Dinner 2023

[MaryIsobel]

6 hours ago, Captain said:

Tin salmon rice bake thingy.  Cheese and Panko on top for crunch.

That looks very comforting and filling - I have been helping a friend of mine brainstorm a few simple recipes that will help people utilize the common ingredients that are distributed through food pantries/food banks.

Edited November 9, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[Ann_T]

21 hours ago, liuzhou said:

This wasn't the best I've had, but not bad. With rice, of course. $2.50 USD.

Wow, that looks delicious.  Makes my mouth water.

I hope you are continuing to improve Liuzhou. 

 

I made cabbage rolls yesterday and we had them for dinner.

No sides, Moe just wanted cabbage rolls.

And he had them again for breakfast.

I'm going to take some for lunch.

This is my favourite cabbage roll recipe. Similar to one that I use to order in a Hungarian restaurant in Toronto.

Their version had a light brothy tomato sauce which I liked better than cabbage rolls with a thick tomato sauce.

[mgaretz]

Yet another stir fry:  Char siu with bok choy, onion, carrots and mushrooms, served over rice.

 

 

[Captain]

17 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

utilize the common ingredients that are distributed through food pantries

Pretty much what I've been doing of late.

[Captain]

Left over BBq turkey. (freezer dive) Flauta.

[Norm Matthews]

This is probably the last time I'll use the smoker this year. I did baby back ribs. 

[liuzhou]

Last night was a pizza I've posted often enough before, but I took the notion that I fancied some chips (fries) with that. Fortunately, I spotted this on the pizza place's delivery app page.

 

 

I was sitting with my finger over the <SEND> button when some instinct stopped me. Sure enough, in the fine print I found that they weren't potato but fried lotus root. Now, I like lotus root, but this wasn't what I wanted, so I abandoned that idea. I could have ordered fries from a different vendor but there is a minimum order value of ¥20 on the app and fries alone cost half that and two portions is too much for me. So just pizza it was.

 

Maybe tonight, I'll get my chips.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[pastameshugana]

5 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

This is probably the last time I'll use the smoker this year. I did baby back ribs. 

 

Always a little sad when you have to put it away...

[chromedome]

On Tuesday we drove to the airport in Moncton (90 minutes away) to pick up my sister-in-law, who will be staying with her dad for the winter. She was a bit peckish after being in the air for most of the day with only airline snacks and a packed sandwich, so we decided we'd hit a drive-thru in Saint John before dropping her off. As it happened, the new Popeyes - the first in the province - had just opened in our old east-side neighborhood, and since none of us have had the opportunity to try Popeye's we decided that it was a sign.

 

Not gonna lie, my first thought was "Wow, and I thought KFC was getting pricey!" A 2-piece combo at the KFC a few blocks away is $11.49, at Popeye's it was (IIRC) $13.99. Since there were four of us to feed, we went for the promotional "Family Feast" at $47. It consisted of 6 pieces of chicken, 2 sandwiches, 4 biscuits and 2 sides (we chose the mashed w. gravy and the red beans and rice), and added on extra gravy.

 

It was...okay. The chicken was juicy and well cooked, the coating was nice and crisp, and it was both less salty and less greasy than KFC. Also the pieces were larger (dunno if it's the same in the US but up here a couple of years ago KFC shifted to cutting a larger chicken into more pieces, and they just feel smaller). Compared to the other nearby option, Newfoundland-based Mary Brown's*, the coating and size of the pieces are about comparable (it would be interesting to try them all side-by-side; given that they're just a few blocks apart they'd all be reasonably fresh and hot). The red beans and rice were the best part of the meal, as far as my GF and I were concerned. It was over-salted and heavy with fat, and probably packed more calories than the actual chicken, but it was tasty for all that.

 

I'll almost certainly eat there again, but will definitely be watching for specials and coupons (as I do with KFC and Mary Brown's). I enjoy a good piece of fried chicken, but frugality dictates eating it at home more often than out.

*The chain started back in the 1960s by licensing its recipe from Virginia's Golden Skillet, but was unable to use that name because another NL restaurant had registered it. So they went with Mary Brown's (apparently the maiden name of the GS founder's wife?), and over the past couple of decades have grown from a regional franchise of a few dozen outlets to a national one of 250-ish).

[liamsaunt]

tomato-carrot tortellini soup with spinach

 

 

 

Served with ATK spicy cheese bread

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

tomato-carrot tortellini soup with spinach

 

I never think of tomatoes and carrots together. I ned to play. Thanks.

[OlyveOyl]

Chicken cutlet, calasparra rice, sofrito, mixed poultry broth, peppers, tomatoes, pesto/basil.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by OlyveOyl (log)

[liuzhou]

河内熟牛肉粉 (hé nèi shú niú ròu fěn), Hà Nội Phở Bò, Hanoi Beef Phở

 

Beef tendons, beef brisket, scallion, red chilli, bean sprouts, Thai basil and mint and rice noodles in a rich beef broth. Came with a mean ¼ of a tiny Vietnamese lime.

 

Phở Bò in China

 

From the my local Vietnamese restaurant named 西贡 (xī gòng) which is Sài Gòn in Vietnamese and Saigon in English.

 

 

The restaurant isn't bad but ludicrously overpriced. This was ¥36 while I can get a not too dissimilar Chinese beef noodle dish for ¥12. I can't see many locals biting. There are a lot of Vietnamese students in the local colleges. They definitely won't be coming.

 

I can't remember how much I paid last time I was in Vietnam (2018), but much, much less for a better bowl and unlimited lime.

 

Phở Bò in Vietnam

Edited November 11, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

A throw together dinner out of the fridge and pantry. 

From the top clockwise: toasted naan with hummus, pickled herring with onions, mixed small to tiny radishes (after clearing out the patch), tomato salad over lettuces, toasted focaccia and in the center grilled halloumi and pickled red onions.

There were a lot of flavour combinations and the mix worked out well.

 

[Ann_T]

Prepared and baked bread dressing before leaving for work yesterday.

I had the chicken seasoned and ready to go into the oven and Moe got it into the oven before I got home.

Just had to cook the potatoes and steam the rutabaga and green beans and make the gravy.

And warm up the dressing while the chicken rested.

[rotuts]

@Ann_T 

 

what a delicious plate of food   my kind of comfort food 

 

for a chilly early winter day 

[rotuts]

 

continuing to use the 3 qt. iPot for LP basket steaming 

 

standard generic MarKet basket Fz veg :  one  lb peas and carrots and one half lb green beans

 

iPot from cold thaw 00 in LP , chilled then in cold water to stop the cooking.

 

I love sweet potatoes but never seem to get to them

 

SP large cut , basket steamed LP 3 min.  cooled at room temp

 

the SP needed something , so went w a TJ's olive oil // Dijon // cider vinegar .

 

it was a bit tart , so added a tiny bit of molasses to it.  that added some nice flavors.

 

the dressing was not sweet.

 

the sweet potatoes might be better hand mashed while warm  I like leaving the skin on.

 

much tastier than I hough it might be 

 

and SP's are going to be a regular item for me from now on.

Edited November 11, 2023 by rotuts (log)

[Duvel]

After a week out on business trip, some comfort food:

 

Karaage, some pickles, udon in mentsuyu with an onsen egg …

 

[C. sapidus]

 

Dinner from random fridge contents: Green beans and kale with Mexican chorizo, white onion, garlic, serrano and Fresno chiles, canned tomato, cumin, cilantro, and Mexican oregano. Mrs. C sous-chef'd the chorizo, picking out all the gristly bits. ❤️

[Dante]

Corn chowder with bacon. Garlic bread for dipping.

[liamsaunt]

Friday, bay scallops with angel hair and crispy panko in lemon sauce

 

 

Saturday, broiled sole with a different lemon sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus

 

[Deephaven]

Focaccia, smoked butter, microgreens

Smoked duck breast, hoisin, fricassee, root veg

Turbot, octopus, hollandaise, salad with lemon dressing

Beef short rib, beef saddle, demiglace, onion foam, potato puff

Almond cake, chocolate cup, hot espresso - tiramisu

Not a bad view either 

 

[mgaretz]

Grilled pork chop with steamed bok choy in a soy/hoisin sauce combo, with potato chips.

 

 

[Shelby]

I continue to have ups and downs with my new Breville pizza maker.  The pizza before this was just about perfect for us.  This one looks good.  But it wasn't.  The toppings were, but the crust was terrible.  It looked done, but it wasn't.  It even had the nice looking brown bottom that should be perfect but no.  I used the same temp settings as the one before.  Frustrating.  BUT I will prevail!

 

 

More venison tostadas

 

 

Breakfast for dinner--as usual I was out of ideas so that's my fall back.  Biscuits and sausage gravy, hash browns, eggs and Brussels sprouts

 

 

Raspberry and blueberry galette for dessert

 

 

More turkey paninis

 

 

Last night...I needed something way different--so tired of my cooking.  So, chicken tikka masala.  Ronnie seemed to like it--I loved it.  Took the easy way and used a jar of sauce from Misfits.   Marinated the chicken for a couple hours  in a mix of plain yogurt, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, garlic, chili powder and salt.  I ended up adding more hot pepper to the sauce in the end.   It was good.  And easy.  Basmati rice and also a new vegetable side to go with.  Carrots and broccoli roasted in a mix of a bit of honey, olive oil and salt and pepper.  While that's roasting you make a brown butter sauce with just butter and loads of thinly sliced garlic.  After the garlic gets a bit brown you remove from heat and add a TBS of lemon juice then pour over the veggies.  

 

 

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I continue to have ups and downs with my new Breville pizza maker.  The pizza before this was just about perfect for us.  This one looks good.  But it wasn't.  The toppings were, but the crust was terrible.  It looked done, but it wasn't.  It even had the nice looking brown bottom that should be perfect but no.  I used the same temp settings as the one before.  Frustrating.  BUT I will prevail!

 

 

More venison tostadas

 

 

Breakfast for dinner--as usual I was out of ideas so that's my fall back.  Biscuits and sausage gravy, hash browns, eggs and Brussels sprouts

 

 

Raspberry and blueberry galette for dessert

 

 

More turkey paninis

 

 

Last night...I needed something way different--so tired of my cooking.  So, chicken tikka masala.  Ronnie seemed to like it--I loved it.  Took the easy way and used a jar of sauce from Misfits.   Marinated the chicken for a couple hours  in a mix of plain yogurt, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, garlic, chili powder and salt.  I ended up adding more hot pepper to the sauce in the end.   It was good.  And easy.  Basmati rice and also a new vegetable side to go with.  Carrots and broccoli roasted in a mix of a bit of honey, olive oil and salt and pepper.  While that's roasting you make a brown butter sauce with just butter and loads of thinly sliced garlic.  After the garlic gets a bit brown you remove from heat and add a TBS of lemon juice then pour over the veggies.  

 

 

 

 

I just broke out our panini press a week ago and we've enjoyed a few paninis (is that the plural?) since. I don't use it during the summer for some reason. Your sausage gravy with biscuits intrugues me. Can you believe that I have neither made it nor eaten it in my whole life? It's just not a thing in these parts but I think we would like it for a "breakfast for dinner" meal so I'll put it on my "to try" list.