Dinner 2020

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

 

Everyone does it. No permission required.

 

Yeah. Roast them.

 

My landlord recently said she would allow tenants two medium sized flower pots on the balcony but I am afraid to push my luck.  If I am still alive next summer I may attempt a tomato plant.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My dinner hopes dashed by amazon, I poached the skinless chicken breasts in the APO.  I served them with a More Than Gourmet recipe for mustard tarragon butter sauce.  Except I used dried tarragon instead of fresh, and Antica Formula in place of dry vermouth.  That and I burnt the shallots.  The difference between burnt and sec is just a sec.

 

 

 

Good it was.

 

[CantCookStillTry]

My husband has been asking for Pizzas from the town, but I am insistant on using up what we have. 

I felt bad though, so I picked up some pizza bases (frozen - one day I'll find a scrap of the effort you guys put in) and made leftovers pizza. 

 

Lil Man had a heavy dose of the (8th of a leg of bone in that was still way too much) ham and pepperoni with capsicum. 

 

Husband (who is a toppings freak - I lean heavily toward less is more) had bbq base, leftover chicken, ham, pepperoni, mushroom, capsicum & jalapeno. 

 

I ate kids leftover "leftover" pizza. 

 

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker  

 

Beets :   iPot  , Pressure-Steam  , ie in basket above water

 

plunge in cold water , until you can handle , but still very warm , peel.

 

use gloves if red hands for a day or two matter .

[chromedome]

I eat a lot of beets, and love them.

Comments upthread are correct in that roasting in-skin (or steaming or boiling if you prefer) is the best way to minimize mess and a generally Dexter-ish ambience in your kitchen. If you want to venture beyond that, you can take your cue from Dexter as well...set down plastic or foil on your work surface, glove up, and wear an apron to stop splatters from permanently re-patterning your clothing.

 

I rather like shredded/julienned beets as a salad, it captures something of the same fresh sweetness as juicing them. Another guilt pleasure is to julienne them or use my rotary mandoline/"spiralizer" to make beet noodles, and then deep-fry "nests" of them until crisp and have them with a spicy dip (a remoulade, or a well-seasoned sour cream mixture, or at times I'll just use creamed horseradish).

 

[liuzhou]

 

 

Please excuse ill-lit photographs, but it's 3°C here in the tropics and I want my dinner at least a bit warm!

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Antica Formula in place of dry vermouth.

 

This might change the final flavor profile a bit - and not too subtly.

[weinoo]

Cervo's is (was?) one of our favorite local restaurants, with a focus on sustainable seafood. They recently pivoted to become a market (Cervo's Shop) with prepared foods and stuff to take home, in a ready to cook state. Additionally, other provisions are on offer (produce, sauces, etc.), as is all of the wine one could find on their list, with the focus being natural wines from lesser heralded areas. I popped in on Sunday. and I'm sorry I waited as long as I had. They've done such a nice job of converting their tiny space...so I shopped...

 

 

I brought home a Piri Piri chicken (you do have a choice of buying it already cooked, for those so inclined), 8 really big wild Gulf shrimp (once again, to cook at home), 2 bottles of wine, and a couple of bottles of sauces. The chicken is a bigger bird than the one they were serving back in the olden times; that one, if memory serves me correctly, was served cut in half (no backbone) and cooked on the plancha...flat. with fries; this is a 3.25 lb. whole bird. 

I poached the shrimp and made a little cocktail sauce...

 

 

Useing some of the (very) hot sauce...

 

 

After roasting the bird, I cut it up a bit...

 

 

So nice and juicy (actually, Significant Eater (who, as you know, likes stuff, ummmm, cooked more than I do), mentioned that she wouldn't have minded more fire on the breast - it was just right).  You also get a pint or so of chicken "jus" which I served atop the sliced breast for her, and on the side for me to dip. Only thing missing - their splendid fries. I made twice cooked potatoes.

A great way to cook a nice dinner, without having to run all over town for the ingredients. They've got some nice special stuff for the holidays, too...

 

https://www.cervosnyc.com/

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

Im pleased to see a place transitioning in difficult times

 

and seemingly keeping their distinct take on food , and keeping their quality high.

 

good for them.

Edited December 15, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[lindag]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

I eat a lot of beets, and love them.

Comments upthread are correct in that roasting in-skin (or steaming or boiling if you prefer) is the best way to minimize mess and a generally Dexter-ish ambience in your kitchen. If you want to venture beyond that, you can take your cue from Dexter as well...set down plastic or foil on your work surface, glove up, and wear an apron to stop splatters from permanently re-patterning your clothing.

 

I rather like shredded/julienned beets as a salad, it captures something of the same fresh sweetness as juicing them. Another guilt pleasure is to julienne them or use my rotary mandoline/"spiralizer" to make beet noodles, and then deep-fry "nests" of them until crisp and have them with a spicy dip (a remoulade, or a well-seasoned sour cream mixture, or at times I'll just use creamed horseradish).

 

I also really, really love beets prepared in any fashion.  Most recently I made Harvard beets...maybe my favorite preparation.  I pressure cooked them in the IP.

Kind of old school but a winner my Mom used to make.

 

[chromedome]

1 minute ago, lindag said:

I also really, really love beets prepared in any fashion.  Most recently I made Harvard beets...maybe my favorite preparation.  I pressure cooked them in the IP.

Kind of old school but a winner my Mom used to make.

 

Yes, sweet-and-tangy is always a good combination with beets. I'll often drizzle a bit of pomegranate "molasses" over roasted beets.

[Eatmywords]

Venison lo mein udon hoisin sc - cubed loin, corn starch/h20 bath, seared in peanut oil, set aside, saute veg, incorp hoisin sc (soy, rice vgr, peanut butter, honey, ses oil, garlic), add back cubes, toss w room temp noodles. Easy peasy.

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Eatmywords (log)

[sjemac]

Wet aged venison experiment..

 

We shot a deer on the first day of the season in November when the temps were too warm for our typical aging regimen.  So the venison was cut within 24 hrs and put into the freezer but I decided to keep back a outside round (bottom round or silver side -- depending on your location) roast and wet age it over 21 days.  

 

Vac-packed the roast and let it hang in the refrigerator for 7 days before opening it up and slicing off the top third which I repacked labelled and put in the freezer. Drained and dried the remaining portion and repacked to hang out for another 7 days before I repeated the procedure above -- except I cut the roast in half. The last third hung our for another 7 days before being opened dried and repacked to go into the freezer.  I left them all frozen for 2 weeks before opening them all up for testing.

 

 

Aprearance-wise, all three steaks looked the same.  Odor-wise, the 7 day aged meat had almost no odor while both the 14 day and 21 day had a meatier aroma that was still clean and not off-putting in the least.

 

 

All three portions were cut in half, given a simple salt and pepper treatment and pan fried in canola oil to an interior temp of 130 F.

 

 

The center cut portions of each steak had a similar appearance.  As for taste?  Our panel of three expert carnivores (my sons and I) all agreed that the 7 day aged steak was fine but rather flat tasting compared to the others.  It was also the toughest, despite coming from what is typically the most tender portion of the roast.  Opinions were split as to which of the other two tasted better with a consensus that there wasn't much difference between them -- both were flavorful and much more complex than the 7 day portions.  On tenderness, there was a 2-1 split in favor of the 21 day aged meat.  The dissent may have come because one boy had their 21 day portion from the bottom of the roast, near to where it attaches to the femur, and that portion is typically tougher to begin with.  Again, the difference was so subtle that it wouldn't have been noticed normally.  Regardless, there were no leftovers.

 

 

The verdict was that wet aging venison for up to 14 days can improve it's flavor and texture significantly.  Beyond that doesn't seem to be worth the time or effort however.  In the future, I will take the other outside round that is in the freezer, defrost it, drain and dry it and then repack it and let it hang out as a whole cut in the refrigerator for 14 days to see if the results are similar.

Edited December 15, 2020 by sjemac (log)

[rotuts]

@sjemac 

 

Excellent experiment and Analysis !

 

I don't have any deer , but several pass through my back yard during the winter and early spring.

 

I doubt Id be allowed to shoot any though,

 

nor process them  

 

Id be able to Vac them p though !

 

have you tried to SV the steaks >  130.1  un til tender for you

 

then chill / pan sear ?

 

Id bet you'd love it !

 

thanks again for you analysis.

[liamsaunt]

Haddock baked with garlic-ritz cracker crumbs, honeyed carrots and a mix of purple and white potatoes sliced and roasted until crispy.

 

[rotuts]

@sjemac 

 

"" I will take the other outside round that is in the freezer, defrost it, drain and dry it and then repack it and let it hang out as a whole cut in the refrigerator for 14 days to see if the results are similar ""

 

I wonder id the drying out and repacking are necessary  .

 

It might make the resulting package more attractive , but it might also add

 

contaminants   .   Id üst refrigerator defrost as long as the package is still

 

tightly sealed , then start your counter when fully thawed in the refrigerator.

 

just my 2 cents.     I feel w aging , less manipulation that might introduce contamination the better

 

up to you

 

pse include us here w your steps.

 

thanks y0u

 

[mgaretz]

Panko-herb-breaded chicken tenders, made in the BSOA on air fryer mode, served with leftover veggie-rice pilaf.

 

 

[sjemac]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@sjemac 

 

 

 

have you tried to SV the steaks >  130.1  un til tender for you

 

I have SV them. They are good but I generally like them so rare that a minute per side right on the coals is all I need.  I am currently SV ruffed grouse legs in butter and thyme for 12hrs though.  We'll see how that turns out.

8 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@sjemac 

 

"" I will take the other outside round that is in the freezer, defrost it, drain and dry it and then repack it and let it hang out as a whole cut in the refrigerator for 14 days to see if the results are similar ""

 

I wonder id the drying out and repacking are necessary  .

 

It might make the resulting package more attractive , but it might also add

 

contaminants   .   Id üst refrigerator defrost as long as the package is still

 

tightly sealed , then start your counter when fully thawed in the refrigerator.

 

just my 2 cents.     I feel w aging , less manipulation that might introduce contamination the better

 

up to you

 

pse include us here w your steps.

 

thanks y0u

 

You may be right but when I am comparing, I want to make sure all the same steps are followed for each cut.  I'll try another time without opening the bag.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

This might change the final flavor profile a bit - and not too subtly.

 

So would burning the shallots.

 

[scamhi]

dinner last night

oi muchim Korean marinated cucumbers

and a spicy shrimp stir fry oyster sauce, honey, chili crisp. with a thinly sliced serrano, scallions and cilantro topping.

and chablis

[Owtahear]

Italian beef braciole with Sunday "gravy" meatball sauce

[Franci]

Yesterday we had tofu, it’s very similar to the eggplant in fish fragrant sauce many are familiar with, I am sure,  but with tofu and any vegetable available. 

 

Today we had a almaco jack,  which I simply cooked in the blue steel. Some roasted potatoes, roasted tasteless acorn squash 🙄, some broccoli and steam rice no photo. 

 

[patti]

Leftover soup and take-out wings. 
 

[Ann_T]

On 12/13/2020 at 6:07 PM, robirdstx said:

 

 

The last of Friday Night’s Bar-B-Q Brisket and Jalapeño Sausage with Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans

 

OOOH those roasted potatoes are perfect.   

 

@patti, I would love a few of your zucchini fries.  

 

Made two 500g(flour) batches of dough today at 80% hydration, destined for pizza tomorrow. In the fridge for a longer cold fermentation.

And one batch at 1000g (flour) at 72% hydration for a same day bake.

Moe loves escargot, so I made him escargot in mushroom caps for dinner with

baguette to sop up the garlic butter wine sauce.

 

[CantCookStillTry]

Master 7 requested Curry, Rice and Papadum for dinner - and I shortcutted the cr×p out of it - shamelessly. I had a jar sauce I picked up from a newly opened indian grocer in the nearest city, so I had a semi feeling of authenticity - but then I pondered the supposed origins of Tikka Masala and lost it... however this sauce was not tomatoey or creamy or luminous red so who knows 🤷‍♀️. Microwave Rice (Yes I'll get my coat) and I did at least fry the Pappadum discs myself... and brown the chicken. 

 

Big Lord and Small Master appeased.