What's for Dinner - #81 - the Planting Month - May 2022

We had GLORIOUS weather this weekend - I spent most of both days outdoors planting, transplanting, weeding and admiring my handiwork. All of the kitties (three of them, strictly indoors) also got a brief trip outside (lap only, no actual freedom) to enjoy a little sun while getting their claws clipped. They loved every second of it!

Anyway, crudités and stuffed mushroom casserole was WFD - an improvised dish that ended up being delicious! Based on one of my favorite stuffed mushrooms recipes, basically I just made the filling (minced mushroom innards, sausage, onion, garlic, herbs, white wine, cheese) with double the normal amount of mushrooms and added a couple of eggs to bind, then topped with extra cheese and baked. Fantastic. Next time I would probably add a little extra wine and maybe some ricotta to moisten, as the egg dried things out a bit, but this will definitely be a repeat. When I make this as stuffed mushrooms I usually use breakfast sausage, but today I used hot Italian links and they were also excellent.

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Duck legs based on the Woks of Life Chinese braised duck recipe

posted in Duck inspiration

and soba with mushrooms and green onions, tossed with duck fat and pan juices.

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Last night’s dinner, but putting it here. Freezer meal of homemade hot and sour soup, with the additions of shrimp, and frozen peas + TJ’s soycutash, as well as frozen dumplings (Costco) Totally hit the spot after a busy day in the yard. Happy May & spring!



ETA: Distinctly non-photogenic! Sorry, should be in the gallery of regrettable looking food!! BUT it tasted good. :upside_down_face:

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Beautiful May day on the So. Oregon coast, not really soup weather but when I saw this on IG it screamed spring. White Beans in a Parm Broth with Peas, Asparagus, and Lemon. Romaine wedge with creamy Greek dressing, kalamata olives, orange pepper and peperoncini.
FYI Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy season 2 is on cnn tonight. 9:00 pdt.

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Shrimp and veggie tempura, an annual spring treat during asparagus season prepared by DH. Typically, he’d go with an extra-jumbo shrimp, but we had some 26-30’s to use up and he rolled with it. Veg included garden asparagus, and carrot and onion.

Served with steamed rice and homemade, soy-based dipping sauce.

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Got my very first wok (yes, it took me this long!), seasoned her up, and took her out for a spin tonight. Pad Kra Pow again. Had a little trouble with the eggs sticking, but otherwise all went swimmingly. Added green beans this time, on a tip from Kenji (I also got his The Wok book). Lots of thai chilies in this and the accompanying nam pla prik. Such a great, simple, and flavorful dish.

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Completely inauthentic chicken taco recipe with homemade flour tortillas (no tortilla press, so they are a bit misshaped). Chicken breast rubbed with a mix of hot paprika, paprika and oregano and seared in a pan for a few minutes. Afterwards used the same pan to cook some green cabbage and cauliflower. Served together as the taco filling and topped with a kohlrabi-jalapeno-cilantro “salsa“

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They look more than fine! flour tortillas are usually not made with a tortilla press, just the corn ones are.

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Tonight’s dinner was gado gado using green and purple cabbage as the veggies.

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I made a Vietnamese-ish slaw/salad loosely based on this recipe. I followed the dressing pretty closely (but subbed Lakanto for sugar and chili-garlic sauce for the chilies). My veg were CSA spring lettuces, shaved fennel bulb, cucumber, carrot, CSA radish, and jalapeno. Tossed in some shredded chicken breast poached in pho-seasoned broth earlier today. Topped with mint, chives, crispy shallots, and chopped peanuts.

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Defrosting Salisbury Steak tonight, but here’s some pretty lettuce I’ve been growing!


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Old school tacos with leftover Peruvian chicken, Tillamook cheddar and garden greens. Choice of tabasco, sriracha mayo and garlic-lime crema for sauce. The last of some homemade refries from the freezer. Leftover Peruvian rice.

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Leftover chile verde from the freezer, into burritos, with canned chili beans.

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Seared and roasted chicken thigh with aji verde, roasted potatoes, onions, garlic and piquillo peppers, street corn. Mixed greens salad, jicama, tomatoes and green onion with sherry vinegar/oo dressing. A G&T.

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The BF made Mongolian Beef - his first time cooking with a wok too! Tasted as good as any we’ve had in a restaurant. Stir-fried veggies in basically the same sauce were great too. I found a recipe for daikon rounds, with butter, garlic and soy, but unfortunately he burned those a bit. Still, winner of a dinner!

Only to then have me scream like a lunatic banshee at him for cleaning the wok with the chainmail scrubber we use on the CI pan. AAAACKKKK!! i immediately dried it over the burner and rubbed flaxseed oil into it, then wiped it clean. but I may have to re-season it. oh well, i guess he can’t be perfect ALL of the time…


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Chicken Piccata was requested. While I was tempted to add hot cherry peppers (rendering this to my spicy “Chicken Piccata-ish”), I stayed traditional. Delicious.

To drink: a martini with Stoli, Dolin Blanc, and orange bitters. No name for it but delightful.

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Rutabaga Curry with leeks, garlic, curry powder, coconut milk and vegetable broth served over rice

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Marcella Hagen’s Bolognese over rigatoni - Mr Bean’s pasta of choice. Served with caponata made with Asian eggplant because that was what I needed to use up and a chopped salad.

The sauce was part of a batch a made a while ago with probably close to 4 pounds of meat. I like to make a large batch when I make Bolognese and freeze portions to have it on hand.

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