Dinner 2022

[BonVivant]

Braised beef shin with lemongrass and carrots (Bo Kho style).

 

Seared salmon 2 ways:

Looks a bit like curry but it's not. I can't eat curry of any kind. Oyster mushrooms in cream with fresh turmeric. Lentils on right.

 

Fresh shiitake in a spicy sauce. Mung bean noodles underneath.

[heidih]

13 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

Braised beef shin with lemongrass and carrots (Bo Kho style).

 

Seared salmon 2 ways:

Looks a bit like curry but it's not. I can't eat curry of any kind. Oyster mushrooms in cream with fresh turmeric. Lentils on right.

 

Fresh shiitake in a spicy sauce. Mung bean noodles underneath.

Lovely salmon color. Wild or farmed?

[Annie_H]

42 minutes ago, heidih said:

Ouch on your roasting mess. Those rice noodles look so dark. Did the ingredient list indicate a dark component?

Fortunately the glass component for the roaster is not very expensive. 

I'm as cynical about ingredients as just about anyone---organic moringa powder. Some superfood of the moment. All I care about is the texture and that works for us. Color can be a plus if a chef, but we are home cooks. Still fun having a variety at good Misfit prices. 

I had to look...

I do have many rice noodles from HMart. Pale pinks, purples, and greens using various roots.

[KennethT]

59 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

 

 

 

 

That looks really delicious!  Can you share a recipe?

 

 

 

 

It's actually pretty simple - but you need access to the proper ingredients...

 

To me, the most necessary one is:

 

Grachai - also called fingerroot or sometimes just "rhizome".  Unless you can get it fresh (I've never seen it fresh outside of SE Asia), I'd use the frozen - there is a brined version in a jar (available on Amazon and elsewhere) but I've found it to be relatively flavorless.

 

Also necessary is:

Green peppercorns (not dried).  Again, if you can get them fresh, it's amazing.  These brined ones are a pale comparison but are the best I can get.

 

This recipe is really good with any firm, meaty white fish, chicken breast, etc.

 

1) Cut the fish into about 1" - 1-1/2" cubes and marinate in a bit of fish sauce - you just want to coat it, not have it sit in a puddle

2) in a mortar, make a paste from about 1/2t white peppercorns (ground in the mortar), if you can get cilantro roots - use like 3-4 of them otherwise I use about a handful of cilantro stems - cut into small dice before adding to the mortar, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 1 prik chee faa (deseeded) and as many Thai chillies as you'd like (I use only 1 to make it not too spicy, but traditionally this dish is quite spicy)

3) Over medium heat, stir fry the paste for a couple minutes until really fragrant and the garlic gets a little color

4) Turn up the heat and add the fish, tossing around to coat in the paste, then add a few Tablespoons of fish sauce, a small handful of the grachai (I keep it in the strips that it comes in - just defrosted), a few strings of peppercorns and maybe 4-5 kaffir lime leaves deribbed. Stir fry a bit.

5) Add about 1/4-1/2 cups chicken stock or water and stir around until the fish is cooked - should be just a minute.

6) check for seasoning - will definitely need a bit of sugar, and maybe a bit of salt

7) when fish is done, turn off the heat and throw in a large handful of Thai basil and toss around to wilt it in the residual heat.... done!

[weinoo]

I wanted spareribs. Because I have a rack of  baby back spareribs (defrosted) from my local (new) meat share, as well as some gorgeous Italian sausages from Ends Meats. You can search through a fair number of Italian cookbooks, and find very few sparerib recipes. Marcella always comes through, however, and this is a version of a recipe once made many moons ago. 

 

Spareribs get cut into individual ribs. Sausages get cut into 1/3s or 1/4s.  And they get started with some onion, carrot, celery...

 

 

Splash or two of white wine to deglaze, and a cup and a half of tomatoes and their juices go in. Braised on the stove top, until done...(an hour and half to two)...

 

 

Served over polenta. Perfect for a crowd. Or even for two, with a ton of leftovers.  

[Honkman]

57 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

. I can't eat curry of any kind. O

Just curious why you can’t eat any curry as there are some many variants, e.g. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Burma etc with very different ingredients, spices etc which have hardly any overlap

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, Annie_H said:

Black bean Chicken Noodle Soup. Friday night storm prep. We had shrimp and salmon thawing but it was getting dark. Roasting coffee beans, the pups got the zoomies and took the cord out---roaster crashed to the deck during cool down--- beans and glass went flying. 

Bummer. Too late and dark to bring out the back-up poppers. (back-up roasted half pound in the freezer). 😜

Freezer shopping found a pint of chicken in master stock and a pint of spicy Oaxaca black beans. He wanted pasta, I wanted rice. Compromised with a new-to-me rice noodle. (misfits)

Nice 5 minute noodle. 

...even after holiday gifting I have so many RG beans to go through. No complaints. I like the choices. 

 

I  bought those same noodles.   How did you make them?  Soak first?

[Annie_H]

20 minutes ago, Honkman said:

Just curious why you can’t eat any curry as there are some many variants, e.g. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Burma etc with very different ingredients, spices etc which have hardly any overlap

My last curry adventure was 2016. Found the three 1/2 pints in the back of the freezer last year and shuddered. Awful. 

A few months ago I revisited. Fantastic trying a new recipe. We both agree on this one. In the past I would order my favorite and DH would get his non-curry dish at a favorite restaurant. 

I got sucked into a curry base via a blog post. Not good. 

22 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I  bought those same noodles.   How did you make them?  Soak first?

Package directions...5 minutes in minimal water. They swell up quickly. I made 1/3 the pack for two. If I needed a next day lunch...might make the entire package...probably super for a cold sesame noodle. (the usual suspects...toasted sesame oil, toasted seeds, etc). I have the multi-nut and grain/seed nut butter. Should make a nice cold sesame noddle dish. 

[dcarch]

Made some wings for dinner to try out how to make skin crispy for Super Bowl.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

[Orbit]

My first sous vide! Lamb chops at 134 for 2.25 hours. With sautéed shallots and green beans.

[KennethT]

Yunnan elk with herbs.  Tonight's herb selection was mint, sawtooth coriander, laksa, kaffir lime leaf and curry leaf from the garden, plus some flowering chives and cilantro from the store.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Baby portobellos, Blenheim apricot vinegar, EVOO, Malden. 

 

Hot Calabrian sausages, fresh tomato sauce finished with vodka and cream,    No surprises but ultimately comforting.

 

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

Yunnan elk with herbs

 

What is Yunnan elk, please?

 

[Honkman]

Biryani with lamb (marinated overnight in yoghurt and several spices) and okra with tomatoes (recipe from Indian muslims in Uganda)

[Dante]

Veggie chili pie with cornbread crust

[liamsaunt]

Pasta ala norma

 

[KennethT]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What is Yunnan elk, please?

 

It's an indictment of the US educational system with regards to grammar.  American elk cooked in Yunnan style - like the Yunnan dish beef with herbs but made with elk since it's super flavorful and very lean and more healthy than beef.

[liuzhou]

14 minutes ago, KennethT said:

It's an indictment of the US educational system with regards to grammar.  American elk cooked in Yunnan style - like the Yunnan dish beef with herbs but made with elk since it's super flavorful and very lean and more healthy than beef.

 

Thanks. I know elk and I know Yunnan but I also know there are no elk in Yunnan! Maybe in a zoo, but Chinese zoos are not where you want to hang out, never mind buy dinner!

I guessed it was a recipe, but wasn't sure exactly.

My comments on American grammar training are not suitable for a family-friendly site such as this! I just had some idiot insisting that "the" is an adjective!

 

[scamhi]

we had chili last night. I usually make it with small chunks of chuck steak. The local grocery store had very coarse ground beef for chili. so I tried that.

Kenji recipe using whole chilis and I added 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

drank margaritas- no picture

recipe: 2oz tequila, 1oz cointreau, 1oz fresh lime juice, 1/2 oz aquafaba

[Duvel]

CNY eve in Germany …

 

 

Fish (that didn’t fit into my steaming setup, for prosperity)

 

 

Dumplings (for wealth)

 

 

Noodles (for happiness & longevity)

 

 

I thing we got it covered ☺️

 

Gong Xi Fa Cai - Gong Hei Fat Choy 🙏

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Duvel (log)

[Duvel]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Thanks. I know elk and I know Yunnan but I also know there are no elk in Yunnan!

At least not anymore*
 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Xianrendong-panel-with-large-naturalistic-elk-and-deer-outline-paintings-Yunnan_fig2_268689709

 

—-

* which can - without any doubt - be attributed to the widespread popularity of the Yunnan elk dish in prehistoric times …

[Paul Bacino]

Paired me up some scallops!!

 

 

 

Cauliflower puree ( onion, garlic and Dukkah )  Scallops with 13 spice/ bacon with tangello brown sugar/ cilantro puree and  Bok Choy

 

[chefmd]

Red rice bowl with cold smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, edamame, pickled carrots.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Repurposed roast chicken ->  lard crusted chicken pot pie

 

[Kim Shook]

@Steve Irby – that iron pot you used on Tuesday is fantastic.  I have a giant one that my MIL gave me.  A nice gesture, but it is so large as to be almost useless.  I’d love one the size of yours!

 

@Shelby – your noodle bowls are so perfectly elegant and delicious looking.  And I still haven’t made lasagna! 😁

 

@kayb – oh, man!  How I’d love to be sitting down to that “Beanie Weenie” dinner tonight!

 

Last Tuesday Jessica requested my Onion-Garlic soup (actually, I’m pretty sure this is a Bon Appetit recipe from back in the 1980s).  The soup:

 

You can see that it is a bit greasy.  I lifted a lot of it off with some ice cubes, but I think next time I’ll try using less butter.  Tasted great, though.  Gruyere croutons:

 

 

Serving:

 

 

Served with salad and a baked potato:

 

 

  

Jessica’s 38^th birthday was the 27^th.  She and I were in Norfolk/VA Beach all day sampling Filipino places and for dinner back home with Mr. Kim, she chose a Japanese place for dinner.  Surimi salad:

 

 

Crab Rangoon:

 

 

Shrimp:

 

 

Calamari:

 

The appetizers are decidedly of the Chinese-American persuasion rather than Japanese, I guess. 

 

 White dragon roll, salmon, and Hawaiian roll:

 

 

Tuna & yellow tail:

 

 

Volcano roll:

 

 

Orchard roll:

 

 

Hibachi steak (mine):

 

 

On Friday, I had leftover sausage gravy and biscuits:

 

 

On Saturday, to further celebrate Jessica’s birthday, we went up to the DC area.  Back in Richmond that night we were hungry enough that we stopped at our favorite pizza place in the city.  We were so hungry that we just gobbled at the salad before I got a picture:

 

 

Pizza:

 

 

Calamari:

 

How does a pizza and sub joint that sells slices make the most tender and delicately flavored and crisp calamari in town?  Just addictive. 

 

Steak and cheese:

 

 

Last night my dinner was leftovers from our Filipino food adventure in Norfolk on Jessica’s BD:

 

Pancit, pork bun, and lumpia.

 

My dinner tonight was dim sum leftovers: