Book club meetup at an outdoor beer garden. Great book, great conversation, great Port City Porter, just ok fried chicken banh mi.
I transformed some of the leftover pork stew into soup with garden spinach, smoked paprika, carrots, celery, broken lasagna, chickpeas, and broth. Really tasty although I was left with the same amount of leftovers. My husband calls that âalchemy.â
Duck legs, duck fat roasted potatoes, baked romano beans with tomato, spaghetti squash with maple, ginger and cinnamon.
I made a duck and bacon black-eyed pea cassoulet, as well, with 2 of my 6 duck legs, but the peas were still too firm, so I kept cooking them. Hopefully theyâll soften up.
I was watching A Nation of Banchan which made me want pretty much everything I saw, but I had no banchan at hand, only some old kimchi, leftover ssam sauce, lots of scallions and leftover steak.
So I made almost-bibimbap, but the lack of sufficient toppings left me wanting. So then I went back and sauteed the lot, making effectively kimchi fried rice like I had planned to a few days ago.
Also made steamed egg which was my favorite part of the meal.
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How it started:
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How itâs going:
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And the egg:
Grrrl dinner. Deviled eggs with creme fraiche & caviar. Shrimp cocktail. Okra with tarragon ranch dip. And a Last Word, with a shout-out to @JenKalb for the tiny lime garnish.
really cute dinner! You know, I was gobsmacked to see a display of kaffir limes in my neighborhood foodtown - 5 for $4! How do you prepare those okra?
Super simple. Cut up, put in strainer, sprinkle with water, cornmeal, AP flour, salt and pepper. Shake until coated. Then saute over high heat, preferable in a cast iron, but if youâre too lazy to get it out, a regular old frying pan will do. Donât stir them around too much - let them char in spots.
Last nightâs dinner was Breaded Liver (baked), mashed potatoes with brown gravy and peas. It was easier to bake the liver, as I had heated up the oven to bake some bread.
I see that gravy river running into the peas, but not on the liver. Do you use canned peas or ones from your garden?
Canned peas⊠Oddly, we both like the âWalmartâ brand of canned peas.
Yes, I had a slight âgravy breachâ into the peas. I didnât think to put gravy on the liver. The liver was crispy and tasty. I mixed a little garlic powder into the bread crumbs, prior to coating.
That looks perfectly breaded! Would you share your technique?
Maybe between tips from you and @gcaggiano, one of these days I will learn to bread things properly!)
I rinse the liver in a wire strainer, shake off the excess water, dredge in (all purpose) flour (both sides), shake off the excess flour, dip in an egg wash (one egg, one teaspoon of water - well beaten in a shallow bowl) [again, both sides], then into the bread crumbs. Iâll sprinkle a little bread crumbs on top of any missed areas (if necessary). I add a little garlic powder to the breadcrumbs (optional). I spray a piece of parchment paper with (olive oil) non-stick spray (on a baking sheet) and bake at 375 (F) for about 25 minutes.
I imagine you could substitute your favorite spice for garlic powder. Occasionally, Iâll add a little cayenne pepper to my bread crumbs, which is also good.
I canât take credit for this breading technique, this is my motherâs method, that she taught me.
I will try harder to do the photos again. In the meanwhile, the last few dinners: pizza made with KA sourdough discard crust. Toppings - pesto, garden tomatoes, fresh mozz, crumbled crispy salami, evoo, hot honey. Day before was Japanese curry with katsu chicken, noodles, carrots, and tofu skins. There was also a lazy day of frozen potato vareniki and veal pelmeni, mixed. I canât remember beyond that. Swiss cheese brain.
I made a bunch of things recently but my tiny over-taxed brain canât remember to post here.
Last night, I made a luscious salmon with lemon zest and juice and tons of olive oil for B and served it over a butter lettuce salad with sesame dressing (he LOVES his dinner salads). For me, I made an equally luscious white bean/cabbage/TPSTOG/Japanese greens.
The beans are delicious but not photogenic and here they are in the pan.
Tonight (Friday), I am repurposing the beans into cod chowder with grape tomatoes, carrots, lovely little local potatoes. Itâs Rhode Island-style so will remain clear (ie, without cream or milk). Local bread on the side. B will probably have more salmon on a salad. Itâs still early here chez digga (not even 6 pm). But if I donât report now, it may never happen.
Season of the soup continuesâŠ
Made a big batch of kale/sausage/bean and potato soup. I usually add fresh rosemary, but I forgot to buy it when I went shopping for all the other ingredients so I added bacon instead.
Dinner from the local Mexi food truck. Shrimp tacos, pastor tacos and tamales. Always good, fresh, fiesty and filling.
Back to my Friday standard: a large steak tip grilled on the grill pan, finished in the oven to medium rare, with Ballymaloe steak sauce on top.
No sour cream for a baker, with TPSTOB&SC, so I roasted the last of my Yukon Gold potatoes (a large one) with olive oil, s/p, and Herbs de Provence. Finally, steamed broccoli because I went out the last 2 nights, so the asparagus and green beans went bad. Iâll be at Wegmans tomorrow to restock on various things, including veg.
A big glass of wine. Or two. Because it was a week.
" J.San Sushi and Market, 3365 Steeles Ave E, Toronto " - IMO, still the best quality/price ratio, âcreate your ownâ Donburi in town!
Toppings selected included: Ikura, Salmon Belly (x2), Blue Fin Akami, Hamachi (x2), Kanpachi (x2), Madai, Botan Ebi (x2), Boston Uni, TobikoâŠall these for less than $45!
My daughterâs less extravagant creation, replacing Botan Ebi , Akami, Kanpachi with Hokkaido Scallops and Portuguese Ika costs only $33!
The shine emitted from the fish reflected the freshness of the fish!
Spring onion was fed breakfast for dinner. Fancy farm bacon, which I sautéed. Scrambled eggs with tons of butter. Both foods that I have no business cooking. He kinda turned his nose up to it.
It is good to see a book at the table and not a cell phone.