Dinner 2024

[C. sapidus]

Caldo de siete mares: farewell meal for one of our houseguests. The soup had shrimp, catfish, and bay scallops (so, maybe dos mares plus a river?) with chayote, zucchini, and potatoes, simmered in chicken stock with a pureed and fried spice paste of guajillo chiles (toasted and soaked), garlic (roasted), Mexican oregano, cumin, and black pepper. Served at the table with cilantro, chopped white onion, and lime wedges.

 

Arroz verde al Poblano: jasmine rice fried with white onion and garlic, then steamed with a blended mix of roasted chile Poblano, cilantro, parsley, and chicken stock.

 

Edited Saturday at 05:57 PM by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

House guest requested African food so this was the best I could do.

 

Yassa (chicken with lemon mustard sauce): Chicken thighs, slashed and marinated with pureed garlic, habanero chile, oil, S&P). Chicken was grilled then simmered in a sauce of onion, grainy mustard, olives, lemon juice, and habanero chile. Seems like an unusual combination but really good.

 

"Vegetarian" Joloff rice: Slowly sauteed onion with diced carrots, sliced red bell pepper, crushed tomato, and tomato paste. Added chicken stock. basmati rice, and a bay leaf. When the rice was done, folded in peas. Will make again.

 

[RWood]

Pizza, pizza. Pepperoni, castelvetrano olives, Vidalia onion and a Margherita. 

[Neely]

Dal Chawal… Lentils and rice. I was going to hand blend these French lentils to make a more traditional Dal but they turned out quite tasty so I left them as they were. Served with pappadoms and a dollop of quince jam for sweetness. Comfort food.
 

[liuzhou]

Tonight, I made an experimental dish of fried rice with prawns and shailan ham from Hunan. I described that more in this post back In September. It also contained garlic, chilli. Shaoxing wine and Chaoshan fish sauce. Finished with coriander leaf/cilantro and Chinese chives. I slightly over-salted it because I forgot the ham and fish sauce are a bit salty, but didn't ruin it.

 

I'll certainly repeat. The shrimp and ham nicely complemented each other.

 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

11 hours ago, C. sapidus said:

House guest requested African food so this was the best I could do.

 

You're a much better person than I...if I had a house guest who requested anything other than what I was already preparing, they'd be going to a restaurant.

[C. sapidus]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

You're a much better person than I...if I had a house guest who requested anything other than what I was already preparing, they'd be going to a restaurant.

 

Ha. Request was in jest - she also asked for Antarctic food. I said we had ice in the freezer.

[YvetteMT]

Last night was bear pasta.  Spicy Italian black bear/pork sausage,  onion, mushroom Raos marinara over Rummo gf pasta. (Mozzarella hidden between the two). And Brazi bites cheese balls.

 

 

Couple nights ago was on my own for dinner so prepared chicken curry that I added shrimp to.

[Okanagancook]

7 hours ago, Neely said:

Dal Chawal… Lentils and rice. I was going to hand blend these French lentils to make a more traditional Dal but they turned out quite tasty so I left them as they were. Served with pappadoms and a dollop of quince jam for sweetness. Comfort food.
 

I am curious about how you cooked your poppadums?

[gulfporter]

Still good grilling weather here in Tucson.  And another Costco lamb rack.  

 

 

[Smithy]

9 hours ago, YvetteMT said:

Last night was bear pasta.  Spicy Italian black bear/pork sausage,  onion, mushroom Raos marinara over Rummo gf pasta. (Mozzarella hidden between the two). And Brazi bites cheese balls.

 

 

 

 

My neighbor shot a bear this year and brought me a pound of the ground meat. It's still frozen. He advised me that it's dry, and I'd get the best results if I mixed it with a fattier meat -- perhaps ground beef. I've been wondering about mixing it with Italian sausage vs. ground beef. On the one hand, I'd like to be able to taste the bear meat. On the other hand, I don't want such a dry experience that it's disappointing. I could make meatloaf, for instance, or meatballs -- but maybe something like a pasta sauce is a better choice? What do you suggest, since I'm not likely to get this chance again any time soon?

[Smithy]

This photo of what's left in the skillet may not look great, but the dinner was a triumph of luck and inspiration over poor planning.

 

 

I arrived home late from a gratifying but later-than-expected afternoon to the usual mayhem of evening chores. A few days ago I'd bought a pork tenderloin with every intention of perusing cookbooks and doing something interesting with it. This evening and hour, it was down to "winging it" or doing something else for dinner altogether: probably a grilled sandwich. For the third evening in a row. Little time for perusing cookbooks, and the most promising recipes I'd spotted for pork tenderloin required things not present in the house.

 

I diced a russet potato and began frying it in a bit of oil, then diced half an old onion, then began slicing "coins" off the tenderloin and quartering the larger slices. When the potatoes were nearly done I added the onion and the tenderloin slices. Dusted everything with smoked pimentón and Trader Joe's Mushroom Umami Spice Mix. Flipped things around until the meat had began to brown slightly, then added the last of a package of Passage Foods Tikka Masala Sauce (which I will not buy again) that's been languishing in the refrigerator, and a bunch of yogurt to smooth and tone down the sauce.

 

You see the result above. It would have looked prettier with a garnish -- say, a sprinkling of chopped cilantro -- or more liquid in the sauce. It actually did look better in the bowl, since it hadn't started to dry out yet as it has in this photo. But you know what? That meat was not by any stretch of the imagination dry, as has been a frequent complaint in this household during the Good Old Days. The flavors were good, once I added yogurt to that sauce. And I've used up half of an old onion, and finished a sauce packet I really didn't like the first time around.

 

And I have leftovers for another meal, and yet more tenderloin to cook when I've more time to think about it.

 

I'm pleased.

[Neely]

@Okanagancook We do the poppadums in the microwave. For about 5 on the turntable, we do 30 seconds on one side, turn them and then 30 seconds the other side. Of course depends on microwave. They have a clear taste this way and I don’t like all that oil when fried. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Neely (log)

[Dejah]

Quick and easy: Spicy Shrimp on Cheesy Grits, chopped salad and peas.

                                                                           

[Honkman]

Variation on Feijoadinha - vaquero beans from Rancho Gordo are cooked with kielbasa, linguica and garlic. Green pepper, carrot and onions are sautéed before added to the beans and cooked a bit more. Finished with some cumin and parsley. Served over rice and with braised kale (simple longer braise with torn kale and plenty of garlic)

[Okanagancook]

@Neely  i don’t care for oil fried poppadums either.  I will play around with my microwave.  Thanks.

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, Neely said:

@Okanagancook We do the poppadums in the microwave. For about 5 on the turntable, we do 30 seconds on one side, turn them and then 30 seconds the other side. Of course depends on microwave. They have a clear taste this way and I don’t like all that oil when fried. 

 

Yes. I always nuke poppadums. Have done for decades. Much cleaner and crispier.