What's for Dinner?

[teela brown]

I'm starting to see new (to me) tomato products in local supermarkets: Mutti brand, from Italy. I tried their passata, and it was extremely good. Now I have a big can of their peeled plum tomatoes in the cupboard, and I think I'll use them tonight in some dish. I'm hoping that they're good quality, because they're more available than my favorite Strianese, which is only sold at distant Italian supermarkets.

I think I'll do some classic meatballs in tomato sauce. I have some tagliatelle in the cupboard, I think, and a wedge of parmesan from Costco. Mental note: get basil at supermarket today. Oh, and a loaf of crusty bread. Better work some salad in there, too.

[C2H5OH]

Tomorrow it's GOLUMPKI! [Polish cabbage rolls] I'm starting them today, because they taste better if you let the filling sit for a day. I'm going to make 6, and bake one pair in the oven, the way they are traditionally cooked, steam a pair, and sous-vide the last pair. I will report back about which method works best.

Funny thing, when I was buying the onion I forgot to get earlier at the local meat market, today. The guy who rang me up asked what I was making and I said 'cabbage rolls', and he didn't know what those were, but when I told him the Polish name, he did. His aunt (one of the owners of the place) is married to a fellow Polack, so I guess that's how he knows 'em by the Polish name, but not English.

[thylacine]

Mutti is a much loved brand here Teela, crept out of the italian supermarkets and in to eyeline at the big chains some years back. Usually good stuff.

I have some lamb leg steak in the fridge for tonight but I’m thinking of slicing it and having a spicy stir fry or going Greek. See what the day holds, we both have places to be so if energy is low it will just be lamb steak and veg. Poor us.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by C2H5OH

Tomorrow it's GOLUMPKI! [Polish cabbage rolls] I'm starting them today, because they taste better if you let the filling sit for a day. I'm going to make 6, and bake one pair in the oven, the way they are traditionally cooked, steam a pair, and sous-vide the last pair. I will report back about which method works best.

Reporting back. 5 people tried them, including me, and 5 out of 5 all preferred the sous-vide version. It's amazing the difference you get just from the way you cook them. That sous-vide machine is the best 50 bucks I ever spent. I'm going to cook them with the sous-vide machine from now on.

Reminds me, Guin was a fellow Polack, and would have loved these things. It hasn't been very long, but I'm missing her posting here, already.

ETA: BTW, @Rat Diva, you are also a fellow Polack. At the end of June, I'm maybe going down to DC to visit my brother. I'll be driving by on I-81 through where you live. I can make you some of them, too, and drop them off as I drive by. Hit me up with a PM if you want to try them.

[C2H5OH]

I'm having friends over for dinner, and I made/am still making Lobster Bisque. It's cooking down now, and, damn, the house smells wonderful. It's still about 45 minutes until I can eat the stuff. I wish I could make it more often, but it's a) expensive, just what I had to buy and didn't have on hand was 35 bucks, so close to 10 bucks per person, b) incredibly messy to make, and c) takes the whole damn day to make. But it's definitely worth it, once a year or so... I used Japanese Sake for the wine, this time, instead of Chardonnay. Give it an oriental kick. It works well.

ETA, 2 & 1/2 hours later. It was delicious!

[Kat]

Peanut butter sandwich for me tonight.

[JackieLikesVariety]

so far, peanuts and rebel ice cream.

maybe microwave pai thai if that's not enough.

[wring]

not for my dinner tonight, but prepped for the Easter potluck for tomorrow - Caprese salad skewers (mini ball of fresh mozzerella, piece of fresh basil leaf and grape tomato half on a skewer, will have bottle of balsamic vinegar glaze to put o' top) and a mango salad (mango, sweet onion, cilantro, lime juice and honey). tomorrow will grill some asparagus w/olive oil, salt/pepper and lemon juice, too. Gurantee that I'll be the only one bringing anything like that...

[Zeener Diode]

In response to what Jackie asked, I tried the microwave salmon recipe as Stephen King described. I had an 8.5 oz fillet of keta salmon (or chum, similar to sockeye but with a deeper red color), rinsed and patted dry, seasoned with salt & pepper* and drizzled with olive oil, doused with lemon juice, and wrapped in paper towels. Into the microwave for 3 minutes.

When the timer rang, I pulled it out. There was a lot of steam, and I wiped down the inside of the oven after dinner. Unwrapped the paper towels, which were wet and oily and a mess, but the fillet was done. Overdone, to be honest. The fillet is thick on one side and thinner on the other, and the thin side was flaking. The thick side was done, but it could've been taken out after 2 minutes. Flavor-wise it tasted great. What I took away from this is that next time, I'll splurge on a uniform fillet of King or Chinook (they're expensive af) to try this again. I'm the guy who always preferred oven-baked salmon, wrapped in foil, with sparse seasoning, and I'll probably remain that way. It takes longer to cook (waiting for the oven temp, then baking for 20 minutes), but cleanup is a lot easier.

I had a baked sweet potato and small green salad to go with it.

*King omits seasoning beyond oil and lemon

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

but cleanup is a lot easier.

That's why I always grill fish. Cleanup is zero. I get the grill good and hot, then put the fish on skin side down. I turn the heat down and close the lid. I remove the filet when it is rare, then tent with foil to take it to medium rare.

[Rebo]

Oh. My. Goodness.

Last night I made a terrific dinner! I found a recipe for Cheesy Parmesan Meatball Soup. I tweaked it, of course.

Saute onions in a Dutch oven.
Add sliced mushrooms and chunks of zucchini. (I needed to use these up - they weren't in the original recipe.)
Add a crapton of minced garlic.
Add seasonings. I didn't have fresh basil, so I used fresh parsley. And dried Italian seasoning, dried oregano, dried basil, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper.
Add some chicken stock, some crushed tomatoes, some sugar dissolved in hot water(?), some meatballs (mine were frozen homemade - their recipe called for raw) and simmer for half an hour.
Add some mini pasta - they used shells, I had mini farfalle. Simmer until al dente with some parmesan. I used a parm rind I had.

Serve into bowls, add some grated parm, and stick under the broiler for a few minutes ala French Onion Soup.

This was the best damn thing I'd eaten in a long time! Sorta tasted like a marinara, but so much more flavorful and not so tomato-y.

[Detroit Hoser]

That sounds wonderful. I've never been able to make a decent meatball, and the ones from the store never taste right, either.

[Rebo]

My meatballs are from a recipe from Sam the Cooking Guy. They're pretty good. I hate the store-bought ones.

[Zeener Diode]

I had an ex who would make meatballs the size of your fist that you'd sell off your grandmother for them. Baked in the oven, they would come out browned and firm and juicy when you cut into them.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

I had an ex who would make meatballs the size of your fist

I once made chicken and dumpling soup with the tastiest tiny dumplings. I brought some in to work and a coworker asked me for the recipe. I gave it to her, although I knew she wasn't a good cook (I'd tasted her cooking).

When she made the soup, rather than making dozens of tiny dumplings, she made two massive ones. Her husband told me it was horrible; his dumpling was still sitting in his stomach days later.

[teela brown]

Tonight it's pre-prepared food from the Japanese market.

I bought a "unagi bowl", grilled freshwater eel on rice with pickles, and a serving of chicken kara-age.

Good Japanese markets are the bomb for pre-prepared meals. They have a big assortment of bentos with all kinds of meal combinations and they come in sizes small, medium, and big. Wish this market was closer to my home.

[Mr. Plumbean]

I made this Peruvian chicken thing the other day; it was REALLY good. I ordered the pepper sauce from Amazon, but it's probably available at any Latin grocery store.

I'm using one of my monthly shares so non-subscribers can see it.

[C2H5OH]

This thread needed reviving...

I made this stuff a few days ago, and it was most excellent. Bold in the ingredients list is what the recipe officially calls for. I put my inevitable modifications or other 'as prepared' notes in [Editorial Brackets].

1 lb. fresh or frozen sea scallops [you want ones rated at 20-30 count. the other ones they had on sale were too big and more expensive.]
8 oz. pasta. Recipe suggests angel hair, linguine, or spaghetti, but almost anything should work well. [I used spaghetti, because that was what I had...]
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic [I used fresh garlic cloves, mashing them with a cleaver placed flat over top of them, and hit with a rubber mallet . . .
. . . Fast and thorough, and much quicker and easier than actually mincing the stuff...]
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper [I left this one off because one of my guests can't stand the heat (at all! Wimp...), but you can include . . .
. . . a container of your favorite heat on the table for those so inclined to add to theirs. I expect it would work better if you included it at the . . .
. . . proper point in the recipe (but wimps must be accommodated when one one cooks for others...), included below.
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups fresh baby spinach or torn fresh spinach
1 cup shredded carrots
[I can't eat raw spinach or carrots, due to the lack of teeth and bad throat for swallowing, so I cooked some of it in the microwave for mine, but everyone else said the raw was really good. Don't cook it unless you have similar medical issues. Stick to the recipe]

1) Thaw scallops, if frozen. [at this point, I put them into the sous-vide bath to thaw, and keep at a safe temperature, which was a good thing, since I had to keep them ready to go when the late arrivals arrived an hour late (or didn't, at all), so they were already cooked before they went into the frying pan] Rinse scallops, pat dry with paper towels. Halve any large scallops [this is why you want the 20-30 count size, instead of the larger (aside from the considerable price difference).] Cook pasta according to package directions [Oh, come on, do we really need to be told how to make spaghetti?] and drain. Return pasta to pot and keep warm.
2) Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook scallops, garlic, lemon peel, and crushed red pepper [mentioned earlier because I omitted that] in hot butter over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until scallops are opaque. Add lemon juice, toss gently to coat. Add scallop mixture, spinach, and carrots to cooked pasta, toss gently to combine.

[Per Serving: 385 cal. 8 g total fat (4 g sat. fat). 54 mg chol. 277 mg sodium. 50 g carb. 4 g fiber. 27 g pro.

[Jaglavak]

Steak n eggs n melty cheese slathered in the requisite and proper amount of Tabasco. With a side of perfectly toasted home fries.
I may not have to eat again for a week.

[Zeener Diode]

I cleaned out the cupboards yesterday and discovered 3 bags of spaghetti noodles, one large bag of egg noodles, two boxes of elbow macaroni, one bag of penne noodles. Some of these have been hiding on the top shelf for almost a decade. There was a half pound of frozen ground beef in the back of the freezer, so I decided to whip up a marinara for spaghetti. I sliced a couple cloves of garlic and chopped 1/2 an onion, sweated them in olive oil before adding the beef, then one can of crushed tomatoes and a can of tomato puree and let it simmer. I opted to cook the penne noodles in the sauce, so in went 1/2 cup of noodles and two cans of water. No salt, no butter, no pepper, just garlic, onion, and olive oil made for a terrific sauce. The penne thickened the sauce to the point of adding another can of water, but otherwise it was delicious! My one regret was not having garlic bread, but honestly I didn't miss it. (I did have a small spinach salad, with roasted pine nuts, crumbled goat cheese and a basil vinaigrette dressing.)

[C2H5OH]

Lamburgers. Aldi had ground Lamb on sale this week. My Brother and SIL are visiting this weekend, so I bought a couple of pounds. Freshly smashed garlic cloves, some onion powder, some pepper, mix it all together squishing and kneading it by hand, make patties, and toss 'em on the George Foreman grill. Damn, those were delicious. I did find out that lamb is greasy as hell, though. It's probably about 20 percent fat. Maybe more. Mmm, lamb-fat...

I taught my brother a good way to peel fresh garlic cloves. Put 'em on a cutting board, put your cleaver flat over top of 'em, and whack the cleaver lightly with a rubber mallet. The garlic skins come off, easy-peasy. After you take the skins off, whack them a second time, hard, to squash 'em really good and flat, and there's no need to 'mince' the stuff.

[Mr. Plumbean]

Looking forward to tofu ban mi from the restaurant around the corner and across the street; they are a kind of pan-Asian place and all their food is good (if kinda pricy).

[What Exit?]

Big baked Ziti, garlic bread and a loaf of fresh baked bread, 3 types of sausage parboiled and then grilled. Homemade potato salad. Green salad and a baked artichoke spinach dip.

First big entertaining using new kitchen. 13 of us in all. Bonus, several ate outside under the new gazebo.

[kayaker]

Sounds fantastic! Baked ziti is one of my favorite things in life.

[Zeener Diode]

I discovered a new Korean grill nearby, ordered the Yang-Nyum chicken with steamed dumplings. So good.

[Jaglavak]

I tried something different tonight. I made a beef n veggie stew last night. Tonight I fished out all the beef chunks and skewered them. Then ten minutes over hot coals to make the tenderest shish kabob ever. Served with hot veggie stew on the side. That worked.

[Zeener Diode]

Chuck's Produce in The 'Couv was serving up cabbage rolls. I snagged the last five for dinner, managed to save two for a meal today.

[Rebo]

I revived a recipe of Rachel Ray's the other day. Years ago, I used to make it all the time, but I forgot about it.

Chicken with Red Wine and Tarragon

Chunk up some chicken breast, about a pound. Brown it in olive oil, then remove to a plate. In the same skillet, brown about 8oz of sliced mushrooms, 2 shallots or half an onion, diced small, 1 large carrot, diced small until all the veg is soft. Add 1 tsp sugar and a 15 oz can of chunky tomatoes and its juice. Add a large handful of minced parsley and 1 tbs of minced tarragon. Then add about 1/4 bottle of red wine (I used merlot). Add the chicken back in and simmer until your egg noodles are done (in a separate pot, of course.) Add another tsp or so of parsley and tarragon and some butter to your noodles. Serve chicken over noodles. Mmm.

Oh - it's kind of a thin sauce, so I made a slurry of corn starch and water to thicken it up.

[Detroit Hoser]

Man, that's one ambitious recipe. But it sounds delicious.

Speaking of delicious, guess what season it is! That's right, it's summer rerun season. Aside from that, my cilantro and basil have come of age. We're having pesto for dinner tonight, baby!


EDIT: No, I don't put cilatro in pesto, you weirdos.

[Zeener Diode]

I was thinking about having meatloaf for dinner last light and went to buy ground beef and sausage. The meat counter gal correctly guessed when I asked for the two ingredients (yep, meatloaf) and suggested I use chorizo instead of the sage sausage. I did, and wow! What a difference! This morning I cooked an egg in the middle of a thick slice of leftover loaf for breakfast. Life is good.

[teela brown]

I have some gorgeously ripe tomatoes from a farm stand, a pot of basil in the backyard, and I just returned from the store with some fresh mozzarella and a loaf of ciabatta. It's going to be caprese salad with toasted ciabatta. Oh, and I also got a little smidgen of prosciutto and a half of a canteloupe, so we'll also have cantelope spears wrapped with prosciutto.

Cold Italian cuisine to offset late, hot summer temperatures.

[Dr. Winston O'Boogie]

Day before yesterday, had liver and onions.

[C2H5OH]

I've got my pressure cooker going making vegetable broth, with dried mushrooms, celery, scallions, carrots, and green beans. Plus spices, soy sauce, horseradish oil, and toasted sesame seed oil. Tomorrow, I'm going to throw in some rice and beans, some tomato sauce, and whatever else I find in the can I keep the rice and beans in. I'll have to find the box of Kasha (buckwheat groats) to throw some of that in. I'm making a totally vegan stew, even though I'm not one of those vego-freaks. I'm inventing a recipe I can serve to a vegan* if I ever have one over for dinner. Also, it's Kosher with either meat or dairy if I have a Jewish guest.

It already smells wonderful.

My mother asked me a few minutes ago when it was going to be ready because she's getting hungry. When I told her "tomorrow", she asked me what I could come up with, today, so I pulled out the cheap hot dogs, sourdough bread, and horseradish mustard. she used up all the mustard that could be gotten out of the plastic squeeze-bottle, and asked what she should do with it. I instantly put a bit of water into the bottle, shook it up, and set it next to the pressure cooker. "It's going in there, as soon as the pressure comes down so I can open it."

*Most of them can't cook. Sure, they can make something nutritious that follows their 'no animal products' rule, but every one of them who has ever served me their mush has come up with tasteless mush. I can come up with really tasty mush that follows their rules. That's tomorrow's dinner.

ETA: I can follow ANYONE'S dietary rules and make something good. I and my mother have an understanding. I do the cooking, and she does the dishes. She taught me well, when it comes to cooking. She agrees that the student has exceeded the master.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I need to spend a week eating things from the freezer, it's getting full. Tonight will be a frozen pizza and tomorrow a Cornish game hen.

[zonnekus]

Originally Posted by Dr. Winston O'Boogie

Day before yesterday, had liver and onions.

Liver and onions are great, particularly when you cook and eat them the same day.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Trout stuffed with butter and sprinkled with powdered ginger, salt and pepper. Even the eyeballs were tasty.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by The Devil's Grandmother

Trout stuffed with butter and sprinkled with powdered ginger, salt and pepper. Even the eyeballs were tasty.

I dunno about eyeballs but nice to see you TDG

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Indonesian pulled pork via the instapot.
I've missed you too, @JackieLikesVariety

[Jaglavak]

A can of peaches
A handful of almonds
A handful of walnuts
A apple anna banana

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

A can of peaches
A handful of almonds
A handful of walnuts
A apple anna banana

Meh, that's fine as a snack, while waiting for the cook to get the grill lit, but I want to know when the hell the burgers are going to be ready...

[Jaglavak]

That was last night. Double bacon cheese with crispy fries and statin sauce.

Yup, time to go grocery shopping again.

[JackieLikesVariety]

it's good to change it up. Last night, fried potatoes and I forget what else. wait, might have been just fried potatoes and ketchup.

tonight, big salad with chicken and apple "bread" I got at the farmer's market. it's pretty much cake.

[Zeener Diode]

I had breakfast for dinner: homemade banana pancakes, two fried eggs and bacon.

[teela brown]

This was last night's dinner.

Every summer I love to see the okra come in, because that means it's Gumbo Time. Last night we had shrimp and sausage gumbo with plenty of white rice. The only sausage I had in the house were those little Japanese smoked breakfast sausages, and they were so good in the gumbo that I vowed to always use them. Dinner was yum, and I have leftovers in the fridge.

Ever since I use the browned flour technique, making gumbo is much easier. You simply put flour on a baking sheet and bake it at maybe 400 degrees until it turns a nice tawny lion color, stirring it a couple of times while it bakes to make sure it browns evenly. Stash it in a plastic container until it's Gumbo Time (or beef stew time). Now, instead of taking forever to brown flour in oil, just mix some of the browned flour with enough oil to make a slurry, and whisk it into your sauted veg and broth mixture. It works like a charm.

ETA: I feel sure I've typed this out before. Ignore if you've read it elsewhere here.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by teela brown

...
Every summer I love to see the okra come in, because that means it's Gumbo Time...

My brother, when he lived in New Orleans had a tee-shirt that said "Chocolate is God's way of apologizing to us for Okra."

Personally, I wasn't too fond of Okra, when prepared as a side vegetable, but I did like Gumbo, so the stuff isn't all bad. I have to see if Okra is available in the good grocery store (or Walmart, because they frequently have things the good one doesn't carry) and try making Gumbo.

[Jaglavak]

Originally Posted by teela brown

Ever since I use the browned flour technique, making gumbo is much easier. You simply put flour on a baking sheet and bake it at maybe 400 degrees until it turns a nice tawny lion color, stirring it a couple of times while it bakes to make sure it browns evenly. Stash it in a plastic container until it's Gumbo Time (or beef stew time). Now, instead of taking forever to brown flour in oil, just mix some of the browned flour with enough oil to make a slurry, and whisk it into your sauted veg and broth mixture. It works like a charm.

That sounds tasty, will have to test drive on my next batch of slumgullion.

[C2H5OH]

I'm personally going to cook some up, tomorrow, if I have a decent jar to store it in. Oh, yeah. Another thing my brother always said: "First, you make a roux..."

A bit of that flour and some butter, and you've got some good Louisiana cooking.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by teela brown

Every summer I love to see the okra come in,

Man, I love okra. Lots of people hate it, but that just means more for me.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Man, I love okra. Lots of people hate it, but that just means more for me.

You can have mine. Nasty stuff.

[Jaglavak]

I love okra so much that I would never want to hurt one by harvesting it, and believe that all okra should be wild and free as nature intended.