Dinner 2021

[Objective Foodie]

Our first moussaka with beef, roast aubergine, zucchini and potatoes. Improves with time.

 

Nice pairing with Xinomavro.

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Dejah said:

Mistakenly pulled out and thawed a bag of chicken drummettes. Seasoned them with baking powder and salt, chopped fresh lemongrass and fresh Thai lime leaves. Cooked in the air dryer. Smelled lovely and the wings were crispy.

 

Chinese mustard greens soup to start.                                                                    

 

                                                                          

Not seen the baking soda treatment -  helps with crisping? I simply want your soup - cold here - well considering Los Angeles

[Kim Shook]

@liamsaunt– I would do a LOT to have a scallop and a lobster roll.  We have two lobster tails in the freezer and Tom Leonard’s has them for $4.99 this week.  I’m putting them on the shopping list!  I’ll at least have the lobster rolls😁!

 

@patti– I’m “liking” all of your crawfish posts (especially that incredible looking bread), but I know it would probably be too spicy for me.  If I ever want to eat crawfish, I think I’d have to order and cook my own.  Maybe with Old Bay – if I go easy on it, I can manage that level of cayenne. 

 

@kayb – delicious looking Easter dinner!  We served a lot of the same things.  Like I told you, I wish I’d thought of mac n cheese.  When Jessica and I looked at your post on FB we both thought that your corn casserole was pineapple casserole (like hers)!

 

@Shelby – Wow!  A slew of great looking meals.  I am really craving some smoked turkey.  Your ham is truly drool-worthy.  And your grandma’s deviled egg plate is adorable, but is it hard to get the eggs out?  Also, this is for you:

😄

 

@Dejah – I hope you are feeling better.  Back pain is a difficult thing to live with.  My mom lived for years with it and I know it’s not easy.

 

@David Ross – beautiful potatoes.  I love having leftover potato casseroles.

 

@Ann_T– as always, lots of love for that chicken dinner.  For me, the logical next meal would be open faced hot chicken sandwiches with gravy!

 

Our Easter dinner - Ham w/ Maple/Pineapple sauce:

This looks a little dry but wasn’t at ALL!

This was delicious on the ham but extremely sweet.  I think next time I’ll add a squeeze of lemon juice or something.

 

Jessica’s Watergate salad & Pineapple casserole:

 

The pineapple was really, really sweet.  I said to Mr. Kim that this is the kind of thing Europeans mean when they say American food is too sweet.  But, especially in the Southern states, this kind of dish IS traditionally served with a celebratory meal.  Growing up spending summers in NC all holiday meals and Sunday post-church dinners came accompanied by things like spiced apples and crab apples, “congealed salads” and Cool-whip “salads”.   They were served with the meal, not as a dessert.

 

Jessica’s Deviled eggs, along with all the relish/crudité items:

 

She and my MIL make the best deviled eggs in our family. 

 

Jessica’s Roasted asparagus Caesar:

She and Mr. Kim thought this was the best asparagus dish they’d ever had.

 

Creamy Dijon Garlic Potatoes Dauphinoise:

Small pleasures, but I love it when a potato dish lines up like this:

 

Jessica’s salad & dressing:

The salad was various baby greens, arugula, mango, blackberries, blueberries, and candied pecans.  The dressing is one that she developed with honey, lemon juice and zest, oil, poppy seeds, and paprika – among other stuff.  It was amazing.

 

Jessica’s liptauer cheese and cocktail loaf pumpernickel bread:

A family tradition.  I learned to make it in college.  I fell in love with it at the deli around the corner from my apartment, but couldn’t afford it very often, so I started making my own.  Jessica has always loved it.

 

Sweet potato rolls:

These go so perfectly with ham. 

 

My coconut cake was a disaster (chronicled in the Sweets thread).  Luckily on Saturday Mr. Kim and I went to the Ukrops Food Market for the first time since it opened.  I’ve talked about it before, but Ukrops was a local and successful family owned supermarket that was open from 1937-2010.  It closed business, but never really went away.  It still produced it’s most popular prepared things and sold them through the grocery stores in the area.  Even Publix and Wegmans, which only opened in Richmond in the last few years, stock the Ukrops products.  In December of last year Ukrops finally opened their much talked about food hall.  They have their bakery, prepared savoury foods, fried chicken, pizza, panini – all their most popular stuff - on hand.  There is usually a line for the chicken/panini orders and when they first opened, you had to go early in the day and get a ticket with a time to pick up your chicken.  Things have calmed down some and it was fine on Saturday.  We got a package of Coconut cream tarts:

So, dessert wasn’t all chocolate bunnies and jellybeans! 😁

[David Ross]

3 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

@liamsaunt– I would do a LOT to have a scallop and a lobster roll.  We have two lobster tails in the freezer and Tom Leonard’s has them for $4.99 this week.  I’m putting them on the shopping list!  I’ll at least have the lobster rolls😁!

 

@patti– I’m “liking” all of your crawfish posts (especially that incredible looking bread), but I know it would probably be too spicy for me.  If I ever want to eat crawfish, I think I’d have to order and cook my own.  Maybe with Old Bay – if I go easy on it, I can manage that level of cayenne. 

 

@kayb – delicious looking Easter dinner!  We served a lot of the same things.  Like I told you, I wish I’d thought of mac n cheese.  When Jessica and I looked at your post on FB we both thought that your corn casserole was pineapple casserole (like hers)!

 

@Shelby – Wow!  A slew of great looking meals.  I am really craving some smoked turkey.  Your ham is truly drool-worthy.  And your grandma’s deviled egg plate is adorable, but is it hard to get the eggs out?  Also, this is for you:

😄

 

@Dejah – I hope you are feeling better.  Back pain is a difficult thing to live with.  My mom lived for years with it and I know it’s not easy.

 

@David Ross – beautiful potatoes.  I love having leftover potato casseroles.

 

@Ann_T– as always, lots of love for that chicken dinner.  For me, the logical next meal would be open faced hot chicken sandwiches with gravy!

 

Our Easter dinner - Ham w/ Maple/Pineapple sauce:

This looks a little dry but wasn’t at ALL!

This was delicious on the ham but extremely sweet.  I think next time I’ll add a squeeze of lemon juice or something.

 

Jessica’s Watergate salad & Pineapple casserole:

 

The pineapple was really, really sweet.  I said to Mr. Kim that this is the kind of thing Europeans mean when they say American food is too sweet.  But, especially in the Southern states, this kind of dish IS traditionally served with a celebratory meal.  Growing up spending summers in NC all holiday meals and Sunday post-church dinners came accompanied by things like spiced apples and crab apples, “congealed salads” and Cool-whip “salads”.   They were served with the meal, not as a dessert.

 

Jessica’s Deviled eggs, along with all the relish/crudité items:

 

She and my MIL make the best deviled eggs in our family. 

 

Jessica’s Roasted asparagus Caesar:

She and Mr. Kim thought this was the best asparagus dish they’d ever had.

 

Creamy Dijon Garlic Potatoes Dauphinoise:

Small pleasures, but I love it when a potato dish lines up like this:

 

Jessica’s salad & dressing:

The salad was various baby greens, arugula, mango, blackberries, blueberries, and candied pecans.  The dressing is one that she developed with honey, lemon juice and zest, oil, poppy seeds, and paprika – among other stuff.  It was amazing.

 

Jessica’s liptauer cheese and cocktail loaf pumpernickel bread:

A family tradition.  I learned to make it in college.  I fell in love with it at the deli around the corner from my apartment, but couldn’t afford it very often, so I started making my own.  Jessica has always loved it.

 

Sweet potato rolls:

These go so perfectly with ham. 

 

My coconut cake was a disaster (chronicled in the Sweets thread).  Luckily on Saturday Mr. Kim and I went to the Ukrops Food Market for the first time since it opened.  I’ve talked about it before, but Ukrops was a local and successful family owned supermarket that was open from 1937-2010.  It closed business, but never really went away.  It still produced it’s most popular prepared things and sold them through the grocery stores in the area.  Even Publix and Wegmans, which only opened in Richmond in the last few years, stock the Ukrops products.  In December of last year Ukrops finally opened their much talked about food hall.  They have their bakery, prepared savoury foods, fried chicken, pizza, panini – all their most popular stuff - on hand.  There is usually a line for the chicken/panini orders and when they first opened, you had to go early in the day and get a ticket with a time to pick up your chicken.  Things have calmed down some and it was fine on Saturday.  We got a package of Coconut cream tarts:

So, dessert wasn’t all chocolate bunnies and jellybeans! 😁

wow those are beautiful layers of potato and the whole meal looks delicious

[Shelby]

18 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

@liamsaunt– I would do a LOT to have a scallop and a lobster roll.  We have two lobster tails in the freezer and Tom Leonard’s has them for $4.99 this week.  I’m putting them on the shopping list!  I’ll at least have the lobster rolls😁!

 

@patti– I’m “liking” all of your crawfish posts (especially that incredible looking bread), but I know it would probably be too spicy for me.  If I ever want to eat crawfish, I think I’d have to order and cook my own.  Maybe with Old Bay – if I go easy on it, I can manage that level of cayenne. 

 

@kayb – delicious looking Easter dinner!  We served a lot of the same things.  Like I told you, I wish I’d thought of mac n cheese.  When Jessica and I looked at your post on FB we both thought that your corn casserole was pineapple casserole (like hers)!

 

@Shelby – Wow!  A slew of great looking meals.  I am really craving some smoked turkey.  Your ham is truly drool-worthy.  And your grandma’s deviled egg plate is adorable, but is it hard to get the eggs out?  Also, this is for you:

😄

 

@Dejah – I hope you are feeling better.  Back pain is a difficult thing to live with.  My mom lived for years with it and I know it’s not easy.

 

@David Ross – beautiful potatoes.  I love having leftover potato casseroles.

 

@Ann_T– as always, lots of love for that chicken dinner.  For me, the logical next meal would be open faced hot chicken sandwiches with gravy!

 

Our Easter dinner - Ham w/ Maple/Pineapple sauce:

This looks a little dry but wasn’t at ALL!

This was delicious on the ham but extremely sweet.  I think next time I’ll add a squeeze of lemon juice or something.

 

Jessica’s Watergate salad & Pineapple casserole:

 

The pineapple was really, really sweet.  I said to Mr. Kim that this is the kind of thing Europeans mean when they say American food is too sweet.  But, especially in the Southern states, this kind of dish IS traditionally served with a celebratory meal.  Growing up spending summers in NC all holiday meals and Sunday post-church dinners came accompanied by things like spiced apples and crab apples, “congealed salads” and Cool-whip “salads”.   They were served with the meal, not as a dessert.

 

Jessica’s Deviled eggs, along with all the relish/crudité items:

 

She and my MIL make the best deviled eggs in our family. 

 

Jessica’s Roasted asparagus Caesar:

She and Mr. Kim thought this was the best asparagus dish they’d ever had.

 

Creamy Dijon Garlic Potatoes Dauphinoise:

Small pleasures, but I love it when a potato dish lines up like this:

 

Jessica’s salad & dressing:

The salad was various baby greens, arugula, mango, blackberries, blueberries, and candied pecans.  The dressing is one that she developed with honey, lemon juice and zest, oil, poppy seeds, and paprika – among other stuff.  It was amazing.

 

Jessica’s liptauer cheese and cocktail loaf pumpernickel bread:

A family tradition.  I learned to make it in college.  I fell in love with it at the deli around the corner from my apartment, but couldn’t afford it very often, so I started making my own.  Jessica has always loved it.

 

Sweet potato rolls:

These go so perfectly with ham. 

 

My coconut cake was a disaster (chronicled in the Sweets thread).  Luckily on Saturday Mr. Kim and I went to the Ukrops Food Market for the first time since it opened.  I’ve talked about it before, but Ukrops was a local and successful family owned supermarket that was open from 1937-2010.  It closed business, but never really went away.  It still produced it’s most popular prepared things and sold them through the grocery stores in the area.  Even Publix and Wegmans, which only opened in Richmond in the last few years, stock the Ukrops products.  In December of last year Ukrops finally opened their much talked about food hall.  They have their bakery, prepared savoury foods, fried chicken, pizza, panini – all their most popular stuff - on hand.  There is usually a line for the chicken/panini orders and when they first opened, you had to go early in the day and get a ticket with a time to pick up your chicken.  Things have calmed down some and it was fine on Saturday.  We got a package of Coconut cream tarts:

So, dessert wasn’t all chocolate bunnies and jellybeans! 😁

What a beautiful table!!!!  The fresh flowers and the plates just really set everything off.

 

YOU HAVE THE SAME DISH AS I DO!!!  OMG!!!  That was also my Grammy's.  We have to be related somehow lol.

 

Yes, the eggs are a bit difficult with just fingers, but I used a little cocktail fork and it worked like a charm  

[patti]

@Kim ShookWow! Your potatoes are perfection! 

 

[Kim Shook]

11 minutes ago, patti said:

@Kim ShookWow! Your potatoes are perfection! 

 

Thank you, ma'am!  The magic of the mandoline.  

[Dante]

Chicken Tetrazzini

[Dante]

Tan Tan Men

[weinoo]

Very close to a classic Marcella recipe...

 

 

Penne with 4 types of 'shrooms.  Porcini (dried), morels (dried), shitake, cremini.

 

The Marcella recipe only uses cremini to mimic more expensive porcini, and has you cook down a pound of cremini (in butter and oil) with onions and garlic, then add white wine, anchovies and a small amount of canned tomatoes, all to punch up the mushroom flavor.  Amazing what 2 good anchovies do for a sauce. And no cheese at the end, which I thought interesting. I actually like it this way, as the pasta is a bit looser, for want of a better word.  I did have cheese at the table, in case Significant Eater wanted a sprinkle.

[gfweb]

9 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Thank you, ma'am!  The magic of the mandoline.  

And patience!

[Shelby]

Sort of a puttanesca sauce--lots of olives and capers and hot pepper.  Very good and I'll be making more of that sort of sauce over the summer with garden tomatoes hopefully.  Roast chicken and salad also.

 

 

Got some more shrimp and scallops for the freezer so fried shrimp last night along with leftover scalloped potatoes and bruss. sprouts.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Steamed littleneck clams in a garlic, white wine, red pepper flake, butter and parsley sauce, with bread for dipping

 

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Sort of a puttanesca sauce--lots of olives and capers and hot pepper.  Very good and I'll be making more of that sort of sauce over the summer with garden tomatoes hopefully.  Roast chicken and salad also.

 

 

Got some more shrimp and scallops for the freezer so fried shrimp last night along with leftover scalloped potatoes and bruss. sprouts.

 

 

Shelby - you are the Mistress of Deep Frying!!!  How do you do it? Specifically, what type of pot do you use and do you constantly reuse the oil?  Where do you put the oil between fry sessions?  It seems that you're not frying very much at a time - since, like us, it's only the 2 of you.  My problem is that every pot seems way too big (meaning that it would use a ton of oil for the amount of food we have).

[Shelby]

37 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Shelby - you are the Mistress of Deep Frying!!!  How do you do it? Specifically, what type of pot do you use and do you constantly reuse the oil?  Where do you put the oil between fry sessions?  It seems that you're not frying very much at a time - since, like us, it's only the 2 of you.  My problem is that every pot seems way too big (meaning that it would use a ton of oil for the amount of food we have).

Lol!  I've never been anointed a Mistress of anything before.... ;) 

 

I use a 10" wide 3" deep cast iron skillet.  I fill the skillet with a little less than 2" of veg oil.  I guess you'd say my method is shallow frying.  I do reuse the oil several times.  I've learned if you're frying correctly the oil doesn't pick up a lot of "scents"...meaning even if I fry fish or shrimp, I still keep it and reuse.  When it starts smelling strong, I dump it in a huge coffee can and when that gets full it goes out to the burn pile.  The skillet with the oil resides in my oven.  When I use my oven, I just set it out.

[Paul Bacino]

Thought I would experiment with alternative Noodle ideas!!

 

So I took the KingMushroom--Sliced to noodles/ simmer in pan with garlic/ added white wine reduced/ added Beyond Bouillon veg stock reduced

 

 

My Version of a Marco Polo Pasta--usually i use mushroom and steak

 

 

 

 

Finish with left over sugo!!  Actually the texture was quite meaty

[Kim Shook]

Last night:

More Easter ham and egg.  On toast with mayo/Gulden's.

[David Ross]

For Easter a Leg of Lamb.  I find these smaller legs of lamb at Winnco.  Frozen from New Zealand but tender and flavorful.  In our main grocery stores leg of lamb is only available at Easter, and usually not the whole leg but a cut of the leg, and huge.  These true small legs of lamb are better for my tastes.  Marinated overnight with white wine, whole-grain mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped rosemary.  I cut slits in the meat and studded it with cloves of garlic. Then roasted, first at 425 for 25 minutes then at 350 for 14 minutes a pound. THis one was just under 4 lbs. It was more on the medium rare side than I prefer, but most folks like it at that doness.  Then a pan sauce of wine and more mustard, and studded with fresh rosemary for the table.  It was delicious, and the leftovers will go in sandwiches and a lamb stew.

[AlaMoi]

 a stir fry of shrimp and scallop, done with an oyster sauce baste in scrambled egg+scallion.

caprese salad, made with redwood tomatoes....and cole slaw.

tasty combo, but need to find a way to keep the eggs more pretty.....

[patti]

Finally peeled the last of the crawfish. I think I need a steak!

 

Crawfish stew.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, David Ross said:

For Easter a Leg of Lamb.  I find these smaller legs of lamb at Winnco.  Frozen from New Zealand but tender and flavorful.  In our main grocery stores leg of lamb is only available at Easter, and usually not the whole leg but a cut of the leg, and huge.  These true small legs of lamb are better for my tastes.  Marinated overnight with white wine, whole-grain mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped rosemary.  I cut slits in the meat and studded it with cloves of garlic. Then roasted, first at 425 for 25 minutes then at 350 for 14 minutes a pound. THis one was just under 4 lbs. It was more on the medium rare side than I prefer, but most folks like it at that doness.  Then a pan sauce of wine and more mustard, and studded with fresh rosemary for the table.  It was delicious, and the leftovers will go in sandwiches and a lamb stew.

 

That is a gorgeous photograph.  About how much did the piece weigh before cooking?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, Shelby said:

Lol!  I've never been anointed a Mistress of anything before....

 

I use a 10" wide 3" deep cast iron skillet.  I fill the skillet with a little less than 2" of veg oil.  I guess you'd say my method is shallow frying.  I do reuse the oil several times.  I've learned if you're frying correctly the oil doesn't pick up a lot of "scents"...meaning even if I fry fish or shrimp, I still keep it and reuse.  When it starts smelling strong, I dump it in a huge coffee can and when that gets full it goes out to the burn pile.  The skillet with the oil resides in my oven.  When I use my oven, I just set it out.

 

My (pressure) skillet with the oil lives on the blast freezer in the living room.  No space in the oven.

 

[gfweb]

First dinner outdoors on the patio in 2021. Wonderful.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

36 minutes ago, gfweb said:

First dinner outdoors on the patio in 2021. Wonderful.

 

And what was it?

 

[Dante]

Cauliflower and chickpea jalfrezi over farro