Dinner 2021

[rotuts]

@mgaretz 

 

your trip-tip

 

always looks so delectable/

[TdeV]

3 hours ago, scamhi said:

chicken lettuce wraps last night, topped with some chili crisp

 

Scamhi, what is a chili crisp?

[KennethT]

31 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

Scamhi, what is a chili crisp?

https://www.google.com/search?q=lao+gan+ma+chili+crisp&sxsrf=ALeKk03hZkdFYnVFyBtFvbVq5SjM_Diq2w%3A1621614596912&source=hp&ei=BOCnYIyCNaezgget9rnACQ&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYKfuFBe4D1hxkfYpMAsmbFV8UJdfxvi0&oq=lao+gan+ma&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYATIFCAAQsQMyAggAMgIIADICCAA6BAgjECc6BQgAEJECOggIABCxAxDJAzoFCAAQkgM6CgguELEDEIMBEEM6CwguELEDEMcBEKMCOgQILhAKOgQIABAKOgUILhCTAjoHCC4QsQMQCjoHCAAQsQMQCjoICC4QxwEQrwE6CAguELEDEJMCOgUILhCxA1CEA1j8VGD9XmgMcAB4AIABqgGIAaAMkgEEMTUuM5gBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=gws-wiz

[Kim Shook]

General question re: Air Fryers.  We got Jessica one for Christmas – a Gourmia 5 quart model.  She brought it over and we used it one time to make fried shrimp.  Our biggest take away was that the basket was small and that food would have to be cooked in batches.  Cooking enough shrimp for the three of us ended up involving lots of waiting.  Were we doing something wrong?  Are you supposed to pile the food up in the basket?  I’ve never heard anyone else complain about this aspect of an Air Fryer. 

 

My only contribution to the grilled Romaine discussion is this:

This was a tiny little heart of Romaine (probably 3-4-inches long) that was perched on my main course at Café Constant in Paris 10 years ago.  It was lightly grilled, with no color at all – just a remarkable flavor that the grill imparted.  And 10 years later, I still remember the flavor and texture. 

 

@heidih – I literally like raw pieces of russets or boilers.  I’ve always liked them.  My mom would cut her potatoes for French fries the night before she was planning to serve them.  I would come home after school and, despite knowing it meant I’d not have any fries at dinner, nibble and nibble until my share was gone.  I was a weird kid - my mom kept a "goody basket" full of small candy bars on top to the fridge and I stole raw potatoes 🤪.  I still nibble a few when I’m peeling and cutting up potatoes for something.

 

The folks in Australia have me searching locally for good sausages.  I’ve put Toad in the Hole on next week’s menu plan, @CantCookStillTry and @Captain! 

 

@liuzhou – your potatoes remind me of what I got when I tried making “Melting potatoes”.  I never got the crisp outside I was promised, but cooking in the broth/sauce gave me an incredible flavor. 

 

Well, I have been making some pretty questionable meals lately.  Lunch yesterday was Velveeta nachos and frozen Jamaican patties!  Night before last was fish sticks:

These are called The Ultimate Fish Sticks and they’re sold at Costco.  They really are so much better than the usual frozen ones.  Mr. Kim said that if he’d had these as a kid (grew up a RC), he wouldn’t have thought he hated fish for as long as he did.  Also broccoli, fries, and tots.  Served with sliced Campari tomatoes and Jiffy corn muffins (per another topic):

 

The muffins rose oddly in the CSO but were fine when pulled apart.

 

And last night was hot dogs:

Along with fixed up Bush’s baked beans, pickly stuff, and “chippy dip” (family slang).  And some yellow squash for Mr. Kim:

It looks a little odd because I used a purple onion. 

[Anna N]

16 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

General question re: Air Fryers.  We got Jessica one for Christmas – a Gourmia 5 quart model.  She brought it over and we used it one time to make fried shrimp.  Our biggest take away was that the basket was small and that food would have to be cooked in batches.  Cooking enough shrimp for the three of us ended up involving lots of waiting.  Were we doing something wrong?  Are you supposed to pile the food up in the basket?  I’ve never heard anyone else complain about this aspect of an Air Fryer. 

I can only say that the one that I enjoyed for a brief while didn’t strike me as capable of feeding more two very light eaters. It seemed perfect for one order of chicken wings or one order of fries but not much more than that. 

[Shelby]

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I can only say that the one that I enjoyed for a brief while didn’t strike me as capable of feeding more two very light eaters. It seemed perfect for one order of chicken wings or one order of fries but not much more than that. 

Ditto.

 

Homemade potato chips are KILLER made in the air fryer, but even for just Ronnie and I, it took forever because the batches were so small.  I think I toyed with making chips when our hunter friend was here and nixed the idea because it would have taken hours lol.

[mgaretz]

45 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

General question re: Air Fryers.  We got Jessica one for Christmas – a Gourmia 5 quart model.  She brought it over and we used it one time to make fried shrimp.  Our biggest take away was that the basket was small and that food would have to be cooked in batches.  Cooking enough shrimp for the three of us ended up involving lots of waiting.  Were we doing something wrong?  Are you supposed to pile the food up in the basket?  I’ve never heard anyone else complain about this aspect of an Air Fryer.

Which in one of the reasons I love my BSOA. Plenty of capacity. But now many offer smaller toaster ovens with air frying features that have more capacity than your typical air fryer. But that comes at a price.  They tend to cook slower and/or require more temperature. 

[Duvel]

At the end of a rough week I was feeling for some comfort food - lamb specifically ...

 

 

Slow roasted leg of lamb, sourced from a local Turkish butcher. Their lamb is fantastic ...

 

 

Served with oven roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, onion) ...

 

 

And garlicky white beans, cooked in the last 1.5h with the lamb ...

 

Simple, yet very satisfying !

 

[aliénor]

what is bsoa..... it's  mystery to me????????

54 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

Which in one of the reasons I love my BSOA. Plenty of capacity. But now many offer smaller toaster ovens with air frying features that have more capacity than your typical air fryer. But that comes at a price.  They tend to cook slower and/or require more temperature. 

 

[heidih]

31 minutes ago, Duvel said:

At the end of a rough week I was feeling for some comfort food - lamb specifically ...

 

 

Slow roasted leg of lamb, sourced from a local Turkish butcher. Their lamb is fantastic ...

 

 

Served with oven roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, onion) ...

 

 

And garlicky white beans, cooked in the last 1.5h with the lamb ...

 

Simple, yet very satisfying !

 

The sides are great but the lamb itself is screaming to me. It looks dark roasted. Was there a sort of crust or just pullable sweet meat? Thanks for the porn.

[Duvel]

8 minutes ago, heidih said:

The sides are great but the lamb itself is screaming to me. It looks dark roasted. Was there a sort of crust or just pullable sweet meat? Thanks for the porn.

There was a nice crunchy crust from the subcutaneous fat layer, that I left on the meat ...

 

 

The leg was rubbed with oil and salt and roasted with rosemary, garlic and onions in a closed cast iron for 5.5h, then 30 min without the lid. After 4.5h I removed the accumulated juices (for the sauce), put in white beans and finished as described above ...

[weinoo]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

No. The texture was as normal. Just the taste knocked me out. The way they absorbed the vinegary taste with hints of chicken fat.

 

Interesting; one of the reasons to toss potatoes with the vinegar soon after cooking (i.e. while still hot) when making potato salad, is because of how well they absorb the vinegar taste. I wonder if actually adding vinegar to the cooking water would bump that up even more.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I can only say that the one that I enjoyed for a brief while didn’t strike me as capable of feeding more two very light eaters. It seemed perfect for one order of chicken wings or one order of fries but not much more than that. 

The Breville Smart Oven Air has a big basket that fills the whole capacious oven.

 

It can handle about 30 or so chicken wings

[Anna N]

Just now, gfweb said:

The Breville Smart Oven Air has a big basket that fills the whole capacious oven.

 

It can handle about 30 or so chicken wings

Yes but it’s an oven. I think we were talking about Air Fryers. 

[mgaretz]

43 minutes ago, aliénor said:

what is bsoa..... it's  mystery to me????????

 

 

Breville Smart Oven Air

[gfweb]

8 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Yes but it’s an oven. I think we were talking about Air Fryers. 

 It is an airfryer as well.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-smart-oven-air/?pkey=celectrics-breville

Edited May 21, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[Anna N]

21 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 It is an airfryer as well.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-smart-oven-air/?pkey=celectrics-breville

Yes I do know that but the Air Fryer is a unique appliance. Its capacity is limited by its design. . 

[Toliver]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

Ditto.

 

Homemade potato chips are KILLER made in the air fryer, but even for just Ronnie and I, it took forever because the batches were so small.  I think I toyed with making chips when our hunter friend was here and nixed the idea because it would have taken hours lol.

 

15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Yes I do know that but the Air Fryer is a unique appliance. Its capacity is limited by its design. . 

It's funny how there are a ka-billion accessories for the Instant Pot, yet none for Air Fryers.

Why can't someone invent a rack that would give you two layers for the food?

That would double your output. It's the heated air that cooks the food, not direct contact with any sort of heated metal.

A second rack sounds doable unless I am not understanding the technology here.

[AlaMoi]

doable, but requires some checking.

 

if the stuff on the second rack absorbs so much heat that the elements can't keep up..... soggy, not crisp....

[Shelby]

18 minutes ago, Toliver said:

 

It's funny how there are a ka-billion accessories for the Instant Pot, yet none for Air Fryers.

Why can't someone invent a rack that would give you two layers for the food?

That would double your output. It's the heated air that cooks the food, not direct contact with any sort of heated metal.

A second rack sounds doable unless I am not understanding the technology here.

I'd think with all the smart people out there that it would happen.  

 

Again, the potato chips were SO good...but that's how much of a pain it was.  I've only made them once.

[AlaMoi]

tonight was beer battered/Tempura butterflied shrimp . . .

 

the batter is slightly involved - one cup flour + salt + pinch red pepper + Old Bay

into one cup of beer, whisk two egg yolks - reserve whites

 

split the shrimp and pat dry

 

when ready to start the deep fry (375'F)....

whip the two egg whites to stiff peak

add beer liquid to dry ingredients

fold in whipped egg whites.

 

for this excursion I used 1/2 cup AP + 1/2 cup rice flour - I like it!

 

the batter is on the thin side:

 

results:

 

[gfweb]

Pasta, chard and sausage

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

49 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Pasta, chard and sausage

 

 A bowl, please.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

I can only say that the one that I enjoyed for a brief while didn’t strike me as capable of feeding more two very light eaters. It seemed perfect for one order of chicken wings or one order of fries but not much more than that. 

 

How do you air fry your potatoes?  I have potatoes and I have an APO.  I've been hungry for French fries.  But not hungry enough to double fry a batch in oil.

 

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, AlaMoi said:

doable, but requires some checking.

 

if the stuff on the second rack absorbs so much heat that the elements can't keep up..... soggy, not crisp....

What about a full ring/rack like what they make for woks (click)? It'd have to have legs to raise the rack to mid-pan.

If the center isn't blocked by food, then you'd still have good convection air circulation.

There's a steamer rack, too (click) that might work, too but might need to be a bit taller depending on the thickness of whatever is being air-fried on the bottom layer.

I don't have a dog in this fight (to quote TV's Dr. Phil) but it seems like there's an easy answer out there.

Maybe eGullet needs its own line of cookware and accessories.