You know, I am (or was) a voracious ingredient reader. So much so that in the end, I did myself a disservice. Even my BF told me I have to lighten up because I will spend a lot of time staring at labels and then indecisiveness kicks in. And then I get anxiety! LOL
And while I would probably lay off something that has that many ingredients, at the end of the day, I’ve never been thin by reading ingredients, so what good has it done me? So, in my recent “lightening up” phase, I do a quick glance for length and to see the magic little words “high fructose corn syrup”. That much of an omission I insist on.
yeahhhh, i’m not super anal about reading ingredients, because i don’t buy a ton of processed foods (at least not for cooking - snacks, sure!) but once i couldn’t find any actual meat in there, i noticed how much other crap there was.
The pork katsu was based on an oven baked chicken katsu from Marion’s Kitchen.
The dosa masala is easy - saute onions with mustard seeds, fresh curry leaves, asafotida (hing), green chillies and roasted chana dal. Add turmeric and salt, and chopped boiled potatoes. I added some chopped carrots and green beans I needed to use up this time too. Add a touch of water, and cook for a few minutes. Its good with roti too.
Easy dinner last night. Simple salmon that I’ve been doing a lot. A very generous pour/shake of kosher salt on the fish and then uncovered in the fridge for 45-60 minutes. Rinse off the salt. Pat dry. I do a little lemon, pepper, light sprinkle of salt, maybe some butter. Bake @350 until internal temp is about 112-115 then cover with foil till internal 120. It is perfect every time.
I thought I had shaved steak in the freezer.
I didn’t.
I thought I had sweet potato fries in the freezer.
I did.
I knew I had caramelized onions in the freezer.
I definitely did.
I knew I should have a hoagie roll.
I didn’t.
And I didn’t care.
I took out some thin steak tips to defrost today while at work today and made do.
Thinly sliced the two small steak tips.
Seasoned with s/p.
Sauteed in butter.
Removed and added caramelized onions to warm up.
Removed and added steak back in to the saute pan with several thin slices of Swiss cheese to melt.
Added steak and cheese to a lightly toasted bulkie roll, topped with the warmed caramelized onions, and added the TJs sweet potato fries alongside.
Ketchup for the condiment.
And wine for the libation.
It worked.
Mr Bean was in the mood for barbecue - not something I could whip up with a moment’s notice so we did pickup at a local BBQ joint - Jersey Shore Barbecue in Belmar NJ. We did their Rib Prep dinner and added Benny Wings (with roasted garlic and cherry pepper butter). JSBBQ has been very involved in feeding local health care workers and will match customer donations. We ate well tonight and some local HCW will be eating well tomorrow.
Clockwise from the top: Collard Greens, Mac and Cheese, Pulled Pork, Wings, Bacon Potato Salad, and in the middle, St Louis Ribs.
My local grocery has limited meat purchases to two packages per customer, so I have developed a habit of buying ground beef each time I go and making something out of it for dinner that night, while it’s fresh. Tonight was kheema and raita with low-carb whole grain tortillas. I make kheema frequently but tonight’s batch was particularly good if I do say so myself - the spicing was just right.
Bánh bèo for dinner - steamed Vietnamese rice and tapioca cakes topped with some scallions, reconstituted dried shrimp, pork rinds, and fried shallots, with some nuoc cham for dipping.
I made “lasagna soup” in the IP, adding carrots, celery, bay leaves, beef and veggie bouillon, and fresh rosemary. No fresh basil to spare but I did add shredded Parm to the cheeses. The ricotta makes this. 5 min on high pressure with the noodles.
I set the smoke detectors off making these. Blackened shrimp tacos with cilantro-lime crema. While I enjoyed them, I would make a slight alteration to the spice rub. It needed more of something and less of something else-- just hard to tell because there were like 10 spices in it.
Home-made? Impressive. If not home-made, pretty sure it’s possible to buy. CA has a huge Viet population (I’ve been there twice).
I prefer Banh Khot but Banh Beo will do, too.
Hi Onions! Crazy fall & winter - joy, sadness, illness, a passing, a new birth (I’m a grandma… again!), a pandemic… and my dog ate my homework. With the exception of A LOT of comforting Rancho Gordo Beans we fell back into the old restaurant habit… not hard to do in our yummy ‘hood, but…
Frequently thinking of the Onions, nonetheless! This one is apropos and bittersweet. While doing this recipe search I came across condolences for Mother @LindaWhit. I remembered the memorable stories of your devotion - driving thru sleet and hail to take her & sister special dinners and treats. You did good, Lady.
We absolutely this dish. I think I did it justice…
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this dish. I think I did it justice…
