An Asian dinner. Thanks, Andrea Nguyen.
Har gow, cha gio and her wonderful tamarind glazed lamb ribs.
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Dinner tonight was a bit of a brown affair. Pork chops brined for 8 hours in powdered buttermilk (reconstituted), smoked paprika, garlic and thyme. pan fried, then finished in the oven. not as tender as when i’ve used real buttermilk and marinated overnight, so i’m not sure which was the culprit. very juicy though. but i over-salted the chops! wahhh…
cauli florets were roasted with olive oil, chili flakes, smoked paprika and smashed garlic, then chopped capers, parsley and cherry peppers were added. really good. made plenty extra!
cabbage “steaks” were brushed with olive oil, salted and peppered, a sprinkle of granulated garlic and fennel seeds on both sides, then roasted at high temp. so, so good, love how sweet the charred bits got.
i forgot that i had a green salad all washed and chilling in the fridge to go with the buttermilk/gorgonzola dressing i made. lunch tomorrow! and more of that cauliflower.
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Pho ga before I buried it under a mountain of herbs. I even tried making yaiotao(sp?) to dip on the soup, but I wasn’t very happy with them. It hit the spot and there’s plenty of broth left to package up for an ailing family member who can only manage a mouthful or two of soup at present.
In other slightly unrelated news Lingua’s talk of mushrooms inspired me to make this purchase, my very own shiitake log. I can’t decide whether to don a cardy and wander about clutching like the log lady in Twin Peaks or just to keep singing the log song from Ren and Stimpy. Either way, there is a shroomy dinner in my future and a rather fetching log gracing my office bookshelf.
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We picked up a couple of jars ages back at LIDL and that was what prompted the recipe. With the exception of the anchovies, ingredients were as your recipe. The clams were in brine, rather than the juices you’d get from cooking them in the shells - and I rinsed that off. Maybe that was the mistake. There’s another jar so I’ll tweak things.
As for tonight, there’s smoked bacon chops. Spuds as yet to be determined. And beetroot gratin - a Sophie Grigson recipe from “Taste of the Times”. Cooked beetroot are sliced (I’m using the pre-cooked ones wrapped in plastic you get from the supermarket) and layered up in a dish with horseradish & creme fraiche white sauce. A scattering of breadcrumbs and Parmesan should give a bit of texture after it’s baked for around 30 minutes. I lurve beetroot!
Before all that, an hour or so gardening and an hour & so work on the new book
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Since we live in PA, which is the mushroom state (who knew?), we were invited to join a mushroom club of foragers… and guess what you get if you join? A shiitake log 
Your Twin Peaks and Ren & Stimpy references made me giggle, @Frizzle.
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WFD tonight will be big fat pork chops marinated Greek-style and grilled. Not quite sure yet about the side.
Fabulous! We can be log ladies together. I’m actually thinking seriously about the cardigan, if I can find a similar one my Halloween outfit is sorted and I can wander the streets saying ‘My log does not judge.’
The hipster at the garden shop was so excited by my purchase he tried to talk me into oyster mushrooms too. He said they grow in straw in a plastic bag. I’m tempted. They’re about the only mushroom that the bloke and four year old like.
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If you get clay (?? or something like that), you can absolutely grow oyster and king trumpets.
I only have a little experience with growing… other mushrooms. Too much of a hassle '-D
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Snow’s chopped clams in juice can be found in any supermarket here in Massachusetts, or I imagine anywhere in New England. I’m surprised they’re not out west as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Snows-Chopped-Clams-Juiice-6-5oz/dp/B006W6JCHI
Iraqi flat bread, Turkish red pepper paste, lamb mince with Turkish kebab spice mix. The bread is bigger than my dinner plate so I cut it up like a pizza. Shown here is a portion of the meal.
Actually a beer glass but I think it’s better as a wine glass.
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I had a senior moment. The stuff there with the canned tuna etc. Of course. Obviously you find the quality to be good. That’s all the rec I need 
It looks like king trumpets aren’t available in NZ. I just bought a kit for oyster and also some enoki spore. We’ll be inundated with mushrooms this autumn. Lol at the ‘other’ mushrooms. With an experimental four year old in the house I’ll avoid that for now!
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Tonight I’ll turn the poached chicken leftover from yesterday’s pho into soft tacos. Lots of fresh coriander and chillies will be added and there’s a range of other taco friendly items floating around so we can fix them how we prefer. It’s an AYO (assemble your own) dinner.
Better Call Saul will be on the box.
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I did “AYO” when some of the family was up recently. With an 18 mo. old, a 4 y.o. and 4 adults it worked so well.
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I made a lentil walnut loaf last night- used this recipe as a starting point and added in some chopped mushrooms and just used a ketchup and basalmic combo for the top. From another recipe i follow the technique of mashing about a third of the lentils to help everything stick together well
I’ve made this for my hard core carnivorous parents before and they liked it as much as i do!
Last night i had a slice with a side of roasted green beans, tonight was ontop of kale and arugala sauteed with a few chopped olives added in. The rest i have wrapped as individual slices and frozen for future easy meals
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love the log!
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ooh to all of it, but i LURVE Duchesse de Bourgogne!
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BF pan-grilled the leftover sausages (bacon/duck & pheasant), made a potato salad similar to mine of the other night (subbed garlic for thyme), and used the salad i made but forgot to serve last night (and take to work today) with my buttermilk/mountain gorgonzola dressing. simples.
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There’s to be lamb sharwama - using leg meat that was leftover from a roast and frozen. It’ll get tossed in oil and za’atar and reheated in the frying pan. I’m making moutabal and we should have the wherewithal for tabbouleh and fattoush. Lavash bread for an additional carb. A couple of jars to be opened for pickles. Dates for afters.
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I’m salivating. At 9:15 a.m.
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