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What are you making for dinner tonite?

What are you making for dinner tonite?
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  • Post #2041 - August 6th, 2022, 7:04 pm
    Post #2041 - August 6th, 2022, 7:04 pm Post #2041 - August 6th, 2022, 7:04 pm
    G Wiv wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote: my daily cooking time to another batch of breakfast bombs

    So healthy!

    Lol, well, they don't call them bombs for nothing, though the carrot kind of ruined it! :lol:

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2042 - August 7th, 2022, 6:40 pm
    Post #2042 - August 7th, 2022, 6:40 pm Post #2042 - August 7th, 2022, 6:40 pm
    Some cheeseburgers on the charcoal grill . . .

    Image
    Grilling, Pre-Cheese
    After ~3 minutes on each side directly over the coals, I was just about to put cheese on these and move them to the indirect side.

    Image
    Cheesed And Ready To Come Off
    This was after about 3 minutes, covered, on the indirect side.

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    Plated Up
    Dressed with lettuce, fried onions, homemade dill pickles and various condiments. Riding shotgun were a blob of the weekly slaw and a super spectacular ear of Mirai bi-color sweet corn.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2043 - August 7th, 2022, 8:29 pm
    Post #2043 - August 7th, 2022, 8:29 pm Post #2043 - August 7th, 2022, 8:29 pm
    first real dinner for friends in new house after we moved this week (just two blocks) and it was a real "let's just plate everything at the farmers market" situation:

    kale salad with parm and michigan dried cherries,
    grilled corn cut off cob,
    baguette with breakfast radishes and herb butter,
    grilled sword fish with chimichurri
    peach crème fraiche pie

    everything from wicker park this morning except the fish from dirks (and creme fraiche from the fridge)

    we love entertaining all year round but summer produce does make it easy
  • Post #2044 - August 8th, 2022, 6:47 pm
    Post #2044 - August 8th, 2022, 6:47 pm Post #2044 - August 8th, 2022, 6:47 pm
    annak wrote:we love entertaining all year round but summer produce does make it easy

    Definitely. It's great how many ingredients are in season, readily available and inexpensive . . . and we're not even at tomato season yet! :)

    With so many inbound vegetables right now, veggie fritter cakes felt like a good idea, with all the vegetables coming from our weekly CSA box . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki R2 Hammered Gyuto 210mm
    Diced/salted yellow tomato, eggs, minced jalapeno, scallions, grated carrot, corn starch, baking powder, salt, grated zucchini, black pepper, AP flour and Topo Chico.

    Kind of just eyeballed things and winged it until I had a batter that seemed about the right consistency. Dicing and salting the tomatoes up front was a decent way to gauge the amount of moisture they were going to give off and account for it in the batter.

    Image
    Vegetable Fritter Cakes
    Made a quick sauce with sour cream, horseradish, Dijon mustard and sambal. These were very good but I think next time I'd omit the egg to see if I could get them ever crispier. It is bemusing in the grand scheme of things how few vegetables I actually used to make these . . . probably about 8 scallions, one large carrot, one large zucchini, one jalapeno and two tomatoes. I barely made a dent in our inventory and this batch produced 16+ cakes. :o :lol:

    There was also a quick grill session . . .

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    Pork Shoulder Chops
    Back by popular demand. Easy-breezy all the way around. Lightly oiled and seasoned, these went directly over the coals for a few minutes to mark them. Then, once they'd all seen some direct heat, I moved them to the indirect side, covered the grill and let them go for another 4-5 minutes.

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    Charcoal-Grilled Pork Shoulder Chops

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    Plated Up
    With a pile of the weekly spicy-sweet cucumber salad.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2045 - August 10th, 2022, 6:40 pm
    Post #2045 - August 10th, 2022, 6:40 pm Post #2045 - August 10th, 2022, 6:40 pm
    Back to one tonight . . .

    Image
    Summer Squash Mise En Place & Saji R2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Zucchini & Yellow Squash*, salt, scallions, worcestershire sauce, white wine, minced garlic, evoo and black pepper.

    *This was only about half of the squash, so I went with the Matfer Bourgeat 15.75" carbon steel fry pan. That way, I could hit it with high heat and also have enough room for everything. I love the way the high temperature impacts the liquids when they hit the wok (via caramelization) and adds some delicious complexity to the final dish.

    Image
    Squash Cooking Hot & Fast
    I could barely lift the damn thing to jump the veggies -- it weighs over 8 pounds empty -- but I did the best I could and filled in with a silicone spoonula when I needed to. :D

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    Sauteed Summer Squash
    Garnished with borage flowers that I got from Tracey/Three Sisters Garden.

    Hard to believe that it had been nearly a month since I grilled bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. :o I had to set that right . . .

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    Grilling
    This chicken tasted fine but you can see the clear effects -- light in color, uneven doneness - of using substandard charcoal. This stuff is very light (like balsa wood). It burns hot for a brief time, then cools off quickly and unevenly. I'll be really glad when I'm finally through this bag. It should only be used for hot, fast cooks.

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    Plated Up
    With a blob of the weekly slaw.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2046 - August 11th, 2022, 6:31 pm
    Post #2046 - August 11th, 2022, 6:31 pm Post #2046 - August 11th, 2022, 6:31 pm
    Hard to believe that I hadn't made *Pad Ka Prao since last year. But we love the dish and our garden's currently bursting with several varieties of basil -- including Thai and Thai Holy -- so, it seemed like a great time to make it . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place & Saji R2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Dark/sweet soy, homegrown Thai/Holy basil leaves, Golden Mountain, fish sauce, garlic, Thai birds eye chiles, oyster sauce, veg oil, shallots and coarsely ground pork.

    From here, the garlic, chiles and shallots -- along with a touch of salt to help abrade -- went into the mortar, where I ground them into a coarse paste . . .

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    Garlic, Chile & Shallot Paste
    I don't think those turmeric stains -- from when I made satay a few weeks ago -- are ever coming out. :D

    After this, the paste gets fried briefly in veg oil and the pork is added. Once it's cooked, the sauce components get mixed in, the wok is removed from the heat and the basil leaves are stirred in to finish the dish.

    Also, we've been lucky with our homegrown tomatoes, so far this season. . .

    Image
    Tomato Salad
    The yellows came from our CSA box but the minis and the basil -- the third variety of basil we used in this meal -- came from our front yard garden.

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    Plated Up
    Okay, not technically *pad ka prao because I didn't use 100% Thai holy basil but still, a nice rendition. Garnished with some sunnyside-up quail eggs and flanked by a portion of spicy-sweet cucumber salad. I thought I had some leftover jasmine rice to reheat -- and it would have been perfect here -- but I didn't and by the time I realized it, it was too late to cook up a fresh batch.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2047 - August 11th, 2022, 8:47 pm
    Post #2047 - August 11th, 2022, 8:47 pm Post #2047 - August 11th, 2022, 8:47 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Mise En Place & Saji R2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Dark/sweet soy, homegrown Thai/Holy basil leaves,

    One of my favorite dishes, one of my favorite knives.

    Ronnie S, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #2048 - August 12th, 2022, 12:53 am
    Post #2048 - August 12th, 2022, 12:53 am Post #2048 - August 12th, 2022, 12:53 am
    G Wiv wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Mise En Place & Saji R2 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
    Dark/sweet soy, homegrown Thai/Holy basil leaves,

    One of my favorite dishes, one of my favorite knives.

    Ronnie S, count me a Fan!


    Couldn't agree more! Thanks to Ron, this dish (and endless stumbles and/or variations of it) have made it solidly into the family dinner rotation. Quick, easy and everyone loves it.
  • Post #2049 - August 12th, 2022, 6:30 am
    Post #2049 - August 12th, 2022, 6:30 am Post #2049 - August 12th, 2022, 6:30 am
    Ronnie,

    Looks great.

    I have never cooked with holy basil, but from what I have read, it is typically cooked longer than the thai basil. I think you cook the holy basil for a minute or 2 and just wilt the thai basil.
  • Post #2050 - August 12th, 2022, 7:35 am
    Post #2050 - August 12th, 2022, 7:35 am Post #2050 - August 12th, 2022, 7:35 am
    After three days at the lake cabin with my four-year-old granddaughter, SueF asked if I could make something with a real piece of meat when she got back.
    I found some Costco loin lamb chops (the mini T-bones) in the freezer, marinated them in olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and rosemary (all from the garden), garlic, a little dijon and a whole bunch of smoked paprika. These went on the gas grill, I kept them pretty rare.
    Earlier (because I had a meeting scheduled for just before she was to get home, which then got canceled last minute), I set up the rice cooker for polenta. I hadn't tried that before and scoured a few online recipes. It came out really good, but perhaps a little stiffer than needed -- a bit more liquid would be good, 4:1 doesn't seem to be enough:

    1) Turn on the rice cooker*, empty, and place in it
    1 shallot, minced
    2Tbs butter
    Cook until translucent, about 10 minutes
    2) Heat in the microwave:
    1C water with 1 rounded tsp Better-Than-Boullion (chicken)
    Add to that 1C milk and stir to dissolve the boullion
    Place 1/2C polenta and liquids in rice cooker, stir
    3) Stir occasionally, should be ready in 20 minutes. Add:
    1Tbs Chopped herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme from the garden)
    2/3 cup shredded parmegiano reggiano
    about 15 grinds black pepper
    1/2 tsp garum (or fish sauce or salt to taste)
    Stir and serve

    * None of the recipes mentioned if I should use the rice or porridge setting. I used the white rice setting, but perhaps there'd have been less evaporation with porridge?
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #2051 - August 14th, 2022, 6:28 pm
    Post #2051 - August 14th, 2022, 6:28 pm Post #2051 - August 14th, 2022, 6:28 pm
    JoelF wrote:* None of the recipes mentioned if I should use the rice or porridge setting. I used the white rice setting, but perhaps there'd have been less evaporation with porridge?

    Every bit of guidance I've seen on this says 'white rice setting,' so I think you dialed that in correctly. Maybe add a touch more liquid next time?

    Kind of an initial nod to fall for us tonight with half a 6-pound ribless roast from Costco. One half is wrapped and residing in the freezer. The other went onto the grill. So, in that respect, still one foot still firmly in summer . . .

    Image
    Trussed, Oiled & Seasoned
    Light olive oil, salt, black pepper and a few shakes of my BBQ rub.

    Also made a low-fuss side -- slow-cooked cremini mushrooms . . .

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    Mushroom Mise En Place & Konosuke SKD Tsuchime Gyuto, 240mm
    Black pepper, salt, shallots, minced garlic, red wine, evoo, cremini mushrooms and 2x gelatinous pork stock.

    As for the roast . . .

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    Smoke-Grilling
    This did not take long, maybe about 75 minutes, covered, on the indirect side. Used lump charcoal exclusively. Here, it was almost done -- 123.3F on its way to 130F -- and I was just rotating it one last time. Used those folded foil 'panels' to help baffle the heat above and below the grates. They seemed to work pretty well.

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    Slow-Cooked Mushrooms
    We do make mushrooms year-round but this is a particularly fall-friendly prep. In garlic/shallot/red wine/pork stock.

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    Plated Up
    With some more of Mrs. Suburban's famous instant-potted corn on the cob (yay, Summer!), a re-heated veggie fritter cake and some leftover roasted peppers from last week that have been marinating in evoo, a couple of vinegars and sliced garlic. They made for a really nice accompaniment with the rich, fatty roast. No, we're not there quite yet but fall's a'coming.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2052 - August 14th, 2022, 10:38 pm
    Post #2052 - August 14th, 2022, 10:38 pm Post #2052 - August 14th, 2022, 10:38 pm
    For the last two days (and the next two days), I have been using up a 7 day box of mail order Home Chef meals that I received from one of my neighbors earlier this week.

    My first comment about these kits is huge amount of packaging - two huge cardboard boxes, a large plastic liners that covers the inside of the box, TEN large ice packs, and that is just to keep the food cold. Each entree meal comes in a large plastic bag and each ingredient is wrapped in plastic packets, tubes and bottles. The ONLY thing that is NOT wrapped is the small amount of fresh produce. The kitchen tool that is most necessary is a set of kitchen shears to open up all of the packages. 70% of my trash this week will be all of the stuff from these boxes.

    My second comment is "why not buy the entrees premade?" The level of cooking in these meals is so basic, why bother doing it? A penne entree required me to brown off two Italian sausages and dump ingredients into a pan. The pasta was precooked . Another pasta entree required browning off two Italian sausages and cooking off a cup of pasta.

    The food was acceptable but I thought that it was rather bland. Considering that I am cooking for my wife and I as well as two elderly neighbors who do not cook, all of the food has been well accepted. While I am making efforts to put these entrees together per the instructions, I kept thinking that I could do a lot better than this from scratch.

    And the cost is considerable. The lady that gave me the boxes told me that it was $60 for a box of six meals (2 servings) while the website claimed $8.99 per portion. Either way, I do not think that there was $5 in food cost in any of the meals that I have seen. Also, the produce was not the freshest.

    ========================
    My wife asked me one question. If YOU were alone and had to cook meals, would you buy this? Absolutely NOT. If I did not want to cook, I would look at some of the fresh foods (entrees) - that are currently offered at Kroger, Safeway and Sprouts. And I would supplement it with some of the better frozen entrees out there. All of tehse are as good as the product we have been eating.
  • Post #2053 - August 15th, 2022, 6:59 pm
    Post #2053 - August 15th, 2022, 6:59 pm Post #2053 - August 15th, 2022, 6:59 pm
    jlawrence01 wrote:For the last two days (and the next two days), I have been using up a 7 day box of mail order Home Chef meals that I received from one of my neighbors earlier this week . . .

    Yeah, I understand the meal prep kits. At least, I think I know the intended market but they don't make any sense for me or anyone I can think of (and know personally). And yes, the packaging is beyond excessive. That's a shame.

    I was feeling a bit restless after work, so decided to focus myself by taking another stab (alternate take) at vegetable fritters . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place & Konosuke SKD Tsuchime Gyuto, 240mm
    Scallions, minced garlic, grated broccoli stems, chopped broccoli florets, grated carrot, grated zucchini, salt, black pepper, ap flour/corn starch/double acting baking powder and Topo.

    Wanted to try a different approach than the previous attempt, so I omitted the egg and also made these much more vegetable forward -- going for a straight fritter more than a fritter cake. In making 12+ units, I actually used everything in the pic, with the exception of a few broccoli florets, so a lot more vegetables than last time (1 large carrot, 2 zucchinis, 10 scallions, 2 broccoli crowns). It may have been a bit overly ambitious trying to include the broccoli in the first place. The florets were a bit too 3-dimensional and cutting them any smaller would have effectively disintegrated them. That said, they looked kind of cool poking out of the fritters and they tasted good.

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    Vegetable Fritters
    Crispy and veg-forward. I really liked these and would definitely take this approach again. Served with a sour cream/mayo/dijon/horseradish sauce.

    Also figured out a good use for some more of the cheap-ass charcoal I have on hand. Thinking hot and fast, big shrimp seemed like an ideal application . ..

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    Grilling
    U12 shrimp, peeled, de-veined, lightly oiled and seasoned in Manale spice mixture. By the time I laid the last one down, it was time to flip the first one. By the time I flipped the last one, it was time to take them off. By then, the charcoal was already fading but it didn't matter! :P

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    Plated Up
    Charcoal-grilled shrimp, veggie fritters and a stack of spicy-sweet cucumber salad.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2054 - August 18th, 2022, 7:20 pm
    Post #2054 - August 18th, 2022, 7:20 pm Post #2054 - August 18th, 2022, 7:20 pm
    Burger and dog night . . .

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    Hot Dog Prep & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Iceberg lettuce, yellow onion, homemade garlic dills and Kayam natural casing dogs (leftover from 4th of July).

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    Dogs Grilling
    About 8 minutes, covered, on the indirect side. Guessing these have quite a bit of sugar in them to have browned this quickly. But still, delicious.

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    Burgers Grilling
    About 6 minutes direct, flipping them once. Then, about 4 minutes, covered and indirect, placing the cheese on for the final 2 minutes. Still working down the brick of Extra Melt American that I bought in January but it's finally beginning to dwindle.

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    On The Platter
    Summer is slowly fading out but this was a nice way to hang onto it a bit.

    Speaking of hanging onto summer, there was also a homegrown tomato salad . . .

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    Homegrown Tomatoes
    Homegrown basil, burrata, evoo, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, salt and black pepper.

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    Plated Up
    Charcoal-grilled cheeseburger, tomato salad and a blob of the weekly slaw.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2055 - August 19th, 2022, 6:34 pm
    Post #2055 - August 19th, 2022, 6:34 pm Post #2055 - August 19th, 2022, 6:34 pm
    A very generous friend with excellent taste gifted me 5 pounds of gorgeous skirt steaks. Tonight, half of them were a perfect match for the seemingly bottomless bag of cheap-ass charcoal (burns hot and way too fast) that is now officially kaput! Before that, some side-dish prep . . .

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    Esquites Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Crema Oaxaquena, ancho chile powder, lime, mayonesa, cilantro and ground cotija. Confetti'd the cilantro, juiced the lime and mixed everything together to make a condiment for some charcoal-grilled sweet corn, which I cut off the cob after grilling. This season's sweet corn has been awesome but I'm starting to get a bit tired of topping it with butter and salt, so I went back to this preparation, which I hit pretty hard last year (but had not deployed so far this season). Always good to mix it up.

    Also, got some very nice chanterelles from our forager, who dropped off a couple pounds earlier this week. Figured that for the first pound, a quick saute in butter and garlic was a solid approach . . .

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    Chanterelle Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Black pepper, unsalted butter, chanterelles, garlic and salt. I was tempted to add some white wine or concentrated stock but then reminded myself to KISS. 8-)

    Image
    Sauteed Chanterelles
    Garnished with chives. Earthy, meaty and deliciously umami. A real treat.

    Back to the corn . . .

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    Grilling
    Lightly evoo'd. Cooked these direct for about 2 minutes (moving them frequently), then covered/indirect for another 4 minutes.

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    Charcoal-Grilled Skirt Steaks
    Not that I don't always try to get it right but I felt it was especially important when cooking such a fantastic gift.

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    Plated Up
    Charcoal-grilled skirt steaks, esquites and sauteed chanterelles. I still have about half the skirts left. They were outstanding and I'm really looking forward to cooking the rest of them soon. Each one is individually vacuum-sealed, so they should hold up very well for a few days.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2056 - August 21st, 2022, 6:36 pm
    Post #2056 - August 21st, 2022, 6:36 pm Post #2056 - August 21st, 2022, 6:36 pm
    Tonight, inspired by a fairly old video I watched recently at Souped Up Recipes' youtube channel, I decided to take a shot at Crispy Sichuan Beef . . .

    Image
    Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Leek tops (freezer stock), Shaoxing cooking wine, flank steak, sliced ginger and smashed homegrown garlic cloves. All this gets combined with a liter of water and simmered for about 15 minutes, after which the beef is allowed to cool and everything else is discarded. While the beef is simmering, it's time to make the spice blend . . .

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    Spices
    Dried, heaven-facing chiles (seeded), Spice Plate #1 (black cardamom pod, cumin seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, white peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks bay leaves and star anise) and Spice Plate #2 (salt, granulated sugar, sesame seeds, more cumin seeds). The chiles and everything from Spice Plate #1 are ground into a powder. After that, the contents of Spice Plate #2 are mixed in to the create the spice blend.

    While the beef is cooling, an infused oil is created to eventually fry it . . .

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    Oil Infusing
    This is a combo of veg and peanut oils -- with scallion, smashed garlic cloves, sliced ginger and sliced red onion -- that was started cold, then cooked over medium heat until the onions and garlic started to brown. At that point, the aromatics were discarded and the remaining oil was heated to 370F in preparation for frying the par-cooked beef which -- once cooled, after its simmer -- was cut into thin strips.

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    Fried Beef & Spice Mixture
    From here, the fried beef strips go back into the wok with a touch of the oil in which they were first cooked. That's joined by some/most/all of the spice mixture, depending on one's preference and palate.

    As Mandy describes in her video, the hardest part of this recipe comes next, as the finished dish needs to cool in the refrigerator for 3 hours before serving. The dish is best served cold and doing so allows the flavors to meld.

    Image
    Crispy Beef
    Garnished with scallions.

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    Plated Up
    With spicy-sweet cucumber salad, homegrown tomato salad and a fresh batch of jasmine rice.

    Yeah, it was a tough 3 hours waiting for it to cool down and congeal but it was definitely worth it. This is a really fun dish and I expect I'll make it again. As for what I might do differently next time, I'd probably cut the star anise in half, using only half a piece and I cut probably cut the salt by about a third. Mandy recommends using 1.5 teaspoons for 1.5 pounds of meat. I think 1 teaspoon would probably be enough. Also, a couple of substitution notes: Mandy used brisket but I think flank steak worked out pretty well. Also, she used scallions in the initial aromatic simmer but as long as I had some leek tops in the freezer, that seemed like a fine way to go.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2057 - August 21st, 2022, 8:30 pm
    Post #2057 - August 21st, 2022, 8:30 pm Post #2057 - August 21st, 2022, 8:30 pm
    Salad night. Free 8oz sirloin from Jewel grilled rare sliced for two, cucumber from the garden, head lettuce, red bell pepper, canned artichoke, solona olives from Fresh Farms, cubed avocado, goat cheese with sun dried tomato and garlic, croutons.

    Dressing was an experiment that worked well: 100ml EVOO, about 75 red wine vinegar, clove of garlic, a half dozen pitted kalamatas, half tsp dried thyme, tsp Dijon, tsp tomato paste, s&p. Hit with the boat motor. A little sharper than I usually make my dressings, but with all the rich ingredients worked really well, except for the pureed liver color.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #2058 - August 22nd, 2022, 6:21 pm
    Post #2058 - August 22nd, 2022, 6:21 pm Post #2058 - August 22nd, 2022, 6:21 pm
    JoelF wrote:Dressing was an experiment that worked well: 100ml EVOO, about 75 red wine vinegar, clove of garlic, a half dozen pitted kalamatas, half tsp dried thyme, tsp Dijon, tsp tomato paste, s&p. Hit with the boat motor. A little sharper than I usually make my dressings, but with all the rich ingredients worked really well, except for the pureed liver color.

    LOL, nice. As long as there was no liver in it . . . :lol: Do you ever run into any issues when you machine the evoo? I find it can sometimes take on some bitterness when I do it.

    Received some dried cranberry beans in our weekly CSA box, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to de-pod them, cook up a pot and get RID of some dangling refrigerator items in the process . . .

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    Bean Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Cranberry beans (soaked overnight but probably not necessary), slitted jalapeno & serrano peppers, Chinese celery stalk & leaves, black pepper, salt, red onion, leftover 'grill' sausage, scallions, minced garlic and evoo. I usually go strictly vegan on my beans but as long as I had the leftover sausage on hand, I figured I might as well toss it in there.

    It's been a fun few days with the Takamura. IMO, this would be an excellent gift for a home cook (like myself) who wants to try out a low-maintenance, easy-care, Japanese-crafted knife that highlights well many of the fundamental differences between Japanese and Western knives. It's light, nimble, well-balanced, versatile, and it holds its edge quite well. But the Western handle is also a 'gateway' attribute that would make it easier for someone just getting started with J-Knives to make the transition.

    Okay, on to the main course, which were some more charcoal-grilled pork shoulder chops. This time, they were marinated for about 24 hours in a mixture of black hatcho miso, red miso and sake before they hit the grill. I've done this many times with cross-cut beef short ribs but never before with pork chops. They turned out very nicely.

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    Grilling
    Marked them briefly on both sides over the charcoal, then shingled them on the indirect side of the grill and cooked them for a few more minutes, covered. About halfway through the indirect portion of the cooking, I reversed the shingling to promote more even cooking.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Pork & Beans, the hard way! :D Riding shotgun are a blob of the weekly slaw and the last of some leftover/reheated creminis.

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2059 - August 22nd, 2022, 7:32 pm
    Post #2059 - August 22nd, 2022, 7:32 pm Post #2059 - August 22nd, 2022, 7:32 pm
    tonight we did a quick first-day-of-school dinner by necessity, but it was pretty fine. on sheet pan slicked with olive oil, toss diced pancetta, halved brussel sprouts, a thinly sliced onion, and a pack of fridge-fresh gnocchi. roast at 400 for 20 mins or so, then top with shaved parm and a drizzle of nice olive oil.
  • Post #2060 - August 22nd, 2022, 9:04 pm
    Post #2060 - August 22nd, 2022, 9:04 pm Post #2060 - August 22nd, 2022, 9:04 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Do you ever run into any issues when you machine the evoo? I find it can sometimes take on some bitterness when I do it.


    Not that I've noticed. My go-to olive oil is Kirkland Organic, which is pretty neutral... and I pack a lot of other flavors in, so maybe I'm missing it. I do try to blend only until it's emulsified.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #2061 - August 23rd, 2022, 6:40 pm
    Post #2061 - August 23rd, 2022, 6:40 pm Post #2061 - August 23rd, 2022, 6:40 pm
    JoelF wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Do you ever run into any issues when you machine the evoo? I find it can sometimes take on some bitterness when I do it.


    Not that I've noticed. My go-to olive oil is Kirkland Organic, which is pretty neutral... and I pack a lot of other flavors in, so maybe I'm missing it. I do try to blend only until it's emulsified.

    The reason I ask is because I had the bitterness issue come up a few times in the past (after machine-blending evoo) and eventually did some digging to figure out what was going on. But for a variety of reasons, it doesn't appear to be a universal result. Here's an interesting piece about it in Serious Eats:

    Does Blending Olive Oil Make It More Bitter?

    Tonight it was a kind-of-special, meatless prep . . .

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    Mise En Place & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Chicken Of The Woods mushrooms, minced ginger, minced garlic, cauliflower florets, fried tofu, broccoli florets, Kishibori shoyu and avocado oil.

    Got the COW's from our forager, who excitedly informed me that they were pristine. She was certainly correct about that. I decided to cut them into strips and treat them like a lean protein. So, tonight's stir-fry was done in two phases. Did the COW's first in a bit of avocado oil, shoyu and garlic. Once they'd cooked and been removed from the wok, in went the rest of the veg and the tofu. When they'd all cooked, I plated them up and topped them with the COW's . . .

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    Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms & Veg/Tofu Stir Fry
    Garnished these with scallion tops that released an intoxicating aroma which was unlocked by the heat of the food beneath them. And wow! The COW's were really meaty and savory. Texturally, they were pleasantly fibrous like chicken breast but less dry and way better. I've had COW's before but the ones I had in the past did not compare to these.

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    Plated Up
    Garnished with a generous drizzle of homemade G Wiv-recipe chile oil. Served it all with some leftover/reheated jasmine rice and some incidental pickles (formerly cucumber salad that has now fermented :lol:).

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2062 - August 23rd, 2022, 7:07 pm
    Post #2062 - August 23rd, 2022, 7:07 pm Post #2062 - August 23rd, 2022, 7:07 pm
    Thanks for the olive oil link, interesting. I always pile on the garlic, so if it is bitter, I'm not getting it past the garlic.

    Ya gotta hook me up with your mushroom guy, though. I can't even get my brother who forages regularly to share.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #2063 - August 24th, 2022, 6:26 pm
    Post #2063 - August 24th, 2022, 6:26 pm Post #2063 - August 24th, 2022, 6:26 pm
    JoelF wrote:Ya gotta hook me up with your mushroom guy, though. I can't even get my brother who forages regularly to share.

    I've already reached out and will let you know what they say. :)

    More snausages tonight. Back to our current favorite combo of 'grill' sausages and lamb/beef cevaps. Since the cevaps are not encased and we were mostly side-dishing with leftovers, there wasn't much to cut but it being National Knife Day, I celebrated by slicing up a few onions for frying and scoring the 'grill' sausages . . .

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    Mise En Place & Enjin Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Salt, black pepper, avocado oil, 'grill' sausages, yellow onions, and sweet Hungarian paprika.

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    Grilling
    Went indirect and covered most of the way on these but did move the grill sausages over the fire at the end to give them a bit of extra char.

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    Plated Up
    With a blob of the weekly slaw, homemade cherry bomb sambal, yellow mustard and some leftover/reheated squash medley.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2064 - August 26th, 2022, 6:44 pm
    Post #2064 - August 26th, 2022, 6:44 pm Post #2064 - August 26th, 2022, 6:44 pm
    Grilling up the back end of the 5 pounds of gifted skirt steaks I received last week. But first, working through some fridge fodder for side-dishery . . .

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    Green Bean Mise En Place & Middleton AEBL Echo Chef Knife, 8-inch
    Rice vinegar, black pepper, salt, sliced garlic, diced red jalapeno, green beans and evoo.

    Image
    Green Beans
    This is a riff on the sauteed green beans from Mosca's in Westwego, LA.

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    Chanterelle Mise En Place & Middleton AEBL Echo Chef Knife, 8-inch
    Black pepper, salt, minced shallot, minced garlic, unsalted butter, wild chanterelles and dry vermouth.

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    Chanterelles
    A bastardization of a fairly classical take, using the shallots and dry vermouth. You can tell from the numerous accordion cuts on the chives, the Middleton and I will need some time to get fully adjusted to each other. :roll:

    Last but certainly not least, there were skirt steaks . . .

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    Charcoal-Grilled Skirt Steaks
    These really were a wonderful gift to receive. It's great to have friends who 'meat' your needs! :lol:

    Image
    Plated Up
    Not a bad way to end the work week. :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2065 - August 28th, 2022, 7:48 am
    Post #2065 - August 28th, 2022, 7:48 am Post #2065 - August 28th, 2022, 7:48 am
    Quack Quack

    click to enlarge
    Image

    Duck, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #2066 - August 28th, 2022, 6:44 pm
    Post #2066 - August 28th, 2022, 6:44 pm Post #2066 - August 28th, 2022, 6:44 pm
    G Wiv wrote:Duck, count me a Fan!

    If that's coming my way, I have no intention of ducking! :P

    I was out for dinner last night but before I went out, I did start a marinade for tonight's dinner . . .

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    Thai-Style Chicken Marinade Mise En Place & Middleton AEBL Echo Chef Knife, 8-inch
    Avocado oil, palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, Thai chile powder, lime zest, lemongrass, Thai birds eye chiles and minced garlic.

    This is a marinade recipe I pieced together a while back (from a few sources) when I wanted to make a Thai-style flank steak. That turned out pretty good, so I figured I'd give it a shot again, this time with chicken thighs and a ~24-hour soak.

    This afternoon, after the skies darkened and the monsoon arrived, I still had some marinated chicken to grill. I tried to wait it out and got everything else ready first . . .

    Image
    Homegrown Tomato & Basil Salad
    With some Wisconsin burrata. I think it's the beginning of the end of our tomato crop this season but it's been a great one so far.

    Rain still falling, it was time to grill. I raised the patio umbrella and got the charcoal started. Way too rainy and dark for any action shots (I was fairly soaked even after taking ~90 seconds to retrieve the chicken), I did manage a couple of hastily lit shots of the finished stuff . . .

    Image
    Thai-Style Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Thighs
    The wet marinade impeded some browning but the skin was still moderately crispy and the chicken itself was great. I'm really happy with this marinade and will definitely use it again soon.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Chicken thighs, tomato salad and some instant-potted corn on the cob; buttered and dusted with some Thai-inspired spice mix.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2067 - August 29th, 2022, 6:18 pm
    Post #2067 - August 29th, 2022, 6:18 pm Post #2067 - August 29th, 2022, 6:18 pm
    Yesterday's heavy rain plumped many of our tomatoes to the brink of splitting, so we plucked a few more out of the garden today and paired them up with a bunch of other items -- some from our CSA box and some from our fridge -- to make a big salad . . .

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    Mise En Place & Enjin Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Dressing stuff on the right: evoo, red wine vinegar, "special" Greek vinegar, balsamic vinegar, minced shallot, microplaned garlic (hiding behind the handle), and Dijon mustard.
    Salad stuff on the left (everything but the iceberg/romaine/arugula): ground cherries, homegrown tomatoes, leftover corn, bell pepper, blanched broccoli florets, roasted/marinated bell peppers, red onion, pickled garlic (reclaimed from a jar of homemade garlic dill pickles), Castelvetrano olives, and scallions. It all came together nicely . . .

    Image
    Plated Up
    I usually add a touch of honey or another sweet component to the dressing but this particular bottle of balsamic is really sweet (as were the ground cherries), so I figured it might end up being unnecessary. Guessed right.

    There was also a pizza delivery involved, which I agreed to . . . as long as everyone else agreed to eat the salad! :roll:

    Happy Monday! :)

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2068 - August 30th, 2022, 6:41 pm
    Post #2068 - August 30th, 2022, 6:41 pm Post #2068 - August 30th, 2022, 6:41 pm
    Once again, working through some older items, as we're getting inundated with produce right now. Since I had a quart of homemade shrimp stock on hand, I decided on a shrimp-focused vegetable soup . . .

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    Mise En Place & Saji G3 Ginsan Nakiri, 165mm
    Avocado oil, red bell pepper, shrimp stock, coarsely chopped garlic, carrot, assorted onions (mostly leftover odds and ends), homegrown garlic scapes, seared u26 shrimp (salt, black pepper, paprika), celery ribs & leaves, kale, black pepper and salt.

    Sauteed the seasoned shrimp briefly in a bit of avocado oil and once they were done, moved them to a holding dish. From there, I sweated everything else (minus about 50% the carrot and 25% of the garlic) in the same pan. Once it was all aromatic, I dumped in the shrimp stock, covered the pot and let it all simmer for about an hour, checking/stirring it every 15 minutes or so. When everything had fully softened, I hit it with the stick blender and pureed it.

    At that point, the soup was very sweet (fresh summer produce, dontcha' know?), so I ground a few dried shiitakes into a powder and added it. Better but still not quite there. Mrs. Suburban then suggested adding some fish sauce. What?! Are you insane?! But yes, that did the trick. Salt, umami and a nice reinforcement of the shrimpiness of it all. After that, in went the remainder of the carrot and the garlic, which I let simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Then, it was ready to serve . . .

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    Plated Up
    Vegetable-Shrimp Soup, toasted/buttered baguette. Garnished with chives and a drizzle of evoo.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2069 - September 1st, 2022, 7:13 pm
    Post #2069 - September 1st, 2022, 7:13 pm Post #2069 - September 1st, 2022, 7:13 pm
    Dinner was inspired by a lunchtime trip yesterday to the Patel Brothers store near my office in Niles . . .

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    Seekh Kabob Mise En Place & Gihei Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Minced jalapeno, minced cilantro, Seekh kabob seasoning (store-bought), minced onion, minced garlic and ground lamb & beef.

    While I was at the market yesterday, I remembered I had the Seekh kabob seasoning mix at home and while I didn't buy anything there that went into the kabobs (or this meal at all), it reminded me to give the stuff a try. Not bad but I'm confident I can find a better recipe and make the spice mixture from scratch next time.

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    Kabobs/Patties
    Cooking on a Weber kettle, skewers tend to get in the way, so I just formed the kilogram of meat mixture into 16 ovular patties.

    There was also another Indian-inspired side dish . . .

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    Dal Fry Mise En Place & Gihei Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
    Soaked masoor dal, Spice Plate #1 (for tadka/tempering): asafoetida, Kashmiri chile powder, dried Kashmiri chiles, sliced garlic), Spice Plate #2: turmeric, Kashmiri chile powder, cumin seeds and salt, minced ginger, red onion, minced jalapeno, minced garlic and ghee.

    Scraped the internet for a dal fry recipe and came up with a very good one. This goes together pretty much as a normal pot of beans, with one exception: Spice Plate #1 is held back until serving, when some hot, melted ghee gets poured over it to form a tadka. That tadka, which is basically an infused oil, is drizzled over the top of the dal when it's served. While the lentils cooked, it was time to grill . . .

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    Grilling
    Only room for 8 at a time over the coals, so once the first 8 were marked, I moved them over and marked the second set.

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    Grilling Indirect
    Once they were all marked, I moved them to the indirect side, covered the grill and let them cook for another 3 minutes. At that point, their internal temperature was ~140F, which seemed about right.

    Image
    Plated Up
    Seekh kabobs, dal fry, a quickie yogurt sauce (yogurt, cilantro, lemon juice, sambal, ground cumin and grated cucumber) and some leftover/reheated jasmine rice.

    Ironically, nothing I bought at Patel Brothers yesterday ended up in this meal but hopefully, I'll put a few of those items to use soon.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2070 - September 3rd, 2022, 2:01 pm
    Post #2070 - September 3rd, 2022, 2:01 pm Post #2070 - September 3rd, 2022, 2:01 pm
    Day-before prep on some spicy-sweet, Korean-style cucumber salad . . .

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    Persian Cucumber Coins & Moritaka AS Gyuto, 210mm
    The coins will get salted, drained and eventually mixed with a spicy-sweet, Korean-inspired dressing (gochujang, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, toasted sesame oil, etc). This salad has begun to supplant slaw as our 'weekly' salad but this batch will be for a group dinner tomorrow.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world

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