Been under the weather all week but back to normal now. Took some raw chicken breasts and homemade chicken stock out of the freezer. Simmered together for Chicken and dumplings. Refrigerated biscuits for the dumplings later on. Very good. You really don’t need anything else with this meal.
In response to the original post. I have a Charlie Brown tree and love it. Most of my holiday shopping was done. Last night I had a couple hot toddies and finished off my shopping online. We tried a Xmas swap one year at work. I gifted a bottle of Crown Royal because I figured he was a drinker. I heard later on through the grapevine that he would have preferred tequila. I received from someone else a very large ugly white fake leather purse that had probably been on clearance five years before. Nobody ever suggested a swap again.
Playing with the new counter-top convection oven again.
Storebought egg-roll wrappers stuffed with a cooked filling of cabbage, carrots, mung bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and a little ground pork. Soy and honey for seasoning.
Pretty happy with the results. Not as tender as deep-fried, but tasty with a satisfying crunch (and better for me).
We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at Fiorentini Restaurant in Rutherford, NJ, including an excellent Fall squash veloute with truffles, pomegranate, balsamic and Fresno chili; honeynut squash cappelletto with soppressata, sage, and gorgonzola; acorn squash with Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and maple bourbon; seared venison steak with Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and au poivre jus; cacio e pepe tagliatelle; pistachio millefoglie with amarene and pistachio ice cream and chantilly. It all went great with an excellent red blend and cabernet.
It turned into a miserable, rainy evening while I was walking around running errands (mainly buying a 50th birthday gift for a close friend which necessitated a trip to practically the only remaining bookstore nearby), so I slowly walked back via ALL the grocery stores in my neighborhood as hunger loomed large.
Found lamb chops (t-bone) on deep sale at one, so along with broccolini from a different store and a lonesome potato already at home, that became dinner.
Sometimes things just come together perfectly. The lamb was tender (reverse-seared) and flavorful with garlic, rosemary, and a touch of mustard, the mashed potato delicious with a bit of garlic, cream cheese, milk, and butter, and the broccolini benefited from being sauteed in the lamb fat that remained after I seared the chops.
I thought I’d eat 2 chops, but I only had room for 1. (The pimiento cheese and crackers I ate while waiting for the lamb to cook might have had something to do with it.)
I wanted fish and chips tonight but the pub ignored my phone call. So I ordered Mexican online. A moment later I received a text saying the restaurant cancelled my order. I usually eat vegetarian or pescatarian on Fridays, and nothing I was finding online that was nearby looked right, and it was raining. Decided on take-out mac & cheese, this one has broccoli but it’s sort of lost in the sauce.
It’s all mac & cheese to go, from a little take-out shack. Not worth your time in Toronto so I won’t mention the name of the business. I probably would have been just as happy with a $2.98 Cdn box of Kraft Dinner. I waited 6 minutes for this one, and the KD would have taken me 8 minutes to make at home. LOL
One of the nice things about risotto, besides that it is nearly always a great dish, is that it is more or less a blank canvas which allows you to combine many different flavors. This risotto had asian influences with ginger, lemongrass, garlic, scallions, coconut milk, chicken broth, cilantro, peanuts and chicken breast.
Tuscan shrimp and spinach soup. Onions, garlic, sauteed in oo then added rpf, tomato paste, s&p, wine, a can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, let it simmer a while before adding a can of cannellini beans and spinach. Finished with shaved parm, shrimp seared in butter and parsley. There was toasted sour dough and wine.
Last night we went out for German food. Before bed my FIL asked about local brunch spots, so I decided to make a big breakfast with the leftover corned beef, potatoes, onions, and rutabaga: corned beef hash. It was really good - I saved the broken eggs for myself (oh well). Not pictured is the cinnamon roll casserole made to rescue overly dry ones that didn’t work out for my MIL.
Planned this dinner for last night, until a friend reminded me of dinner at Dali last night that my calendar reminder didn’t remind me of! Lots of good tapas, sangria, Cuarenta y Tres and Churros last night.
Tonight, steak tips with Ballymaloe steak sauce, half a baked Russet tater with TPSTOB&SC, and steamed and buttered asparagus.
We tried a Xmas swap one year at work. I gifted a bottle of Crown Royal because I figured he was a drinker. I heard later on through the grapevine that he would have preferred tequila. I received from someone else a very large ugly white fake leather purse that had probably been on clearance five years before. Nobody ever suggested a swap again.
