Dinner 2021

[dcarch]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Last night’s dinner.  Individual rib chops were not to be had so I was forced to purchase a rack and break it down.  First real test of my new butcher knife.  Spring would not be spring without a brand new knife.

 

 

Impressive camera / photographic work!

I mean technically and artistically.

 

dcarch

[weinoo]

14 hours ago, Wait. Wot said:

Here they are waiting for a quick rinse before they go back into the fridge.

 

They look nice and plump - any special bird?

[Wait. Wot]

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

They look nice and plump - any special bird?

Perdue organic chicken, so no, nothing special.

[weinoo]

Finally had dinner at a favorite restaurant last night, the one which had pivoted to being one of my main suppliers during the lockdown, Cervo's.  They have built an impressive structure out on Canal St., as they won't be opening indoors for a while (indoors is tiny). Canal St. between Essex and Orchard is barricaded to traffic most evenings (I think it's not barricaded on Mondays). We were seated in the inner outer portion, and even though I'm generally not happy to eat outside, this was fine. It's a constant fashion show too, which is kinda fun and annoying at the same time.

 

It's that time of year we call Manhattanhenge, so if people aren't crazy enough, this is just one more reason to be.

 

 

The view from our table...

 

 

That's the Jarmulowsky Bank Building (ca. 1912), which has been undergoing renovations for about forever. It's gorgeous, and allegedly going to be a hotel. We'll see.

 

 

When you're eating Cervo's take on Spanish/Portuguese food, start with vermut, why not?

 

Cervo's produces delicious food - it's not photogenic, however.

 

 

Soft-shell crab, with asparagus in delicious saucy stuff. 

 

We also had stuffed piquillo peppers (with rice and clams), fried wild shrimp heads (the same shrimp I'd been buying over the preceding months), and split a lamb burger with fries. Good to be out for dinner.

Edited June 5, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[shain]

Japanese curry with vegetables and tofu-katsu.

 

 

[Shelby]

Needed my spaghetti night so venison meatballs it was.

 

 

My friend gave me another bowl of her strawberries!!!  I'm spoiled!!!  Made another crisp.

 

 

Threw a corned beef bought around St. Pat's in the pressure cooker and made sandwiches with the last of the homemade sauerkraut.

 

 

Lots of lettuce to use from the garden so a big salad topped with everything I could find and some leftover fried chicken.

 

 

 

 

[scamhi]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Cervo's produces delicious food - it's not photogenic, however.

 

 

Soft-shell crab, with asparagus in delicious saucy stuff. 

 

We also had stuffed piquillo peppers (with rice and clams), fried wild shrimp heads (the same shrimp I'd been buying over the preceding months), and split a lamb burger with fries. Good to be out for dinner.

I would never had guessed soft shell crab by that picture.

Edited June 5, 2021 by scamhi
removed other pictures from post (log)

[weinoo]

40 minutes ago, scamhi said:

I would never had guessed soft shell crab by that picture.

 

Right?!  Hard to tell until you start eating it. There's also a lot of freshly grated horseradish, which they love to use!

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

My friend gave me another bowl of her strawberries!!!  I'm spoiled!!!  Made another crisp.

 

Those look great.

[Shelby]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Those look great.

The only ones I've had that were sweeter were ones that grew wild up in the mountains where I used to live.

 

This variety gets a little squishy quickly so I had to use them...otherwise I would have eaten them just as they are.

 

We've decided to plant some...we'll see if we can grow them like she does :)

[Wait. Wot]

31 minutes ago, Shelby said:

 

We've decided to plant some...we'll see if we can grow them like she does :)

Ask her to give you some runners that have started to root.

[mgaretz]

Strange-ish stir fry with chicken, spinach, Brussels sprouts, carrots and celery.

 

 

[shain]

One more from the backlog.

3 cheesed mac and cheese, with 1/3 of it being smoked Gouda. Topped with cornflakes. I love this dish

 

[heidih]

39 minutes ago, shain said:

One more from the backlog.

3 cheesed mac and cheese, with 1/3 of it being smoked Gouda. Topped with cornflakes. I love this dish

 

Are the cornflakes "as is" or is there any oil involved? - guess wondering if they integrate with the M&C. Looks like a comfporting winner.

[shain]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Are the cornflakes "as is" or is there any oil involved? - guess wondering if they integrate with the M&C. Looks like a comfporting winner.

 

I used to mix them with some melted butter, and add to the dish before baking.

But being a crunch-addict I ended up just putting them on before serving (because the section of flakes that contacts the pasta softens as it bakes). 

When added post baking, butter is mostly for flavor and I feel it's a bit of gilding the lily.

 

Also, I only use Kelogs for this (some brands have vanilla, too much sugar or lack the toasty taste).

[liamsaunt]

On 6/4/2021 at 10:26 AM, TicTac said:

This looks REALLY good.  Love the layers of flavours that one can enjoy in Indian cuisine.  Can you share more about the Kale Tomato Saag?  I have some Swiss Chard growing that I might have a go at this dish with....

 

The kale is a mash up of two Meera Sodha recipes.  The base is the sauce from her Bombay Eggs recipe, minus the eggs and spinach.  The rest of it is her paneer kale saag recipe, except without the paneer because I already had paneer in the other dish.  Both recipes are readily available online.  It was very tasty, and used up two bunches of kale (and then of course I got more kale in my CSA 🙂 )

 

Last night, a very brown meal.  My nephew has been asking for homemade pupu platter food since his crustacean allergy means he cannot eat at the local Chinese-American restaurants.  Here is his plate: vegetable fried rice (I swear there are vegetables in there: bean sprouts, chopped up scallions and greens, ginger and garlic.  No peas because my niece hates them).  Crabless rangoons (just cream cheese, scallions, and sriracha in the filling).  Beef teriyaki strips, and egg rolls.  I was tricky and put his uneaten pork larb from the other night mixed with sautéed napa cabbage and carrots in them and he devoured them hahahaha.  I made vegetarian egg rolls also, for my sister and me. 

 

[MaryIsobel]

18 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Last night’s dinner.  Individual rib chops were not to be had so I was forced to purchase a rack and break it down.  First real test of my new butcher knife.  Spring would not be spring without a brand new knife.

 

Every time I see one of your baked potatoes, I get to jonesing for one that looks like that. Would you mind sharing how you do them?

[cteavin]

On 6/5/2021 at 3:36 AM, Wait. Wot said:

Getting ready for Sunday dinner party. Food will be simple. My NTTSR (never twice the same results) smoked chicken, our own asparagus and salad. Haven't thought about wine pairings, yet. 

 

Chickens swimming in brine.

 

That's a beautiful photo.

[MaryIsobel]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

The only ones I've had that were sweeter were ones that grew wild up in the mountains where I used to live.

 

This variety gets a little squishy quickly so I had to use them...otherwise I would have eaten them just as they are.

 

We've decided to plant some...we'll see if we can grow them like she does :)

I'm counting the days (should only be a week or so) til our local strawberries are ready. Oddly, we are surrounded by berry fields here in the Fraser Valley, but I cannot  grow them. Critter and birds are a big part of my problem. Hmmm, perhaps I need a bird cannon such as some of the nearby farmers employ...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

26 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Every time I see one of your baked potatoes, I get to jonesing for one that looks like that. Would you mind sharing how you do them?

 

Thank you.  Rub the skin of the washed and dried potatoes with oil.  I use grapeseed.  Bake 2 hours at 425F in a bed of salt.  I usually poke the potatoes with a fork after about 45 minutes.  Timing is not critical.  The potato in the photograph was a large one and it baked for almost 3 hours (partially because of rum).

 

If memory serves, credit for the method goes to Richard Olney.  Now, if only I could make half good mashed potatoes.

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

42 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Thank you.  Rub the skin of the washed and dried potatoes with oil.  I use grapeseed.  Bake 2 hours at 425F in a bed of salt.  I usually poke the potatoes with a fork after about 45 minutes.  Timing is not critical.  The potato in the photograph was a large one and it baked for almost 3 hours (partially because of rum).

 

If memory serves, credit for the method goes to Richard Olney.  Now, if only I could make half good mashed potatoes.

 

 

Thank you - will definitely try this method. Do you reuse the salt bed or use new every time? I have always been hesitant to rub the potatoes with oil, as I assumed that it would make the skins soft but apparently I have been underbaking them for an hour or so...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

29 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Thank you - will definitely try this method. Do you reuse the salt bed or use new every time? I have always been hesitant to rub the potatoes with oil, as I assumed that it would make the skins soft but apparently I have been underbaking them for an hour or so...

 

I reuse the salt.  It would be an expensive dinner otherwise.  I'd use rock salt if I had it, but what I use is Diamond Kosher salt.

 

[MokaPot]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Thank you.  Rub the skin of the washed and dried potatoes with oil.  I use grapeseed.  Bake 2 hours at 425F in a bed of salt.  I usually poke the potatoes with a fork after about 45 minutes.  Timing is not critical.  The potato in the photograph was a large one and it baked for almost 3 hours (partially because of rum).

 

If memory serves, credit for the method goes to Richard Olney.  Now, if only I could make half good mashed potatoes.

 

 

 

@JoNorvelleWalker, your baked potato does look really good. What size oven do you use? Also, have you ever not used a bed of salt? If yes, how did the potatoes come out (no bed of salt)? When you say "timing is not critical," are you talking about the 45 minutes (when you poke your potatoes) or the 2-hour total cook time? Thanks!

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Just now, MokaPot said:

 

@JoNorvelleWalker, your baked potato does look really good. What size oven do you use? Also, have you ever not used a bed of salt? If yes, how did the potatoes come out (no bed of salt)? When you say "timing is not critical," are you talking about the 45 minutes (when you poke your potatoes) or the 2-hour total cook time? Thanks!

 

 

Both.  Sometimes I neglect to poke the potatoes and they come out fine.

 

I can't recall not using salt.  I think that's what the Joy of Cooking copy I had in college said to do.  My oven is a regular apartment sized GE oven.  I once tried a potato in the CSO (CSO recipe book instructions) and was disappointed.

 

[MaryIsobel]

57 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I reuse the salt.  It would be an expensive dinner otherwise.  I'd use rock salt if I had it, but what I use is Diamond Kosher salt.

 

I thought the same thing regarding expense if the salt isn't reused. Not terribly familiar with rock salt and have never seen it for sale. I thought that was what they used for the roads here but I could certainly be mistaken on that!