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What are you making for dinner tonite?

What are you making for dinner tonite?
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  • Post #1231 - June 17th, 2021, 5:09 am
    Post #1231 - June 17th, 2021, 5:09 am Post #1231 - June 17th, 2021, 5:09 am
    Simple meal. Italian sausage, giardiniera mustard, onion, bread. Eat

    (I took my eye off the ball and overdid the sausage by about 15° I blame the neighbors dog, he is simply too cute to ignore)

    click to enlarge
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    Italian sausage, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1232 - June 17th, 2021, 8:03 pm
    Post #1232 - June 17th, 2021, 8:03 pm Post #1232 - June 17th, 2021, 8:03 pm
    G Wiv wrote:(I took my eye off the ball and overdid the sausage by about 15° I blame the neighbors dog, he is simply too cute to ignore)

    He looks like a sausage thief to me! :lol:

    More Thai over here tonight. Not only is it delicious, satisfying and easy but I think the mortar and pestle have become my favorite means for venting post-workday aggression . . . :lol:

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    Pad Ka-Prao Components - Before
    Garlic, Thai birds eye chiles and shallots.

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    Pad Ka-Prao Components - After
    Now a nice, aromatic paste. Back to this later. But first, side-dishery . . .

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    Som Tum Mise En Place & Kohetsu Blue #2 Addict, 240mm
    Campari tomatoes, Thai birds eye chiles, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, shredded green papaya, whole garlic cloves, chopped long beans, lime wedges, fish sauce and palm sugar.

    Aside from the papaya itself, all of this -- along with some additional lime juice -- also got the m&p treatment until it became a paste, then a dressing. I mixed it into the papaya and garnished it with more of the peanuts and a lime cheek. As an aside, I've learned that it's really good to put a few lime wedges in the mortar because banging them around in there releases the essential oils from the zest and that adds a lot to the finished dish.

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    Pad Ka-Prao Mise En Place
    Long beans, Thai basil leaves, coarsely-ground pork, peanut oil, soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, Golden Mountain and aromatic paste. I'm pretty set on this combination. I use about 25% of the amount of Golden Mountain that Leela recommends, subbing in 75% Thai thin soy sauce in its place for the remainder.

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    Aromatic Paste
    A closer look.

    So, I'm getting familiar with a new camera right now (steep learning curve) and I thought it'd be useful to shoot the plated dish with it and with my usual cellphone camera. Can you tell which shot is which?

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    Plated Up - Take 1
    Topped with a frizzled egg and garnished with chives and the almost-last of the chive blossoms.

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    Plated Up - Take 2
    Topped with a frizzled egg and garnished with chives and the almost-last of the chive blossoms.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1233 - June 18th, 2021, 7:13 am
    Post #1233 - June 18th, 2021, 7:13 am Post #1233 - June 18th, 2021, 7:13 am
    Is there any real difference between long beans and good ol' string beans in texture or flavor?

    Meanwhile, our dinner was Fancy Salad: We have a log of cheese spread (cheddar and sweet cream crusted with pistachios) from Stamper Cheese at the Mount Prospect Farmer's Market, that was supposed to go to a gathering of vaccinated folks last weekend and got left behind, so we sliced pieces to top a salad (also salami, olives, and the usual salad stuff). I made a dressing from a mix of pistachio oil and EVOO, sherry vinegar, chives, s&p and a little dijon mustard. It was missing something, probably garlic.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #1234 - June 18th, 2021, 7:32 am
    Post #1234 - June 18th, 2021, 7:32 am Post #1234 - June 18th, 2021, 7:32 am
    JoelF wrote:Is there any real difference between long beans and good ol' string beans in texture or flavor?

    Yes. There's a big difference texture-wise. Long beans are spongier and more elastic. I think it manifests mostly in high heat cooking applications, in which they wrinkle and get chewy instead of just falling apart.

    The other big difference is that they sell long beans at Richwell. They don't sell string beans there. :D

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1235 - June 18th, 2021, 1:11 pm
    Post #1235 - June 18th, 2021, 1:11 pm Post #1235 - June 18th, 2021, 1:11 pm
    Pork and Jiu Cai (Chinese chive) Bao:
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    These came out with a favorable filling to wrapper ratio.
    "I live on good soup, not on fine words." -Moliere
  • Post #1236 - June 18th, 2021, 3:26 pm
    Post #1236 - June 18th, 2021, 3:26 pm Post #1236 - June 18th, 2021, 3:26 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:He looks like a sausage thief to me! :lol:
    =R=

    I once saw a photo on Reddit with the caption 'my sincerest apologies to someone in the neighborhood'. The photo was of a dog with a whole slab of raw ribs in its mouth.
  • Post #1237 - June 18th, 2021, 3:27 pm
    Post #1237 - June 18th, 2021, 3:27 pm Post #1237 - June 18th, 2021, 3:27 pm
    lougord99 wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:He looks like a sausage thief to me! :lol:

    I once saw a photo on Reddit with the caption 'my sincerest apologies to someone in the neighborhood'. The photo was of a dog with a whole slab of raw ribs in its mouth.

    LOL, classic!

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1238 - June 19th, 2021, 3:49 am
    Post #1238 - June 19th, 2021, 3:49 am Post #1238 - June 19th, 2021, 3:49 am
    Working through my shelter-in-place frozen supply of Asian snack, appetizer items. TJ dumplings, tofu, homemade stock.

    click to enlarge
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    Dumplings, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1239 - June 19th, 2021, 11:20 am
    Post #1239 - June 19th, 2021, 11:20 am Post #1239 - June 19th, 2021, 11:20 am
    bw77 wrote:Pork and Jiu Cai (Chinese chive) Bao:

    Wow, those look great! Do you have a filling recipe you can share?

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1240 - June 19th, 2021, 9:47 pm
    Post #1240 - June 19th, 2021, 9:47 pm Post #1240 - June 19th, 2021, 9:47 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Recipe calls for quartering the melons, removing the pith and seeds, cutting them on the bias into half-inch pieces, salting them for 15 minutes and then rinsing them a few times in cold water. That's supposed to mitigate the bitterness but in my case, it definitely didn't.

    Souped Up Recipes is reading your posts. :) She salts, no blanch, but states outright that she likes the bitter flavor.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1241 - June 19th, 2021, 11:03 pm
    Post #1241 - June 19th, 2021, 11:03 pm Post #1241 - June 19th, 2021, 11:03 pm
    G Wiv wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Recipe calls for quartering the melons, removing the pith and seeds, cutting them on the bias into half-inch pieces, salting them for 15 minutes and then rinsing them a few times in cold water. That's supposed to mitigate the bitterness but in my case, it definitely didn't.

    Souped Up Recipes is reading your posts. :) She salts, no blanch, but states outright that she likes the bitter flavor.

    LOL, yeah. I wish she'd been that unequivocal about the bitterness in the previous video. In that earlier video, she did mention that she liked the bitterness but also made it seem like the steps she laid out would mitigate it much more than it actually did.

    But I still got a lot out of cooking this dish. Cooking is as much about exploration as anything else and I'm glad I tried it, especially after seeing those bitter melons on the shelves for years and wondering how to deal with them. Now I know more than I did before. I can say this about very few foods but I don't think bitter melons are for me because I cannot envision a dish in which I'd find that level of bitterness appetizing.

    I do plan on making the Stir Fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce again soon but next time, with other vegetables -- and leaving out the bitter melon.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1242 - June 20th, 2021, 6:33 am
    Post #1242 - June 20th, 2021, 6:33 am Post #1242 - June 20th, 2021, 6:33 am
    The GP wrote:Risotto seemed to be the natural response to these ingredients. Another plus is that it used a container of seafood stock from the freezer.

    Yes, that really does look fantastic!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1243 - June 20th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    Post #1243 - June 20th, 2021, 6:54 pm Post #1243 - June 20th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:I do plan on making the Stir Fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce again soon but next time, with other vegetables -- and leaving out the bitter melon.

    Turns out, tonight was the night and I liked the results . . .

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    Mise En Place & Shibata Kashima R-2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Sauce (soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce and beef broth) corn starch (added to the sauce at cooking), poblano peppers, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, slivered ginger, slivered garlic, long beans, creminis, marinated flank steak (baking soda, veg oil, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and corn starch) and veg oil.

    For me, it was a solid move omitting the bitter melon and swapping in the long beans, poblanos and mushrooms. I didn't really have that planned but those are the items I had on hand. On the minus side of the ledger, the flank steak was much chewier than the mystery tenders I used last time.

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    Plated Up
    Over Zojirushi'd brown jasmine rice. Garnished with chives and the nearly-86'd chive blossoms.

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    Plated Up - Alt Pic
    Over Zojirushi'd brown jasmine rice. Garnished with chives and the nearly-86'd chive blossoms.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1244 - June 21st, 2021, 6:36 pm
    Post #1244 - June 21st, 2021, 6:36 pm Post #1244 - June 21st, 2021, 6:36 pm
    Major Monday clean-out of the fridge into a bitch's brew of a cross-cultural stir fry . . .

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    Chinese Celery
    Leafier, more tender and more aromatic than conventional celery. I picked this up last week and I've been kind of obsessing over it ever since. Can't want to pick up another bunch and try some more things with it. I think it'd be great in a cold, Sichuan-style salad.

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    Mise En Place & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2 Gyuto 210mm, 210mm
    Scallion bottoms, silken tofu, shallots, crushed garlic, broccoli stems (left over from last week), spicy soy bean sauce, Polish kielbasa, peanut oil, Chinese celery, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and fioretto. Not pictured was a light dusting of Sichuan peppercorns that I added during the cooking.

    It felt great getting RID of so many ingredients that were just hanging around the fridge. And it was lots of fun cutting through all of them with the Kono. Two minor problems, though: the blade was so sharp, it repeatedly kept getting stuck in my board and it's not the greatest blade for food release. The broccoli stems were especially problematic in this regard. I managed to power through it! :wink:

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    Plated Up
    Garnished with chili oil, spicy chili crisp and the 'official' end of the chive blossoms. Overall, the dish really worked. It all came together nicely, wasn't soupy or too mushy. In fact, the range of textures, from soft to mildly crunchy, was really satisfying.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1245 - June 22nd, 2021, 5:28 am
    Post #1245 - June 22nd, 2021, 5:28 am Post #1245 - June 22nd, 2021, 5:28 am
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Chinese Celery
    Leafier, more tender and more aromatic than conventional celery. I picked this up last week and I've been kind of obsessing over it ever since. Can't want to pick up another bunch and try some more things with it. I think it'd be great in a cold, Sichuan-style salad.

    I've been digging Chinese Celery, mainly purchased at Richwell Market. Nail on the head for Chinese celery going well in cold Szechuan style salads. I've using it in Nanshan Spicy Chicken the last few outings and it works great. I also made a Thai Egg Salad (Yum Kai Dao) with Chinese celery and a few other random dishes. Only slight downside is the Chinese celery at Richwell is on the dirty side (soil, not poop) which adds an extra few minutes to prep.

    Love your United Nations dish, Chinese celery, Sichuan peppercorns and Polish sausage. :)

    I made Brats from Gene's, asparagus/zucchini from the Farmers market and pickled beets. I also grilled a few knob onions and served the brats with my soon to be forgotten giard/mustard mix. No pictures, my Instamatic was upstairs and I plum forgot to snap a few Polaroids.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1246 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:54 am
    Post #1246 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:54 am Post #1246 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:54 am
    Dinner was foraged from fridge and garden:
    * Spinach and romaine thinned from the garden
    * Leftover prime strip steak from Father's Day
    * Leftover chimichurri sauce made with garden oregano and chives (among other things) turned into a green goddess-y salad dressing with the addition of a little sour cream and the stick blender
    * Finished off packages of green and black olives (Fresh Farms has the best), roasted red pepper, blue cheese, croutons, and grape tomatoes
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #1247 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:44 pm
    Post #1247 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:44 pm Post #1247 - June 22nd, 2021, 6:44 pm
    G Wiv wrote:I've been digging Chinese Celery, mainly purchased at Richwell Market. Nail on the head for Chinese celery going well in cold Szechuan style salads. I've using it in Nanshan Spicy Chicken the last few outings and it works great.

    Yeah, I bought another bunch today -- quite clean, btw -- and hope to give this a shot later in the week. Tonight, though, it was Chicken 101 . . .

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    Grilled Chicken Thighs
    Manale spice powder over lump charcoal.

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    Plated Up
    With steamed asparagus + the end of our homemade ramp butter and a couple blobs of the weekly slaw.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1248 - June 23rd, 2021, 8:02 pm
    Post #1248 - June 23rd, 2021, 8:02 pm Post #1248 - June 23rd, 2021, 8:02 pm
    Once again, Wednesday brought with it the task of getting RID of the remaining items from last Thursday's CSA box in preparation for delivery of tomorrow's box. It's a high volume affair and I've given up on trying to be creative. There's some room for improvisation -- mainly in the sauce and seasonings -- but the rest is pretty much clean it, chop it and stir fry it in the wok. It's a constructive culinary exercise and slowly/steadily, I am refining certain skills . . .

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    Mise En Place & Shigeki Tanaka SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm
    Onions, ginger (later microplaned) & sliced garlic, bok choy stems, Swiss shard stems, 4x gelatinous beef stock, Swiss shard leaves, spicy soy bean sauce, soy sauce, bok choy leaves, Tokyo bekana, broccoli and an onion flower.

    All the veg except for the onion, garlic and ginger came from our CSA box . . . except for the onion flower, which came from Three Sisters Garden. I'd never tried one before and I couldn't believe how pleasantly intense its flavor was.

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    Ready To Serve
    Nice textures, moist but not too soupy and great flavor.

    Man -- at least this man -- cannot live by vegetables alone . . .

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    Charcoal-Grilled Pork Tenderloin
    Trimmed, trussed, oiled, seasoned and grilled.

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    Plated Up
    Pork tenderloin, 'CSA Surprise' and rice-cookered brown jasmine rice . . . all garnished with onion flower.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1249 - June 24th, 2021, 7:17 pm
    Post #1249 - June 24th, 2021, 7:17 pm Post #1249 - June 24th, 2021, 7:17 pm
    Inspired by Gary's latest posts on the Szechuan Poached Chicken thread and my recent, post-pandemic reunion with Chinese celery, I decided to take a stab at a Sichuan-style shredded chicken salad. First up, the Hong You-style chile oil . . .

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    Chile Oil Mise En Place & Shigeki Tanaka SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm
    Plate 1: Garlic (later smashed), cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, black cardamom, star anise and ginger (also later smashed).
    Plate 2: Sichuan peppercorns and dried Chinese-style chiles.
    Back row: Canola oil, salt and soy sauce.
    Plate 1 ingredients get heated in the canola oil until the garlic gets lightly browned, after which everything goes into a jar with the peppercorns, smashed chiles, soy sauce and salt. Let that steep for 24 hours.

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    Hong You Chile Oil
    A beautifully aromatic and flavorful elixir.

    Next up, preparing the poached chicken . . .

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    Chicken Mise En Place & Kanjo Kori R2 Petty Knife, 120mm
    Sliced ginger, garlic (later smashed), slitted red jalapeno, leek tops (freezer stock), Shaoxing wine and chicken breasts.

    When it comes to chicken, I normally do not choose breast/white meat but since I planned on serving this cold, I thought it might be a better fit here, and it worked out great. Everything goes into a pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Bring it to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn it off and let it cool until you're ready to remove the meat from the bones.

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    Full Mise En Place & Shigeki Tanaka SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm
    Chinese celery stalks, sesame paste, roasted/salted peanuts, cilantro leaves, minced garlic, minced ginger, toasted Sichuan peppercorns (later ground into a powder), salt/sugar/msg, gochugaru, mature black vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, minced scallions, Chinese celery leaves, Hong You chile oil and poached chicken.

    Pretty straightforward prep from here. Make a non-emulsified dressing with most of these ingredients then mix it into the the roughly shredded chicken, then add peanuts, celery, cilantro and scallions.

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    Ready To Serve
    I was surprised by how much four chicken breasts yielded. This is a pretty big bowl.

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    Plated Up
    About the same pic as above. I threw a few extra peanuts on but there was so much going on here, there really was no reason to garnish it. This was a really great dish, bursting with bold, intense flavors and a satisfying variety of textures. Can't wait to make it again.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1250 - June 24th, 2021, 8:16 pm
    Post #1250 - June 24th, 2021, 8:16 pm Post #1250 - June 24th, 2021, 8:16 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:I decided to take a stab at a Sichuan-style shredded chicken salad. First up, the Hong You-style chile oil . . .

    Super fantabulous looking! Really nice.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1251 - June 24th, 2021, 10:12 pm
    Post #1251 - June 24th, 2021, 10:12 pm Post #1251 - June 24th, 2021, 10:12 pm
    G Wiv wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:I decided to take a stab at a Sichuan-style shredded chicken salad. First up, the Hong You-style chile oil . . .

    Super fantabulous looking! Really nice.

    Thanks. I absolutely wouldn't have done this if not for your tantalizing posts, which kept haunting me. The dish really came together nicely. The bonus is that I slowly reduced my poaching liquid all day (skimming it every so often) and just strained it off. It's now just a couple of cups of deep, gelatinous stock. Can't wait to use it in some future dishes. Thanks again, for the inspiration.

    =Your brother in Chinese celery= :D
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1252 - June 27th, 2021, 12:09 pm
    Post #1252 - June 27th, 2021, 12:09 pm Post #1252 - June 27th, 2021, 12:09 pm
    I was particularly proud of the dinner I made last night. Not because it broke new ground or because it was particularly intricate or because it was one of the best meals I've ever made. I was proud of it because I was able to use a lot of what I've learned cooking hard over the past year and a half to cook a dinner for a friend who has a number of health-related dietary restrictions. She cannot eat alliums, cruciferous vegetables, gluten or dairy . . .

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    Mise En Place
    Nigara SG2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Shigeki Tanaka 33-Layer SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm
    While my friend cannot eat alliums, allium-infused oils are fine. So, my plan was to create such an oil with the garlic and shallots, and use that oil to cook the mushrooms and whatever else that veg side ended up as. It worked out great. I ended up with a delicious garlic-shallot oil that I used -- along with mirin, wheat-free soy sauce and homemade beef stock -- to cook the shiitakes and some other mushrooms.

    For the main course, it was back to a household favorite that met all the parameters . . .

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    Miso-Sake Marinated Charcoal-Grilled Short Ribs
    Two misos, one sake and a mess of short ribs that marinated for about 24 hours.

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    Plated Up
    Short ribs with donburi simmered baby squash (dashi, soy, mirin) and sauteed mushroom medley. Served over jasmine rice and garnished with togarashi.

    It felt great to throw down a meal like this. Not only was there no culinary sacrifice but the parameters forced me to draw on my previous experience, which led to a successful meal. Everyone who was over enjoyed it and my friend was particularly appreciative.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1253 - June 27th, 2021, 3:55 pm
    Post #1253 - June 27th, 2021, 3:55 pm Post #1253 - June 27th, 2021, 3:55 pm
    I applaud your ability to cook 'on the fly'. I feel like I am a good cook when I have a framework to follow. I know the changes I want to make. But I cannot just take ingredients and make a dinner.
  • Post #1254 - June 27th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    Post #1254 - June 27th, 2021, 6:54 pm Post #1254 - June 27th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    lougord99 wrote:I applaud your ability to cook 'on the fly'. I feel like I am a good cook when I have a framework to follow. I know the changes I want to make. But I cannot just take ingredients and make a dinner.

    I'll bet you're better at it than you claim. So much of it is just having your pantry/fridge/freezer stocked for how you like to cook. The rest is just thinking about how you want to eat and remembering techniques and methods that you've previously used.

    Case in point is squash blossoms, which I received in my CSA box this week and also, -- for the very first time -- about a year ago. Last year, I spent a lot of time researching recipes and methods -- and shopping for the additional ingredients I needed to prepare them the way I wanted. And even after that, putting it all together was kind of like running in mud. A pretty slow and deliberate process. I'd done all the steps before but not very often together in that progression. But this year, I approached it like the annual tradition I hope it will become. Flour? Check. Corn starch? Check. Cream cheese? Check. Fresh herbs? Check. Okay, then. Let 'er rip . . .

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    Squash Blossoms
    From my Nichols Farm CSA box.

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    Filling Mise En Place
    Nigara SG2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm*
    Shigeki Tanaka 33-Layer SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm*
    Basil and basil flowers, garlic chives, chives, cilantro fronds, sour cream, crushed garlic, heavy cream (a viscosity hedge that I ended up not using), boursin, chive cheese. Mixed a bunch of this all together and found the flavor and consistency I was looking for. Decided that the cream was unnecessary. Put it in a disposable pastry bag with medium, round tip.

    *I'm going to be using both of these knives, side-by-side, over the next several days, so I can compare them, which is why they're going to be appearing together in a few upcoming posts. My guess is that that comparison probably isn't of much interest to anyone here but maybe when it's completed I'll post it.

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    Filled & Dusted
    Divided them into a couple of groups, based on their size. They were dusted with a 50/50 combo of ap flour and cornstarch, a bit of baking soda and some salt. That was the same base as the tempura batter, which I hydrated with bubbly water and lager.

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    Squash Blossoms
    Garnished with chives and onion flower. I considered making a sauce but the filling was so flavorful, I decided it wasn't necessary.

    As long as I had some extra batter and the oil was hot, I quickly prepped a few red jalapenos that had been hanging around the kitchen for a few days . . .

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    Tempura Red Jalapenos
    Seeds and ribs removed, these were mildly hot and almost bell-pepper sweet. Really tasty. With these, I made a quick dipping sauce out of kewpie mayo and LGM spicy chile crisp.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1255 - June 28th, 2021, 5:02 am
    Post #1255 - June 28th, 2021, 5:02 am Post #1255 - June 28th, 2021, 5:02 am
    the good stuff^
  • Post #1256 - June 28th, 2021, 6:20 am
    Post #1256 - June 28th, 2021, 6:20 am Post #1256 - June 28th, 2021, 6:20 am
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Case in point is squash blossoms

    Lovely squash blossoms, jalapenos as well.
    Though, as you are both epicurean and hipster they should have been consumed with a clear bottle Miller High Life and cool ranch dressing. :)
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1257 - June 28th, 2021, 7:04 pm
    Post #1257 - June 28th, 2021, 7:04 pm Post #1257 - June 28th, 2021, 7:04 pm
    AlekH wrote:the good stuff^

    Yeah, it's definitely a special thing when we receive squash blossoms. When I do shop at farmers markets, I rarely get there early enough to snag them.

    G Wiv wrote:. . . as you are both epicurean and hipster they should have been consumed with a clear bottle Miller High Life and cool ranch dressing. :)

    LOL - Topo, my friend. Always Topo. 8)

    Quick, satisfying and comforting Monday curry tonight . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place
    Nigara SG2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Shigeki Tanaka 33-Layer SG2 Damascus Habakiri Gyuto, 210mm


    Garlic scapes, kaffir lime leaves & Thai birds eye chiles, shallots, pickled bamboo shoots (garnish), Thai eggplant, cremini mushrooms, bangkok blend, aromatic chicken stock (leftover from last week's Sichuan Poached Chicken Salad), bamboo shoots, coconut milk, Maesri red curry paste, peanut oil, chicken thigh meat, fish sauce, kale, basil leaves and silken tofu (and gapi, not pictured).

    Happily, this combination worked out pretty well. I had no idea what I was buying when I bought the 1-quart tub of bamboo shoots but I sure am happy I tasted them before I added them to the curry. They were ultra-pickled -- very salty and sour. They tasted great but they would have not been a good choice for the curry. I called an audible and grabbed a can from the pantry, then slivered a few of the pickled shoots to use as a garnish.

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    Plated Up
    Red curry chicken, garnished with pickled bamboo shoots and onion flower, and jasmine rice.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1258 - June 28th, 2021, 7:36 pm
    Post #1258 - June 28th, 2021, 7:36 pm Post #1258 - June 28th, 2021, 7:36 pm
    Ronnie, where do you buy your beef short rib meat? I have not seen such good quality at the few places I've seen it.

    The squash blossom photos are lovely, and I thank you for sharing the photos and details. That's something I've been wanting to try for quite a while.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #1259 - June 28th, 2021, 8:48 pm
    Post #1259 - June 28th, 2021, 8:48 pm Post #1259 - June 28th, 2021, 8:48 pm
    Leftover rice = Fried Rice for dinner.

    click to enlarge
    Image

    Fried Rice, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #1260 - June 28th, 2021, 10:52 pm
    Post #1260 - June 28th, 2021, 10:52 pm Post #1260 - June 28th, 2021, 10:52 pm
    Katie wrote:Ronnie, where do you buy your beef short rib meat? I have not seen such good quality at the few places I've seen it.

    The squash blossom photos are lovely, and I thank you for sharing the photos and details. That's something I've been wanting to try for quite a while.

    You're welcome. It's a bit of a process but those blossoms (and jalapenos) only took about 70 minutes from start to finish, so well worth the time spent.

    As for sourcing the flanken-cut short ribs, funny you should ask. I've now bought them at 3 different places and was thinking about the differences between those places after I bought this most recent batch at Super H-Mart in Niles.

    H-Mart's product was very good but they were also fairly expensive at $14/pound for choice and $17/pound for CAB. Of the three places I've purchased them, they required the most prep, by far. They had a lot of bone dust (the bone equivalent of saw dust) on them and had to be swished around in a sink full of cold water and dried off before I could marinate them (you should have seen how much sediment was in my sink). Kind of a pain but it didn't take too long. I just found it ironic that they were the most expensive of the places I shopped and required the most amount of work.

    I bought a couple rounds at WF and they were very good, too. And $10.99/pound, which is a fairly nice price, too. Whatever kind of saw (or blade) they use there, it made much cleaner cuts and the bone dust was minimal. As far as I could tell from running my hands over them, they required no pre-washing whatsoever. My one quibble there is that they were fairly unevenly sized. One time, they had them in the case, so I was able to select the ribs I wanted. The other time, they cut them to order while I waited (very nice) but when I got home, I wasn't thrilled by how much they varied in size. It all worked out, though.

    The third place, which is really 1st in my book, is Zier's in Wilmette. I'm not sure but I think they were the same price as at WF. So again, on the reasonable end. And at Zier's they have no equal on the service side. The ribs were pristine -- zero bone dust -- and the beef was, by far, the best looking, most evenly marbled of all the product I bought.

    As you probably know, the beef market is crazy-volatile right now, so prices are shifting around quite a bit. For all I know, that price I paid at Super H-Mart might now be the lowest around. And my recipe is a heavy marinate, so I'm not sure -- once you cross a certain level -- how important top quality is. I'm not saying I'd buy select for this but buying prime would certainly be a waste. In any case, it's fun to enjoy a cut that normally takes hours to braise after grilling it for 4-6 minutes. And that 2-ingredient miso-sake marinade is incredible.

    G Wiv wrote:Fried Rice, count me a Fan!

    Nice. That looks great. If you're up for a deep rabbit hole on fried rice, Alex has an entertaining fried rice series going on right now on his youtube channel. Probably not much there that you don't already know but it's fun and he's charming, and my guess is that you'll see some familiar folks featured in a few of the videos.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world

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