Hi everyone, i hope you’re all well. Lulu and I are back from our trip, and she’s gone off again, this time to NYC and Las Vegas with her boyfriend. So we had a few nights of family dinners last week, and then it was back to empty nesting for LLD and me this week. LLD is off to visit his family this coming Tuesday, the same day Lulu gets back from her trip. Our sweet dog is very confused, but probably happy that she hasn’t had to go to the sitter’s. Here’s what we ate:
8/13: bagels, salmon, etc.
8/14: Lulu’s boyfriend is from Egypt, and has taught her to make koshari, their national dish. She made it for us. Delicious.
8/15: chili, tortilla chips
8/16: carry out, Peruvian chicken. It was crazy good.
8/17: carry out Chinese
8/18: shrimp in poblano-cilantro sauce (Milk St), rice, avocado
8/19: I wanted easy. Came up with buying frozen boneless fried chicken, sticking it on a bun with lettuce and tomato, and made some blue cheese dressing to pour over it with hot sauce on top. LLD loved this so much that we repeated it the next night. I need to remember this one! Having made the dressing the first night, dinner took only as long as it took to heat up the chicken the second night.
8/21: carry out pizza
8/22: pasta with sausage and broccolini
I’m thrilled that our Trader Joe’s finally reopened after being damaged by the flooding here a couple months back. I really came to see just how many things I rely on them for. Wishing everyone a wonderful, calm week.
I love Koshari! There’s a local restaurant that serves it . The extra spicy vinegar garlic sauce is fantastic and the fried onions really finish it off. So delicious and nutritious!
And now you have the two months’ work of Trader Joe’s new products to explore!
Breakfasts: An almond croissant from a local bakery to start off the first day of classes. Otherwise, granola, fruit, and almond milk (yogurt, for my husband).
Feeding three in the Boston burbs, where DS starts 10th grade on Wednesday and I have a new employee starting tomorrow (hurrah!) so it will be a busy week all around.
Sun: “fish on potatoes” aka cod baked on thinly sliced potatoes, with lemon, butter, and thyme. I borrowed an ATK cookbook from the library (“Foolproof Fish”) so we’ll see how foolproof the recipes really are! I am not a confident cooker of fish.
Also on the prep list for today: all of the non-lettuce components for taco salad for lunches (corn, beans, peppers, tomatoes, chicken) and chicken/veg pad thai for other lunches* and sauce for tomorrow and 15lbs of b/s chicken breasts into the freezer. I’m tired.
*I made this for a dinner last week, fully expecting DS to complain, but he inhaled it and asked for it again for lunches. Woohoo, he likes inauthentic pad thai!!
Mon: spaghetti pie (an old cooking light recipe), air fryer green beans
Tues: honey-chipotle chicken tacos (NYT) with beans, pepper strips
Thurs: leftovers if we have enough, otherwise stovetop mac and cheese.
We leave Friday afternoon for a weekend in Columbus - DS and DH are going to the Ohio State - Texas game, and I’ll hang out with my SIL and niece and grand-nephew.
How did the fish turn out? I am also a little nervous with certain fish preparations, and if your dinner worked, I will look for that book at my library.
We didn’t really like it. To be fair, the three pieces of cod I defrosted were all different thicknesses, so gauging cooking time was rough, and I think both the fish and potatoes needed more aggressive seasoning. My favorite/only reliable fish recipe is the NYT One- Pan Roasted Fish with Cherry Tomatoes. If that’s an A+ then last night’s was a B-.
However… I do like how the cookbook is structured with educational info and substitutions, so it may be worth a library loan. It’s pretty comprehensive and covers a variety of sea creatures, not just fishes!
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. If this is the ATK recipe I’m thinking of, I’ve made it half-a-dozen times or so. We like it, but always use halibut. I agree that variations in thickness would make this one a challenge.
Hi everyone, I hope you’re enjoying this long weekend. It’s a perfect day here in Chapel Hill. LLD left early Tuesday morning, and Lulu got home late Tuesday night. Just going with the flow here. Here is what we ate:
Mon: roast chicken thighs with lemon and tarragon, polenta, salad
Tues: solo, sardine toasts
Wed: black bean tacos
Thurs: sushi out
Fri: turmeric rice with chickpeas and garlicky tahini sauce, salad
It all sounds so good! Especially the white beans and artichokes on toast! When does Lulu leave for college ?
I hope you can avoid the chaos when Carolina plays their first football game with the “new coach.”!!!
Depending on how close you are to Kenan, you might need to close the windows on Monday!
Realized that I forgot to post my thoughts for last week in a flurry of activity, so I’ll try to remember actuals instead.
– Masala cheese toast – love this easy dinner: minced red onion, green chilli, cilantro, and tomato mixed with grated Amul (or cheddar). This time we had them open-faced.
– Whole roast chicken – my mom used to make this in a big kadhai / wok stovetop, but I’ve been experimenting with the countertop oven. It doesn’t get screaming hot for the Keller recipe burnished outcome, but the skin was still crisp and the chicken was absolutely delicious. I think it was a 2-2.5 lb chicken, which are rare to find in NYC. Sides of rosemary potatoes and pan-roasted cauliflower that turned out very nicely. Porcini ravioli in a light bechamel for mom, with the vegetables on the side.
– Lacy pan-fried momos (dumplings) – these turned out very nice and crisp. Frozen momos, homemade sauce.
– Dal, rice, and “fish fry” – a comfort meal in our family. The fish was a treat: Ghol aka black spotted croaker, which is hard to get a hold of these days because it’s one of the top export fish to east and southeast Asia. I remember when my dad would bring it back from a weekend fish market shopping spree: it was the first thing he cooked, along with an “amuse bouche of fried prawns (dal & rice were kept ready). A lovely meal and a happy memory.
– Indian Chinese out with a new friend (rare these days!) – Schezwan chicken lollipops (wings), Gin chicken balls, Chilli beef, Pan-fried noodles with chicken and vegetables, Burnt garlic fried rice. A delicious meal and a fun evening.
– The Shortcut Chicken Verde discussed above, adding cilantro, onion, and garlic to a jar of salsa vetde— eaten with rice and steamed broccoli.
I know there was more, but that’s all I can remember!
(dal & rice were kept ready). A lovely meal and a happy memory.
