What's for Dinner?

[Boatboy24]

77 and sunny today - burgers over charcoal!!

 

[ceeaton]

78 here today and some showers about to come in...Did some mojo chicken thighs yesterday, I marinated myself in a few beers. Mojo boneless ribs in the crock pot tonight (seared last night on the grill) that I'll pull for sandwiches. The extra fat really keeps the meat tender with the all day on low cooking method. Will serve with some sliced fried taters and a salad and a beer.

 

[sour_grapes]

I had some nice, wild-caught jumbo Gulf shrimp to play with. Decided to do an 80's flashback, and pulled out Paul Prudhomme's cookbook. I made what he calls "Shrimp Diane." (playing off Steak Diane). This was shriimp sauteed in butter with (partial list): onions, garlic, cayenne, basil, thyme, marjoram, mushrooms (that's the "Diane" part), and lots of parsley. Did I mention butter? LOTS of butter, like 1.5 sticks between two of us! This was all served over angel-hair spaghetti. I also made the first asparagus of the "season": it was from Mexico, whereas it has been available from Peru all winter. My rule of thumb is: if it came by rail/truck, it is okay, but airplane is a no-no. I roasted the 'gras at 450 with olive oil and garlic powder for 20', and it came out well-nigh perfect. (Better to be lucky than good -- I hadn't checked it!) This was all washed down with ho-made Pinot Gris/Viognier blend. This dinner may not be much to look at, but it went into the mental "restaurant quality" category!

 

[sour_grapes]

Ahhhh, what a dumbkopf. Made a lovely meal tonight, and started out the "right way," documenting it, but then forgot. I only got pix of the 'taters.

I made lacinato kale with sauteed onions, braised in chicken stock (Better Than Boullion), and a dish of smashed 'taters (simmered, smashed, fried, seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning). The main dish was boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I seared them, then removed while I cooked the mushrooms and onions. I eventually added lots of garlic and fresh thyme and some marjoram, then deglazed with sherry. Then I returned everything to the pan and braised with ho-made chicken stock until syrupy and delicious.

 

[JohnT]

Ahhhh, what a dumbkopf. Made a lovely meal tonight, and started out the "right way," documenting it, but then forgot. I only got pix of the 'taters.

I made lacinato kale with sauteed onions, braised in chicken stock (Better Than Boullion), and a dish of smashed 'taters (simmered, smashed, fried, seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning).

What did you use (or how did you) smash those taters. Mine never come out that flat.

 

[sour_grapes]

What did you use (or how did you) smash those taters. Mine never come out that flat.

John, a few years ago I needed a "meat mallet" for making jerk pork. I was not in the mood to go shopping for one, so I made a crude one. I took about an 8" length of 4"x4", and drilled a 1" hole halfway through the side with a spade bit. Then I put a 1" dowel handle in the hole, and screwed into it from the other direction. Crude but effective.

 

[ibglowin]

Crude but effective.

 

[ceeaton]

Friday, traditionally pizza night. Didn't want to let the kids down. I went for the coto salami/ham/swiss stromboli.

Stromboli:

GF pizza:

Regular crust pizza:


Served with some cold Labatt Blue, a fine Canadian Pilsener.

 

[sour_grapes]

John, a few years ago I needed a "meat mallet" for making jerk pork. I was not in the mood to go shopping for one, so I made a crude one. I took about an 8" length of 4"x4", and drilled a 1" hole halfway through the side with a spade bit. Then I put a 1" dowel handle in the hole, and screwed into it from the other direction. Crude but effective.

Well, I just measured it, and it was only a 5" length of 4x4. (But it SEEMS like 8", if you know what I mean!) Only the finest Douglas Fir for my food!

Here is a picture, with a coffee cup and a wine bottle for scale.

 

[ibglowin]

Beer Braised Brisket Poutine!

Harvarti cheese melted over pulled beer braised brisket, gravy, and french fries sprinkled with fresh dill with horseradish on the side.........

 

[heatherd]

Ever since I spent time in Vienna, I have been ADICTED to wiener schnitzel. Over there, you know that it was ordered when you hear the chef pounding out the meat. Like a Pavlovian bell, that distinctive "thump, thump, thump" always makes me drool.

Over there, it comes in two varieties. Schnitzel vom kalb (veal) and schnitzel vom schwein (pork). We always ordered the pork. It was about 1 euro cheaper, more tender, and (to me) more flavorful.

Anyway, yesterday was schnitzel night and, believe it or not, it was dinner on the cheap...

Center cut, boneless pork chops were on sale. A packet of four thick ones was only $4.59.

I made my own bread crumbs from the bread I baked last weekend. Broke it into pieces, and dried them in the oven at 250 for about 45 minutes. Blast the dried bread in a food processor until the crumbs were like a fine powder (this is key). total cost $0. It was stale bread that I would have thrown out.

I pounded out the chops until I had very thin cutlets about 5 or 6 times the original size. I have a HUGE meat mallet (just for schnitzel) that makes short work of it.

Then its season, four, egg wash, bread crumbs, and fry in a cast iron skillet until golden brown. I figure the cost was 50 cents for the eggs, 10 cents for the flour, and 50 cents for the oil. A total of $1.10.

As a side, I made home made spaetzle Total cost $1.25 (milk, flour, eggs, and butter (for sautee).

I also added some left over cucumber salad and some nice, fresh lemon to go over the schnitzel... (add 35 cents for the lemon)

So total cost was $7.29 and I got 6 portions out of it (I had to split 2 of them because they were so big, they could not fit into the pan).

In short, Dinner for $1.22 with a $15.00 taste!!!!

Here is a pic. Please note the lemon squeezer that we brought back from Vienna. Allows you to juice a wedge of lemon, retains the seeds, and you can pour the juice like a creamer. Got to hand it to those Austrians, they sure are ingenious.View attachment 46725

When we went to Australia, schnitzel is a big thing, but it's always chicken.

 

[sour_grapes]

Beer Braised Brisket Poutine!

Harvarti cheese melted over pulled beer braised brisket, gravy, and french fries sprinkled with fresh dill with horseradish on the side.........

Sounds fantastic. The only thing better would be TWO of them!

 

[ceeaton]

Sounds fantastic. The only thing better would be TWO of them!

Paul, you have the same dishes as Mike, now that's quite the coincidence!

 

[ibglowin]

No, the only thing that would be better is if you had TWO of them DELIVERED to your doorstep for dinner!

Sounds fantastic. The only thing better would be TWO of them!

 

[sour_grapes]

No, the only thing that would be better is if you had TWO of them DELIVERED to your doorstep for dinner!

I agree, that would be much better! Yum.

 

[ceeaton]

Channeling my inner Peyton today. Chicken Parmesan, nice cool and damp afternoon to run the oven and make the kitchen a bit warmer. House already smelled pretty darn good with the ragu sauce cooking most of the afternoon, the chicken in the oven is starting to add another yummy aroma layer. Now to pick a red wine for dinner.

 

[sour_grapes]

Holy balsam, Batman!

Balsamic vinegar played a large role in tonight's fare. I made a bunch of loin lamb chops glazed with balsamic vinegar, and also balsamic-glazed mushrooms.

Here are the deets. I made Brussels sprouts by halving them, browning them in olive oil, then braising them in ho-made chicken stock. Finally, they were covered in pecorino cheese to melt. I also made a side of polenta; fairly simple, but then I threw in a ton of blue cheese for a bit of a bite. The 'shrooms were sauteed in EVOO, then I added shallots, and then deglazed with sherry before adding balsamic vinegar with dissolved brown sugar. Let that reduce to a syrupy, gloppy goo. Finally, the chops. I seared them in LOTS of butter for just 2 minutes/side. Took them out, cooled the pan with sherry, then added lots of minced garlic (4 large cloves) and fresh rosemary. When that was done enough, I added balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, some sherry, and I put the chops back in to finish cooking and glazing. I told my wife not to expect medium rare chops, because of the braising, but they were in fact done to medium rare. I got lucky on that one!

 

[Boatboy24]

8am and I'm dying for some balsamic lamb...

 

[ibglowin]

Guess it was a Chicken Parm kind of night. Had some off our BFF's over last night for dinner. Made Peyton's favorite along with Olive Garden knock off salad. Started off with Piquillo and Artichoke Bruschetta as well as Olive Tapenade on toasted Sour Dough Baguette.

 

[geek]

You guys are killing me...that chicken parm and salad looks to die for....