Dinner 2025

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

Deboning chicken wings sounds like a lot of work! And Stovetop Stuffing...oh, dear. But you're being good to your sweetie. Since you Frenched the drumettes, I take it you were only removing the bones from the middle part of the wings? The tibia, so to speak? And what do you do with the tips?

 

Your grandkids' reaction to the quail bones reminds me of my darling. He liked finger food -- fried chicken, for instance -- but if it had a lot of bones as it sat on the plate he thought it was too much trouble. Because of that, it's been a decade or two since I cooked Cornish game hen!

Yeah, you just debone the flats. I leave the wingtips on, because they make a convenient handle. Also, I love how crispy they get and I nibble them from their tiny bones at the end of the meal.

It's not actually that big a deal. You just circle the "elbow" joint with your knife, scrape the ends of the bones a bit with your knife tip to get any tendons tying the flesh to the bone, and then push everything back to the "wrist" joint. A quick wrench dislocates the two bones (equivalent of the radius and ulna in a human arm), and Robert's your mother's brother.

 

After the first few, I had it down to 20-30 seconds/wing. And I could have gone faster, if suitably motivated.

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Sir fried noodles with bok choy, broccoli and scallions, with an egg on top

 

[Norm Matthews]

We had our Irish-American meal this afternoon.  If there weren't a St. Patrick's Day, I'd invent a holiday for making corned beef brisket from scratch.  Maybe my birthday... well no, that's July.  Not a good time for boiling a big chunk of meat for hours.  Maybe that Seinfeld holiday.. Festivus.  I told Charlie that I'd make it even if I lived alone .

I did not serve an everything-boiled-in-one-pot this year. The soda bread recipe said this one is more likely to resemble the way it would look and taste in a typical Irish home. It contains some whole wheat flour and rolled oats.

I bought a turnip for the colcannon a few days ago but could not find it today. I made a quick trip to the closest store to grab one and they did not have any. Instead I got a rutabaga.  It was from Canada and cost $4.53. A pretty hefty price for one Canadian rutabaga.  Trump tariff?

This is the first time I have made colcannon.  Charlie liked it and the mixed cabbage cooked in butter instead of boiled too.  The colcannon recipe said to use peeled red potatoes but the red potatoes available were the size of river rock so I boiled and mashed them with skins on. The dip sauce for the Scotch eggs is made with butter, cream and mustard. I left out the flour and instead let it thicken as the butter cooled. Just to explain the Scotch eggs today, the recipe came from an Irish Pub Food cook book.

Edited March 17 by Norm Matthews (log)

[C. sapidus]

Grilled honey sesame shrimp: marinated the shrimp with sesame oil, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, honey, Sriracha, 5-spice powder, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, and scallion whites. Removed the shrimp and reduced the sauce to a glaze. Grilled the shrimp over charcoal, brushing each side with the glaze.

 

Mrs. C made zucchini fritters with mint in the air fryer. We ate the first batch with pesto but the fritters were better as is.

 

Edited March 18 by C. sapidus
Air fryer (log)

[Honkman]

Roasted Cauliflower Salad - cauliflower, mixed with curry powder, cumin and olive oil, gets roasted in the oven. Afterwards when still warm, mixed with pan-roasted chicken breast, baby spinach, pomegranate seeds, smoked almonds and a vinaigrette of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup

[liuzhou]

 

This, I didn't cook. A friend, a Sichuanese chef did. This is what 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng) looks like in his home village. What it looks like in Sichuan. That is what America knows as Kung Po Chicken, but China doesn't.

 

 

Edited March 18 by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

 

Maccheroncini rigati w/3-mushroom sauce.  Roasted broccolini.

Edited March 18 by weinoo (log)

[Dejah]

On 3/17/2025 at 11:26 AM, chromedome said:

Yeah, you just debone the flats. I leave the wingtips on, because they make a convenient handle. Also, I love how crispy they get and I nibble them from their tiny bones at the end of the meal.

It's not actually that big a deal. You just circle the "elbow" joint with your knife, scrape the ends of the bones a bit with your knife tip to get any tendons tying the flesh to the bone, and then push everything back to the "wrist" joint. A quick wrench dislocates the two bones (equivalent of the radius and ulna in a human arm), and Robert's your mother's brother.

 

After the first few, I had it down to 20-30 seconds/wing. And I could have gone faster, if suitably motivated.

 

 

These are the ones I made last year. Haven't made any since. Hard to find just the right size of wings.
         

 

 

Edited March 18 by Dejah (log)

[Dejah]

Some meals gone by:
 Bought a farm-raised chicken. It was huge as I usually gran 2-3 lbs ones when they are on sale. This was 5lbs 8 oz! It was delicious, simply roasted on a bed of fennel, carrots, and onions. We've had 2 meals, chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, and still have 1/4 left. That went into the freezer.

                                                            

                                                           

Since when did oxtails become SO expensive. The one I got was +$9.00 per lb= $47 for the whole one! But we did enjoy the unctuous taste of the bits of meat, braised for hours, with star anise, cloves, etc

                                                         

Cleaning up bits and pieces of seafood in the freezer. Had planned on bouillabaisse as I had an extra fennel bulb, but hubby wanted simple and saved me some work: Scallops and Pickerel

                                                       

Soo's #110 - a favourite when we had the restaurant. Love the crispy bits under the sticky sauce.

                                                       

Tomatoes on the vine, grown in Canada, $1.99 / lb. Not the flavour of tomatoes grown in the summer, but perfect for Beef & Tomato Egg Stir-fry. Man! I can eat bowls of rice with this! Most people cook just the tomato and egg, but I have a carnivore in the house.

                                                       
 

[YvetteMT]

Halibut, lentils, rice, peppers and onions. 

 

[C. sapidus]

Mom Leuang Neuang's famous sate, from Thai Food. Marinate slices of chicken thigh meat with coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, palm sugar, fish sauce, turmeric, whiskey, and a spice paste of shallot, peanuts, and toasted/ground coriander and cumin seed. Grill over charcoal, and serve wrapped in Boston lettuce leaves with peanut sauce.

 

Peanut sauce: ginger, garlic, jalapeno and habanero chiles, scallions, palm sugar, and chunky peanut butter, simmered with coconut milk, fish sauce, and lemon juice. I am fairly certain that Mrs. C would commit at least minor crimes for good peanut sauce. 😉

 

[chromedome]

16 hours ago, Dejah said:

Since when did oxtails become SO expensive. The one I got was +$9.00 per lb= $47 for the whole one! But we did enjoy the unctuous taste of the bits of meat, braised for hours, with star anise, cloves, etc                                                     
                                           

If it makes you feel any better, I haven't seen it as low as $9/lb for quite a while out here. Pretty sure the last time I bought a few slices they were marked down for clearance, at 30% off the $13.99/lb price. That was a few years ago, already.

[Maison Rustique]

Costco has had oxtails for the past few months, but I haven't paid attention to the price. I'll check next time I go.

[Ann_T]

Last night's dinner.

 

Thai Green Curry Chicken.

[Tan Can Cook]

On 3/17/2025 at 4:16 PM, C. sapidus said:

Grilled honey sesame shrimp: marinated the shrimp with sesame oil, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, honey, Sriracha, 5-spice powder, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, and scallion whites. Removed the shrimp and reduced the sauce to a glaze. Grilled the shrimp over charcoal, brushing each side with the glaze.

 

Mrs. C made zucchini fritters with mint in the air fryer. We ate the first batch with pesto but the fritters were better as is.

 

 

Fantastic food picture. 🙂 Well done.

[liamsaunt]

A few recents. Potato chowder

 

 

Arancini with tomato and spinach sauce

 

 

Spaghetti with meyer lemons and bay scallops

 

[C. sapidus]

Concoction inspired by rajas con crema: Roasted and sliced a chile Poblano. Sliced white onion and sweated zucchini seared in a pan with habanero chiles, garlic, cumin seed, black pepper, and red Hatch chile powder. Mixed in cubed sweet potato (previously baked), diced rotisserie chicken, Poblano strips, and half-and-half. Cooked that down and finished with Mexican oregano.

 

The sweet potato was pretty soft and became part of the sauce. Not what I planned, but no complaints.

 

[Honkman]

Mie Noodles with Rhubarb and Tempeh - rhubarb is quickly pan-fried and mixed with a sauce made from hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger, fresno chili and brown sugar. Separately you saute napa cabbage and mix it with cooked mie noodles and the cooked rhubarb. Finished with a mix of mint, cilantro, pea shoots and toasted sesame seeds. Served with seared tempeh

[Maison Rustique]

Last week at Costco, I picked up a box of porotta (paratha) and it is really tasty. I gave half to my sister and should have taken a photo of the front of the box because she tossed all but the back, which is shown below. A friend gave me some of her cottage pie that she'd made for St. Pat's. I heated up the pie and heated a porotta. Then I sauteed some asparagus in a bit of butter and some Penzey Curry Now. I rolled the asparagus in the porotta. Very tasty fast food.

 

[zend]

 

Seafood mix on cast iron, with carrots, onions, couple of tomato slices, garlic, EVOO and butter. Plus oregano and a dash of soy sauce, lemon juice. This type of cooking is called "na sach" in Bulgaria (it means "on the sizzle"). Ready from scratch in ~15 min, with seafood added from frozen. A quick way to serve great seafood, other than fried or grilled.

 

Sorry for the plating - not my strong suit - I just wanted to contribute.

[weinoo]

Birthday dinner for my wife last night...

 

 

Shrimp cocktail with avocado.  House-made cocktail sauce, poached wild gulf shrimp (in a court bouillon enhanced with shrimp shells).

 

 

Nantucket Bay Scallop linguini. Sauce of butter, shrimp/scallop court bouillon, garlic, scallions, white wine, lemon.

 

After dinner, I went down to the grocery store and scored 2 pints of Häagen-Daza, on sale at 2 for $9!!

[TdeV]

@Dejah and @chromedome. Oxtail has a lovely flavour. The beef oxtail I have cost $9/pound but it's quite small diameter. One wonders how old the beef are when they are butchered. ☹️

 

 

Edited March 20 by TdeV (log)

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

the beef tail these days is the same age as the meat in your meat counter .

 

after all , where to those zillion tails go ?

 

about 1.5 y.o.  

 

the tails Ive seen at a much better than average local chain , 

 

were at least 50 % fat .  from the Feed Lot.

Edited March 20 by rotuts (log)

[C. sapidus]

"Spicy burgers" (chapli kebab): ground lamb with minced onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and habanero and serrano chiles, plus ground coriander seed, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne. Served on Bavarian pretzel rolls, to complete the culture-clash meal.

 

Grilled pineapple, dipped in melted butter and then a mix of sugar, canela, cloves, and grated lime zest. Served as both a dessert and as a topping on the spicy burgers.

 

Stir-fried mustard greens with garlic and oyster sauce. Simple and good. Dogs, surprisingly, enjoyed raw mustard greens.

 

[FauxPas]

On 3/16/2025 at 5:36 PM, YvetteMT said:

After a 4 weeks long work trip that was heavy on grilled cheese sandwiches and whiskey,

 

Kinda wanted to see some photos of your work fare now.   🙂