Dinner 2021

[weinoo]

Tried my hand at a new (to me) dish last night, actually doing some real cooking for the first time in a few weeks: Musakhan. It's a purportedly perfect Palestinian poulet platter, to be eaten communally. It's served in the too few Palestinian restaurants here in NYC, Qanoon and Tanoreen, to name two. Lots of spices are involved, and as with many recipes, your mileage may vary:

 

 

As my obsessiveness requires, various recipes were perused, to come up with something that while I'm sure would piss off properly pissed off Palestinians, wasn't bad for these jews. I used a technique from one or two or three of the recipes, which involved "marinating" the chicken pieces in half the spices and salt for a few hours, then browning the chicken pieces in lots of olive oil, before removing them and then slowly cooking down the onions, with more of the spices and olive oil, for a good half hour, before returning the chicken to the pan with the onions, and then roasting both together in the (non WIFI connected CSO) oven for about 20 more minutes.  The whole was then plattered over slightly warmed incorrect bread (I only had some thick pita, at least not pocket pita, so that's what was used). Topped with roasted pine nuts (and boy did I catch these just in time), more sumac, more olive oil, and no herbs because that would've made the dish look too nice. Still in its pan, but finished cooking.

 

 

Plattered:

 

 

It'll be better next time, if I can source the right bread - and I would maybe use just legs, thighs, and wings (even though Significant Eater prefers overcooked white meat). But this chicken was absolutely delicious. 

 

And alongside:

 

 

House pickled radishes. Olives. Roasted peppers. Cucumber/red onion/yogurt/garlic/dill salad.

We've not eaten in a restaurant in almost 3 weeks now, and one of us is getting stir crazy.

Edited August 20, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[liamsaunt]

Farfalle with broccoli and pine nuts.

 

[dcarch]

What's for dinner? Garbage !

 

50 lbs of tomatoes from my garden donated. 

All from kitchen scraps to compost to soil to delicious tomatoes.

Many families will have carbon-neutral heirloom tomatoes to enjoy for dinner without spending farmers market $$$.

 

dcarch

 

[KennethT]

43 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Tried my hand at a new (to me) dish last night, actually doing some real cooking for the first time in a few weeks: Musakhan. It's a purportedly perfect Palestinian poulet platter, to be eaten communally. It's served in the too few Palestinian restaurants here in NYC, Qanoon and Tanoreen, to name two. Lots of spices are involved, and as with many recipes, your mileage may vary:

 

 

As my obsessiveness requires, various recipes were perused, to come up with something that while I'm sure would piss of properly pissed off Palestinians, wasn't bad for these jews. I used a technique from one or two or three of the recipes, which involved "marinating" the chicken pieces in half the spices and salt for a few hours, then browning the chicken pieces in lots of olive oil, before removing them and then slowly cooking down the onions, with more of the spices and olive oil, for a good half hour, before returning the chicken to the pan with the onions, and then roasting both together in the (non WIFI connected CSO) oven for about 20 more minutes.  The whole was then plattered over slightly warmed incorrect bread (I only had some thick pita, at least not pocket pita, so that's what was used). Topped with roasted pine nuts (and boy did I catch these just in time), more sumac, more olive oil, and no herbs because that would've made the dish look too nice. Still in its pan, but finished cooking.

 

 

Plattered:

 

 

It'll be better next time, if I can source the right bread - and I would maybe use just legs, thighs, and wings (even though Significant Eater prefers overcooked white meat). But this chicken was absolutely delicious. 

 

And alongside:

 

 

House pickled radishes. Olives. Roasted peppers. Cucumber/red onion/yogurt/garlic/dill salad.

We've not eaten in a restaurant in almost 3 weeks now, and one of us is getting stir crazy.

Wild mountain cumin???  Do you find it very different from normal cumin?

[weinoo]

9 minutes ago, dcarch said:

50 lbs of tomatoes from my garden donated. 

 

Kudos.

[weinoo]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

Wild mountain cumin???  Do you find it very different from normal cumin?

 

It's good, and nice and fresh - came with a recent @rancho_gordo bean subscription .

 

Burlap & Barrel is one of the "new on the scene" spice purveyors, allegedly working directly with farmers in places where agri-spice growing is way more common.

 

So they are theoretically getting much fresher stuff, which has traveled through way fewer hands. 

 

I maybe didn't answer your question, but I do enjoy sometimes avoiding the big companies. Not always, as can be seen by the spice collection above.

[Anna N]

16 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Wild mountain cumin???  Do you find it very different from normal cumin?

Wild Mountain cumin has such a wonderful ring to it in a way that Tame  Moutain cumin  just doesn’t. 😂

marketing. Marketing. Marketing. 

[weinoo]

Here's a piece about Burlap and Barrel I should've linked above...

 

https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/burlap-barrel-mccormick-durkee-spice-trade-big-spice-startup-disrupt/

 

I look at spices now the same way I look at beans after buying from Steve. @rancho_gordo's stuff generally isn't sitting in silos, warehouses, stores for maybe years before they get to the consumer. Why think dried spices aren't going through the same process? By buying from these new, smaller vendors, I hope to be in the smallest possible way, making a farmer's life a little more sustainable.

 

Same as going to farmer's market. Not buying fish from a million miles away. etc. etc.

[KennethT]

37 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

It's good, and nice and fresh - came with a recent @rancho_gordo bean subscription .

 

Burlap & Barrel is one of the "new on the scene" spice purveyors, allegedly working directly with farmers in places where agri-spice growing is way more common.

 

So they are theoretically getting much fresher stuff, which has traveled through way fewer hands. 

 

I maybe didn't answer your question, but I do enjoy sometimes avoiding the big companies. Not always, as can be seen by the spice collection above.

I've heard of Burlap and Barrel - I go to Yellow Rose like once a week to pick up (we're addicted to their salsa - and everything else is really good too) and they have a few shelves of products for sale - some of which are some B & B spices as well as Rancho Gordo beans...

 

But, no, it didn't answer the question - other than the small farmer, etc discussion, do you find it differs from regular cumin in a noticeable way?

[weinoo]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

I've heard of Burlap and Barrel - I go to Yellow Rose like once a week to pick up (we're addicted to their salsa - and everything else is really good too) and they have a few shelves of products for sale - some of which are some B & B spices as well as Rancho Gordo beans...

 

But, no, it didn't answer the question - other than the small farmer, etc discussion, do you find it differs from regular cumin in a noticeable way?

Yes - its' fresher. You can tell the second you open the jar and pop the seal.

[weinoo]

Just now, weinoo said:

Yes - its' fresher. You can tell the second you open the jar and pop the seal.

 

And it makes me feel good, which is the emotional quotient I attach to much of my cooking, the same way how a dish smells and looks might.

 

With many of the things I use to cook with and eat, I like to look at the cost per serving difference - it's usually pretty fucking minimal. And I never disregard that I'm lucky in that I have those choices.

[mgaretz]

Costco pre-cooked St. Louis ribs with extra BBQ sauce, served with fries made in the Ninja Foodi Grill.  The ribs were borderline terrible.  The leftovers will have the meat removed from the bone, rinsed and repurposed for something else.  The fries were made from scratch and were really good.

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

12 hours ago, dcarch said:

What's for dinner? Garbage !

 

50 lbs of tomatoes from my garden donated. 

All from kitchen scraps to compost to soil to delicious tomatoes.

Many families will have carbon-neutral heirloom tomatoes to enjoy for dinner without spending farmers market $$$.

 

dcarch

 

Wow - around here "heirloom" tomatoes at the market are around 6.99/lb. Certainly way beyond an average familie's budget. Good on you for sharing your bounty!

[liuzhou]

Hunan influenced duck. I de-boned two duck legs and cut them into bite size pieces. (Skin and fat was rendered down and is in the fridge for other uses.) I marinated the meat for about an hour and a half in Shaoxing wine and light soy  sauce, with a little salt.

Choppped some garlic and ginger, fried that in rice bran oil, then added the duck and a splash of dark soy sauce for colour. Also added Sichuan peppercorns and dried tangerine peel. Then added the braising liquid. After 30 minutes braising, I drained off the liquid. Then cut up the green and red chillies and some scallions. Stir fried the drained meat with the chillies and scallions, then served.

 

 

 

Very spicy, but sublime, if I say so myself! Served with a side of stir-fried water spinach and rice.

Secret  ingredient: the braising liquid was the local beer.

 

[mgaretz]

Panko breaded shrimp with sweet potato tots, both made in the air fryer, and steamed cauliflower with butter.

 

 

 

[David Ross]

One of my favorites I created last summer, and I'm glad I remembered this morning how delicious it was.  The Pissaladiere.  Not too many anchovy lovers in my world, except me, which only means I can have this all to myself. 

[Dante]

Weapons Grade Confit Byaldi (ie, hybrid of Francis Lam's Weapons Grade Ratatouille and Thomas Keller's Confit Byaldi)

Edited August 22, 2021 by Dante (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Still baching it so, since husband called a moratorium on them, I pulled a couple of mini lamb Tbones from the freezer.   And baked a mini potato, and sauteed up some spinach in the lamb pan.    Happy me.

    

 

 

[Wait. Wot]

Swordfish (seasoned with dried rosemary and ground coriander) and peapods

 

 

 

 

[robirdstx]

 

Chicken Fajitas with Green Chile Rice

[Ann_T]

Last night's dinner.

Pan seared halibut finished in the CSO at 450° and served with a Caprese Salad.

 

Tomatoes from our garden.

[shain]

Potato nests (土豆窝窝) - dumplings made of potatoes and potato starch, sauce is based on doubanjiang, scallions, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, rice wine. They are chewy but soft.

 

Kao fu (烤麸). Cold wheat gluten and dried mushrooms (shiitake, wood yea), peanuts, braised with soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine. Savory-sweet. Still not as good as Din Tai Fungs.

 

I don't think those two are traditionally served together, but it worked for us .

 

 

[Ann_T]

Last night's dinner.

 

My favourite pasta sauce over shells.

Been making this sauce for 40 years.

Italian sausage and rosemary.

[Duvel]

2 hours ago, shain said:

Kao fu (烤麸). Cold wheat gluten and dried mushrooms (shiitake, wood yea), peanuts, braised with soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine. Savory-sweet. Still not as good as Din Tai Fungs.

I love the Din Tai Fung version. Could you share your method, please ?

[shain]

33 minutes ago, Duvel said:

I love the Din Tai Fung version. Could you share your method, please ?

 

I mostly followed this recipe, though given that it's using very rough volume measurement, I adjusted quite a bit.

I added more sugar than I believe they intended, and still felt it is less sweet than Din Tai Fung. I also used dark brown sugar rather than white.

Also, I'm out of lily flowers, but not sure if they would add much.

And since I'm no fan of boiled peanuts, I added them once cooled. Din Tai Fung uses edamame, both are as good IMO.

 

It was very tasty, but not as flavorful and juicy as I remember. I think they might deep fry theirs.