Dinner 2025

liamsaunt · January 17

19 hours ago, C. sapidus said:

This was a new cookbook, a gift from a friend. Lets just say it needs editing. The soup was supposed to include potatoes, but none were listed in the ingredients so I didn't get any. After frying the onion and garlic, it says to remove half, but never tells you what to do with them (I added back into the soup, but maybe it was supposed to go in the meatballs). Coconut milk "if needed" is listed in the ingredients, but never mentioned again. Etc, etc. Glad this was not my first time cooking Indian food.

Would you be willing to name the cookbook?

Last night, nephew wanted to cook a beef massaman curry from a YouTube cook he watches. Sister and I do not eat beef, so I made us a cauliflower massaman style curry to have instead. I added some kale to the cauliflower because my CSA saw fit to give me 4 leaves of kale in yesterday's delivery. Not enough for a group dinner, but enough for this meal. They also gave me 37 carrots. You never know what you are going to find in the CSA box!

Nephew also made a lemongrass and curry leaf rice, which was delicious, and a flatbread that was a good idea but turned out a bit tough and chewy. We all appreciated his effort. Beef curry

Cauliflower and kale curry

C. sapidus · January 17

14 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

Would you be willing to name the cookbook?

'Indian Home Cooking' by Aiken Coleman. I checked other recipes and found the same problems - mismatches between the ingredients list and instructions, absence of measurements, etc.

Still, a thoughtful gift. :smile:

Ann_T · January 17

6 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

I too detest commercial ketchup and never keep it in the house. But for frosting a meatloaf I suggest a homemade ketchup with an addition of spicy smoky BBQ sauce. It's made with canned Italian tomatoes but tastes nothing like traditional ketchup. I almost never eat beef any more, so I haven't made meatloaf in years. I also used an equal mix of beef, pork and veal back in the day.

I know I'm in the minority, but I also do not want any ketchup or tomato/bbq sauce on meatloaf. I don't want a sweet sauce. And I like it served with mashed potatoes so I want the dripings to make a savory sauce/gravy.

It is so difficult now to find veal, especially ground veal.

TicTac · January 17

23 hours ago, KennethT said:

What do you use for curry paste?

I didn’t - I made my own (as most contain garlic…!).

Consisted of….

fresh turmeric

ginger

green tops of scallions

fish peppers

lemongrass

Cilantro stem paste

toasted cumin

also kefir lime leaves made an appearance.

probably not authentic - but certainly delicious!

KennethT · January 18

33 minutes ago, TicTac said:

I didn’t - I made my own (as most contain garlic…!).

That's what I was wondering. Nice job getting around the restrictions.

C. sapidus · January 18

Dinner from 'Cradle of Flavor':

Sambal udang (stir-fried shrimp sambal): make a paste of toasted shrimp paste, Holland chiles, garlic, shallots, macadamia nuts (sub for candlenuts), and palm sugar. Fry the paste slowly, and then stir-fry with the shrimp. Lots of flavor and sneaky-hot.

Tumis sayur (stir-fried baby bok choy with smashed garlic and Holland chiles) and nasi udak (lemongrass-scented coconut rice) to go with

Edit: Inspired by @KennethT's delicious travelogue :smile:

Edited January 18 by C. sapidus (log)

KennethT · January 18

1 hour ago, C. sapidus said:

Dinner from 'Cradle of Flavor':

Sambal udang (stir-fried shrimp sambal): make a paste of toasted shrimp paste, Holland chiles, garlic, shallots, macadamia nuts (sub for candlenuts), and palm sugar. Fry the paste slowly, and then stir-fry with the shrimp. Lots of flavor and sneaky-hot.

Tumis sayur (stir-fried baby bok choy with smashed garlic and Holland chiles) and nasi udak (lemongrass-scented coconut rice) to go with

Edit: Inspired by @KennethT's delicious travelogue

I'd highly recommend getting candlenuts on Amazon or something then keep them in the freezer. I think they're very different from macadamias or any other nut that is commonly used as a sub.

Kerala · January 18

13 hours ago, C. sapidus said:

Edit: Inspired by @KennethT

Awesome.

Kerala · January 18

We went to a friend's last night and had pies.

The host made mini-pies for starters. And desserts.

Chorizo and chicken, feta and cranberry, beef and something, samosa pinwheels and fruit tarts for dessert.

Here's my lamb and Guinness pie. It was disqualified as not a pie.

Fair enough. I think it tasted the best, so that's fine. I'm not bitter. Really. One of the men said I could open a pie shop. Whatever.

Chard, lemon and cheese pie with filo pastry. This was voted the winner. Very impressive, and definitely a pie.

I'd just like to point out that in no way is a samosa pinwheel any type of pie. Even if it did taste good.

Apple and bramble pie, also by the winner Jennie. It was nice, too.

Edited January 18 by Kerala
Apple pie. (log)

Katie Meadow · January 18

@Kerala your friend has some whacky plates!

Dejah · January 18

On 1/16/2025 at 4:15 PM, ElsieD said:

Easy when I am able to buy puff pastry tart shells!

@Dejah. Where do you buy puff pastry shells?

I have to special order them thru' our little local Asian store. I think Dim Sum restaurants in Winnipeg uses them. They get them thru' a wholesale supplier that I used to order from for my restaurant. Company is in Mississauga, Ontario

Dejah · January 18

Nice to be able to get ground lamb - made Moussaka for supper. This time, I tried broiling thin slices of eggplant as opposed to pan frying. We prefer the thicker slices pan fried - soft silky texture a nicer contrast to the ground lamb.
            Moussakawhole7872.jpg.f491fb2a2e219cea40df36f8edde2c3e.jpg

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Salsa makes a nice contrast as well

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Lovely fresh chicken breasts on sale at our local Co-Op: $4.99 / lb. Picked up 4 trays and put them into foodsaver vacuum bags for the freezer. Kept 2 breasts out for Chicken Fajita last night. Avocados from the freezer for guac, a can of El Paso refried beans, etc

Edited January 18 by Dejah (log)

**ElsieD** · January 18

32 minutes ago, Dejah said:

I have to special order them thru' our little local Asian store. I think Dim Sum restaurants in Winnipeg uses them. They get them thru' a wholesale supplier that I used to order from for my restaurant. Company is in Mississauga, Ontario

Thank you. Can you tell me the company's name? Maybe I can contact them and find out who they supply in Ottawa and go from there.

Dejah · January 18

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Thank you. Can you tell me the company's name? Maybe I can contact them and find out who they supply in Ottawa and go from there.

Oooppsss. Knew I forgot some vital info!

King's Pastry

5880 Falbourne St, Mississauga, ON L5R 3L8

https://www.kingspastry.com/

C. sapidus · January 19

Scalloped chayote and corn (chayotes y elotes gratinados): Alternating layers of chayote (peeled and thinly sliced) with corn kernels and grated pepperjack cheese. Sauce was sauteed white onion, garlic, and chile jalapeno, mixed with flour, whisked with milk, and seasoned with chopped cilantro and Mexican oregano. Topping was panko and parmesan with melted butter.

Would you consider that "hot dish"? :rolleyes:

A friend stopped by so, short on time, Mrs. C tossed air-fried meatballs with Costco pesto.

KennethT · January 19

Since being home, we've been going through roti canai/prata withdrawal, so...

Homemade roti canai with

homemade chicken Capitan curry (forgive the sloppy plating, I was in a hurry) and

Stir fried baby Shanghai bok choy, with garlic.

gfweb · January 19

The world is full of bad meatloaf. My wife constantly chides me when I order one and then say it sucks.

But I love a great meatloaf. My andouille meatloaf with Major Gray's chutney, for example.

Perhaps this deserves a thread/eG food challenge (if there isn't already one).

YvetteMT · January 19

Commercial tikka masala sauce with konjac noodles, squid, and shrimp.

(Partner had taco salad)

Dejah · January 19

Lamb is a favourite protein!
Grilled on cast iron pan. Fresh mint sauce, peas and Jasmine rice.

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liuzhou · January 19

25 minutes ago, Dejah said:

Lamb is a favourite protein!

For me too. Unfortunately most of my neighbours disagree, saying it smells terrible. So it's difficult to source (and expensive when I do find it).

On the other hand, they love Xinjiang lamb (or is it mutton?) Grilled with cumin and chilli sold by itinerant vendors with mobile grills in every street night market in China!. Go figure.

They just don't want to cook it themselves.

North and west China eat it a lot, but I'm not moving there. Too cold.

Neely · January 19

The weather was cool, well 19’C, and I felt like corn beef and cabbage. This cut was what we call Silverside. It looks dry but it wasn’t and besides the mustard sauce took care of that.

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Much later we had a dessert which I make quite often or variations of it. It’s poor man’s tiramisu I put little biscotti soaked in Tia Maria in the bottom, scatter on some blackberries, cream and a generous sprinkle of cocoa powder.

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**Smithy** · January 19

12 hours ago, gfweb said:

The world is full of bad meatloaf. My wife constantly chides me when I order one and then say it sucks.

But I love a great meatloaf. My andouille meatloaf with Major Gray's chutney, for example.

Perhaps this deserves a thread/eG food challenge (if there isn't already one).

There are several meatloaf-related topics. This Cook-off shows several topics in its opening post. But of course, adding to the Cook-off itself would be great.

Burgers/Meatloaf -- Cook-off 10