What's For Dinner #65 - the Brand New New Year's Edition - January 2021

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We went to a wonderful pop-up today by my baker/chef friend: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODUwMzQwOTY0NDA4ODk3?igshid=1nc3bikjgo2ta&story_media_id=2483143434169519404_4271633039

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Green Curry with Shrimp. I got a mushroom growing kit as a gift and we decided to harvest the mushrooms today. Rather than mixing them into the curry, already a mishmash of soon to be bad veggies I sautéed them in butter and “artfully” arranged them on top. They were very good.

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We had another excellent dinner at Drew’s. Details and pictures are in the below link for those that might be interested.

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Believe me, that’s not a problem limited to your neck of the woods!

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Tonight I made turkey meatloaf, buttered limas, and homemade sweet potato fries.

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Going to have to continue to try and up my buttermilk marinade game. Chicken was moist, but only meh-flavored.

Marinade was:

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 vegetable oil
1/2 Tbsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp honey
1-1/2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp Sriracha (could definitely have used more)

Marinated 2 chicken thighs for 24 hours, drained from marinade, and baked/roasted at 400° for about 40 minutes.

Sides were Near East Rice Pilaf and steamed broccoli. And a glass of wine.

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I always feel this way about marinades - the flavors never really permeate the way I wish they would. Maybe try marinating in plain buttermilk for tenderness and making a paste of the rest of the ingredients to put under the skin before roasting?

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BF made enchiladas tonight. Filling was chicken, black beans, onion, and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. Sauce was made from scratch, and given how quick and easy it was, I don’t know why anyone would ever use a jar/can enchilada sauce. Simply a roux, spices, and chicken stock. Took 10 minutes to whip up and so worth it. Perfect winter comfort food.

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Your whole meal really appeals to me!

This will sound silly, but I have never made these even though I love lima beans in all incarnations… can you guide me please?

Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye Beans, andouille sausage, and roasted poblanos.

Inspired by these recipes.

https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/1467617/braised-collard-greens-with-cranberry

But no collards today. Dang!

Rice on the side, on a separate plate… :grin:



Or not.

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Same here, my brines/marinades are mostly for texture and moisture, unless it’s fish or something since I feel like that picks up flavor more easily

We enjoyed another excellent dinner at Il Nido under harrowing circumstances. Details and pictures are in the below link for those that might be interested.

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hah - i scored two packs on Saturday! my local Italian deli doesn’t seem to have heard about the storage.

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Spaghetti aglio e olio and steak. Steak was a bavette from our french butcher, pre-marinated with garlic/olive oil/thyme, beautifully marbled. Just added little salt and seared a couple minutes on each side. Very tender, beefy. Also, leftover caramelized onions from a take-out dinner the other night, roasted further with fennel and a splash of vermouth. But the star of the show was that silky, garlicky pasta. Should have made more.

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i’m with you on making your own enchilada sauce. Those look fantastic! I approve on the proper amount of cheese.

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well it looks beautiful!

to me it sounds like your marinade just needed more salt, maybe…

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I don’t have the butter milk marinade wired . It always browned the meat to much for me . Adding very little flavor.

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A bowl of Zhajiangmian for dinner:

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Plan was to order in last night, but it got derailed for various reasons.

So instead, at 5pm I prepped the giant 3-pack of b/s chicken thighs to be grilled - both for dinner and for the freezer. One with tandoori spices, one with (indian) pickle flavoring, and one with seekh kabab spices.

Doctored some lackluster dal from the freezer with a strong fresh tempering of onion, garlic, and cumin, plus fresh cilantro.

The vegetable chef was exhausted and/or hungover - I didn’t realize the vegetable component was missing until we served ourselves, so we made do with the bit leftover from last night: takeout cauliflower curry that really didn’t stretch that much.

But, the chicken was very good despite the quick marinade (the return of my kabab factory…), and the dal stole the show, so we were fine for an otherwise lazy Sunday.

And now the freezer is stocked for several lunches, which brings me great peace - I hate the late morning panic when there aren’t ready protein options for salad topping.

Hope everyone had a restful and happy weekend!

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