Dinner 2023

[Annie_H]

Left over green sauce over lamb tamales. About 25min steamed from frozen so used the time to make an arugula pesto for the weekend. A first for me. Used a half cup of toasted sesame seeds, (what I have is lots of seeds).  A head of roasted garlic, rice wine vinegar, lots of grana padano. Olive oil. Nice change. Ramp pesto sounds good as well. 

*FreshDirect sent me two big 1pound clamshells instead of two smaller ones. I'll freeze a couple 1/2 pints. 

 

[Shelby]

@DejahBoy do I want those chicken feet.  I haven't been to the market to get some of those for such a long time.  

 

I've not been good at meal planning lately.  I look up and it's five already with no idea what to make.  So I pour a glass of wine and drink until something comes to me lol.

 

Breakfast--frozen biscuits, stuffed jalapeños, venison sausage, eggs, and gravy.

 

 

Fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans

 

 

Venison taco salads

 

 

 

Really good turkey paninis--I had leftover jalapeño stuffing which is just cream cheese, cheddar cheese, green onions and smoked paprika mixed together.  Threw that on the sandwich on a whim.  

 

My cleaning angel friend is having a really hard time with her Lyme's disease and hasn't been able to clean since early January.  We are keeping in touch, though, and the other day she felt well enough to stop over for a visit!  I gave her a lot of fish that Ronnie had just caught and she gave us fresh picked strawberries from her patch!

 

 

SO sweet and good.  And so very nice of her.

 

I froze 3 bags

 

 

And had the rest over a little white cake that I made with some sweetened whipped cream.

 

 

Last night was quesadillas to use up some left over steak.

 

[Norm Matthews]

I think it was Buddha who said Your best teacher is your last mistake. Yesterdays ribs were a mistake.  I tried again today and got some good results. One was spare ribs, trimmed St. Louis style and the other one was baby back or Loin back.  Since the last two were very meaty, I noticed that the package said it was extra meaty.  

 

 

[Ann_T]

Stir fries make the best worknight dinners.  Quick and easy. 

 

Got home at 5:35 and we were eating at 6:17.

 

Chicken and Green bean stir fry in a black bean sauce.  Served over rice. 

 

 

[Dante]

My first attempt at making a lomito sandwich. Fries on the side

[Dante]

Quesadillas with chorizo, poblanos, and mushrooms. Side of steamed corn sprinkled with shawarma seasoning.

[Honkman]

Quesadilla with diced chicken, poblano, mushrooms, chipotle, cumin

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, Dante said:

My first attempt at making a lomito sandwich. Fries on the side

There seems to be at least two versions of a lomito sandwich. There is a beef based version from Argentina and a pork version from Chile. Which one is this?

[KennethT]

Sambal grouper with stir fried baby bok choi

 

 

[Annie_H]

Bison burger. Tomato and pickled red onion on mine, DH--kimchi and YellowBird hot sauce. Dressed at the table. Wanted to try the arugula pesto so made a smallish batch. Good but needs some veg like fresh arugula, cherry toms, fresh basil. Serving chilled tomorrow. 

 

[Duvel]

Warm weather has finally arrived in Weinheim - my in-laws, too 🙄

 

So, I am making the best out of both phenomena and prepared a BBQ:

 

Halloumi, sausages, pork collar (of course), Grillfackeln (thinly sliced marinated pork belly, wrapped around wooden sticks) and bread varieties …

 

 

Plus the usual potato salad and a Greek salad, and some pumpkin hummus from Aldi (quite tasty) …

 

 

In-laws were silenced with a Gewürztraminer Spätlese. Sweet white wine always gets them. Especially after a 14h drive 🤗

 

Thus: no complaints !

[Okanagancook]

I quite like your idea of thinly sliced pork belly on a stick.  Do you include the skin?  And is there any pre-grilling treatment like salt for a few hours?

[Duvel]

5 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I quite like your idea of thinly sliced pork belly on a stick.  Do you include the skin?  And is there any pre-grilling treatment like salt for a few hours?

This is actually a commercial product you can buy at any butcher. No skin and always marinated or treated with a dry rub. I prefer the dry rub version, as it gets more crispy. As the belly has plenty of fat, the resulting product is usually quite crunchy on the outside and soft and juicy on the “stick-side” …

[Okanagancook]

Kinda like bacon on a stick.  I have a meat slicer that would do a nice job on the belly if I firm it up in the freezer.  Thanks for posting this.

[Dante]

9 hours ago, Anna N said:

There seems to be at least two versions of a lomito sandwich. There is a beef based version from Argentina and a pork version from Chile. Which one is this?

 

the beef based one.  

[Norm Matthews]

I have never had any interest in smoking a bird before. Probably because I once had a smoked turkey at a Church social and didn't like it. But now I think it was the fault of the kind of smoke used that I didn't like.  I want to try some things different this year.  One was to do a chicken the other is to do a chuck roast.

 

Before I got the chicken, I looked in the Cool Smoke cookbook to see if he had a recipe for a whole chicken.  He did but I didn't really look at it until after I got the chicken.  That is when I found out that it was a involved version of beer can chicken.  First there was a brine that took two days  to make and another day to marinate the chicken.  Finally it was cooked at 400º while sitting on a beer can.  

 

There is two problems with that.  First I don't think my smoker will get that hot. My grill might but if I put a chicken sitting up, I won't be able to close the lid on either one. 

 

So I did this: First I sprayed a slotted tray with non stick oil.  I mixed a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning in two Tablespoons of softened butter and rubbed it inside the chicken and over and under the skin.  I smoked if for about 1 hour, 15 minutes at 325-350º and sprayed it with a solution of 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water then added 5 tablespoons of lemon juice and sprayed it on every 20 or so minutes..  It turned out lightly smoked with a hint of lemon and very juicy. 

 

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, Norm Matthews said:

I have never had any interest in smoking a bird before. Probably because I once had a smoked turkey at a Church social and didn't like it. But now I think it was the fault of the kind of smoke used that I didn't like.  I want to try some things different this year.  One was to do a chicken the other is to do a chuck roast.

 

Before I got the chicken, I looked in the Cool Smoke cookbook to see if he had a recipe for a whole chicken.  He did but I didn't really look at it until after I got the chicken.  That is when I found out that it was a involved version of beer can chicken.  First there was a brine that took two days  to make and another day to marinate the chicken.  Finally it was cooked at 400º while sitting on a beer can.  

 

There is two problems with that.  First I don't think my smoker will get that hot. My grill might but if I put a chicken sitting up, I won't be able to close the lid on either one. 

 

So I did this: First I sprayed a slotted tray with non stick oil.  I mixed a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning in two Tablespoons of softened butter and rubbed it inside the chicken and over and under the skin.  I smoked if for about 1 hour, 15 minutes at 325-350º and sprayed it with a solution of 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water then added 5 tablespoons of lemon juice and sprayed it on every 20 or so minutes..  It turned out lightly smoked with a hint of lemon and very juicy. 

 

I love the sound of the end result flavors. Bravo! A testament to experienced cooks improvising

[Tropicalsenior]

36 minutes ago, Norm Matthews said:

Finally it was cooked at 400º while sitting on a beer can.  

I've had beer can chicken a couple times. The Hosts thought it was delicious, to me, it tasted like overcooked shoe leather.

[Captain]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've had beer can chicken a couple times. The Hosts thought it was delicious, to me, it tasted like overcooked shoe leather.

 

Yep. and not a very good way to cook a chook. the can creates uneven cooking temps.

[Anna N]

 

Dinner yesterday was (take out) leftover Mutter Paneer with methi roti and garlic naan.

[Annie_H]

Lobster rolls. FreshDirect had some nice top split brioche buns last week. (not too sweet). Stocked up and filled the freezer.--making a dozen shrimp rolls in a couple weeks. I like to bake my own but too nice outside for that chore. Stocking up is a good thing. Burnt the shits out of the first two.

 

 

[Dejah]

@Kim Shook: Your hubby's pulled pork looks great! I seem to always end up with stringy pork whenever I have ordered it. Lovely selection of meals in your post!

@Shelby: Always love seeing your meals! My chicken feet is a once a year effort. SO much work for so little meat. LOL!

@Senior Sea Kayaker: The prime rib bone is my favourite of the roast!

Quick meals are the order for gardening days! I just plant flowers and herbs, no rook for vegetables. But soon, market gardens!

One of my local elder Chinese aunties grow the biggest and best Moo Gwa. Made soup with pork breast bones, part of a melon and some Shitaki mushrooms

 

                                                                              

 

Followed by Ma Po Tofu. I love fresh mint this!

 

                                                                              

 

A friend has a cottage up in the lake country. She brought back a package of Kurtwurt, made in Lac du Bonnet. It was smoked, and I cooked it stove top. Been finding Romano green beans, so it's appearing in many meals.

 

                                                                               

 

I had picked up a couple of packages of Sterling Silver Beef Sirloin Medallions at Safeway. I was disappointed with the first package that I grilled - hit and miss bits of tender and tough.

This time, I chunked it up and made stew in the IP. The meat  was tender, but fell apart into shreds. Give me chuck or short ribs for the best stew!

 

                                                                               

 

No spotted prawns here on the prairies. A couple of years ago our local Chinese grocer brought some in, and some of the people who bought and ate became ill. Not sure what the issue was, but the price made ME ill. Glad I didn't buy any.

But I do have a local guy who sells lovely frozen shrimp @$25.00 / kg, peeled and deveined. We enjoy those whenever. This week, Giant Tiger had the 21-30 on sale for $5.97 for 345 gm. My supplier had come in yet, so I picked some up to tie us over. Did a quick stir-fry with lots of onion and tomato sauce. Eaten with gai lan and jasmine.

 

      

 

 

[Duvel]

Pizza & movie night: “Mary Poppins returns” in Spanish, plus …

 

Salami (not really as browned as on the picture)

 

Tuna & red onions

 

 

[Ann_T]

Great looking pizzas @Duvel.

 

Today is Moe's birthday.

For dinner we had

Green Peppercorn Steak with Parisienne potatoes.

And Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.

It is tradition that we always have something with strawberries.

[Dejah]

@Ann_THappy Birthday to your Moe!  Steak looks fabulous, and great tradition with strawberries! ❤️

Friends and former customers have been talking about the ribs we served at our restaurant. We made our Sweet & Sour ribs #13, using bite-size pieces. The ribs were put thru' a seasoned egg wash, coated with cracker crumbs, and "squeezed" to make sure the coating stays on and the meat more or less "tight" against the bone. The ribs were then deep fried. Man! These were good, and it was always hard to keep the staff away from the bin! These made for great appetizers.
To make #13, the ribs were simmered with water, ketsup, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce. The "broth" must be bright (sour) and sweet without being cloyingly so. Definitely NOT the red sauce we so often see, and my kids called it the Christmas sauce. The ribs are strained into a container in the steam table, and the sauce is thickened with cornstarch slurry and kept in a separate container in the steam table. All we needed to do for orders was to ladle the sauce over the ribs.
The ribs may not be "authentic", but they were sure popular with our customers. No one else in our town made them this way. It's labour intensive, but we had the staff to prepare them this way. Two of my Vietnamese ladies used to sit on a low bench after the lunch rush and bread each of these pieces of ribs!

We enjoyed them tonight!

                                                                                

Had a few shrimp left in a bag, added that to mixed vegetables for a stir-fry.