For those of you into Hallmark Holidays, this month holds the Grandmama of ‘em all! Chocolate, flowers, restaurant reservations - all are more expensive in the middle of this particular month. Just sayin’.
But you might as well smoke 'em if you got 'em, right? And if you don’t, you’re still in good company. Make yourself an absolutely faBOO dinner that night, and tell the still-to-be-found love of your life that he or she missing out on the fabulosity that is YOU!
In the meantime, there are those regular, ordinary, customary, habitual and everyday meals to prepare. So, what have you on the table?
We had our bi-weekly Sichuan jour fixe with a good crowd of 12 and the usual dishes.
Shot some pool with friends afterwards, came home tipsy = hungry and proceeded to reheat some of that delish sirloin. Made what I thought was horseradish sauce, but instead I had mixed grated ginger with crème fraîche instead . I was wondering why it tasted funny…
Made actual horseradish sauce for the second plate (b/c of course there was a second plate). Had a few bites of gouda. Some B&J’s Milk & Cookies ice cream. In short: too. much. food.
As for tonight, I work till 9 pm, so easy-peasy it has to be: TJ’s porcini-truffle triangoli, shroom sauce, mixed salad.
My man’s planning on making us yuvetsi tomorrow, to which I am very much looking forward.
ScubaD, gorgeous legs! The charred lemon slices are a nice touch.
Maybe if you grated enough ginger it would be sharp enough.
Braised in the oven for an hour or so a couple of days ago. Today I marinated the ribs then cooked them further in the oven on low heat. Turned on the grill briefly near the end.
In the marinade: Sichuan “bang bang chicken” sauce, tamari, sesame oil, Shaoxing rice wine and ketcap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce). Mildly spicy and just a little sweet. Normally I don’t like my savoury food sweet but this is fine.
We ate it with rice and a crunchy salad. The partner ate daintily with knife and fork. I eat my ribs like a cavewoman! But then I’m the type that licks the spatula and the partner never does.
The yuvetsi was fab, as expected. I’d been looking forward to it all day driving in the freezing cold… and we have a lot leftover, despite my having 2.5 servings
Making a pot of cranberry beans , with smoked pork chop , little bit of sweet Italian sausage , grated carrot , onion , and fresh bay leaves . Duck with rabbit sausage , polenta squares browned in butter , broccoli rabe for dinner . And yes a bottle of wine . Listening to Joni and Jaco , chillin and cooking . Cheers
From the Honey & Co. cookbook. Very simple , with basic ingredients, yet so very flavorful.
Fry a sliced orange in oil, add two sliced tomatoes, thyme, three crushed cardamom pods, a small sliced red chili (key!), and two sliced garlic cloves. Simmer for a couple minutes until the tomatoes start to break down, then add shrimp and cook a few more minutes until shrimp are done.
I’ve made this twice over the past two weeks, and really like it. Don’t forget the chili and use very juicy oranges. I also splash in a little water if the sauce thickens up too much.
Tonight 2 kind of fishes, mackerel and herring cooked with garlic and dill, both were good, herring was boney… took time! Sided with a free style fried rice: ginger, anchovy, lettuce, spring onion and runny egg. Not bad at all.
Monday, the fridge guy will come again, hope this time he could really fix the leaking problem in the freezer. Difficult to live without a fridge…Luckily this weekend is relatively cold enough, we kept some of the food outside, but the rain made things harder.
I did! It’s very thinly sliced and comes out nicely caramelized from the hot oil (about 30 seconds per side, then turn down the heat and add the rest of the ingredients).
Also, I really like bitter flavors, so I enjoyed the peel. My friend ate around the peels, though, so however you like.
After a chicken and rice week due to a bit of a stomach upset (flu? stress? fighting off whatever?), I enjoyed some French fries last night for “dinner” while out for a drink (OK, two) with my coworker.
Today was a nice day spent with Mom taking her shopping. Well, I shopped, too. Two pair of shoes for my now “expensive feet”. Hopefully now I can walk without hobbling.
Dinner - lemon rosemary-thyme pork chop with Israeli couscous and steamed broccoli.
There was wine. And a picture of the surprise flowers I received yesterday for the 15th anniversary of my employment with my company (sans the big-ass lilies, which I had to remove, as I’m not a fan of their scent).
Grilled a new-to-me cut of beef that I picked up at Restaurant Depot for dinner - teres major or shoulder tender. It was tender, but not especially flavorful. Luckily I made a green olive and roasted garlic aioli to go with it, so that helped! Roasted cauliflower with sage and cheddar cheese alongside was a much bigger hit!
All the meals above are lovely and healthy… mine was a heavy one but it was good, especially the thing with cheese and cream. (Photos later as I’m on a different laptop at the moment.)
Beef shin was braised for many hours in the oven. Fell apart when I picked it up to put on the plate. The shin was submerged in a delicious Belgian beer (Rochefort 12) with lots of juniper berries.
Hungarian dumplings with dried ramp flakes added to the dough/batter.
Butternut squash dauphinoise. Well, I happen to have a butternut squash on the counter when @mariacarmen posted hers last week and today I made it (though my own way… that is with a lot more cream and cheese). We both liked it so much that we scraped all the last cheesey creamy bits off of the dish and licked the spoon.
The wine made it less “heavy”. I put it in quotes but it’s actually not so “heavy”. Nothing like the heaviness of typical meals I had in Hungary, for sure.
. I was wondering why it tasted funny…
Maybe if you grated enough ginger it would be sharp enough.
