Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[KeithA]

Last night dashi soup with udon noodles, tofu, scallions, wakame and thin sliced kabocha squash. Added a bit of togarashi for some extra flavor and little spicy kick to mine. Pickled radishes on the side. Dessert two of the stranger ice creams I've made: lemon verbena french vanilla custard and plum chocolate chip.

[genericeric]

The Game Changers is a popular documentary on Netflix right now highlighting the value of eating a plant-based diet.  I find it a little less dogmatic than many works on the topic, supporting more of a focus on plant-based foods without requiring a complete conversion.  Their website has a fair number of free recipes, and last night we tried BBQ Chickpea and Carrot Sliders.  4 hours in the crock pot, served on Martin's slider rolls, topped with coleslaw and a pickle - delicious and very filling.  (note I made with Baby Ray's store-bought bbq sauce, not the sauce recipe on the site)

[saf]

9 hours ago, KeithA said:

 Dessert two of the stranger ice creams I've made: lemon verbena french vanilla custard and plum chocolate chip.

Lemon verbena ice cream is delicious.

[KeithA]

14 hours ago, saf said:

Lemon verbena ice cream is delicious.

It's good. We used the Alice Water's cookbook recipe. It is a bit intense in its floralness which is a bit odd. So while I'll usually eat a whole bowl of ice cream, this one is a bit fancier for an accent to something else or only a small scoop at a time. It does pair really well with fresh sliced peaches and probably similar stone fruit.

[saf]

4 hours ago, KeithA said:

It's good. We used the Alice Water's cookbook recipe.

This is the recipe I have used, from David Lebovitz. I think I served it with assorted shortbread.

[Pat]

My husband has been away twice, once for nearly a month, and there have been a lot of Nats games, so the menus have been erratic. I've also gotten terrible at keeping track of them.

We've had salmon chowder (wild salmon from Costco) and half smokes from Stachowski's on whole wheat hot dog buns through several iterations, plus burritos and nachos with roasted Hatch chilies (Whole Foods).

I've made several recipes from half baked harvest, which is a site I think I first saw mentioned here. This recipe with spicy chicken meatballs (I use 1 lb. chicken and 1/2 lb. pork) is one I've made several times. It uses some of my fresh oregano, which is great, and I just saute whatever vegetables I use.

We just finished some great tortellini in brodo with baby spinach and Parmesan that I made with stock from a Costco rotisserie chicken carcass and cheese tortellini from Canales in Eastern Market.

I made this last night, along with yukon gold mashed potatoes, and kale with apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes.

Somewhere in here I made Hatch chile mac and cheese with radish greens, which we're still working on, and I pulled buttermilk rolls from June of last year out of the freezer that we've been working our way through. They held up very well.

Tonight is spare ribs (from Harvey's at Union Market) with my own spice rub plus some Laphroaig for extra smokiness. We're also having another half-baked harvest recipe for butternut squash and cheese stuffed pasta shells. We'll finish off  the last couple rolls too, and I'm putting together some kind of salad.

[Pat]

The squash stuffed pasta shells were great, as were the spare ribs. The recipe for the shells called for 1 lb. of pasta and I had trouble finding any, settling on 12 oz. The recipe filling way exceeded the 12 oz. of shells. This is the first HBH recipe I've tried that has not been completely spot on. The amount of filling does not need even 12 oz. of shells.

I'm using some of the leftover shells to make stuffed shells with cheese and spinach tonight, basically the same recipe but with spinach. There's also rosemary sourdough from Old City Market and Oven and a baby spinach, baby beet, feta, and chickpea salad with a yogurt dressing that is tzatziki mixed with beet juice.

 

[KeithA]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:31 PM, saf said:

This is the recipe I have used, from David Lebovitz. I think I served it with assorted shortbread.

This recipe is very similar to Alice Waters. Thanks for sharing.

The weekend was busy for cooking for a bunch of guests/family that we hosted in our sukkah (outdoor eating in the backyard as part of Jewish nomadic hut appreciation week).

Friday: stuffed vegetables 2.5 ways.  1) Shuk cookbook's stuffed delicata squash with tahini dressing. So good. I had non-beef eaters so we subbed in ground turkey. This recipe has raisins and pine nuts but no rice in the meat mixture so it comes together pretty fast. 2) Persian-inspired stuffed peppers - more traditional rice and ground meat (again used turkey) with tomatoey sauce but this has great persian flavors too with a saffron tomato broth (my wife loves saffron). 2.5) same #2 filling but put in hollowed kabocha squash where I cooked the kabocha the same as the delicata. So this one was a bit of a combo of the other two and still great. We also had a great green salad brought by our friends who tossed in slices of toasted bagel as croutons. Dessert was almond plum cake and chocolate/pumpkin spiced brownies (need to get the recipe from our guest who made them).

Saturday: cedar plank grilled salmon with everything bagel spice, pita bread, chopped/roasted veggies for make your own salad or sabich, garlic labne, tahini dressing, roasted sweet potatos and turnips tossed in garam masala and cumin. First time doing the cedar plank method on the grill and you really do need to soak that plank thoroughly. I was putting out fires left and right. Managed with a quick shot of the squirt bottle to save the salmon which turned out delicious. Dessert was homemade s'mores ice cream which turned out great - vanilla B&J base with lots of crushed graham crackers (more pulverized) swirled in along with lots of mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Sunday: mac and cheese for kids and potato, kale, parmesan frittata for adults. Along with more s'mores ice cream (it's almost gone now).

[saf]

On 9/27/2021 at 11:05 AM, KeithA said:

Dessert was homemade s'mores ice cream which turned out great - vanilla B&J base with lots of crushed graham crackers (more pulverized) swirled in along with lots of mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips.

How do you keep the graham crackers from getting soggy?

[KeithA]

17 hours ago, saf said:

How do you keep the graham crackers from getting soggy?

I crushed them up into almost crumbs and really tiny bits and swirled into the base so you get the graham taste but they are so small you don't really get any sogginess.

[Pat]

Last night was leftover ham and split pea soup (SMC delivery) plus turkey burgers spiced with Cava harissa. The burgers went on (in?) whole wheat buns with lettuce, tomato, sautéed cremini mushrooms and strips of Hungarian wax peppers.

Tonight is toasted rosemary bread still left from Sunday, cream of broccoli soup, and pasta shells with Rao's garden marinara, ground turkey, and sauteed cremini mushrooms. The soup is a Craig Claiborne NY Times Cookbook recipe I've made many times. He calls for serving it cold, but I often serve it warm. Haven't decided which it will be tonight.

[Pat]

Last night was turkey pumpkin chili (sort of based on this recipe) and spaghetti squash casserole, which is from an old Mollie Katzen Moosewood recipe.

[KeithA]

Friday - grilled lemon thyme chicken, pesto pasta, steamed cauliflower

Saturday - Dolan Uyghur carryout (beef korma chop, garlic green beans, kawa manta, and a samsa plus extra plain laghman noodles and rice)

Sunday - hot dogs, green beans, plus chocolate chip banana bread for dessert. I made a bunch of chile garlic relish over the weekend so added some along with vinegar pickles to one dog along with some ketchup which was pretty good.

[genericeric]

The Roast Delicata Squash recipe from Eric Ripert's 'Vegetable Simple' cookbook may be one of my all time favorite recipes.  Take two of the squash, half one, seed and roast.  Slice the other into 4 2" discs, seed and roast.  Puree the halves with a little butter, then serve inside the hollow discs with crostini and fried sage on the side.  Absolutely delicious.

So I really didn't need more food, but made another recent favorite, Ina Garten's Salmon Cakes.  Salmon cakes aren't normally my jam, and as so often happens with Ina's recipes, about half way through I thought, this isn't going to work.  But it always does, and it is always fantastic.  Also great as leftovers the next day for lunch - pop those guys into the toaster oven with a slider bun, add a little tartar sauce, lettuce and tomato - boom.

[Pat]

Last night was chicken thighs with capers, lemon, and parsley (chicken seared on the stovetop and finished in the oven), alongside leftover spaghetti squash casserole.

Tonight will be turkey picadillo and rice pilaf.

[dcandohio]

I haven’t posted in a while because my meals have been so boring. But I had guests tonight, and I tried to have a nod to summer and fall. Summer was citrus shrimp salad over mixed greens with avocado and toasted almonds. Fall was sweet potato soup with ginger, onions, garlic, and garam masala.  

[Pat]

Wednesday was a spicy cheese - mustard - thyme turnover from Souk; composed salad of romaine, sliced hard-boiled egg, yellow heirloom tomato, and poached salmon, with ranch dressing; and a couple slices of leftover pizza from All-Purpose.

Thursday was a salad made from TJ's Cruciferous Crunch mix (shredded kale, brussels sprouts, and cabbages) plus craisins, feta and marcona almonds, with ranch dressing. We also had cauliflower cheese mixed with leftover salmon. This was a recipe from the BBC I'd recommend. I'd had 10 oz. of salmon starting out, so I poached all of it and used half in Wednesday's salad and the remainder in the cauliflower. Great use of leftover salmon, even if you're cooking it to use it as a leftover in this!

Last night was more of that salad, the last of some pumpkin turkey chili that was still left, and a creation I was quite proud of. Was it good! 😋 We both loved it. I shall call it "Fruit and cheese plate au gratin": Toasted split almond croissant with spiced pears, Camembert, apricot preserves, and sliced almonds.

I had been working my way through a day-end grab bag of pastries from Souk and the sugar-topped almond croissant was all by its lonesome at this point and getting stale. I figured straight reheating it was probably not going to be terribly successful and didn't want to make bread pudding. So, inspired by the concept of a cheese plate spread with nuts, fruit, and bread, I reassembled and baked it all.

I cut the croissant in half lengthwise and put each half, cut side up, in a separate buttered Le Creuset gratin dish. I then layered each pastry with sliced pear that had been sautéed in butter with salt, pumpkin pie spice and splash of pear brandy; sliced Camembert; apricot preserves; sliced almonds; and a few dots of butter. It went into a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes.

This tasted amazing and is a really great dish for fall too. It was a little sweet for the centerpiece of a dinner, but it was so wonderful, we didn't care.

[Pat]

Saturday
Leftover salad
Leftover chicken with capers and lemon
Au gratin potatoes and mushrooms (gruyere; topped with cracker crumbs, butter)

Sunday
Leftover salad
Chicken andouille sausage sandwiches (whole wheat hot dog buns)
Baked beans*
Leftover rice pilaf

Monday
Pan-fried sirloin strip steak
Noodles and cheese
Yellow Wax Beans and Radish Greens**

Tuesday
Andouille sausage sandwiches on whole wheat hot dog buns with onions roasted in bacon fat and roasted Hatch chilies***
Roasted butternut squash
Leftover noodles and cheese

*Rancho Gordo yellow eye beans cooked in the InstantPot with onions and garlic, then finished in a Staub cast iron cocotte on the stovetop. I cut bacon into lardons and fried it up in the cocotte, adding onion near the end to cook in the fat. Then the beans got added to that pot to cook more, along with Bulls-Eye bbq sauce.

**I boiled the beans until almost done and then added to a pot (same one as used for the other beans) with chopped radish greens sauteed in olive oil with garlic. I borrowed the idea from a recipe I saw, but that didn't call for boiling the beans first.

***Quasi-sheet pan meal: Bacon fried on a sheet pan in the oven, then thinly sliced onions went onto the pan in the bacon fat after the bacon came out. Partway through that time, I pushed the cooked onions to one side of the pan and added squash cubes tossed with Penzey's Northwoods seasoning, kosher salt, and some evoo. When those were almost done, I added the sausages on top to brown.

[genericeric]

Last night was Samin Nosrat's recipe for Buttermilk Roast Chicken from Salt Fat Acid Heat.  It was a perfectly serviceable roast chicken, but given that I usually plan my meals about 4 hours in advance and this requires a 24 hour brine, I didn't think the juice was worth the squeeze.  Also made her "Persianish" Saffron Rice - the Tahdig came out wonderfully, but honestly the whole dish was incredibly bland.  Served with a salad of butterhead lettuce, beets, blood orange sections, walnuts and feta with an orange dijon vinaigrette and a 2018 Guigal Condrieu.

[saf]

I have been cooking, but not posting, because life has gone insane. I think it is calming down a bit now.

(Almost 3 weeks ago, some idiots were chasing each other up the block and hit my car and my neighbor's car. Both totaled. Hit and run. It's been a bit busy, dealing with the aftermath. But I have a replacement car now, and the insurance paid out better than feared for a 15 year old car, so aside from the fact that we now have a car note again, it worked out OK.)

So, tonight is taco night. Leftover grilled hanger steak. Pineapple salsa. Beans. Guacamole. It will be lovely.

[Pat]

Seared tuna pepper steaks
Pan-roasted chanterelles
Leftover noodles and cheese

The tuna and chanterelles were both from Costco. One pound of the mushrooms yielded a little less than the 8 cups called for in the recipe. I'm pretty sure I've made this recipe before. I cooked them all at once figuring I could use them in different dishes.

The tuna recipe used to be an old favorite. I hadn't made it in ages and forgot enough about preparing it that I cooked the tuna a bit too long. It's best when it comes out really rare. Still good.

 

[genericeric]

Pasta alla Vecchia Bettola - basically your standard vodka sauce but the tomato components are roasted for 90 minutes in the oven so it develops great, concentrated flavors.  Standard parmesan chicken cutlets and greens dressed with lemon vinaigrette.  

Different meal - Winter Minestrone with a classic grilled cheese.  Hearty without being heavy.

[KeithA]

On 10/13/2021 at 8:44 AM, genericeric said:

Last night was Samin Nosrat's recipe for Buttermilk Roast Chicken from Salt Fat Acid Heat.  It was a perfectly serviceable roast chicken, but given that I usually plan my meals about 4 hours in advance and this requires a 24 hour brine, I didn't think the juice was worth the squeeze.  Also made her "Persianish" Saffron Rice - the Tahdig came out wonderfully, but honestly the whole dish was incredibly bland.  Served with a salad of butterhead lettuce, beets, blood orange sections, walnuts and feta with an orange dijon vinaigrette and a 2018 Guigal Condrieu.

Try this recipe instead for Persian Rice. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/jeweled-rice-with-dried-fruit-230991

The spiced butter tahdig and lots of dried fruit make it very flavorful. I usually make this early and then let it sits for a few hours before I flip it for a perfect tahdig, but they have a method for quick release. Of course getting the tahdig perfect matters less with all of the jewels of dried fruit inside too. You can also add whatever spices you like to the butter for more/less or different flavors. It is very customizable - I do love cardamon though and so usually use that per the recipe.

[KeithA]

Saturday night we had guests so we made turkey meatballs with bucatini and Rao marinara sauce, eggplant caponata, green beans with cherry tomatoes with shallot basil vinaigrette from Alice Waters simple cookbook, homemade potato knishes with caramelized onions, chocolate ice cream sundaes (I used chocolate milk in the ice cream so it was a very mild creamy chocolate flavor), and cardamon/nutmeg/cinnamon chai-spiced asian pear pie with vanilla ice cream a la mode.

Sunday chicken soup with egg noodles and leftover ice cream and pie.

[Pat]

Thursday
Eggplant Parmesan
Leftover noodles and cheese

Friday
Leftover tuna topped with chanterelles over baby arugula
Leftover noodles and cheese

Saturday
Toast
Chicken soup with lima beans, carrots, and onion (made with homemade stock)
Romaine salad, cucumber, radish, tomatoes, bacon; ranch
Leftover baked beans with bacon

Sunday
Leftover salad
Hot sausage, roasted Hatch pepper, chanterelle mushroom, and eggplant parm pizza with fresh basil

Tonight will be leftover chicken soup, leftover Costco rotisserie chicken, leftover wax beans, and mustard-Parmesan roasted whole cauliflower.

The eggplant parm was good repurposed as a pizza topping. It would have been better if it had been a little thinner and crisper going on, but it worked.

 

[dcandohio]

Pork chops baked in a sauce of grainy mustard, a bit of scotch, olive oil and onion.

Buttered green beans and sliced tomatoes served on the side. 

[genericeric]

Bon Appetit's Cast Iron Skillet Pizza - perfect for those of us who want something more than the freezer section but aren't quite so hard core as getting pizza stones and proofing dough.  I threw on some peppers, onions, pepperoni as well, though fair warning, you have to be ready with the toppings as the crust goes from bubbly to burnt fairly quickly.  Will take a few tries to get the crust ratio down, but all-in-all, a great pizza!

[saf]

Tonight was tortilla soup - salad before and chips and guac on the side. Used leftover chicken rather than making new chicken. Later, bubliana and buttermilk ice cream.

Had chicken because Sunday was grill day. He did a beer can chicken, squash, brussel sprouts, Turkish eggplant (very interesting. It was ORANGE!) Also had salad and rolls. Apple bars for dessert. (Not my exact recipe. Mom's recipe has sugar but not butter on the apples. I don't put the sugar, and have never missed it. She has you dot the top with cold butter before baking. Also, I use unsalted butter.)

Last night was pork chops and apples and onions braised in beer. Also, salad. Also, mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. And the end of the apple bars.

[saf]

Rellenos tonight- guacamole, salsa, sour cream as sauce options. Stuffed the chilies with cheese and chopped leftover pork. Also, salad. Quite tasty.

[Pat]

Last night was baguette slices with butter; salad of baby arugula, tomato, shaved pecorino, bacon, and vinaigrette; and cavatappi with marinara and sausage.

Tonight is leftover cauliflower and leftover pasta.

Tuesday was leftover chicken soup and Cambodian noodle salad with pork from Maketto.

[saf]

Today was a new chicken recipe - with broccoli and gochujang. We added some cashews. Was very tasty. Also, salad.

[Pat]

Friday
Soup (bean broth + mushrooms) and toasted baguette
Leftover arugula salad + leftover rotisserie chicken
Butternut squash ravioli with roasted squash, lemon, butter, sage and thyme

Saturday
Salad
Soft pretzels from The Pretzel Bakery [lots of Gulden's spicy brown mustard for me]
Dorie Greenspan’s Quick Cornbread [I added a minced Fresno pepper]
Spare ribs [with my dry rub and Laphroaig, same as last month]

Sunday
Salad of fresh red and green lettuces, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber; vinaigrette
Roasted marrow bone with parsley, lemon and caper salad; baguette slices
Baked chicken leg quarters
Baked potatoes
Leftover cornbread

Monday
Leftover salad
Leftover cornbread
Beef - vegetable - barley soup with fresh limas

Tonight
Salad of fresh red and green lettuces, shredded carrot, cherry tomatoes, radishes, and feta; ranch
Leftover roasted cauliflower + leftover parsley - caper salad
Leftover spare ribs
Baby Bok Choy with Warm Garlic Soy Dressing

[ktmoomau]

Tuesday: Individual meatloafs, green beans and parsley potatoes

Monday: Leftover pork tenderloin, on top of caesar salad

Sunday: Lentil soup with leftovers and jalapeno, cheddar sausage

Saturday: Pork tenderloin on the grill, lentils green beans roasted with cherry tomatoes braised with stock, zaatar carrots.

I have been on a major diet.  I have been really trying to reduce my dairy intake and eat smaller portions of meat and more vegetables and complex grains overall. 

[saf]

Tonight was another new recipe - Beans and sausage. Quite tasty. Also, salad. 

[KeithA]

21 hours ago, Pat said:

Saturday
Salad
Soft pretzels from The Pretzel Bakery [lots of Gulden's spicy brown mustard for me]
Dorie Greenspan’s Quick Cornbread [I added a minced Fresno pepper]
Spare ribs [with my dry rub and Laphroaig, same as last month]

 

I've never had anything from the Pretzel Bakery, but several times I've made really good soft pretzels at home (only medium effort and a bit of rise time) using this recipe from Alton Brown: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe-1948242

My family likes them plain, but I also prefer mine with mustard - usually Ba-Tampte but Gulden is good too.

[saf]

5 hours ago, KeithA said:

I've never had anything from the Pretzel Bakery, but several times I've made really good soft pretzels at home

I have made them at home, but the Pretzel Bakery is very very good. And a lot easier.

[Pat]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:48 PM, saf said:

I have made them at home, but the Pretzel Bakery is very very good. And a lot easier.

Ditto. And we don't eat that many of them, so making a whole batch is an awful lot. It's fun to make them but then it's too much.

Thursday:
Salad (butter lettuce, mixed red and green lettuces, watermelon radish, cherry tomatoes, feta or blue cheese); ranch
Turkey burgers (made with Cava harissa) and provolone or blue cheese, with butter lettuce, on whole wheat buns
Pear sauce
Lima beans

Friday
Leftover salad
Leftover cornbread
Leftover beef - vegetable soup
Leftover [freezer] breaded chicken thighs
Mashed potato casserole topped with fontina
Green beans (butter, lemon, s&p)

Saturday
Turkey burger with provolone
Roasted stuffed eggplant with kale, Pomi crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh breadcrumbs, feta, Parmesan, and Thai basil

Sunday
Beef and rice soup
Tuna salad sandwiches on rye

[saf]

On 10/31/2021 at 6:23 PM, Pat said:

Ditto. And we don't eat that many of them, so making a whole batch is an awful lot. It's fun to make them but then it's too much.

Once, I had a party to celebrate the beginning of spring training. We watched "Damn Yankees," and made and ate LOTS of baseball food. (Dogs. Caramel corn with peanuts. Pretzels. And beer too.)

Once again, we've been cooking, but I keep not getting here to post!

A friend has been staying with us while her house was getting renovated. So, she left. She does not like mushrooms. So tonight, chicken and mushrooms in a sour cream sauce over mashed potatoes. Very tasty.  Also salad. Later, leftover lemon blueberry cheesecake that was made for a birthday party for a friend this weekend. So tasty.

[saf]

More chicken tonight - this time with apricots and pistachios. This recipe is going in the rotation. Also, salad. And english muffins. Will be finishing the lemon blueberry cheesecake for dessert.

[Pat]

I've been off an on with keeping track of menus. We've been eating various iterations of chicken cacciatore. When we still had sauce but got low on chicken, I added little pork meatballs made from TJ's spicy sausages.

We also had an asparagus frittata with roasted hot peppers and American and cheddar cheeses.

This was a real good menu:
Turkey burger with provolone
Roasted stuffed eggplant with kale, Pomi crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh breadcrumbs, feta, Parmesan, and Thai basil
Rye bread

Last night was:
Salad
Pan Seared Sea Bass with Lemon Caper Butter
Roasted brussels sprouts and bacon
Wheatberries (InstantPot)

Tonight is leftover fish plus wheatberries that have been sauteed with leeks, chanterelles, and roasted garlic. Also some cranberry-walnut bread from Costco plus some pastries from Le Pain Quotidien.

[dcandohio]

Finding myself with three small hot Italian sausages and a lot of zucchini, I stuffed zucchini. I cut them lengthwise and scooped out the pulp which I put aside for another use. I then browned the Italian sausage and added chopped onions, red bell pepper, celery, garlic, a can of diced tomatoes, and some breadcrumbs. I sprinkled grated Parmesan on the top before baking. Easy and pretty. Served with a big yet simple salad. There will be leftovers today!

[KeithA]

Revised with the eater reviews:

Last night we had an eclectic mix of vegetarian dishes I riffed on based on the ingredients I had on hand:

1. Rasika-recipe inspired cumin and warm spiced Jasmine rice - well-liked as evidenced by wife absconding with leftovers for her lunch

2. Collard greens sauteed with pine nuts and habanada peppers and finished with lemon juice - probably too much lemon juice, not much eaten

3. Ethiopian-inspired lentil veggie stock stew with lots of berbere and other spices with sauteed onions - very good. Also taken for lunch leftover.

4. Indian-masala inspired kohlrabi and sweet potatoes with lots of cumin seeds and other spices. - ok but weird mix. The cabbage flavor of kohlrabi is a bit of a tough nut for me to crack. I also made some lemony pickles with kohlrabi, hopefully they turn out better.

5. Roasted sweet potatoes with Montreal steak seasoning - this is in our regular rotation and always a crowd pleaser. I doubled up on the sweet potatoes because we got the huge-est ones from our CSA the past few weeks. One of them was like 4 normal good-sized sweet potatoes.

[saf]

Working on eating down the freezer, so that there is room for Thanksgiving stuff! So lots of repeats. Also, running around like crazy people, so making lots of simple dinners.  Boring.

[dcandohio]

My sister arrived last night too late for a proper dinner. Instead i made curried chicken salad and a Thai-inspired salad with shrimp and smashed cucumbers (lime, ponzu, fish sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chilis, cilantro). 

[saf]

Tonight I made pie for tomorrow. It is cherry. The juice all ran down behind the crust, and I think it is welded into the pie plate now. I am not sure what to do. Make another pie? Don't really have time for that - would have to be a very simple pie. Make something else? Chip it out of the plate when we serve it? I hate it when this happens.

I also made pate for tomorrow. That seems perfect.

[Pat]

I'm back to forgetting to keep track of menus. I was not feeling too motivated for a big Thanksgiving meal for two of us so went with small and it mostly* came out well. The main part of the meal was two NYT recipes, one for Roast Turkey Breast with Fig-Olive Tapenade and the other One-Pan Orzo with Spinach and Feta. It made for a Mediterranean-type feel to the meal. Both dishes were excellent, minus my lack of facility at pounding the turkey breast thinly and evenly enough. I finally got it rolled and tied okay, and the sliced pieces looked the way they should, but the whole package could have been a little prettier.

Instead of bread, I made Pillsbury crescent rolls. (I was feeling nostalgic and asked my husband buy some of these at Costco when they were on sale this month. In fact they made a great ham and cheese sandwich tray bake for an easy dinner. But Costco...so there were five or six tubes of the dough in the box and a use-by date of January. Another ham and cheese bake is in our future.)

 

*The weird failure was a roasted half of a butternut squash. It seemed to be cooking when I checked and poked it and was in the oven what should have been a long enough time, but at serving, only a little of it was fully cooked. It reminded me of the occasional baking potato that never gets soft no matter how long it bakes. Will try again to get it to complete. The spiced nuts I made to go in the cavity of the squash were delicious, however.

[dcandohio]

I marinated flank steak for the grill, and my sister made a very spicy chimichurri to accompany. I had a Delicada squash, so I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds, and then sliced it longways. I tossed the slices in olive oil, salt and pepper and put them on the grill. Superb. That’s my new favorite vegetable to grill! Add a green salad with homemade Caesar dressing. And now I have lots of leftover flank steak for steak salad today. 

[genericeric]

Working my way through Ina Garten's Modern Comfort cookbook, Saturday was Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo.  Everything about this should've been a hit - good sauce, the right amount of spice, fresh seafood, but it just didn't come together for me.  I don't think it was entirely the shrimp's fault, but the shrimp selection at Whole Foods was tired- I got the best looking of the lot and learned I probably should've punted.  Also is it just me, or does Whole Foods chronically under-size their shrimp?  Also made her garlic bread to go along with it - it was fine but honestly I probably enjoy the frozen loaves in the grocery freezer just as much.

Last night was her take on Chicken Pot Pie soup.  Eh.  The soup was fine - cream sherry is added twice during the process and if I ever made this again I'd probably skip the second dose.  The puff pastry on the top didn't do anything for me - simple cut outs of pre-made pie crust would've been better.

I have had great luck with Ina when I let the masses due the testing and make her highly rated recipes.  I've had a few duds lately going rogue.

[saf]

I am so far behind on remembering what I have been cooking, which is too bad, because I find this thread so very convenient for ideas and reminders!

Thanksgiving was only 4 of us, so it was small. Still have leftovers though, so we had a turkey divan this week. Not the classic recipe. A layer of stuffing, a layer of turkey, broccoli, blops or cranberry sauce, topped with cheese sauce. I like it. I make it every year.

Also tried a quiche recipe that used the leftover mashed potatoes for the crust. Not as successful, as the crust never really cooked into a crust the way the recipe said it should.

Going to make a mac and cheese this week to use up some of the cheese from the cheese plate.

[Pat]

On 11/29/2021 at 11:12 AM, genericeric said:

 

I have had great luck with Ina when I let the masses due the testing and make her highly rated recipes.  I've had a few duds lately going rogue.

The only recipe from Modern Comfort Food that I know I've made was the Creamy Tomato Bisque. It came out well, but it seemed to be more complicated than it needed to be and I didn't cut the onions small enough. I have notes indicating that I was going to make the spinach and eggs recipe, but I don't know that I did.

I'm not making anything inspiring lately and totally not keeping track of menus. Tonight is a cream of potato soup I'm working on, rye bread from Atwater's, and a shakshuka-type dish with a tomato sauce I threw together yesterday after buying a large bucket of seconds for $3 at H Street Fresh Farm Market (when I stopped there for Atwater's).