What's for Dinner #46 - the June Is Busting Out All Over Edition - June 2019

You had me at toast w/ anchovies but I wouldn’t snub my nose at the rest of the plate

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Tonight, I made Kari Ayam, a Malaysian chicken curry.

I made the curry paste from scratch using lemongrass, galangal, soaked dried chiles, garlic, shallots and belacan. Blitzed that in the food processor, then mixed with a hand-ground spice mix (cumin, coriander, fennel).


Then, I toasted the curry paste alongside curry leaves, cinnamon and star anise in coconut oil.

Finally, I added tamarind, coconut milk, chicken and parboiled potatoes. Let that simmer until it was ready.

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Absolutely gorgeous. Want.

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Roasted a teeny-tiny pork loin tonight.

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No thread, just winging it. Had some delicious chicken soup with orzo & lemon; we call it mock avgolemeno, very tasty & comforting. My surgery wasn’t extensive but was productive as I actually had two procedures done while sedated. They usually have to do them one at a time. So big bonus there and I’ll have my permanent implant in about 3 months!! Usually takes 9-12 months. So I’ll be chomping away tomorrow & even have a lunch date with my dear friend/horrible cook. We will be eating at a nice resto. Oysters may happen!

Appreciate the advice though, pilgrim!

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Joint cooking effort with a friend tonight, impromptu dinner together.

Chicken and chickpea moroccan-ish stew with couscous and crusty bread (I skipped the extra carbs in lieu of wine). And I did a whole roasted cauliflower (gorgeous - eat this, Miznon!)
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Always amazes me how long a whole cauliflower will take to brown vs chunks. But it looks impressive :joy:.
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Well, you have attitude nailed!

Share technique for roasted cauliflower? It looks divine!

My mom does a whole stewed cauliflower party dish which I adapted to roasting.

The cauliflower is cooked twice. First boiled/steamed till a knife goes into the stem easily. Then coated with oil and whatever seasonings you like (I mix it up each time - this time was s&p, mustard, thyme, cumin) and roasted until well-browned.

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Looks so tempting!

Good recovery to you!

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"More important than “top” is share ideas for that 7/7, 365 question, “What’s for dinner?”

Yaas!
From yesterdays CSA box…

Microwaved corn for one! And butter.

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Beautiful. And chicken legs! (Or as my son used to say; “yegs!”).

The tinned gigantes beans are good too.

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No problem. I have been recycling for a couple weeks. No pics, always tasty with wine :wine_glass:. Cheers

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How interesting!

I made other stuff but the true star was these pork chops. I’m confident that brining is the key to pork. I brined them for the day in a bath of kosher salt, sugar, garlic cloves and whole peppercorns. Then coated them generously in my all purpose, dry rub (paprika 2 ways, salt, brown sugar, cumin, coriander, black pepper, chili powder and cayenne) and grilled.

I also grilled a little handful of garlic scapes which was amazing since they loose ALL of their garlic bite. Sides of a few lonely grilled peppers, broccoli and simple cucumber salad. Leftover quinoa for the carb lovers among us.

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Those grilled peppers have become my default solution to the “what’s for veg” conundrum. They seem to go with everything.

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Thanks Saregama! We’re getting there fast!

Those look amazing! Do you know what kind of peppers those are? Can I hear more about serving quinoa? I want to try it, especially if you don’t have to “serve immediately”.

I agree; brining makes a huge difference for me.

If you like them brined, may I also suggest Kenji of SeriousEats dry brine?

Perfect Pan-Seared Pork Chops Recipe-Serious Eats

I add a rub, usually Ethiopian berbere spice, sometimes harrisa spice, to the salt mix before putting it on the chops.

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