Dinner 2023

[Deephaven]

Jerk chicken, peas & rice and tostones

 

[Katie Meadow]

12 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Usually spinach. I mentioned that I live in a pretty small town and things such as esacrole, raddicio, mustard greens, etc are just too durn fancy for our stores!

I've made Italian Wedding Soup with escarole, cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) or chard. All good, but I like escarole best.

[Honkman]

Polenta with Brussels sprouts, bacon, peas and mint - polenta cooked in vegetable broth and milk with garlic and bay leaf. Bacon cooked until crisp, Brussels sprouts roasted in bacon fat and than briefly cooked with peas and bacon in vegetable broth. Finished with nutmeg and fresh mint.

[MaryIsobel]

8 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Going to make my take on these tonight: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/shepherd-s-pie-twice-baked-potatoes/

I thought it was a brilliant presentation for cottage (because I will use beef, not lamb) pie. I will add mushrooms and do my own gravy-type sauce. While I have the oven on for an hour, I'll roast some beets to have with and probably throw in an apple crisp whlle I'm at it. Perfect fall dinner.

Nice change from the norm. The potato in the picture is my husband's "put a lot of potatoes on mine" serving. 

[C. sapidus]

Chicken thighs with Sichuan peppercorns, dried chiles, chile bean paste, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, ginger, minced onion (sub for scallions), chicken stock, and sesame oil.

 

Stir-fried green beans with roasted Poblano chiles, fermented black beans, sliced garlic, chicken stock, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.

 

Everything turned out well, family approved, no leftovers. 😃

 

[gfweb]

11 hours ago, haresfur said:

 

So you melt the cheese on the schnitzel then pull it out and put the sauce on top? That should help it stay crisp but is far from traditional where I live.

 

Exactly!  Crispness is maintained.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Mushroom and cheese tortellini post boil sauteed in olive oil, lemon juice, fresh basil and oregano and a lot of chard with an Italian sausage.

Mixed greens, tomato and Castelvetrano olives salad. Enjoyed with a Tatamagouche Brewing Company Hippie Dippie pale ale.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[liuzhou]

Here we have the ugliest presentation of delivered food I've ever seen.

 

 

新疆孜然羊肉盖饭 (xīn jiāng zī rán yáng ròu gài fàn), Xinjiang cumin lamb over rice. Didn't taste much better.

 

From a local Xinjiang restaurant. ¥23.90 / $3.27 USD. Won't be revisiting.

 

 

¥23.90 / $3.27 USD

Edited September 28, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Dejah]

Thought I'd try a different meatloaf: Bobotie (South African Curry Meat Loaf). I guess I didn't pat the loaf shape firm enough as it fell apart when I tried to lift it off the pan. The prep. took sometime, and it was a nice change with apricots, raisins, almonds, and all the different spices that = curry. Roasted zucchini and sweet potato made it a fall supper. I liked salsa with the meatloaf!

 

                                                                                              

 

Had a fair bit of meatloaf left over, but didn't want a full repeat. Dumped in a can of Hunts Thick and Spicy Tomato sauce, and it served us well over pappardelle pasta.

 

                                                                                             

[liamsaunt]

Cod in crazy water.  I added pasta at my nephew's request as he is not a huge fish fan unless it is fried.  

 

[Kerala]

Poussin variation.

As nice as these meals would be on their own, I'm going to have to think about some alternatives. And I miss *cooking*!

[heidih]

30 minutes ago, Kerala said:

Poussin variation.

As nice as these meals would be on their own, I'm going to have to think about some alternatives. And I miss *cooking*!

You did not cook this or?

[billyhill]

On 9/24/2023 at 6:32 PM, heidih said:

So how would your today dirty rice be not like original?

Made with pork sausage, the holy trinity plus carrot. Fair amount of heat and a splash of vinegar. Bay leaves and thyme.

 

Rice cooked with chicken stock, parsley and green onions and then folded in 

[billyhill]

On 9/24/2023 at 6:29 PM, Katie Meadow said:

Another no-name farmers' market melange in the NC cabin. From the market: purple cherokee tomatoes, big and juicy. Shelled purple hull peas, similar to black eyed peas but I like them better. Fresh okra, dark in color and very tender and tasty. Bacon, not local I don't think, but good. Everything sort of sautéed separately and then mixed with rice and seasoned with Cajun Blackening Spice that I brought with me from CA, believe it or not, because all the ones I've tasted so far in Atlanta are ninety percent salt. For dessert, scuppernongs and double dark chocolate 

Pink eye purple hull peas are my favorite. I grow them almost every year.

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, billyhill said:

Made with pork sausage, the holy trinity plus carrot. Fair amount of heat and a splash of vinegar. Bay leaves and thyme.

 

Rice cooked with chicken stock, parsley and green onions and then folded in 

So no gizzard or liver - sounds tasty though

[RWood]

Tried The Pizza Bibles version of a New Yorker for my cousins bday.

I made the Calabrese honey sausage (tasty!), pepperoni, roasted garlic, Parmesan and ricotta.

[billyhill]

It was good, it just wasn't dirty rice. The veg is upped to improve nutrition.

[Smithy]

4 hours ago, Kerala said:

Poussin variation.

As nice as these meals would be on their own, I'm going to have to think about some alternatives. And I miss *cooking*!

 

3 hours ago, heidih said:

You did not cook this or?

 

Lest @heidih's question get lost, I'll ask it again. You miss "*cooking*" and this doesn't qualify because....? I'm guessing that you started with a cooked chicken, but it's just a guess. It all looks delicious.

[Smithy]

I give @Shelby credit for most of this, but I won't preempt her discussion for the purpose. Besides, my variation may give her the heebie-jeebies. 🙂

 

I've had a pile of tomatoes, some from a dear friend's garden but most from a farm stand that should have known better. Huge tomatoes. Not much aroma although it's been high summer in Minnesota. But I'd bought them, and they needed to be used.

 

A month or so ago (I kid you not on the timing) I purchased some eggplants from an affiliated farmstand. They were huge, plump and beautiful. I got as far as slicing them, painting them with EVOO and baking them per this discussion. Alas, I let them overbake...but not so badly charred that I could bring myself to throw them into the woods. There they sat, in a container in the refrigerator, with me wondering when they'd start molding and I'd have an excuse to throw them out. They stubbornly refused to die. 

 

There sat our kitchen: tomatoes occupying the countertop, cooked eggplant slices in the refrigerator, no plans for either. 

 

Today, @Shelby graciously gave tips for her tomato sauce here and I remembered other things that needed to be used up. I rootled through the crisper drawers and found more candidates.

 

I followed Shelby's instructions except for losing patience with peeling tomatoes. I think I peeled 2. I chopped and cooked 5 or 6. (Sorry, Shelby!) In the aromatics group I added leeks from a neighbor, red and white onions, lovely fresh garlic, and a green bell pepper given to me over my objections. All of them went into the pot at appropriate times, along with parsleyed butter from last week's dinner party, a glug or two of red wine, a bunch of fresh basil and parsley, Aleppo pepper, hot smoked paprika, Lawry's seasoned salt, and dried oregano.

 

It simmered. I tasted. I worried about a metallic taste. I added Amore tubed tomato paste. I let it cook down...and the metallic taste went away. I began final assembly.

 

The eggplant parmesan was based on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I don't think there's anything extraordinary about their instructions. Olive oil to grease the pan. Layer of tomato sauce. Layer of eggplant slices. Layer of shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan. Lather, rinse, repeat. Top with the tomato sauce, then the cheeses. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

 

Well. I programmed the oven to start at the right time, but forgot to tell it how long to cook. It cooked an hour instead of the intended half hour before I realized my error! The topping was a bit, er, darker and firmer than I'd have liked. 

 

 

 

Darker than we'd have liked on top. Still, it was good. Our only complaint is that the top is too solid. It needed to be cooked less, or else the cheeses should have been dolloped on top rather than being a solid coating. A dish like this shouldn't need a kinfe to cut the top. 

 

Thanks to @Shelby for talking me through fresh tomato sauce!

[liuzhou]

Despite yesterday's miserable deliver dinner, tonight I took my fate in my hands and ordered again from a previously untested restaurant.

 

蒜米炒牛蛙 (suàn mǐ chǎo niú wā), which is stirfried bullfrog with whole garlic cloves. The other main ingredients were red onion, ginger, chilli, soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine

 

 

Hallelujah! It was excellent. Garlicky, spicy, and frog-sweet. A winner. Served with rice, natch.

 

¥42.80 / $5.86 USD

Edited September 28, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

Stir fry for dinner last night.

 

[KennethT]

30 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Despite yesterday's miserable deliver dinner, tonight I took my fate in my hands and ordered again from a previously untested restaurant.

 

蒜米炒牛蛙 (suàn mǐ chǎo niú wā), which is stirfried bullfrog with whole garlic cloves. The other mai ingredients were red onion, ginger, chilli, soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine

 

 

Hallelujah! It was excellent. Garlicky, spicy, and frog-sweet. A winner. Served with rice, natch.

 

¥42.80 / $5.86 USD

Wow! That's expensive!

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Wow! That's expensive!

 

Compared to my usual meals, yes. Frog does tend to be a bit more expensive than other proteins. More fiddly to work with, I suppose.

[Shelby]

10 hours ago, Smithy said:

I give @Shelby credit for most of this, but I won't preempt her discussion for the purpose. Besides, my variation may give her the heebie-jeebies. 🙂

 

I've had a pile of tomatoes, some from a dear friend's garden but most from a farm stand that should have known better. Huge tomatoes. Not much aroma although it's been high summer in Minnesota. But I'd bought them, and they needed to be used.

 

A month or so ago (I kid you not on the timing) I purchased some eggplants from an affiliated farmstand. They were huge, plump and beautiful. I got as far as slicing them, painting them with EVOO and baking them per this discussion. Alas, I let them overbake...but not so badly charred that I could bring myself to throw them into the woods. There they sat, in a container in the refrigerator, with me wondering when they'd start molding and I'd have an excuse to throw them out. They stubbornly refused to die. 

 

There sat our kitchen: tomatoes occupying the countertop, cooked eggplant slices in the refrigerator, no plans for either. 

 

Today, @Shelby graciously gave tips for her tomato sauce here and I remembered other things that needed to be used up. I rootled through the crisper drawers and found more candidates.

 

I followed Shelby's instructions except for losing patience with peeling tomatoes. I think I peeled 2. I chopped and cooked 5 or 6. (Sorry, Shelby!) In the aromatics group I added leeks from a neighbor, red and white onions, lovely fresh garlic, and a green bell pepper given to me over my objections. All of them went into the pot at appropriate times, along with parsleyed butter from last week's dinner party, a glug or two of red wine, a bunch of fresh basil and parsley, Aleppo pepper, hot smoked paprika, Lawry's seasoned salt, and dried oregano.

 

It simmered. I tasted. I worried about a metallic taste. I added Amore tubed tomato paste. I let it cook down...and the metallic taste went away. I began final assembly.

 

The eggplant parmesan was based on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I don't think there's anything extraordinary about their instructions. Olive oil to grease the pan. Layer of tomato sauce. Layer of eggplant slices. Layer of shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan. Lather, rinse, repeat. Top with the tomato sauce, then the cheeses. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

 

Well. I programmed the oven to start at the right time, but forgot to tell it how long to cook. It cooked an hour instead of the intended half hour before I realized my error! The topping was a bit, er, darker and firmer than I'd have liked. 

 

 

 

Darker than we'd have liked on top. Still, it was good. Our only complaint is that the top is too solid. It needed to be cooked less, or else the cheeses should have been dolloped on top rather than being a solid coating. A dish like this shouldn't need a kinfe to cut the top. 

 

Thanks to @Shelby for talking me through fresh tomato sauce!

I'm so happy you liked it!  I will be doing the same thing (making sauce) here in a bit  

[blue_dolphin]

I picked up this week's fish share this afternoon - live Hope Ranch mussels.  I've got a couple of other recipes lined up but started with a basic pasta for tonight.

The mussels were sweet, tender and delicious - not an eraser in the bunch! 

These are the peeps who grow the mussels: