Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Pat]

Baby arugula salad with tomato and kalamata olives; balsamic vinaigrette
Leftover cornbread plus crystal hot sauce butter
Honey - gochujang skirt steak
Gratin of formerly green tomatoes
Leftover au gratin potatoes with dill

The steak recipe -- from the Post -- turned out delicious and very spicy. The carbonized pan from all the honey was a little more problematic, but my husband cleaned it 🙃.

The cornbread and its associated butter were from the NRG delivery last week. It's sweet cornbread, very sweet. The hot sauce butter is presumably designed to negate that a bit.

I had been planning for more than a week to make fried green tomatoes, probably an oven baked "fried" preparation. The tomatoes started to turn pinkish, then yellow, as they waited on the counter. I eventually decided on a gratin instead, with bread and cracker crumbs mixed for between the layers. It was decent.

Still lots of potatoes -- and dill! -- to go.

[naxos]

23 hours ago, Pat said:

The steak recipe -- from the Post -- turned out delicious and very spicy. The carbonized pan from all the honey was a little more problematic, but my husband cleaned it 🙃.

Delegation is a good thing😂

[dwt]

8 hours ago, Pat said:

The carbonized pan from all the honey was a little more problematic, but my husband cleaned it 🙃.

Sounds like he's a keeper

 

[Pat]

21 hours ago, naxos said:

Delegation is a good thing😂

Yup

15 hours ago, dwt said:

Sounds like he's a keeper

And yup!

Last night I made two recipes from the Post that I keep seeing mentioned on their Wednesday Free Range chats: Easy Chickpea Curry and Stovetop Naan..

I used two serrano peppers in the curry, which made it really hot. Hot in a good way, though!

We also finished off the last of the deviled chicken thighs.

[dwt]

Last night was a simply grilled steak with fresh green beans (they've been so good lately) and left-over spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce from last Sunday's grilled Italian sausages and pasta meal. I used our newish Napoleon gas grill, which produced a nice char (I think our Weber kettle is on the way out, needing replacement. I'm trying to gin up the courage to fork over $$$ for a BGE or equivalent). The steak was a "Delmonico" which I just learned via Wikipedia is ambiguous in the realm of beef cuts. I looked it up because it dawned on me after all these years (slow learner) that the only place I've encountered it is Snider's in Silver Spring.

[Katya4me]

A couple years back, I got all these spice blend samples and have slowly been using them up. Today, I used a packet of coffee and chile spice blend with some smoked salt for smoked chicken wings. I smoked the wings for 4 hours and they are delicious.  In addition, I made potato leek soup and seasoned it with shiitake powder.  

[Pat]

Tonight was the last of the sweet cornbread and hot sauce butter with a squash and grain salad recipe from food 52.

Making the squash in the slow cooker was a great technique, but it tasted a little waterlogged to me, the way many things cooked in the slow cooker do. It was just 2 medium butternut and 1 honeynut squash for 5 hours on low, nothing added. The whole thing was pretty simple to make.

I used farro for this and dill for a lot of the herbs (also a little cilantro and parsley).

[dwt]

Last night:  YAPDF. No, not yet-another-digital-document format, but yet-another-pizza-dough fail. My learning curve is, at best, flat. Last time I incorporated too much flour. This time the dough wasn't pliant and I was unable to stretch it to the requisite 12" per pie. I need a pizza dough diagnostic diagram to figure out what went wrong. If you're of a certain age and into cars, something like spark plug reading guidelines -- if it's black, the carbs are too rich; if it's white, too lean🤔

[reedm]

15 hours ago, dwt said:

Last night:  YAPDF. No, not yet-another-digital-document format, but yet-another-pizza-dough fail. My learning curve is, at best, flat. Last time I incorporated too much flour. This time the dough wasn't pliant and I was unable to stretch it to the requisite 12" per pie. I need a pizza dough diagnostic diagram to figure out what went wrong. If you're of a certain age and into cars, something like spark plug reading guidelines -- if it's black, the carbs are too rich; if it's white, too lean🤔

If you're not averse to using a recipe, Real Deep Dish has dough recipes that have worked well for me. You'll find a number of dough recipes--despite the name, you're not going to be limited to deep dish pizza.

[KeithA]

17 hours ago, dwt said:

Last night:  YAPDF. No, not yet-another-digital-document format, but yet-another-pizza-dough fail. My learning curve is, at best, flat. Last time I incorporated too much flour. This time the dough wasn't pliant and I was unable to stretch it to the requisite 12" per pie. I need a pizza dough diagnostic diagram to figure out what went wrong. If you're of a certain age and into cars, something like spark plug reading guidelines -- if it's black, the carbs are too rich; if it's white, too lean🤔

I haven't tried this one but maybe try Alton Brown's recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-last-pizza-dough-ill-ever-need-8132795

He is usually spot on with very specific instructions that may help.

Also I have had my own fails, I recommend just rolling with it - especially stretching the dough. I have made a lot of rectangles, etc and they all taste fine even if they don't look perfect.

Last night we had Angelico pizzas but I had some extra time so I also made:

Salad - mix of arugula and romaine with quick sumac pickled red onions, pickled rhubarb, cucumbers and red wine vinagrette

Ina Garten's super simple and delicious roasted maple butter acorn squash

Fairytale eggplants marinated with oil, mint, and salt/pepper and Aleppo chili and then grilled with more mint and a splash of red wine vinegar

Also a mini pickle plate of dilly beans and pickled jalapenos. (got to use up all of the summer pickles I made). The jalapenos were good added to the pizza for a spicy kick.

Dessert - Candy corn - family tradition for fall sukkah meals.

[dwt]

Thanks, reedm and KeithA for chiming in. It was lonely out there on pizza dough island. I will definitely look into your recommendations.

I did have success, once again, with Anthony Bordain's roast chicken from his Les Halles cookbook. Even I can't mess that one up 😁. That was our Sunday comfort-food dinner and we'll have it reheated tonight. Last night was mediocre Chinese takeout.

[Pat]

I haven't been making pizza much at all. This pizza dough from The New Basics works pretty well. I usually use 1 cup whole wheat flour and white for the rest. Before that, I relied on a basic Fannie Farmer recipe.

It's always tricky not to add too much flour. I've learned to go a bit short on the initial amount I add because I inevitably add more when I'm rolling it out than I intend to. When I buy pre-made dough, I usually stretch it out on a sheet pan into a rectangle. For some reason, I still usually try to fit homemade dough into a circle shape.

Speaking of this, last night I made a sheet pan spinach quiche from Smitten Kitchen. It has a pastry crust and there was no way I could get that patted out thin enough to hang over the sides of the pan. I thought as I was making it that it was like I was making sheet pan pizza. I reserved a good amount of the topping that was supposed to be a filling and filled a foil mini tart pan with it as a standalone crustless quiche for the future. It was very rich and good -- the shortcrust was buttery and flaky -- but it didn't really go according to my plans.

We also had leftover squash and farro pecan salad, turned into a casserole for reheating, and romaine with tomatoes and feta (or blue cheese) and vinaigrette.

 

[Pat]

Radishes, butter, salt, and crackers
Leftover chickpea curry
Leftover couscous plus sautéed bell peppers, roasted mushrooms, radish greens and baby spinach
Wax beans with lemon and dill

Radishes were from last week's farmers market trip. I cut the greens off and sauteed in some canola oil and then added some baby spinach in the pan and wilted when they shrank down. Added the leftover couscous, peppers, and mushrooms to warm it all through together. It looked pretty.

Wax beans also from the farmers market. I left them whole. I still have some green beans left from that trip. They've consistently had gorgeous beans the last couple of months.

[KeithA]

Baked salmon with lime wedges (fish sticks for the kids)

Stir fried mustard greens and spinach with onions, garlic, ginger and soy

Steamed broccoli

Steamed short grain rice

[saf]

Well, as usual, Sunday was grill night. Porterhouse. Potatoes. Salad. Yellow Squash. Carrots. Leftover cupcakes. Leftover broccoli slaw. Leftover brioche rolls.

Oh, I had leftover cupcakes, rolls, and slaw because Saturday was also grill night. A friend has a round number birthday coming soon. So, we celebrated in our back yard. A few weeks early, in case it starts getting too cold to eat outside. Firepit was lit all afternoon and evening. We went to German Gourmet, and got a variety of brats, and cheeses, and salads. And Oktoberfest beer. I have to say, next time I will make the carrot salad. I prefer my mom's recipe, which isn't really a recipe. It's just that they use parsley, and she doesn't, and I don't like parsley much. It was still pretty good though. And easy! We are out of practice at parties. And when did 5 people become a party? I used to be able to do dinner for 6-10 with little notice and no stress! This week I spent SO much time prepping! We also went to the pretzel bakery and got pretzels. We also got brioche rolls for the sausage. Should have gone for pretzel rolls. The brioche was a little too delicate and kept falling apart. So tasty, but the wrong application. And I made black forest cupcakes. Used this recipe, but instead of the frosting and whipped cream, made whipped ganache and drizzled with  white chocolate ganache that just would not firm up. Candied cherry on top. (I do have one question about the recipe. I halved it, and it made 12 just fine. But WHO develops a cupcake recipe to make 25 cupcakes?)

So, we ate a new lasagna recipe on Monday. My lord, that was good. Mushrooms from King Mushroom Farm. Goat cheese from Liberty View Creamery, bought from Critter Hill at our farm market in Columbia Heights. Tomatoes and shallots from 78 Acres, also at the farm market. Herbs from the backyard. We will make this again. Also salad, and more leftover brioche.

Leftover chili and corn pudding from the freezer last night, along with (of course) salad. (I note, the salad is also from the farm market. Pleitez just got the first of the fall lettuce in this weekend!)

Tonight is stir fry. About to go make it. Fried rice noodles. (the really little ones so they make a nice nest for the food.) Leftover porterhouse from grill night. The end of the bag of veggies for the broccoli slaw. Leftover diced onions from the sausages. Soy Vey garlic hoisin sauce. And, as always, salad.

Oh, and last weekend we had Rocklands. (hence the leftover corn pudding above) So I had leftover cinnamon apples. So I used those to make my mom's recipe for apple bars, downsized. Dessert last night, and will be dessert tonight. Basically, you make crumbs. Press half into the pan. Apples. Then the other half as crumbs. Dot with butter. Bake. Eat. (Recipe on request. Can't find anything equivalent online and will only type it out if someone wants it.)

Tonight's project - begin menu planning for next week. Any brilliant ideas?

[Pat]

The apple bars sound good, saf, but I don't want to make you type it out . The fire pit birthdayish party also sounds really nice. I miss parties.

I've got no menu planning ideas to offer. Mostly I just stumble along and see what catches my attention.

Right now I'm kind of enjoying foods and menus that make me think of fall. I was seduced, however, by the prospect of a new Barefoot Contessa comfort food cookbook and have been flipping through that today, eyeing a few of the recipes for future menus. I haven't bought a cookbook in quite a while.

Tonight
Salad of romaine, tomatoes, radishes, and feta/blue; balsamic vinaigrette
Fish stew with fennel and potatoes
Leftover spinach quiche

I think we're pretty much at the end of fresh tomato season, so I'm savoring the last couple I have from last week's farmers market.

My husband bought the flounder for the stew at Costco today. He's been our Costco-designated shopper for a while now. I asked him to get flounder (which I didn't know if they'd have), cod (which I was pretty sure they would) or other white fish. The recipe calls for flounder. The stew was good. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but, yeah! And it used some of my dill supply😊. I still have have half the package of flounder to use or find room for in the freezer. I think we'll have fillets tomorrow for dinner and I'll freeze the rest.

The combination of salad, fish and potato stew, and spinach quiche was excellent.

[saf]

1 hour ago, Pat said:

The apple bars sound good, saf, but I don't want to make you type it out . The fire pit birthdayish party also sounds really nice. I miss parties.

I miss parties too. I love parties. (My yard is small, so only so many people in covid times.) I cannot wait until I can have parties again.

Give me an excuse...

Apple Bars

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

2 1/2 cups sliced tart apples

2 Tablespoons butter

1/3 cup white sugar

 

sift flour with salt, soda, and brown sugar. mix in oats. cut in butter until crumbly. Press 1/2 mixture into 7x11 pan (? Really? never heard of such a size. I use a 6x9 or an 8x8. Don't remember what mom uses. Think 6x9?) Top with sliced apples. Sprinkle with white sugar. Top with remaining crumbs. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, until brown and crunchy. Serve hot or cold. Time varies depending on pan size and how much fruit you use. You can really put however much fruit of whatever kind you want. Just adjust time.

My notes: I never use the white sugar. Any kind of fruit or jam works. It's a delicious dessert, snack, or breakfast. Ice cream is a nice addition. You can add nuts too. I like pecans. Mom likes walnuts.

[Pat]

Thanks for the recipe! I think I'll be baking more as the weather gets colder.

Tonight's meal was simple (half leftovers) and very satisfying.

Broiled flounder with lemon, butter, capers, and dill
Green beans
Leftover au gratin potatoes
Leftover tomato casserole

[KeithA]

Chicken piccata with spaghetti

Roasted watermelon radish and fairytale eggplant with herbed tahini sauce. I would never have thought to roast the radishes but saw a recipe online after I was wondering what to do with this big bag of large radishes in my CSA share. These were really good and nice alternative to the usual thin slice on salad or pickling.

Muscadine grape smash cocktails - I did a riff on this recipe with these good but odd varietal in the CSA. https://food52.com/recipes/24395-concord-grape-smash While the recipe calls for white rum, we made a few and I thought the drink with dark rum was better - nicer mix of flavor than the white where the grape shown through more.

 

[dwt]

saf, that's one awesome post and thanks for the pointer to the lasagne recipe -- it sounds really good.

Pat, I love fennel but find it hard to cut up (dice or slice). Do you, or anyone else who wishes to chime in, have a technique you can recommend? Or do you just struggle through like me because it's worth it?

[saf]

36 minutes ago, dwt said:

thanks for the pointer to the lasagne recipe -- it sounds really good.

Pat, I love fennel but find it hard to cut up (dice or slice). 

The lasagna was pretty amazing.

Fennel is a pain - I have the worst time dealing with the core. It's one of the things I always use the mandoline for. 

[DonRocks]

[Pat]

15 hours ago, dwt said:

Or do you just struggle through like me because it's worth it?

Pretty much. If it has to be sliced thinly, I use a mandoline. For chopping, as in the fish stew, I just muddle through. And that recipe only calls for half a bulb, so it wasn't a big issue. Of course, I do have another half a bulb to do something with...I have a much harder time dealing with leeks than fennel.

Last night I made the cheesy chicken enchiladas from Ina Garten's new Modern Comfort Food. I hadn't bought a cookbook in a long while, and it just seemed the right time for it. We also had cheddar - jalapeno bread from Souk, a mix of leftover wax and green beans, and farmers market radishes.

 

[naxos]

17 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Risotto? With clams, mushrooms and sausage?

[Pat]

5 hours ago, naxos said:

Risotto? With clams, mushrooms and sausage?

I spy saffron.

[DonRocks]

15 hours ago, naxos said:

Risotto? With clams, mushrooms and sausage?

Yes, indeed.

9 hours ago, Pat said:

I spy saffron.

You spy, with your little eye, saffron, correctly.

The saffron ($12.50) and littleneck clams ($2-ish each) were purchased from BlackSalt. Sausage and Cepes Mushrooms from Mom's Organic,

Today (the lunch afterwards), we poured a quart of BlackSalt Seafood Bisque ($12) into the leftover risotto, and made a <whatever you want to call it> - something more of a stew than a risotto or a paella, but also something beautiful that worked perfectly well. It was a great <whatever you want to call it>, and was perhaps the best meal of the past two days.

If the flavors work in your mind, don't *ever* be afraid to come up with something like this.

[Pat]

Last night:
Cheddar - jalapeno bread
Mushroom noodle soup
Maangchi’s Cheese Buldak (Fire Chicken)
Leftover white rice

The chicken is from Sam Sifton at the NYT. It's the second time I've made it and it came out better the first time. Still good but not rave-worthy. I used the original breasts rather than the thighs he uses in his version, as I also did before.

The soup was from the Post and is adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and a River Cottage Cookbook. I used roughly chopped large creminis because I didn't have small button mushrooms.

The soup was overall good and satisfying, but the noodle situation didn't quite work. I even weighed the dry noodles to make sure I had the right amount, and it looked like so much! (I stopped at 7 1/2 oz. and didn't even use the full 8.) The noodles absorbed way too much of the soup liquid proportionately as they cooked and the soup ended up being more noodles than broth.

I'd either cook the noodles separately next time, use fewer noodles (probably this), or use a couple cups more broth. I had exactly the right amount of homemade chicken broth, so it had seemed perfect starting out.

 

[Katya4me]

After doing a good job of cleaning out most of the fridge last weekend, I did have a fennel bulb hiding in the drawer and a few small potatoes.  My husband cubed the potatoes, sliced the fennel and a red onion and tossed them all with olive oil, salt and pepper before roasting for 40 min.  I came home and microwaved some of the remaining smoked pork and it made a fantastic dinner.

[saf]

It's Sunday. But it's raining. So no grill night. Instead, pork loin in the crock pot with apples and rosemary. It was tasty, but too dry. Harvest grain bread from Ravenhook. CORN ON THE COB! (Pleitez, at the Petworth Farm Market,  had a small little last batch of corn that they had harvested this week.) Salad. Later, cherry cheesecake brownies. (Hey, I had to use up the leftover cherry pie filling I made last weekend somehow!)

Last night was delicious takeout from Purple Patch. Mezcalero takeout the night before.

[Pat]

Romaine salad with Campari tomatoes (past fresh tomato season 🙁) and marcona almonds; Caesar dressing
Orecchiette with braised chicken and mushroom ragu; grated Parmesan

The ragu is a Joy the Baker recipe. I've posted about it before. It uses both dried porcinis and fresh creminis, plus some soaking liquid. I saved the excess soaking liquid, which will be good in something. The dried mushrooms really add a boost to the flavor here.

[saf]

25 minutes ago, Pat said:

The dried mushrooms really add a boost to the flavor here.

Dried mushrooms are amazing. I first used them not that long ago in this mushroom bread pudding recipe and now I am hooked.

(And while trying to plan Christmas presents this year, we decided that my sister in law, who cooks a lot and loves mushrooms, is getting a box of assorted dried mushrooms. Ordered them and picked them up at the farm market. Now just need to wrap them and get them to her by December.)

[dwt]

On 10/10/2020 at 8:55 AM, Pat said:

I have a much harder time dealing with leeks than fennel.

My experience is the opposite. Ever since I watched a Jacques Pepin video in which he demonstrates making leek and potato soup, I've been comfortable dealing with leeks (just search his name and "leeks" on google or youtube -- there is a treasure trove of excellent JP videos in cyber space). As saf said, dealing with the fennel core is a pain.

Last night was "Stracotto alla Fiorentina." I've made this simple Italian pot roast many times over the years. It's a homey, comforting dish that even I can't get wrong . The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Pino Luongo's "A Tuscan in the Kitchen." I always think of it as a cookbook that treats you like an adult -- no measurements, just a list of ingredients along with cooking instructions. To go with the stracotto I prepared fresh fettuccine with butter and parsley, and Swiss chard sautéed with oil and vinegar.

[Pat]

Cheddar - Jalapeno Bread
Cream of tomato vegetable soup
Breaded chicken thighs
Leftover spinach quiche

I had found a very old 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes at the back of some supplemental pantry space a few weeks ago and was trying to decide if they'd still be good for anything. Canned tomatoes don't keep real well past a certain point. They really pick up the taste of the can and are not pleasant to eat. They can ruin whatever they are used in.  Sunday I finally took these out of the can and stored in a plastic container to see how they'd be out of metal. Checked after a day and they weren't too bad.

So I whirred the tomatoes and their juice up in the blender with a small bit (maybe 1/4 tsp.) of baking soda, a cooked carrot I salvaged after making stock, a piece of cut onion in the fridge, some low-sodium tamari (thanks for the tip, Dean), and the remainder of a bunch of sauteed, partially charred bell pepper slices I had been using slowly out of the refrigerator. Added some black pepper and fresh dill near the end and pulsed a few times.

Just before dinner, I heated the tomato vegetable mixture on the stove and stirred in some half and half (about 1/2 cup) until everything was heated through and creamy. Garnished with crumbled feta and more dill to serve. This was a decent soup. The tamari itself didn't come through at all but surely helped boost the flavor of this misfit concoction.

The chicken (10 skinless, boneless thighs) was marinated in buttermilk with dried thyme and oregano, and then breaded with an egg wash and bread crumbs I'd made from various sources, and baked on a sheet pan.

The quiche was the crustless remainder of the sheet pan one I'd made, extra filling poured into a foil mini-tart pan. It was enough as a side vegetable split between two of us.

[KeithA]

17 hours ago, dwt said:

My experience is the opposite. Ever since I watched a Jacques Pepin video in which he demonstrates making leek and potato soup, I've been comfortable dealing with leeks (just search his name and "leeks" on google or youtube -- there is a treasure trove of excellent JP videos in cyber space).

thanks, This is a great technique: https://jp.foundation/video/cutting-washing-and-julienning-a-leek

I have been throwing out too much of the leek. Also love Jacques - this is a good reminder I need to check out more of his recipes and videos.

[Pat]

Romaine, avocado, heirloom cherry tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, leftover green and wax beans; radishes; Caesar dressing
Cheddar - jalapeno bread
Leftover mushroom noodle soup
Baked chicken drumsticks
Steamed broccoli
Leftover rice

I've discovered that I like spreading a little softened cream cheese on the jalapeno bread. This stuff is soooo good. I don't where they're sourcing their jalapenos at Souk, but they are hot. It takes us quite a while to go through a loaf of bread these days, so we still have a heel of this left.

To compensate for all the liquid that'd been absorbed by the noodles, I added the rest of the porcini soaking liquid I had from another recipe plus some open boxed chicken stock to the soup for reheating. That definitely seems to be a flaw in the recipe.

I had maybe a dozen mixed wax and green beans left that couldn't stand being heated again so, thinking of nicoise salad, I added them to our salad. Nice. I'll have to remember that for the future.

[Pat]

Leftover salad
Meatloaf topped with bacon
Cauliflower gratin
Turnip, beet, and broccoli greens with bacon

[saf]

On 10/13/2020 at 11:25 AM, KeithA said:

Also love Jacques - this is a good reminder I need to check out more of his recipes and videos.

Were it not for Jacques, I would be the only one able to make edible food here.

When we got married, the husband could make meatloaf, hot dogs, and something he called "casserole." "Casserole" is pasta, generally elbow macaroni, with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella, baked. Of those things, hot dogs are the only ones I enjoy, and you can only eat so many of those.

But then he watched Jacques on PBS. And then he wanted to make an olive stuffed leg of lamb. (I hate olives and do not much like lamb. Thank god for friends who are willing to eat experimental cooking!) So he made a stuffed leg of lamb. Then he started watching Julia Child. Then.... and he has become quite a good cook. Can't really bake though, except for bread. He's pretty good at that. (Got interested in that after the first time we went to Paris. Came back wanting Paris bread, and spent a lot of time with Julia's bread recipes.)

Lately, I have been doing most of the cooking, except for grill night, because I am pretty seriously underemployed, so I have time. He is not underemployed. Still, I remain grateful for Jacques, because it made him able to cook, and a little more adventurous when it came to what he would eat. (He grew up in a place/family where anything other than post war "American" and Italian was "weird." Now he will eat almost anything - certainly a lot more than I will!)

[dcandohio]

Two of my Covid pod friends came over last night and we employed the grill under the Tiki hut at my condo. I grilled a flat iron steak that I had marinated in Nandos hot sauce, ponzu, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, olive oil, and agave syrup. I grilled it to a very nice medium rare. I also sliced up potatoes and onions and cooked them in a foil packet on the grill. My friends brought a lovely Napa cabbage salad that had a lot of nuts and seeds in it, and it was a great complement to the steak. 

[Pat]

Leftover breaded chicken thighs topped with provolone
Shaved fennel salad with vinaigrette
Butternut squash ravioli with butter sauce
Sauteed spinach with raisins and pine nuts

All of these components worked nicely together. After a day littered with things that didn't go so great, I was at least pleased with this.

I reheated the chicken in a moderate oven in a glass dish covered with foil. When they were about ready, I removed the foil, topped each piece with a slice of provolone, and returned to the oven until the cheese melted. I plated the fennel salad on top of the chicken pieces.

Ravioli was from Trader Joe's. They were triangular.

[KeithA]

Sauteed tilapia with smoked paprika and cumin on top of salad greens with sauteed tomatos, cilantro, bell peppers and a bit of pickled jalapenos.

Kids ate cheese quesadillas with some veggies.

[ktmoomau]

Well last week we managed a little getaway up to Ohiopyle for some hiking/biking really just to be in a different view and frame of mind, as Matt and I could work remotely for a week.  I made some big batches of things before we left:

Tamales- turkey adobo and veggie- with black beans, spinach, cheese, salsa verde.

Dal Makhani (I make big batches of this and freeze big portions)

Both things I took up with us along with extra turkey adobo that we used in burritos.

This week I made pork chops that I brined, then Hubby smoked.  Served with farro cooked in veggie broth and a big pot of sauteed apple, leek, fennel, a little red onion to which I added white wine, butter, mustard.

White German sausages (we really like these with mustard, relish and mumbo sauce), cucumber tomato salad and white beans cooked with rosemary.

Shrimp curry with homemade yellow curry paste, and cherry tomatoes, curried potato and peas, rice, dal.  I warmed up some frozen rotis to go with. 

I also made some jacked up ramen tonight.  I had leftover miso soup, to which I added some water and cooked some baby bok choy in this broth and then cooked some packaged soy ramen with the broth packet.  In the bowl I had turkey adobo, kimchi, soft boiled egg.  Combined these two together in the bowl for a very tasty meal.

I may have microwaved some smores this week, as the campfires I had envisioned the week before didn't really pan out... best laid plans and all. 

[Pat]

Butter lettuce, heirloom cherry tomatoes, avocado, feta; Caesar dressing
Leftover tomato vegetable soup topped with feta & dill
Chicken pot pie

[Pat]

Spinach and avocado salad with heirloom cherry tomatoes and feta or blue cheese; Caesar dressing
Leftover chicken drumsticks
Leftover cauliflower gratin
Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula

The sausage and potatoes was a sheet pan recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was better than I expected. I'd only decided to make it because I had the ingredients it called for 🙃. I used hot Italian sausage rather than mild.

[Pat]

Arugula, roasted potato, and shallot salad with lemon juice
Zucchini corn muffins
Cremini mushrooms stuffed with mushroom stems, bread crumbs, bacon, and cream cheese
Leftover orecchiette with braised chicken and mushroom ragu plus broccoli

I pulled the sausage and some potatoes out of the leftover sheet pan roast and served the rest as a salad.

The muffins were a freezer find, originally made at this time last year. They held up well. There are still a few left.

 

[KeithA]

Last night my wife did all the cooking and we had lentil soup and cornbread muffins (Ina Garten's recipe). The muffins were great - I had to stop myself after 3.

[saf]

Yesterday was grill night. Pork chops, brussels sprouts, carrots, summer squash all grilled. Salad and angel biscuits. And buttermilk ice cream and blueberry thing (yes, the recipe says blackberries, but I was out) for dessert. It makes him sooooo happy to be able to grill.

Tonight I am trying to use up some of the pork roast from last week by making it into a shepherd's pie kind of thing. Blanched some broccoli, sautéed some fennel, mixed them into the leftover pork apple onion thing. Topped with mashed potatoes. We will see how it comes out. It's getting hot now. Also salad, and leftover angel biscuits.

On 10/18/2020 at 9:57 AM, Pat said:

Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula

The sausage and potatoes was a sheet pan recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was better than I expected. I'd only decided to make it because I had the ingredients it called for 🙃. I used hot Italian sausage rather than mild.

That sounds interesting - we made a related skillet version not that long ago, because I am not really keen on kale, and had some from a farm box, and I am trying to learn to like it. So I am trying recipes that use kale with things I already know that I like. It was good in the lasagna discussed above, with all the mushrooms. The other half went into this dish, and was also good. And yes, in my house, sausage is presumed to be hot italian unless otherwise specified. (that's his influence. Me, I would grab kielbasa or linguica first. Or brats, although not in this application.) When you add those recipes to the list of soups I enjoy kale in, I think I am learning to like it.

Maybe I should try the version you linked to. Arugula is another one of those things that I like in some things, and should expand my palate.

[Pat]

16 hours ago, saf said:

That sounds interesting - we made a related skillet version not that long ago, because I am not really keen on kale, and had some from a farm box, and I am trying to learn to like it.

There are a variety of similar recipes using greens, and most of them call for cooking the greens at least some. That was the difference with the Smitten Kitchen recipe: the raw arugula goes into the bowl with the cooked sausage and potatoes. Putting it in on the top and mixing, it really doesn't even wilt that much. I was thinking it should really go into the bowl first, with the hot items on top.

The arugula I had was from a farm and not fully mature but more substantial than baby arugula, so it was rather peppery. My husband found it bitter. It just seemed like it either needed to be cooked or not, so I pulled the remaining arugula out to have as a salad rather than reheating it with the other ingredients to cook it.

I like the taste of raw arugula in moderate doses but am not fond of raw kale. The whole massaging thing doesn't really fix that for me.

Last night:
Leftover stuffed mushrooms
Zucchini corn muffin
Broiled swordfish steak over spinach

I marinated the fish with lemon, ginger, garlic, and rosemary for about an hour before cooking and tossed the spinach in the pan I'd cooked the fish in once I'd removed it. After the spinach wilted and cooked down in the hot pan, I squeezed some more lemon juice over to serve.

The fish steak was an impulse purchase at Trader Joe's. It was 3/4 pound (a good size for us to split). I'd gone to Yes for a few things, none of which they had, so Trader Joe's was my backup stop. I didn't have my list with me of things to get at TJ because I hadn't intended to go there, so I grabbed a couple things I remembered beyond what I set out for at the other store. Swordfish steak was definitely not on either list . Not something we eat much at all, but it was pretty good.

[KeithA]

As usual, trying to please the eaters in the fam that prefer blander food vs more flavorful food.

Mix and match pasta/veggie night with fish:

Simple penne pasta tossed with olive oil and salt

Roasted butternut squash with salt, pepper, sweet paprika and a bit of olive oil, then tossed with a bunch of almond dukkah when it came out of the oven (best part of the meal)

Napa cabbage stir fried with garlic, coriander seeds, allepo pepper and finished with a bunch of zaatar and squeeze of lemon. (was ok but I expected the cabbage to crisp and wilt more, probably needed a hotter wok).

Steamed cauliflower

Roast salmon with salt, pepper, and a bit of chaat masala with lemon wedge on the side

Fish sticks

Not sure every flavor combo worked but I figured I have a big spice cabinet might as well mix it up and try something new.

[ktmoomau]

21 hours ago, saf said:

That sounds interesting - we made a related skillet version not that long ago, because I am not really keen on kale, and had some from a farm box, and I am trying to learn to like it. So I am trying recipes that use kale with things I already know that I like. 

Some ideas for your kale you may already have, but... I make a stew with sausage, kale and white beans- easy to find recipes for this online that is really good. Or similarly, you can do pasta with kale, sausage with a garlic, white wine, butter/olive oil sauce that is very good. I also make a kale mac and cheese (I make a weird version to keep it lactose free, but I am sure there are normal versions that are also easy to find.)  I also like adding kale to a pot of greens.  I also like it when massaged and then chopped into really thin ribbons with Caesar dressing and lots of parm. 

This week has been dumplings that I made over the weekend- stuffed with shrimp, cabbage, scallion, garlic, ginger.  And jacked up packaged soy ramen with soft boiled eggs, baby bok choy, miso, chili oil and whatever meat I have leftover in the fridge.

[Pat]

Tonight was
Chicken pot pie soup with crust croutons
Leftover meatloaf and bacon
Punjabi turnips

The soup was the leftover pot pie filling reheated with some boxed chicken broth and thinned enough to be called a soup. I pulled the crust pieces off and reheated them in the oven while I was finishing up everything else.

The turnips were very hot. I loved this dish. My husband thought it was too hot. (I did add an additional bit of hot pepper beyond what the recipe called for.) I'm finding that the pandemic has turned super hot and spicy food into comfort food for me. I guess it's the endorphins the peppers kick into action, but the heat makes me feel very cozy and contented. Weird, but I'll most definitely take it.