What's for Dinner #38 - the Spooky Oct '18 Edition

Ttrockwood · October 18, 2018, 2:13am

Epic Fail at the “adulting” over here…! Whatever, i think most people who live alone have a lot more cereal for dinner than i do, so there’s that?
Impulse buy sweet potato chips that were on sale and are definitely labeled wrong as to how many servings are in a bag

And even though it was so windy it was a bit dangerous to be biking and rather chilly all day i got a baby watermelon. Not the greatest. And it made me really cold because i refuse to turn the heat on already!

Since i was freezing i made a big mug of miso with some tofu, nothing to look at but did help rewarm me.
Yup. Super random.
There’s a honey crisp and some almond butter if I’m hungry before bed

emglow101 · October 18, 2018, 4:08am

Sausage with peppers , onion , and potatoes. Cauliflower cooked in tomato . Wine to drink Cheers.

ChristinaM · October 19, 2018, 12:59am

Hubby made SV short ribs. They were a lot of bone and fat (which I tried to eat around) and some very buttery, unctuous pot-roast like meat. Yum. Squash ribbons sauteed in a little bit of drippings and salad with pear. I ate a little more than is prudent, but tomorrow is a new day.

Scubadoo97 · October 20, 2018, 12:51am

Chicken Marsala . An adlib dinner. Had chicken thighs, leftover Marsala wine and mushrooms. A splash of 16 yr old private barreled armanagac didn’t hurt it either

ChristinaM · October 20, 2018, 1:04am

Home-smoked pork ribs, leftover squash ribbons, mac n cheese with butternut and peas. We seem to be eating a lot of mac lately - we definitely have a toddler!

Rooster · October 20, 2018, 1:25am

Expecting company tommorrow night so tonight was a clean out the frig meal. Pulled pork, roasted Yukons, leftover green salad, sliced citrus and the last piece of apple crisp.

Have a relaxing weekend!
Rooster

Ttrockwood · October 20, 2018, 2:12am

I was practicing my lego battleship building skills last night with my favorite six year old. He helped me make the pasta-aka measured how many handfuls he was hungry for and gave it a few stirs. He wanted the broccoli cold straight from the fridge (it had been cooked earlier in the day) and i was like “whatever works for you kid!”

Pasta got the usual buttery treatment. His plate included some (previously cooked) shrimp that he did want warmed yet “on the side, there, not ON the pasta”

I of course finished the leftover pasta in the pot because finishing kid leftovers is obligatory, and of course the rest of the broccoli

Had a huge honeycrisp with nut butter late night once home (after some wine with my friends when they got back)

Tonight was Hippie Soup- faced down my fear of TVP! Turns out if you soak it first in a flavorful broth and then add the soup it’s tasty, more of a little chewy texture than a specific flavor.
Added it to tomato paste/garlic/onion/chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, splash of soy and let it all simmer a while together. Stirred in some cashew cream at the end. My bowl tonight had a bunch of nutritional yeast on top. Totally granola hippie cafe food…!
Seriously lacking in presentation, but very tasty and warmed me up

meatn3 · October 20, 2018, 4:30am

It occurred to me that Thanksgiving is around the corner. Which means I need to finish up the last of the frozen turkey leftovers from last year!

We are getting our first touch of autumn so soup seemed to be in order. Used a rich canned turkey stock (made from the same bird), the last of some roasted onion and zucchini along with mirepoix and garlic. Seasoned with bay and thyme, s/p. Chopped turkey added at the end. Garnished with a touch of grated Parmesan. Enough left for two soup and sandwich lunches!

Oops! There was also a tin of yellow plum tomatoes added to the soup. Making soup is an additive process for me. I’ll have a basic idea, supplement it with odds and ends from the vegetable bin, stir, simmer, taste, season, repeat. Ends up tasting good but it becomes hard to remember all the ingredients!

emglow101 · October 20, 2018, 6:29am

White pizza with clams and broccoli rabe . Wine to drink Cheers .

ChristinaM · October 20, 2018, 2:55pm

Your pizza game is good!

LindaWhit · October 20, 2018, 10:26pm

First time I’ve really cooked since last weekend as I had a whole day to myself. Too much time spent during the week on the highway going to the south of MA. And bowls of cereal, cream cheese scrambled eggs, and a tub of chili pulled from the freezer don’t count as cooking.

Roast pork loin with apple cider gravy, roasted sumac baby potatoes, and carrots, peas and corn.

There was wine. And there will be at least one, if not two, apple cider donuts from Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury.

Gratuitous picture of Alfie and Minkey hangin’ out, waiting for dinner to be served. His dinner, that is. He wasn’t getting any pork loin!

LindaWhit · October 20, 2018, 10:31pm

Dayam. Like, a major DAYAM.

Ttrockwood · October 21, 2018, 1:33am

Ha! I make soup the same way…! Very, “Well, huh. Sure, let’s toss this in too!”

Ttrockwood · October 21, 2018, 1:41am

I stopped by the dominican hole in the wall after an epic gorgeous ride today for their delicious rice and beans- their yellow rice is totally radioactive! Haha! I’m fairly certain it’s from achiote oil or seed. The beans are crazy, creamy innards and in a garlicky broth that the rice underneath soaks up. This container would totally feed a family, i should have included my metrocard for scale.

Had some of the rice and beans (easily another four portions left!) with a side of sugar snap peas, cucumber and bell pepper just sprinkled with crazy mixed up salt. Kombucha a la carte

ChristinaM · October 21, 2018, 2:20am

I made mapo tofu over cauliflower rice. The Chinese in Asheville is pretty awful, so if I want the good stuff, I basically have to make it.

ccj · October 21, 2018, 2:30pm

One of my favorites
I use Costco’s Morey Spiced Salmon , pan fry the salmon, remove it to a platter, using the same cast iron skillet, I add EVOO, softened cellophane noodles and the marinade from the Morey Salmon, extra chicken broth with a tablespoon or 2 of Gochujang, until the broth is absorbed ( just a few minutes), dish out the noodles, add a splash of sesame oil and then top it with this chili crisp!
It is simple, fast and delicious!

Rooster · October 21, 2018, 6:54pm

Heading to a burger joint with friends. Looking foward to a break from kitchen detail. Perfect day for football, beer and burgers.

Rooster

bmorecupcake · October 21, 2018, 6:59pm

Murgh Cholay yesterday. Chicken and chickpeas. Made it for company but they had to cancel. My spin is I add a few kalonji seeds to it.

Black Oxford apples at the market today. New to me. Exciting day.

Ttrockwood · October 21, 2018, 8:51pm

I like your cilantro there!

ccj · October 22, 2018, 12:17am

Today, am having early dinner, invited my neighbor over as my son is still away and not feeling well from sciatica flare up. I did not sleep at all as he was texting me last night for advise. I am worried sick about him. I want him to return home but he is unable to travel at the moment. He is seeing a physiotherapist, cannot be seen by neurologists unless referred or unless he has signs and symptoms of causalgia.

Dinner is Shrimp in lobster sauce served with rice. There is no lobster in this recipe. This is my twist of this cantonese dish.

I bought some pork loin, grind it myself, stir fried it with garlic, ginger and spring onion top in EVOO. . Added jalapeño pepper, fermented dried black beans and rice wine . Set this aside. In retrospect, I should have used a finer grind.

Using same wok, I again added EVOO, ginger garlic and spring onion top till I smell the fragrance of the spices, add deveined and shelled Patagonia pink shrimp briefly. One pitfall is overcooking shrimp that is why I cook them separately. Preparation before stir frying is briefly soaking the shrimp in cold water with salt, rinsed , drained and , blotted with paper towel, to which I added one egg white and some sweet potato starch ( I prefer this to corn starch) , a tablespoon of rice wine and a tablespoon of EVOO. This is called velveting . So, the shrimp are not mushy but has a nice texture and also glistens
Picture looks as I there is no shrimp but there is a loud of U15 shrimp. We ate all of it with red wine

Then I mixed both together, added broth ( precooked shrimp shells that were toasted in oven, then made broth with it), come to brief boil, added sweet potato starch to thicken it, then scrambled eggs and finally topped with spring onions and a splash of sesame oil and some preferred shallot from Asian grocery store.

I will ask my neighbor if she likes Szechuan peppercorn as not every one likes it I do like the tingling sensation from it. If she does not like it, I will add white pepper . To be on the safe side, white pepper was added.

Sometimes, I use crabs that have been shelled, gills flap removed and then halved instead of shrimp. If I use crabs, I just add the cooked crabs to the pork mixture without cooking it separately like the shrimp as I do not like to overcook my shrimp.