What’s For Dinner #42 - 2/2019 - the Hearts & Flowers & Brrrr-Chilly Winter Edition

My neighbor did some grocery shopping for me so I asked her to buy me some chicken leg Want to try something new since I have a tub of red sauce that I had prepared to make pork char siu last October , but found out I cannot have pork. So, it h

as been in the freezer. ( soy sauce, garlic/spring onion/ hoisin sauce/shaoxing wine/ star anise/ 5 spice powder / honey - did to have red fermented bean curd, neither use any red coloring .
So, I used for the first time my son’s grill pan that he uses when he out on the boat, marinaded the chicken legs last night ( soy , garlic, vinegar, five spice)
grill in on top of stove , then saved it with the red sauce and fried plantan
It was good but not excellent . Char siu would have been great with it . The red sauce had a fantastic aroma.

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Starving because I missed lunch like a dolt.

Started with more of the gingery cauliflower soup to tide me over, then chickpeas with harissa and cod, with harissa roasted sweet potato chunks.

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Had an exciting last minute meeting with a friend of a friend (that i have known for years) who I’m going to do a freelance project for tonight. Just a few days but fairly urgent since everything is always a Fashion Emergency! Hahaha, aka why people need freelance help in the first place :joy:
We met at a random Pret a Manger location, and we each had a packet of their popcorn -aka my dinner appetizer. (How is their popcorn so good?? I really dislike about all prepackaged popcorn and yet theirs is seriously cravable!)

Two blocks from the subway entrance to get home i realized i was STARVING. Like eat my hand hungry. (Ref “lunch” aka a clif bar like seven hours earlier)
I detoured to the duane reade on the corner and ate a lot of these peanut buttery pretzels on the subway home.

I munched a sliced cucumber with everything seasoning while multitasking and made some Fancy yet Lazy Girl Tofu- scallion garnish! Fancy! Actually really tasty combo.

There’s definitely hot chocolate in my near future.

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My dosa disaster (mentioned elsewhere) now means we have sambhar and coconut chutney to use up. To go with them, I’m going to make a quick dish from Madhur Jaffrey’s “Curry Easy” which she only calls “chickpeas in a sauce” - basically a tin of chickpeas with onion, garlic, spices, chopped tomato and a little water. There will be papads and chappattis for carbs. I really can’t be bothered doing anything more complicated.

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So wet and rainy. Last night we needed some warm comfort food. Sauteed an onion and some pancetta, then added a bunch of kale, veggie stock, and a parmesan rind. Let that simmer for a while, then dumped in some orzo and a bit more water. Lots of black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes added before serving.

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Do you make your own gyro meat? Favorite recipe?

Nope, this was from Trader Joes. I have heard good things about Aldi’s “special buy” as well.

TT, you’ve mentioned your immersion blender a number of times. Do you by any chance have a cordless model? My ancient Bamix seems to have given up the ghost, and, it seems, a cordless model would be quite convenient. Good idea?

12 posts were split to a new topic: Cordless immersion blender - yes or no?

When we don’t have time to cook, I just put out bread and cheese. Tonight, ciabatta from a local bakery and Trader Joe’s cheese of the month.

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I made my own gyro meat. Leftovers are still in the freezer from 8 yrs ago. No appreciation for garlic. Humph!!!

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Haha, that’s cuz I don’t own a food processor or mini chop and my blender is a pain to use and clean!
But my immersion blender must be ten years old- plugs into the wall but comes apart to clean. Fairly certain it’s Cuisinart but doubtful they still make it. Surprised it’s lasted so long actually…(!!)

:joy:!

My freezer sometimes is like purgatory . From fridge to freezer to garbage .

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I decided that nothing says “i love me” quite like Hot Carbs in the form of dumplings… :two_hearts:
Steamed the last few from my bag of veggie/tofu dumplings and made them super fancy with some stemmy cilantro! And yes that’s a mug.

Also salad for insatiable veggie cravings, featuring @PHREDDY ‘s vinegrette!
I have used and reused this mustard jar for salad dressing at least a gabazillion times
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Totally weird shadow when i took a photo- hard to tell but it was slightly pink!! Haha, perfect ! Very delicious, a nice sweet tart balance from the bit of ketchup (!) and red wine vinegar combo

Salad included the usual cucumber, sunflower seeds, lots of stemmy cilantro, and part of a pomelo that i had to supreme because the segments’ membranes were SO tough and not edible. Actually very annoyed about that, since usually it’s not so tough. But made my salad kind of fancy too!

Debating if i’ll make this avocado chocolate mousse- a half recipe- since i do have chocolate chips and a ripe avocado (it’s way better with the melted chocolate option) but also needs to chill. If not I’ll just make an extra rich hot chocolate tonight with the chocolate chips

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I’ll add my 2cents here… I’ve had the same Braun immersion blender for the past 20 years, and it’s my favorite kitchen appliance.

Mine came with a mini chopper and a balloon whisk - the immersion blender comes apart midway, and the top (motor) part goes into the top of the chopper or the whisk.

I like it better than Bamix and Cuisinart both (which family members have). Bamix’s mini chopper is very good, but I find the immersion part inconsistent, and the recent Cuisinarts I’ve used aren’t comparable in power.

The post inside the mini chopper sadly (finally?) came loose last year, but I stuck it back… a friend just found the exact part I need so lucky me :grimacing:

Here’s a current version, though there are several modes depending on which attachments you are interested in.

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In a rare pasta indulgence at home, chicken and poblano ravioli from Trader Joe’s, using the thick cauliflower soup with some frozen green enchilada base as sauce. Really more of an enchilada plate in ravioli form, but tasty.

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I have that same one, made in Spain. The newer Brauns are not as good. I just used it to make mayonnaise. I use the chopper for small batches of ginger/garlic puree when I don’t have energy for the mortar and pestle. I use the whisk to whip egg whites and heavy cream. It has more wires than my regular electric hand mixer and does a far better job making whipped cream and meringues.

What I like to do is make an avocado “pudding” separately and chill for a bit. Then drizzle a warm chocolate sauce on top.

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I have to say, I was shocked at how good avocado chocolate mousse is!

Only trumped in bizarre goodness by water chocolate mousse… have you ever tried it? It’s scary because it can be had as long as some form of chocolate is at hand…

Good to know - I tend to forget the whisk!