Dinner 2026

[liuzhou]

Ten minutes to midnight in China. In addition to preparing breakfast (Breakfast 2026) I’m preparing New Year Dinner dinner now; it takes time. And I don’t want to be doing this tomorrow. First I have to half 50 grams of dried Sichuan peppers and shake out the seeds. The chillies are very light when dried so 50 g is a lot. Then I will debone some chicken legs and chop the meat into cubes. Then I will celebrate with a comfortable bottle of bubbly! Or two!

 

新年快乐！

 

Welcome to 2026 and congratulations on making it through!

 

 

[sartoric]

That Aldi special turkey made an encore performance in another episode of “things in a bowl”. Here it is with thick egg noodles, baby bok choy, wombok and topped with the last of a bag of mung bean sprouts. It’s true folks, you can finish the bag before they get slimy.

 

For something completely different, we reverted to an old favourite pasta with chicken sausage, broccolini, fresh chilli and enough garlic to ward off vampires forever. Just in case, we doubled down with garlic bread. To be sure, to be sure.

 

Last night was New Years Eve, so we had lentils for luck with spicy Italian sausage and some spinach salad.

Then I crashed a neighbours party and had the best time. Toot toot, Happy New Year 🥳 

[liuzhou]

And finally, I cooked my dinner which I prepared last night minutes before the year changed.

 

辣子鸡 (là zi jī), Sichuan Chilli Chicken. With rice and stir fried greenery.

 

 

 

[Ann_T]

5 hours ago, sartoric said:

Can you tell me more about this please ? Also, I have that same Le Creuset baker, but in white 😀

 

@sartoric I reposted the recipe on my blog.  You can find it here:

https://thibeaultstable.com/2025/12/30/freds-italian-chicken/

[weinoo]

With the truffle I treated ourselves to:

 

 

Our first course last night was risotto.  I made a compound truffle butter with some shavings from the truffle, so the risotto is simply Carnaroli rice, butter, olive oil, shallots, garlic, white wine, home made chicken stock, and the compound butter and Parmigiano added in at the end, topped with slices of the Perigord truffle.  Pretty good.

 

Followed by a non-pictured roast chicken, which had some of the compound butter and truffle slices spread under the skin - also good.

[Paul Bacino]

Opened up NYE..  with   Short rib Onion Soup  - premade stock with chicken legs/ beef tid bits day before.  AM removed smultz and cooked onions ,  PC the short rib and assembled

 

[sartoric]

The turkey that keeps on giving, and yet another episode of “things in bowls”. 
I’m calling this poultry rice porridge. 

[RWood]

Finished off my Dungeness. Grilled crab sandwich with provolone. 
It was a much better price than Nick’s in Pacifica. They are up to $60 a sandwich 😵‍💫.

 

 

[Dr. Teeth]

New Years Day Hoppin John with skillet cornbread.

[Neely]

 

A quiet New Years Eve for husband and I. We had steak frites and salad for New Years Day… two sauces one green peppercorn with cream and the other creamy horseradish. i couldn’t choose which one, so had both. 
 

[Maison Rustique]

[Ann_T]

First dinner of 2026.

Lamb shanks with polenta.

[weinoo]

Continuing the use of Perigord truffles...

 

 

Mise for the dish.

 

 

Linguini with Perigord truffles.  Even easier, and certainly quicker, than the risotto above.  Sautéed a clove of garlic in olive oil and butter while pasta is cooking, added cooked pasta to the sauté pan with a hunk of the truffle butter and Parmigiano, toss and toss with some pasta water till consistency is correct, top with a bit more Parmigiano, minced parsley and chives, and freshly sliced black truffle. 

[rotuts]

@weinoo

 

Nice

 

What is @ 3 o'clock ?

 

An omelette ?  pasta dough not yet rolled out and cut ?

[weinoo]

46 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@weinoo

 

Nice

 

What is @ 3 o'clock ?

 

An omelette ?  pasta dough not yet rolled out and cut ?

 

House-made made truffle butter.

[Duvel]

The most prized wild mushroom in Catalonia is the rovellon (lactarius deliciosus). I snatched up a batch at the market - and while they always look a bit “rotten”, be assured they do taste great …

 

 

I fried them simply with garlic & parsley as a most welcome mid-day snack. 

 

The rest …

 

 

… went into estofat de vedella (Catalan beef stew) …

 

 

… served with buttery mashed potatoes (with tiny bit of saffron).

 

 

 

The family demolished the whole lot 🥳

[RWood]

Kenji’s Pork Chile Verde and pickled onions. Trader Joe’s Spanish rice, cabbage salad and avocado. Margarita too.

[sartoric]

Sticky pork belly. It’s simmered in shaoxin wine, star anise, ginger slices and soy. Served on a bed of rice with steamed bok choy and topped with fresh chilli, green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Episode #38 in the series “things in a bowl”.

[KennethT]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

House-made made truffle butter.

Either that's a shit load of truffle butter or a really small plate!

[KennethT]

6 hours ago, Duvel said:

The most prized wild mushroom in Catalonia is the rovellon (lactarius deliciosus). I snatched up a batch at the market - and while they always look a bit “rotten”, be assured they do taste great …

 

 

I fried them simply with garlic & parsley as a most welcome mid-day snack. 

 

The rest …

 

 

… went into estofat de vedella (Catalan beef stew) …

 

 

… served with buttery mashed potatoes (with tiny bit of saffron).

 

 

 

The family demolished the whole lot 🥳

If there were any leftovers, I'd humbly request that you send them to me via FedEx....

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Either that's a shit load of truffle butter or a really small plate!

 

Not too crazy - just 112 grams, with about 10 grams of truffle.

 

But it's good butter from France!

Edited January 3 by weinoo (log)

[KennethT]

2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Not too crazy - just 112 grams, with about 10 grams of truffle.

 

But it's good butter from France!

Mais, bien sur!

[YvetteMT]

Whitetail deer backstrap,  mushrooms, butternut squash, potatoes and gravy. 

[Smithy]

I excavated an unlabeled package from the freezer, thinking it was a mix of ground burger and Italian sausage that had lost its label. (This happens sometimes in my household: label falls off, only to be found later at random with no hope of matching it to the bag anymore. Not often, but it happens.) A batch of spaghetti sauce was the plan. Been a while since I cooked any.

 

Surprise! After it thawed in its double plastic wrapping and I could see it clearly, I realized that it was actually a chunk of tri-tip, sous vided to the perfect rarity. I have no idea how old it is, but it smelled fine. Tasted fine. I can tell I coated it with some spice mix containing cumin. 

 

I sliced onions, pulled out some cheese slices, sliced some of the meat, and grabbed a tortilla. The A4 box earned its keep: a quick sear of the onions and meat, then a warmup of a tortilla. Loaded meat, onions and cheese slices into the tortilla, folded it over, and griddled both sides. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a tri-tip quesadilla.

 

 

All cooked in one small pan. Easy cleanup. @Maison Rustique, you may want to reconsider giving yours away, though it does depend on how much kitchen real estate you have.

[YvetteMT]

Venison again.  Brussel sprouts with bacon and sweet potato.