Baby corn's not so bad if you take the diaper off.

Capellini & Clams, the bride digs Capellini & Clams.



Capellini & Clams, count her a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:Capellini & Clams, count her a Fan!

Should we be reading between the lines that you are not? Nice-looking dish, in any case.

Had one final slab of leftover ribs and more CSA items, so the path to dinner illuminated itself . . .


Lardons & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2, 240mm
Homemade bacon and one more "new" knife that I bought used (though, it had not been used).


Rainbow Chard & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2, 240mm
Not pictured are a couple of different varieties of kale.


Okra & Tanaka Ginsan Nashiji Petty w/Ebony handle, 120mm
As you shall see, in the hands of a rookie, okra reveals all.


Braised Greens
Rainbow chard, kale x 2, lardons, shallots and apple cider vinegar gastrique.


Buttermilk & Cornmeal-Fried Okra, Take 1
Warning: Food appears more delicious than it actually was.

Reading the recipe, it didn't seem like it was going to work very well but against my better judgment, I blindly followed it anyway. Not only did the dredged coating (2 parts flour, 1 part cornmeal after a dunk in buttermilk) not stick to the okra, but it cooked too fast, so the okra was still fibrous after the exteriors were done. If I'd cooked it at a lower temperature, I don't think the exterior would have fried correctly. Maybe I should have instant-potted and cooled the okra first or cut it into smaller pieces.


Buttermilk & Cornmeal Tempura-Fried Okra, Take 2
After Round 1 of frying, I realized that the recipe wasn't working, called an audible and added sparkling water and a beaten egg to the flour/cornmeal mixture. It went slightly better from there but by then the oil had all sorts of debris in it from Round 1 and it was not cooking efficiently. All in all, I'd describe this overall effort as the Epic Okra Fail of 2020. I often defend okra to those who don't like it but as far as I'm concerned, we're no longer friends. Okra doesn't behave nicely like squash blossoms. I should have taught it a lesson and stewed it!


Plated Up
The end of Monday's smoked spare ribs, okra two ways and braised greens with bacon, shallots and apple cider vinegar gastrique.

=R=

Working in an izakaya in Japan we used a single edge razor to slice okra into a bowl of ice. Chilled and snotty was the goal. Yuzu kosho or togarashi was the go-to garni.

Shrimp and grits, with knob onions and parsley from Henry's Farm, and garlic from the back yard.

Jazzfood wrote:Working in an izakaya in Japan we used a single edge razor to slice okra into a bowl of ice. Chilled and snotty was the goal. Yuzu kosho or togarashi was the go-to garni.

I'm confused. Just served raw?

=R=

Yes

Sliced super thin

ronnie_suburban wrote:

G Wiv wrote:Capellini & Clams, count her a Fan!

Should we be reading between the lines that you are not? Nice-looking dish, in any case.

Had one final slab of leftover ribs and more CSA items, so the path to dinner illuminated itself . . .


Lardons & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2, 240mm
Homemade bacon and one more "new" knife that I bought used (though, it had not been used).


Rainbow Chard & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2, 240mm
Not pictured are a couple of different varieties of kale.


Okra & Tanaka Ginsan Nashiji Petty w/Ebony handle, 120mm
As you shall see, in the hands of a rookie, okra reveals all.


Braised Greens
Rainbow chard, kale x 2, lardons, shallots and apple cider vinegar gastrique.


Buttermilk & Cornmeal-Fried Okra, Take 1
Warning: Food appears more delicious than it actually was.

Reading the recipe, it didn't seem like it was going to work very well but against my better judgment, I blindly followed it anyway. Not only did the dredged coating (2 parts flour, 1 part cornmeal after a dunk in buttermilk) not stick to the okra, but it cooked too fast, so the okra was still fibrous after the exteriors were done. If I'd cooked it at a lower temperature, I don't think the exterior would have fried correctly. Maybe I should have instant-potted and cooled the okra first or cut it into smaller pieces.


Buttermilk & Cornmeal Tempura-Fried Okra, Take 2
After Round 1 of frying, I realized that the recipe wasn't working, called an audible and added sparkling water and a beaten egg to the flour/cornmeal mixture. It went slightly better from there but by then the oil had all sorts of debris in it from Round 1 and it was not cooking efficiently. All in all, I'd describe this overall effort as the Epic Okra Fail of 2020. I often defend okra to those who don't like it but as far as I'm concerned, we're no longer friends. Okra doesn't behave nicely like squash blossoms. I should have taught it a lesson and stewed it!
=R=

I love fried okra, but I always cut it into much smaller pieces—the batter sticks better and it cooks thru faster.

boudreaulicious wrote:I love fried okra, but I always cut it into much smaller pieces—the batter sticks better and it cooks thru faster.

Yeah, I think that would have been better. I thought ~1" was adequate but maybe it wasn't. Even the really small tips were fibrous, though. Not giving up but if I get another pack of okra in a future box, I'm more likely to stew it or pickle it than fry it.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I keep pretty detailed records and I was curious, so I ran some numbers. My overall food costs from 3/16/20 - 7/25/20 (groceries, restaurants, bar, liquor, wine, etc.) were down a whopping 36% from the same period in 2019. Not surprisingly, the categorical ratios almost completely flipped year over year, too.

In the 2019 period, these expenses were ~20% groceries and 80% restaurant/bar. In the 2020 period, grocery expenses have been 74% of total food, while restaurant/bar have only been 26%. I haven't been to a bar since March 13 so, the latter figure is largely wine and spirits (some purchased from local restaurants). Through that lens, even that expense is deceptively high since it could arguably be categorized as grocery rather than restaurant/bar. In any case, the overall savings have been significant . . . enough to fund a nice knife habit!

=R=

I'm a data guy too and was curious how my household numbers compared. The numbers confirmed my hunch that we were just about flush– with groceries up 35% and eating out down 64%.

The surprise here is that our eating out costs are pretty level with the groceries- cheap! With small kids at home & move to the burbs with limited options, we never go out to dinner (which also saves in the booze column.) So its all take out, chain lunches for her in Dekalb, and mom-and-pop joint lunches for me in the city.

Also, I keep a separate column for booze, which is 100% store bought. There hasn't been a significant change in that expense.

Its still blowing my mind that we're spending $800- $900 a month on groceries!

Jefe wrote:I'm a data guy too and was curious how my household numbers compared. The numbers confirmed my hunch that we were just about flush– with groceries up 35% and eating out down 64%.

The surprise here is that our eating out costs are pretty level with the groceries- cheap! With small kids at home & move to the burbs with limited options, we never go out to dinner (which also saves in the booze column.) So its all take out, chain lunches for her in Dekalb, and mom-and-pop joint lunches for me in the city.

Also, I keep a separate column for booze, which is 100% store bought. There hasn't been a significant change in that expense.

Its still blowing my mind that we're spending $800- $900 a month on groceries!

Just wondering if any of your grocery expenses are “entertainment” related though—meaning more cooking projects—and if you factored that into the analysis.

boudreaulicious wrote:

Jefe wrote:I'm a data guy too and was curious how my household numbers compared. The numbers confirmed my hunch that we were just about flush– with groceries up 35% and eating out down 64%.

The surprise here is that our eating out costs are pretty level with the groceries- cheap! With small kids at home & move to the burbs with limited options, we never go out to dinner (which also saves in the booze column.) So its all take out, chain lunches for her in Dekalb, and mom-and-pop joint lunches for me in the city.

Also, I keep a separate column for booze, which is 100% store bought. There hasn't been a significant change in that expense.

Its still blowing my mind that we're spending $800- $900 a month on groceries!

Just wondering if any of your grocery expenses are “entertainment” related though—meaning more cooking projects—and if you factored that into the analysis.

I wouldn't say that. I mean there was a bump in expenses in May around a birthday–some nice cheese, some skirt steak, but nothing too extravagant. Projects have veered on the cheap side ingredient-wise, bread baking & kimchi. But making that stuff from scratch tends to save money.

As discussed upthread, I have noticed a general increase in grocery prices, there certainly seems to be less sales.

Oh also, the preschooler is not eating lunch at school and some of that kid-friendly convenience food adds up– hotdogs, lunchmeat, chicken nugs, & the like. Why do kids love high-sodium, processed meat so much?!

G Wiv wrote:Quesadilla, count me a Fan!

Me too! You (and a recent JW video) inspired me. Not sure I should say this out loud but I went to bed thinking about quesadillas. Woke up with a plan -- breakfast quesadillas . . .


Gently griddling
Cooked the homemade breakfast sausage first, then the crepe-thin egg. Then I assembled the quesadillas and put them back in the pan. This is one of the few dishes in which I prefer flour tortillas over corn.


Breakfast Quesadillas & Kurosaki Fujin VG10 Gyuto, 210mm
Crepe-thin scrambled egg, homemade breakfast sausage and grated cheese blend.


Breakfast Quesadillas
With homemade tomatillo salsa.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Breakfast Quesadillas & Kurosaki Fujin VG10 Gyuto, 210mm
=R=

Good Golly Mr. Suburban! Between you and Mr. Wiviott, I want to go buy more knives, when I'll only use the Misen knives I bought myself for Xmas and the old knives from Estate Sales. Not touching the others ones, yet ...

ronnie_suburban said

Code: Select all

Reading the recipe, it didn't seem like it was going to work very well but against my better judgment, I blindly followed it anyway. Not only did the dredged coating (2 parts flour, 1 part cornmeal after a dunk in buttermilk) not stick to the okra, but it cooked too fast, so the okra was still fibrous after the exteriors were done. If I'd cooked it at a lower temperature, I don't think the exterior would have fried correctly. Maybe I should have instant-potted and cooled the okra first or cut it into smaller pieces.

As someone who grows okra regularly, fibrous okra is the result of picking when the pods are overly mature. In hot weather okra needs to be picked every day or two. Otherwise you will have some fibrous pods. Longer cooking or moist heat will not soften the fiber.

ekreider wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Reading the recipe, it didn't seem like it was going to work very well but against my better judgment, I blindly followed it anyway. Not only did the dredged coating (2 parts flour, 1 part cornmeal after a dunk in buttermilk) not stick to the okra, but it cooked too fast, so the okra was still fibrous after the exteriors were done. If I'd cooked it at a lower temperature, I don't think the exterior would have fried correctly. Maybe I should have instant-potted and cooled the okra first or cut it into smaller pieces.

As someone who grows okra regularly, fibrous okra is the result of picking when the pods are overly mature. In hot weather okra needs to be picked every day or two. Otherwise you will have some fibrous pods. Longer cooking or moist heat will not soften the fiber.

Ok, good to know. That makes me feel less bad about being solely responsible for the debacle.

=R=

A dinner well-suited for a really hot night . . .


Tomato-Cucumber-Feta Salad & Kurosaki Fujin VG10 Gyuto, 210mm
Really tasty salad. Even thought the tomatoes we're getting in our CSA aren't very good yet (the early outdoor tomatoes aren't as tasty as the greenhouse tomatoes we were getting before them), they take to doctoring quite nicely. We dressed this with evoo, red wine vinegar, a small, microplaned clove of garlic and some basil from our garden (also s&p).


Hanger Steak
Beefy, juicy and tender. Cooked direct, then indirect over lump charcoal, to about 123F.


Plated Up
With homemade potato salad, instant-potted esquites (corn also not quite there yet but improved over last week), tomato-cuke-feta salad and some low-grade andouille that I grilled because it was a pretty small hanger for three people.

Even though the sun had dropped behind the trees, it was sweltering out by the grill. I'm glad we kept it to a minimum amount of effort tonight and used no more than the instant pot inside the house.

=R=

Supper last Wednesday, Mongolian Beef, Jet Tila's recipe, slightly modified.
Cut Up Flank Steak and Unknown Knife

Some diced garlic, onions, and match stick ginger
Veggies and Misen Knife

Supper
Jet Tila's Mongolian Beef

Just saying, the recipe called for bell pepper, but I don't like them much, so I upped the onion, way too many! Next time, I'll add some celery and ??? Also, I cut up way more ginger than called for, so I left it as match sticks and through it in as well, should have diced it.

Not bad, but the sauce seemed heavy tasting to me. Next time I'll reduce the Hoisin sauce and Oyster sauce a bit and up the vinegar and soy sauce, see what happens. I had forgotten my dried peppers lost a battle to pantry moths, so I used some pepper flakes instead.

The beef is coated with baking soda, salt, cornstarch, water, and oil. I refrigerated it overnight. The beef was very tender, but the sauce overpowered the beef taste.

(yet another) Breakfast sandwich . . .


Fried Bologna, Crepe-Thin Egg & Cheese Sandwich on Buttercrust White Toast

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I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, we actually call it yellow chicken because when my son was little, that's what he called it. Well, now that he's 23, he still calls it that and says that it's his favorite of my grilled chicken tricks.

It actually ended up being a yellow dinner kind of night . . .


Shallots & Konosuke HD2 Petty, 120mm, ebony
Prepping the shallots for rice.


Grilling Indirect
I put this on pretty wet, right from the cold, 24-hour marinade ziploc. So, even though it was a hot fire and a still night, it took closer to 25 minutes than the usual 20.


Plated Up
The chicken crisped up nicely. With Rice-A-Phoney (basmati rice, sauteed shallots & garlic, butter-toasted orzo, touch of turmeric) and leftover bacony broccoli. Overall, a tasty and easy dinner.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, ...
=R=

Recipe and technique?

And, as always, nice knife.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, ...
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omg we made this tonight too! with boneless thighs, greek yogurt with lemon juice, turmeric-ginger-garlic powder-cinnamon-paprika mix, then served with couscous tossed with toasted almond slivers, pan roasted baby rainbow carrots (leftover), parsley, and some flash pan-fried fresh okra with garlic.

Nice, Ronnie, very Nice!

Yellow chicken for me as well, Southern Style Thai Grilled Chicken from SheSimmers blog. SomTam, sticky rice, prik nam pla, sweet sauce for chicken and loads of crunchy veg. Two types of Thai sausage as well. Over the years I've made Thai grilled chicken numerous times, this is the best version to date.







Thai Grilled Chicken, count me a Fan!

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, we actually call it yellow chicken because when my son was little, that's what he called it.

Sounds loads better than my mother's infamous white dinner. She claims it was an accident, but one night the meal was broiled whitefish, tartar sauce, mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower. We never forgave her.

JoelF wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, we actually call it yellow chicken because when my son was little, that's what he called it.

Sounds loads better than my mother's infamous white dinner. She claims it was an accident, but one night the meal was broiled whitefish, tartar sauce, mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower. We never forgave her.

The mashed potatoes sound alright, but not the rest. Not a fish/seafood, or cabbage family fan here.

Huzzah for Tuesday's yellow chicken cookers! Sounds like Anna and Gary both knocked it out of the park.

Joel, the white dinner kinda scares me!

Xexo wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, ...

Recipe and technique?

And, as always, nice knife.

Thanks! My recipe is really simple. I came up with it when I was trying to recreate some restaurant dish, though I can no longer remember which one . . .

Yogurt & Turmeric Marinated Chicken
(use with 2-3 lbs. chicken pieces of your choice)

1 C Whole Greek Yogurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp whole Coriander Seed, freshly-ground
2 tsp whole Black Peppercorns, freshly ground
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ cold cup water

Place chicken pieces in a ziploc bag. Mix everything together and pour it all into the ziploc bag, completely covering the chicken with it. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours, or up to 24 (might want to put the bag in a pan in case of leaks). I try to 'flip the bird' at least once, about halfway through the marinating time. After the marinating, just cook it in your preferred manner. My favorite is indirect grilling with lump charcoal. Sometimes I wipe off the chicken pieces before cooking. Other times, I leave as much marinade as will stick on them.

Enjoy!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Huzzah for Tuesday's yellow chicken cookers! Sounds like Anna and Gary both knocked it out of the park.

Joel, the white dinner kinda scares me!

Xexo wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I've been making Yogurt & Turmeric-Marinated Chicken for so long, ...

Recipe and technique?

And, as always, nice knife.

Thanks! My recipe is really simple. I came up with it when I was trying to recreate some restaurant dish, though I can no longer remember which one . . .

Yogurt & Turmeric Marinated Chicken
(use with 2-3 lbs. chicken pieces of your choice)

1 C Whole Greek Yogurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp whole Coriander Seed, freshly-ground
2 tsp whole Black Peppercorns, freshly ground
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ cold cup water

Place chicken pieces in a ziploc bag. Mix everything together and pour it all into the ziploc bag, completely covering the chicken with it. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours, or up to 24 (might want to put the bag in a pan in case of leaks). I try to 'flip the bird' at least once, about halfway through the marinating time. After the marinating, just cook it in your preferred manner. My favorite is indirect grilling with lump charcoal. Sometimes I wipe off the chicken pieces before cooking. Other times, I leave as much marinade as will stick on them.

Enjoy!

=R=

Thanks Ronnie, guess I'll try it with some corn on the cob, yellow, and some saffron rice, or maybe gold rush mashed potatoes.

I've definitely watched too much Food Network, but it seems to me that Yellow Chicken would look very nice with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses.

So I bought some boneless pork chops at Costco today. 3 bucks off a package, which came out to $1.97 a pound. Nice looking pork chops, but they are 2 inches thick. Not wanting to stuff them, so whant, slice them to 1 inch thick? Also, I haven't prepared pork chops in 10 or more years, suggestions? Rather not run the oven today. Thanks.