What's for Dinner?
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I have a little catching up to do!
I started preparing a Cafe Zuni chicken on Saturday, which takes one to three days lead time. But then I fell ill with seasonal gastro problems. (Don't ask for details!) I recovered in time to make this for dinner on Monday. I accompanied it with braised Swiss chard (onions, coriander, fennel, red pepper flakes) and white rice (sesame oil, fried onions).
I started preparing a Cafe Zuni chicken on Saturday, which takes one to three days lead time. But then I fell ill with seasonal gastro problems. (Don't ask for details!) I recovered in time to make this for dinner on Monday. I accompanied it with braised Swiss chard (onions, coriander, fennel, red pepper flakes) and white rice (sesame oil, fried onions).
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For last night's dinner, I had some lower-grade steaks waiting for me. Personally, I like chuck steaks, even if they are a little tough. My better half begs to differ. However, I had thawed some frozen chuck steaks (before I got ill), so I had to use 'em up. After dry-brining, I decided to try to braise 'em into tenderness for my DW. It didn't really work. I decided to make steak au poivre, sort of, thinking I could let the steaks braise in the sauce for a while and tenderize. Hence, I only seared them for ~2 mins. a side, before pulling them out, then making the au poivre sauce, then putting the steaks back in for a long soak. However, the steaks came out only medium-rare; that in itself is fine by me and DW, but it did not accomplish the long, tenderizing braise I had envisioned. Anyway, the sauce was tasty, with crushed peppercorns, green peppercorns, beef broth (from Better than Bouillon base), and cream, after the steaks were flambe'ed in brandy. But it was rather salty, as the Better than Bouillon stuff is pretty salty, and I evidently used too much of it. Mea culpa.
This was paired with braised green kale (onions, chicken stock) and linguine (garlic, EVOO, parsley, pecorino cheese).
This was paired with braised green kale (onions, chicken stock) and linguine (garlic, EVOO, parsley, pecorino cheese).
Okay, still catching up a bit. Last night, I found one of Mike's Woo-Hoo Kroger specials, but on lobster tails. Actually, they had a buckload of them available, but you can only eat so many before they spoil, right? I par-boiled them for 2 minutes, which allows you to remove the meat from the shell easily. Then I took the meat out and cooked it sous vide at 132F with LOTS of butter and tarragon. Part of the idea is that you can keep the lobster meat from overcooking like when you boil the critter. I liked the 132F texture, which was soft and succulent, but did not LOVE it; I think I would push the temp up to firm up the lobster a bit. I served this with leftover linguine from last night (garlic, EVOO, parsley, pecorino cheese), and a fennel bulb that was braised in chicken stock then browned.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
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Woo Hoo! LOL
My favorite recipe to get rid of a lot of those is Lobster Mac-n-Cheese!
That, in fact, would have been a great idea. Maybe I'll get lucky with those in the future.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
It's been a long week of working a few hours a day, plus being in class 9-10 hours. I'm spent, but longing for a (somewhat) good meal, requiring low-to-no effort. Grabbed a couple cheap filets on the way home for me and the Mrs. Sous vide for about 75 minutes with a local "Manhattan Steak Rub", then they'll go into a screaming hot CI skillet to sear. Also having steamed broccoli with hollandaise and @JohnT 's favorite: tater tots. Kids are getting the broccoli, tots and some chicken tenders. For some strange reason, they aren't crazy about steak. I think I need to order a DNA test...
Enjoy it while it lasts!
Sort of. I just cook and don't measure. But, the sauce was made with a half cup or so of walnuts, 1 avocado, several cloves of garlic, a big handful of spinach, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, juice of one lemon, about a cup of almond milk, salt and pepper blended in a blender. Some of the pasta water was added later to thin it a little bit as it was a bit too thick to pour. Toss with hot pasta.
Still catching up. This was from last night. (Fortunately, tonight was some leftovers, so I am now caught up.)
Last night's fare was again those scrumptious lamb shoulder-chops-that-are-practically rib chops that I often can score for small money. Dry-brined, then seared, and then made a pan sauce with garlic, sherry, thyme, and then mounted with butter. I also made a side of roasted mushrooms (EVOO, thyme), which are the bomb, as the kids used to say about 70 years ago. Other sides were white rice (the DW is illin' with the same stomach bug I had), and sauteed/braised Savoy cabbage (onions, ho-made chicken stock).
Last night's fare was again those scrumptious lamb shoulder-chops-that-are-practically rib chops that I often can score for small money. Dry-brined, then seared, and then made a pan sauce with garlic, sherry, thyme, and then mounted with butter. I also made a side of roasted mushrooms (EVOO, thyme), which are the bomb, as the kids used to say about 70 years ago. Other sides were white rice (the DW is illin' with the same stomach bug I had), and sauteed/braised Savoy cabbage (onions, ho-made chicken stock).
I've gotta get these kids (and wife) to try some lamb. Wonder if I could pass it off as a new variant of chicken (their favorite protein)?
Paul that looks delicious!
Paul that looks delicious!
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Got done with the Boddingtons batch 'o beer, so took the marinated bottom round roast piece (for $5) out of the fridge and cooked it like I normally do an eye round roast. Served with twice baked taters my wife whipped up and some bagged salad. Nice and easy meal, got me in the mood to uncork a Dornfelder bottle (been a few months, need to see how it has progressed).
Craig, how was the Dornfelder, I've not opened that bottle you sent yet but been tempted more than once.
Mike
It's definitely improving with age. Every time I open a bottle I enjoy it a little more. Still has some rough edges so I think you can wait a bit longer. I started that batch 9/12/2015 so it is only 30 months old. I'd let it hit 36 months before I'd consider opening it. I wish they had more dry Dornfelder wines in our state store system to compare with what I've bottled.
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