Again, thank you so very much. After all of the holiday visitors, and holiday haulabaloo is over, and recovery from my surgery, I plan to make this. I love, love nutmeg, have just never had in a vegetable dish. Therefore, will start with a small grate.
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It’s great in mashed potatoes, too. But as @MunchkinRedux said, you want to use it really sparingly.
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I learned to season fresh, French cut, green beans with butter, white pepper and grated fresh nutmeg when we lived in the Netherlands. They were commonly available pre-cut in bags at Albert Heijn grocery stores - I used to steam them. The recipe was on the back of the bag. They are quite tasty. My experience is the Dutch are a bit heavy-handed with nutmeg and there were some things I did not care for, but the green beans seasoned this way were quite good (I had control over how much seasoning to add).
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Bone in chicken thighs in the cast iron pan, skin side down till crispy, finished in the oven.
Baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. Sliced cucumbers and red peppers on the table.
A little red wine, all in all, a pretty good dinner.
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Also, no need for voting on Cuisine of the Quarter - MEXICAN was our only nominee, so the thread is now live. Christmas tamales, anyone? MEXICAN - Winter 2024 (Jan-Mar) Cuisine of the Quarter
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Pizza night. Stonefire thin crust, garlic alfredo sauce, mozz, caramelized onion & fennel, Italian sausage, wilted radicchio, fennel fronds. Parm on the side. Mixed greens salad, green onion, radish, yellow baby bell, oo&v dressing. Yes there was acqua. Pizza was great, will definitely make again.
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We did simple - still cleaning out the refrigerator & freezer drawer. Sloppy Joes (had hamburger and bulky rolls frozen). A jar of Stonewall Kitchen’s Sloppy Joe Sauce. A bag of Cole slaw mix and 1/2 jar of Marie’s Cole slaw dressing leftover. Enough again for tomorrow night.
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Last night I made a take off on Chicken Yassa from Cook’s Illustrated January/February 2024, page 4. A 14 day loan from my Montana Library to Go.
It turned out wonderfully my way this time, and I will definitely make it again when I can tolerate the richness of this dish. I used skin on chicken thighs, about 2/3 of the caramelized onions, added in 1/2 each yellow and red bell peppers, chopped and subbed out the habenero for a jalapeno. I served it on a mound of basmati in a shallow soup/salad bowl. I had very little since I didn’t get finished making it until way after my 4pm meal cut off time. The roomate said it was very tasty and to me, this recipe would be the perfect for base for some refer vegetable purging. I could smell the wonderful mustardy/lemony gravy but sadly, my taste hasn’t returned yet. Sorry no pics, maybe next time.
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My taste isn’t back yet, either. I tested positive on 9/16. I can taste mustardy/lemony and raw onion. I know I’m missing a lot - discourages me from putting much effort into cooking anything time-consuming/complex. What’s the point?
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It sux! I tried a piece of See’s chocolate today. No flavor! I’m going to see if part of an ‘everything’ bagel triggers something tomorrow. I’d really like to be able to taste all the appies we’re having for our Christmas Eve gathering!
Damn. We have a 2 lb. box of See’s Nuts and Chews waiting to open on Christmas Eve. That is really going to hurt…
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Here’s the backstory behind tonight’s meal.
Christmas shopping has been difficult this year. I only have two people to shop for and both are in the “You don’t have to get me anything” blah blah blah camp. I’m like, you know that’s not happening so just tell me what I can get you! I got a couple little things for mom but she refused to tell me anything specific. She’s just happy we’re both going to be home this year.
So tonight, BF started night classes for a new endeavor and on a whim I asked mom if she wanted to just go out as one of her “gifts” since she wouldn’t tell me what to get. She was thrilled.
The usual Portuguese/Spanish spot it was. Both my grilled shrimp and her broiled snapper were delectable. I had two forkfulls of hers and it was actually like butter (I love shellfish but not a big fish guy). Fried calamari was perfect. Endless bread. I had a Bombay Sapphire martini, she went with a Rob Roy.
We shared a slice of Tiramisu cake for dessert and had coffee. I ordered us each (despite her protests-- but I reminded her she’s off tomorrow) Portuguese almond liqueur Algarvinha, and the waiter (our usual guy we have known for years was off tonight) brought it and said it was on the house and that “If you want more, I’ll bring you some!” So we finished, he came around and asked if he could get us anything else. We said no but he looked at my empty glass. “How about another?” I had started to say no but then relented. “Just a half”. He took the glass and returned with it almost filled. “Sorry, I over-poured”, he said. 
He then reassured me, “It’s too light. Its not cognac or whiskey. You need two!” I needed two indeed!
Overall a fun night made better by the always wonderful service. I’ll speak for myself that this may have been better than a physical gift.
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First Punjabi food of the trip last night:
Tandoori chicken
Butter chicken
Paneer makhanwala (aka butter paneer)
Palak paneer
Naan
Rumali roti
.
Lunch was also OTT, as we took the kids to their favorite dim sum place, which is where we usually eat Christmas lunch, but one of them is away that day.
Prawn and chive dumplings
Spicy seafood dumplings
Coriander vegetable dumplings
Water chestnut and vegetable dumplings
Sweet corn soup (veg & chicken)
Crispy tofu in hot and sweet sauce
Scallion pancakes
Spring rolls
Egg fried rice
Hong Kong noodles
Crispy lotus root
Mixed vegetables in black bean sauce
Prawns in chilli garlic sauce
Lamb with scallions and ginger
Mud cake with ice cream
Toffee fritters of banana and apple with ice cream
Sent home (for sib who stayed back with mom):
Sweet corn chicken soup
Multiple orders of Har Gow
Young chow fried rice
(In case you were wondering, I ate lunch and skipped dinner. Kids and others had a snack in between of bhel, sev puri, and pani puri. So that’s how this is going 
.)
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First time trying khao man gai/Hainanese chicken rice (the menu even said that in English!) I had it in the food court of a popular and large Thai supermarket chain “Tops” (all over Bangkok!) I ordered it with no cilantro because, as I’ve written before, I can’t abide by the taste of it (yes, it’s like soap to me).
I ordered just the chicken with rice and soup without the side of cucumbers. This cost only ฿55/$1.58 ! (adding the cucumbers would have been an extra ฿25/$0.72).
I took a small dish and put in some quite spicy vinegar and the standard SE Asian sweet chilli sauce (I intentionally used the British spelling…the Thais really do favour 
British English!). The spicy vinegar was too 
for me, but the sweet chilli sauce was necessary, if you ask me.
The chicken was fine…nothing to write home about, if you ask me. HOWEVER, the rice was INCREDIBLE! I’m very happy I tried khao man gai after hearing about it for so many years. But I have to say that I prefer gapao rice (had it for the first time on December 9th) and my favorite, pad Thai.
By the way, the soup was just a bland chicken broth…I left most of it.
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Yes to this. Sharing an experience, especially a good meal, always wins for me over a physical gift. So glad that you and your Mom enjoyed!
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Inspired by @grumpyspatient, I remembered to defrost TJ’s pizza dough that was hiding in the freezer. Mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, and Black Forest ham for toppings. This meal reminded me that pizza is a delicious way to use up a little of this, a little of that.
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Too bad about the soup. A Thai place in NYC that specialized in this dish had fantastic soup. I used to order a large container of just the soup sometimes.
When it comes to Hainanese chicken rice I definitely prefer Malaysian and Singaporean versions over Thai.
But in general the rice is one of the best parts and the dish is about all the elements coming together more than the chicken itself being a standout. In Singapore they offer roasted chicken rice and some people prefer that.
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