hear!