Autumn. Fall. It’s not quite here…in fact, the New England area will be having another heat wave in the next few days.
But September is the start of the new school year, along with the traffic that comes with moving back to college (Today is “Allston Christmas” in Massachusetts!). Football games are starting for real, and there’s yet more traffic trying to get to the pre-game tailgating that comes with those football games at college and professional stadiums across the nation.
So what are you anticipating cooking over the next month as the leaves begin to change color and apples come into season?
Happy Labor Day weekend for those of us in the US, it has cooled off a little around these parts. SIL is visiting till tomorrow, maybe a trip to the beach on Monday.
Lobster rolls and cold slaw on the menu tonight. Wine mostly likely, although DH is mixing Americanos up right now so maybe later on the wine.
Baby bro visiting right now, but he left my nephew with my parents for the weekend so we’re having adult fun! We spent the afternoon tasting some terrific, creative beers at OEC Brewing in Oxford, CT, and then came home for a grilled feast. Bro cooked up the burgers and a fat flap steak over charcoal while I made a fresh peach pie, sriracha green beans and tater tots, plus green olive mayonnaise and a spicy chimichurri. I’m in a food coma already and we haven’t even had pie!
As for me…I had a very out-of-sorts day due to a very weird and unsettling dream before I woke up this morning. Nothing went right in the dream, and nothing went right during the day. Although I did do pretty well at Christmas Tree Shop picking up items for my local food pantry donation.
But comfort food was needed. And I couldn’t shake a fall/wintertime meal that got stuck in my brain. Market Basket had a chuck roast, so Mom’s Lemon Pot Roast came to the rescue. Boiled and buttered potatoes and carrots alongside.
She came over for dinner, i made everyone crash hot potatoes, and mom made a big bowl of the only salad she likes- aka bag kale mix and brianna’s poppyseed
I had some leftover grilled tofu, the omnis had stuffed pork chops with the apricot chutney i made the other day. And a bowl of cherry tomatoes i found at the farmers market
Late afternoon the fog was rolling in, thankfully my parents and sister live in a canyon beyond the fog bank in the sunshine, view of the neighbors down the street
Home for dinner again, finally. nothing all that inspired - made the chinese spiced chicken again, this time with thighs and pan fried and finished in the oven, so it was much crispier. i added salt, too, even though the spice mix is pretty salty. I’m not convinced I love this stuff. It’s fine. Corn on the cob with piri piri butter, and Trader Joe’s Hatch chilies which I roasted. The corn was FAB (you can’t tell from the pic, but they were absolutely slathered in butter), the hatch chilies fine. I don’t get all the fuss about these chilies. Maybe I need to try the hot ones, as these ones were mild. Very nice flavor, but not really anything to write home about for me. but i roasted up a mess of them so they’ll be made into some type of pork stew tomorrow.
I receive Hatch Chilies ( dried ) from my friend who lives in NM whenever she returns home for visit.
The best is fresh hatch chilies that are only available in August - September, perhaps early October if weather stays warm. They are available fresh at Fresh foods, Trader Joes and Harris Teeter. The stores will even roast it for you free. We , 3 of us( sometimes buy a whole box worth, take it home while it is still warm, the skin just slips off , freeze them in sandwich bags and use them for breakfast with eggs, enchilada etc. and my red sauce.
I thought the hatch chilies are too mild by itself as my family also love spicier food. Bought a ton of chilies ( Mexico holy trinity- ancho pasilla , and mulato , plus guajillo, ) sun dried, from Chile Guys in NM, which I keep in Simple Human 12 gallonSS trash can that I keep in my utility room for perishable supplies that I do not want any critter digging into ,to make my red sauce ( holy trinity, hatch and guajillo ) to which I add my chipotle and adobo sauce ( I buy them the chipotle adobo sauce by dozen thru Amazon ) When I ran out of hatch chiles, the sauce made was still good , complex but I felt it as lacking in something. 2 days ago my friend came to visit for a dinner party, brought me 2 bags of hatch dried chilies.
I cannot be without them. Those chiles in my 12 gallon trash can has lasted me 2 years, going on the third year. I bet it will last me another 3 years. My friend says she only bring back enough to last her a year as they became moldy but truly, those SS trash cans are a blessing. I keep my 25 bag bags of rice , boxes of cereals, extra sugar , extra flour not need in the kitchen chocolates etc in them. They keep and had never had problem as I live in a rural county where those supplies that I need are not readily available.
Hi @christinam! Do you happen to have a link handy to that recipe for spicy cucumbers with fish sauce? Looks fabulous. I don’t think I found the right recipe on my own yet. Lots of cucumbers here and we could a new-to-us way to enjoy them. If it’s not easy to point me to something, I am sure I can figure out something that will do.
Yes, mine were fresh, from Trader Joe’s. They also sell them frozen, which I understand can include some of the hot chilies, so i may try that sometime. But these were too mild.
Hi @TheLibrarian - the permalink direct to the recipe is here, on the “other” site. Notes - I always add more ginger than the original recipe calls for, and often add more lemon juice. Depends on the size of the roast and what type of lemons you use - I used Meyer lemon juice last night, and had to add some regular lemon juice as I made the gravy, as it wasn’t lemony enough for me.
I wrote about my adventures in Sous Vide in the other thread, here’s a photo of the Shrimp Boil that I posted about, I made two batches and had the second one today. Unfortunately shrimp boil isn’t photogenic, but it was delicious. This is my new favorite dish and sous viding it makes it damn near foolproof.
And one more try sous viding the steak. It’s getting better, I’m not too embarrassed to show the interior. I’d say this is a decent medium, just bordering on medium well, with more gray than I like, but better than the last time. @Presunto tip for putting it into an ice bath immediately afterwards helped.
OMG, 2005, just amazes me how long you have been posting. I don’t recognize one other name on there besides you and Caitlin.
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
20
No link, but I saved the recipe paraphrase from Chowhound: “For the cucumbers on page 35 of Dinner, first slice a couple of cucumbers in thin half moons. Then add 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 2 teaspoons garlic-chile sauce and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well and enjoy! I usually double this as it gets gobbled up at lightning speed”
Notes - I always add more ginger than the original recipe calls for, and often add more lemon juice. Depends on the size of the roast and what type of lemons you use - I used Meyer lemon juice last night, and had to add some regular lemon juice as I made the gravy, as it wasn’t lemony enough for me.
