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Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


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I made a whole chicken (from Red Apron) in the air fryer last night. It came out incredibly well, crispy on the outside and very moist throughout. I used this recipe, though I didn't measure the ingredients all that carefully. My chicken was a little more than a pound lighter, so I did 45 minutes breast side down and 10 minutes after flipping it.

We also had Caprese salad and leftover corn, green beans, and mashed potatoes.

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Saturday I found fresh cranberry beans at the H Street Fresh Farm market. Last night I used them in this , with kale for the greens and fusilli for the pasta. I dolloped some ricotta on the top at the end, making it no longer vegan. I had an open ricotta container that needs to be emptied and the cheese was a good addition. It was accompanied by toasted sourdough bread.

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Last night was pan-fried wontons and cheeseburgers.  I have a package of wonton wrappers that have been hiding in the freezer for a very long time.  I chopped up some mushrooms finely and sauteed them to get rid of their moisture, added some diced ham, and shredded carrots.  Once that was all soft, tossed in a splash of hot sauce and took it off the heat.  Put a block of cream cheese in a bowl, and poured the hot mixture over it.  Stirred it up and added the last of some grated Parmesan I found in the drawer.  I portioned 12 generous tablespoons into 12 wrappers and shallow-fried them, 2 min. per side.  Had those with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce.   Still have lots of filling and more wrappers so will probably do it again tonight.   

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Dinner last night was inspired by this recipe for grilled squid wraps.  However, I ended up with a much more Asian twist on it.  For the marinade, I did lemon, olive oil, basil and chili garlic paste.  While it was marinating, I shucked an ear of corn, sliced up a red bell pepper and got out some shredded carrot.  For the sauce, I skipped the yogurt, but included the other ingredients.  I tossed the corn on the grill and then put the squid in a grill basket on the other side of the grill.  Probably about 12 min. for the corn and 7 min or so to cook the squid.  Had them on some small flour tortillas and having the leftovers for lunch today. :)

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I made roasted eggplant soup for dinner last night, based on this recipe. The times given in the recipe don't add up, which I realized after I'd started, so I had to adjust the planned dinnertime a bit.

I used homemade chicken stock and two graffiti eggplants, which I didn't weigh. They weren't real big and one had a bad spot that had to be cut out, so it was probably  more than the weight in the recipe but not by a huge amount. My measurements were kind of loose:rolleyes:.

After I blended the soup with an immersion blender, I thought it was way too thin, so I added some chunks of roasted potato I had leftover in the fridge and that made it a perfect consistency. Didn't add goat cheese because we also had warm figs stuffed with ricotta (drizzled with honey and topped with a mint garnish) and it seemed like a lot of cheese.

We also had toasted olive bread with fig preserves and slices of buttered sourdough.

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I liked the squid we had on Saturday, so I made another recipe on Sunday: Kung Pao Calamari.  I had a small zucchini in the fridge, so cut that up and added to the bell peppers.  Had to turn on the fan when I tossed in the dried hot peppers, but really good meal.  Just make sure everything is prepped and ready because it all cooks very quickly.  

Yesterday was more of a dump and bake day, so this recipe met that qualification very well.  No sides or additional carbs needed really liked the zingy flavor. 

 

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Doing a kind of apps/antipasto meal tonight.

Air-fryer chicken nuggets with dips
Manchego, habanero pepper, and truffle cheeses
Salami, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts
Rye crackers
Sourdough bread bruschetta
Toasted olive bread
Figs stuffed with ricotta and drizzled with honey
Salsa with corn, green chilies, and tomatoes
Tortilla chips
Sour cream

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Dinner last night was rice udon noodles with bok choy and corn.  Diced watermelon for this and made a doubled batch of the sauce to go over the noodles as well.  

Tonight was grilled chicken thighs, seasoned with BBQ rub, and served on buns with lettuce and pickles.  Dessert was frozen custard. 

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Things I've made lately: InstantPot pot roast; corn on the cob; borlotti bean soup with spinach and rice; whipped feta dip with vegetables and pita; roasted tomatoes; multiple salads; and, pizza with salami, bacon, Calabrian chilies; portobello mushrooms, and tomato. Pizza was last night. I just used one cut up chili and a little oil. The tomato was a few thin slices of a yellow one. I didn't want to overdo toppings, but the meats and mushrooms were a smaller amount than I thought starting out. Fresh mozzarella, a little Manchego, and Parmesan for cheeses.

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I was on vacation for a while, so I am now back in the kitchen. I have been very pleased lately with the jarred masala simmer sauce from Aldi. Having a jar in the fridge allows me to make a quick curry. Tonight‘s was mushrooms, green beans, onions, shrimp. I also added some garlic ginger paste, Penzeys vindaloo seasoning and some vindaloo paste. Then I topped it with a little bit of coriander chutney. It’s not as good as much of the Indian restaurant food here, but for home cooked Indian right out of the refrigerator, it’s pretty damn delicious!

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12 hours ago, Katya4me said:

Dinner tonight was Thai basil chicken with leftover white rice. I wanted to use up all the Thai basil I had left, along with 2 shallots, so I doubled the recipe.  I used 6 little red peppers that came from my husband's coworker. They look similar to Thai birds, and it was the perfect amount. 

We also had Thai basil chicken last night! Probably a less authentic recipe but delicious nonetheless. We used Thai basil and jalapenos from our garden.

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I made braised bean curd skin last night and had it over brown jasmine rice.  Based on previous experience with the bean curd skin I had in the pantry, I did not soak it and that was the correct decision.  However, I think the lengths were too long and needed to be cut in half.  I also oven roasted some Chinese broccoli and sprinkled it with coconut vinegar and sesame oil after it finished.  Made for a good dinner now I need to re-stock my star anise.

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Sourdough bread and butter
Chili (pork shoulder; pinto beans; cubanelle, poblano, and jalapeno peppers; dry spices: chili powder, cayenne, NM red chile powder, and ground cumin)
Roast whole chicken (thyme and sage butter under the skin)
Leftover roasted cauliflower with za'atar

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Instant pot lamb shoulder stew with carrot, onion, and rosemary.  Too much of the latter - I'd never cooked it in an instant pot before and it really drives in the flavor.  We just realized that a few weeks ago that the 6' bush in our backyard (about 10 feet long) is actually rosemary, which was the inspiration for trying this dish.  Wouldn't do lamb shoulder again though, a bit too fatty.

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Last night was roasted Herbes de Provence pork loin, noodle and cheese casserole with spinach, corn on the cob, and leftover roasted cauliflower.

Tonight is leftover pinto bean soup, leftover cheeseburgers on sourdough toast, and leftover noodles and cheese.

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For dinner last night, I sliced the leftover pork loin and reheated it covered in foil in a small baking pan, with jarred marinara below and on top. I pulled off the foil near the end and sprinkled on some Parmesan. Really good. We also had leftover noodles, cheese, and spinach casserole; sourdough toast; and, a salad of romaine, tomato, cucumber, and radishes with homemade buttermilk dressing.

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After running around for nearly a week with a friend, looking at condos, we celebrated a pending contract last night. 
-Antipasto salad wraps made with provolone, prosciutto, and shredded lettuce wrapped in Boston lettuce leaves. Caesar dressing for dipping.

-Grilled flank steak with shrimp étouffée sauce.

-Baby Dutch potatoes with smoked Dutch Gouda cheese. 

-Sauteed green beans with lemon

-Pistachio ice cream with chocolate pizelles. 

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Last night we had roasted medallions of delicata squash (evoo, fresh thyme, s+p) stuffed with the mixture of leftover chorizo, pinto beans, and white rice, plated over wild rice. It was excellent.

There was also some leftover causa that I made over the weekend -- cold Peruvian chile lime mashed potatoes. When I first made the causa, I seared fresh ahi tuna to use as filling. There was/is still seared tuna left, so there was a smaller dish of it last night, stuffed with tuna and topped with hard-boiled egg and avocado. (The original also had diced tomato garnish). I no longer have any of the aji amarillo paste I was using in causa (used to buy it at Shopper's Food, RIP), so I charred some lemon drop peppers (aji limon) I bought at the H Street farmers' market on Saturday and minced them up to add to the potatoes.

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Wednesday:
Avocado halves stuffed with chopped leftover seared ahi tuna and mayo crema
Quiche Lorraine
Andouille sausages in whole wheat hotdog buns
Steamed broccoli

The quiche was a thick slice I bought at Boulangerie Christophe when I stopped in to buy raisin bread earlier in the day.

Tonight:
Sourdough bread
Chopped romaine with red and yellow tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, and buttermilk ranch
Bucatini with Rao's marinara, Parmesan, and toasted almonds

 

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I used this recipe as a basis for making hand pies tonight. I had an open can of red curry paste in the fridge, so used that instead of green and used a whole can of coconut milk.  I was out of mushrooms, but had some baby carrots and bell peppers, so went with those.  I grated the zucchini instead of chopping it.  I may have been able to put a little more filling in than I did, but 2 of them made a tasty dinner.  Lots of leftover filling, so I'll have it over rice for a future meal.

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College football Saturday plus rain all day equals chili. I had leftover grilled flank steak in the freezer and that went in along with ground meat. I toasted three kinds of dried peppers and then soaked them and ground them up and use that as a flavoring. 

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Last night:

Frisee, radish, and tomato salad with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing
Broiled cod with lemon, butter, and herbed cracker crumbs
InstantPot red lentils with onion, carrot, and ginger
Leftover spice-roasted cauliflower
Leftover creamed spinach and mushrooms

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I made a 2 1/2 lb. boneless pork shoulder in the InstantPot last night. I kind of improvised from various sources, coating the pork with the last of some Penzey's taco seasoning, cumin, ground chipotle, and additional s+p. I sauteed it along with onion and poblano slices before adding chicken broth and pressure cooking, and then added pineapple chunks and prunes at the end. Served it with white rice and tortillas. Salad or something green would have been good with the pork,  but I was kind of dragging myself along and went pretty minimal for the rest of the meal.

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Tonight - a new recipe for cauliflower soup. It had harissa tomatoes. It was quite good. Also salad!

And Sunday was grill day. There was still corn at the farm market. And he had squash. Also salad. I made cornbread, but it did not come out well. I think I over-mixed it. And RIBS! He's been experimenting with ribs. I love ribs. They came out so well. 

Later, ice cream and brownies.

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This Sunday was our last day of racing for the year.  I'd found some kind of beef bone in the freezer with maybe a pound of meat on it. Defrosted it and seasoned it before tossing it in the Instant Pot for 40 min.  Shredded the meat and tossed it with a bit of BBQ sauce to be used later. On Sunday, I used it to make grilled quesadillas and that worked out well.  However, it only used about half the meat.  I used the remainder in tonight's Roti John sandwiches.  I had some sliced red onion in the fridge and used the BBQ beef instead of ground beef.  I topped them with kewpie mayo and Sriracha. My husband and I both approved and since there's 4 more rolls in the bag, I think we'll be making this again soon. 

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I made a pasta salad early yesterday because I knew we'd both be getting home close to dinner time: Fusilli with evoo and leftover roasted tomatoes and peppers, plus TJ's skipjack tuna, plus pimento stuffed olives. We also had sourdough bread with butter and leftover red lentil soup.

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Romaine and radicchio with radishes, heirloom tomatoes, and buttermilk ranch
Air fryer chicken drumsticks (Schwartz's poultry seasoning, evoo, panko)
Creamed balsamic rainbow chard
Leftover roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli with nutritional yeast

 

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Last night I stuffed Delicata squash with the vegetables I had (garlic, onion, cabbage, carrots, celery), seasoned bread crumbs, thyme and grated smoked Gouda. 
I like the concept although I wasn’t thrilled with that particular blend. I may be inspired to try it again with beans and rice, or lentils and rice. 

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4 hours ago, dcandohio said:

Last night I stuffed Delicata squash with the vegetables I had (garlic, onion, cabbage, carrots, celery), seasoned bread crumbs, thyme and grated smoked Gouda. 
I like the concept although I wasn’t thrilled with that particular blend. I may be inspired to try it again with beans and rice, or lentils and rice. 

Did you cut the squash in half lengthwise or fill slices? I love Delicata squash, in part because you can cut those failry easily and I don't keep my knives as sharp as they should be.

Last night I made a salad of romaine and red leaf lettuce, radishes, and walnuts. Main was chili beans and mac recipe from the 9x13 Pan Cookbook I've been making for many years, though not recently.

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34 minutes ago, Pat said:

Did you cut the squash in half lengthwise or fill slices? I love Delicata squash, in part because you can cut those failry easily and I don't keep my knives as sharp as they should be.

Last night I made a salad of romaine and red leaf lettuce, radishes, and walnuts. Main was chili beans and mac recipe from the 9x13 Pan Cookbook I've been making for many years, though not recently.

I cut lengthwise. I like the idea of rings because I think they would cook faster. The halves took quite a while. 

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On 10/25/2022 at 1:24 PM, dcandohio said:

I cut lengthwise. I like the idea of rings because I think they would cook faster. The halves took quite a while. 

The rings do roast relatively quickly but also look pretty. Sometimes I'll fry an egg in the center of a mostly cooked ring to finish it. I have a few more delicata on hand that I need to use. They have some staying power but don't last in their raw state indefinitely.

Last night I made collards (very in season!) with black-eyed peas and smoked turkey wings in the InstantPot. We also had a plate of red grapes and apple slices, along with a slice of pumpkin quiche from Boulangerie Christophe .

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Last night was InstantPot sirloin tips with fingerling potatoes and carrots from the farmers market, as well as a whole roasted mustard - Parmesan cauliflower, also from the same trip to the market. I opened a bottle of Malbec, some of which went into the beef stew and some of which was consumed with the meal.

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Making my way through a lot of leftovers. Tonight was a salad (radish, cucumber, radicchio, red leaf and romaine, pimento stuffed green olives; buttermilk ranch); reheated sirloin tips aka beef stew with carrots and fingerlings plus roasted mushrooms; and reheated roasted cauliflower.

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Some catching up here as well. Wednesday was beautiful, so I grilled 2 salmon fillets and yellow squash with a spicy Asian sauce made from random ingredients.  While I was grilling, my husband made sesame noodles.  That made for a very tasty and easy dinner with leftovers for the next day.  On Thursday, I had a head of cabbage and part of a butternut squash lingering in the crisper drawer. I saw a recipe for doing a sheet pan dinner with them and sausages. I didn't find any sausage in the freezer but I did find a bag of Trader Joe's Italian meatballs and decided to roll with that. Turned out pretty good and leftovers from that went with the leftover noodles as well. 

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Last night we had broiled salmon (Costco) and this brussels sprouts and potato hash. I omitted the egg from the hash but it would be great if making only the hash for a meal. I used my round Staub cast iron cocotte, which worked very well for cooking the hash ingredients. Keeper recipe.

I topped the salmon with a buttermilk - yogurt topping before putting it into the oven. Satisfying meal.

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