Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[dcandohio]

Last night I cooked for my friends using some of the goodies I brought back from my recent trip to Italy.  We started with burrata with bruschetta topping from Bologna (add water to a dry mix - really tasty) and roasted red peppers.  The burrata was surrounded by crudités and served with crostini.  

 Dinner was roasted mahi mahi with a dill topping, served on artichoke risotto. I used Vialone Nano rice purchased from the Alighieri Winery (Masi) in the Valpolicela region, and homemade chicken stock. It turned out very well.

Dessert was pistachio gelato with pistachio nougat (also from Bologna).

 

[Pat]

Baked chicken legs
Macaroni and cheese with broccoli
Leftover roasted cauliflower and squash

[Pat]

Last night was salad (red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, radishes) with ranch dressing and a kind of shepherd's pie made with turkey chili topped with mashed potatoes, scallions, and cheese.

[kieplangdu]

Chicken Pho. That's what for dinner. Wife and kids refuse to eat pho at restaurant since homemade is way better.

[Pat]

Stone ground crackers with cream cheese and pimento olive spread
Red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and radish salad with ranch dressing
Bay leaf marinated chicken thighs
Wild and brown rice with broccoli and dried cranberries

[Pat]

Leftover salad, the last of the turkey chili, and an omelette filled with sautéed cremini mushrooms and mashed potatoes with chopped scallions.

Years ago I had a restaurant brunch omelette stuffed with mashed potatoes and a few other ingredients that I don't remember now. It was fantastic but just seemed too decadent to eat often. I was full after half an omelette. Last night, when I was looking to round out a meal of leftovers, I had extra egg whites I had to use and mashed potatoes and thought of that brunch omelette. So I rounded out the egg whites with a couple of whole eggs and used mashed potatoes in the filling. My omelette technique has deteriorated over the years. For some reason, it's something I could make as a teenager that I've gotten worse at over time, but this one came out well.

[ktmoomau]

I finally made what I would consider a real dinner last night in the new house.  I am not counting spaghetti, or roast chicken from giant with roasted potatoes I made.  Last night was Parmesan garlic orzo with chicken and sauteed zucchini.

[Pat]

Last night was leftover chicken legs, mashed potatoes with mushrooms, and lentil soup, plus Mason-Dixie biscuits that didn't bake up so well.

Tonight was baked ziti with spinach and mushrooms, plus salad of romaine, tomato, avocado, and cucumber with red wine vinaigrette.

[ktmoomau]

I made a hacked version of rice and beans last night- black eyed peas, pintos and lima beans cooked with onion, garlic, bacon, hot dogs (2) and a little ground sausage with some beer, salt, pepper and hot sauce.  I wanted to thicken the sauce a bit, and I had this packet of chicken gravy mix from my MIL, so I used about half of that, and it made a thick sauce.  Served over white rice, it was quite good on a cold winter night.  Maybe not your most gourmet looking meal, but as I would say, "darn good." 

[Pat]

Salmon ceviche
Leftover takeout mushroom pizza doctored up with more cheese, plus olives and banana peppers.

Yeah, weird combo. They were fine separately and it didn't require a whole lot of prep at dinner time.

[Pat]

Cheeseburgers on naan (Toma cheese, guacamole, cucumber, tomato)
Leftover stir-fry and rice

[dcandohio]

Baked chicken tenders (Frank’s hot sauce, ponzu, honey, garlic, olive oil),  roasted golden beets (frozen, organic - really good),  salad of mixed greens with a lemon shallot dressing.   

[Pat]

Romaine, tomato, slivered red onion, orange bell pepper; red wine vinaigrette
Baked chicken legs
Baked sweet potatoes with maple syrup
Steamed broccoli

[ktmoomau]

This weekend was salad with chicken breast, pounded and seasoned with a penzey's mix- mural of flavor, leftover roasted potatoes warmed up on the skillet and browned a bit more, apples, cheddar and carrots with red wine vinaigrette.  Sunday evening was frozen yakitori mix from Costco, which I topped with steak I made on the range- this was my first time cooking steak in my own home where I didn't set off a fire detector, yay new home and hood vent!!! And some yakitori sauce.

[Sundae in the Park]

Saturday was a whole bunch of turkey meatballs with spaghetti. 

Last night we made lentil soup, grilled gochujang pork loin, Santa Maria-style grilled tri-tip, and two pans of roasted zucchini. Should have enough food for a day or two 😉

[Pat]

Romaine, bacon, hard-boiled egg, tiny cherry tomatoes, orange bell pepper; ranch dressing
Cubed marinated chicken breast baked in foil packets
Roasted yukon gold potatoes

[Pat]

Romaine, bacon, bell pepper, radishes,; ranch dressing
Beef vegetable soup
Sourdough baguette and seasoned evoo
 

[ktmoomau]

This week I made- pizza with sausage, green peppers and tomatoes (Tuesday),  I used a Pillsbury crust which I hadn't used before, and while I ended up liking the flavor of the crust in the end, I had to ball it back up and re-roll the dough as it was torn and I didn't want to pre-bake it, I wanted to use a round perforated sheet instead.  So it was kind of a pain to use for quicky pre-meeting pizza.

I also made instant pot carnitas for tacos, I know there must be another dinner that I made in there somewhere, but obviously if I can't remember what it was, it can't be that good, hahaha. 

[Pat]

The chicken breast I made the other day came out drier than I would have liked.  I decided to salvage the leftovers by combining the cubed chicken with something saucy. I made quasi creamed corn with frozen corn and coconut milk, an idea I saw somewhere. Then I added the chicken and a little chopped chipotle and warmed it all through. Chopped cilantro went in near the end. Served this over couscous cooked in chicken broth and stir-fried chopped kale.

We also had some more baguette slices and butter.

[Katya4me]

Tonight was leftover butternut squash curry with couscous.  My husband made it using this recipe: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/slow-cooker-thai-butternut-squash-curry/  I think he was a bit overzealous with the red curry paste as it's got a nice kick. 

[Pat]

Take-out onion rings with marie rose sauce
Bacon-wrapped, spice-rubbed center cut pork loin roast
Melange of sautéed vegetables with chopped cilantro, soy sauce, and mirin (various bell peppers, snow peas, broccoli, yellow summer squash and green zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, and garlic)

[silentbob]

A semi-homemade dinner from Costco, all in 15 minutes:

2 pound coho salmon fillet, broiled on the top rack using a baking sheet with only some Penzey's spice mix for fish

Mini cucumbers cut into strips, dipped in tzatziki

Pre-made quinoa salad

[Pat]

Steak and eggs for dinner

Marinated top sirloin steak, started in a cast iron grill pan on the stove and finished in the oven; eggs done toad-in-the-hole style inside roasted delicata squash slices; creamed spinach; and garlic toasts.

[TrelayneNYC]

This was actually last weekend's dinner

Braised pork chops with juniper berries and sage

Served with broccoli rabe and garlic

[Pat]

I reheated the last of the pork roast and stir-fried vegetables last night and served them with egg crepes. They were supposed to be egg and green onion, but I used chives I'd bought for a recipe I ended up not making. The crepes came out great, though I should have probably added a little more water to the batter for the last couple, as it started to thicken up. The recipe came from a Chinese-American food blogger. I would go with the cup measure for the flour next time, as by weight it was too much. I'll definitely make the crepes again. They were great with the pork and veggies.

[Sundae in the Park]

It's chicken week! Creamy chicken and wild rice soup for our batch meals, made on Saturday. Baked chicken tenders on Saturday night that were meh, dry, and under-marinated. Pan-fried chicken cutlets (same panko crust as the previous night) last night were MUCH better and served with mushroom-sherry sauce over pasta, sauteed asparagus, and plums.

[ktmoomau]

I not only made homemade tortillas this weekend, I made homemade tamales too!!!!  Woot, woot!  Chicken adobo mainly from the side of the masa mix, but with a few tweaks/additions of some garlic, cumin, dried onion flake and dried scallion to the adobo mix.  I am very excited about this.  

These pics are both supposed to be the same size... sigh.

[dcandohio]

Tonight will be Mexican chicken soup. I used homemade chicken stock to poach  boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I shredded the chicken meat and let it sit in the stock for a while.  

Next I sautéed onions and garlic and added some flour to make a roux with some of the chicken stock.  I then added the rest of the stock and the chicken, salt, hot chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika and some leftover stewed corn (with tomatoes).  I’ll serve it with lime wedges and organic blue corn tortilla chips. 

[Pat]

Last night was two casseroles. My menu planning got kind of derailed for various reasons and I had the ingredients on hand and some of the prep done for both, so we got two vegetarian casseroles last night:  Homemade green bean casserole, more or less according to an Alton Brown recipe, and a pasta with roasted cauliflower from the Post's website. When i looked more closely at that recipe, I realized it had been adapted from...Alton Brown! 

[ktmoomau]

Last night was beef vegetable lentil soup with cheddar cheese and water crackers.

[dcandohio]

Trader Joe’s refrigerator section spinach tortellini with roasted cherry tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.  I tossed the cherry tomatoes, which were really sweet, with garlic, olive oil, chili flake, basil, salt and pepper and roasted them until they started to pop.  I then dumped them on the tortellini, but I should have mashed them up a bit first.  This was a really tasty and easy meal, and if you find yourself at Trader Joe’s, all of the ingredients are there!

[ktmoomau]

Last night was hummus topped with olive tapenade, sausage, pepper, onion, roasted tomato and toasted pine nuts.  Eaten with pita.

[dcandohio]

 I invited friends for dinner tonight. I put out chips and two kinds of salsa, and I had made chicken tortilla soup earlier in the week which I served as an appetizer.

I found some giant orange bell peppers and stuffed them with a mixture of ground turkey and kidney beans with onions, celery, garlic, chopped olives, and spices.They looked like pumpkins! I made cheese sauce to serve on the side. 

I Served it with a salad of diced cucumber, jicama, and avocado with a cilantro lime dressing.

 Unfortunately, 1/2 of the couple I invited over got into an altercation with her partner, and stormed out and left, which was awkward.  The remaining partner and I finished our meals. I will say say it wasn’t the best dinner party I’ve hosted. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Sundae in the Park]

15 hours ago, dcandohio said:

 I invited friends for dinner tonight. I put out chips and two kinds of salsa, and I had made chicken tortilla soup earlier in the week which I served as an appetizer.

I found some giant orange bell peppers and stuffed them with a mixture of ground turkey and kidney beans with onions, celery, garlic, chopped olives, and spices.They looked like pumpkins! I made cheese sauce to serve on the side. 

I Served it with a salad of diced cucumber, jicama, and avocado with a cilantro lime dressing.

 Unfortunately, 1/2 of the couple I invited over got into an altercation with her partner, and stormed out and left, which was awkward.  The remaining partner and I finished our meals. I will say say it wasn’t the best dinner party I’ve hosted. 🤷🏼‍♂️

 But how did the peppers taste? They sound adorable and perfect for the season.

We had Costco food last night - Kirkland fish sticks made in the toaster oven, and pork tamales made in the steamer (they aren't as good as ktmoomau's look, but they do the job, especially when you bother to steam them), with guacamole that we actually made ourselves. Easy peasy.

[dcandohio]

7 minutes ago, Sundae in the Park said:

 But how did the peppers taste? They sound adorable and perfect for the season.

We had Costco food last night - Kirkland fish sticks made in the toaster oven, and pork tamales made in the steamer (they aren't as good as ktmoomau's look, but they do the job, especially when you bother to steam them), with guacamole that we actually made ourselves. Easy peasy.

The peppers were good, but next time instead of cheese sauce, I am just going to put some sharp grated cheese into the mix before I bake the peppers. 

[Pat]

I made tacos out of the leftover laab from Thip Khao, on flour tortillas, with shredded lettuce, sliced radishes, scallions, and cilantro.  I also had ground chicken I needed to use so that got cooked with scallions, chili powder, cumin, s + p,  and a little sauce from a  can of chipotles I'd opened recently and went into some more tacos. Served with the leftover white rice and purple sticky rice.

I had no idea what to do with leftover fried pig ears but was moderately successful cutting them into about 1" pieces and throwing into a braise of escarole and shallots. I had forgotten I had the escarole and really needed to use it. The porkiness went well. I splashed in a small amuont of balsamic vinegar near the end.

[Pat]

Last night:
French onion soup
Pan-seared strip steak
Brown and wild rice mix with baby spinach and corn

Friday:
Baguette slices with butter or evoo
Skillet meal of leftover chile-spiced ground chicken, leftover steamed broccoli, sauteed cremini mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, chicken broth, and Thip Khao chile-fish sauce over Chinese egg noodles, topped with cilantro, scallions, and radishes

[dcandohio]

Sunday was an experiment in shakshuka. Eggs for dinner! On the stove top I sautéed a lot of green and red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapeño, and then put in some high-quality grocery store marinara along with a lot of smoked paprika, cumin and chili flake.  When the mixture was thick, I put it into a preheated au gratin dish.  Then I added two eggs and baked it off in the oven.  I ate it with slices from a baguette.  Next time I will add some chunks of feta. Nice change of pace for me. 

[Pat]

More French onion soup last night, plus this Asparagus Linguine recipe from Jamie Oliver. I don't usually buy asparagus out of season, but they had it on sale at Giant for $1.77/lb., and I had just seen this recipe, so I went for it. It came out really well. I don't make many of his recipes, but I can't recall having a bad experience with any of them.

[Pat]

Tarragon chicken salad sandwiches
Roasted delicata squash salad

 

[ktmoomau]

Last night I made tomato soup- but I didn't really love it.  I need a recipe that doesn't use cream- it can use milk as I can sub LF milk, so if anyone has a good tomato soup recipe they like, I am all eyes!  We had it with ham biscuits, the ham was a little thick, I should have baked it crisper.  Oh well, lessons learned.

[Pat]

3 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

Last night I made tomato soup- but I didn't really love it.  I need a recipe that doesn't use cream- it can use milk as I can sub LF milk, so if anyone has a good tomato soup recipe they like, I am all eyes!  We had it with ham biscuits, the ham was a little thick, I should have baked it crisper.  Oh well, lessons learned.

I've liked this simple tomato soup made with coconut milk. You can omit the meatballs.

[Pat]

Tuesday was garlic bread and chicken cacciatore over fettuccine. Last night was sheet pan chicken and broccoli with peanut sauce.

The latter is from Molly Gilbert's Sheet Pan Suppers. It's the only recipe from the book that I have had any issues with. I used mature broccoli instead of baby broccoli but otherwise I basically followed the recipe. It calls for creamy peanut butter and I what I had was Smucker's natural kind. I really need to get some Skippy for things like this. I find it hard to mix a peanut sauce from the natural stuff. It's just too thick. I ended up having to add more liquid to get any reasonable texture.

The ingredients get mixed together and go on the sheet pan, which  goes under the broiler. The broccoli is supposed to char, which it did but before the chicken was cooked. The peanut sauce on the chicken charred too. I took the opportunity when I removed the broccoli (to keep it from incinerating) to flip the chicken over. I put some reserved peanut sauce on the other side and put it back in the oven for another 3 minutes. The recipe calls for either cutlets or thin breasts, and I pounded the skinless boneless breasts I had fairly well with a meat mallet to get them thinner. Perhaps everything would have finished at the same time with cutlets.

I'm not really sure why the recipe calls for reserving 1/4 cup of the sauce for serving at the table. We didn't use any, but it's good I had the excess for the chicken flipping exercise. It will also be useful when I repurpose the leftover chicken.

The payoff to this whole post: the chicken turned out exceptionally moist, between the high temperature of the broiler and the coating in sauce. It's hard to get skinless boneless breasts that moist. So I'll tweak this recipe beaded on experience and make it again.

[ktmoomau]

Well I thinned the tomato soup a bit with some milk and water and it was better, but still not my favorite.  But I made a gouda and country ham grilled cheese to go with it, and that made it much better.  The salty and gooey worked well with my soup, which wasn't bland, but wasn't exciting.

[dcandohio]

20 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Well I thinned the tomato soup a bit with some milk and water and it was better, but still not my favorite.  But I made a gouda and country ham grilled cheese to go with it, and that made it much better.  The salty and gooey worked well with my soup, which wasn't bland, but wasn't exciting.

 I’ve had good luck making tomato soup with buttermilk.  I don’t know if you can tolerate buttermilk or not, but it is naturally lower in fat than regular milk. I roast tomatoes and onions and garlic all in one big sheet pan, and when they cool off I take the skins off of the tomatoes and blend everything with an immersion blender.  This goes into a pot with herbs and spices. I cook it down, and when it starts to get thick I add the buttermilk.

[Pat]

Last night was salad (romaine, cucumber, radishes, yellow bell pepper, ranch dressing) and leftover chicken cacciatore over fettuccine with a side of sauteed mushrooms and kale.

[Pat]

Haddock was on sale at Whole Foods and I didn't really feel like making fish but thought I should take advantage of the price. I'd been planning to make a cream of potato soup with tarragon. I don't know why.  I don't think I'd ever made it before, but tarragon just seemed a good match for a potato soup. So I made a soup with haddock, yukon gold potatoes, mushrooms, baby spinach and tarragon. I started with chopped shallots, celery, and carrots and built from there. (The mushrooms and spinach really had to be deployed ASAP.) I used boxed seafood stock and finished with some heavy cream. I'd intended to use up some milk and/or half and half rather than cream, but both had turned.  This came out really well, except for slicing into my finger with the vegetable peeler while peeling potatoes...

We had this with London broil (top round steak also on sale at WF), prepared a la James Beard from Theory and Practice of Good Cooking. He calls for just kosher salt and black pepper, plus Tabasco for the meat; 3 to 4 minutes per side, 1 1/2" inches under the broiler. This also came out well, but I didn't cut it as thinly as i could have due to working with a bandaged and painful finger.  

For a side we had roasted kale with garlic, feta, hot pepper flakes, and pomegranate seeds.

 

[Pat]

More of the haddock and potato soup last night, and pan-seared thick cut bone-in pork loin chops, finished in the oven. (Pork chops also on sale at WF.) I roasted some cubed butternut squash that I'd tossed with curry powder and served the chops over top. I had baked the remainder of an open pack of bacon in the refrigerator at the beginning of dinner prep, so  the squash was roasted on that pan using the rendered fat.  I crumbled a little of the bacon over the soup and packed the rest away in the refrigerator for other uses.

[dcandohio]

Tonight:

Baked chicken in a marinade of white wine, Dijon, garlic, tarragon, olive oil.

Roasted red potato wedges with onion.

Arugula salad with shallot vinaigrette.

[ktmoomau]

Sunday night was spaghetti squash with chicken adobo, roasted tomatoes and cheese, baked together.

Last night was steak fajitas- the flank steak was a costco purchase, and it was a bit fattier than I expected, but good.  We had them somewhat "redneck" style with queso that I wanted to use instead of normal cheese.