What's For Dinner #96 - the Which Marketing Commercial Month Is It? Edition - August 2023

Spicy Thai Pork Tenderloin Salad Recipe from Favorite Summer Salads thread. I added carrot and snow peas and eliminated the red bell pepper. Beefeater rocks.

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/favorite-summer-salads/5857/167

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Tonight’s dinner was a real crowd pleaser. Had everything prepped before a lecture I had to give, so all I had to do when I got home was boil, bake, and fry.

I spent the earlier part of the evening [hopefully] enthralling people with Prohibition-era stories before making mocktails (our location does not allow alcohol). It was a gin and tonic with Ritual* Zero Proof Gin and my coworker’s homemade elderflower syrup using flowers from the grounds of our location.

*Like all the other non-alcoholic gins we have used during this monthly series, not only does it just not taste good but it does not resemble gin at all.

I had a martini with real gin when I got home. :smile:

Another installment of the series tomorrow. Our last of the season.

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Tourlou / türlü: sautéed a shallot and garlic in olive oil, added one diced eggplant, 5oz of beef/pork ground (I really wanted lamb, but couldn’t find any), 3 parboiled new potatoes, half a diced zuke, ¾ of a red pepper, 3 large button shrooms, and some of those disappointingly flavorless Italian tomatoes I picked up at the Italian market. Added a yuge splash of red wine, a little beef broth & let it all simmer. A buncha RPF & a little squeeze of anchovy paste rounded it all out. Fresh parsley at the end, torn basil added on the plate. For once I didn’t end up cooking for a legion (I’d bought two eggplants and was originally going to use the entire zuke), and there’s just a little bit leftover.


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Thank you for confirming what I have long suspected.

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Last night’s dinner was a Vegetable Egg Fried Rice. I modified an “Aaron and Claire” (youtube) recipe. Sunshine has been asking for this dish and eggs were on sale recently, so I made some up.

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I finally cooked again…. Garlic butter umami noodles and gochujang squid.

Two versions of the noodles: with and without mushrooms (mom has been suspicious of mushrooms since her recurring tummy issues a while back).

Mom also had leftover paneer soya chilli from yesterday.

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Last night was Cold Noodle Salad with spicy Peanut Sauce from the NYT. I omitted the honey but otherwise followed the recipe. Definitely needed the lime at service. I’m anxious to try this after it sat for a day. It seemed to be missing something but I’m not sure what!

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Whew, for a minute there I thought you had gone over to the dark side.

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Last night’s cherry tomato sauced penne with mostly home grown herbs (purchased parsley). Romaine lettuce with bleu cheese for a side salad. Delish and satisfying on a hot, hot day with wild fire smoke keeping us indoors,

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Hi Guys! This is 'Chester the Squirrel Molester' clearing leaves from his outdoor water supply. Miss him much!
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It has been a miserable cold rainy day here so Finnish salmon soup - LOHIKEITTO - courtesy of @AD1 from the salmon that’s not common thread. ETA: Recipe from the blog, The View from Great Island.

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Is it not a very fine soup?

Indeed it is!!

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Was craving my Friday night standard, which I haven’t had in awhile. So I stopped at my local butcher for steak tips…which are now astronomically priced. Ouch.

But I still bought 2 lbs, most of which went into the freezer. Two similar sized chunks were very lightly oiled and seasoned with s/p and grilled in a cast iron grill pan for 4 minutes per side before retiring them to a 350° oven to finish cooking to medium rare.

Ballymaloe steak sauce drizzled on top, half a baked tater with TPSTOB&SC and steamed asparagus alongside.

There WAS wine.

And a 4-day weekend since I took Monday and Tuesday as PTO days.

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Not to dwell, but I think I’ve tried every non-alcoholic gin on the market out of necessity for the job not because I want to. Its a monthly program in a garden/park that does not allow alcohol. But it incorporates Prohibition stories with drinks/cocktail pairings. So we do “mocktails”. We’ve rotated through four of these gins.

Simply put, they all use juniper but none resemble gin. They try to do too much, adding ingredients that don’t belong. This recent one used lemongrass and mint. Totally overpowering.

Another one was specifically billed as “London Dry” but when I checked the ingredients, it listed quinine. Why? Its supposed to be bottled gin not a gin and tonic.

So it brings me to warn people that they aren’t worth it. I understand why they exist. Its nice for people that don’t drink to have options. But if you want a non-alcoholic gin and tonic, just pour some tonic over ice and add a lime wedge. You’ll save $35. The 750 ML bottles are more money than handles of real gin. Ridiculous.

So my coworker and I will be making our own for future programs and are teaching a class in December on gin and vermouth. We have the copper still which she makes hydrosols (infused water) and we will use typical ingredients for gin and make our own.

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Kaunis!!

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Apologies if you’ve mentioned this earlier, but I’ve heard not-terrible things about Seedlip.

My only real experience with fake booze is a year of drinking non-alcoholic beer because I was abstaining.

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I’d rank Seedlip as one of the better ones, but it just does not taste like gin. If people enjoy overly herby infused water, they’d probably enjoy any of them.

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Ya know, I don’t NOT enjoy that…

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Baby spinach in a raspberry vinaigrette. Poached chicken, roasted walnuts, garden blueberries, and a nice Point Reyes blue cheese. Homemade baguette.

I should have shown a photo with more of the mouth-watering raspberry vinaigrette drizzled on top (but I didn’t).

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