What's for Dinner #71 - the Vacation Time! Edition - July 2021

At sister’s tonight. I think this may be the last of the Dungeness crab for us this season… sob

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I have eaten hundreds of fried eggs in my lifetime, and I have never thought to pair them with Dijon! Will have to try this soon.

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The true difference between All - i - oli & Home made Mayonnaise:

All - i - oli:

2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic peeled
1 egg Yolk at room temperature
250 Ml. Spanish Extra virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
And a drizzle of fresh lemon if desired

Crush the garlic in a mortar until Creamy. Add the egg yolk, and mix in with the pestle or alernatively, use a blender. Trickle in the EVOO VERY SLOWLY, stirring all the time in the SAME DIRECTION with the pestle to combine thoroughly. Add a little sprinkle of salt to taste and a drizzle of lemon if desired.

MAHONESA ( Mayonnaise):

1 EGG YOLK AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
250 Ml. Spanish Evoo
salt
1 teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice

Put the egg yolk in a marble (not wooden) mortar and stir with pestle or alternatively, use a blender.

Add the Evoo drop by drop stirring steadily in only one direction with the pestle, to blend smoothly.

When it thickens, add a little salt and the lemon juice. The Mahonesa should be quite thick.

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I had some leftover grilled pork shoulder chops I bought on a whim, having never seen them before. They were marinated in a mixture of soy, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, apple, and gojuchang. For tonight’s dinner I cut them up and sautéed them with diced pineapple a al tacos al pastor. I used a cast iron pan for lots of crispy bits and added some extra Red Dragon sauce to kick up the spice level. Fresh guacamole on the side.

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Liking your Toadfish claw cutter!!

Looks fantastic. The only wild mushrooms by me are poisonous or psychedelic

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Sharing a few dinners I made on our mostly foggy trip to Cape Cod last week. A combination of takeout and easy breezy dinners at the rental house appealed to us more than dining out did. (Cape restaurants are extra short-staffed this year.)

Here’s zucchini and summer squash roasted in plenty of peppery Greek olive oil and chopped scapes. Goat cheese on top as I didn’t have feta. Pan con tomate as the side, made with an excellent baguette from the Cape’s Pain d’Avignon bakery (via the Chatham Village Market).

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Next is a spicy lobster pasta with cherry tomatoes, capers, lemon, crispy panko breadcrumbs, and leftover melted butter.

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Previously we had treated ourselves to a steamed lobster takeout dinner. Felt full after eating the sides and part of the lobsters, so we saved the tails to make this dish.

Finally here’s a layered guacamole, salsa, steamed shrimp, tomato, cucumber, and quick-pickled onion thing. Like a deconstructed tostada with ceviche flavor.

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I made up this layered dip on the fly at to use what we had in the house on our last night. We thought we’d buy a little lobster meat for it but went with shrimp after we spied the current market price for picked lobster.

You may notice that my husband had provisioned us with selection of summery wines to go with, which worked out well. Because vacation!

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Jose Andres’ recipe I use has no egg in alioli (ali + oli = garlic + oil, no egg) like Middle Eastern Toum, and probably from the same original sauce given conquests and ottomans and the like.

Egg / yolk (or potato or bread or even mustard) make the emulsification easier vs just the oil and garlic version.

I like Ferran Adria’s immersion blender version too which uses whole eggs (tastes the same as the egg yolk version, as with regular mayo). I scale down to 1 egg and 1-2 cloves of garlic.

But EVOO is tricky to process (compounds can break down and make the result bitter) - so unless whipping by hand, I use neutral oil for the early processing and finish with EVOO towards the end.

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That layered dip is so clever plus delicious-sounding!

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NOT WFD!
But I wanted to share who came to visit my grape vines this morning. Since I don’t have any pet photos… :slight_smile:

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The lobster roll I had for $20 was, I assume, from frozen and thawed meat, because the store also had it in their fish case. And it was so labeled - thawed, previously frozen. $65/lb. Didn’t buy it. But frankly, have so little experience with lobster despite enjoying it as a once a decade treat that I wouldn’t know if that was a good or bad price.

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How cool is that!

It was pretty excellently cool. We live in a bit of a wild zone. It is a small city but my neighborhood is nestled in a forest, some of which was razed for houses, but a lot of which remains. Doug firs primarily and all the smaller undergrowth. So for instance, my neighbor’s property has a bald eagle nest and we see that bird circling every week or so, feeding. We have more deer than I can count. In fact, the reason for the fence was so we could grow things the deer wouldn’t eat. 2 summers ago, there were a pair of raccoons, um, making babies on the deck outside our kitchen. Lots and lots of fauna around here.

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My grandmothers and mom taught me how to prepare so … each to his or her own.

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As you say, lobster is a treat. Lobster prices have had their ups and downs depending on supply. This year pricing is obviously high.

Like @GretchenS notes upthread, today it is hard to imagine when lobster was so plentiful that it was food for the poor.

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I wouldn’t mind a time machine though. Just for the meal.

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I enjoy reading about all the variations!

And appreciate family recipes that are the real deal and not written by a recipe writer.

My family recipes always vary slightly from what I find written down as a published recipe. Even in my extended family, the same dish can have an ingredient different here or there, or someone created a variation that continued in their own immediate family.

I am also fascinated by how there are so many common dishes with different names and slightly different preparations - for example I had not mentally connected Greek skordalia to this idea.

What do you serve your alioli with @Barca ?

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Not one of my better results. Chicken thigh using a very old recipe that needs to be retired; I have made so many better in the two years since I last made it. Green beans using my aunt’s method (she makes the best green beans!!) but not nearly as good as hers so I shall revert to my own method going forward. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

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Sometimes you need that one “last gasp” try at an old recipe before you toss a formerly enjoyed dish. Sounds like this was the last gasp.

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Another cheeseburger.
Medium rare.
Because it was easy.
But the day wasn’t.
Alexia roasted garlic and cracked black pepper tater tots.
Wine.

This adulting shit is sometimes for the birds.
Especially when others don’t adult.

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