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What are you making for dinner tonite?

What are you making for dinner tonite?
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  • Post #1141 - September 2nd, 2020, 1:37 pm
    Post #1141 - September 2nd, 2020, 1:37 pm Post #1141 - September 2nd, 2020, 1:37 pm
    Using a 6+ lb can of San Marzano tomatoes from Costco to make a pasta sauce.
  • Post #1142 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:26 am
    Post #1142 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:26 am Post #1142 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:26 am
    Hatch chiles from Jewel? Check.
    Last night was green chile cheeseburgers. Tonight is green chile porkchops.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #1143 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:56 am
    Post #1143 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:56 am Post #1143 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:56 am
    Last night's late dinner was raspberries and whipping cream.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1144 - September 3rd, 2020, 9:06 am
    Post #1144 - September 3rd, 2020, 9:06 am Post #1144 - September 3rd, 2020, 9:06 am
    Cathy2 wrote:Last night's late dinner was raspberries and whipping cream.


    You sure you're not a Yooper?
    We cannot be friends if you do not know the difference between Mayo and Miracle Whip.
    Pronoun: That fool over there
    Identifies as: A human that doesn't need to "identify as" something to try to somehow be interesting.
  • Post #1145 - September 3rd, 2020, 4:22 pm
    Post #1145 - September 3rd, 2020, 4:22 pm Post #1145 - September 3rd, 2020, 4:22 pm
    seebee wrote:
    Cathy2 wrote:Last night's late dinner was raspberries and whipping cream.


    You sure you're not a Yooper?

    If that is life as a Yooper, count me in!
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1146 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:31 pm
    Post #1146 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:31 pm Post #1146 - September 3rd, 2020, 8:31 pm
    People in my household either went to bed early or were on a zoom meeting. I had dinner by myself of stove-roasted eggplants mashed up with butter and salt, then spread on bread. It was an idea I saw here.

    First round was the garlic and tomato rubbed on the toast before applying the eggplant. This was not a great joy to eat.

    Second round was garlic rubbed on the toast, butter spread on the toast and very likely the winning factor of more aggressively seasoning the eggplant. This round was more convincing to give it a try someday in the future.

    Cookbook selection of Fresh from Poland is stirring my Eastern European roots-by-association. At lunch, I served sauerkraut pancakes with sour cream to accompany the last of the beet soup.

    I am making this author's version of Farmers Cheese using buttermilk, sour cream and heavy cream. I never experienced a butterfat rich Farmers cheese. I made tvork (aka farmers cheese) with milk on the edge of spoiling or if it was not spoiled, I would add Kefir to push it along.

    This recipe for Farmers Cheese suggests Kajmak cheese from Yugoslavia, which I make a faux variant with butter, cream cheese and sour cream.

    In this book, they have an item referred to as Kajmak, which is very unexpected: gently boil for two-three hours a sealed can of sweetened condensed milk. Yes, what we know as dulce de leche.

    I need to read the introduction to understand who the authors are better.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1147 - September 5th, 2020, 6:22 pm
    Post #1147 - September 5th, 2020, 6:22 pm Post #1147 - September 5th, 2020, 6:22 pm
    Breakfast today was Polish apple fritters with cinnamon applesauce. I have seen these at Shop and Save's deli counter called Racuchy. It was a thick batter with chopped apples folded in, then cooked like a pancake on a griddle. After I prepped the apples, it was suggested apples could be replaced by blueberries, raspberries or chopped plums. I am pretty sure the blueberry variant will need extra buttermilk, because the apple juices did loosen the batter.

    Lunch was Breton Beans with dried tomatoes instead of sausage. Could not be easier or faster to put together: cook onions in butter, then add marjoram, paprika, allspice berries, black peppercorns stirred together until fragrant. I added some stewed tomatoes which were immediately mashed with a potato masher, then two cans of drained cannellini beans, chopped dried tomatoes and good old salt and pepper to taste. This was accompanied by sauerkraut fritters with sour cream.

    An odd meal for a day hovering toward 80 degrees, but it will be repeated this winter with great enthusiasm.

    This is the most I have ever cooked for any cookbook club selection of three I have belonged to.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1148 - September 13th, 2020, 8:32 pm
    Post #1148 - September 13th, 2020, 8:32 pm Post #1148 - September 13th, 2020, 8:32 pm
    Hi,

    I walk into stores with items needed at home, then see what is available.

    At Woodman's the other evening, I lucked out by encountering their big bag of bananas for 99 cents. I later weighed to find it was just over 10 pounds. We ate some, a loaf of banana bread was made with the rest was mashed and frozen for future loaves of banana bread.

    In their marked down vegetables, they had two pounds of mushrooms for 99 cents. I bought four pounds of mushrooms and exhibiting some restraint resisted another two pounds.

    I made a mushroom lasagna with 1.5 pounds. Two pounds went to Sophia Loren's mushroom sauce, which is frozen for another day. A half pound went to Mushrooms in sour cream sauce.

    At Aldi sometime ago, my sister bought a lot of jars of Morello cherries at a very favorable price. She does not remember the price nor will she fess up on how many jars she has at home. She recently dropped off two jars to use and more to follow, if I liked it.

    Sometime ago, I saw Darra Goldstein had an old Russian recipe of veal cooked with sour cherries. When I went to hunt it down, I found several variations attributed to her. One variation finished with white beans added at the end. Other variations had frozen or fresh cherries and others with jarred cherries. The meat depending on the recipe was pork, beef or veal. I settled on the one with frozen or fresh, but used jarred, because it was flavored with cinnamon stick, a pod of cardamon and a bay leaf. The beef was browned, then everything else into the pot, brought to a boil and simmered in the oven.

    This flavorful dish was served over porcini mushroom noodles. I bought it for it's suggested promise of a hint of mushroom flavor. The hint of mushroom flavor just did not exist. What's left will likely go into tuna noodle casserole, because it is an honorable way to finish these noodles.

    Leftovers for a day, which will clear out the fridge.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1149 - September 28th, 2020, 9:09 am
    Post #1149 - September 28th, 2020, 9:09 am Post #1149 - September 28th, 2020, 9:09 am
    Hi,

    I have lots of really good grapes in the fridge. I finally made a meal of sausages cooked with grapes, which I have been wondering about for a long time.

    This passing thought came usually when I had no grapes or had grapes, but no sausage. Actually, I usually have sausage in the house, but not usually fresh Italian sausage. I still don't have any fresh Italian sausage in the house.

    I really dig visiting Usinger's store in Milwaukee, where I comb through the seconds before entertaining anything else. Usinger's makes custom blends for customers, which sometimes end up there. I bought a several-pound pack of smoked sausages for Busch Gardens in St. Louis. They have not exactly been warmly embraced by my family, when added to German-style meals.

    These same sausages cooked with grapes was a winner. I looked around the internet to find some people serve this with polenta. I followed this recipe, because it was more or less just sausages, grapes and polenta.

    Instead of fresh Italian sausage, I used the smoked sausages. I used seedless black grapes from Jewel. I made a half recipe of polenta to avoid substantial leftovers. Instead of Fontina cheese, I found I had a partial bag of Mexican blend cheese to get rid of.

    Sausage and grapes was a winning combination in my household.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #1150 - May 5th, 2021, 6:48 pm
    Post #1150 - May 5th, 2021, 6:48 pm Post #1150 - May 5th, 2021, 6:48 pm
    Mixed grill tonight. Had chicken on hand and really wanted to try some "kiolbassa" from Costco that had been in the basement fridge for a while. Good thing we had the chicken . . . :x

    Image
    "Kiolbassa" & Takayuki Grand Chef AEB-L Hankotsu, 150mm
    Scoring the sausages.

    Image
    Salad
    Finished off the great lettuces we bought at last Saturday's Green City Market and added some arugula and campari tomatoes, along with the end of my buttermilk/yogurt ranch dressing.

    Image
    Mixed Grill
    Charcoal-grilled chicken thighs and "kiolbassa."

    Warning: some items may appear more delicious than they actually are! :P

    Flavor on the sausage was okay but they were insanely dense. The bind and definition were completely off and, even scored, the casings were tough. If this were the first time I'd ever had sausage, I'd probably never have it again. Brutal.

    Image
    Plated Up
    With the end of the asparagus from Saturday's market and the end of the last week's slaw. Yeah, salad and slaw is a bit of overkill but I was trying to offset the double-meat! :D

    Happily, just as last week's slaw was coming to and end, a new slaw was born . . .

    Image
    Cabbage & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2 Funayuki/Gyuto, 240mm
    I feel like Sisyphus with the slaw around here but it is great always having it on hand. :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1151 - May 5th, 2021, 6:56 pm
    Post #1151 - May 5th, 2021, 6:56 pm Post #1151 - May 5th, 2021, 6:56 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Mixed grill tonight. Had chicken on hand and really wanted to try some "kiolbassa" from Costco that had been in the basement fridge for a while. Good thing we had the chicken . . . :x
    ...
    Flavor on the sausage was okay but they were insanely dense. The bind and definition were completely off and, even scored, the casings were tough. If this were the first time I'd ever had sausage, I'd probably never have it again. Brutal.

    We've really enjoyed the Kiolbassa brand sausages from Costco, they are dense but so are ones like Slotkowski. Maybe a bad batch?
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #1152 - May 5th, 2021, 7:12 pm
    Post #1152 - May 5th, 2021, 7:12 pm Post #1152 - May 5th, 2021, 7:12 pm
    JoelF wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Mixed grill tonight. Had chicken on hand and really wanted to try some "kiolbassa" from Costco that had been in the basement fridge for a while. Good thing we had the chicken . . . :x
    ...
    Flavor on the sausage was okay but they were insanely dense. The bind and definition were completely off and, even scored, the casings were tough. If this were the first time I'd ever had sausage, I'd probably never have it again. Brutal.

    We've really enjoyed the Kiolbassa brand sausages from Costco, they are dense but so are ones like Slotkowski. Maybe a bad batch?

    These were much more dense than I remember Slotkowski being, though it's been years. I've made a lot of sausage in my day and if I'd made these, I would have considered them to be a failed batch. I wouldn't have even shared them with friends. Just really, really wrong, imo.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1153 - May 6th, 2021, 6:34 pm
    Post #1153 - May 6th, 2021, 6:34 pm Post #1153 - May 6th, 2021, 6:34 pm
    Worked from home today and as it turns out, I was way busier than I expected. Had I known, I probably would have gone with something less time and labor intensive. But I'd already thawed the pork belly and since I probably won't be cooking again until Sunday, I went ahead nonetheless. However, my day-long ballet between the kitchen and my computer was anything but graceful . . .

    Image
    Belly, Bathing Aids & CCK Small Carbon Steel Cleaver
    Gave the belly chunks a quick, 10-minute blanching in a bath that including smashed garlic and ginger, leek tops from the freezer and a splash of Shaoxing wine.

    Image
    Mise En Place & CCK Small Carbon Steel Cleaver
    There are a few stages here. First up was the blanched belly, which got a quick sear in peanut oil and caramelized granulated sugar . . .

    Image
    Blanched And Seared Pork Belly

    After that browned and came out, in went the Chinese leeks, onions, shallots, garlic and ginger . . .

    Image
    Aromatics

    After that had all sweated, I put in a ground mixture of the long pepper, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, fennel seed, black cardamom and amomum villosum pod. After that, I added the reclaimed blanching liquid (that I'd heavily reduced), both soy sauces, the broad bean paste and the fermented soy beans sauce (hiding under the sugar). After that, this went in . . .

    Image
    Sachet
    Star anise, licorice root, dried monk fruit, angelica daurica and Tien Tsin chili peppers.

    Once the sachet was well-submerged, I added back the blanched and seared belly, stirred it all up, covered it and simmered it for a couple of hours until the belly was fork-tender.

    A bunch of little steps happened next (de-fatting, straining reducing, squeezing out the sachet, reseasoning) but I could only choose 2 of these 3: cook, document, work. Unfortunately, work wasn't really a choice and document fell by the wayside.

    Very near the end of the cook, when it was essentially ready to serve, I threw in the final two ingredients . . .

    Image
    Reconstituted Black Fungus & Chinese Broccoli Greens
    I was glad I remembered to soak the fungus earlier in the day. As for the broccoli greens, I more or less ran out of time, so Mrs. Suburban washed them and separated them from the stems to facilitate quicker cooking. I expect the stems will still be usable next time I cook.

    Image
    Plated Up
    On leftover jasmine rice and garnished with chives. I definitely bit off more than I could chew today but it was worth it. This ended up being one of the best things I've made in a very long time. The pork was tender but not mushy, and really flavorful. The broth was delicious. The fungus and the greens carried the broth well, with the greens imparting a mild bitterness that matched up really well with the rest of the dish.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1154 - May 9th, 2021, 8:01 pm
    Post #1154 - May 9th, 2021, 8:01 pm Post #1154 - May 9th, 2021, 8:01 pm
    Was tasked last night with bringing a vegetable side dish to dinner at a friend's house where another friend, who cannot eat alliums or garlic, was also in attendance. No time to shop but remembered a napa cabbage in the fridge, as well as the leftover Chinese broccoli stems from Monday's pork belly dish (above).

    It all ended up in the wok, high heat and peanut oil at first to wilt the veg. After that, some freshly microplaned ginger, then some homemade gelatinous pork stock and a bitch's brew of additional liquids to create a sauce -- soy, oyster, fermented soy bean, mature black vinegar and Shaoxing wine. Freshly ground white pepper, black pepper and Sichuan peppercorn to finish it off. Let it all bubble until the broccoli stems were just soft enough to eat, and done . . .

    Image
    Napa Cabbage & Chinese Broccoli Stems

    The dish went over well and it all but disappeared, which made me happy. It ended up being a decent pairing with the main dish, which was a beef dish heavily redolent of clove. It was an interesting experiment, especially for me, not including any onion, scallions, shallots, leeks or garlic but that seems to have worked out well enough. Ironically, and I wasn't informed about this up front, the dietarily restricted friend couldn't eat any cruciferous vegetables either, so she never touched it. :lol:

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1155 - May 10th, 2021, 6:20 am
    Post #1155 - May 10th, 2021, 6:20 am Post #1155 - May 10th, 2021, 6:20 am
    ImageInspiration from previous thread. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021 ... the-recipe . Pomegranate molasses , sumac, aleppo pepper and some other ingredients for a marinade. We found this to be tasty and will be a regular here.
  • Post #1156 - May 10th, 2021, 6:17 pm
    Post #1156 - May 10th, 2021, 6:17 pm Post #1156 - May 10th, 2021, 6:17 pm
    lougord99 wrote:ImageInspiration from previous thread. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021 ... the-recipe . Pomegranate molasses , sumac, aleppo pepper and some other ingredients for a marinade. We found this to be tasty and will be a regular here.

    Looks great, Lou! What brand of pom molasses did you end up using?

    Continuing down the personal rabbit hole that opened up on the glorious corona cuisine thread, it was back to Thai-style red curry chicken for us tonight. I've come to call it Thai-style because even though I use some Thai products and I started with a recipe written by a Thai cook, I take a ton of liberties with this, especially because I try to use up what I have on hand, as well as vary things from batch to batch . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place, Yoshikazu Tanaka Blue #1 Gyuto, 240mm & Takeda NAS Honesuki, 160mm
    Genovese basil, creminis, peanut oil, coconut milk, Maesri red curry paste, gapi, zucchini, shirataki noodles, chicken thigh chunks, 1x gelatinous pork stock, fresh bamboo shoots, fish sauce, re-hydrated wood ear mushrooms (leftover from last Thursday's pork belly prep), shallot, kaffir lime leaves and Thai bird chiles.

    The Yoshi is a joy to use and it cuts like a dream but having regularly encountered pieces of bone in boneless chicken thighs (go figure), I deployed the beefier honesuki to chunk it down further. Just didn't want to take a chance on chipping the Yoshi.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Garnished with scallions, chives and what I like to call The Peacemaker, aka dried Thai chile powder. I now put four whole Thai bird chiles in the batch, which provides some bite and some heat but does not blow the skulls off the rest of the Suburban clan. But that's not quite hot enough for me, so I add the dried Thai chile powder to my serving. It's a pretty darned good work-around and it keeps everyone happy.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1157 - May 10th, 2021, 8:46 pm
    Post #1157 - May 10th, 2021, 8:46 pm Post #1157 - May 10th, 2021, 8:46 pm
    I used the brand of Pom molasses you suggested at Sunset, HP. I got the sumac at Epic Spices in Chicago.
  • Post #1158 - May 11th, 2021, 8:36 pm
    Post #1158 - May 11th, 2021, 8:36 pm Post #1158 - May 11th, 2021, 8:36 pm
    Pork chops, boy choy and salad, though more accurate to say I murdered the boy choy more than I actually cooked it . . .

    Image
    Bok Choy Mise En Place
    Bok choy, lemon (juice), sugar, peanut oil, shoyu, mirin and sake. Just an epic fail. The thick, reduced glaze I made with everything but the bok choy and the peanut oil turned out fine but I should have steamed the bok choy instead of trying to hot-wok it. The leaves were done and wilted down to nothing long before the stems were even remotely palatable. I ended up quartering it mid-saute but it was too little, too late.

    Image
    Salad
    The bright spot of the meal was the salad with homemade buttermilk & yogurt ranch dressing. Romaine, green leaf lettuce and arugula were all in tip-top condition.

    Image
    Charcoal-Grilled Pork Chops
    Even taken off the grill at 125F internal, they were drier and tougher than I would have preferred. These were from Whole Foods. I need to promise myself that when it comes to pork, I'll stick with my butcher because he's the only source I have for pork that isn't overly lean.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Glad I cooked and took advantage of a nice evening by the grill but this was proof that they certainly all can't be winners.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1159 - May 12th, 2021, 1:07 pm
    Post #1159 - May 12th, 2021, 1:07 pm Post #1159 - May 12th, 2021, 1:07 pm
    RE: Murdering bok choy

    We got bok choy in a recent CSA share. These were full size. I decided to halve one and roast it. Not my best decision. Still edible but not delightful. The second one was roughly chopped and sautéed with garlic before added to the leftover green curry with Sitka lingcod. Much tastier.
    -Mary
  • Post #1160 - May 12th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    Post #1160 - May 12th, 2021, 6:54 pm Post #1160 - May 12th, 2021, 6:54 pm
    The GP wrote:RE: Murdering bok choy

    We got bok choy in a recent CSA share. These were full size. I decided to halve one and roast it. Not my best decision. Still edible but not delightful. The second one was roughly chopped and sautéed with garlic before added to the leftover green curry with Sitka lingcod. Much tastier.

    Yeah, it's challenging cooking these types of vegetables intact or even half-intact. It can be done and I'm determined to develop a competence for it but right now, I'm still on the steepest part of the learning curve.

    Tonight: SausageFest!

    But first, side-dishery . . .

    Image
    Long Bean Mise En Place & Kurosaki R2 Hammered Gyuto, 210mm
    Long beans (these had definitely seen better days), peanut oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, 5-year Chinese vinegar, minced shallots and crushed garlic. Still stinging from last night's baby bok choy debacle, I was determined to focus and get it right with the long beans.

    Image
    Long Beans
    Granted, they don't emit nearly as much moisture as bok choy but I managed to end up with something much more desirable this time around; a nice, sticky coating of sauce, shallots and garlic.

    Image
    SausageFest!
    Charcoal-grilled veal wieners (top), kielbasa and pork wieners.

    Image
    Salad
    My first inclination was to have blob of the weekly slaw with the sausages but our greens were still in such good shape that I opted for a complete copy of last night's salad, again with the homemade yogurt-buttermilk ranch dressing. Boring, yes but sensible.

    Image
    Plated Up
    With some of my pickled ramps and a couple of mustards.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1161 - May 13th, 2021, 7:37 am
    Post #1161 - May 13th, 2021, 7:37 am Post #1161 - May 13th, 2021, 7:37 am
    Pics from the past few days:Image
    Pork tenderloin sous vided and grilled. Sure, it's possible to cook tender, juicy pork tenderloin on a grill alone. But last night I got home at 6:20 and was able to light the charcoal, cook two kinds of rice, frozen peas (Jewel Signature Select petite ones, very good frozen peas), grill the pork and have dinner on the table by 6:50. Without precooked pork that would have been a challenge.
    ImageImage
    Two salads from different nights. First, a sometimes-requested grilled chicken and brie concoction. Turkish pepper paste has joined the Turkish tomato paste in my freezer. The glaze is pepper paste, tomato paste, pine-elixir, salt and olive oil. The pine-elixir was an impulse buy at one of the Polish grocers. Not as interesting as it sounds, sort of a sugary slightly rosemary taste with the viscosity of thin honey.
    Next, something I created out of a leftover boiled potato, mayonnaise, ancient pepper rings, salt-cured olives and lettuce. Basically potato salad and green salad combined. I thought the general idea was pretty good, will continue working on it next time there are leftover potatoes.
  • Post #1162 - May 13th, 2021, 10:40 pm
    Post #1162 - May 13th, 2021, 10:40 pm Post #1162 - May 13th, 2021, 10:40 pm
    Highlight of tonight's dinner was that we had friends over, which was the first time for that in a very long time. I actually had to temporarily convert my knife lab back into a dining room! :lol:

    I would have felt silly snapping pics of my plate with guests sitting there but I did get a couple of shots while I prepped . . .

    Image
    Grilled Asparagus
    Eventually served this with a few pats of homemade ramp butter melted over it.

    Image
    Charcoal-Grilled Hanger Steak & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Steaks turned out great. Five of us finished off just about all of it, plus all of the asparagus. Our guests brought a homemade, gluten-free garlicky mac & cheese that was really good and which also completely disappeared. Mainly, though, it felt really nice to cook at home again for friends.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1163 - May 14th, 2021, 7:14 am
    Post #1163 - May 14th, 2021, 7:14 am Post #1163 - May 14th, 2021, 7:14 am
    Nice "empty the fridge" meal last night:
    * A leek that's been there a couple weeks now
    * Beech and oyster mushrooms that were bought for something that didn't get made
    * several sprigs of fresh thyme from the window box
    The above cooked down with butter, a minced clove of garlic, a pinch of pepper flakes, salt
    * Half a 4oz package of goat cheese
    * Leftover boxed chicken stock, about 1/2 C
    * Juice of half a lemon
    * Salt and pepper
    * A couple splashes of an open bottle of white wine
    Partially cover, let it all cook down.
    * A package of 'skillet gnocchi'
    * Frozen shrimp, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces, about 2/3 cup
    Sautee the gnocchi in butter to get some browning, add the shrimp then while not yet done, add to the sauce. Splash a little more white wine. Serve.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #1164 - May 14th, 2021, 4:34 pm
    Post #1164 - May 14th, 2021, 4:34 pm Post #1164 - May 14th, 2021, 4:34 pm
    Sounds great.

    I'm just not good at making it up like that.
  • Post #1165 - May 14th, 2021, 6:58 pm
    Post #1165 - May 14th, 2021, 6:58 pm Post #1165 - May 14th, 2021, 6:58 pm
    JoelF wrote:Nice "empty the fridge" meal last night:

    lougord99 wrote:I'm just not good at making it up like that.

    As much as I love planning things out, trying new recipes and re-creating certain dishes, I also love winging it. That's the best way to get rid of stuff, and the exercise often leads me to new ground and learning.

    Image
    Pre-Mise and Konosuke SKD Gyuto, 210mm
    Creminis, salt, onions and crushed garlic. I used to always buy sliced mushrooms. I haven't bought them in a long time and I'll never buy them again. I can move through two pounds in under two minutes.

    Image
    Spinach-Feta Casserole
    Really cleaning out the fridge with this one, or at least trying to. In addition to the usual suspects -- wilted/squeezed spinach, feta, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions and crushed garlic -- also threw in some leftover chive cheese, the end of an open yogurt and some of pulverized parmesan-romano blend. 2/3 of a mushy lemon? Gone. On the dry side, in addition to salt and black pepper, some dill and some oregano. Just get rid of it, man! :)

    Image
    Pork Roast Mise En Place
    Really, a cute little roast, which caught my eye in the case at Zier's. Just over 2 pounds, nicely marbled and trussed magnificently. I seasoned it with salt, black pepper, granulated garlic & onion and oregano. Seared the roast in evoo, then removed it. Then, sauteed the onions and bell peppers until they were soft. Splashed in a tiny bit of white vinegar and white wine (not pictured) and returned the roast to the pan. After that, into the oven it went.

    Image
    Roasting
    Baked at 400F until the internal temp was 130F. That took no more than 40 minutes or so.

    Image
    Roasted
    It carried over to 140F, which was perfect. Used the Misen 12" carbon steel pan, which is really growing on me, and which was perfect for the combo task.

    Image
    On The Platter
    Sliced up and garnished with fresh chives.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Considering that at 4 pm I didn't even know what I was going to make tonight, it was a pretty successful dinner.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1166 - May 15th, 2021, 6:01 am
    Post #1166 - May 15th, 2021, 6:01 am Post #1166 - May 15th, 2021, 6:01 am
    Which temperature monitor do you use? I've been thinking of getting one ( my last died quite a while ago ) and not sure whether to go wireless or wired.
  • Post #1167 - May 15th, 2021, 6:20 am
    Post #1167 - May 15th, 2021, 6:20 am Post #1167 - May 15th, 2021, 6:20 am
    It was to have an actual dinner party again. Last night’s dinner for nine included salmon, lentil salad, kugel, eggplant salad, rice, blueberry pie, and blueberry bars. The company was equally enjoyable as the food.
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #1168 - May 15th, 2021, 6:43 pm
    Post #1168 - May 15th, 2021, 6:43 pm Post #1168 - May 15th, 2021, 6:43 pm
    In my mind, Spring days that feel like fall -- cool and overcast -- are ideal for smoking. As long as the wind isn't too strong, things tend to go particularly well. I prefer tips-on, full-slab spares but this time around, laziness won out. I opted for convenience over persnicketyness and ended up with some decent looking slabs that were mostly St. Louis but butchered sloppily enough that they had some spare to them, too. :D

    Image
    Mise En Place & Kanehide Bessaku Honesuki, 150mm
    Trimmed, membranes removed and lightly slathered with yellow mustard. Up top are also kosher salt and my BBQ rub. That is one of only two left-handed knives I own and I like it for ribs, both before and after.

    Image
    Rubbed
    Ended up calling a small audible. Used my rub on two of the slabs but used a friend's rub on the third slab.

    Image
    Cooker
    Smoke lightly whisping, ribs went on. Burning lump charcoal, extruded coconut and apple logs.

    Image
    One Hour In
    Just after having been spritzed with a diluted solution of water plus apple and cranberry juice concentrates.

    Image
    Two Hours In
    Spritzed, re-seasoned and rotated.

    Image
    Three Hours In
    Spritzed, re-seasoned and rotated back so that the thick end was, once again, closer to the heat. They only needed about another 30 minutes from here.

    Image
    Three & A Half Hours In
    Nice bark, modest bend and bones that could be tugged away from the meat with a proper bit of effort. Plenty tender but nothing falling off of anything here. ;)

    Image
    Last Log
    The end of the cook, about 3.5 hours in. I put this small apple wood log on the fading embers at the three-hour mark, just to make sure I had enough therm to get to the end. It was very hot in the box, and the log flamed up right away, which eased my concerns about introducing any acrid flavors so late in the cook. I let it burn for a few moments with the box open before closing the lid.

    Image
    Plated Up
    With some of the weekly slaw and leftover spinach-feta casserole. I preferred my rub over my friend's but his was respectable, just a bit more one-dimensional than mine. I think his works better on shorter, grilled-food cooks than on low & slow expeditions.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1169 - May 17th, 2021, 6:51 pm
    Post #1169 - May 17th, 2021, 6:51 pm Post #1169 - May 17th, 2021, 6:51 pm
    Fairly quick and easy, after-work, grilled dinner tonight . . .

    Image
    Salad
    The end of the homemade yogurt-buttermilk ranch on a really nice mix of baby arugula and baby kale(s). Good salad.

    Image
    Charcoal-Grilled Skirt Steaks
    Got these at the grocery store and they were not well-butchered. They turned out fine but I had to spend more time than I wanted trimming them of excess exterior fat before they grilled.

    Image
    Plated Up
    With grilled asparagus. I'm working on my seasonal asparagus fatigue but I'm not even close yet. :D

    And, as always, the weekly slaw . . .

    Image
    Green Cabbage & Kanehide PS60 Gyuto, 210mm
    Going with the usual dressing, mayo and apple cider vinegar-based, with a touch of yellow mustard and some finely grated sweet onion.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #1170 - May 18th, 2021, 7:05 am
    Post #1170 - May 18th, 2021, 7:05 am Post #1170 - May 18th, 2021, 7:05 am
    It was a slaw day for me too, to accompany Costco's sous vide pork belly that I crisped up in the toaster oven and some frozen folded-bao I'd made some months back.

    Carrots shredded, radicchio sliced, green onion, sesame seeds, dressing was salt, pepper, sugar, a little kewpie mayo, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Hit the sugar/salt balance perfectly; for my bao I added some sliced serranos.

    The pork belly was pretty good, I'd buy it again (once we finish the other half): tender, well cooked, not too rendered out. I was planning on basting it with doctored-up oyster sauce until I discovered I hadn't any. A little sweet soy (kecap manis), tonkatsu sauce (for umami and sour), garlic and ginger made a decent baste.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang

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