What’s For Dinner #87 - the Holiday Menu Planning Edition - November 2022

I never thought of stuffing Campari tomatoes; we buy them all winter, perhaps I’ll try!

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Ritzy Palace, Markham " - Going bonkers with our






overboard Dim-Sum ordering!

It has been ages since my family and I had lunch at this popular Dim-Sum venue. Today, behaving like a bunch of newly released and famine gulag captives, the five of us ‘foodie wacko’ went nuts and ordered 17 dishes!..with the intention of bringing home some excess for afternoon snacks!
Well! Were we wrong!!..'cos we devoured everything!!

The 17 dishes were as follows:

  • Harm-sui-gok, fried savoury chewy doughnuts
  • Egg custard tarts
  • Fried Squid tentacles with seasoned salt and pepper
  • Pan fried Turnip cakes
  • Pan fried lotus root, shrimp and meat patties
  • Water chestnut and green beans sweet jello cake
  • Fried Spring rolls with shredded chicken and taro
  • Steamed Har-Gow shrimp dumplings
  • Steamed Pea sprouts and mixed veggie dumplings
  • Steamed pork Siu-Mai dumpling
  • Steamed baby Cuttle fish in curry sauce
  • Steamed beef tendons in savoury Chiu-Hau sauce
  • Steamed beef tripe with ginger
  • Steamed bbq pork - Char-Siu-Bao
  • Steamed Chicken feet with black bean sauce
  • Steamed lotus leaf wrapped glutinous rice
  • Steamed beef meat balls with aged tangerine peels

Overall, quality and selection is still good, superior than a lot of their nearby competition. However, with closer scrutiny and based on my recollection, I found certain of their staple dishes have gone a touch down hill. Thankfully, these were offset by the introduction of a few fine, new products…the one special stand-out being the unique and tasty ’ Fried diced lotus root and shrimp patties '.












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That’s epic! I love this story!

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Pretty decadent: stuffed portabellas and leftover sour cream mashed potatoes turned into a loaded situation with scallions, a little bit of bacon and grated sharp cheddar. I was worried it would be stodgy but it somehow puffed up almost like a soufflé. Delicious!

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Aaaand I’m craving dim sum now. Thanks @THECHARLES :joy:

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WFD folks if you’re looking for some Dec dinner inspiration, or would enjoy cooking along from a book with other Onions, head over to the COTM voting thread — there are 3 books to choose from:

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Dinner tonight is fried shrimp with scallions and ginger, braised bok choy, and jasmine rice.

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Bright flavors on a dreary Sunday: NYT lemony shrimp & white bean stew (augmented with a bag of spinach, a whole onion & a fennel bulb; sadly, no leeks to be found). A house favorite.

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We love that recipe, too.

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We were tired of Thanksgiving food in its various incarnations so I took some striped bass out of the freezer. Mr Bean found a recipe for a fish tagine, and since I had everything on hand, it worked out well. You marinate the fish in a mix of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice, ginger, sweet paprika (I would use smoked next time) and saffron. Then, you poach the fish in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, olives, and preserved lemons. I served it over a pearled couscous blend I found in the back of the pantry and roasted carrots and parsnips.

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Last night’s dinner was the last of the Turkey Day leftovers.

Tonight: grilled Havarti and cheddar on cranberry-walnut bakery bread. Garden romaine with homemade Caesar dressing.

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We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at Fiorentini restaurant in Rutherford, NJ including risotto with Fall squash, crispy mushrooms, and Fresno chili; honey nut squash agnolotti with soppressata, sage, gorgonzola, and amaretto; octopus with potato chorizo croquette; and burrata with pappa al pomodoro. It all went great with an excellent Amarone and cabernet.
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We have incarnations in our refrigerator and I’m not looking forward to revving them - it’s only the two of us and a 14 lb turkey. How often do we have to visit it?

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I finally decided to freeze what I had left including 2 carved off but unsliced breast pieces and another batch of stock. We had two 14 pound turkeys for 10 people so there were LOTS of leftovers.

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We took a ribeye out of the freezer to thaw for dinner tonight. I can’t face turkey again. DH made stock overnight - we have it banked in our freezer now for soup this winter.

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Last night was TJ’s kung pao augmented with doubanjiang, carrots, zucchini, and scallion, served over cauli-jasmine rice. It was just OK - some of the chicken was gristly and didn’t have the right texture/fresh flavor. Last time I think I ate this with a ton of chili crisp. Slicing turnips in vinaigrette on the side.

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Nappa cabbage soup from chicken stock with mushrooms (button and crimini), tomatoes, and seitan
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Of course! Here it is:

* 1/2 lb pancetta or bacon
* 2 T olive oil
* 1 T butter
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
* 1/4 cup white wine
* 1/lb thin spaghetti
* 3 eggs
* 1/4 cup pecorino romano
* 1/2 cub parmesan
* black pepper
* 2 T parsley, finely chopped

Cut the pancetta into small dice.

Put the oil, butter, and crushed garlic into a saucepan or small saute pan and set heat to medium high. When the garlic becomes colored a deep gold, remove and discard it.

Add pancetta or bacon to the pan and saute until it begins to crisp at the edges. Add the wine and let it boil off for a minute or two, then turn off the heat.

Cook the spaghetti salted water.

In a large serving bowl, beat the three eggs, then mix in the grated cheeses, black pepper, and parsley.

Once the spaghetti is al dente, drain it and then toss well with the egg mixture. Toss rapidly and thoroughly until it is well coated.

Reheat pancetta quickly over high heat, then pour contents of skillet over the spaghetti, and mix again. Serve immediately.

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We still out here with the turkey day leftovers!

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I’d eat that.

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