Dinner 2021

[Margaret Pilgrim]

20 hours ago, shain said:

Soup with black beans, coconut, lime juice and zest, corn, sweet potato, chili, coriander seeds.

 

 

A gorgeous bowl!   But how do you eat the corn?   Pick up?    Lots of paper napkins?   Not served at dinner parties?

[liamsaunt]

Miso haddock on noodles in miso broth with roasted napa cabbage, loose curd cauliflower, broccolini, and black oyster mushrooms, plus the usual garlic/ginger/cilantro

 

[Paul Bacino]

Pretty Much Garden stuff!!

Braised Cabbage |  Creamed Peas |  Nebraska Chop I didn't raise the Pork    

 

[heidih]

23 minutes ago, Paul Bacino said:

Pretty Much Garden stuff!!

Braised Cabbage |  Creamed Peas |  Nebraska Chop I didn't raise the Pork    

 

Have not had creamed peas in forever. What is your method? Also the cabbage? The cabbages at market were all huge. Only so much coleslaw can be eaten. They are very firm and juicy. Congrats on your garden bounty.

[ambra]

7 hours ago, Wait. Wot said:

We hope to be in Tuscany next April. We are planning a six week tour of Italy.

You will love it and Italy needs tourists! If you need any recommendations, let me know!

[Kim Shook]

14 hours ago, btbyrd said:

 Toothy.

 

The "toothy" comment gave me a giggle since I always think this pasta shape looks like a pile of dentures.  🤣

 

@gfweb– Your scallop dish is fantastic looking.  I think I can manage everything else, but can you describe/explain the confit potatoes?

 

@Shelby – beautiful meals!  I made that broccoli salad, too.  Any amount I make gets eaten in a couple of days.  I think it’s the most popular thing I make!

 

Sorry in advance for such a long post, but we had our first in over a year house guests over the fourth and between getting ready, hosting, and recovering I haven’t had a chance to post in ages.  Our guests arrived on the 1^st, so we went out to dinner the night before to keep things clean!  Local family owned café has a good club and that’s what Mr. Kim tends to order:

 

I took a chance on the soft shells (it is more of a meat and 3’s kind of place):

I was glad I did.  They were sweet and tender and the coating was very light.  Served with corn and spoonbread.

 

Picked up our guests at the airport late on the first and took them to our favorite late-night burger place.  Started with the pickles:

 

and their fabulous onion rings:

 

We had an assortment of burgers – Belle Ringer:

Herbed Goat Cheese, Pickled Red Onion, Spring Greens, Tomato Jam, Herb Aioli

 

Lafayette:

Brie Cheese, Cabernet Onions, Baby Arugula, Tomato, Apricot Mustard

 

Le Benny:

Runny Egg, Canadian Bacon, Baby Arugula, Tomato, Béarnaise

 

De Leon:

Pepper Jack Cheese, Avocado, Pickled Jalapeños, Sliced Red Onion, Tomato, Arbol Salsa, Duke’s Mayo

 

Dinner on the 2^nd was very much a Shook family collaborative effort.  Mr. Kim and/or Jessica came up with the ideas to do pulled pork nachos.  We had some of Mr. Kim’s recent smoked butt in the freezer.  Fried flour tortilla chips:

(We much prefer crunchy flour tortilla chips to corn with pork).

 

Mornay sauce and Mr. Kim’s pulled pork:

 

Pico, crudité, and black beans with salsa and taco seasoning:

 

Cotija, pickled jalapenos, slaw, Jessica’s pickled shallots, tomatoes:

 

Jessica’s street corn:

I love this stuff.  It’s a great side dish – hot, cold, or room temperature.  It also makes a nice dip with tortilla chips.

 

Plate:

 

An assortment of paletas for dessert:

 

On the 3^rd, we had dinner out.  A mostly delicious, but a bit uneven meal.  Starters were fried oysters and a carrot-ginger soup:

 

The oysters were of absolutely fantastic quality and cooked beautifully, but they obviously stayed in the window too long.  The coating, which was the perfect thickness and flavor, was falling off the not quite hot oysters.  The husband friend said the soup was excellent. 

 

 

This was Jessica’s grilled sirloin with peppercorn whisky cream sauce, roasted red potatoes and grilled asparagus:

Everything tasted good, but the steak was incredibly tough.  Jessica asked for a different knife, but it didn’t help.  The waitress, who was obviously run off her feet, never checked back about it, so Jessica did her best.  She said later that she really should have sent it back. 

 

Mr. Kim had the grilled mahi-mahi with red curry paste, pineapple salsa, Carolina gold rice, and grilled asparagus:

 

The wife friend had the shrimp and grits with smoked Gouda, applewood smoked bacon, tomato bruschetta, and scallions:

 

I had the fish and chips:

This was another problem.  For one thing, this isn’t the size or shape of potatoes when I see the word “chips”.  These skinny things are French fries.  The cod was good, but this was another dish that sat in the window too long.  The batter was a bit limp. 

 

I was glad that our guests got good meals, but wished that Jessica had, too!

 

Fourth of July dinner featured @mgaretz's Blasphemous ribs.  He was kind enough to answer Mr. Kim’s questions ahead of time and made things so much easier for Mr. Kim’s cook.  Coming off the smoker with just a little sauce:

We decided to use Montgomery Inn sauce from the Montgomery Inn in Cincinnati:

 

We all loved these ribs.  They were delicious and really easy to deal with.  I think Mike considers this his “go to” now.  Thank you so much, mgaretz’s! 

 

Broccoli salad:

 

Jessica’s devilled eggs:

 

Macaroni & cheese bake:

 

Kettle chips and warmed BBQ sauce:

This is the first thing they bring you at the Montgomery Inn when you sit down.  Of course, their chips are housemade, but this was good, too. 

 

There was also watermelon and leftover street corn and slaw from the pulled pork nachos.

  

Corn muffins:

 

The 5^th was the last full day our guests were here.  I made Beef Chow Fun:

 

and frozen potstickers:

This time, I added some extra vegetables (snow peas, water chestnuts, carrots, and onions) to the Chow Fun and it was very good. 

 

Took them to the airport on the afternoon of the 6^th and came home.  It has been so long since we entertained that we were exhausted!  But they are truly our best couple buddies (one of those rare situations where all the combinations work – all four of us love each of the other three) and we loved having them.  They’ll be back in October.  Dinner was extremely simple that night:

 

My 62^nd birthday was the 9^th.  Mr. Kim’s mom had us over on the 8^th to celebrate.  We started with a lovely spinach salad with fruit and pecans and a fantastic dressing – slightly sweet with poppy seeds:

 

My MIL and Mr. Kim had borsht:

 

I had requested Chicken Kiev for dinner:

 

She also served butter beans, au gratin potatoes, and tomatoes:

 

 

 

Dessert was chocolate cake with 7-Minute frosting (my request):

 

 

My birthday dinner was supposed to be at a long-time favorite place.  But when we stopped at the bakery to pick up cake for later, Jessica had a bad fall and we ended up in the ER for the evening.  Poor girl has horrible bruising on one knee and at least a sprained ankle – one injury per leg and she’s just miserable.  Mr. Kim stopped on the way home and picked up McDonald’s, so it was double cheeseburgers and fries for everyone!

 

Last night I just reworked the leftover vegetables and rice noodles from the Beef Chow Fun I made when our friends were here and added some shrimp I had in the freezer.  Fed both Mr. Kim and me and there were STILL leftovers:

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by Kim Shook (log)

[ambra]

@Kim ShookSo sorry about fall, I hope she feels better!

And happy belated birthday!

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by ambra (log)

[gfweb]

@Kim Shook Thanks! The "confit" is cubed yukon golds fried in the grease from fried diced spanish chorizo, and charred sweet corn (with a chopped sauteed  shallot).

 

Fry the chorizo, remove from pan. Fry the potatoes and shallots in the grease (and a little oil if needed) add the corn and a generous splash of cream and cook for a few moments.  I may have added a little coffee to the cream...I forget.

 

The ratio should be 1:1:1.  I put in too much corn this time.

[Ann_T]

Had a craving for a roast chicken dinner with all the sides. Probably not the best idea when the temperature is 30°C.

But a craving is a craving. And I've never let weather dictate what I want to eat. Also decided to make a favourite dessert that I hadn't made in a while.

Bread and Butter Pudding with a caramel sauce.

 

Used the leftover chicken this morning to make us toasted clubhouse sandwiches for breakfast.

[Paul Bacino]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

Have not had creamed peas in forever. What is your method? Also the cabbage? The cabbages at market were all huge. Only so much coleslaw can be eaten. They are very firm and juicy. Congrats on your garden bounty.

 

 

I used Butter/Buttermilk/Wonder flour  ( Basic Roux ) and a pinch of nutmeg.  Wonder flower is good never really clumps

 

[Duvel]

It has been raining the whole day … needed something warm and filling: mixed bean soup with chorizo & meat balls, accompanied by half a Brezel. I love my pressure cooker !

 

 

 

[shain]

4 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

But how do you eat the corn?   Pick up?    Lots of paper napkins?   Not served at dinner parties?

 

It's actually shaved off the cob

 

[heidih]

26 minutes ago, Paul Bacino said:

 

 

I used Butter/Buttermilk/Wonder flour  ( Basic Roux ) and a pinch of nutmeg.  Wonder flower is good never really clumps

 

It is the buttermilk I must try. Thanks!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Sliced beefsteak tomatoes...and "Philly" cheese-steak sandwiches.     (Griddled thinly sliced sirloin left rare, onions, provolone; pickles and jalapeno for me)

[MaryIsobel]

19 hours ago, btbyrd said:

Cascatelli with pistachio pesto.

 

First time cooking this shape, but it lives up to the hype. Holds sauce like nobody’s business. Toothy. Forkable. Will be cooking more soon.

 

I really want to try that pasta shape, but 17.99 per pound (US$, so about 22.50 Canadian) plus a 12 week wait to ship and I didn't even look into the shipping fees to Canada. I shall put it on my Christmas list!

Edited July 13, 2021 by MaryIsobel (log)

[btbyrd]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

I really want to try that pasta shape, but 17.99 per pound (US$, so about 22.50 Canadian) plus a 12 week wait to ship and I didn't even look into the shipping fees to Canada. I shall put it on my Christmas list!

 

That's $17.99 for four pounds, which is much more reasonable. Shipping costs can vary a lot, especially internationally. Word on the street is that they're trying to figure out how to offer it to an international audience at reasonable prices, but that may take a while.

[MaryIsobel]

1 minute ago, btbyrd said:

 

That's $17.99 for four pounds, which is much more reasonable. Shipping costs can vary a lot, especially internationally. Word on the street is that they're trying to figure out how to offer it to an international audience at reasonable prices, but that may take a while.

Thanks, must have misread. If that's the four pound price that's great. I am just used to the frustration of living north of the 49th as far as availabilty to ship to Canada and sometimes outrageous shipping rates, which are sometimes accompanied by crazy tarriffs at the border. I think it's great that they are having trouble keeping up with the demand, as that means that once they get a die and a supplier figured out, it will be a successful business, always nice to see.

[DaveCee]

Creamy polenta with roasted chicken-tomato stew. Lots of extra cheese and butter. Peasant food during my childhood but universally popular in the Central California Coast region that I hail from. I remember my Dad making gallons of this for service club fundraisers and suppers. Endless possible variations to suit any taste. Best wishes. Dave

[Wait. Wot]

Fried barramundi and tilapia with our own greens. Garlic scapes, red onion and yellow Swiss chard.

 

 

 

[KennethT]

Due to a blood test tomorrow (including the lipid panel), I've been trying to keep things on the healthy side....  what's healthier than Vietnamese (other than that deep fried pork bread)?

 

Bun tôm with 5 kinds of herbs (3 from the garden).  Pickled daikon/carrot courtesy of my local H-Mart...

[liuzhou]

It's just too hot to cook. I waited to dark, but it didn't cool any. 38℃/100℉. So very simple, minimal stove attendance dinner.

 

Pork chops, boiled spud, tomato and HP sauce. Sustenance.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Cedar planked salmon on salad with pickled onions, grilled peaches, local black raspberries, candied pecans, and a balsamic-peach butter vinaigrette dressing.  I still have six more heads of lettuce from my CSA box to use up, so it's salad again tonight...

 

[Paul Bacino]

22 hours ago, heidih said:

Have not had creamed peas in forever. What is your method? Also the cabbage? The cabbages at market were all huge. Only so much coleslaw can be eaten. They are very firm and juicy. Congrats on your garden bounty.

 

Heidi,

My Cabbage,  I just braise that in home-made chicken stock.  Sometime I add a touch of that veggie Beyond bullion.

This time we had bought a Costco chicken, thinking we would use it over the 4th.  Didnt..  So I cut the whole chicken up ( added veg ) and pressure cooed it for 45 mins,  Man did it make a good stock

 

Cheers  B

[Duvel]

Thanks to @shains adventures in Greece and @JoNorvelleWalkers recent post, I felt the urge to make Moussaka today. @weinoo will be pleased to know that this low-carb variety (I omitted the potatoes) is completely in line with the Duvel diet. Family was happy as well …

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Duvel (log)

[weinoo]

6 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

Costco chicken pressure cooed it for 45 mins,  Man did it make a good stock

It had enough sodium?