Dinner 2021

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Certainly not as lovely as @liuzhou's chicken dish above (and really, remember to take the picture before starting to dig in), a chicken dish based on a Fuchsia Dunlop Hunanese recipe, out of her Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

 

Numbing-And-Hot Chicken - ma la zi ji.

We commented on how different the taste of this dish is compared to so much other Chinese food we either eat out (or once ate at restaurants), as well as what I cook at home from various books and other sources. Reason? No sugar at all in the dish - maybe a touch from the dark soy in the marinade, but that's it. As Fuchsia relates in the introduction to Hunanese food at the beginning of the book: "sugar is often absent from the mise-en-place of the professional Hunanese Kitchen, and sweet foods play almost no part in everyday dining."

 

This dish, with its use of Szechuan pepper, is evidently an interesting deviation from culinary norms.

 

 

Well thanks!

I lived in Hunan for two years in the 1990s and this was a favourite dish. Yes, no sugar! As a person with zero sweet tooth I was delighted.

Hunan food is still my favourite and sadly it is mostly unknown outside of China, despite the number of "Hunan" restaurants in the west. It is not only less sweet but probably the spiciest of China's cuisines - more so than Sichuan, I'd say.

I'm not quite sure what she means by the last sentence. Sichuan pepper is common in Hunan cuisine, if less so than in Sichuan.

[KennethT]

7 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Well thanks!

I lived in Hunan for two years in the 1990s and this was a favourite dish. Yes, no sugar! As a person with zero sweet tooth I was delighted.

Hunan food is still my favourite and sadly it is mostly unknown outside of China, despite the number of "Hunan" restaurants in the west. It is not only less sweet but probably the spiciest of China's cuisines - more so than Sichuan, I'd say.

I'm not quite sure what she means by the last sentence. Sichuan pepper is common in Hunan cuisine, if less so than in Sichuan.

there's a hunan restaurant right around the corner from my new apartment. It's a family run place who come from Hunan province and their dishes are really spicy.  Most of the staff speak somewhat broken English, but they try and are very nice... the first time I was in there, I ordered my noodles the normal spicy, and the young woman behind the counter got a horrified look on her face and begged me to get it "medium".  I finally relented and I was glad I did - the medium almost blew my head off.  Filled with tons of chopped fresh chilli that definitely were not a standard US chilli or a thai chilli which are the common ones here....  but it was really tasty...

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I ordered my noodles the normal spicy, and the young woman behind the counter got a horrified look on her face and begged me to get it "medium".

 

I've only twice not been able to finish a dish because it was just TOO spicy. Once in Thailand and once in Hunan. Both times were far from tourist places or places foreigners might turn up, so they didn't think to warn me!

The restaurant in Hunan was very near my home and I returned many times, but never had that dish again!

Edited March 3, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[scamhi]

8 minutes ago, KennethT said:

there's a hunan restaurant right around the corner from my new apartment. It's a family run place who come from Hunan province and their dishes are really spicy.  Most of the staff speak somewhat broken English, but they try and are very nice... the first time I was in there, I ordered my noodles the normal spicy, and the young woman behind the counter got a horrified look on her face and begged me to get it "medium".  I finally relented and I was glad I did - the medium almost blew my head off.  Filled with tons of chopped fresh chilli that definitely were not a standard US chilli or a thai chilli which are the common ones here....  but it was really tasty...

@KennethTcan you name that hunan place? When we return to NYC I would like to try it.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

I'm not quite sure what she means by the last sentence. Sichuan pepper is common in Hunan cuisine, if less so than in Sichuan.

 

Right from the horse's mouth...

 

 

 

 

 

57 minutes ago, KennethT said:

there's a hunan restaurant right around the corner from my new apartment. It's a family run place who come from Hunan province and their dishes are really spicy.  Most of the staff speak somewhat broken English, but they try and are very nice... the first time I was in there, I ordered my noodles the normal spicy, and the young woman behind the counter got a horrified look on her face and begged me to get it "medium".  I finally relented and I was glad I did - the medium almost blew my head off.  Filled with tons of chopped fresh chilli that definitely were not a standard US chilli or a thai chilli which are the common ones here....  but it was really tasty...

 

Hunan Slurp, Silky Kitchen, or something newer?

 

[liamsaunt]

Salmon, tomato and spinach coconut curry, naan

 

[liuzhou]

25 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Right from the horse's mouth...

 

a horse I often disagree with!

[mgaretz]

Tri-tip steak, cooked SV the seared, served with steamed broccolini.

 

 

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Hunan Slurp, Silky Kitchen, or something newer?

 

@scamhi Yes, Silky Kitchen.  I haven't been there since pre-pandemic, but I enjoyed it when I was there.  Also, their dumplings are fantastic, but I don't know how they would travel - the skins are thin and delicate.  Every time I was there, it was packed with Chinese NYU students.    I haven't tried Hunan slurp yet but am curious.

[weinoo]

12 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I haven't tried Hunan slurp yet but am curious.

Very good. 

[Kim Shook]

@chileheadmike – I love your rib meal.  I just added them to my menu list of things to make soon! 

 

@Dejah – fish and chips might be my favorite meal.  Yours looks great.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen pickerel. 

 

@Shelby– as always, gorgeous fries!  And Ronnie’s chicken has me in full yearning mode.  I really wish that Mr. Kim’s schedule allowed for some smoking being done.  I love smoked poultry so much. 

 

@MommyDragonsDen – my family (Mr. Kim and 37-year-old Jessica) join me in praising your prawn lanterns.  Completely charming. 

 

@gfweb – lovely blanket of cheese on your cannelloni!  Shredded or sliced?

 

My dad and his wife are moving back to Virginia from Florida after 20-some years.  Sunday, on the drive up, they stopped for a safely distanced visit. 

 

Since retiring, Daddy can’t live without Happy Hour:

Smokehouse almonds, cheese straws, PB pretzel nuggets, kalamata olives, and bleu cheese stuffed olives. 

 

Dinner started with a salad of napa and romaine dressed with the Momofuku dressing and topped with fried rice noodles:

 

Creamy Swiss, Chicken, & Noodles:

This is a casserole-type all in one meal that’s made in a large sauté pan.  It was too thick and needed some chicken stock at the end.  Jessica suggested that some toasted slivered almonds would be good, and it needs more broccoli.  All that being said, it tasted great and is really the perfect comfort food for a cold night.  Lucky to find some Billy Bread (a locally produced sourdough bread) at Kroger that morning:

 

I had planned a breakfast in case they had time for it Monday morning.  They ended up needing to get away really early, so we had breakfast for dinner.  We had Ham & Cheese Croissant Strata.  Croissant bottoms and Swiss slices:

 

With ham:

 

Topped:

 

With the custard and the cheese (Gruyere) topping:

 

 

Out of the oven:

 

 

Served with mango/pear/blackberry with lime fruit salad:

 

And, BTW, that internet mango peeling hack WORKS:

[heidih]

@Kim Shook What a comfort food feast. Some days it should be medically prescribed.  I think you showed those fried noodles often in your everyday salad. The ones I get are wheat and bit thicker. Labeled fried chow mein noodles in the regular grocers - usually La Choy brand who also does similar rice ones.  They just hit the crunch spot at times as do French's fried onions.

[Objective Foodie]

Roasted chicken leg with mole poblano, salsa verde and homemade flour tortillas.

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Objective Foodie (log)

[MaryIsobel]

Lame first post...

I have just joined in and to spite me, our 7 year old Electrolux induction cooktop/electric oven decided that it needs a new motherboard. Should be here by Sunday. Not terribly concerning since I have an induction hot plate, a large convection toaster/air fryer oven, an Instapot, a crockpot, a microwave..

However, I can and will use this as an excuse to go easy on meals for the next couple of days. Breakfast for dinner tonight. New recipe for oatmeal pancakes, some locally made pork sausages and fruit salad ( for which the fruite cost 4x as much as the rest of the ingredients for the meal!)

@Kim Shooka very similar croissant casserole (although ours has mushrooms, which I realize you can't abide) is a must have for our Easter brunch.

 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Objective Foodie said:

homemade flour tortillas.

What's your recipe? I'm gonna have a go at this tomorrow for the first time.

[Norm Matthews]

Charlie suggested hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  We ate outside.  I tried a new brand of hot dogs:   Wimmer's Las Vegas Brand made in Illinois.  They were really fat and kind of long.  They tasted like i remember hot dogs tasting when I was young.  Charlie like them too. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Norm Matthews (log)

[gfweb]

@Kim Shook Looks cheesy, but not cheese...bechamel with a bit of parm folded-in. (Not enough to call it a Mornay, though @weinoo). 

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Lame first post...

I have just joined in and to spite me, our 7 year old Electrolux induction cooktop/electric oven decided that it needs a new motherboard. Should be here by Sunday. Not terribly concerning since I have an induction hot plate, a large convection toaster/air fryer oven, an Instapot, a crockpot, a microwave..

However, I can and will use this as an excuse to go easy on meals for the next couple of days. Breakfast for dinner tonight. New recipe for oatmeal pancakes, some locally made pork sausages and fruit salad ( for which the fruite cost 4x as much as the rest of the ingredients for the meal!)

@Kim Shooka very similar croissant casserole (although ours has mushrooms, which I realize you can't abide) is a must have for our Easter brunch.

 

Welcome!  Not lame    Breakfast for dinner is my go to when I'm just done lol.

[patti]

Didn’t want to cook and didn’t want to eat things we have that are cooked, so we had food delivered. My husband’s burrito not shown. 
 

Shrimp and scallop ceviche, with a bit of crab meat, and bacon wrapped grilled shrimp, chips and salsa. 
 

Edited March 4, 2021 by patti (log)

[patti]

5 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Welcome!  Not lame    Breakfast for dinner is my go to when I'm just done lol.

I agree, not lame! Welcome, @MaryIsobel!

Edited March 4, 2021 by patti (log)

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, patti said:

Didn’t want to cook and didn’t want to eat things we have that are cooked, so we had food delivered. My husband’s burrito not shown. 
 

Shrimp and scallop ceviche, with a bit of crab meat, and bacon wrapped grilled shrimp, chips and salsa. 
 

I DREAMED about ceviche last night. Not shrimp but a white fish. WANT.

[patti]

@ShelbyThe restaurant we ordered from has been a little inconsistent with the ceviche. It was always great when I had it dining in, but delivered, occasionally not up to par. They hit it right tonight, though, and I’m happy. I hope you get your whitefish ceviche soon!

Edited March 4, 2021 by patti (log)

[Ann_T]

There are so many wonderful meals. 

11 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Salmon, tomato and spinach coconut curry, naan

@liamsaunt, I'm going to have to steal this idea for some of the salmon I have in the freezer.   

 

Moe said he wouldn't mind a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy.

I had a small New York Strip Roast that I presalted and roasted in my new oven tonight.  

 

Roasted on high heat.  Yorkshire Pudding, mashed potatoes and gravy and frozen peas.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

[weinoo]

This past Saturday, we went out for a passeggiata, usually a stroll taken before settling down for dinner. Only problem was I had no idea what I was making for dinner...and it was approaching the time where I really needed to start thinking about that. Didn't want to do much - some days are like that, no?

 

But we strolled by Cervo's, and I popped in for a peek and got inspired. They had nice looking clams and mussels, so I bought a dozen of each, and a Bien Cuit baguette, thinking I'd just steam the shellfish in some stuff and we could sop up the juices with the bread.

 

But I changed course when I got home. First...

 

 

Steamed open the shellfish in white wine and a bit of saffron, and took almost all of them out of their shells and strained the liquor. Decided to go a little fancier as there was a bit of marinara in the fridge.

 

 

Spaghetti with clams and mussels. Topped with Calabrian chilis. And garlic bread!  

Not bad for getting everything prepped and on the table in well under an hour.

Edited March 4, 2021 by weinoo (log)