Dinner 2025

[Smithy]

Chickpea haters, look away now.

 

The rest of you can take a look at this recipe for Chickpea Winter Salad, from the Larchmont Buzz (little newspaper for an area near Los Angeles). Then take a look at my result.

 

 

The ingredients are canned, drained chickpeas; chopped parsley, red onion, olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and marinated artichoke hearts. The author notes that it's a forgiving recipe: adjust at will, add or subtract ingredients. (I just realized that I forgot the garlic!) The dressing is 1:1 lemon juice and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. 

 

I think I overdid the red onion. It's already pretty strong as I eat the first bowlful, and I doubt it will mellow with time. Still, this is good. I can imagine adding chunks of meat (especially salami) or more vegetables. It's a nice counterpart to a delightful Antipasti Salad that I make in warm weather when I remember it. 🙄

[Tropicalsenior]

I made @Dejah's 1-2-3-4-5 ribs and they were delicious.

I had to cook them about an hour and 10 minutes to get them tender. I think the pig that I got was a little longer in the tooth than what you buy up there. I made a double batch for the three of us and there were only about four little ribs left. Of course my grandson, Michael, ate about 3/4 of them.

Edited Sunday at 03:17 AM by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

35 minutes ago, Smithy said:

It's already pretty strong as I eat the first bowlful, and I doubt it will mellow with time

I love the flavor of red onion but it can be pretty overpowering. I found that if you soak it in ice water with just a touch of sugar for about half an hour before you use it it mellows it out and it is really good.

[Honkman]

Duck Ragu Bucatini from “Delicious Tonight” - duck legs get braised with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, dried porcini, red wine, tomato passata, cinnamon stick, star anise, bay leaves, rosemary and chicken broth. Once the duck meat gets shredded you thicken the ragu with beurre manie and mixed with the bucatini and topped with parmesan 

[gulfporter]

Gnocchi wit bacon, peas, parm in a pink pesto (sun-dried tomato). 

 

 

[Maison Rustique]

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I love the flavor of red onion but it can be pretty overpowering. I found that if you soak it in ice water with just a touch of sugar for about half an hour before you use it it mellows it out and it is really good.

 

I just soak in plain cold water and it tames it right down.

[Paul Bacino]

On 1/3/2025 at 12:02 PM, Okanagancook said:

Baking powder, really…were they noticeably fluffier?  How much did you add, if you have it handy?

According to Ludja  " The basic ( no Fail ) Spaetzle recipe i make and learned from my Austrian mom

 

IS:  2 eggs

       1/2 C  of Water

        1/4 t baking powder

       1 1/2 C of AP flour

         1/2 t of salt

 

I have never made these before but they were awesome---I added Nutmeg too

 

Cheers and happy new yr

Doc B

[YvetteMT]

No pic from last night but,  meatloaf and  baked sweet potatoes

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, YvetteMT said:

No pic from last night but,  meatloaf and  baked sweet potatoes

What, no cougar, no bear? I always eagerly click on your post just to see what the heck you're eating tonight.

[Tropicalsenior]

5 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

Spaetzle recipe

Thank you for posting the recipe. I was wondering which one you used. I do have a question. I don't have a  Spaetzle maker and I don't intend to buy one. What did you use? And if one were to use a colander or a grater is the dough thick enough that it doesn't run all over?

[YvetteMT]

6 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

What, no cougar, no bear? I always eagerly click on your post just to see what the heck you're eating tonight.

Nothing weird tonight either- fish.  😉

Halibut, broccoli, rice. 

Edited Monday at 01:08 AM by YvetteMT
Pic (log)

[C. sapidus]

Catfish al mojo de ajo con calabacitas: Garlic cloves sauteed and then blended with gelled chicken stock from a previous Mexican meal. Catfish fillets fried in the garlic-rich oil and then finished in the oven. Zucchini cubes, seared and then cooked down with roasted chile Poblano, the garlic sauce, and lots of cilantro. Lime wedges at the table.

 

Arroz blanco: jasmine rice fried with white onion and garlic, and then steamed with chicken stock.

 

Edited Monday at 01:24 AM by C. sapidus (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, YvetteMT said:

Nothing weird tonight either- fish.  😉

Halibut, broccoli, rice. 

Oh well, how boring. I guess I'm just going to have to keep checking back to see what Poor Little Critter will bite the dust next week.

Edited Monday at 02:06 AM by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Dejah]

Ran out of time to make moussaka, so the ground lamb turned into Kofta.
Basmati rice and mixed veg sides.

                                                 

 

For dessert: Chinese Steamed Egg Cake: memory from  my childhood, and, my kids love this whenever Po-Po visited us on the farm and made this. After school, a wedge of this with ice cold milk. I have been making this in my Mom's old wicker basket, but it finally fell apart even with all the mending I did. So, I had to make this in a bamboo steamer.

                                               

I need to find a similar basket, like this one! Maybe when my friends go to Malaysia!

                                                                                       

 

[liuzhou]

16 minutes ago, Dejah said:

I need to find a similar basket, like this one! Maybe when my friends go to Malaysia!

                                                                                       

 

These are ten a penny round here. Used for making tofu or for more general purposes. I'd imagine Asian markets would have if there is one near you (?).

[Neely]

Like others here perhaps, we were in need of a fish meal so I bought some very fresh monkfish. Shallow fried with a dusting of seasoned  flour. Served with salad and scallop potatoes. 

[BeeZee]

Lazy Chicken and vegetable soup made with freezer bits. Chicken breasts poached first in a flavorful stock earlier in the day, then shredded and stored in the fridge with some of the poaching liquid until needed.  Chopped up some ancient carrot for the stock. Freezer yielded some roasted green beans, a cup or so of cooked rice, handful of mushrooms, half an onion. Added some fresh baby spinach just before serving.

[Tempest63]

I mentioned last year that I had a dabble with Nigella Lawson’s Fish Finger Bhorta, and thought it would be a good canvas for a number of ingredients other than fish fingers. https://www.nigella.com/recipes/fish-finger-bhorta

Yesterday I cooked up left over goose pie and whilst the oven was on I put in one of the glut of pheasants we currently have nestling in the freezer. I stripped the carcass last night after it had cooled and added the meat to the Bhorta tonight.

Mrs T63 believes it was the best version I have prepared thus far.

I did use freshly grated root ginger and garlic instead of the stuff out of a jar and that contributed to the improved taste. I also used two green chillies instead of red.

 

I will be trying it again soon when I next have the oven on at the appropriate temperature to precook another of our many pheasants.

[C. sapidus]

Dry-fried beef slivers: NY strip steak, de-stringed celery, ginger, and scallion whites, all cut into slivers. Stir-fry the beef until beginning to crisp, then mix in Shaoxing wine, Pixian dou ban jian, ginger, scallions, Sichuan peppercorns, and soy sauce. Finish with sesame oil off the heat. Lotsa flavor.

 

Stir-fried rainbow chard with er jing tiao chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, and smashed garlic, also finished with sesame oil. Leftover rice to go with.

 

Edited yesterday at 12:35 AM by C. sapidus (log)

[Honkman]

Hungarian-Style Shepherd’s Stew with Potatoes and Sausage from Milk Street - pearl couscous, potatoes, onions, Anaheim pepper, andouille sausage, paprika are cooked/braised in a mixture of pureed roasted red peppers, tomato paste, white wine vinegar, paprika, cayenne pepper and water. Finished with dill and sour cream 

[Kerala]

@Honkman please do reflect on the andouille. As I'm someone who failed to actually eat andouilette, I wonder, is andouille significantly milder? 

Unanswerable question, I suppose.

 

Edited yesterday at 11:36 AM by Kerala (log)

[Paul Bacino]

On 1/5/2025 at 4:16 PM, Tropicalsenior said:

Thank you for posting the recipe. I was wondering which one you used. I do have a question. I don't have a  Spaetzle maker and I don't intend to buy one. What did you use? And if one were to use a colander or a grater is the dough thick enough that it doesn't run all over?

I used this, minus the hopper, just the spatula

 

 

 

Traditionally,  a small board and a bread scraper are used,  i think u can use a colander or ricer,  the larger holes the better, my thoughts

[Smithy]

Bean stew last night, using a recent ham bone and an old, recently-found package of dried heritage beans from the American Southwest. You can read more about it here, if you'd like.

 

 

After I took this photo I added a touch of sour cream and thought it better, then added a bit more sour cream and decided I'd overdone the sour cream. So then I had to add more beans to the bowl.... 'S'okay, I still have leftovers!

[Shelby]

I can't believe it's already the 7th of January.  Time is flying.

 

My mom and stepdad sent us a delicious ham for Christmas so we had that on NYD for dinner along with Brussels sprouts and the hopefully very lucky RG BEP's.

 

 

 

 

I absolutely had to have pizza.  The low/no carb thing is only something I can take for so long lol.  Salad to go with.

 

 

 

We were prepping and bracing to lose power during this huge icky ice/snow storm .   Thankfully we didn't but I had made a huge pot of venison chili for dinner which really came in handy for lunch yesterday during all of the shoveling and plowing in the bitter cold we had to do.

 

 

 

I had also SV'd a pork loin and threw it in the fridge to heat up on top of the stove if we lost power so I reheated it in the SV bath for last night.  Salad and roasted asparagus on the side

 

[Captain]

Split a chicken in half and gave it a good roasting.. YUM!