Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Pat]

45 minutes ago, saf said:

So it was OK, and there is more, and it will get eaten, but he likes them a LOT better than I do.

Looks like he'll be enjoying brisket latke sandwiches for a while.

We still have not made our way through all of the beet flan. The recipe only made two of them, but they're rich and we're eating such a small amount at a time they're lasting and lasting. So, more of that tonight, plus (cremini) mushroom quesadillas, leftover creamy crab bucatini (which, I think, is now done), and something SMC called Caesar salad. While it's a pretty good salad, it had red quinoa in it, so I do not consider it by any stretch to be Caesar salad. We also had steamed broccoli.

And we drank a red wine from DCanter I opened last night: Contrade Puglia Negroamaro (2018). It was only $14 and it tastes very purple, which I mean in a good way. It tastes very full of purple fruit is the best way I can describe it. (My wine description skills are anemic.)

[Pat]

In an impulsive multi-dimensional twist, I turned the burrito salad from SMC into tacos. There really weren't many components to the salad besides lettuce: a little corn, a few black beans, and some rice, plus a 3 grape tomatoes (a fourth was inedible) and a little ramekin of grated white cheddar. I mixed in leftover sauteed mushrooms and grated cheese I had, as well as a couple of chopped campari tomatoes. Heated corn tortillas and filled them with salad.

We also had more beet flan, the last triangle of quesadilla from last night, and the last of the meatballs and sauce with the mushrooms I'd added. There were a few stuffed grape leaves that didn't hold up well in the freezer, with a quick lemon yogurt sauce seasoned with sumac and mint.

[dcandohio]

Broiled Steel head trout served over a bit of leftover pasta with a simple sauce of Lemon, butter, garlic, white wine, dill, salt, pepper. The vegetable was sautéed tiny green beans and slices of red pepper. 

[naxos]

Chicken shawarma (NYT), roasted eggplant with herbs and feta  salad

( Ottolenghi) hummus, tomato salad, kalamata olives and WF garlic naan.

[Pat]

Due to a shopping snafu somewhere in my last Giant order, the 2 cartons of almond milk (for my husband's morning cereal; that's all we use it for) were not the shelf stable boxes I anticipated but half gallons of the refrigerated stuff. Even the shelf stable kind has a timer ticking once it's opened, but the refrigerated stuff has a fairly short best by date too. So, I looked up recipes using almond milk so as to use it a little faster.

That led to the spicy cauliflower puree last night, which ended up being served as soup. While my husband really liked it (yay!), I wasn't as enamored. The taste just wasn't there. Not sure what seemed off to me. But, he loves soup and enjoyed this, so he's got some soup for the week🙃.

My cauliflower was less than half the size called for, so there was no way to use a whole quart of liquid. Since it gets cooked down by half, I tried about 2 3/4 cups. I also added the last 4 sad Campari tomatoes from the counter, which increased the liquid by a little as well. I realized I did indeed have dried chipotles, as the recipe called for, but they are very, very old, so I didn't attempt seeding one and didn't pull it out at the end either. I just put the whole thing to cook in the liquid, with a couple sprinkles of chipotle powder to boost the spicing, and pureed it along with everything else. Between the pepper and tomato, it was a lightly pink soup. (Amazingly, I got a whiff of chipotle when I opened the bag of peppers, which have been stored in the downstairs refrigerator since the W administration.)

The rest of the meal was the crunchy Asian salad from SMC; fried tofu from the freezer, mixed in to InstantPot braised kale with garlic and pepper flakes (cashews added for serving); and leftover roasted sunchokes and cream sauce.

[Pat]

Last night we had chicken thighs done in a way I'll have to remember to repeat: I coated them in chili crisp and then convection roasted for 45 minutes at 370F. Along with that we had pinto beans cooked in the InstantPot with jalapeno, onion, etc., and baked sweet potatoes. (I had made several a few days before, so these were just being reheated.)

The salad was from a Mark Bittman recipe for warm cabbage salad with bacon. He says the salad can be served over arugula and topped with croutons. I used coarse, toasted homemade breadcrumbs instead. I decided I prefer the salad without the arugula here. The breadcrumbs were a decent addition, though.

We also had some bread that had arrived in a Whole Foods order, both whole wheat naan with more of the sumac- and mint-spiced lemon yogurt I'd made and some sliced pain de campagne with butter.

[saf]

12 hours ago, Pat said:

Last night we had chicken thighs done in a way I'll have to remember to repeat: I coated them in chili crisp and then convection roasted for 45 minutes at 370F.

We don't have a convection oven. 

I just read that sentence to the boy, and after saying, "I would eat that," he wondered about acquiring a convection oven.

So last night was salad, cream of asparagus soup, and mushroom grilled cheese sandwiches on harvest grain bread. Usually we wouldn't have asparagus this time of year because I am a snob and generally buy it at only the farm market, but it came in a South Mountain box, so gotta eat it! It was tasty.

Tonight was salad and a new chicken recipe, Lemon Garlic Chicken. It was good, but I will cut the salt by half next time we make it. Also, I added some sautéed nameko mushrooms.  We put it over orzo, and that worked well.

Later we will have clafoutis. I have a LOT of sour cherries in the freezer. I buy a flat every year to freeze. Taking ideas for eating them! (without being able to have people over, I have made a lot fewer cherry pies, cherry cakes, and cherry-almond ice cream this year!)

[Pat]

Our oven is both conventional and convection. One whole side of the temperature knob has settings for convection. It is very good for getting things crispy. Some types of air fryers are effectively stovetop convection ovens, so maybe one is in your future.

It's funny that we didn't find that lemon garlic chicken salty when I made it, since we both are usually pretty sensitive to a lot of salt. I may have just salted to taste when I prepared it instead of using the amount given in the recipe. That's the recipe where I saved and reused the leftover sauce a bunch of times, especially on our supply of roasted Jerusalem artichokes.

Last night I made a barbacoa-style beef in the InstantPot, with a big hunk of chuck. I've got to find another spot for the IP. It's shooting steam and splattering grease all over in an area I don't have laid out or prepared for that.

I reheated the pinto beans in a covered cast iron cocotte in the oven at 350 for a while and they melted down into luscious refried beans. Really good with the beef and some cornbread I pulled out of the freezer.

Some huge radishes had come with a SMC order, so I sliced them up as garnish, along with some sour cream. I was the one only using sour cream. Probably not necessary. This will be good with tortillas in the near future.

I also made deviled eggs, with chopped pickles, capers, and horseradish, in addition to mayo and mustard. They made a good accompaniment to the beef and beans.

[Pat]

Tonight was chicken and rice.

Pain de Campagne and butter
Radishes
Deviled eggs
One-Pan Coconut Milk-Braised Chicken
Leftover baked sweet potato
Baby lima beans and white rice

The rice didn't get done all the way in the IP, so I dumped it into the lima bean pot on the stove, which had just enough water for the rice to absorb and everything to finish together nicely. I love lima beans. I prefer fordhook to baby, but these were still good. (Giant brand.)

The chicken finally used the remainder of the expired jar of green curry paste in the fridge, and it tasted great. It worked fine with low-fat coconut milk instead of full fat. I'm not sure it needed all the garnishes, but I had them so served them.

[saf]

Last night was a cream of carrot soup (Pepin recipe, and very tasty.) Also, salad. Also, BLTs on harvest grain bread. The bacon was quite salty. I wonder if I am just getting (even more) sensitive to salt.

Then, clafoutis.

On 2/23/2021 at 9:38 AM, Pat said:

Some huge radishes had come with a SMC order,

Oh my god, those GIANT black radishes? I don't love radishes, but he does. But those are pretty strong, even for him. So we have been grating it onto his salads. That seems to work well.

[Pat]

5 hours ago, saf said:

Oh my god, those GIANT black radishes? I don't love radishes, but he does. But those are pretty strong, even for him. So we have been grating it onto his salads. That seems to work well.

No, these are huge red radishes. After not being able to make up my mind, I gambled on getting the unlabeled organic box recently, which was fine but costs more for not a huge number of items. The sheet that came with them called them "winter radishes." I had looked at the black radishes in the available boxes and it's good to know what to do with them if I get them sometime.

Tonight was peanut noodles. I deviated from the recipe a bit, largely around stir-frying the mung bean sprouts for food safety reasons. Since I was doing that, I threw in some chopped garlic and ginger at the same time, as well as the rather elderly scallions. I figured the cooking would take the edge off the scallions. I also splashed a little soy sauce into the skillet. The grated carrots went in raw. I used whole wheat spaghettini.

The noodles were okay. I also heated up some whole wheat naan and the last of the roasted sunchokes, both of which we had with the seasoned yogurt I keep trotting out. We also had more of the deviled eggs.

[saf]

2 minutes ago, Pat said:

No, these are huge red radishes. After not being able to make up my mind, I gambled on getting the unlabeled organic box recently, which was fine but costs more for not a huge number of items. The sheet that came with them called them "winter radishes." I had looked at the black radishes in the available boxes and it's good to know what to do with them if I get them sometime.

Tonight was peanut noodles.

Peanut noodles are tasty. Also, I really want deviled eggs again now.

I never get the organic box, because it is unlabeled. I prefer to plan our meals in advance, not on Monday evening when the unlabeled box arrives! What else came in it? I fear all squash, sweet potatoes, etc. I don't really like those. He does, but can only eat so much of it. And we don't like making 2 different meals every night!

I understand that the black radishes are also good roasted. But he's happy with them on the salads, so that is what he gets. They are REALLY strong radishes.

I look forward to the day that things are closer to normal, and hope that SMC will return to our farm market. I love them, but find it difficult to order an entire produce box, so we save up our dairy orders and only get dairy from them occasionally, when we order produce. I want to be able to get dairy from them all the time.

[Pat]

24 minutes ago, saf said:

 

I never get the organic box, because it is unlabeled. I prefer to plan our meals in advance, not on Monday evening when the unlabeled box arrives! What else came in it? I fear all squash, sweet potatoes, etc.

Ah, this is where it gets interesting. (The box was onion, sweet potato, carrots, winter radishes, turnips, red beets, green cabbage, Jerusalem artichokes, salad greens, and cremini mushrooms.) I'd had problems two weeks in a row with an item being missing from a produce box. I figured I'd order a box where I didn't have expectations and which is packed by someone before it gets to them. That's why I tried an organic box instead.

I plan things out in advance too, but with winter vegetables I figure they keep a pretty long time so I don't necessarily think I'll be using them right away.

[saf]

Kinda boring here the last few days. Last night was more of the potato pancake brisket stuff. All potato pancakes now eaten. Some brisket remains in the freezer.

Tonight was freezer enchiladas. Chicken, cheese, random veg, black beans, red chili sauce.

Oh, and salad. And clafoutis!

[Pat]

I've really been liking the contributions of Aaron Hutcherson since he joined the Post food section. Tonight we had his recipe for Cabbage, Sausage, and White Bean Casserole. I went a little over on the ingredients, made more like a recipe and a half. (They brought more sausage than I needed for the recipe, the cabbage was 1/4 lb. heavier than called for, etc.). I didn't have quite enough heavy cream, so rounded it out with milk and then some because of making a larger amount. The cream was just at the point of souring, so I finished it none too soon. Will definitely make this again. Very homey. Tasted delicious.

We had this with bread (whole wheat naan, the last slices of pain de campagne) and salad (spring mix + extra baby arugula, radishes, Campari tomatoes, cucumber, shredded carrot, and one deviled egg half for each of us.)

[Pat]

Looking to change things up some, I ordered some cheese from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont. (Bayley Hazen Blue is the only one of the cheeses of theirs I was familiar with, but since that is theoretically, at least, available through Whole Foods, I didn't order that one.) The cheeses arrived in good condition and the three we sampled were wonderful. Harbison is melty oozy gooey deliciousness. The Eligo comes from both cow and goat milk and is firmer but still has some softness. The hardest was Landaff, a Welsh-style cheddar, which I put out because I thought it would appeal most to my husband. I also got--but didn't put out--a Bridgman Blue for myself. (He wouldn't fight me for that one.)

I bought some rustic bread from Cameo coffee + tea at The Roost across from Potomac Avenue metro to go with the selection. I also put out some Castelvetrano olives I'd gotten in my last WF order.

This was most of my meal, but I still prepared everything I was going to make anyway, and my husband cleaned his plate. We had really juicy and moist pork tenderloin from D'Artagnan, buttermilk mashed potatoes, leftover cabbage and onion salad (served as a hot side, which I think it's better as than as a salad), and Santa Cruz applesauce. I still can't get the sauce right on this pork recipe, but it's really good nonetheless.

[saf]

25 minutes ago, Pat said:

Harbison is melty oozy gooey deliciousness. 

Oh, the harbison is so good. The cheese place that used to be at Union market and is now in Charlottesville had it. And Wegs has it. So good. So stinky. 

[Pat]

23 hours ago, saf said:

The cheese place that used to be at Union market and is now in Charlottesville had it.

I remember that cheese stall. I hardly ever go to Union Market and didn't know it wasn't there any more. (It's probably been gone for years...)

Tonight's meal was excellent, if I do say so myself.

Whole wheat naan
Green salad (romaine, campari tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, carrot; mustard white wine vinaigrette)
Roasted cumin lamb sirloin steaks
Leftover baby limas and white rice
Roasted Tetsukabuto squash with butter and apple brandy barrel aged maple syrup

Lamb was Australian from D'Artagnan. There aren't many recipes for lamb sirloin steaks online, but I pieced together two of them, and OMG. This was extraordinary lamb. The only seasoning I used was a mix of ground cumin, Korean pepper flakes, and kosher salt. I added a couple tablespoons of the sherry vinegar sauce from last night's pork tenderloin to the pan drippings and drizzled over the meat to serve. (I have multiple sauces from various meals at this point and we don't use much of them, so it seemed pointless to make a separate sauce for this.)

We got the squash in an SMC delivery weeks ago and it had just been sitting on the counter. It's very small, so I roasted and mashed it with a chunk of butter and added a capful of the maple syrup I got along with the cheeses from Jasper Hill. A little plain sea salt and fine ground black pepper to finish.

The squash itself was pretty sweet. In fact, the plain squash tasted sweeter than the syrup, which had quite a bit of depth to it. (Hard to imagine that just comes from the barrel it's aged in, but it had a nice flavor.)
 

[curls]

On 2/26/2021 at 10:20 PM, saf said:

Oh, the harbison is so good. The cheese place that used to be at Union market and is now in Charlottesville had it. And Wegs has it. So good. So stinky. 

Whole Foods also has the harbison. It was also one of the sale cheeses during the WF 2020 12 days of cheese. Delicious cheese.

[Katya4me]

Last night was pizza. Earlier in the day, we made BBQ pulled mushrooms using oyster mushrooms from our Misfits box.  We had small amounts of shredded gouda, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, so I used all 3 on the pizza. We didn't have any open jars of tomato sauce but we did have the BBQ sauce, so I drizzled that on the dough, then topped with the mushrooms and cheese.  My husband would have preferred a bit more sauce but I thought it turned out very well.

[Pat]

Tonight was all leftovers or combinations thereof:
Rustic bread with Harbison cheese
Beef vegetable-rice soup
Leftover chicken and green curry
Leftover buttermilk mashed potatoes
Leftover haricots verts [freezer]
Leftover cabbage and red onion

 

 

[saf]

It was roasted chicken night. Roasted and glazed with an onion sage jam that I had forgotten we had 6 4oz jars left of. Then mushrooms and potatoes in a cream sauce. Also, salad. And biscuits.  Quite tasty. Oh, and I had maple cream to put on the biscuits.

Later, ice cream.

(Yes, it is my annual sort and purge the house season. In the process we always find food things that we had forgotten we had. What ARE we going to do with 12 4oz jars of blackberry jalepeno jam?)

[Pat]

18 minutes ago, saf said:

blackberry jalepeno jam

How would that be in something like a quesadilla? It might use a couple tablespoons.

[saf]

22 minutes ago, Pat said:

How would that be in something like a quesadilla? It might use a couple tablespoons.

Well, it is really good on a cheese plate...

[dcandohio]

9 hours ago, saf said:What ARE we going to do with 12 4oz jars of blackberry jalepeno jam?)

Sounds like a great base for an Asian style barbecue sauce. 

[saf]

1 hour ago, dcandohio said:

Sounds like a great base for an Asian style barbecue sauce. 

Oh, that is a good idea. Off to find recipe ideas. THANKS!

[Katya4me]

21 hours ago, saf said:

It was roasted chicken night. Roasted and glazed with an onion sage jam that I had forgotten we had 6 4oz jars left of. Then mushrooms and potatoes in a cream sauce. Also, salad. And biscuits.  Quite tasty. Oh, and I had maple cream to put on the biscuits.

Later, ice cream.

(Yes, it is my annual sort and purge the house season. In the process we always find food things that we had forgotten we had. What ARE we going to do with 12 4oz jars of blackberry jalepeno jam?)

If you like making bread, I bet both of those would taste good in a swirl bread.

[Pat]

Romaine, Campari tomatoes, cucumber, Landaff cheese; vinaigrette
Pinto bean quesadillas; sour cream
Leftover cabbage, sausage, and beans

Hadn't thought through the beans two ways thing. Oh, well. The second kind were cannellini. I used jack and basic orange cheddar in the quesadillas. I do love quesadillas.

[dcandohio]

Monday I defrosted a piece of steelhead trout from wild Fork, which is turning into one of my favorite things ever. I had a lot of homemade Caesar dressing, so I coated the fish with that, and then topped it with diced tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and onions. Cooked the fish in foil packet, and served it with roasted tiny Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed broccoli. This is a really easy and flavorful way to do fish. Homemade Caesar dressing has all of the right stuff for fish: lemon, garlic, olive oil, Dijon. 
 

Yesterday I defrosted a thick bone-in pork chop, also from Wild Fork. Marinated/brined it in chicken stock with smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne. I roasted it for about 8 to 10 minutes, and then put both sides under the broiler to create brown, lovely goodness. Served with, of course, a Caesar salad, because I have SO MUCH Caesar dressing. 

[saf]

On 3/1/2021 at 7:04 PM, Katya4me said:

If you like making bread, I bet both of those would taste good in a swirl bread.

The only swirl bread I am aware of is cinnamon bread. Like that?

So last night was a Christmas present. No, not more of the potato pancake and brisket thing. A friend gave us a set of Indian food stuff from Shop Made in DC. So last night we had chicken and potato tikka masala. Chutney, which was quite spicy. Salad. Naan (I love this naan). It was good. 

We still have a jar of saag simmer sauce to use. Next week.

Tonight was Italian Wedding soup, asiago cheese bread, and salad. 

Later there will be cake and brown sugar vanilla ice cream.

One of the reasons that I hate ordering stuff that you have to get in sets is that I get things I don't want. Like kale. Thank god for a few good soup recipes. Or canned peaches. But blueberries came this week. Hence, blueberry peach cake.

[Katya4me]

33 minutes ago, saf said:

The only swirl bread I am aware of is cinnamon bread. Like that?

Somewhat, yes. We've got some apple butter that we used in this swirl bread but the dough isn't sweet so I bet it could work with other fillings.

[saf]

27 minutes ago, Katya4me said:

Somewhat, yes. We've got some apple butter that we used in this swirl bread but the dough isn't sweet so I bet it could work with other fillings.

Huh. Fascinating. I shall have to think about this. It could work.

[Pat]

Tonight was salad (romaine, Campari tomatoes, radishes, sliced red onion, and feta vs. blue cheese); InstantPot turkey meatballs in gravy; leftover mashed potatoes; leftover mashed maple roasted squash; leftover rice with lima beans; and, steamed broccoli. There was a tiny amount of squash left, enough for one modest spoonful per plate; a little more mashed potatoes than that, enough for a large spoonful per plate; and still plenty of rice and limas, but I served only a proportional amount of that to the other starches.

I made the gravy to use up a little box of the McCormick stuff I keep around for occasions I want something quick to go with turkey meatballs. It wasn't too far expired...I also deglazed the pot with a little beef stock. I would preferred chicken but the beef was open. It was a small amount and melded pretty well with the creamy turkey gravy.

The meatballs were partially plated over the mashed potatoes and topped with chopped scallion tops, parsley, and French's fried onions. I get a craving for those onions and buy them and then they aren't the same as I remember them and I have to find something to do with them. They fit here in this classy meal.

 

[saf]

22 hours ago, Pat said:

French's fried onions. I get a craving for those onions and buy them and then they aren't the same as I remember them and I have to find something to do with them. 

My mom uses those on one recipe - one that she got after I moved out, so I am unfamiliar with it. So she likes it, and she's going to make to while we are there. But Dad goes to the grocery store. And he gets the wrong flavor onions. So we have to run out to get more onions of the right flavor. And this is when I discovered that onions come in flavors.

I said something about this on zoom dinner the other night. Nobody else knew this about the onions either. So strange - flavored onions!

So, dinner tonight was jambalaya - after the disaster of Mardi Gras, I needed good jambalaya. Chicken and andouille. Also, salad. Later, cake. Boy, that cake is very good.

[Pat]

5 minutes ago, saf said:

And this is when I discovered that onions come in flavors.

I don't recall seeing anything other than just the basic ones, but it's been an eternity since I've been in a Giant or Safeway. Maybe I've seen them and don't remember. When I looked at the French's (McCormick) web site, they have 3 types: original crispy, caramelized crispy, and white cheddar crispy. The background colors are different, but the packaging is otherwise basically the same. No wonder your dad got the wrong thing!

What I totally didn't realize is that they sell other crispy vegetable "toppers": jalapenos, red peppers, and dill pickle (seasoning). Can't imagine buying those, even just to try them.

Tonight I made the chili crisp chicken thighs again. Those were a fortuitous discovery. I also roasted some carrots (ground coriander, sesame seeds, Chinese black vinegar, evoo). We finished the last of the rice and lima beans too and split the remaining bean quesadilla I made the other night.

 

[saf]

5 minutes ago, Pat said:

I don't recall seeing anything other than just the basic ones, but it's been an eternity since I've been in a Giant or Safeway. Maybe I've seen them and don't remember. When I looked at the French's (McCormick) web site, they have 3 types: original crispy, caramelized crispy, and white cheddar crispy. The background colors are different, but the packaging is otherwise basically the same. No wonder your dad got the wrong thing!

What I totally didn't realize is that they sell other crispy vegetable "toppers": jalapenos, red peppers, and dill pickle (seasoning). Can't imagine buying those, even just to try them.

Tonight I made the chili crisp chicken thighs again. 

 

My parents live in western NY, so they shop at Wegs. Sometimes Tops, but not usually. So I have never looked for the onions here, so I don't know what variety Giant has. I am at war with Safeway, so will never be able answer that question.

I didn't know about those other crunchies! I would consider the red peppers for salad topping.

Have you tried the fried onions you can get at Thai markets? Those are the best.

The boy thinks chili crisp chicken thighs sound good. 

(He thinks chili crisp anything sounds good.)

[dcandohio]

A quick trip to visit my sister and deal with some things in Mom’s house. Fun to cook for another human! I made grilled Asian-style sticky ribs, mushroom fried rice and grilled bok choy. 
I put the ribs in a slow oven for about an hour with a little bit of water and soy sauce and covered them tightly. I find that pre-cooking them keeps him from drying out on the grill.

[saf]

Leftover Indian food, and salad tonight. Again, later there will be cake.

[Pat]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:35 PM, saf said:

Have you tried the fried onions you can get at Thai markets? Those are the best.

Have not tried those. It will be nice to go roam, leisurely, through grocery stores again🛒🤤.

Tonight I gently reheated some of the lamb sirloin in foil in a moderate oven. I sliced it and then served over what I'll call jeweled couscous (pistachios, apricots, golden and brown raisins), topped with dollops of the remaining yogurt with lemon, sumac, and mint. I cooked the couscous in the last of the beef stock I had open, and mixed in a couple chopped sauteed scallions before adding the fruit and nuts. This was all excellent together.

I also reheated the cabbage with sausage and white beans to go on the side, and we finished the last of the rustic bread from cameo, which I put in the oven to toast while I reheated everything else.

[Pat]

I had 3 lbs. of really good chicken wings defrosted in the refrigerator and had been planning to make them in the air fryer. I've pushed it back a couple times and really had to make them tonight. The last time I made air fryer wings, it didn't seem like it took that long, but that was only a few wings, and they had already been broken down. This was a lot and they were whole. So...we ate a little late. I listened to the St. Louis radio broadcast of the Cards-Nats spring training game and broke down all the wings and cooked them in several batches. I'll add the wing tips to some stock soon.

The wings were quite good. I made a basic Buffalo sauce to coat them in (butter, Frank's and lime juice) and ranch (himself) and blue cheese (myself) dipping sauces. They also doubled as salad dressing.

That was it:
Salad of romaine, Campari tomatoes, sliced red onion, radishes, and cucumber; ranch
Air fryer Buffalo chicken wings; ranch and blue cheese dipping sauces
Leftover cabbage, sausage, and beans

[Pat]

Yesterday I used the wing tips to make a spicy pepper and vinegar braised kale with some sad greens I'd had a while, and it came out more soupy than braise-y, so it was served (minus the tips) as a spicy broth to start dinner. The wing tips did add something nice to the liquid, which I simmered for about 90 minutes. The kale went in partway through that time.

We also had more of the actual wings, reheated in the air fryer after I finished making air fryer French fries. The fries were served alongside sliced leftover paprika pork tenderloin. And...we had the last of the salad from Friday, rounded out with more of the same, plus feta/blue.

[KeithA]

Friday night, I wanted to use up lots of winter veggies from our CSA so we had combo sheet pan of roasted Jerusalem artichokes, purple potatoes, rutabagas, red onion, and watermelon radishes. It was very colorful, but I think the potatoes got undercooked so were the least favorite but the radishes and rutabagas were great. All tossed with some olive oil and montreal steak seasoning.  I also had a bag of brussel sprouts that I halved roasted in a separate pan with olive, salt and pepper then when done drizzled some good balsamic vinegar and more oil and S&P on them. For main course I made turkey meatballs with fresh challah breadcrumbs, parsley and dried oregano. They turned out great. I minimally handled them, lightly fried them on two sides for 3 mins each in a deep sided skillet and then added Rao's marinara sauce and simmered for about 7-10 minutes. Great and soft and flavorful with some spaghetti. Ultimate success was when one of the kids opted for meatball leftovers over chicken nuggets for dinner Sat night :-)

[saf]

Cheesesteaks tonight. Also salad. Yes, there was still more frozen brisket, which I was just not really liking as brisket. We had used all the other stuff that came with the brisket/potato pancake kit. And mushrooms came in a produce box. So we got sub rolls, and provolone. And the cheesesteaks came out really well. Even the boy, who grew up not far from Philly and is rather seriously into cheesesteaks, calzones, and "hoagies," really enjoyed his.

Later, cupcakes. A friend is cleaning out his back stock of beer/wine, and keeps handing me bottles. (Previously, in Real Life, he would bring beer/wine/other interesting drinks over when we had dinner and game nights here.) This time it was a magnum of 2019 Anchor Christmas. So I made a bunch of cupcakes. And gave some to friends, and some to restaurant friends when we picked up takeout. Gotta use a large amount of beer! Some is getting drunk, but a magnum is a lot for 2 people. Also, magnum will not stand up in the fridge, so I had to transfer it to a growler. That is not as easy as it looks!

[Pat]

We finished the lamb tonight. I reheated it and its juices in a covered casserole in the oven atop the leftover couscous during the later stages of when I baked a macaroni and cheese.

The mac and cheese was my old reliable favorite Mueller's recipe, which starts out with dry ingredients, including cornstarch, in a saucepan. I used 3 of the 4 fancy cheeses I got a week-plus ago (not the blue), plus Manchego I had from somewhere. I used generic supermarket Cheddar and Parmesan for the top and added some homemade bread crumbs to the top near the end. This was one badass mac and cheese. I couldn't stop eating it. The combination of cheeses was just the right amount of pungent and smooth.

I also put out some olives, which seemed to fit with the rest of the meal.

[saf]

Tonight was "use corn from the freezer" night. Corn soup! A new recipe, and pretty tasty. Also, very delicious dumplings. There was a pop-up dumpling place at the Mt Pleasant farm market 2 weeks ago. Dumplings also had corn, as we got the chicken, shiitake, and corn ones. Looks like they may be a regular addition there! Dumplings were quite tasty. Also, salad.

Later, the end of the cupcakes.

23 hours ago, Pat said:

The mac and cheese was my old reliable favorite Mueller's recipe, which starts out with dry ingredients, including cornstarch, in a saucepan. I used 3 of the 4 fancy cheeses I got a week-plus ago (not the blue),

Not the blue? Do you remember when Rays the Classics had mac and cheese that you could get with blue crumbles on top? Also, Kangaroo Boxing Club had that. I found those too salty, but the boy looooooved them. (He also thought the best foundue ever was the night we had blue cheese fondue in a weird little place in Paris.)

[Pat]

1 hour ago, saf said:

Not the blue? Do you remember when Rays the Classics had mac and cheese that you could get with blue crumbles on top?

Only one of us in the household likes blue cheese, so it doesn't work so well in a casserole. I can occasionally get by with a gorgonzola dolce, but that's it. It's been so long since I've been to RTC, I can't recall their menu at all. Sounds good to me, though.

Tonight we had more of the mac and cheese, canned baked beans, and the last of the pork tenderloin and its sauce. There was also a romaine, radish, cucumber, and feta salad for my husband.

[saf]

12 minutes ago, Pat said:

Only one of us in the household likes blue cheese, so it doesn't work so well in a casserole. I can occasionally get by with a gorgonzola dolce, but that's it. It's been so long since I've been to RTC, I can't recall their menu at all. Sounds good to me, though.

I like blue. He LOVES blue. I can get overwhelmed with it. He cannot. He also LOVED RTC.   (Me too, but him especially) We still regret that we didn't get there until then had been open for almost a year, and we finally went for his birthday. It became a regular thing after that. I have a thing about movies. We have a membership at AFI Silver. We used to go up for weeknight movies - their themed programs are the best - and will do so again once this insanity is over. We then would go across the street and eat the bar special menu, and talk movies with Nick. Or maybe talk baseball with Eliot, depending what night it was. God, we both miss that so much. SO much. I mean, we generally hit the Quarry House after movies since RTC closed, and it's good, but... not the same. (Although the night we ran into Nick there was the best!) (I also especially miss this cheesecake they had for a year, before the baker went back to her day job. The fluffiest cheesecake I ever ate. So good.)

[dcs]

On 2/17/2021 at 6:55 PM, DIShGo said:

Tonight we are enjoying poke. The delicious tuna was delivered by Georgetown Butcher. They have fantastic fish there. Last night we enjoyed their halibut, pan-seared, with a butter, caper and lemon sauce, on mashed Yukon gold potatoes. 

He put it all on the line opening his butcher shop a year ago. Then the pandemic hit. By Petula Dvorak, March 8, 2021, on washingtonpost.com.

[dcandohio]

Shredded beef tinga over rice.

Cuban bread and manchego cheese. 

[Pat]

More comfort food:

Leftover spicy kale and chicken soup
Cheddar scallion biscuits (from Souk)
Meatloaf topped with bacon
Buttered fordhook lima beans
Leftover mac and cheese