Dinner 2022

[Tropicalsenior]

19 minutes ago, CookBot said:

I really gotta get a better camera.

Everything looks delicious and there is nothing at all wrong with the pictures. They look great.

[FauxPas]

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

I used Barilla no boil pasta which is thinner than the big ripple edge dry sheets. I think the lasagna holds together better.

 

Do you ever use the fresh pasta ones? Like this one: 

 

 

I wish I could remember the actual dimensions but each sheet is about 6 or 7 inches X 9 inches. I think two of them will fit a 9 x 13 inch pan. I use them to bake smaller lasagnes in the Cuisinart Steam Oven, so only need one per layer (or one and a bit, in my larger pan). 

 

I can't remember if I could find these when we lived in Arizona, but there are a few brands available up here in BC. They require no pre-cooking and taste closer to homemade than some of the dried products. And they result in nice, neat layers when cut. Though yours looks amazing!!!  

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by FauxPas
to add link (log)

[CookBot]

14 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

Crab legs were on sale again at Hen House for almost half price. 

 

You hard boil eggs along with your crab boil?  That's a new one on me.

[Dejah]

One of the requests from Nfld son was for lamb as he's the only one in his household who eats lamb.

So lamb is was for tonight! I had picked up 4 packages of loin chops that were marked down - $5.00 / package as they were 1 day "best Before. Repackaged and stored in the freezer until tonight.

I hadn't cooked lamb chops sous vide / reverse sear before, but I'll never do them any other way again!

Sous vide 2 packages, 135F for 2 hours, then seared in cast iron pan a minute on each side.

 

                                                                          

 

                                                                          

 

 

Sides were Patty Pan, zucchini, shallots, and bell peppers medley in the air fryer, and mashed cauliflower.

[gfweb]

9 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

Do you ever use the fresh pasta ones? Like this one: 

 

 

I wish I could remember the actual dimensions but each sheet is about 6 or 7 inches X 9 inches. I think two of them will fit a 9 x 13 inch pan. I use them to bake smaller lasagnes in the Cuisinart Steam Oven, so only need one per layer (or one and a bit, in my larger pan). 

 

I can't remember if I could find these when we lived in Arizona, but there are a few brands available up here in BC. They require no pre-cooking and taste closer to homemade than some of the dried products. And they result in nice, neat layers when cut. Though yours looks amazing!!!  

 

 

 

 Never have seen it.  Looks  good though

[weinoo]

 

Baby back ribs, braised with fermented black beans, garlic, ginger, light and dark soy, Shaoxing wine, pork stock, bell peppers, onions.  Lack of scallions = use chives.

 

 

Snap peas with fresh shitake mushrooms. Pick a too-small serving bowl, and it looks like this. Lack of scallions = use chives.

[Ann_T]

Bone in ham for dinner last night.

Served with potato gratin and fresh steamed green beans.

 

Baked a batch of Hello Dolly bars for dessert. Haven't made these in years.

[Norm Matthews]

22 hours ago, KennethT said:

Looks great - what do you use for a boil?

Here is what I used but more water and beer instead of wine.

New England Style Crab Boil

Prep Time25 minutesCook Time40 minutesTotal Time1 h 5 mServes8  People

IngredientsRecipe makes 8 Servings

 

 1 cup(s) water

2 cup(s) white wine

2 bulbs of garlic, cut in half, horizontally

1 large white onion, cut into quarters

2 lemons, cut in half

2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

2 springs of fresh thyme

4 fresh corn, cut in half

2 Lb baby red potatoes, cut in half

4 smoked sausage, cut into small chunks

4 Oz unsalted butter

4 crab clusters

1 Lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup(s) fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1In a large stock pot, bring water, wine, garlic, onions, lemons, old bay seasoning and thyme to a boil.

2 Lower heat to medium and add corn, baby red potatoes smoked sausage and butter. Cook 15 to 20 minutes.

3 Add crab and shrimp and cook an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and fully cooked. Toss everything gently to cover in cooking liquid.

4 Season with a little more old bay as needed and serve on a large platter.

5 Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

[Norm Matthews]

9 hours ago, CookBot said:

 

You hard boil eggs along with your crab boil?  That's a new one on me.

I didn't boil the eggs. I steamed them separately and added them in later. My son always asks for them if I forget.   

[Shelby]

@CookBotI think your photography is great!  Food looks excellent and I love your serving dishes.

 

@DejahCongratulations on the wedding and enjoy your visit with your son!

 

I had never had merguez sausages before so I bought some from Misfits last month.  I've been needing to break out of my food rut again.....so I found a recipe for Tomato, merguez sausage and cannellini bean summer stew

I used RG cannellini beans (SO GOOD).  I seasoned it with salt and pepper...and I added some okra (probably heresy but I thought it would be good and it was).  Anyway, when I browned the sausages I had to have a taste.  I loved it!  I'm picky about lamb sometimes and this was GOOD.  A bit spicy but not so much as to make your nose run.  Took a bite over to Ronnie.  He chewed and said "UGH it tastes fishy".   I was shocked.  I said "you mean like fish fishy???"   He said "yep".  Sigh.  I don't taste a hint of fish.  He ate it--said it was really good except for the meat lol.  So, I'm disappointed.  Thought I had found a new something to eat......maybe I should try a different brand?

 

[Tropicalsenior]

10 minutes ago, Shelby said:

UGH it tastes fishy

No more Cod liver oil capsules  before dinner!

[weinoo]

19 minutes ago, Shelby said:

 Sigh.  I don't taste a hint of fish.  He ate it--said it was really good except for the meat lol.  So, I'm disappointed.  Thought I had found a new something to eat......maybe I should try a different brand?

The question really is: Does your fish taste lamb-y?

[Anna N]

27 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Thought I had found a new something to eat......maybe I should try a different brand?

Does Ronnie like lamb?

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Does Ronnie like lamb?

He loves lamb.   I'm always the picky one.....sometimes it's too lamby for me.  

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, Shelby said:

He loves lamb.   I'm always the picky one.....sometimes it's too lamby for me.  

Ah. Well that settles that then.   It’s not the lamb! 

[Katie Meadow]

I can only think of two things that might make your dish taste like a fish. One is if the sausage is old or on the verge of being bad. Since it was sausage and not just plain lamb, it could be an ingredient in there that's fishy. The second culprit, if used, would be canola oil. I definitely think it tastes fishy, but clearly many people don't. If it is in a recipe I switch it out for something else. It never tastes neutral to me.

[Shelby]

12 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

I can only think of two things that might make your dish taste like a fish. One is if the sausage is old or on the verge of being bad. Since it was sausage and not just plain lamb, it could be an ingredient in there that's fishy. The second culprit, if used, would be canola oil. I definitely think it tastes fishy, but clearly many people don't. If it is in a recipe I switch it out for something else. It never tastes neutral to me.

I didn't look at the date.....it's been in the freezer.  I used veg. oil, not canola.....

 

I think he's just weird.

 

😬

[Annie_H]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I was shocked.  I said "you mean like fish fishy???"   He said "yep".  Sigh.  I don't taste a hint of fish.  He ate it--said it was really good except for the meat lol.  So, I'm disappointed.  Thought I had found a new something to eat......maybe I should try a different brand?

 

That is too bad. I've had a half dozen varieties over the years including from a good local butcher but it suddenly became way too salty and not a mistake since it remained salty after a few purchases. 

Misfits is FabriqueDelices brand. Easily our favorite. I use a tBsp of avocado oil, (tolerates high heat), in a cast iron stovetop, few minutes, then a 1/4cup-ish water, cover and steam. 5-ish minutes. Then into the oven uncovered to roast. 

I don't think they have been selling it long enough to go bad or off in the freezer. Tight cryo-vaced seal. Hmm, a shame.

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

That is too bad. I've had a half dozen varieties over the years including from a good local butcher but it suddenly became way too salty and not a mistake since it remained salty after a few purchases. 

Misfits is FabriqueDelices brand. Easily our favorite. I use a tBsp of avocado oil, (tolerates high heat), in a cast iron stovetop, few minutes, then a 1/4cup-ish water, cover and steam. 5-ish minutes. Then into the oven uncovered to roast. 

I don't think they have been selling it long enough to go bad or off in the freezer. Tight cryo-vaced seal. Hmm, a shame.

Thank you!  I had been trying to find the order on Misfits so I could know the brand.  Again, I really liked them.  But, no point in getting them just for me lol.

[Annie_H]

Still hanging on to summer meals. Another BLT. Salmon, prosciuttoBLTAvocado. 

RG Marcella bean and potato roast, rosemary and garlic. 

[CookBot]

35 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

Still hanging on to summer meals. Another BLT. Salmon, prosciuttoBLTAvocado.

 

Once you've put salmon, prosciutto, and avocado on it, I would argue that it's no longer a BLT. 

 

37 minutes ago, Shelby said:

 Again, I really liked them.  But, no point in getting them just for me lol.

 

Why not?  You're worth it!

[Kim Shook]

The last thing in my post is a reaction about a restaurant we ate at night before last.  It is very long, and I understand if it’s just too much reading for you!

 

@Shelby – I’d love to know what you do to make the seafood enchiladas.  And do you make your own taco shells? They do not look like the store-bought ones I’ve purchased.

 

@Smithy – your tomato, bacon, and cornbread invention sounds delicious!

 

@mgaretz – somehow the salami on your pizza read as some kind of pink icing and with the mushrooms, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what you were doing 😄. 

 

@Dejah – How lovely to celebrate the happy occasion and to be able to see some far-away folks, too! 

 

@CookBot – Wow!  That ham dinner!  I’d love to have the recipe for sweet potato  spoonbread if you share!

 

Breakfast for dinner last Thursday.  My MIL gave us a bag of buckwheat pancake mix:

This mix was not all buckwheat – it included corn flour and AP flour.  I’d never had buckwheat before.  The pancakes were delicious – light and fluffy and they got a nice rise, too.  Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and (canned) peaches:

 

Friday night dinner started with a salad:

We had a luncheon at church earlier and brought home some leftovers:

The meatballs and the little sandwiches were leftovers and Jessica added mini-corndogs and tots. 

 

Saturday night we had a taste for Chinese, so our regular place it was.  Hot & Sour and Wonton soups and egg rolls:

 

 

I had lemon chicken and Mr. Kim had the orange beef:

 

 

Dessert back home - Jessica made brownies:

Just Ghirardelli with added chocolate and PB chips, but MAN are they good.

 

 

Meals have been a little hit or miss lately.  The three of us hungry at vastly different times, running errands, etc.  Dinner for me Monday was cobbled together from taco night leftovers:

 

Jessica and I were out thrifting all afternoon day before yesterday and ended up in Ashland (small town just north of us).  Mr. Kim met us at a new to us BBQ to finally give them a try.  It started off great but ended up being kind of a disappointment.  Possibly the second-best onion rings I’ve ever had:

And definitely THE best Ranch dressing I’ve ever tasted.  The rings were battered, which is never my favorite – I find that the batter layer is usually too thick, and that the onion tends to just steam inside.  This was different – the batter clung to the onion, and everything was crisp and sweet and incredibly good.  Jessica got the ribs, fries, hush puppies, and mac & cheese:

 

Mr. Kim got the brisket, pulled pork, slaw, hush puppies, and applesauce:

 

I got the smoked chicken, mac & cheese, hush puppies, and collards:

The mac & cheese, collards, and slaw were all good.  The applesauce was just like they’d poured it out of a jar.  The hush puppies were very good.  The fries were strange looking but tasted good.  But the BBQ, the raison d'être for this place?  It was sadly ordinary.  They had two sauces on the table – one tasted like bottled “Italian” dressing and the other was a very heavy handed and overly thick tomato-based sauce.  The latter was what everything came to the table sauced with.  The ribs were the best thing, but not by much.  The brisket was like falling apart pot roast soaked in sauce, the pork was stringy and dry, and the chicken was like baked chicken with BBQ sauce added on top.  And very, very dry.  I tasted some for lunch the next day and after a couple of chews I was able to use my tongue and mash it to a paste on the roof of my mouth.  The funny thing is that the onion rings and Ranch were SO good that Jessica and I said we would absolutely go back for those and a salad.  Maybe we’ll try a burger.  But we tried everything they smoke (except for turkey) and I don’t think we need to do that again.  The side portions are small (fine for Jess and me, but I think Mike could have eaten more) and it was pretty pricey.  Mr.Kim's Yelp review:

Finally got to Jake's Place.  We are always anxious to try a barbecue joint, and there was no excuse not to stop in at one that is only 10 miles away.  There were highlights and meh-lights.  Let me start by saying that I am reviewing this at what I consider to be BBQ restaurant standards (since some of you who know me personally know I am a competition judge.)  I am not comparing this food to competition Q, that is a whole different realm, and volume alone can drive differences in cooking in a restaurant. So, looking at it as a restaurant:
Setting:
-- Atmosphere was family-oriented.  The staff clearly knew a lot of the patrons, and treated everyone well.
-- Service was friendly and attentive and accurate.  We could not have asked for better treatment.  Drinks were kept filled, several check-backs on anything we needed, prompt take out boxes and check when requested.
Food:
There were some real stars on some of the plates.  For starters, the onion rings were about the best I have ever tasted anywhere.  Fresh cut and dipped in a light batter and crumb coat, just once and not double dipped as some places do, made for light crunchy rings without the onion getting steamed to death inside.  A real treat!  Pro tip -- ask for ranch dressing instead of ketchup for these rings, it is a great combo!  Also in the spotlight were the side dishes.  Small side portions but good nonetheless, we enjoyed the collards, the potatoes, the hushpuppies, and the mac and cheese.  The slaw was a perfect BBQ slaw, not too wet and just the right touch of seasoning (celery salt in this case I think.)  The apple sauce was off-the-shelf okay, but served its purpose in breaking up the flavors of the meats I got (more on that in a minute.)
Sauces:   There are two sauces on the tables -- one was a vinegar based sauce that I supposed was intended to be eastern NC style, but was so thin and single note that it may as well have been Kraft Italian salad dressing.  (There was no label on the bottle, so it may well have been intended not as BBQ sauce but salad dressing.  hmmmm.)  The other sauce, in an identical bottle but with a label, was a smoky red sauce.  I was reminded of a specific commercial sauce and was afraid the smokiness would be too strong but it paired well with the meat, and the sauce was needed.  Great barbecue doesn't need sauce, and bad barbecue can't be rescued by it.  But average Q sometimes needs a little help with flavor or moisture or both.  
Among the meats we ordered, the ribs were the star of the show.  Well-seasoned, cooked perfectly, the half rack we ordered went down easily and will be my order the next time I am in Jake's.  The yardbird (smoked chicken quarter) was just on the verge of overcooked; a bit dry but had good flavor.  Red sauce ended up helping moisture after the Italian sauce didn't.  The pork and brisket were very dry. The brisket crumbled apart like stringy pot roast, and it needed the sauce the kitchen had topped it with as well as what I added at table to augment the fat in adding the yum factor.  Not a bright spot.  The pork was also dry and needed help, but the flavor of the pit was definitely there.  Better than crock pot / slow cooker pork, not as good as average backyard smoker fare for tenderness or taste.

So all in all, it was an average barbecue restaurant experience.  I will go back and try things again; it was an acceptable meal in a friendly place.  But I hope for better.

 

You see we aren’t in complete agreement on everything.  I think he’s being more generous than I am. 

[KennethT]

6 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

The last thing in my post is a reaction about a restaurant we ate at night before last.  It is very long, and I understand if it’s just too much reading for you!

 

@Shelby – I’d love to know what you do to make the seafood enchiladas.  And do you make your own taco shells? They do not look like the store-bought ones I’ve purchased.

 

@Smithy – your tomato, bacon, and cornbread invention sounds delicious!

 

@mgaretz – somehow the salami on your pizza read as some kind of pink icing and with the mushrooms, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what you were doing 😄. 

 

@Dejah – How lovely to celebrate the happy occasion and to be able to see some far-away folks, too! 

 

@CookBot – Wow!  That ham dinner!  I’d love to have the recipe for sweet potato  spoonbread if you share!

 

Breakfast for dinner last Thursday.  My MIL gave us a bag of buckwheat pancake mix:

This mix was not all buckwheat – it included corn flour and AP flour.  I’d never had buckwheat before.  The pancakes were delicious – light and fluffy and they got a nice rise, too.  Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and (canned) peaches:

 

Friday night dinner started with a salad:

We had a luncheon at church earlier and brought home some leftovers:

The meatballs and the little sandwiches were leftovers and Jessica added mini-corndogs and tots. 

 

Saturday night we had a taste for Chinese, so our regular place it was.  Hot & Sour and Wonton soups and egg rolls:

 

 

I had lemon chicken and Mr. Kim had the orange beef:

 

 

Dessert back home - Jessica made brownies:

Just Ghirardelli with added chocolate and PB chips, but MAN are they good.

 

 

Meals have been a little hit or miss lately.  The three of us hungry at vastly different times, running errands, etc.  Dinner for me Monday was cobbled together from taco night leftovers:

 

Jessica and I were out thrifting all afternoon day before yesterday and ended up in Ashland (small town just north of us).  Mr. Kim met us at a new to us BBQ to finally give them a try.  It started off great but ended up being kind of a disappointment.  Possibly the second-best onion rings I’ve ever had:

And definitely THE best Ranch dressing I’ve ever tasted.  The rings were battered, which is never my favorite – I find that the batter layer is usually too thick, and that the onion tends to just steam inside.  This was different – the batter clung to the onion, and everything was crisp and sweet and incredibly good.  Jessica got the ribs, fries, hush puppies, and mac & cheese:

 

Mr. Kim got the brisket, pulled pork, slaw, hush puppies, and applesauce:

 

I got the smoked chicken, mac & cheese, hush puppies, and collards:

The mac & cheese, collards, and slaw were all good.  The applesauce was just like they’d poured it out of a jar.  The hush puppies were very good.  The fries were strange looking but tasted good.  But the BBQ, the raison d'être for this place?  It was sadly ordinary.  They had two sauces on the table – one tasted like bottled “Italian” dressing and the other was a very heavy handed and overly thick tomato-based sauce.  The latter was what everything came to the table sauced with.  The ribs were the best thing, but not by much.  The brisket was like falling apart pot roast soaked in sauce, the pork was stringy and dry, and the chicken was like baked chicken with BBQ sauce added on top.  And very, very dry.  I tasted some for lunch the next day and after a couple of chews I was able to use my tongue and mash it to a paste on the roof of my mouth.  The funny thing is that the onion rings and Ranch were SO good that Jessica and I said we would absolutely go back for those and a salad.  Maybe we’ll try a burger.  But we tried everything they smoke (except for turkey) and I don’t think we need to do that again.  The side portions are small (fine for Jess and me, but I think Mike could have eaten more) and it was pretty pricey.  Mr.Kim's Yelp review:

Finally got to Jake's Place.  We are always anxious to try a barbecue joint, and there was no excuse not to stop in at one that is only 10 miles away.  There were highlights and meh-lights.  Let me start by saying that I am reviewing this at what I consider to be BBQ restaurant standards (since some of you who know me personally know I am a competition judge.)  I am not comparing this food to competition Q, that is a whole different realm, and volume alone can drive differences in cooking in a restaurant. So, looking at it as a restaurant:
Setting:
-- Atmosphere was family-oriented.  The staff clearly knew a lot of the patrons, and treated everyone well.
-- Service was friendly and attentive and accurate.  We could not have asked for better treatment.  Drinks were kept filled, several check-backs on anything we needed, prompt take out boxes and check when requested.
Food:
There were some real stars on some of the plates.  For starters, the onion rings were about the best I have ever tasted anywhere.  Fresh cut and dipped in a light batter and crumb coat, just once and not double dipped as some places do, made for light crunchy rings without the onion getting steamed to death inside.  A real treat!  Pro tip -- ask for ranch dressing instead of ketchup for these rings, it is a great combo!  Also in the spotlight were the side dishes.  Small side portions but good nonetheless, we enjoyed the collards, the potatoes, the hushpuppies, and the mac and cheese.  The slaw was a perfect BBQ slaw, not too wet and just the right touch of seasoning (celery salt in this case I think.)  The apple sauce was off-the-shelf okay, but served its purpose in breaking up the flavors of the meats I got (more on that in a minute.)
Sauces:   There are two sauces on the tables -- one was a vinegar based sauce that I supposed was intended to be eastern NC style, but was so thin and single note that it may as well have been Kraft Italian salad dressing.  (There was no label on the bottle, so it may well have been intended not as BBQ sauce but salad dressing.  hmmmm.)  The other sauce, in an identical bottle but with a label, was a smoky red sauce.  I was reminded of a specific commercial sauce and was afraid the smokiness would be too strong but it paired well with the meat, and the sauce was needed.  Great barbecue doesn't need sauce, and bad barbecue can't be rescued by it.  But average Q sometimes needs a little help with flavor or moisture or both.  
Among the meats we ordered, the ribs were the star of the show.  Well-seasoned, cooked perfectly, the half rack we ordered went down easily and will be my order the next time I am in Jake's.  The yardbird (smoked chicken quarter) was just on the verge of overcooked; a bit dry but had good flavor.  Red sauce ended up helping moisture after the Italian sauce didn't.  The pork and brisket were very dry. The brisket crumbled apart like stringy pot roast, and it needed the sauce the kitchen had topped it with as well as what I added at table to augment the fat in adding the yum factor.  Not a bright spot.  The pork was also dry and needed help, but the flavor of the pit was definitely there.  Better than crock pot / slow cooker pork, not as good as average backyard smoker fare for tenderness or taste.

So all in all, it was an average barbecue restaurant experience.  I will go back and try things again; it was an acceptable meal in a friendly place.  But I hope for better.

 

You see we aren’t in complete agreement on everything.  I think he’s being more generous than I am. 

Everything looks great, but those pancakes would put me in teh hospital! (I've got a major buckwheat allergy... don't ask me how I found that out.. hehe)

[Shelby]

20 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I’d love to know what you do to make the seafood enchiladas.  And do you make your own taco shells? They do not look like the store-bought ones I’ve purchased.

Hi Kim

 

Just a side note--you mentioned that you had been going back and reading old dinner threads to get some inspiration.  I've started doing the same.  I've started with the 2020 thread.....very interesting going back before the beginning of the pandemic.  I've written down several recipes that I meant to do before so thank you for the idea!

 

There used to be a restaurant in the big city called Chi Chi's.  Definitely not authentic Mexican food, but we liked it--went there when I was young.  Anyway, I always ordered the same thing--their seafood enchiladas.  A flour tortilla stuffed with fake crab and tiny canned shrimp with Monterrey jack cheese and a lobster based white sauce.  They cooked it on the plate you were served on and the sides were rice and refried beans. Here is a good copy-cat recipe .  Don't try to fancy it up using real crab and fresh shrimp because it won't be the same

 

Nooooo, I bought a tortilla press years ago that has never seen the light of day.  It is this brand:

 

 

They are smaller than the usual and very light and crispy.

 

 

[Annie_H]

1 hour ago, CookBot said:

 

Once you've put salmon, prosciutto, and avocado on it, I would argue that it's no longer a BLT. 

Local pub fare in NYC for 20+ years. Often toasted challah. Will not argue. BLT to us.