Dinner 2024

[AlaMoi]

17 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

Chili recipe please? I enjoy seeing chili recipes of others. Beans or no beans, meat or no meat, no matter what it is I won’t tell you “That’s not chili!”. 🤣

 

I thought I posted this - apparently didn't click the right thing . . .

 

I prefer to start with dry beans . . . and still stuff like chili and stews and.... all seem to taste better 'the next day' I intentionally make it a day ahead.

 

presoak 200g dry kidney beans overnight

200g dry weight for overnight soak =~400g soaked

saltines

 

1 lb ground beef - salt & brown the beef then add
1 chopped onion
3/4 c green pepper chopped

 

=====
1 lb = 2 c tomato chunks
OR  =====
2 cans dice/whole/chili canned tomato
2 small fresh tomato hand diced added near end of cooking
=======

note on tomato:   summer, use garden tomato. 

do not use winter wooden tomato on the vine; use canned whole/chopped

 

8 ounces tomato sauce
add:
1 to 2 teaspoon chili powder
1 bay leaf (optional)

 

1 lb = 2 c dark red kidney beans

if canned - drained; reserve bean liquor to adjust consistency

- or simmer out undrained liquid (add time)
 

check for salt - add as needed; 1 tsp salt approx total
simmer about 90 minutes

cool, refrigerate over-night

slow reheat for service.

 

 

[Norm Matthews]

I have been wanting to make something with eggplant lately. I recall Charlie liked it--even though it was a vegetable.  We used to have it somewhat regularly but not recently.  This recipe appeared in the Kansas City Star newspaper yesterday and decided to make it today. It had directions to cook pasta and reserve some of the water, then later told when to add the reserved pasta water but never mentioned the pasta itself again. I added that to the recipe in my blog. Later after I took the picture, I added some jarred pasta sauce but now I don't think it really needed it. 

[pastameshugana]

Last night, the family was out again, and I saw some potatoes sitting there. My actual inspiration was making 'something with mashed potatoes' and I thought about Shepherd's Pie.

 

To be fair, I have never eaten Shepherd's Pie (in my memory, at least), or even read a recipe, but I've seen plenty of pictures. I was about to look up a recipe and then thought 'This sounds like the kind of dish someone just made up out of what they had on hand,' and so, with hubris as my guide, decided to just plod ahead.

 

Boiled potatoes in chicken stock, mashed in the stand mixer with butter, plain yoghurt (easier to find here than sour cream), mustard powder (again, because plain mustard is hard to find here, but I just 'felt' like it needed it), salt & pepper.

 

Roasted veg (sweet onion, carrot, button mushroom, butternut squash, and a whole clove of garlic which was set aside). Also boiled some fresh peas to add color.

 

Sautéed chicken breasts with salt, pepper, chili, and a dash of liquid smoke, then chopped.

 

Made a thick roux with the roasted garlic from earlier, and some of the reserved chicken stock/potato water. Mixed the roux with the roasted veg and chopped chicken and put into the casserole dish, topped with a layer of cheddar cheese and broiled to consolidate, then topped with the potatoes, a light sprinkling of chili powder for color, then roasted, and topped with chives.

 

I don't know if this even qualifies as a shepherd's pie, but it was far tastier than I was expecting, and the family was extremely happy with it. I am counting down the hours until I can eat it again for lunch!

 

[Ann_T]

Last night's dinner. 

Pizza night. Italian Sausage, Mushroom and olive. Baked under the broiler using Jim Lahey's method. 

 

Dough was in the fridge for 7 days. Made on September 26th and came out of the fridge today around noon.

A long cold fermentation makes the best pizza crust.

Edited October 4 by Ann_T (log)

[YvetteMT]

Salad for dinner- romaine, radish,  onion,  green olives,  hb egg, red pepper, deli ham and blue cheese dressing. 

[Dejah]

Fall temperatures! Good time to turn on the oven for meals!
Had a recipe for Butternut Squash with cranberries, pecans, and maple syrup: SO pretty and tasty.

 

                                                                                 

Also had a recipe for roasted beets salad with herb vinegar and burrata, but the beets weren't great , so I just drizzled on a Bourbon Maple Dark Basalmic vinegar and the burrata.

Will have to go to the farmer's market tomorrow to see if I can find better beets, and more than just the red ones.

                                                                                 

 

The above accompanied slow roasted pork ribs.

 

                                                                                

Busy day getting plants ready to come inside for the winter.  Quick meal of Singapore Rice noodles and shrimp. Had some green beans that were getting a bit "old", but they worked well as julienne veg with bell peppers. 

 

 

                                                                              

                                                                              

 

Had a recipe for one pan Rosemary Chicken with Cranberry sauce. I didn't have any canned cranberry sauce, so I made my Apple Cranberry Orange Chutney. It worked!

 

                                                                                 

 

                                                                                                           

 

                                                                              

 

 

Edited October 5 by Dejah (log)

[haresfur]

Silverbeet (chard), white bean, and chicken soup with Turkish roll garlic bread. Someone wasn't enthusiastic about the stems so those are fermenting as an experiment.  The silverbeet is really taking off in the garden now that the soil is warming up. I was hoping it would be a winter crop. And don't get me started on the nursery selling me plain silverbeet as rainbow.

 

[Kerala]

On 10/4/2024 at 7:38 AM, pastameshugana said:

Last night, the family was out again, and I saw some potatoes sitting there. My actual inspiration was making 'something with mashed potatoes' and I thought about Shepherd's Pie.

 

To be fair, I have never eaten Shepherd's Pie (in my memory, at least), or even read a recipe, but I've seen plenty of pictures. I was about to look up a recipe and then thought 'This sounds like the kind of dish someone just made up out of what they had on hand,' and so, with hubris as my guide, decided to just plod ahead.

 

Boiled potatoes in chicken stock, mashed in the stand mixer with butter, plain yoghurt (easier to find here than sour cream), mustard powder (again, because plain mustard is hard to find here, but I just 'felt' like it needed it), salt & pepper.

 

Roasted veg (sweet onion, carrot, button mushroom, butternut squash, and a whole clove of garlic which was set aside). Also boiled some fresh peas to add color.

 

Sautéed chicken breasts with salt, pepper, chili, and a dash of liquid smoke, then chopped.

 

Made a thick roux with the roasted garlic from earlier, and some of the reserved chicken stock/potato water. Mixed the roux with the roasted veg and chopped chicken and put into the casserole dish, topped with a layer of cheddar cheese and broiled to consolidate, then topped with the potatoes, a light sprinkling of chili powder for color, then roasted, and topped with chives.

 

I don't know if this even qualifies as a shepherd's pie, but it was far tastier than I was expecting, and the family was extremely happy with it. I am counting down the hours until I can eat it again for lunch!

 

That looks really great, and I'm tempted to make that myself. But, I'll be the one to say it today, that's no shepherds pie!

[pastameshugana]

26 minutes ago, Kerala said:

That looks really great, and I'm tempted to make that myself. But, I'll be the one to say it today, that's no shepherds pie!

 

Alas, I figured as much. From my googling, it appears that to qualify it must, at bare minimum, be beef or lamb. Is that the main distinction?

 

Also, is there a 'name' for a dish like this with chicken, or just 'chicken shepherd's pie'?

[liuzhou]

25 minutes ago, pastameshugana said:

 

Alas, I figured as much. From my googling, it appears that to qualify it must, at bare minimum, be beef or lamb. Is that the main distinction?

 

Also, is there a 'name' for a dish like this with chicken, or just 'chicken shepherd's pie'?

 

Today, shepherd's pie is nearly always considered to be lamb. Beef would be cottage pie. In the distant past, however, only 'meat' was called for.

 

I don't recall a name for a chicken version. I don't recall a chicken version. There are mentions of shepherdess pie, this being a vegetarian atrocity not fit to grace these forums. 

 

That said, I'd happily dig into your pie.

 

 

Edited October 5 by liuzhou (log)

[pastameshugana]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

a vegetarian atrocity not fit to grace these forums

 

Lol

[liuzhou]

Chicken with 红椎菌 (hóng zhuī jūn), red vertabrae mushrooms. Chicken was brined for a couple of hours then sliced and stir fried with the mushrooms garlic, chilli, Chaoshan fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander leaf and Chinese chives. Served with rice.

 

 

 

 

[Honkman]

Not very photogenic (as the piece just disintegrated) but very tasty - frittata with swiss chard, red and yellow peppers, king oyster mushrooms, red peppers onion, parmesan, camembert, thyme, pine nuts eggs and milk.

[Kerala]

10 hours ago, pastameshugana said:

 

Alas, I figured as much. From my googling, it appears that to qualify it must, at bare minimum, be beef or lamb. Is that the main distinction?

 

Also, is there a 'name' for a dish like this with chicken, or just 'chicken shepherd's pie'?

I've only used minced lamb in shepherds pie.. However the whole preparation you have done is much more complex than I would do. Personally I wouldn't try that with lamb, because I'm trying to make a specific dish, but I think with chicken you might be onto a winner. Looks fairly foolproof so it could be perfect for one of our large family meals over Xmas! I'd call it "chicken and mash pie." 

[Norm Matthews]

I was reading @pastameshugana chicken pie recipe and thinking how good it sounded. At the same time I was trying to think of a name for it.  All I came up with was Chickherd pie or Flockherd pie while imagining an image of someone trying to herd a flock of chickens.  Suddenly I remembered some left-over turkey that needed to be used soon and got inspired to try a turkey version- without mashed potatoes though.  I made  a roux with butter, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg and oregano , added some evaporated milk and chicken stock. I melted in some guyer cheese. I cooked in melted butter and oil until soft, some onion, celery, carrot, peas & broccoli. I intended to add mushrooms but forgot to put them on my shopping list.  The ingredients were added to a bread pan along with some turkey and topped with biscuit dough brushed with butter and baked until the biscuits were browned and the casserole was heated through. I was going to use James Beard's rich biscuit dough but chickened out (pun intended) and used refrigerator biscuits instead.

Edited October 5 by Norm Matthews (log)

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, Norm Matthews said:

I was reading @pastameshugana chicken pie recipe and thinking how good it sounded. At the same time I was trying to think of a name for it.  All I came up with was Chickherd pie or Flockherd pie while imagining an image of someone trying to herd a flock of chickens.  Suddenly I remembered some left-over turkey that needed to be used soon and got inspired to try a turkey version- without mashed potatoes though.  I made  a roux with butter, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg and oregano , added some evaporated milk and chicken stock. I melted in some guyer cheese. I cooked in melted butter and oil until soft, some onion, celery, carrot, peas & broccoli. I intended to add mushrooms but forgot to put them on my shopping list.  The ingredients were added to a bread pan along with some turkey and topped with biscuit dough brushed with butter and baked until the biscuits were browned and the casserole was heated through. I was going to use James Beard's rich biscuit dough but chickened out (pun intended) and used refrigerator biscuits instead.

I would ver much like to have that for my dinner tonight - looks delicious!

[Norm Matthews]

14 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

I would ver much like to have that for my dinner tonight - looks delicious!

If I had seen this sooner, I would have saved you some but it is already gone now.

 

[Neely]

Early dinner with some of the family for a Sunday roast. I made a baked ham for a change (hardly ever do this ) with all the trimmings including a spoonful of Lingonberry jam which we all like in place of cranberry. 
Scalloped potatoes instead of roasties. 

[pastameshugana]

8 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

I was reading @pastameshugana chicken pie recipe and thinking how good it sounded. At the same time I was trying to think of a name for it.  All I came up with was Chickherd pie or Flockherd pie while imagining an image of someone trying to herd a flock of chickens.  Suddenly I remembered some left-over turkey that needed to be used soon and got inspired to try a turkey version- without mashed potatoes though.  I made  a roux with butter, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg and oregano , added some evaporated milk and chicken stock. I melted in some guyer cheese. I cooked in melted butter and oil until soft, some onion, celery, carrot, peas & broccoli. I intended to add mushrooms but forgot to put them on my shopping list.  The ingredients were added to a bread pan along with some turkey and topped with biscuit dough brushed with butter and baked until the biscuits were browned and the casserole was heated through. I was going to use James Beard's rich biscuit dough but chickened out (pun intended) and used refrigerator biscuits instead.

 

Norm, this looks (and sounds) great!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@Norm Matthews That turkey pie is pretty much exactly what we would have growing up post Christmas and I remember it as being better than the Christmas day turkey.

Looks really good.

 

[rotuts]

@Neely

 

that is an exceptionally good looking plate of food.

 

how did you make the gravy ?

[Neely]

@rotuts Thanks, it was tasty and turned out well. My husband usually makes the gravy and did so today, I use a similar method. The dish the ham was roasted in had drippings from the fat ( I think he poured some off ) so he made a roux with a little flour, then added some box mix gravy powder with water from the carrots. He’s English and this was the way his mother taught him. However, in UK he used Bisto to add flavour from a box and here in Australia, we use Gravox. I would like to say we made it from scratch and roasted bones and boiled up vegetables and strained it all a la Jamie Oliver, but the truth is… we didn’t. With a 7 month old baby grandson as part of the family get together, there was quite enough to do. 

Edited October 6 by Neely (log)

[Ann_T]

10 hours ago, Neely said:

Early dinner with some of the family for a Sunday roast. I made a baked ham for a change (hardly ever do this ) with all the trimmings including a spoonful of Lingonberry jam which we all like in place of cranberry. 
Scalloped potatoes instead of roasties. 

 

@Neely, that baked ham dinner looks amazing.   Scallop potatoes are a must with a ham dinner.  Now I have a craving.

 

 

We had one of our favourite work night dinners. Sterling Silver Top Sirloin roast with Yorkshire Puddings.

 

Takes less than an hour even with the Yorkshire puddings which gets baked while the roast is resting.

[rotuts]

@Ann_T

 

another outstanding plate of food.

[gulfporter]

I heard about a pop-up of sorts and drove over to it (12 minute drive from village home). 

 

It's a Mexican family set up on side of the road, Sat. and Sun. only.  Opens at 11:30 and was told they sell out by 1 or 2. 

 

They smoke borrego (sheep), lechón (suckling pig), chickens, chorizo, spareribs in a metal box.  Years ago a Cuban told me the box is called La Caja China (a China Box).  

 

Sells the meat by the kilo, boneless---he takes it out of pit, hacks it off the bone and weighs it as you watch.  He asked if I wanted the sheep bone and he threw it in for free.  

 

Crispy skin, tender meats.  

 

I went overboard and bought 1/2 a kilo of lechón and 1/4 kilo borrego.  After dinner we have enough leftover for a week of lunches!