What's for Dinner?

[ceeaton]

Was actually pretty nice here, low 40's without that dreaded wind. This morning the humidity was up a bit, so the cold cut through the light jacket pretty well. Got my wife's car battery replaced. It was still working, but upon opening the car hood, I noticed a bunch of battery residue which usually points to a battery that is past it's prime. It is the original on a 2012 Camry, so it was going to need replaced soon anyway. So I replaced it and scored some points with the lady of the house (Eagles weren't playing and was getting sick of the Steelers announcers, so I needed a diversion). Anyhow, fired up the grill and started up a "beer can" chicken, without the beer or can, but with the chicken. Rubbed it with some left over fajita rub from the other night, and stuffed some onions in the cavity. Did it slow (grill temp was showing 250*F most of the time) and am about to take it off and let it rest a bit. Doing a potato bread stuffing, green beans and some smashed taters to round out the meal.

 

[sour_grapes]

The sous vide chuck roast worked out nicely. After SV, I broiled it for a flavorful browned skin. The texture was spot on: tender, but not mushy., and the meat was moist and juicy. Only (small) complaint was that there was a fair amount of fat inside, and the SV cooking does not render that at all. (It was, however, unctuous and succulent!)
Served this with a red-wine reduction sauce with onions, mushrooms, garlic, and thyme. Also, smashed 'taters, and roasted Brussels sprouts with Parmagiano-Reggiano. As mentioned upthread, I made this for a friend who is laid up after surgery, so we started things at our house and finished it there: the other couple had no complaints!

 

[JohnT]

Once quitting time hit on Friday, I yelled "wahooo" and headed straight for the grocery store.

This was the first weekend that I had no plans and my tongue was hanging out for a nice steak dinner (on Saturday) and some spaghetti, meatballs, and sausage for Sunday.

After doing battle with Friday traffic, I finally got home, unloaded, and put everything away. I then cleaned the fireplace. The weather had turned cold (finally) and I have been looking forward to a nice fireside glass of wine. AHHHHH! good food, a nice warming fire (in the man cave), a comfy chair, and nothing to do but cook, sip, relax, and enjoy the peace and quiet!! Lets call this "Plan A".

Then my brother calls me. "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks.

I got as far as to say "I have no plans" when he interjected with "Great, I need your help on Saturday".

What I was trying to tell him was that I had no plans and was REALLLY looking forward to just relaxing at home. Being obligated to help my brother, I had no choice. So, my steak plans were changed. The new plan (Plan B) was to cook both the steak (for Sunday dinner) and the spaghetti/meatballs/sausage as well on Sunday (to eat during the week).

On Saturday when I arrived at my brother's place, I was surprised to see that my Niece (the daughter I always wanted) was there to help out too. She batted her pretty blue eyes, gave me a sad-puppy-dawg face, and the next thing I know I had committed to taking her to JR tobacco on Sunday.

We left my brother's house around 4:30. Being hungry, and estimating that I would be getting home by 5:30, the plans shifted again. Back to Plan A!!! Steak dinner after all!! It was then that my cell phone rang. A group of my friends were getting together at his house for some pizza.

SOOO, we were back to plan B. I ended up having a terrific time and got home around 10pm. It was far too late for a fire so I simply went to bed.

On Sunday morning, my brother stopped by with a load of firewood before I even had taken a sip of my morning coffee. My brother still has wood from super-storm Sandy, had split it, and brought it up to me. We unloaded and stacked the wood and I then convinced him to go to JRs with me as a way of thanking him.

JRs is great. It has a large craft beer and wine selection AND you can enjoy a stogie INSIDE WHILE WATCHING THE GAME!!!

It was a great time. In total, six of my family members showed up.
Unfortunately, I filled up on "pub food" (cheap pizza, nacho platters, etc) and draft Guinness. By the time we left the place, I was stuffed to the gills.

So, now it is plan "C". Cook the spaghetti, meatballs, and sausage on Sunday (to eat off of for the rest of the week), and cook the steak on Monday.

So, I took a long time to say that I did not eat very well over the weekend, at least nothing worthy of a picture, never got to cook, never got to have my fireside glass of wine in my comfy chair, and I would not have traded a minute of it for gold.

On the bright side, I have no plans for next weekend. I think I will cook something and then enjoy a nice glass of wine by the fireplace.

 

[GreginND]

Potato and cabbage soup is nicely accompanied by some terrific PA wine.

 

[ibglowin]

Sous Vide Chicken Teriyaki is in the house! Started the marinade process at lunch today then 90 mins at 145F this evening (in the Costco chicken teriyaki sauce) and then about 5 min sear from the gas grill. Moist and delish throughout. Mrs IB had two sticky thumbs up! LOL

 

[GreginND]

This butternut squash lentil loaf was pretty successful.

Sorry. It seems I can no longer upload photos from my iPhone.

Here it is:

 

[ceeaton]

(It was, however, unctuous and succulent!)

Thank you. I have never used that word to describe food, didn't realize it had that second definition.

 

[Boatboy24]

Chicken fajitas and spanish rice tonight. Washed down with the LR Monastrell-Petite Verdot. Good stuff, and a very pleasant night to be by the grill.

 

[sour_grapes]

Not dinner, but a playful breakfast!

 

[Boatboy24]

Sous vide ribeye, baked potato and grilled asparagus. Paired with my 2015 "Blend #3". Digesting now with a bit of limoncello.

 

[sour_grapes]

A late night at work, so on the way back from dropping a co-worker off, we had a famous Solly's Butterburger!

Yes, that is butter sitting on the plate under the burger.

(These are not my pictures.)

 

[Boatboy24]

A late night at work, so on the way back from dropping a co-worker off, we had a famous Solly's Butterburger!

Yes, that is butter sitting on the plate under the burger.

Lipitor chaser?

 

[Boatboy24]

Cheater's fish tacos using Trader Joe's fish nuggets. Ho-made sauce and fresh fixings though.

 

[geek]

Antipasto, empanadas.

 

[Boatboy24]

The beginnings and the end of my leftovers dinner. Chicken fajita quesadilla.

 

[Boatboy24]

Trying out the new Anova bluetooth that arrived the other day. I pre-ordered their new unit the 'Nano' a few months ago, but they are experiencing some production delays (was supposed to be out this fall). They offered the option of waiting, getting a refund, or just switching the order to the current 'full size' unit. The bluetooth unit is noticeably smaller than my original Anova unit. It's a little quieter, but doesn't seem to circulate with as much power as the original - could just be my perception. Works great right out of the box and controlling from my phone is unique, though I'm not sure it adds much value (aside from potential reductions in hardware, enabling some reduction in overall size).

Pulled a vac sealed prime NY Strip from the freezer and am having that with a baked potato. Kids wanted fish tacos, so I'm using the leftover sauce from dinner a few nights ago and throwing some Trader Joes fish nuggets in the oven. Steak will be rubbed with a S&P, garlic, onion, marjoram and cardamom rub after it's bath, then seared in the CI skillet.

Trying really hard not to dig into the blueberry pie I made earlier.

 

[geek]

Chinese food with my 2015 Chardonnay from grapes...

 

[ceeaton]

Wifey away, but still made three different dinners, two with a common element. A fourth one by my oldest daughter was of her making (peppered turkey wrap (spinach wrap) with cheese/lettuce and I think some onion). The common element was some fresh Italian sausage that was grilled. Son had a grilled sausage on a GF bun. Youngest daughter had a spicy beef hot dog (she's looking more and more like a hot dog the older she gets, wish I could eat that much fat and stay thin). I cut up some of the sausage, mixed with peppers, onions, commercial pesto and cut up sausage. Very easy and very yummy, served with an ice cold beer or three.

Hoping my wife calls tonight since she can't text because she lost her phone somewhere between BWI and SAT. I have already bought her a replacement for Christmas as she really seemed to like the one I got when I lost mine in my brothers yard during a drink filled evening a few weeks ago. Has better range and the battery lasts 16 days in standby mode (I charged mine this morning at work, at 6 am, and it still is showing 100% charge).

 

[Boatboy24]

My belly has worked out and is ready for tomorrow.

 

[sour_grapes]

On a whim, I bought 2 lbs of mussels this evening. I made collard greens to go with it, but my wife (I am totally blaming her for this, justified or not) distracted me, and I screwed it up. The chicken stock dried up and I burned the greens into a bitter mess. Into the garbage! However, the main course was, well, freaking delicious. Started with about 1/4 lb of ho-made bacon, cut into lardons. Fried those up in olive oil; when crisped, I added 1/2 stick butter and shallots, and eventually a few cloves of minced garlic. Then added about 1/2 bottle of ho-made Pinot Gris/Viogner and 2 lbs of Prince Edward Island mussels. Served this over linguine, and it was divine. Washed down with a bottle of ho-made Pinot Gris/Viogner, and then supplemented this with ho-made straight Pinot Gris. We topped off our tanks with leftovers from the on-going winemaking, viz., some sloppy seconds from the Syrah, and some press wine from the first run of the Syrah.