What's for dinner #154 - Dog Days of Summer Edition [old]

[roxlet]

With non-stop heat continuing here in the NE, our dinners continue to be largely made outside. Tonight will be grilled pizza with mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella and anchovies.

We envy those of you complaining about cold weather. Bring it here, please! My stove is calling to me!

[LindaWhit]

....delete.....

[LindaWhit]

I've started a new thread here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/858751

[gingershelley]

Not alot of interesting cooking here the last few days. Friday was the West Seattle street fair with friends, and just ate a wood-fired pizza shared with friends, part of a grilled bratwurst, and then to a street-side resto to people watch from the sidewalk tables, drink beer and eat too much guacamole n chips.
Yesterday being Bastille Day, cooked an onglette steak with blue cheese and grilled marinated mushrooms, and the favorite - the Frenchman's potatoes gratin (w/out him) for a couple friends.
Went late to a Bastille party at a local french cafe and enjoyed oysters and champagne, and beginning my trolling for a NEW Frenchman! I really like the cuisine and POV, so perhaps I can reprise with a new model.... we shall see. A couple interesting prospects, indeed:).

I think tonight will be a roast chicken, all of the recent chicken posts calling my name! Shall brine one before heading out to a late lunch, and then shall see if weather stays nasty today, I will roast, if it gets nicer, will probably give it the beer-can chicken treatment. Zuchinni and corn on the side either way, and probably an avocado and tomato salad - kind of 'the usual's" for sides these days.

[Berheenia]

Maybe you should go Italian?
Just kidding around- but they are plentiful in our area!

[gingershelley]

Berheenia - Italian - that's what I allways thought I wanted, but he turned out to be too fiery - like this redhead! The French reserve is a good balance for me... so we shall see:)

[Harters]

Onglet, mushrooms and spuds gratin. Perfect.

[gingershelley]

Merci, Harters. Was going to make garlic sauteed spinach, but we gals got to talking, and when they dug into the gratin, no one seemed to care anymore:) Oh, or maybe that was the wine?

[Harters]

We don't do the classic British Sunday roast at Harters Hall. Except today, we do.

We're starting with a little quiche (bought) and salad.

Following that with a simple roast chicken, roast spuds, mashed swede, steamed cabbage, gravy.

And finishing with a summer pudding which will have been sitting in the fridge for 24 hours getting ever fruitier and squidgy. We've used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and redcurrants - and plasticky white supermarket bread of course.

[GretchenS]

You know, I can just taste that fabulous Sunday roast dinner, John, it is just what my hosts gave me on arrival at their place near Evesham on a Sunday in mid- April. There is nothing better! Enjoy....

[gingershelley]

Oh, Harters, I LOVE summer pudding! And all the rest of the Sunday Roast meal sounds delish as well. Turned all blustery here today, so may have to join in on the roast chicken bandwagon.

[weezieduzzit]

As soon as I can get the man to put some pants on and go light the grill we'll be cooking a couple of whole butterflied chickens that have been marinading in Mojo Criollo marinade since some time yesterday (I really like leftover chicken this way for salads.) A big green salad will be on the side with cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden. I bought a few bags of frozen mango pulp that I think will be introduced to some lemon lime soda and a generous glug of Malibu rum. We'll see how it goes.

[thesunflower]

not a typical saturday night dinner, but really good ....yellow squash ribbons browned in skillet with oo, black eyed peas, corn cakes, sliced tomatoes and sliced cucumbers;

[Dirtywextraolives]

Two racks of baby back ribs were rubbed down last night, then gently braised this morning in apple juice. They will be going on the charcoal grill. Boiled up some yukons & pee wees, going to smoosh them down a bit & make them crispy with some bread crumbs & cheese. Some local sweet corn and a green lettuce salad with apples, smoked almonds, croutons & a creamy mustard dressing on the side. Pineapple pound cakes sundaes for dessert.

[LindaWhit]

Mmm.....haven't done baby back ribs in a long time. Will have to keep an eye for them on sale.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Yes they were a good price; plus couldn't fit them in in the camping trip so it's a pre-vacation teaser!

[chefj]

Korean Braised Short ribs, Galbi Jjim with Potatoes, Carrots and Daikon.
Its about 65 here and the suns not down yet.

[steve h.]

Hi chefj,
I miss Seoul: good food, good people.

[mariacarmen]

korean short ribs = yum.

[LindaWhit]

Headed up to Mom's to help her out with some stuff, and I took her out for an early birthday lunch at Bob Lobster's just at the beginning of Plum Island, MA. What did we have? Silly peeples. Lobster rolls, of course! Although the price of them was WAY beyond what I expected them to be, considering that lobbies are going for $3.99/lb. in supermarkets. They were still good - excellent french fries as well.

Dinner was going to be braciole. Yeah. I know. 90+ degree weather doesn't call for braciole. But I was kind of liking the idea of it. That "what the hell are you thinking?" type of craving. However, I got home too late to start it, so I'm going with a beef and broccoli stir-fry.

1/3 cup of dry sherry, maybe a little more
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

The above was all shaken together in a jar and set aside.

3/4 lb. flap steak
2 cups broccoli florets
2 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the beef slices until just barely done, about 2 minutes. Remove from pan.

Add remaining oil to the pan and heat until hot. Add broccoli, carrots, and onion and stir-fry until almost done, about 4-5 minutes. Return beef to pan, and then add the sherry-ginger mixture to the pan. Continue stirring until the sauce has thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Serve over rice.

We'll see how it comes out. :-)

Oh - and wine for the cook.

[LindaWhit]

OK, that didn't have any oomph at ALL. Rather bland. Lots more garlic, and LOTS more ginger are needed. As well as salt. Oh well, at least I can jazz up the leftovers.

I hope. :-)

[mariacarmen]

lobstah lobstah lobsta - real and fake - everyone's doin' the lobstah! jealous i am, mighty jealous.

LW, your stir fry sounds yum.

[LindaWhit]

Well, I hope you read it had no oomph. Silly me. I actually thought 2 tsp. of freshly grated ginger would be enough? As I said, I can jazz up the leftovers. :-)

[mariacarmen]

just read. yeah, sorry, hate when i underseason. i love very bold flavors too.

[nomadchowwoman]

Last night my plans for Thai-style Mussels went awry, mid-prep, when I opened my sack of mussels and discovered they were all bad. Not sure how I missed that when I picked them up at a (very stupid)market, but had to toss them. So confronted with the need for a plan B and already into a cocktail, I pulled out some chicken liver pate and we had that on baguette slices.

Then I caved to one of DH's standing requests and made spaghetti carbonara (because you can't have too much fat in one sitting, right?). Mine's not really authentic in that I caramelize onions for it, use speck, and add a little cream, but DH loves it nonetheless. In a little nod to vegetables, we had a side salad of lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

About to brave the monsoon and go out in search of fresh mussels so I can try again tonight. Not sure what will accompany yet.

[ChristinaMason]

that blows about the mussels! ugh!

dinner sounds like a good save, though.

[LindaWhit]

That stinks about the mussels. I would have triple-bagged them and brought them back to the (very stupid)market for my money back. Hope you find some good ones today!

[gingershelley]

+1 on the return; did that a while back with a dungeness crab and a dozen oysters... the shellfish tag on the oysters indicated they had been harvested 10 days before - gross! Got the Frenchman back over $50 bucks... to me, no excuse for a store selling bad shellfish!

[Dirtywextraolives]

I had to do that to a pound of clams recently, such a bummer, but better safe than sick, right?!

[Bacardi1]

Last night we had a favorite quicky - "Fake Krab Rolls". Very simply, buttered toasted top-split hot dog rolls lined with lettuce & arugula, then topped with fake "krab" chunks tossed with some Hellmann's mayo & chopped fresh tarragon.

[MaryContrary]

Just happen to have some fake krab. welll, lobster actually. Was wondering how it would be as a "lobster roll" Pretty good. I'd imagine. Think I'll give it a try. Usually, we just mix it with the Hellman's and a bit of chopped celery and have it with really fresh saltines. And what's with the 30-oz. quarts of mayo? I think Duke's is the only one still maintaining a 32-oz. quart, but we don't like it quite as well.

[PHREDDY]

There was a thread on this new size packaging some time ago.....

[MaryContrary]

I figured as much Phreddy. Just me gritchen'.

[PHREDDY]

I know I do a lot phitchen myself about this issue.

[mariacarmen]

both Bacardi1's and MaryContrary's preps sound really good - i've never thought to make anything with Krab With A K! going to have to try that.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

We did the fast food value menu thing last night, as we were buying fencing supplies at the hardware store and realised that there was no way we could wait to go grocery shopping, go home and then cook whatever it was we bought. So dinner was nothing special, but I do love how you can order green chile on pretty much every burger in the city.

Fencing and gardening supplies seem to have eaten up a significant portion of our food budget, so we're cooking our own value menu until I get paid next week. Bought 2 whole chickens yesterday, so I suspect there will be a lot of chicken in my future. Tonight I'm doing an Indian(ish) curry from a boxed spice mix that I have in the cupboard for just such occasions (it's better than using cheap curry powder, but not nearly as good as toasting and grinding my own spices). Curry will have chicken pieces (thighs and legs, probably) and yellow summer squash. Rice underneath, yogurt and some something spicy on top, to offset the blandness of the boxed spice mix (I've got sambal and some cheap imitation tabasco). Of course, I can never just stop at a normal stretching-the-paycheck value menu and am currently eyeing recipes for potato samosas and fresh apricot chutney I may be able to simplify to the ingredients I have on hand. We'll see. My lack of onions is proving to make things difficult.

[mariacarmen]

your chicken curry sounds wonderful. glad you're enjoying your new digs so much!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I ended up doing the samosas after all (Julie Sahni's spicy potato samosas) and they really overshadowed the chicken, even though I had to skip the peas and replace the onion with a combo of celery and garlic. I even found a really simple recipe for apricot-lime chutney (courtesy of Mollie Katzen) that didn't call for anything I didn't have, and it was a perfect match. I think the neighbours must think I'm crazy, always scrounging around on the ground for the ripe apricots that have already fallen (the ones on the trees are still green)! And yeah, the new digs are great. It's strange -- I feel more like myself than I have in years.

[gingershelley]

Oh BBL! That is the most delightful thing to hear ' I feel more like myself than I have in years" kuddos to you for that - a wonderful place to inhabit is our most authentic selves. Seems the move has done you good!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Thanks! It really is and it really has.

[GretchenS]

BBL, it is so thrilling to hear you sound so happy after making such a bold, courageous move! Kudos to you! And yummysounding meal too...

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Thanks -- I'm pretty thrilled myself. It was definitely one of those decisions that could go either way.

[LindaWhit]

"It's strange -- I feel more like myself than I have in years."

This makes me smile. :-)

[BananaBirkLarsen]

:)

[mariacarmen]

that's a GREAT way to feel, BBL, really! i know what you mean. i moved here (SF) from L.A. almost 15 years ago and felt like I finally breathed a sigh of relief. very happy for you!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

It's strange what a relief it is, isn't it? Aside from the Bay Area (where we once spent 3 really wonderful days on vacation), I just never really fit in California. Fresno, in particular did not suit me at all (or anyone I knew there, actually -- they were all kind of miserable). I do miss the amazing opportunities for foraging fruit, though. There were citrus and olive and pomegranate trees everywhere, and people would just let the fruit rot.

[LindaWhit]

Lord, when I think of food banks that could use the fruit and veggies that the owners/renters do nothing with....

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I know! The worst was when you'd see a tree in someone's yard, with fruit rotting all over the ground and you'd ask the owner if you could pick a few of the ones still left on the tree and they'd say, "What, you don't think I want it?" No. No I don't. Because you're clearly letting it rot.

[mariacarmen]

i am so glad you're out of there.

[prima]

There's a charity in Toronto called Not Far from the Tree http://www.notfarfromthetree.org/abou... that picks fruit off peoples' trees, if they register their fruit trees with the charity. I'm not sure which cities or regions have similar charities. The pickings are split 3 ways- the owner gets 1/3, the volunteer picker gets 1/3, and the food bank gets 1/3 . My friend ended up with lots of cherries after volunteering.

[LindaWhit]

I love this idea!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

This is a great idea! I wonder if there's anything like that in Santa Fe -- I would love to volunteer.

[GretchenS]

If there isn't, maybe you could start it -- great way to meet new friends! Easy for me to say, it would probably be a lot of work, even if very interesting.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

It would be a lot of work, and probably really interesting too! But apparently there's a frost most years that happens after all of the fruit trees have flowered. According to the neighbour I was talking to, the trees only produce fruit every 4 or 5 years. This happens to be one of the lucky years, but I don't know how something like this would work in the long run.

Where I'd love to start something is back in Fresno (except I have no desire to move back there) -- so many fruit trees and so many poor people. It would be a perfect match. Maybe I should post a link to the Not Far from the Tree site on the California board and see if anyone there wants to give it a try.

[Harters]

Our local council is planning to plant twelve community orchards round the borough, including one in our "village". Apparently, we'll be getting 150 trees including apple, pear, plum, damson, cherry, walnut, hazel and greengage. Dunno how it's going to be managed but it seems like a great idea.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

You see, I love things like this! We don't have a whole orchard here, but there is a walking/biking trail that is lined in sections with apricot and apple trees. If you're going to plant a tree anyway, why not make it something useful?

[Harters]

We have a small (and not very good) farmers market in the village once a month. I'd like to hope that the orchard stuff will find its way to be sold there. I think it's going to be grown on a wildlife conservation area and that would raise valuable funds for the group which manages it.

[gingershelley]

Search for 'Urban Fruit Gleaning", or similar, and you will find a variety of articles, groups and links to similar projects all over BBL....

[nomadchowwoman]

Another smile for you, BBL.

[gingershelley]

Nice work on a limited budget BBL! The garden supplies will pay off down the road, no doubt...

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I certainly hope so! I haven't planted a garden since I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, so it's a bit of an experiment, but things seem to be going well so far. And my boyfriend is building a fence! Which is also an experiment.

[scubadoo97]

The other day while I took some scallops and vacuumed packed them with a little lime juice. zest and evoo, S&P, let them marinade for an hour or so and then removed them and hot smoked them. I had purchased a bunch of salmon from Costco and did both a cold smoke on some and a hot smoke on some while I was at it.

I cut the scallops into slices and topped a fennel/celery salad with it. A nice light dinner but rich in flavor.

[steve h.]

Perfect summer meal.

[roxlet]

Today my husband is auditioning for a cooking show with Anthony Bordain and Nigella Lawson. He will be given 3 minutes to plate a dish, so last night we had the two dishes he will be plating for his audition: chili lobster and Thai chicken wings served with salted mango. They were both amazing, but he didn't finish until after 10PM, so a very late dinner! Apparently, the show is auditioning home cooks, and with a little sleuthing, I figured it will be the American version of an Australian show called My Kitchen Rules, which pairs home cooks with professionals. Having spent 20 years in the TV business, I know all these cattle calls are long shots, but my husband is an excellent cook, and pretty cute too, so I have my fingers crossed. He needs some fun in his life that's not provided by going to squash tournaments with my son, and this sure would be it!

[scubadoo97]

That's really cool. Good luck

[steve h.]

That's a cool story. Keep us posted as things develop.

[ChristinaMason]

awesome! tell him to break a leg.

[nomadchowwoman]

Best of luck to your husband, roxlet. The menu sounds fabulous.

[LindaWhit]

VERY cool, roxlet! I've read about this shown - going to be on CNN, I think? (It's been noted on the Food Media board as well). It sounds a bit similar to Master Chef, but not quite?

Good luck to him!

[mariacarmen]

that is the coolest thing ever!! i hope he gets it .... but why aren't YOU trying out for that gig??

[GretchenS]

Very exciting roxlet, fingers crossed, that would be really fun!!! And the two dishes sound incredible...

[roxlet]

Thanks for the good wishes! He made it past the first round, which is the tasting portion of the festivities. The interview will be on Tuesday, so we'll see how it goes then. Having spent a lot of years in the biz, I have zero interest in doing something like this myself, but I'm cheering him on!

[LindaWhit]

Oh, this is just great, roxlet! More good luck to him!

[mariacarmen]

that is HUGE that he made it through the first round! congratulate him for us!

[GretchenS]

Congrats to mr rox, that is quite an achievement!

[gingershelley]

How exciting! Keep us posted on how it goes! Bourdain was just in SEA filming 'the layover', and a couple of friends in the biz got to do scenes with him at their places. He's pretty fun in person I hear.

[roxlet]

My husband met him at a party at the Frankfurt Book Fair about 7 or so years ago. Very tall, and at that time, smoking like a chimney.

[Harters]

Dinner comes from the cookbook of the week - "Marvellous Meals with Mince", Josceline Dimbleby, 1982. This is one of series of small books published by our supermarket in the early.mid 1980s and it's one of the most used at Harters Hall over the years. It was a bit difficult trying to find a recipe that we hadnt already cooked. So, from the the Minced Lamb chapter - lamb pie (although it's one of those pies that has a potato, not pastry, topping).

The lamb is browned along with garlic, caraway seeds and cinnamon. Goes into an ovenproof dish and is topped with sliced precooked beetroot. A cornflour/milk/sour cream sauce is heated until gloopy and it then tops the lamb mix. Very thick slices of potato (25 - 50mm) go on top and it gets an hour or thereabouts in the oven. Spuds and something green to accompany.

[Harters]

Spuds twice? Whatever was I thinking, or not thinking? Please ignore the second helpings of the taters.

[LindaWhit]

Interesting spice blend with the lamb mince, Harters. Garlic, caraway, and cinnamon? Will be interested to hear how this works.

[Harters]

Sounds a bit Germanic to me (where's linguafood when you need her)

[ChristinaMason]

Hmm, the cinnamon strikes a wrong note for German cuisine, methinks.

[mariacarmen]

that sounds amazingly good.... somewhat like a bastardized shepherd's pie, dare i say?

[Harters]

Struck us more as bastardised moussaka, with the thick sauce.

[mariacarmen]

BF cooked tonight (steak - a little tough, not his best outing); Saturday i'd like to get him to go out to a frenchy bistro nearby because it's 14 juillet and i like frenchy bistro on any date, but we have a fully-packed day, and then we need to go look at a new (to us) car and i have a show to go to, so it'll probably end up being take out tacos or some-such.... BUT, ON SUNDAY....

Whole chicken is defrosting and i've made a rub and a bbq sauce along these lines:

http://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/how-make-proper-barbecue-chicken

but i futzed with both, because who can leave well enough alone? there's balsamic vinegar in the sauce, and aleppo, smoked paprika, pasilla pepper and a little celery seed in the rub (instead of and in addition to some of the listed ingredients.) need to simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, and let it cool. in the a.m. when the bird is defrosted, i'll spatchcock it, rub it down good, putting some under the skin too, and let it sit in the fridge until Sunday evening. or maybe i'll do that tomorrow night (could sitting in the rub hurt it if it's there for more than 24 hours?) then i'll roast the chicken and when almost done i'll start brushing it with the rub, then stick it under the broiler at the end for caramelization and crispy browned bits.

on the side will be inaplasticcup's creamy thousand island slaw:

Thousand Island Slaw
Serves 4 to 6

- 1/2 a medium head of cabbage thinly sliced (or shredded), 6 - 7 cups
- 1 medium carrot, julienned (or shredded
)- 1/2 a white onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon mayo
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons neutral oil

and mark bittman's barley salad but i'll use pearl couscous instead: http://content.markbittman.com/node/211

bbq chicken inspired by rabaja and CM. i can't wait!

[scubadoo97]

Great dinner Maria.

[mariacarmen]

thx - we'll see!

[ChristinaMason]

the slaw sounds good--I may have to try that. I have some bottled reduced-fat thousand island dressing that needs using before we move. it may have met its destiny.

[nomadchowwoman]

To just a new place, cm, or a whole new location with new foods to explore?

[LindaWhit]

So you're just using a rub, you won't use a BBQ sauce, mc? Or did you mistype when you said you'll roast the chicken and when almost done, you'll start brushing with the rub? Did you mean the sauce then? Either way, this recipe sounds great! :::::le sigh:::: I do wish I had a grill to use that was off my deck. :-/ And NO! More than 24 hours in the rub won't hurt. I did that for my pulled pork. Almost 36 hours. :-)

That barley salad sounds great - but I'm not a fan of dill. Hmmm...what other herb could be substituted?

[prima]

I'd use fresh basil if I wasn't a fan of dill. :-)

[mariacarmen]

oops, yes, i'll start brushing on the SAUCE, sorry! and the sauce tastes awesome, i can't wait! i'm not going to have time to spatchcock and apply the rub right now, though, but i'll do it tonight - which will still be almost 24 hours. thanks for letting me know, tho.

a grill would be heaven, even a hibachi.

as for the bittman salad - minced fennel fronds? plus, look: "1/2 cup fresh dill, mint, or parsley leaves or a combination" - you can use any combo of herbs and it would be delish.

[nomadchowwoman]

That sounds very good. mc.

[gingershelley]

All sounds great MC!

[prima]

I got a chance to cook dinner for the first time in 8 days tonight, after almost 6 days of mostly chain food while travelling, and after a quick visit to my veggie garden to pick some zucchinis, tomatoes and peas.

I served roasted pickerel (topped with cilantro, lime, garlic, ground cumin and olive oil), oven-baked zucchini pancakes (which baked while the pickerel roasted), rice, guacamole, shelled raw peas, and grape tomatoes. Wild blueberries and raspberries for dessert.

Off to the Farmers' Market tomorrow morning.

[scubadoo97]

Bet it felt really good to cook again

[prima]

Sure did. :-)

[LindaWhit]

I would have fallen on the garden's ground kissing the dirt and the vegetables after 6 days of mostly chain restaurants. :-)

[prima]

:-)
Absence makes the heart go fonder!

[Harters]

Even better, I think you'll find it's absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

[prima]

ha ha. That, too.

[ChristinaMason]

Dinner was grilled T-bones (massive, and I finished mine), grilled zukes cut on the diagonal and basted with a combo of maple syrup, olive oil, garlic powder, Aleppo pepper, and shallot salt, a slaw w/ honey-mustard vinaigrette, and some prepared mac 'n cheese (to which I added toasted panko).

Good and quick, so I can get on to more important things, like movies with friends and cupcakes.

[LindaWhit]

OK, now THOSE zucchini sound heavenly, Christina! I could do those on my grill pan very easily. Thanks for the idea - hope to try it out this weekend!.

[ChristinaMason]

Oh, shoot, I missed an ingredient in the zuke marinade: soy sauce (tamari). Sorry! I used a couple Tbsp. for 2 zukes.

[JungMann]

I just got back from the farmer's market so I thought I'd try your zucchini marinade. Sadly the cap seems to be permanently attached to the bottle thanks to a spill that's apparently crystallized around the top. But as soon as I find someone with Thor-like strength to get this open, it's on the rotation!

[ChristinaMason]

That happens to mine sometimes, too. I just soak the cap in very hot water and use my fingernails around the edges until I can open it.

[steve h.]

Porkette is on the menu tonight. It's a smoked pork butt combo not necessarily found in nature that, when gently simmered, yields a ton of flavor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/mag...

Fancy mac & cheese will be the featured side, carrots will play second fiddle. Vinho verde (Portuguese green wine) for Deb, beer for me. Yanks on the plasma.

[LindaWhit]

It's a freezer "brown gloop" dinner, although it's not brown - it's red. Since I did absolutely no planning for dinner tonight, I pulled a cup of meat sauce from the freezer to defrost. I'll be tossed with 'sketti and Parm-Reg cheese. Crusty rolls alongside, and *maybe* a salad. But I'm a bit tired of the green stuff so perhaps that will just have to wait until this weekend.

[Harters]

Our grab and run turned out to be chilli. Served with cornbread (made by herself). it was OK.

Alison Krauss gig was stupendously excellent.

[LindaWhit]

Very glad to hear it about the concert! She does have a beautiful voice, doesn't she?

[tiffeecanoe]

I have an abundance of thai basil. I'm making a dish passed on from a friend simply called, Thai Basil Chicken ;)

2 tablespoons oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 jalapeno peppers, chopped (keep seeds in if you like heat or add more jalapenos)
1 sweet bell pepper, sliced
1 pound ground chicken (preferably dark meat)
1/4 c soy (to taste)

Basically to taste:
2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 cup fresh thai basil, chopped (must be Thai basil, not regular)
2 tbsp fish sauce

With the directions of - cook it all up in a wok.

[jmcarthur8]

We had our monthly potluck dinner at our Master Gardeners' meeting, and I made a dessert. It was my mother's Apricot Refrigerator Cheesecake, and the pan was scraped clean, along with some requests for the recipe. That was nice! There are some wonderful dessert makers in the group, so an empty pan is a real nice compliment.

[ChristinaMason]

add me to the list of requestors for the recipe :)

[LindaWhit]

+2.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

+3

[jmcarthur8]

Here you go - thanks for asking!

Apricot Cheesecake makes one 8" square pan or a 10" quiche pan

Crust:
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup soft butter
Combine, press well into pan, bake at 350' for 10 minutes. Chill.

Filling:
2) 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1) 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp. orange or lemon extract
Beat cream cheese and condensed milk till smooth ( I'm careful not to beat too long, as I don't want it to get fluffy). Add lemon juice and orange extract, beat again till combined well. Spread into crust and chill till set, an hour or two.

Glazed topping:
1) 14.5 to 16 oz. can unpeeled apricot halves, drained, saving liquid. (I use light syrup pack)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup liquid from apricots
Combine all in saucepan, cook on medium, stirring constantly with a whisk, till thickened to a gel. Cool slightly. Place apricot halves, cut side down on top of filling and spoon glaze over. Chill till serving time.
(I doubled the glaze, since there was more than 2/3 cup syrup in the apricot can, and I couldn't see wasting it!)

This looks like sunny side up eggs, if you don't know what you're looking at, but it is the perfect thing for a summer afternoon. I grew up on this dessert. In the winter, my mother would make JOY's regular baked cheesecake, but summertime, this was the one I loved.

[ChristinaMason]

retro-tastic!

[ChristinaMason]

I worked from home today and had a little extra time to prep beef stew meat for a beef-veggie soup. I browned some cubed chuck in a dutch oven, sauteed up some onions, and braised that with some beef broth, tomato puree, diced tomatoes, and bay leaves until very tender. Later I added, according to their respective cooking times, some cubed white potato, diced carrot and celery, frozen limas, fresh green bean pieces, corn off the cob, and frozen peas. Seasoning was simple: a touch of beef base, a little allspice, lots of black pepper, some onion powder, Maggi, and a little seasoned salt.

It hit the spot for both of us, and I brought some to my neighbor, as I'd made a huge pot.

[JungMann]

That sounds like a very productive work day! Sadly I had to show up at the office and put in some time at the gym, so I got home late, so dinner was cobbled together with the opening and slamming of fridge and pantry. Proteins were a bit of mutton curry and some cottage cheese mixed with North Indian garlic chili pickles. The main star of the night, though, was a can of taro leaves cooked in coconut cream with chili. In their raw state, the leaves contain a toxin that must be cooked out. Once prepared, though, they have a nutty flavor like an intense spinach with a pasty/silky texture. Hard to describe, but really good when cooked with shrimp and little nubbins of pork belly. For dessert a very low-rent cocktail made from rum, lime juice, orange bitters and a light beer floater. Daqueeritas anyone?

[weezieduzzit]

Teriyaki chicken with rice and a sald for the man, with a big salad for me. Not too exciting but it's hot and muggy tonight.

I'm sure it'll be followed by the remaining half pitcher of mojitos in the frige. It's his Friday and he's had a helluva week.

[SweetPea]

Steamed fresh-picked okra with some yellow gourd-shaped cherry tomatoes tossed in at the last bit. Seasoned with S&P and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Eaten with fingers. I love fresh okra!

[LindaWhit]

An early evening out with a few coworkers. A few libations, a few bar Scooby Snacks, and miscellaneous chit-chat helps keep the mind off of things. Nicely timed play.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Well, it was quite a productive day here. I prepped a week's worth of meals. For fourteen people, camping. Along with the 2 two-pack pork tenderloins & marinating chicken breasts already frozen, I froze 16 hamburgers, 24 drumsticks marinating on a lemon-garlic oregano vinaigrette, 8 double thick, boneless pork loin chops in a ginger mandarin marinade, 8 prime rib eye steaks, dry rubbed, and 2 flanks steaks in a Bourbon-Dijon marinade. Plus I made a batch of beef chili to freeze & take. The grill pan is preheating with two idahos. Some top sirloin in the remaining bourbon-Dijon plus some fresh arugula & baby spinach for under my slices of steak. And a large glass of well-deserved wine.

[LindaWhit]

You will all be dining fine while camping, that's for sure!

[ChristinaMason]

Goodness, you'd better be exempt from dishwashing with all that food prep! Some nice meals there.

[nomadchowwoman]

Great meal planning--talk about happy campers!

[GretchenS]

Wow, a gourmet camping trip indeed!!!

[gingershelley]

Gourmet camping! My favorite kind!

[steve h.]

Another hot day in lower Fairfield County.

A baguette from my local baker sliced lengthwise and slathered with Saga Blue Cheese, sliced roast beef (angus) from my grocer, lots of fresh arugula on top, Gold's horseradish sauce cut with mayo to cap it all off. I mouthed off about this sammich on a recent post and it rekindled interest. It sure tastes good.

Beer for me, wine for Deb. A new Burn Notice episode will be on the plasma. Back to Yankee Stadium next week.

[nomadchowwoman]

A fabulous-sounding sandwich. Tell me the beef was rare.

[steve h.]

Rare, of course. Good quality beef, good quality baguette: the cornerstones of a delicious sammich.

[scubadoo97]

I can taste it just thinking of it. That's a great sandwich. Yumm!

[steve h.]

It's cool when all the ingredients are of good quality. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

[gingershelley]

Going to have to make that samich!

[roxlet]

Tonight I am making the Cold Rice Noodle dish that David Tanis recently published in the New York Times and covered by Smitten Kitchen.
http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/12151/...
Just waiting for the water to boil to cook the rice noodles, and then I will grill the chicken outside. As little cooking as I can do inside is generally the idea....

[ChristinaMason]

Sounds good, was it?

[roxlet]

Yes, it was really excellent. Everyone loved it, and it, and it had the benefit of being pretty low in carbs (by limiting the amount of noodles), and very low in fat. Despite that, there were some pretty big flavors. I will definitely do this again on another very hot day, since both the prep and the meal were very heat friendly.

[nomadchowwoman]

Glad to hear this as it's been on my to-do list for a super hot day as well.

[Berheenia]

Saturday we leave for a seaside vacation with simple non-exotic cooking inside and a charcoal grill outside. Plus fabulous restaurants but that will be a post on the Southern New England Board.

Emboldened by a glass of joint juice, a blend called Apothic Red, tonight I'm making a stir fry ground pork and fish sauce recipe from Food and Wine. Hubby can feast on leftover macaroni and cheese. There will be squash because I have to use it up. Tomorrow is packing and maybe a pizza.

[Dirtywextraolives]

I like that Apothic Red as well.

[LindaWhit]

Have a very nice vacation, Berheenia!

[gingershelley]

Enjoy the trip berheenia - those ocean breezes and fabu resto's sound inviting!

[GretchenS]

Yesterday was fish share day but it was the one kind of fish I cannot stand (redfish) and my share partner adores, so I told her to take the whole thing. Which left me without a plan for last night and tonight. I ended up working really late so had leftover lentil salad with tomatoes and some pretty yummy deviled eggs with smoked trout using the two hard-cooked eggs that were providentially in the fridge. I am thinking cheeseburger tonight unless I work too late or it is too hot to contemplate, in which case it might just be an avocado sandwich or salad.

rabaja, report posted on the Northern New England Board.

[jmcarthur8]

Gretchen, what is fish share day?

[GretchenS]

jmc, I belong to a Community Supported Fishery (CSF), the fish version of a CSA. So every week we get a bunch of fish, whatever they caught that day. It's pretty neat because (a) whatever it is, it was swimming that morning, (b) we deal direct with the fishermen so they get more from us than they would from a middleman and we pay less than we would at the store, and (c) they can just give us what they catch and not go crazy looking for a particular thing, which means that we get a surprise very week. I have been doing it on and off (there are 4 seasons per year) since it started a few years ago. The amounts are a bit large for just me so a neighbor and I share it (hence, share partner). And we usually only get redfish once a season and I like everything else.

[scubadoo97]

This sure beats the over abundance of choy I got from my CSA. What is the most common fish you get?

[LindaWhit]

I'll trade ya some kale for the choy you get. :-)

[scubadoo97]

Gave up the CSA a couple of years ago. It kept me on my toes to try to make meals around what we got. Unfortunately some weeks it was one cucumber, one zucchini, 4 kinds of choy....We did get some kale of many types. Kale became a breakfast treat. with a fried egg on top of some quickly braised kale in the morning.

[LindaWhit]

I've found "quickly" anything with the curly kale we're getting doesn't work. It needs to be cooked well, as in a kale & sausage soup (more of which I'll be making this weekend for the freezer). Luckily I only take 1/3 of the half share I'm sharing with my CFO, so it's been kept under control with not having TOO much in my vegetable drawers.

[GretchenS]

We get a lot of cod, pollack and hake (both of which are similar to cod -- large, mild, white flaky fish) and somewhat less flounder (various varieties) and sole. Very occasionally monkfish or mackeral -- but those are rarities. You can read about it here if you are interested. http://www.capeannfreshcatch.org/ There is a new CSF out of Cape Cod that also looks interesting.

[jmcarthur8]

Gretchen, I am so so envious of you! There is one fish available in West Georgia. Catfish. Really.
Having spent most of my life on the shores of Lake Michigan, and enjoying trout, salmon, lake perch, bluegill and walleye... it's hard to get used to the inland fish-free cuisine. When hubby and I go to Charleston or Savannah, we are all over the seafood joints.

[scubadoo97]

Nothing wrong with that list of fish. Thick mild white flaky and best of all FRESH. Beats choy any day

[Harters]

Interesting, Gretchen.

Didnt realise pollock was much landed in your part of the world. Never saw it on New England menus when we were over. Also didnt realise mackeral wasn't common - it's probably the only fish you can guarantee will always be available in the UK.

[GretchenS]

John, most pollack landed here goes to make surimi, it is fairly rare to see it on menus or at the market. I love it. I adore mackerel and it kills me how hard it is to find it locally because I know it is there, right offshore. Gotta take up fishing one of these days... But I do love my CSF and feel very lucky it is an option.

[Harters]

Here pollock is offered as a sustainable alternative to cod or haddock. Certainly usually works in recipes.

Mackeral is what I caught on the only occasion I've ever been fishing.

[Njchicaa]

Marinated skirt steak (olive oil, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Emeril's Essence, Herbes de Provence, dried rosemary, fresh thyme, salt, pepper), zucchini stuffed with corn, black beans, and chipotle peppers, and a garden salad here tonight. I totally don't feel like cooking for once.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Pizza again last night (I've been enjoying a recently acquired makeshift pizza stone!) This time it was topped with bacon, garlic and fresh pineapple. Salad on the side of red leaf lettuce, avocado and strawberries, with a lemon-honey-garlic dressing. Frozen pineapple custards for dessert (a recipe I found online from a cookbook published in the early 20s intended to get people to eat more fruit) -- this tasted great, but would've been better with some air churned into it. Next time I'll use the ice cream machine.

I'm not going to lie, tonight's dinner will probably be the exact same thing (I've got leftovers of all the pizza toppings), only the salad will be a bit different since I used all the avocado last night, and there's only 1 lone custard sitting in the freezer, so we'll probably have to share it.

[Bacardi1]

Last night was Indian night here. Cucumber-Yogurt Raita; warm naan bread; chicken thighs with a lime juice, garlic, ginger, hot curry powder paste stuffed under the skins; & a side of chickpeas & spinach spiced up with onion, garlic, ginger, & hot curry powder as well. Delicious & fitting for a warm night.

[mariacarmen]

that sounds really freaking delicious, espically the curry under the skins....

[Harters]

It's mezze night.

I found some brown gloop saying it was "spicy squash and chickpea casserole, with freekeh". Nope, I don't rememeber making it at all.

I'll make some moutabel. And there's a tin of stuffed cabbage leaves. And there's olives & stuff in the fridge. And pitta in the freezer. It'll be OK.

Tomorrow will be a "grab and run" affair, as we're off to the city for an Alison Krauss gig. I'm a big fan and was really surprised to see that she was touring the UK.

[roxlet]

I'm so curious about your freezer, Harters! It must have interminable depths in which all kinds of brown gloop hide!

[Harters]

Like Dr Who's TARDIS, it is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

[JungMann]

Interesting that you say mutabal instead of baba ghannouj, the more commonly used name stateside. Is there a large Syrian population in your parts compared to the Lebanese?

I'm also as surprised that Alison Krauss is touring the UK as that there are country fans over there!

[Harters]

We don't have a large Middle Eastern population of any sort in the metro area The UK national census in 2001 only recorded about 10.5K people born in Lebanon and 4K in Syria in thw whole country. It'll be more now but not massively.

FWIW, country has always had reasonable following in the UK (I went to see Johnny Cash in Manchester in 1971). Bluegrass not so much. I have a friend (lawyer in Kentucky) who has been trying to educate me about bluegrass - he's had some success. Hope to fulfill a very longstanding ambition to visit Nashville - probably next year. Keeping on topic for Chowhound, there was an article in the travel section of the Sunday newspaper saying the city has a growing "cutting edge" food culture - I need to research that.

[JungMann]

Along with traditional Southern cookery, traditional Southern music like bluegrass seems to be enjoying a renaissance in the U.S., particularly amongst the hipster set, a demographic the NY Times credits with a significant role in driving the evolution of food in Nashville.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/din...

[scubadoo97]

Tonight I had a burger again. This time on pita.

Working through some ground meat and well burgers are so damn good. But the star of the show tonight was a fennel and celery salad with a touch of shallots dressed with a dressing made from grain mustard, sherry vinegar, honey, fruity evoo, salt and pepper with some shaved Parmesan cheese. Just killer good and so simple

[Dirtywextraolives]

I love sherry vinegar.... And killer simple salads...

[ChristinaMason]

I am totally stealing that salad! So many great flavors and textures.

[nomadchowwoman]

That does sound like a killer salad!

[scubadoo97]

Thanks guys. I sliced up more that evening which we will have tonight with some smoked scallops.

I did a light marinade of lime juice, zest, salt and pepper and evoo and vacuumed packed the scallops for about an hour then hot smoked them at 160 until just cooked. I'm going to slice these and server over the fennel/celery salad. Wifey's been away for the week so this should be a nice meal to come home to.

[steve h.]

Cleaning out the coolerator.

I re-heated spaghetti and sausage for Deb. Steak sammich for me on Italian bread with fresh tomato on the side. A glass or two of arthritis medicine (red) was also consumed.

[LindaWhit]

It's an amazing miracle cure, that arthritis medicine, isn't it?

[steve h.]

And it comes in colors!

[nomadchowwoman]

Great line, steve.

[LindaWhit]

Dinner: leftover chicken; basmati rice, and roasted CSA bok choy and CSA carrots seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of hoisin sauce for a glaze.

And I just heard about this on tonight's news....I'll be sure to continue to use this "remedy" on a regular basis to ward off osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. :-)

http://abcnewsradioonline.com/health-...

[Berheenia]

I like the word _more_

drinking 17 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.7 ounces of liquor three times or more each week

[nomadchowwoman]

So funny, LW--when we arrived at my mom's on Wed., she greeted us with the news of this study--and her intent to follow this advice religiously. MY sister did a big eye roll since my mom gets pretty tipsy before she finishes one glass.
And we've been so relieved that she hasn't taken up gambling . . . .

[LindaWhit]

LOL! Well, a big atta girl! for Mom. :-)

[nomadchowwoman]

Last night it was simple grilled salmon w/ginger-chive butter. It was a tad overcooked for my tastes, as my DH, like rabaja's, has not embraced rarish salmon (and I have no hope that he ever will). That was accompanied by some of those cute marble-sized potatoes (red, purple, and yellow) rolled in oilive oil, lots of salt and pepper, chives and parsley. And some insipid sauteed skinny asparagus.

Tonight we're going to Mom's. She's cooking "Italian," which means spaghetti and meatballs and Italian sausage (and veal "birds," my sister tells me). I'm bringing salad and wine. My sister's making a birthday cake for my other sister. Not hip-friendly or weather-appropriate, but it will be delicious!

[LindaWhit]

It definitely sounds delicious with the meatballs/Italian sausage combo. Enjoy!

[linguafood]

We ended up being lazy last night and traveling to one of our favorite hoods for a massive, delicious Wiener Schnitzel with roast potatoes and cuke salad; my man had the also fantastically umami, deep & rich Zürcher Geschnetzeltes with housemade roesti. I generally don't like roesti (same goes for hash browns -- just not a fan of the texture), but these were very nice. Delicious Franconian Helles Landbier & we were happy, despite the fact that the weather here's been kind of assy: too much rain, too cold. Eh.

Tonight I bought some nice gai lan & dried shiitake shrooms at a local Asian market and made a stir-fry with the leftover lettuce from a couple nights ago, a unfortunately not so hot chili pepper, lotsa garlic, the reconstituted, meaty umami shrooms, shrimp and oyster sauce. Hit the spot.

[ChristinaMason]

those all sound delicious, esp. the Geschnetz...

[JungMann]

Nothing like a knee injury and a vacation to throw me off my game. Of course by knee injury I mean the type of pain that is magnified by testosterone and its accompanying intolerance for illness, but which is real enough that I tire standing. Given that I have been sedentary and indulgent for the a good week now, I am feeling pangs of guilt, or possibly that is indigestion, so I am going for healthier foods for the time being. My first project was last night's quick red curry stir fry. Onions, garlic and ginger go into a hot wok, followed shortly by coconut cream and red curry paste. In goes some chicken breast, a glug of fish sauce, lime juice and zest, some vegetables, a bit of coconut milk and shirataki noodles with herbs to finish. And yet even with all those seasonings, the stir fry came out abysmally bland. I still have a few more chicken breasts and am perusing past WFDs for inspiration for tonight's penance.

[mariacarmen]

having just come out of an injury (and not fully, yet), i feel your pain - existential, imaginary, sedentary, and very real. sorry about your knee, and your chicken! sounded like it would be good.... maybe not enough heat?

[JungMann]

Heat is never my problem, particularly with 5 different hot sauces to fix any mishaps in that department. The thing just didn't come together: no mouth-filling umami from the fish sauce, not enough brightness from acid and the curry paste, no flavor at all from the BSCBs. I think I may be able to rescue the cold noodles with a Vietnamese inspired dipping sauce since the flavor is so insipid, though linguafood's Züricher Geschnetzeltes is making me want something in a wine sauce. Mainly because it gives an excuse to open a bottle of Riesling tonight.

[linguafood]

Nobody should *ever* need an excuse to open a bottle of Riesling, JM.

Have you done your Berlin stint yet?

[JungMann]

No, I couldn't take time off during my friend's window which may actually be fine. The trip I had in my mind heavily featured Berlin Imbisse, Vienna Würstelstände and herring on the IJ. My pre-grad school buddy, however, has a different type of European quickie in mind.

[linguafood]

Bummer. Though the Imbisse will be around till your next chance, for sure.

[LindaWhit]

My pre-grad school buddy, however, has a different type of European quickie in mind.
~~~~~~~~~~

Not that kind of board, JM. ;-)

[nomadchowwoman]

Hope your knee heals quickly, JM, and tonight's food is the comforting kind.

[gingershelley]

Last night was a very simple, but yummy dinner; fresh OR salad shrimp in a light mayo/ crema, with pepper, lemon peel and juice dressing, served in dollops over shredded lettuce, wedges of ripe tomato and avo's. Liked the light simple dressing, and shall repeat that one.

Dinner main was corn on the cob and some bone-in country pork ribs, with a nice zippy smoked paprika-based rub (thyme, garlic, sugar, coarse salt, orange peel, black pepper), grilled indirect, and finished with a doctored purchased bbq sauce (way too sweet) that was lurking in the back of the cupboard, fixed up easily with some pomagranate molasses, cider vinegar, harissa paste. Some grilled eggplant salad on the side. Simples!

Tonight, out for mexican food down near the water with a pal. Nice, low-80's weather continues here for next few days... SEA is sure an amazing place when our perfect summer weather finally comes!

[Harters]

Off to the city tonight for Punjabi food. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

[rabaja]

It's certainly warming up here in Marin, so we are sticking to grilled items. Lately we've had beef and veg skewers over rice and bulgur, and more barbecued chicken legs, with endless tomato and basil salads.
Last night I slow roasted some salmon over fig leaves, since it only called for a 250F oven,and I didn't want to watch $25 worth of fish stick to the grill. It came out nice and moist (cooked extra for a certain someone who has not yet embraced med-rare salmon), and went perfectly with a pasta salad made up of barilla plus fusilli, grilled zucchini and onion rounds, sun golds, basil and fresh corn. Some leftover limey, cuminy vinaigrette moistened things sufficiently.
Today temps are supposed to rise a bit more, and I have two bone-in chicken breasts I'd planned to roast on high heat over a bed of tomatoes and onions. What to do...I hate to dry them out on the grill.
I'd like to take the meat off the bone and chop it up for larb, but a certain someone hasn't really embraced larb yet either...

*MC, thanks for your well wishes on the earlier post I deleted. I took it down because we haven't even heard from his doctor yet, so I thought perhaps I shouldn't be blabbing my business here, but I do appreciate it!

[mariacarmen]

no worries, rabaja, still wishing the best!

what do you do for your chicken bbq sauce - homemade or a favorite bottled? i'm thinking that's WFD Friday night....

[rabaja]

I've turned our barbecued chicken over to the husband, who has very particular ideas about what goes on chicken that is to be barbecued...we are working on that.
He likes to use Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce, quite liberally, basting and turning often on the grill so it is well caramelized. I like it, and I refuse to look at the ingredient list, so it's working well for us. What he doesn't know is that I typically take the legs and season them with s&p, and a mixture of dijon and bbq sauce before I hand them over to him to put on the grill. I think basting only would result in bland meat, so we "compromise" in this way.

[mariacarmen]

alrighty, good to know. i like the idea of the dijon and using a bottled sauce is no problem for me! since we don't have a grill there will be even a further degredation, but i think the chicken will carmelize well under the broiler with the sugars from the sauce. i may do a rub first, tho....

and some sort of creamy slaw on the side. and buttered corn on the cob. sigh.... so much for getting back on the pts. friendly bandwagon....

[Berheenia]

WFD tonight will be for another family who just had their first baby 10 days ago. As they say they like everything I'm going with chicken and rice. I have some basmati to put in the rice cooker and a Barefoot Contessa recipe I taped for a lemon chicken with a ton of garlic, evoo and wine, baked in the oven - it's only 73 F as I type this. Have to see what looks good for a veg when I pick up the chicken.
On the home front I have some pricey pasta and sauce I bought at WF last weekend so we are having 'portabella fontina' ravioli with Rao's and spinach is the veg.

[Bacardi1]

Last night I tried a new recipe that was very simple as well. Basically just 8 ounces of "Southwestern"-flavored linguini (from Rossi Pasta), tossed with kernels from 3 ears of fresh sweet corn, 2 diced Serrano peppers, a little garlic, 1 pound of peeled & deveined shrimp,& 2 handfuls of baby arugula (all sauteed in a little extra-virgin olive oil).

It was quite tasty - the sweetness of the corn & the shrimp really played well off of the heat from the peppers & the spiciness of the pasta.

[ChristinaMason]

That sounds so good!

[iL Divo]

found a recipe for apple glazed meatballs in a magazine so made them last night for dinner.
except with hubby's gout, I subbed out a chicken breast and ground it myself.
the glaze was delicious over the chicken balls.
white rice with cut corn from the cob and sweet onions drizzled with Spanish olive oil.
quartered brussels sprouts lightly steamed with spray "it's not butter".

[mariacarmen]

The BF's hoisin burger needed a little more hoisin (he only put in a tbs. for a pound of gr. meat!) but he spread a little on top of the burger too, and it was great. and it was a proper burger, with a bun! there really is nothing better than a nice soft toasted bun soaked in a burger's juices. Chinese sausage rice, salad, and kimchi on the side. (i love that he used one of our cute little clover-shaped bowls to unmold the rice!)

but do you see how he tried to get away with only a schmear of the sriracha/sesame mayo on the bun? and how i had to add the dollop to the actual burger? Boy still has a lot to learn.

Thanks, BF!

[scubadoo97]

That does look like a fantastic burger. Will have to try that. The hoisin giving it some sweetness and Umami

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Pizza tonight, topped with nothing but sauce, cheese, a bit of leftover marinaded tomato-red onion salad and the very end of a salami. Salad on the side: red leaf lettuce, tomato, avocado and the last of the lemon-orange green olives. More tahini-lemon dressing.

[steve h.]

Spaghetti (Barilla thick spaghetti), house-made red sauce and store bought Italian sweet sausage. House red to wash things down. Simple and tasty.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Scored some beautiful just caught tilapia at $1.49 lb at a New market I discovered by a friend's business. They were cleaned & beheaded for me :). I stuffed them with a ginger miso butter , fresh basil leaves and lemon slices, then fried them whole about 6-7 mins a side. Served them over some dressed arugula, sugar snaps and rice, limes and a banana ketchup-mayo dipping sauce. It was delicious.

Tonight, will be the leftover rice & snap peas fried, corn on the cob and pork adobo.

[mariacarmen]

wow.... just... wow....

[kubasd]

ditto

[JungMann]

The use of banana ketchup makes me reflexively smile. Nicely done!

[Dirtywextraolives]

That stuff rocks, glad I bought the large bottle!

[gingershelley]

Sounds awesome - love the miso butter n basil combo...

[Dirtywextraolives]

Thank you, all.

[nomadchowwoman]

I have never heard of or seen banana ketchup. Now you've got me curious. I'll have to so some reserach.
Your meals both sound great.

[Dirtywextraolives]

It's a Filipino condiment, I gather is quite common, and is good with fried food.

[jmcarthur8]

We finally got back to a dinner on the grill: burgers (cheese for me) and grilled Japanese eggplant from our garden, sprinkled with Penzey's Forward spice blend. Salad of cukes and basil from our garden with sweet wonderful cherry tomatoes from my friend's garden, tossed with some no-fat balsamic vinaigrette that I made a bottle of a few days ago.
Dessert will be homemade peach fro-yo. It's hard as a rock, since I made it a few days ago, but I'll just let it sit out a bit and soften up.

[tiffeecanoe]

Grilling up a couple of little sirloin steaks and will put potato, onion and who knows yet what else in little tin foil pockets! Been making baby food all day and just finished up a load of dishes, trying to go light on the dishes tonight, ha!

[ChristinaMason]

I'm feeling lardy after having pasta for two meals in as many days, so tonight will be salad:

Some butter lettuce, tricolor grape tomatoes, and blanched purple "green'' beans from the not-quite CSA, plus spinach, carrots, celery, and cucumber from the crisper. I'll top that with grilled b/s bbq chicken breast strips and probably this dressing, thinned out slightly: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=1...

Dessert will be 30 min. on the treadmill at high incline. Hah!

[mariacarmen]

i am almost more jealous of your ability to be on the treadmill than i am of your dinner! my boot finally came off today but i'm not sure all is as it should be yet... maybe it's just a matter of time. i NEED to get back on that treadmill!

haven't made BBQ chicken in about 1,000 years. may be time for that soon.....

[ChristinaMason]

I am trying to get back in the habit of hitting the gym 3-4 days a week instead of 1-2. So far, it's been with mixed success. Don't worry though: going back is never quite as miserable as you imagine it might be. Or at least, as bad as *I* imagine it will be.

Back to dinner: the proportions in that dressing are way off. I used 1 1/2 tsp. of garlic, and it was still way too much. We liked it otherwise, though.

[nomadchowwoman]

Baby that foot, mc. The treadmill will be there. Believe me, it waits patiently . . . . Don't risk re-injury.

But yay on being liberated from the boot. Sounds like occasion for bubbly.

[mariacarmen]

thx NCW! i confess i hit the treadmill last night - but SLOOOOOOOOOOWLY. and i'm out tonight and the next, so the foot will get a rest.

but good call on the bubbly!

[GretchenS]

yes, be really careful with that foot -- congrats on getting the cast off, mc!

[nomadchowwoman]

The higher the incline, the more pasta you can eat! ; )

[mariacarmen]

i think i talked the BF into making us hoisin burgs tonight... hoping hoping hoping....

[Berheenia]

Does he do them on charcoal? We have 2 weeks with a charcoal Weber grill coming up and I want to keep hubby busy. I have the recipe but have yet to make them...

[mariacarmen]

no, we live in an apt., no grill. the last time i did them on the grill pan. came out delish!

[tiffeecanoe]

I pretty much always make them on the grill - grill pan when when weather doesn't permit.

[tiffeecanoe]

Ha! The husband asked if we could have those tonight! Fresh out of hoisin though and won't make it to the grocery store until Thursday at the earliest!

[mariacarmen]

ha! months ago, we were out of hoisin, and i needed some asap, so i ran to the meximart around the corner and all they had was this giant drum of it - like some restaurant supply store container! we've got TONS!

[Harters]

Upcoming........haddock.

New potatoes get 10 minutes boil. Green beans go in for the final 3 minutes. These get chucked in a baking dish and are tossed around with Kalamata olives, lemon zest and a couple of glugs of olive oil. The recipe called for the haddock fillets to be wrapped in pancetta but the supermarket was out of it, so they're getting wrapped in smoked streaky bacon. These go on top of the spud mix and everything gets a squeeze of lemon and then into the oven for 10 minutes or so. Tarragon is scattered over as a garnish when its cooked. Simples.

[gembellina]

Ooh that sounds lovely! One to remember I think, I've got lots of baby potatoes on hand.

[LindaWhit]

Simples.
Tasty.
BACON!

'Nuf said.

[gingershelley]

That does sound good, Harters!

[mariacarmen]

that sounds FANTASTIC. the streaky bacon and the fish? fuggeddabouddit.

[Harters]

It's the sort of dish you really want to just keep eating. First time I had this fish/pig combo was in a pub in County Cork, Ireland. It was monkfish wrapped in Serrano ham (or similar) and then roasted. So simple - it was an immaculate dish. I can taste it now.

[GretchenS]

Sounds wonderful Harters!

[jmcarthur8]

Last night, we didn't cook. The 'locavores' had put out the word that on the day the new Olive Garden opened in town, please go out for dinner to 'La Trattoria' on the square downtown.
It's one of our favorite restaurants, so that didn't take any arm- twisting. We went early, and by 6:15 the place was full. The waitress said she didn't think OG would affect their business. That's nice to hear!

[LindaWhit]

A really GOOD Italian restaurant vs. OG? No contest. :-)

[gingershelley]

Good for you jmcarther; I would hope good CH eater's it would be no contest. I can't bring myself to set foot in an Olive Garden!

[linguafood]

Well, Berlin's certainly had its share of shitty, rainy weather.... my scooter's not been getting to bop around much lately. Wah.

I've also not been in the kitchen a lot due to the abundance of restos to try (and re-visit, of course).

An old HS friend of mine visited over the weekend & we went out to a fab & very moderately priced French place which may just be my favorite resto at the moment. Another night was spent at the beer garden where a very pedestrian but tasty soljanka was consumed to have some basis for the plethora of pilseners that were also consumed '-)

Yesterday I "cooked" again for the first time in forevah -- had a dear friend over & made my first Caesar here in Germany, as well as the house standard piccata, both of which came out nicely.

Besides romaine, I used a cross between romaine and iceberg that is available here. Not bad. Have a bit leftover and am thinking of cooking at home again (!!) tonight -- a lettuce stir-fry with some very hot chili peppers, oyster sauce, and shrimps. We'll see.

We may also go out for dinner :-)

[mariacarmen]

that lettuce stir-fry with skrimps suddenly made my mouth water.... but french bistro is always a treat. hope you get too scooting soon...

[Berheenia]

The temp here is actually 69 and I love it! Last night I made a small mac and cheese with ham and mushrooms IN THE OVEN and tonight I'm going to turn that sucker on and do a large stuffed zucchini- my usual Italian sausage, onion, cheese, bread, squash guts all bound with a dollop of sour cream (reduced fat just to remove 10 calories or so from the finished dish). Cottage cheese on the side and a buttered french roll to mop things up with.

[LindaWhit]

"squash guts" - LOL!

And hasn't the weather been gorgeous? It's allowed the workers replacing the decks in my complex to move along a lot more quickly with their work - they start on my row of townhouses this Thursday, so everything's got to be cleared off the deck by tomorrow evening. And no parking in my garage for a week. :-( But I think I'll be making an oven meal on Wednesday night as well.

[gingershelley]

That sounds so great Berheenia, I am going to march to the market and look for a big zuchinni - too soon for home-grown yet. I want stuffed zuchinni!

[weezieduzzit]

All week is supposed to be over 100 degrees so I picked quite a bit from the garden tonight. Japanese eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini are about to be turned into a South Indian style coconut curry with fresh paneer (currently draining in the sink.)

[mariacarmen]

chicken tacos turned into tostadas, because we still had some of those pre-toasted tostadas that i really really like after a quick heat in the toaster oven - they're not dry at all (as pre-made taco shells are) and though when you heat them you get a sheen of oil, they're way less greasy than frying my own. chunks of chicken thighs were quick sauteed, then dusted in ground cumin and oregano, s&p, granulated garlic, stirred quickly over high heat. added sliced scallions and serrano chili, and finished the whole thing of with the juice of two limes. nice and limey and spicy. canned black beans were heated and given a good sploosh of green habanero sauce, then mashed as if they were refrieds. beans went on the tostada shells, chicken on top of that, and at table there was chipotle creama, grated pepper jack cheese, sliced avocado, lettuce, cilantro, more fresh scallions, and thin sliced red onion to finish them off. pretty tasty! the purchased home-made peruvian tamales were on the puny side but tasted pretty good - the masa and meat had more flavor than the mexican ones i can get around here.

my pics were pretty bad, even for me, so i'm not posting them. You're welcome!

[gingershelley]

Sounds good MC - i am hoping to try a peruvian tamale in next couple days. A Peruvian chicken roast 'shack' has opened nearby, and they are supposed to be good for the chicken and thier tamales - and the aji amarilo sauce. Gotta grab a friend and go! Will report...

[tcamp]

If dinner is not grilled, it is cooked early in the morning (spanish tortilla), or in the crockpot/pressure cooker. Lots of salads and raw veggies. Tonight we had the tortilla, caesar salad, and snap peas, plus cantalope for dessert. Tomorrow, black bean enchiladas in the crock, plus salad and more fruit. I am not getting near the oven and try to use the stove top sparingly/early in the day.

[gingershelley]

Well, it's a dirty job - but someone's got to do it.... Dungeness Crab on sale this week at good grocery store for only $4.99 a pound. Of course, I wish I had a boat like I used to and could catch my own, but this is as good as it get's currently.

Friend coming over, patio table shall be covered with white butcher paper, melted butter and homemade lemon mayo provided, lots of lemons, warm housemade bread, and a pile of iced radishes. I have 4 crabs on hand, and anything that doesn't get eaten, shall be crab salad for just lil' ol' me tomorrow! Lot's of Sav. Blanc to wash it down:)

Iced bing cherries and salted dark chocolate for afters. YUM!

[nomadchowwoman]

Yum indeed!

[mariacarmen]

wow, gs, lucky friend.... what a fun night!

[ChristinaMason]

drool. wow.

[gingershelley]

Thanks ladies.... the crab was SO good! Will have to repeat that soon. Nearly 3/4 of a crab left - I'll make a little crab melt sandwich for myself for lunch today....

[LindaWhit]

Got rid of some of the CSA veggies with my dinner salad tonight....CSA lettuce and other "greens" I can't remember what they were, some shaved CSA carrots, sliced cukes, sliced CSA radishes, cut up tomatoes, chopped chicken from this past weekend, goat cheese, dried cranberries and croutons - the dressing was my Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Made enough to bring in for a work lunch tomorrow as well.

[ChristinaMason]

We are still really digging on that maple vinaigrette. Thanks for sharing. It's going into regular rotation until DH gets sick of it, I think.

[LindaWhit]

:-) I'm glad you like it as much as I do. I do the same - intersperse it with one or two other homemade dressings/vinaigrettes so I don't get bored with it.

[nomadchowwoman]

Spent some quality time in the kitchen this weekend--made tomato sauce from the overload of heirlooms I bought last week as the end of tomato season is near; made chicken-duck liver pate from a collection in the freezer; made the Smitten Kitchen Triple Berry Bundt Cake so many other Hounds have written about (also tried her blackberry gin fizz recipe--just ok); made a few "compotes" for the turnovers I've yet to put together; made a batch of blueberry lemonade.

Saturday night's meal was simple and satisfying: the freshly made lovely orange-ish tomato sauce over Barilla multi-grain pasta w/grated pecorino romano; grilled Italian sausage; Caesar-style salad w/white anchovies and garlic croutons.

Last night we started w/ some of the pate on baguette slices and then had buttertart's Shanghai pork chops (excellent recipe--Berkshire chops were browned and braised w/ lots of onion in dark soy sauce, black vinegar, brown sugar, scotch, and water) w/rice and blistered green beans (my new favorite method) w/garlic, ginger, and chili oil.

Since the cooler temps resulting from three days of rain qualifiy as comfort food weather, tonight we are having eggplant parm albeit a light-ish version involving no frying w/the fresh, light tomato sauce. (Always this dilemma this time of year--eggplant at its peak when it's not parm-friendly weather.) Another Caesar-style salad.

[gingershelley]

NMC, all looks and sounds very delicious!

Your berry bundt (BOONDT!) cake looks much pinker than mine were.... was the cake pink inside?

I totally get what your saying about eggplant season. In summer, I like to grill it, and top with smoked mozzerella and tomato sauce as a change from the parmesan treatment. A bit lighter, but still cheesy-tomato-eggplant goodness. Ratatoiulle also, but that is more a side for me than a main.

How do you 'blister' green beans?

[mariacarmen]

blistering green beans - just throw them in hot oil and stir fry until they start getting brown spots, like NCW has pictured. then you can dress them however - sesame oil, chili oil, just a little salt and pepper, whatever you like. they're yum!

[nomadchowwoman]

Yes, thanks to you for that. mc. We are loving them that way, w/all kinds of flavor profiles. So easy, too.

[nomadchowwoman]

LOL--no, the cake wasn't pink at all; that's just my poor skills at photography!

[gingershelley]

oh, gotcha - trust me, I often do a quick 'edit' of my exposure or color b4 posting pics of food - thank goodness IMO for easy edit software. Saved my but often.

I could see how the cake could get pink - if you used very ripe raspberries, they could sure squish up when you are adding berries to that very thick batter....

[steve h.]

Your photos are stunning. Saturday's meal is right in my wheelhouse. Sunday's pork chops, too.

[mariacarmen]

oh my lord that pork chop looks amazing! next time i buy some really good chops, i'm coming back to you and BT for that recipe.

[ChristinaMason]

Oh my, that all looks and sounds so delicious! I must try the pork chop recipe. Thick chops, yes?

[nomadchowwoman]

They were, but funny, I was thinking that thinner chops might be even better this way.

[mariacarmen]

really? why, because the flavors would permeate better?

[nomadchowwoman]

Well, the sauce was so tasty that I felt like I "wasted" those thick chops in this prep. Thinner chops=more sauce per bite if that makes any sense.

[mariacarmen]

yep, i get it.

[LindaWhit]

All three pics look wonderful, ncw! But I agree with gingershel, that's a pink cake! :-)

[master815k]

Sauted pork chops with cherry tomatoes from my garden. Throw is some fresh basil and a little basalmic vinegar. Might even top it with some feta. Yum!

[mariacarmen]

leftover chicken thighs from the oldster's that i'll debone, chop & spice up, quickly saute, and make into chicken tacos with avocado and maybe some spicy jack cheese - and chipotle crema (if we have any chipotles left), inspired by tiffeecanoe's shrimp tacos. also, i purchased some homemade Peruvian tamales, which i've never tried before, and they're also chicken, so it's a whole little theme going on.... of what, i don't know... corn/chicken products? some type of slaw/salady thing on the side.

[tiffeecanoe]

grilled shrimp tacos on grilled corn tortillas w/ a chipotle cream! Whipped up a batch of salsa this morning, will make the quacamole later and probably grill up the last two ears of corn. Looking forward to it - finally cooling off here in central WI, in the 80s, goodbye 90s!

[stormshadow]

Are you grilling your tortillas on a flat top or standard grill? Any special treatment?

[tiffeecanoe]

missed this! I ended up just brushing them with a bit of oil and tossing them on the standard charcoal grill for a few minutes. Then fold them up and put them in a zip top baggie to keep them nice and soft...that's quite the special treatment, a baggie - ha!

[gingershelley]

Wow, we sure filled up that last thread quickly! You people have been cooking up a storm!

Yesterday was another near-perfect weather day - in the low 80's - so spent part of it working in the garden. Very nice.

Dinner was a small boneless rib-eye, marinated in some open red wine that needed using up, garlic, soy. Grilled, very simple. Made a nice bread salad for alongside with tomato, chopped cukes n radishes, and some grilled stale baguette rubbed with garlic. Just tossed in some red wine vinegar and OO, and it served as veg, starch and side. An easy Sunday meal - followed by evening marathon of Walking Dead re-runs! Awesome.

[Harters]

The leftovers from the other night's lamb braise form tonight's dinner.

The lamb itself is being turned into rissoles, following a recipe from our "cooking the books" exercise which is "Cooking by numbers", Matthew Fort, 2007. Fort is one of my favourite food writers and, when he appears on TV, there always seems to be a twinkle in his eye. That perhaps accounts for the tongue-in-cheek book title. It's very much a different presentation from most cookbooks as the chapters are divided up by the number of people the recipes are intended to serve. This actually comes from the chapter of recipes for eight diners, but we'll pare down the quantities. The other nice little touch is that each chapter is divided into three sections - easy peasy, a bit of effort, wowing the folk you want to wow (although those are my words not his).

Anyway, as to these rissoles. I'll give the lamb a good trimming - shoulder is quite fatty - and then it gets a whizz in the processor. An onion is finely chopped and gently fried till its soft. The lamb is mixed with the onion, finely choped rosemary, a little bit of breadcrumbs and grated sheeps cheese (I'm using Parlick Fell which comes from just north of us). It's bound with an egg and it gets a coating of breadcrumbs before being fried.

Meanwhile, the veg saved from the braise will get nuked. And the tomato based braising liquid will get pimped up with a generous whack of marjoram and some chilli

[LindaWhit]

Those rissoles sound great!

[Harters]

Wasnt an outstanding success. They tended to fall apart in the frying but still tasted OK - although, oddly, there was no real flavour from the sheep's cheese in spite of being a really tangy sheepy one.

[LindaWhit]

Well, now that stinks. :-( Still, it's a good idea for another try with something else.

[Bacardi1]

I've been sticking to old favorites that work well in extremely hot weather:

Chinese Sesame-Peanut Noodles with Chicken & Snow Peas (light & refreshing either at room temp or chilled)

Greek Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta with a side of Lemon-Parsley Orzo Pasta

Hot Italian Turkey Sausages on Hoagie Rolls with grilled sliced colorful bell pepper & Vidalia onions - homemade macaroni salad on the side

Store-steamed spiced shrimp served chilled with cocktail sauce & a big green salad

Since the cold front came through last night & it's a bit cooler here today, I'm thinking of going Indian for tonight with some Curried Shrimp, Curried Spinach with Chickpeas, Cucumber Raita, & Naan bread.

[gembellina]

Tonight it's the hoisin burgers again. I'm so excited! I will try not to eat the spring onions whole and dipped in the jar of hoisin this time, they do tend to linger...

[ChristinaMason]

I think I missed these in the last thread. Did you share your recipe? Sounds intriguing.

[mariacarmen]

you certainly did, CM, and they were fantastic! actually, maybe 2 threads ago... ground beef mixed with a little hoisin, chopped green onions, and whatever else you normally put in your burgs, and mayo made with sriracha and sesame oil, avocado slices, and whatever else floats your boat.

[ChristinaMason]

That sounds great! I will have to try that with the next batch we grill.

[ChristinaMason]

found it! http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8533...

[gembellina]

yep, tiffeecanoe's recipe, I just jumped on the bandwagon. I made a truly revolting salad dressing to go with - today's lesson is that fish sauce is a LOT more pungent when it's not in a stirfry...

[ChristinaMason]

LOL, oh dear. Can't win them all. Lesson noted.

[mariacarmen]

oooh... but the burgers were good, yes?

[stormshadow]

This might be REALLY good with some lean ground pork :)

[mariacarmen]

oh wait, i forgot, it IS with ground pork - a mix of half gr. beef, half gr. pork. makes for much juiciness.

[gingershelley]

Going to have to make those hoisin burgers again too - thanks for reminder! That was a tasty profile of flavors...

[LindaWhit]

It was. The surprise was the hoisin and the sriracha mayo going *so* well together.

[mariacarmen]

yep, that was it. and the avo. tho i think Linda you don't like avos? blasphemy! ( :

[LindaWhit]

Caint help it, ma'am. Avos don't like my tummy. :-( So my hoisin burger was sans avocado.

[mariacarmen]

ohhh that's right. that's sad.
but that boighuh is good no matter what.

[ChristinaMason]

Tonight I'm making orchiette w/ broccoli rabe, chicken Italian sausage, hot pepper, grated parm, garlic, and toasted breadcrumbs: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe...

I'm pretty excited because I so rarely make pasta anymore. Trivia after dinner.

[nomadchowwoman]

That sounds wonderful. Enjoy your pasta treat, CM.

[ChristinaMason]

Thanks, nmcw. We enjoyed it. I think I'd roast the rabe next time to get a little sweetness from the browning. I drizzled some syrupy aged balsamic over my portion, which was a nice counterbalance to the bitter greens.

[Berheenia]

Last night we had chicken kabobs from WF (on sale natch) that were a lot better than expected. They were billed as 'barbeque' flavor so we grilled them brushed with oil and a little bottled bq sauce to finish. I made a potato salad with baby reds and red onion in a mustard vinaigrette and some copy cat cole slaw with Kraft dressing. The copycat is to make it taste like we bought it not made it- life is all about compromises. My husband has never tasted broccoli slaw and probably never will although the man loves broccoli.

[tcamp]

Even though it is slightly cooler here today (upper 80s), I'm getting a jump on dinner before I get too hot. Spanish tortilla and caesar dressing for a salad. Cantelope for dessert.

[weezieduzzit]

Not too much cooking this weekend (too hot!) Last night was left over wood fired pear and gorgonzola pizza from lunch with a salad.

Tonight will be skewers of shrimp marinated in moroccan flavors cooked quickly under the broiler and served with... salad since that's what I'm living on right now. Expecting over 100 degrees every day this week....

A big pitcher of mojitos was just made with the amazing mint from the garden and they're delicious!

[Njchicaa]

Carmine's chicken saltimboca here tonight for dinner. Tomorrow I'm making a pork loin with mustard and sherry from the Tavern on the Green cookbook. I also have a chicken thawing for roast chicken and chicken pot pie. Temps are going to be in the low to mid 80s this week so tomorrow I can turn off the window units, open the windows, and fire up the oven.

[LindaWhit]

That pork loin sounds *very* good, Njchicaa! I'm very much looking forward to the cooler temps as well.

[tcamp]

Yep, same dinner philosophy here. Tonight, grilled flank steak and italian sausage, pressure cooked (very briefly) corn, and tomato/cucumber/sweet onion/feta/oregano salad. I've been making variations on that salad pretty much every day, what with the harvest bounty at farmers markets and my own garden plot.

[GretchenS]

I have been away for a week (vacation in Mid-Coast Maine; report on Northern NE board in a day or two) and I can see that I have tons of catching up to do!!! Tonight was very simple: a wedge salad of farm-grown iceberg (so tasty) and avocado with 1000 island-ish dressing, a deviled egg with capers and some gorgeous farm-grown radishes spread with soft goat cheese I picked up in Maine. Yum.

[mariacarmen]

GS, hope you had a nice time while away.... your simple dinner sounds really, really good!

[gembellina]

Sounds like a lovely holiday. I think I see devilled eggs in my future...

[LindaWhit]

Since I wasn't expecting such an early start to a new WFD thread, I posted on the old one. My dinner tonight:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8569...

[mariacarmen]

same here! here's mine:

not a whole lotta cooking going on chez moi... BF took me out for the promised steak dinner Fri. night (steak and middle eastern food - very good), and then immediately came down with a cold (like an hour after we got home) - so the next a.m. i hightailed it to the oldster's (taking care not to infect him - much handwashing), took him to his appt., ran some errands, cooked his new favorite chicken dish for him. later, visited a nearby friend at his new flat and we snacked on cheese and crackers with plenty of bubbly. spent the night at the oldster's, more of the same today - chores around his house, including bathing the dog, then came home expecting to cook for the sickie bf, but he surprised me and cooked himself (again, mindful of the handwashing, not to worry) - london broil! simply grill panned, to medium rare, with a brush of bottled bbq sauce across the top. totally hit the spot. had not had much experience with that cut - it was tender as could be - i'm sold. corn on the cob, broccoli, and salad on the side. good to be home.

[ChristinaMason]

Nice! What's dad's favorite chicken dish like?

[mariacarmen]

it's ridiculously butter/olive oil-y. boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces, dredged in seasoned breadcrumbs (just oregano, s&p)). saute up sliced onions in butter/olive oil til browning, throw in chicken pieces, cook at high heat, stirring, then reduce heat and add a little bit of milk and a little bit of yellow mustard. HE LOVES THIS STUFF. it's the only thing i make that he consistently likes anymore, and if i change it up even the slightest bit he doesn't like it. and i figured out today why he likes it so much: it ends up tasting very much like thxgiving stuffing - so it's just another one of those items from a holiday meal/buffet he loves so much! too funny.

i don't know if i've said already (sorry if this is a repeat) but you've all been so supportive and kind.... Thurs. we got a biopsy report, and he's heading toward remission. not quite there yet, but the numbers are looking good. plus he's gained like 10 lbs in the last 3 months and gone up from a 32 inch waist to a 34! had to buy him new pants this weekend. so all that butter/olive oil is paying off. plus avocados, protein drinks, tons of fruit, bread, etc...

[weezieduzzit]

Excellent news!

[ChristinaMason]

+1

[LindaWhit]

:::::VERY VERY VERY VERY BIG SMILE!!!!:::::: upon reading the oldster's almost-remission news. :-) :-) :-)

::::LIKE!::::

[Berheenia]

halleluyah!

[gembellina]

that's good to hear, he's lucky to have you feeding him up!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

That's great news mc!

Dads are pretty tough, aren't they? I like to think I deserve at least a bit of the credit, as parenting me no doubt helped to toughen him up. Sounds like yours is getting a steady supply of great food to keep him going!

[gingershelley]

Great news MC - so glad for you and yours that he is looking like he's better! Here's to weight gain, etc. as well!

[tiffeecanoe]

aww, awesome news MC! How sweet that you take such good care of him <3

[mariacarmen]

thanks again, all, and i can't take all, nor most, of the credit. my sister lives next door to him and takes the laboring oar in caring for him (she was "fortunately", for now, laid off last year - things just work out sometimes like they need to) - so it's definitely a joint effort, and i'm sure we're luckier than a lot of people who don't have others to help them.

thanks again!

[nomadchowwoman]

Soooooo happy to hear this, mc. That chicken must be doing its job! (Not to mention all the TLC you and your sister have been heaping on him.)

[rabaja]

That's fantastic news, MC! So nice to hear!

[mariacarmen]

thanks ladies!

[PHREDDY]

Berry Berry goooood nwz

[mariacarmen]

gracias!

[GretchenS]

late to the party but great news, mc, good work on your part and your sister's too!!!!

[rabaja]

GS! Are you still writing up your dining adventures from the Boston area/Northeren New England? We leave for Portsmouth/Stratham/etc next week and I'd love to see your report!

[LindaWhit]

WAIT! You're headed towards Portsmouth, NH?

[rabaja]

Yes, my husband's parents live in Stratham, and he lived in Portsmouth for a number of years after college and wants me to get acquainted with that area. You know, so when we moved back east, it's in the realm of possibilities...;)
I know we are going to Jumpin' Jays and Cere's Bakery (which i poked my head into last December and have wanted to go back and try their soups ever since), but I'm curious what else people like.
We are actually scoping places out for an East coast reception in October. We are looking at the steamship, if it's not too pricey, for one...

wait...do you live there?

eta: was just informed the steamship would not be the best choice. damn.

[steve h.]

<<Yes, my husbands parents live in Stratham...>>

You have more than one husband?

[rabaja]

See me? I'm over here, giving you the bird.

[steve h.]

Sorry, had to be done :-)

[LindaWhit]

No, I don't live in Portsmouth, but I'm not far from there. It's a fun small city.

[Harters]

I've several posts on the Northern board, about Portsmouth eats, from our recent trip.

Thought it was a really nice town which would have been nicer if it hadnt rained pretty much all the time we were there.

[rabaja]

Thank you, Harters. I will definitely go check those posts out. Not sure how I missed them!

[LindaWhit]

I'm sorry the BF has a cold, mc! Or is it you with a cold? Either way - I hope you're feeling better soon!

And yes, London Broil is a good cut. Marinated and grilled. Shades of summertime meals growing up. :-)

[mariacarmen]

thanks everyone for congrats!!! very much appreciated.

LW, we didn't marinate the LB, tho the boyfriend (and yes, the boyfriend's the sickie one - i'm staying as clear as i can so i can be around the oldster) said marinating would be the typical prep as it usually doesn't have much flavor. but i loved it.

[jmcarthur8]

We had some nice bell peppers in the garden, and leftover brown basmati rice from yesterday's Sea Island Pea Gravy, so I stirred up some pepper steak for dinner. Quick and easy, and didn't heat up the kitchen!

[steve h.]

Leftovers.
Leftover rib steak re-heated in the toaster oven, leftover corn (also wrapped in foil) re-heated there too. A leftover baked potato was skinned, cut into nickel-sized pyramids and sautéed in butter.
Monday approaches and it's time to suck it up and get busy.

[twodales]

"Nickel-Sized Pyramids"? My mind is running amuck trying to imagine this.

[steve h.]

Easy, the base of each potato component is roughly the size of a buffalo nickel. Just angle in with your chef's knife to get the pyramid effect. Since the pyramids in Egypt no longer have sharp, pointy tops neither should your potato pieces. The more irregular (broken ziggurat?) the better.

I find they brown and flip just fine. Olive oil and butter make for a decent pan-frying environment. A cast iron skillet is my tool of choice. Sea salt and fresh-ground pepper on top as soon as you take the potatoes out of the pan.

The rest is up to you.