Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[dcandohio]

I had made a big pot of “taco filling,” seasoned ground chicken and turkey with “Mexican”seasonings and lots of onion and garlic. 
For dinner I made a sort of burrito bowl, with the taco filling, chicken lime rice (regular rice cooked with chicken stock, a big squeeze of lime, and cumin), lettuce and cheese. So much healthier than the chain restaurant takeout variety. 

[MsDiPesto]

Could not face the idea of cooking tonight, so I picked up a New Haven Style spinach and pepperoni medium pie from Olde World Apizza in North Haven. Nice big charred oval, delish. 

[saf]

Tried a new recipe last night - Chicken, Mushrooms, and Onions. It was tasty. However, the boy misread teaspoons for tablespoons at the end, so it had a LITTLE too much sherry vinegar. Still, tasty. We will do this again. May try it with real sherry to enhance the french onion soup flavor quality. Also, salad. 

Tonight was leftover strata. And salad. Later, ice cream. I made some delicious roasted strawberry miso ice cream. I love this stuff!

[Katya4me]

We had this for dinner tonight: https://www.vforveganista.com/recipes/chinese-bbq-flavour-tofu-sticks/

We had it over basmati rice and really enjoyed it. I soaked the sticks all day but for next time, I'd only soak maybe an hour, with the ones that I have. They kind of unrolled completely and it spoiled the aesthetics, but not the taste.

[Pat]

Last night was a chicken cacciatore/fricassee kind of thing with rigatoni and Parmesan, plus sourdough whole wheat bread from Boulangerie Christophe in Georgetown (and Kirkland unsalted butter). The night before was more of that bread, pan-roasted top sirloin steaks from Costco, and a whole mustard-Parmesan roasted cauliflower (Food Network recipe I've linked before).

Tonight I'm making fish cakes on Bullfrog bagels with Costco ocean perch I originally cooked with dill-lime sauce. It made a ton of fish, much of which I broke up and added more lime and dill to, plus ranch dressing, for fish rolls (using 365 whole wheat hot dog buns that were originally purchased for Red Apron half smokes; made 4 half smokes and 4 fish rolls).

[dcandohio]

On a very rainy day, when leaving the house seemed way too annoying, one turns to the refrigerator and the freezer. Leftover shredded chicken became chicken tacos. I mixed the shredded chicken with some Trader Joe’s salsa and some hot sauce and heated it up before putting it in the tacos, American style, with lettuce, cheddar cheese and sour cream. Fun. And a side of pineapple, because a whole pineapple for one person is a long-term commitment. 

[TrelayneNYC]

so it’s been a while, right? I’ll try to post more here….I’ve been neglecting this space 

most of my cooking is done on the weekend due to work during the week 

these were last weekend’s dinners:

 

tagliatelle with wild boar sauce in the style of Maremma

zucchini salad with mint

plum and apricot cobbler, Greek yogurt

vegetable stew, salsa verde

[TrelayneNYC]

il brasato della Nonna Caterina (my grandmother’s braised beef); verdura strascinata o ripassato (greens with garlic, chile and tomatoes); melon for dessert, served with 30 y/o port

[TrelayneNYC]

so the beef dish from yesterday took a couple of days to make. it started with a batch of brodo di carne (meat stock made from chicken backs, veal bones and beef, water, garlic, bay leaves, parsley, onions, carrots, celery, leeks and a tomato). the beef, bones and backs weren't browned, it's not that type of stock. also the liquid wasn't salted until the very end and then only minimally.

we have a few quarts leftover that will be used next weekend for osso buco and risotto alla milanese and that’s not just because we saw stanley tucci searching for italy. we cook like this all the time.

 

[saf]

Ah me, I am behind. Oh well. Lots of cooking here, but not tons new. Until this week.

Well, last night's pork shoulder crock pot pulled pork with dinosaur sauce wasn't new.

But Monday's Peanut Soba Noodles (with snap peas rather than green beans) was new and delicious. Also, salad.

And tonight, following salad, was Crispy Tofu with Cashew and Blistered Snap Peas (with asparagus, as I used all the snap peas on Monday). It was delicious and will happen again.

[dcandohio]

My local supermarket had bottom round roast on sale, so I made a big pot of roast beef in gravy for roast beef Po boys. I channeled my mom by getting up early in the morning and searing a big hunk of meat and filling the house with the lovely smells of cooking. It simmered in the stock with onion, celery and garlic for about 3 1/2 hours. Then I seasoned the stock, reduced and thickened it, sliced up the meat, and put it back in the gravy. I will have enough roast for 8 to 10 poboys! Which means that company is coming over for Poboys tonight. 

[Katya4me]

Dinner last night was homemade white pizza.  Used this for the white sauce: https://www.nelliebellie.com/garlic-white-pizza-sauce/ and sprinkled with a mix of Italian and cheddar cheeses, and some spicy salami slices.  Definitely liked the sauce and will do it again in the future.

[TrelayneNYC]

saturday:

ossobuco alla milanese

risotto alla milanese

peaches

====

Ossobuco consists of veal shanks or beef shanks braised in a mixture of olive oil, vegetables, wine and sometimes, broth. This is traditionally served with a simple risotto: onion and Arborio or Carnaroli rice cooked in olive oil, saffron and meat stock, into which has been stirred in butter, Grana Padano cheese and bone marrow. The bone marrow is essential as it lends a particularly luxurious touch.

 

Warm some olive oil in a pot, add diced onion, celery, carrots and tomato. Sauté until vegetables become softened but are not browned. Remove vegetables, then add the shanks to the pot. Brown the shanks on all sides. Return vegetables to the pot, then add a sprig of sage and one of rosemary. Deglaze with white wine. Use wine you would drink and not cooking wine from the supermarket. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Braise for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Halfway through, add some dried porcini mushrooms. When the meat is done (it will have shrunk a bit and become tender), remove shanks with tongs and place on a heated plate. Wrap with foil to keep warm. Discard the herb sprigs. Add the vegetables and liquid to a food processor. Pulse until the vegetables become puréed. This is your sauce.

 

For the gremolata:

Chop finely a small handful of parsley leaves, some lemon peel and rosemary needles. (Other recipes will ask you to include garlic in the mix but the one I was using omits that.)

 

For the risotto:

Sauté some onion in olive oil in a heavy pan until it becomes soft but not browned. Toast the rice in the onion-oil mixture for a couple of minutes, then add the stock a ladleful at a time. You'll want the stock to be at roughly the same temperature as the rice, so it's helpful to have a pot of stock next to you at a low simmer. The stock should be a mixed meat stock (in this case it was a combination of mixed meat stock (from chicken backs, beef and veal bones), chicken stock and pork stock). Add the saffron to the pan. Stir the rice until it mostly absorbs the liquid before adding the next ladleful of stock. At some point, you can season the rice with salt and pepper. Eventually you'll use up all of the stock and the rice will become al dente. At this point, stir in some unsalted butter, grated Grana Padano cheese and some bone marrow. The rice is done when the bone marrow loses its reddish color. Serve at once.

 

To serve:

 

Spoon risotto onto a plate, top with veal shank. Spoon sauce over the shank, top with a sprinkle of gremolata.

 

sunday:

Caesar’s salad; roast chicken, chicken jus; roasted vegetables (bowl #1: celery, carrots, spring onion, zucchini; bowl #2: zucchini, mushrooms, red bell peppers, tomatoes); berry crumble.

 

I just want to mention that the chicken was seasoned with salt and pepper on the inside and out, then was trussed and roasted for 90 minutes in a preheated 375 F/190 C oven. You don’t have to truss, but I find that it helps everything cook evenly. The end result is perfectly cooked meat with tissue-paper thin crispy chicken skin.

 

We do cook non-Italian on occasion and this was one of those times.

 

[genericeric]

Last night I made Hoppin' John out of Kelsey Clark's recent Southern Grit cookbook.   Two observations - 1. This was not Hoppin' John (in fairness, she addresses this in a side note), and 2. Any time I try to make a long-cooked, southern rice dish, it fails.  It was... fine.  But for the level of effort, I need more than fine to repeat.

Tonight I partially redeemed myself with Trout Almondine, hericot verts and Moroccan couscous.  I've been trying to work more seafood into our diet, but my wife is a tough sell.  The filets of trout from Wegmans today were fresh and huge, with the almondine sauce a big hit.  The filets were big enough to avoid being overcooked and survived my bumbling attempts to flip.  It was a chaotic 20 minutes, but this meal was on the table in 20 minutes, and was well received all around.

[Katya4me]

Dinner tonight: https://tasty.co/recipe/carne-asada-fries

I mixed sour cream with a bit of aji Amarillo paste to have over my serving, along with a bit of salsa. Absolutely not healthy, but very easy and tasty.  Grilled the steak outside, then popped the fries into a cast iron skillet to go back in the oven.  

[genericeric]

Last night was Canarian Ropa Vieja.  The recipe was a bit out of my comfort zone and took about 90 minutes, but it wasn't difficult and the end result was delicious.  One note if anyone attempts this - reserve a lot more of the poaching liquid than the recipe indicates.  I ended up using about 2 cups while cooking the potatoes and to give it some more moisture toward the end.

[Katya4me]

I must have been channeling saf, as we had salad the past 2 nights for dinner.

Tuesday night was beautiful, so I grilled blackened white fish and 6 ears of corn.  For the salad, had mixed greens, grilled corn, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and radishes, topped with a sprinkle of pepitas and feta cheese.    

Yesterday was a wet mess, so did ribs inside: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-spanish-ribs-with-pimenton-dry-rub/

For the salad, had the mixed greens, grilled corn, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radishes, sweet peas, topped with a sprinkle of pepitas and the last of the feta cheese. 

[dcandohio]

It’s been hot here and I’ve been eating in summer mode - salads, omelettes, tuna, and restaurant leftovers. 
But after watching the J6 hearing yesterday, I wanted a real meal. So last night I made a sheet pan meal of chicken seasoned with Penzeys poultry seasoning, along with carrots and baby potatoes roasted in lots of olive oil salt and pepper. Easy, healthy, satisfying. And I cut up the chicken so it all cooked rather quickly, without heating the kitchen for hours. 

[saf]

Hey folks!

Again, been cooking but a lot of basics. But there have been a few interesting things.

There's a lot of sausage in the freezer (which is what happens when you let the boy choose anything he wants at the kielbasa Factory.) So, black bean soup with sausage. And it was tasty. Had it with some toast and of course, salad.

It's cherry season! I LOVE CHERRIES! So, cherry pizza. With salad. SO tasty - we anticipate this every cherry season.

Also made an almond cherry upside down cake. Very very tasty, but it was so moist that it broke when I moved it from the rack to the plate. Need to try it again and see if I can keep it intact.

Had some folks over for games, beer, and grilling. Grilled chicken parts and veg and corn, and did not grill the salad. Had a blueberry cornmeal shortbread tart for dessert with buttermilk ice cream (bi-rite creamery recipe). The dinner was well received, but the dessert was the star. The boy loves blueberry crumb pie, so he was dubious, but loved it. And one friend does not like blueberry pie (I did not know in advance), but she loved it, and even took a piece home!

[dcandohio]

I had some tilapia, which is a rather boring fish. I was poking around in my refrigerator for inspiration when I saw a jar of my homemade Caesar dressing. And then there was a tub of spicy garlic hummus. Hmmmm. 
I coated the fish in the Caesar dressing and let it marinate for about an hour, and then I thinly spread on some of the hummus and sprinkled the fish with dill. 
I baked it for about five minutes, and then put it under the broiler until the topping was bubbling and starting to turn a golden brown. The fish underneath was really moist, and the topping had a lovely lemony, garlicky, creamy thing going on. For a silly experiment, it tasted really good and I would definitely do it again! If I were serving this for company, I would sprinkle some diced tomatoes and olives on top of the fish after it came out of the oven and it would look super fancy!

[Pat]

I made broiled sockeye salmon fillets from Costco last night (coated with red miso, reduced fat Hellman's, and a splash each of vermouth, soy sauce, and maple syrup). They were beautiful over rice pilaf (fine egg noodles and toasted pine nuts; homemade chicken broth) and sauteed zucchini and yellow/gold summer squash in butter with Penzey's Northwoods Fire seasoning.

Tonight I'm making chicken nachos; a big salad (red leaf lettuce, frisee, cucumber, red radishes, farmers' market tomatoes, and toasted walnuts; and reheated rotisserie chicken legs (from Costco; same source as chicken for the nachos).

[dcandohio]

Last night I made chicken piccata and served it with steamed broccoli. Yummy. 

[saf]

New quesadilla recipe tonight. Yes, a recipe for quesadillas! Black bean and mushroom quesadillas with avocado crema. (AFI has a member deal - $1 for a year of the LA Times. And they have a GOOD food section!) 

They were really good.

Also salad. Ice cream later.

[saf]

Pizza night! Peach pizza. Modified the recipe a little - no prosciutto, peach balsamic rather than balsamic reduction. Also, salad. Then ice cream. All good!

[Katya4me]

10 hours ago, saf said:

Pizza night! Peach pizza. Modified the recipe a little - no prosciutto, peach balsamic rather than balsamic reduction. Also, salad. Then ice cream. All good!

That does sound good.  When we go racing, I typically grill lunch and if it's a 2 day event, I try to grill something on Saturday and repurpose the leftovers on Sunday.  One weekend, I did jerk marinated chicken and peach kabobs on Saturday and then used the leftovers for naan pizza on Sunday.  Worked remarkably well and need to make that again. 

For dinner the other night, I saw this recipe, but couldn't find baby squid.  I had 2 lbs of tubes, so I cut them into sections and marinated, then grilled and loved how it turned out.  Since I really liked the marinade, I made up another batch for a couscous salad the next day.  I cooked some whole wheat pearl couscous and added the marinade to it, cut up an English cucumber, halved some cherry tomatoes, tossed in some carrot shreds and added the remaining cooked squid for a very satisfying meal. 

[Smita Nordwall]

4 hours ago, Katya4me said:

That does sound good.  When we go racing, I typically grill lunch and if it's a 2 day event, I try to grill something on Saturday and repurpose the leftovers on Sunday.  One weekend, I did jerk marinated chicken and peach kabobs on Saturday and then used the leftovers for naan pizza on Sunday.  Worked remarkably well and need to make that again. 

For dinner the other night, I saw this recipe, but couldn't find baby squid.  I had 2 lbs of tubes, so I cut them into sections and marinated, then grilled and loved how it turned out.  Since I really liked the marinade, I made up another batch for a couscous salad the next day.  I cooked some whole wheat pearl couscous and added the marinade to it, cut up an English cucumber, halved some cherry tomatoes, tossed in some carrot shreds and added the remaining cooked squid for a very satisfying meal. 

Where do you buy squid? Any particular brand? 

[Katya4me]

I got it frozen in the fish area at my local Asian market.  It was already cleaned so just had to defrost and marinade.

[dcandohio]

Brunch for dinner: slices of Italian bread toasted in the skillet, topped with roasted asparagus, fried salami, and a sunny-side up egg. 

[Katya4me]

I had some pesto frozen in cubes and I used it to flavor some cubed chicken breasts that I had with salad.  I had some extra chicken, so decided to try cacio e pepe for the first time.  I thought it might have been too cheesy, but my husband heartily disagreed and polished off the pan so I'd say it was a win.

[dcandohio]

This is the time of year when heating up the kitchen seems unthinkable. So I whipped up a batch of gazpacho, cleaning out the refrigerator at the same time! Served with good bread and cheese, it was a great summer dinner. 

[saf]

10 hours ago, dcandohio said:

This is the time of year when heating up the kitchen seems unthinkable. 

Same here last night. So, salads, cheese plate, pate, grapes. Good baguette.

[Katya4me]

I was in the mood to grill but by the time I got to the store after work, I was feeling tired. So, I grabbed a container of the marinated pork bulgogi and and a bag of garlic scapes. While those cooked on the stove, I grilled some shishito peppers.  Reheated leftover rice and dinner was served.

[saf]

Well, oven went on for a little while tonight. Salad, followed by lemon pasta with roasted artichoke hearts. And it was tasty.

[Katya4me]

Went to a party last night and we have some vegan and gluten-free folks, so these were my contributions:

I made mini gimbap and spicy watermelon sushi.  For the gimbap, I did cucumber and flat chive leaves, then half the rolls got pickled daikon while the other half got burdock.  I sliced the sushi once I got to the party and all of it went over very well with the group.  I was quite pleased to have no leftovers at the end of the night.

[genericeric]

I've had some mixed results with Kelsey Clark's recent Southern Grit cookbook, but Twinkle Light Succotash was one of the better recipes I've made this year.  It doesn't hurt that we're at the prime of fresh produce season.  I never would have thought to put pickled okra in this dish, but it plays (and I used jarred, store bought - would be even better home-pickled).  I served with Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken Breasts and some couscous with almonds and raisins, but I'm pretty sure just setting a heaping pile of this in the table would've pleased everyone (and the recipe DOES make a heaping pile).

[Katya4me]

I've been in the mood to try some more vegan recipes, so made a delicious cashew curry, where the cashews were the protein and last night made this watermelon tuna to go in a poke bowl with white rice, cucumbers, red peppers and a tahini drizzle.  I made up another bowl to have for lunch today.  

[Pat]

Last night I made Summer Pasta With Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil, a David Tanis recipe from the NYTimes. I had all of the ingredients on hand but the zucchini and that was certainly easy to source at this time of year. It came out really well.  It's going into the summer rotation. I didn't feel like making salad, so we just had it with bread (last bit of rye from Atwater at the 13th & H Fresh Farms market and sourdough from Boulangerie Christophe in Georgetown).

Prior to that I've been using a batch of shredded chicken from the InstantPot, first with pita from Yellow/Albi and an antipasto salad, and then in flour tortillas with lettuce, tomato, spiced roasted chickpeas, avocado, and shredded habanero cheddar with sour cream mashed potato patties on the side.

[dcandohio]

A while back I attended a crawfish boil which is an unusual event here in South Florida. I took home the crawfish shells to make a crawfish stock, which was languishing in the freezer. Last night I made a big pot of shrimp étouffé using the crawfish stock. Wow. My entire house smelled like Louisiana!
So friends came over for dinner. I put out a platter of melon and prosciutto to enjoy with an aperitif of white port and tonic with lime. I served the étouffée over rice, with a blueberry and romaine salad tossed in an herb pomegranate vinaigrette. For dessert I made a peach Clafoutis. Excellent evening. 

[Katya4me]

I had a pot of white rice languishing in the fridge, along with a variety of fresh veggies, so I decided to make fried rice for dinner.  Started with just under a 1 lb of sliced white mushrooms, tossed them in the wok to cook down while I cut up a red bell pepper.  Tossed that in the wok, along with some cut up flat chive leaves.  Once most of the moisture was gone, I added some snow peas and 2 slices of cut up leftover pork carne asada.  Scrambled 2 eggs w/ Sriracha, and added that to the wok.  Once the eggs were cooked, added the rice and a tossed together sauce.  Delicious dinner and much more empty fridge is a win for me.  

[Pat]

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

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.

Near future, LOL. Took the leftover barbacoa out of the freezer and we had it in tortillas last night. I also made InstantPot black beans and basmati rice with peas. The salad was baby arugula with quartered farmers' market tomatoes and thin slices of very aged cheddar. Red wine vinaigrette. My husband also had the last leftover ear of corn from a meal based on this recipe.

[dcandohio]

I’m trying to work through the freezer and perishables in the refrigerator before two long back to back trips during hurricane season. Last night I used many of the vegetables from the freezer and the refrigerator, plus a half a bag of frozen shrimp, to make a really quick and lovely shrimp stirfry. It went on top of leftover basmati rice from a long ago Indian takeout meal, defrosted and reheated. 

[Katya4me]

My husband's pick for dinner was surprisingly delicious: https://www.newsncr.com/lifestyle/silken-tofu-a-no-cook-dish-thats-perfect-for-warm-weather/

We did just basil for the herb on top and chopped up some salted mixed nuts we had.  I'm not a fan of plain tofu, so had been questioning this selection, but it was perfect yesterday after being outside in the heat all day long.

[Pat]

Last night we had pork tenderloin done in the InstantPot air fryer. It came out really well. I marinated it in orange juice, citrus vinegar, crushed garlic, chipotle (1 smashed plus some sauce), chopped cilantro stems and leaves, cumin, s + p, and a splash of tequila.

We had it with black bean soup I'd made from leftover black beans, corn on the cob with cilantro - lime - feta butter, and leftover white rice and peas.

[Pat]

Last night was roasted vegetables with braised chicken thighs added in for serving. I had roasted a lot of vegetables a couple days ago (tomatoes, zucchini, white eggplant, portobello and white mushrooms). I browned and then braised the thighs in the liquid from that, plus some more tomatoes and liquid. Mixed everything together at the end.

We had this with little toasts/crostini I made with the last of some fig walnut bread from Boulangerie Christophe.

[dcandohio]

A Greek inspired meal: pork chunks marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, dill, thyme. I stir fried them and then put them under the broiler to simulate the crispy edges of grilling. I also made Greek lemon potatoes and steamed spinach. 

[Katya4me]

WashPost had an interesting looking recipe for dill pickle pizza, so we gave it a try last night.  Really good, I used a whole egg, rather than just the yolk, in the white sauce and I really liked how it turned out.  We used our usual pizza dough recipe, which makes a triple batch, and the white sauce is enough for 2 batches, so will have more pizza in our immediate future.

[dracisk]

1 hour ago, Katya4me said:

dill pickle pizza

I might be the only one in my house who would eat it, but that looks amazing to me.

[Pat]

Salad of romaine, frisee, radishes, tomatoes, cucumber, and TJ's tuna; feta or blue cheese; vinaigrette
Leftover pork tenderloin
Braised kale with bacon, onion, and hot pepper flakes

(And, I'd try that pizza too. Reminds me of artichoke pizza, which I made a long time ago.)

[Pat]

Last night was green beans, tater tots, and hamburgers in pita (pita from Yellow/Albi).

[Katya4me]

Dinner tonight was a variation of tabbouleh, swapping watermelon for tomatoes and basil for mint.  It also featured seared halloumi.  We had a jar of pesto in the fridge, so I used that instead of making pesto and added some diced sweet red pepper.  Really easy and a nice chill dish for summertime.