Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Katya4me]

Playing a bit of catch-up from last weekend:

Saturday, I was in the mood for a cooked mushrooms & spinach dish, so I made up a simple miso and sesame oil dressing while they cooked and then pan-seared 2 salmon filets to have alongside.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, so I grilled.  Shazaam peppers from Wegmans and this recipe. It is emphatically not a paella, but it was delicious.  

Tuesday was chicken w/ bell peppers & bok choy.  Whoever came up with the prep and cook times is a lying liar.  I liked the chicken breading technique and we tossed the last of the spinach in at the end.  I wanted some carbs, so cooked up some pearl couscous.  Overall, it was tasty, just not sure if it was worth the effort in comparison to similar recipes.

Wednesday I didn't really feel like cooking, so we made this cold Asian noodle salad.  We were out of edamame and green onions, so tossed in some extra carrots and bell peppers.  I also swirled some basil paste into the dressing.  Other changes included swapping in soba noodles and using canola oil instead of olive oil and agave instead of brown sugar.  We both really liked it. 

[Pat]

I made a huge salad for dinner last night, not quite a chef's salad, but the bottom components were tossed and the top was composed. The dressing was a mustard and white wine vinaigrette. (My husband also had leftover stuffed eggplant.)

Base:
Radicchio
Baby spinach
Sliced button mushrooms
Sliced cucumbers
Thinly sliced red onions
Torn bacon strips

Top:
Cooked asparagus (two bundles on either side of the center of the bowl)
Sliced hard-boiled eggs (at both ends of the bowl)
Cubed avocado (between asparagus bundles and edges of the bowl)
Crumbled feta (over all but the center)
Cooked cubed potatoes, soaked in dressing while hot (center of the bowl)
Remainder of dressing (drizzled over the rest of the top)
Chopped parsley (over top of everything)

 

 

[Katya4me]

We had some oranges that we weren't eating fast enough, so decided to use them to make this braised tofu.  Made some jasmine rice to go with and it was a winner. 

[Pat]

Last night was very simple. We had leftovers of the big salad, sourdough toast with butter, and cheese ravioli that I cooked most of the way and then layered in a small casserole with some Rao's marinara and topped with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan. Put it in a moderate oven for a little while, until the cheese was melted ans starting to get a little browned.

[Pat]

A few months ago, I saw tamarind sauce at Trader Joe's and bought a bottle to try it out. I always used to keep a bottle of Pickapeppa sauce on hand but hadn't been able to find it in a store in a long time, and that had tamarind and some other overlapping ingredients in common with the TJ's sauce. (I now see from googling that Pickapeppa is still available from the company directly, Amazon, etc., but it no longer has tamarind as an ingredient. So...)

Well, so, yesterday I got the idea to use a couple of tablespoons of the TJ's tamarind sauce to marinate a pork tenderloin. I did it in a ziploc bag, and added a couple crushed garlic cloves and some black pepper as well. I pan seared the pork and then put in a 375F oven for about 30 minutes until it was cooked through. It came out really well. My recollection of Pickapeppa is that it's much more vinegar heavy than the TJ's sauce, but I only used small amounts of that in cooking and never used it as a marinade base. I don't know what else I'll use this sauce for, but it's excellent as a pork marinade.

I also baked some sweet potatoes and macaroni* and cheese with bacon. It was a well-integrated menu.

*actually a mix of ziti and cavatappi, no elbows

[Katya4me]

Last night's dinner was not quite a salad, but delicious.  It comes together really easily and I liked the fact that the pita pieces weren't 100% crisp and dried out.  I'd probably make the meatballs half the size next time, but that's a very minor quibble.  Also, we did basil leaves instead of mint and that went really well with the other flavors. 

[Pat]

We had this enchilada bake for dinner last night. It came our really well and looked great. My husband asked if we could have this again while we were still eating the meal, and I suggested we'd have leftovers to eat first. (Of course, getting the leftovers out of the skillet and packing them up was a little tricky...)

Since we've been eating a lot of rice, I just heated up a can of drained black beans for a side dish. I added as couple squeezes of lime and sprinkled some extra cilantro and scallions over the beans. (I had prepped more garnishes for the skillet meal than I needed.)

I used ground pork from TJ's for this, 80/20, and expected I would have fat to drain before proceeding, so I didn't add the olive oil (at all) or the onions and chopped poblanos right at the beginning. Surprisingly, as the meat cooked, it rendered a fairly small amount of fat, so I added the vegetables in to cook in that fat as the meat finished browning. I also used TJ's salsa verde, their shredded Mexican cheese blend, and their home style flour tortillas. I don't think it needed all of the second jar of salsa.

[dcandohio]

Having no plans yesterday, and no one to please but myself, I made pasta with sausage and spinach. Well, it was going to be sausage and broccoli rabe. But the grocery store that is within walking distance did not have broccoli rabe, so I subbed spinach. There will be leftovers for lunch today.
 

 

[Pat]

I wasn't feeling up to much for Easter and surprised myself with how much I managed despite that.

We had warmed pita from Yellow, along with their Beiruti hummus; a shaved asparagus salad that was very good; a deviled egg platter*; and, roasted boneless leg of lamb over roasted sliced potatoes. I riffed off this recipe for the lamb and potatoes.

The lamb was 2 lb., from TJ, and was very good. I managed to hit a nice medium rare. I parboiled several Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced them about 1/4" thick, and made concentric circles in the bottom of a large cast iron skillet. Lamb went over the center. My husband thought there was a little too much anchovy carryover flavor on the potatoes-which there was--but I liked it.

*I only filled 8 inserts in the egg platter, so I filled the other 4 with excess pistachios.

 

[dcandohio]

Tuna, crusted with salt, black pepper, and coriander, seared rare. Dipping sauce of ponzu, Sriracha, Sambal olek and agave. Served with roasted broccoli and tricolor peppers.

[genericeric]

This Cucumber Salad with Roasted Peanuts and Chili from the NYT, made exactly according to the recipe.  Only adjustment I would make would be to let sit for 30-45 minutes before serving.  Served with some red snapper marinated in soy, sauteed with just a bit of thai peanut sauce added toward the end of cooking.  Also some Momofuku pre-packaged soy and chive ramen.

I wish I had a lime wedge to squirt over the top, but a solid plate of food.

[dcandohio]

Yesterdays torrential rain (24 inches in some parts of the city) cancelled restaurant plans. And then my friend had a parental emergency that canceled the subsequent dinner plans.
So I forged in the pantry, and brought out canned artichokes and seasoned bread crumbs. I had some tilapia in the fridge.
I made a sort of dressing of smashed up artichokes, seasoned bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley. I topped the fish with that and baked till it was done. Served with steamed buttered broccoli.

[Katya4me]

Easy tray bake dinner with leftovers for lunch.  Outside of having to brown the ground beef in a skillet, the whole thing was done on one tray and and low carb as well.  We ended up doubling the recipe and I would do that again. 

It turned out I had bought too much kale for that recipe, so I made a massaged kale salad with the remainder of it.  We had a bag of frozen mango so just cut up some of those and topped with pepitas was a great way to polish it off.

 

[Pat]

Kind of a weird meal last night, but it was good. We had an appetizer and then pasta.

I was going to wrap halibut cubes in bacon but had bought mortadella on impulse at Eastern Market, so I wrapped each first in a strip of mortadella, then in bacon. The bacon had previously been cooked but was still flexible. (I don't go all the way to crispy when I pre-cook bacon.) I had baked the fish cubes with some lemon, olive oil, and sprigs of thyme until they were just cooked, let them cool a bit, and then did the wrapping. I put them back into the oven for a few minutes, until the bacon was rendering its remaining fat.

For the rest, I boiled some fusilli to round out what was left of a box of ziti and served that with a sauce made from leftover ground pork enchilada filling and the remainder of a jar of Rao's marinara. Anyway, weird but good.

[Pat]

Last night was a big salad, sourdough rye from Atwater, (convection) baked chicken thighs, and roasted asparagus. I topped the chicken with lemon juice, butter and a mix of Penzey's Northwoods and Northwoods Fire seasoning (the only difference is the amounts and types of chile powder). I seasoned the asparagus with sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds.

I also made some croutons of a sort to have with the chicken. There was half a pita from Yellow in foil in the fridge that had been there too long. I tore it into small chunks and, once I had removed the chicken from the sheet pan, I tossed the bread pieces into the rendered fat and stuck the pan back in the oven until I had nice croutons.

Everything came out especially well.

[DonRocks]

A whole, bone-in lamb shoulder (ten pounds!) cooked for eight hours, with potatoes, onions, and carrots. Served with 2019 René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie “Ampodium.”

[dcandohio]

Another rainy day yesterday called for comfort food. I made a Mexican stew. I toasted three varieties of dried chilies, and then rehydrated them while I browned onions and garlic. The chiles, onions, and garlic went into a blender with some of the chile water and a can of tomatoes.
I sautéed cut up chicken, covered it with the chili paste and added a quart of chicken stock. Seasonings were oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, and Tajin. It simmered for about an hour.
When the chicken was super tender, I added cubed potatoes, carrots, and about a cup of frozen sweet corn kernels. I let it go for another hour, until all of the vegetables were tender, and the gravy was really thick. 
It’s very spicy, homey and filling, and it made an enormous amount! 

[Pat]

i made some quick curry from the last of the lamb, with Anaheim peppers and onions. Served over couscous, along with braised kale and tomatoes. There was also leftover salad and sourdough rye bread.

[Pat]

Last night was leftover chicken thighs, broccoli, cole slaw, and mini quesadillas (made on 6" flour tortillas from TJ).

[Pat]

Friday night salad and sandwiches: Tortellini salad and grilled ham and Jarlsberg on sourdough for my husband, with grilled mortadella and Jarlsberg for me.

The tortellini for the salad was spinach and cheese(s) from TJ. I didn't have much of a plan, but it worked. The base dressing was some bottled vinaigrette. I added the last of a jar of Calabrian chiles--bits and pieces and some oil--chopped roasted Anaheim pepper, slivered red onion, sliced black olives, chopped tomatoes, chunks of chicken andouille sausage, basil, shredded Parmesan and cubed Monterey Jack cheeses.

[dcandohio]

Asian Beef stirfry with broccoli, carrots, celery, onion. I had a lot of cooked rice in the freezer, so since I just needed to microwave rice, this dinner came together really quickly.

[Pat]

Last night was this salad plus chicken andouille sausages on whole wheat hot dog buns.

Tonight is more of the salad, roasted sesame asparagus and tofu, and broiled lamb loin chops.

[Pat]

Yesterday I made nicoise salad, which we had with a baguette (the Italian version) from Radici and artichoke jalapeno dip/spread from TJ. Because that's not fusion-y enough, we also had some sushi/rolls from Yes .

The night before I made another green chile enchilada bake, which we had with a big romaine salad.

[Pat]

Porterhouse steaks
Citrus-glazed turnips [NYT gift link]
Buttered spinach

I took the advice of one of the commenters on the turnips recipe and did them at 425 instead of 375, and I'd stick with that. I loved them, though my husband didn't as much. He's not fond of bitter vegetables, but I thought these glazed and caramelized nicely and had a sweetness from that. I had bought citrus to juice but just wanted to get dinner on the table, so I used what we had in the refrigerator. Similarly, I abandoned creamed spinach in favor of buttered.

 

[Katya4me]

Thursday night, I needed to cook for a party on Friday and wanted something easy to make.  These beef rolls fill the bill nicely.  I had some leftover spinach in the fridge, so I tossed that in the tortilla as well and made for a complete meal. 

The previous night, I made this cashew chicken dish, skipped the coconut rice as we had Jasmine already made and other than burning my finger on a caramelized nut, it came together without issue and I'd make it again.

[genericeric]

I've been working my way through some of the NY Times recipe collection, with mostly very positive results.  

Maybe its because I don't normally cook or eat this indulgently, but last Tuesday I had the first dish that I've ever made myself that also made me involuntarily swear in front of my children, because it was that good.  And it was a lowly tuna melt.

Made exactly per the recipe, the diced cornichon and fresh dill, with good quality canned tuna, a little lemon... it just worked so perfectly.  Admittedly if I made again, I would go a bit scant on the mayo, leaning more toward 2/3 cup than the prescribed 3/4.  But let's face it, you're eating a mayo-based meat salad sandwich with cheese that is then fried in butter.  It's merely a consistency preference.

The cucumber salad with roasted peanuts and chili was also fantastic - unique, fresh, spicy, comforting... but it was no tuna melt.

[Pat]

Last night I made an improvised chicken cacciatore from convection-baked chicken thighs, leftover spaghetti, and Rao's Arriabbiata sauce, with some grated Parmesan. We had this with broccoli (boiled about 3 minutes) and a salad of romaine, radicchio, radishes, red onion, tomatoes, and croutons made from leftover garlic butter bread.

Instead of steaming, I've moved towards throwing broccoli in boiling salted water for a couple minutes, until just after it turns bright green, and then I drain it and it cooks a little more from residual heat.

TL;DR warning here...

I thought about this when I was going through a really old cookbook that belonged to my mother and I referred to as a kid when I started out cooking. It's the source of my peanut butter cookie recipe! It's the 21st edition of Magic Chef Cooking from the American Stove Company (orig. 1949). This copy dates to the late 50s or very early 60s because the appliance company my parents got it from (based on a stamp on the title page) has its address listed with a 4-digit town code that pre-dates the era of the zip code (which started July 1, 1963). Given the name of the company and my vague memories, they were probably relatives, so maybe my parents didn't have to pay the $2 for the book.

Anyhow, this cookbook recommends cooking broccoli in well-salted water for 20-25 minutes. Now I understand why we never ate broccoli when I was growing up. Yecchhh.

When I picked the book up for the first time in a long while recently, I decided to made the Sausage and Spaghetti recipe. In large part I did this because I had bought a pound of hot Italian link sausages when I saw them at Safeway. And I had bought them because they were Lancaster Brand (which used to be the house meat brand of Acme, which is now part of Albertson's/Safeway/whatever grocery monolith). Since I bought them out of nostalgia, it seemed perfect to have seen this recipe right after I purchased them. (Thinking back, there was also an Acme across the street from where this appliance store would have been, though I don't know if they were open at the same time.)

The recipe calls for browning sausages, boiling spaghetti, mixing the pasta with strained tomatoes, and putting the sausages on top of the spaghetti to finish cooking as a casserole. I had an extra half pound of cooked ground beef I added to the tomato mixture, for which I used canned tomato sauce and a few chopped fresh tomatoes. I added some grated Parmesan in there somewhere. It came out quite well. The Lancaster Brand sausages were really good. I'd bought them over the national brand that was on sale for a reduced price that cost the same.

I used the last of this leftover spaghetti (no more sausages but there was still a little ground beef mixed in) to make last night's cacciatore. And that's a wrap.

[Pat]

I made nicoise salad again last night, this time with fresh tuna. I don't know why I'm on this kick, but the salad does make a nice centerpiece to a meal. We had it with soup.

The soup recipe I got from a friend years ago. His MIL is from Saigon and owned a Vietnamese restaurant in Houston. "Sick Soup" was a popular request from patrons during cold and flu season. I remembered this when I had a cold last weekend and was prepared to make the soup but wasn't quite up to prepping all the ginger (a major component). It's not complicated at all beyond the ginger.

I'm basically over the cold now (the first I've had in a very long time), so I made the soup last night. Still great for clearing out the sinuses.

Palm-sized piece of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks, brought to a boil in 6 - 8 cups of chicken broth. Add bite-sized beef or turkey meatballs (from 1 lb. or so or raw meat) that have been seasoned with dehydrated onions, paprika, ground red pepper, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and chili powder (or some combination thereof). Boil until the meatballs rise to the top. Serve the soup over rice with sriracha.

 

[Pat]

Last night was excellent whole wheat bread from Radici, salad (red leaf and romaine with radishes, nicoise olives, cold roasted cauliflower, Campari tomatoes, avocado, and feta; mustard - white wine vinaigrette) and pasta.

I made the pasta to utilize a bunch of ingredients that needed to be used. I sliced and sauteed 8 oz. of button mushrooms (which were in remarkably good condition after being in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks), and then added in some chopped fresh tomatoes -- a combination of Campari and hothouse vine-ripe -- dehydrated onions, Penzey's pasta sprinkle, kosher salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. After the tomatoes had broken down and it was making a sauce, I poured in and cooked down some white wine and then added the last half of an open jar of Rao's Arrabbiata sauce, plus a little water to rinse out the jar. At this point, I added the chopped meat from 4 leftover baked chicken thighs and let the whole thing simmer while I boiled half a box of Pipe Rigate pasta.

I mixed the drained, cooked pasta in with the sauce for a couple of minutes and then served with grated Parmesan. It all worked out well, and I even got the ratio of pasta to sauce about right!

[Pat]

Soup, salad, and sandwiches last night. We finished the last of the turkey meatball soup. The salad was chopped romaine, tomatoes, avocado, kalamata olives, and feta, topped with poached salmon and dill. Sandwiches were ham, turkey, and cheese on whole wheat, accompanied by Utz potato chips.

There was salad left over. This was a lot of food .

[Katya4me]

The other night, I was looking in the veggie drawer and saw a few items to use up.  We had brown rice pad thai noodles in the pantry, so a plan was established.  I took this recipe and essentially doubled the sauce, egg and noodle amounts.  I had matchstick carrots, green beans and scallions in the fridge, along with bean sprouts.  I also had a package of extra firm tofu.  I used a whole onion instead of a half and cut it into half moon slices.  I really liked the flavor of the sauce, which kind of surprised me as it includes no lime juice or tamarind.

[genericeric]

Spring Snap Pea Salad with Spinach Pesto and Creme Fraiche - a delicious, unconventional salad recipe that is springtime on a plate.  Sourced from the Apricot Lane Farm Cookbook - which at $45 is pricier than many, but so far has provided great content.

A thick schmear of creme fraiche with dollops of the pesto sit under seasoned snap peas and pea shoots, topped with chopped pistachios.  I went a little scant on the mint (I didn't have quite enough) and wish I'd had the full half cup, but I enjoyed every bite of this dish.  The recipe portions this for 2 on "small plates" - this salad could easily be split into four as a side, or kept to two as a main dish.  Not sure how long Whole Foods will have pea shoots, but I hope to make this again.

 

[Pat]

I knew I'd be getting back late in the afternoon so I pre-made dinner early (except for salad I threw together right before eating) and reheated in the microwave. The protein was convection baked chicken thighs with lemon juice, Penzey's Northwoods seasoning, a little extra kosher salt, black pepper, and onion and garlic powders.

Once they were done and removed from the sheet pan, I added parboiled new potatoes and some butter to the chicken fat on the pan, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and tossed everything together. I pulled the edges of the foil on the pan up to make something of a packet and stuck the potatoes back in the oven. After they were mostly cooked, I opened this back up so they browned on the cut edges. (The tiniest were left whole and the others had been halved at the boiling step.)

At the same time as this last step, I put stuffed tomatoes in to bake as well. (My husband had bought 4 lbs. of tomatoes on the vine at Costco a while ago, which I was sure I would use before they over-ripened, but, no...I still had about 10 left, and they needed to be used somehow.) I trimmed bad parts (fortunately, mostly all near the top), cut off the tops and scooped out some of the insides--especially seeds. I filled these with a mixture of rye bread crumbs I had made a few weeks ago, crumbled feta, grated Parmesan, and chopped fresh dill. I managed to make just about the right amount to stuff the tomatoes, slightly mounded on the top. I drizzled with a little olive oil before they went into the oven and a little more when I checked on them when the potatoes were done. These came out especially well.

The salad was really simple: chopped romaine, chopped tomato salvaged from the couple too damaged to bake whole, pitted black olives, and thinly sliced Jarlsberg cheese. The dressing was the last of the mustard-based vinaigrette I'd made for a Nicoise salad.

[Pat]

Last night I made a small boneless leg of lamb in the Instant Pot. I didn't add much in the way of vegetables but did toss in some onion -- fresh and dehydrated -- carrots, and mini bell peppers with the chicken broth. We ate the vegetables and some of the sauce, but I'm thinking the remainder of that liquid will be good served with the leftover lamb over polenta.

I also made a baked spinach and cheese souffle-ish casserole. We had leftover salad and a striata baguette from Radici.

[Pat]

Last night was Cubanos made with striata baguette and air fryer broccolini for a side dish. The "roasted" pork tenderloin for this was also done in the air fryer. Deli ham from Whole Foods. Swiss from TJ. Pickles from a vendor at the H Street Market.

Tonight we will have more of the sandwiches (I made a whole loaf's worth) and Ina Garten's Lentil Sausage Soup from Barefoot in Paris. Instead of leeks (I hate cleaning them), I used fresh garlic from the H Street farmers market. Mini story: As I was walking home with them last week, a woman walking her dog saw them sticking out of the bag and said, "Oh, you bought leeks." I explained that they were similar looking fresh garlic and had the lightbulb idea to use them to make this soup. I love the soup. I hate the veggie prep. It makes an enormous amount and my kielbasa is only 12 oz.  instead of 16, so I'm making roughly 3/4 of a recipe. The French green lentils are from Rancho Gordo.

We will find out if the garlic works in place of the leeks. I'm thinking an extra garlic heavy soup should work well with kielbasa.

[Pat]

Beef two nights in a row. We don't eat much beef any more, but my meal planning has been a little scattered again and it didn't occur to me in advance.

Monday night was a small grass-fed strip steak from the discount meat bin at Safeway. It had a sell-by date of that day, and I was looking for something simple and quick for a night I'd be getting home late. Set it to marinate at room temperature for a brief while with a little Worcestershire, soy sauce, garlic & onion powder, and black pepper, just enough for some seasoning and a little tenderizing, if necessary (didn't know what I was getting with a $2.22 steak from the discount bin.) It came out really well. We had it with a quick salad I threw together; farmers market asparagus (just simmered until tender, served completely unadorned); and, fries. (I had stopped and gotten fries for something quick to eat, ate some, and brought the rest home for dinner.)

Last night was skirt steak tacos, more of the salad, and macaroni and cheese.

P.S. The garlic worked fine in the soup. Even at 3/4 scale, this makes a LOT of soup.

[Katya4me]

Last night was fajitas.  Shrimp and beef with mushrooms, peppers and onions. Quick toss with fajita seasoning in the skillet, then rolled up in tortillas with shredded mixed cheese and salsa. Nothing fancy but very satisfying.

[Pat]

Dinner last night was baked chicken drumsticks, rice pilaf, and a vegetable melange somewhere between a stir-fry and a saute. (I used jasmine for the white rice.) The base was a premade mirepoix I got at TJs when I needed a little celery for chicken salad and that was the only form of celery they had. Now I've got to use the rest. Also: snow peas and asparagus from the H Street farmers market, shiitakes from Agora Farms outside at Eastern Market, and bean sprouts from Paik Produce inside. Seasonings were hot pepper sesame oil, toasted sesame oil, light Tamari, onion powder, and black pepper. We also had sourdough bread from Christophe in Georgetown.

Friday night was pita turkey sandwiches (fresh pita from Yellow in Georgetown; caramelized onion hummus from Little Sesame downtown; butter lettuce from Costco; and Campari tomatoes, sliced pepper jack and oven roasted deli turkey from WF). We had boiled and buttered new white potatoes from the H Street farmers market alongside, and rhubarb and strawberry pie (both fruits from H Street) for dessert.

(Sourcing listed as a brain exercise as much as anything. Somehow that helps me keep better track of what I've got on hand and have used.)

 

[Katya4me]

Last night was too nice not to grill. My husband had seen this recipe for grilled pork and poblanos a while back and I got the ingredients to make it for dinner yesterday.  Super easy and very good. Pork was very moist and while I would probably leave the peppers on a little longer next time, the crunch was enjoyable contrast to the melted cheese.

[Pat]

Not outside but I used a grill pan inside yesterday to finish some beer brats* (marinated about 6 hours, then added to the brazier with sliced onions that had been braising in the rest of the spiced marinade). They were served on brioche hot dog buns with the onions. Things got a little soggy, so a harder roll might have worked better, but they were delicious.

Sides were a recipe I found online for roasted cauliflower and white beans, plus leftover mac and cheese that I topped with excess of the panko topping for the cauliflower. I didn't measure the ingredients too carefully and my orange cauliflower was pretty small, so I opted for splitting the topping over two dishes. I don't usually put bread crumb topping on mac and cheese, but was a good variation when reheating yet more of something that created a lot of leftovers.

*pork bratwursts and buns from Whole Foods; cauliflower from H Street market

[reedm]

8 hours ago, Pat said:

Not outside but I used a grill pan inside yesterday to finish some beer brats* (marinated about 6 hours, then added to the brazier with sliced onions that had been braising in the rest of the spiced marinade). They were served on brioche hot dog buns with the onions. Things got a little soggy, so a harder roll might have worked better, but they were delicious.

Sides were a recipe I found online for roasted cauliflower and white beans, plus leftover mac and cheese that I topped with excess of the panko topping for the cauliflower. I didn't measure the ingredients too carefully and my orange cauliflower was pretty small, so I opted for splitting the topping over two dishes. I don't usually put bread crumb topping on mac and cheese, but was a good variation when reheating yet more of something that created a lot of leftovers.

*pork bratwursts and buns from Whole Foods; cauliflower from H Street market

Coincidentally, I made beer brats a couple of days ago as well. I browned them in a cast iron pan as well. Potato rolls, btw.

[Pat]

15 hours ago, reedm said:

Coincidentally, I made beer brats a couple of days ago as well. I browned them in a cast iron pan as well. Potato rolls, btw.

Thanks for the tip! I guess because of the holiday weekend, they were pretty well sold out of hotdog buns. All that I could find was brioche and I didn't feel like trying other stores. I considered baguettes. Potato rolls next time.

Last night was salad and pizza. Butter lettuce, Campari tomatoes, radishes, quartered artichoke hearts, and cucumber.

I used to make pizza with my own dough a fair amount (and even had a favorite half whole wheat one), and I just don't do it anymore. For this, I used TJs plain fresh dough, with TJs jarred pizza sauce, sauteed sliced button mushrooms and mini bell peppers, the last few braised onions from the brats, pepperoni, and fresh basil, on a sheet pan. It came out pretty well. The onions added a little sogginess, even though I discarded excess liquid. I used cheese from TJs as well: shredded and grated Parmesan and some of their Quattro Formaggi (more Parmesan, Asiago, provolone, and fontina.

I have a photo but have wasted an enormous amount of time trying to get it inserted here, so I give up...

Edit: I think I finally got it.

[dracisk]

The pizza looks delicious!! 🤤

[dcandohio]

I had a lot of errands yesterday and I wanted to make a batch of cookies for a friend is having surgery. So I got some chicken breasts and gently poached them while the cookies were baking. 
I diced up the chicken breast and made a curry chicken salad, which I served on a lightly dressed green salad. It’s the perfect kind of meal for a busy, hot day.

[Pat]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:20 AM, dracisk said:

The pizza looks delicious!! 🤤

Thanks! It's rustic looking for sure. I'd have liked a less pale crust, but it still tasted OK.

Last night was a keeper recipe for avocado pasta from Taste of Home, a site I keep remembering and forgetting about. I used a mini prep to make the sauce and used most of the 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. We had some shrimp from a shrimp cocktail platter from Costco and I served them alongside to go on top of the pasta. (My husband is not a big shrimp fan but had one.) Shrimp is very good addition to this, but it's also excellent plain.

We also had leftover salad and sourdough bread with evoo.

[dcandohio]

20 hours ago, Pat said:

Thanks! It's rustic looking for sure. I'd have liked a less pale crust, but it still tasted OK.

Last night was a keeper recipe for avocado pasta from Taste of Home, a site I keep remembering and forgetting about. I used a mini prep to make the sauce and used most of the 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. We had some shrimp from a shrimp cocktail platter from Costco and I served them alongside to go on top of the pasta. (My husband is not a big shrimp fan but had one.) Shrimp is very good addition to this, but it's also excellent plain.

We also had leftover salad and sourdough bread with evoo.

Do you think that sauce would work as well for a cold pasta salad? Your post makes me think that one could use the sauce on a shorter pasta, and add some shrimp and perhaps some chopped vegetables, and it would be a really good pasta salad.

[Pat]

On 6/1/2023 at 8:35 AM, dcandohio said:

Do you think that sauce would work as well for a cold pasta salad? Your post makes me think that one could use the sauce on a shorter pasta, and add some shrimp and perhaps some chopped vegetables, and it would be a really good pasta salad.

It should work fine. I served the last bit of that spaghetti today for lunch as part of a cold salad plate (also, strawberry tabbouleh and green salad), and it worked well. It tastes mostly like basil pesto, so anything where that would fit should be good. Let us know how it goes. I really thought shrimp were good with it.

Dinner was hamburgers on whole wheat buns with green leaf lettuce, tomato slices, and pickles; leftover rice pilaf; and, buttered wax beans.

[MsDiPesto]

This past Saturday night I made an attempt at replicating The Halal Guys chicken and rice, white sauce, and salad plate. I based it on the recipe in Serious Eats, but used the white sauce recipe "reverse-engineered" from a packet ingredient list by a guy on Thrillist. I have a "molecular mixology" kit so I was able to put a pinch of Xanthan Gum in the sauce to thicken it a bit as recommended. 

I was really happy with the results and learned some things to adjust for next time I make it. I used basmati rice to make the yellow turmeric rice. 

[Pat]

Pasta two ways tonight: Creamy Gnocchi Chicken Soup (don't think it really needed the sun-dried tomatoes but, overall, it was very good) and Rose's Strawberry Pasta (second recipe in this Post article). I used fresh linguine instead of spaghetti.

I think the Rose's recipe came out well. It's been so long since I've had it, it's hard to compare to my memory. What this had and I do remember is a mild, distinctive but not out-of-place, strawberry flavor. The recipe is not clear about what size can of tomatoes to use. It seemed like 14 oz. would be better than 28 oz., in order to be proportionate with the strawberries. I think one or two  more tomatoes might have been optimal, but a 28 oz. can would have been too much.

Good meal. We also had striata baguette from Radici.

 

 

[saf]

Stir fry tonight - I had leftover broccoli slaw bag. Well, half bag. So, some pork (chopped boneless pork chop.), some leftover broccoli, some leftover broccoli slaw, Thai chili mango sauce. Over brown rice, garnished with chopped peanuts. Also, salad. Oh, and sake!

We've been eating tons and tons of asparagus and strawberries, but no asparagus tonight. Strawberries will come later with dessert. Chocolate angel food cake, peach leaf ice cream, and strawberries.