Dinner 2024

[Honkman]

Vegetable chili made in the pressure cooker - we used Frijole Negro Santanero beans from Rancho Gordo which gave an incredible broth. Also used white mushrooms, onions, garlic, red peppers, crushed tomatoes, chipotle in adobo, chili and cumin powder, bay leaves, cilantro and vegetable broth. Topped with some sour cream and cheddar cheese.

[liuzhou]

Prawn fried rice with (mostly) SE Asian herbs: culantro, coriander leaf, Thai basil, Chinese chives and non-Asian rocket / arugula. Chili and garlic, Chinese fish sauce.

 

 

 

Edited June 1 by liuzhou (log)

[ElsieD]

13 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks for taking the time to share your photos and thoughts, @ElsieD.  I'm glad it was enjoyable overall.  Everything sounds delicious but does look like a lot of food!  When I looked at the menu, in addition to thinking how many plates and sets of cutlery would be needed, I was wondering if you'd have everything in one dinner or split it up over two evenings or a dinner and a brunch. I suppose it would be hard to do that without knowing which things might be best to pair together. Still, seems like a fun treat!

 

 

We did split the meal between two dinners.  There is no way we could possibly have eaten everything in one sitting.  On the back of the menu card there is a list of all equipment needed to prepare the dishes as well as the China, flatware and glases you need to serve them.

[liamsaunt]

On 5/31/2024 at 10:57 AM, Duvel said:

That is … interesting. Can you outline the recipe a bit ?

 

 

I found it replicated on the Food 52 site.  Here: https://food52.com/recipes/84238-vegetarian-laksa-recipe-with-rutabaga

 

The main difference is that the Macomber turnip took longer to get browned than the original recipe.  That was fine, I just keep it roasting until it looked good.  I think I would have preferred rice to the rice noodles, but that's just me.

[Norm Matthews]

 I grew up in a working class community in Kansas City called Strawberry Hill. It is on the high bluffs above the Kansas River. Cattycorner across the street from our apartment,  there was a tavern that served food and welcomed children and women. ( Unlike most beer joints at that time in the area) Once in a while Dad would take us over there for shrimp.  That shrimp tasted a lot like this French recipe which is cooked in a vegetable stock then left to cool in the stock, adding its flavor to the shrimp and turning the broth  into consommé of shrimp.  I decided to serve it with rice and some broth and corn on the cob. 

Edited June 1 by Norm Matthews (log)

[YvetteMT]

Tonight, my favorite fish,  Ling Cod. One of us caught in Ugak Bay Alaska.

 

Example of a ling cod (not necessarily tonight's dinner but maybe)-

 

With remoulade-

 

 

Setup-

 

not pictured- the stove and kitchen that were scrubbed this morning and will be again tomorrow! I love fried fish but the mess, not so much. 

[C. sapidus]

Dungeness crab-stuffed Poblano chiles. Roasted Poblano chiles stuffed with sauteed red bell and Anaheim peppers, shallot, mayo, and smoked paprika, and then baked. Topped with Panko and Old Bay in melted butter and then broiled. Not bad, but we can get better blue crab meat locally.

 

[Neely]

Sunday roast time again, this time roast duck with roast potatoes and an orange and onion salad. The ubiquitous green beans… we seem to eat a lot of green beans. Husband made a sauce/ gravy with some of the juices ( and fat) and he added freshly squeezed orange juice. 

 

 

 

On Saturday night I made Chicken Korma with sweet potatoes made from scratch with fine almond flour as the thickening along with some wheat flour and butter. No coconut milk, so no Thai influence just Indian. Based on a recipe from Rick Stein’s India book. You make the sauce separate from the frying chicken, onions, garlic and ginger and before adding those ingredients into the sauce, I sieved the sauce with all it’s spices, so it was smooth and creamy.

 

I also made a quick flat bread just from flour, salt and water, rolled out and heated without oil in a caste iron pan...Chapati.

 

For something sweet after dinner, I whizzed up pitted dates, ground almond flour, Dutch chocolate powder all mixed with a little chocolate liquor, rolled into balls and then rolled in coconut. No sugar. 

Edited June 2 by Neely
Added sweet’s photo (log)

[liuzhou]

Burger in a homemade jiamo bun. The first of two. I had vaguely considered making some fries but it's too damn hot - 35℃ in kitchen before turning on any cooking equipment.

 

[KennethT]

17 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Burger in a homemade jiamo bun. The first of two. I had vaguely considered making some fries but it's too damn hot - 35℃ in kitchen before turning on any cooking equipment.

 

A question about sanitation - I'm sure I've asked this before, but a long time ago.  From what I understand, tap water in your area (or most of Asia in general) isn't potable.  How do most people wash things meant to be eaten raw (although I understand that most people don't eat raw veggies there)?  Do you use boiled then cooled water or bottled water?  Or do you use normal tap thinking that the amount of water that clings to the vegetable to be negligible and thus safe to eat?

[liuzhou]

 

 

12 minutes ago, KennethT said:

A question about sanitation - I'm sure I've asked this before, but a long time ago.  From what I understand, tap water in your area (or most of Asia in general) isn't potable.  How do most people wash things meant to be eaten raw (although I understand that most people don't eat raw veggies there)?  Do you use boiled then cooled water or bottled water?  Or do you use normal tap thinking that the amount of water that clings to the vegetable to be negligible and thus safe to eat?

 

I never drink the tap water, but happily clean my teeth with it and wash vegetables. Most people do the same. Never had a problem with it. I guess it varies from place to place, though.

[C. sapidus]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

 

 

I never drink the tap water, but happily clean my teeth with it and wash vegetables. Most people do the same. Never had a problem with it. I guess it varies from place to place, though.

This makes sense. Tap water is disinfected, not sterilized. Generally people build up some degree of tolerance to whatever microbes live in their local water supply. 

[KennethT]

2 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

This makes sense. Tap water is disinfected, not sterilized. Generally people build up some degree of tolerance to whatever microbes live in their local water supply. 

Tap water in most of Asia is NOT disinfected.  In most of SE Asia, you shouldn't even brush teeth with tap water unless it's been boiled first.  It's well known to carrier a plethora of viruses, including hepatitis and typhoid.

[Captain]

Burger by Captain..

[haresfur]

8 minutes ago, Captain said:

Burger by Captain..

 

No beetroot?

[C. sapidus]

Bo kho, probably my favorite stew ever. Started by toasting whole spices for 5-spice powder. Gosh the kitchen smelled nice.

 

 

Bo kho ingredients. Beef chuck, star anise, Thai basil, and carrots not pictured.

 

 

Bo kho and jasmine rice

 

 

Quick-pickled bean sprouts and carrots with cilantro.

 

Edited June 2 by C. sapidus (log)

[KennethT]

32 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

Bo kho, probably my favorite stew ever. Started by toasting whole spices for 5-spice powder. Gosh the kitchen smelled nice.

 

 

Bo kho ingredients. Beef chuck, star anise, Thai basil, and carrots not pictured.

 

 

Bo kho and jasmine rice

 

 

Quick-pickled bean sprouts and carrots with cilantro.

 

This looks fantastic.  We had bo kho almost every day for breakfast while in Saigon.  Just eating that sauce with the crisp exterior and soft interior banh mi was heaven.

 

[C. sapidus]

8 minutes ago, KennethT said:

. . . We had bo kho almost every day for breakfast while in Saigon.  Just eating that sauce with the crisp exterior and soft interior banh mi was heaven.

 

 

Bo kho banh mi sounds heavenly. We usually make char siu banh mi, which younger son consistently requests for his birthday meal.

 

Edited June 3 by C. sapidus
Splelenig (log)

[KennethT]

12 hours ago, C. sapidus said:

 

Bo kho banh mi sounds heavenly. We usually make char siu banh mi, which younger son consistently requests for his birthday meal.

 

Sorry - Vietnamese can be confusing here.  I was referring to banh mi the bread, not banh mi the sandwich!  Most things (other than noodle soups like pho) in Saigon are served with banh mi (the bread) alongside.

Edited June 3 by KennethT (log)

[liuzhou]

14 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Sorry - Vietnamese can be confusing here. 

 

 

Very.

 

Bánh mì simply means bread (literally bánh is baked goods and mì is wheat.) Bánh is used for many  things - cakes, tarts, doughnuts, pies etc. Wedding cakes are bánh cưới.

 

The sandwich is more correctly 'bánh mì thịt' but usually abbreviated - in context it is usually obvious what is meant. 

 

Now, if the Vietnamese could just sort out their pronunciation system, it would help. Infinitely more confusing than any sandwich!

 

 

[KennethT]

47 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Now, if the Vietnamese could just sort out their pronunciation system, it would help. Infinitely more confusing than any sandwich!

 

 

At least their writing provides a roadmap for the pronunciation!

[KennethT]

49 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Bánh mì simply means bread (literally bánh is baked goods and mì is wheat.) Bánh is used for many  things - cakes, tarts, doughnuts, pies etc. Wedding cakes are bánh cưới.

 

I think Bánh  seems to denote more than just baked - it also encompasses steaming - such as Bánh cuốn or my favorite from Huế, Bánh Ướt.

[liuzhou]

6 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I think Bánh  seems to denote more than just baked - it also encompasses steaming - such as Bánh cuốn or my favorite from Huế, Bánh Ướt.

 

Yes, indeed but the literal meaning is still baked. Not the 'in use' meaning.

[liuzhou]

22 minutes ago, KennethT said:

At least their writing provides a roadmap for the pronunciation!

 

Only partially. Like all of these pronunciation systems it take no account of regional or other accent differences. Hanoi and HCMC are often very different, but it's written the same.

 

Chinese is written the same no matter what dialect is used in speaking. People often find themselves unable to communicate verbally, so pass notes or 'draw' characters in the air to make their meaning clear. I usually explain it by using the examples of numbers: 8 is used to represent the  same number all over the world but is pronounced extremely differently from place to place. Chinese characters and Vietnamese diacritics are the same on a smaller scale.

 

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

 

Only partially. Like all of these pronunciation systems it take no account of regional or other accent differences. Hanoi and HCMC are often very different, but it's written the same.

 

Chinese is written the same no matter what dialect is used in speaking. People often find themselves unable to communicate verbally, so pass notes or 'draw' characters in the air to make their meaning clear. I usually explain it by using the examples of numbers: 8 is used to represent the  same number all over the world but is pronounced extremely differently from place to place. Chinese characters and Vietnamese diacritics are the same on a smaller scale.

 

Very true - I forgot how frustrating it was in Hanoi where the letter 'r' is pronounced like 'z'.