Dinner 2026

[Maison Rustique]

I finally made the Swiss steak I'd been planning, but I think I've forgotten how to cook. It is just not like I used to make. First of all, I realized that I'd taken all my large baking pans to the other house and was not going to make a trip over there in this frigid weather and wind. So, made it in a Dutch oven stove top. It just tastes so blah. I think I got the green peppers from Aldi, though it may have been Sprouts. I used 3 of them. They have no flavor. I can't even smell them. I've never had green peppers so tasteless--usually they overpower everything else. I'm blaming the mediocrity of this dish on the peppers and not my poor cooking skills. Maybe sitting in the fridge for a day or two will make it better.

 

The buttered spinach was good!

 

[patti]

Ham & mushroom crustless quiche, air fryer roasted cauliflower.

 

[liamsaunt]

Seared scallops on pistachio risotto with roasted shiitake mushrooms and spinach puree. 
 

[Duvel]

Reconvalescence dinner #2 for DW: I picked something dear to my heart - Din Tai Fung, an eternal favorite ever since I set foot into their Xinyi branch in Taipei during my graduate studies. 
 

The works …

 

 

Their „house appetizer“: smoked tofu, bean sprouts, vermicelli & konbu …

 

 

Cucumbers with chili oil …

 

 

Braised beef with celery, peanuts and cilantro. Basically Fuji Feipian, with a Taiwanese twist. Very good !

 

 

(Commercial) Xiao Long Bao - no 18 folds, like Din Tai Fung prescribes it, but pretty decent. Will need to scratch that itch before we have their original XLB in May at their London branch …

 

 

Sesame noodles with spicy meat topping. A version of Dan Dan Mian - it disappeared together with the rest in a fraction of the time it took to make it. Which made me happy 🤗

 

 

So - again - no complaints 🥳 DW is getting better … what else is there to ask for ?