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Well, unfortunately my camera seems to have fritzed out. One of my guests took pix, so maybe there'll be pix later.

Tonight, we celebrated our dear friend's 50th birthday. Unfortunately, she has been having some health problems, and has been placed on a strict diet. Our intended menu was VERY unhealthy indeed.

It is possible, I discovered, to make a heart/liver-healthy meal that was ALSO scrumptious. It has a seafood tilt. Let me regale you.

Appetizer: hot-smoked salmon, which I then sliced up and doused with lemon-macerated shallots, capers, and olive oil (EVOO).

1st course: steamed mussels. Ho-made white wine (pinot gris/viognier), shallots, and garlic, then I steamed the mussels in this decoction. Later, add EVOO and parsley. Served with crusty sourdough bread.

Main course:

Roasted broccoli, with garlic and EVOO. After roasting, douse in juice of Meyer lemons.

Seafood mushroom barley "risotto," made with shallots, thyme, portabellas and garlic. Here, you substitute pearled barley for arborio rice, but otherwise follow a risotto recipe. I used ho-made lobster stock for the liquid. Due to my friend's condition, I forewent the parmesan, and substituted EVOO for the butter.

Romanesco broccoli. (Yes, TWO broccoli dishes, but I was working to a request), I found a recipe that called for toasted almonds and capers. I quartered the Romanesco broccoli, then roasted it in high heat. When it became obvious this was not going to work out (because the almonds and capers were burning), I pulled the broccoli out to a new pan, and saved the remaining additions to low heat. After the broccoli was done, I remarried them, and it was wonderful. This was one of those dishes that was on the edge between wonderful and awful. I am sure I was minutes away from disaster.

Finally, main course: Swordfish steaks. I dried these as best could in 30 minutes, but they were still giving off liquid like crazy. I broiled these with a little EVOO. I did manage to cook them to 135 F internal temp, so I am happy!

Edited to add: I used a Marcella Hazen recipe for salmariglio, which is a sauce to put on the swordfish. It has salt, lemon juice, marjoram, a little garlic, and olive oil.

The guests were happy, so I was happy!
 
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Buffalo Chicken Sliders. Mrs IB was licking her plate. Carrots were added as a healthy side dish....... :)

Making up a bunch of pulled chicken today. I can see some of it becoming something like that slider later in the week. I like the plate too.
 
Finished product(s). Probably one of the best racks of ribs I have ever cooked (says Mrs IB). Perfect spice, fall off the bone with just a little effort, no need for any sause really. Chicken was PDG as well. Nice and moist even the breast. Love the spatchcock method for poultry.

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I made up a small batch (only one chicken) of my fried chicken.

I Start by brining the chicken for 24 hours to make it come out juicy and full of flavor.

To go with it, I made a simply pasta/veggie salad.

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... and no, that really is chicken and not a processed eagle like I have been telling prople (you all know that I am a Giants fan).
 
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... and no, that really is chicken and not a processed eagle like I have been telling prople (you all know that I am a Giants fan).

Here I was about to click "like." Good thing I stopped myself!

Don't feel bad, John. At least Eli and Odell had a nice "Superbowl appearance." Ironic that Eli was doing the catching. (I suppose Brady would have dropped Odell. :) )
 
Leftover hot dogs, slaw and chicken wings from last night. Saving the pulled chicken for bigger, better things.
 
Here I was about to click "like." Good thing I stopped myself!

Don't feel bad, John. At least Eli and Odell had a nice "Superbowl appearance." Ironic that Eli was doing the catching. (I suppose Brady would have dropped Odell. :) )

Hey, It might be true that NYG can't run, pass, CATCH, block or score, but they sure can dance!

(with only 2 wins, I am a bit bitter)
 
Hey, It might be true that NYG can't run, pass, CATCH, block or score, but they sure can dance!

(with only 2 wins, I am a bit bitter)
Remember, NFL stands for Not For Long. Teams go up and down like and oak chip caught in a heavily fermenting wine. Especially in the NFC East. It is rare a team repeats as division champion two years in a row. Unless it is the next few years and the Iggles, of course!
 
Having the wings that were removed from the birds that became Sunday's pulled chicken, along with some leftover slaw.
 
These pictures kinda suck, but oh well. We had an appetizer of leftover mussels from the other day (description from above: Ho-made white wine (pinot gris/viognier), shallots, and garlic, then I steamed the mussels in this decoction. Later, add EVOO and parsley. Served with crusty sourdough bread.) Forgot to take a picture of that.

I made Roman fried artichokes, where you trim off the inedible parts, then squash the sucker flat and fry it in oil until crisp! That was yummy. Finally, I made Bucatini all'Amatriciana, which features guanciale (bacon from the jowl of a hog), hot pepper, onions, and San Marzano tomatoes. This sauce is nearly always served with bucatini, so that is what we did. Excuse the poor pix: I didn't remember until after we started tucking into the groceries!
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Last night, I found a ribeye that looked good. Usually, the ribeye has two different muscles, the part that is the same as a strip steak (longissimus dorsi) and the cap (spinalis dorsi). My specimen seems to be from nearer to the head (I think!) of the unfortunate beast. There is a third muscle in there, that maybe @Stressbaby or one of the other docs could tell me what it is. (Longissimus cervicis, maybe? Semispinalis?) Anyway, it was tasty. Dry-brined and seared in butter. Served with sauteed mushrooms (garlic, thyme, shallots); braised Swiss chard (coriander); and creamy polenta (with LOTS of a goat cheese with truffles).

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