What's For Dinner #72 - Wait, Summer Is Almost Over? Edition - August 2021

Harissa chicken , Hyderabadi tomato chutney, chickpeas and green beans.

Hmmm. Needs more green

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Tacos using some pre-made pulled pork in a spicy Budweiser barbecue sauce (Aldi-- not bad, but not standout. However an easy remedy for dinner on a lazy night). Homemade slaw, grilled corn tortilla, cilantro, and rice and beans.

Drinks outside. Stoli rocks for me, Budweiser for BF. One of these days I’ll do a Beefeater Rocks for @BeefeaterRocks but I don’t know if I can do straight gin like that!

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You can do it. You’ll be amazed at how good it tastes. Swirl the ice cubes around and around so that it is icy cold.

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What is “Cowboy Caviar” ?

That depends on who you ask. Some will say black-eyed peas and a vinaigrette. Others will say a sort of salsa of black beans and corn and onion and whatever else is handy. Here is one example I like https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cowboy-caviar/ .

The story that rings true to me is that it dates back to the American West for something other than meat to make from ingredients that would survive for a while in a “chuck wagon,” the mobile horse drawn kitchen. Apparently the name didn’t come along until the 1940s in Texas.

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Our friend invited us over for another outstanding dinner with some fabulous wines. There were other guests over so I couldn’t really write down all of the preparations. Basically we enjoyed short ribs with fried okra and a Cajun sauce; sautéed peppers and eggs; tomato, basil, and pesto pizza; scallops; tuna; pork dumpling; a waffle shaped tortilla stuffed with smoked salmon and bacon; an excellent truffled cheese; a caesar salad with crispy panko bread crumbs instead of croutons; some excellent desserts, among other things. It was so nice spending time with some fully vaccinated friends in person.






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My my … What an amazing feast for the palate ! and looks like an exceptional wine selection too.

Have a wonderful August and all our best wishes from the Madrid Captial.

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Thank you @Barca ! The food, wine, and company were all outstanding.
I see that you have been enjoying some exceptional meals as well, with some gorgeous scenery.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Ha Ha …

We are enjoying Madrid … and the retail therapy !!

Thank you for your wonderful note …

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Who isn’t?

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“The older you get, the faster time flies.”

This reminded me the verse by Omar Khayyam :slight_smile:

Ah, fill the Cup:—what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn TO-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY,
Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!

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You can get Old Bay in Paris?

i totally do, i started going there only about 3 years ago, and went 3 times! i can’t wait to go back, but it’s nowhere in the cards anytime soon… your food looks delicious and assuaging.

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Back from the whirlwind bday extravaganza. It was the most fun EVER. One friend drove down from Oregon, and one of my very best friends in the world drove up from L.A. there were 11-13 of us at any one time.

Food was great, although of course I overbought - and some people actually cancelled last minute, which was fine, so we just didn’t end up cooking everything and a lot of it is frozen and will be used for our next trip up there - the annual after-labor-day weekend trip.

there was LOTS of bubbles quaffed all weekend, plus my favorite Spanish vermouth and assorted different cocktails, and a case of an assortment of wines curated by this wonderful wine shop, so we did a red tasting Fri. night and the whites on Saturday. Hangover only bad yesterday morning though! we ended up taking a 5 mile walk on the beach all together Saturday, which was great, and then a much shorter little flashlight-lit hike in the hills above the house last night after dinner.

We went through literally 8-10 baguettes, and there was some challah that got eaten too. and some got made into bread pudding.

i think i elaborated on the menu above already. so i’ll just put short titles under each pic.

Very tired now, but happy I got to spend so much time with the best people in the world.


figs with thyme, goat cheese, Mike’s Hot Honey, and a splash of rose water.

BDay 2021 conservas
the conservas - we went through only about half of these (friends brought others directly from Barcelona, too). We ate them with cultured butter on bread.

BDay 2021 mussels escabeche
The mussels - i bought them already cooked/shelled from my seafood monger and removed the inner (what, foot?) chewy business, marinated them in olive oil i’d simmered garlic in, champagne vinegar, and Pimenton dulce. they turned out fabulous.


My gazpacho, made with peppers/tomatoes/beets and garlic. Absolutely fantastic.

BDay 2021 tomatoes confit
Our host made tomatoes confit - to die for…


A tapa i’ve been making forever from an old tapas book - aguacate crema tostadas. basically an aioli with avo, with toasted cumin on top (which i forgot, so that’s pimenton and ground cumin, served with bread.


the Friday night spread…


friends made a beautiful peach pie…


which i had for bfast Sat. morning. with Bi-Rite vanilla bean ice cream.


all of our favorite dip- cambozola gets mashed and blended slowly with heavy whipping cream, s&p, and drizzled with good evoo. so freaking good.


friends’ daughter made bread pudding. one of my favorite desserts ever. this one with a little rose water and cardamom.

BDay 2021 Pajot
my favorite of the whites - going to pick up a few bottles for myself.


gambas al ajillo with pimenton. i’m mad at myself - i didn’t season with enough salt!


but my GF’s setas al ajillo were perfect so if you ate them together… yum.


Salad with my green goddess dressing…

BDay 2021 champers 2


BDay 2021 Veuve Rose
lots of champers/cava - Veuve was a bday gift from my bestie from L.A.


Oregon friend brought his flourless chocolate cake and wonderful bottle of port.


virtuous bfast - someone made scrambled eggs with the shrooms and shrimp. of course, i followed this up with some of the Chorizo bread i’d brought.

oops! i posted that before i was finished! here’s everything now.

AND - ETA: I just realized that not pictured is the salmon filets I rubbed with a coffee/brown sugar/smoked paprika rub, and the 5 kinds of sausages we grilled! And my Frenchy potato salad with capers! #toomuchbubbly

i am not getting on a scale until next week!

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Everything looks and sounds wonderful but Wowza to the mussels. :star_struck: Rest up!

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That looks great! Very intrigued by the aguacate crema tostadas. And I’ve got some roasted cumin lying around.

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YES! Amazon. fr :laughing:

In shops, it won’t be easy to find, only when they are doing some temporary special country theme events.

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Wish I could have some of that cheese dip right now! Everything looks great.

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Oh My F’in G. Everything looks so amazing. Truly a celebratory feast.

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Happy Birthday @mariacarmen! :birthday::balloon:So great to see people celebrating, eating splendidly and having FUN!