To those who have served or are currently serving...dinner
If Mr. Clod's coming-home schedule is normal, then Buttered Chicken, an Indian dish that's one of our favorite recipes. If he ends up needing to work indeterminably late, then a pasta in a cream sauce that doesn't take as long to make.
"Potato pie" - i.e. sliced onions, potatoes, carrots, turnips in baked in a little stock with grated cheese on the top. I frequently bake this sort of dish in one of
these as it's cheaper to run than a full sized oven. In fact a similar dish is described in the fifth paragraph on
this page.
The next meal I'll make will be a white pizza. And after that, the next meal I'll make will probably be a clam sauce spaghetti.
"Potato pie" - i.e. sliced onions, potatoes, carrots, turnips in baked in a little stock with grated cheese on the top. I frequently bake this sort of dish in one of these as it's cheaper to run than a full sized oven. In fact a similar dish is described in the fifth paragraph on this page.
That looks interesting, Limey. Too bad they don't sell in the US.
Buffalo Burgers, smoked mozzarella pasta salad, and red potatoes. Maybe some asparagus in place of one of those side items.
I like sauteed mushrooms and onions so I might throw those on top of the buffalo burger. I never serve buffalo burgers in a bun in case you are wondering.
I won't be happy with it however, not since you fools created the crab or lobster thread. Nothing is going to taste good until I have crab legs and I will have you know, that you have ruined my life. :) Once again. lol!
Some pre-prepped skillet pasta dish from the freezer, with added broccoli. Too tired to cook these days.
Tonight; chicken soft tacos made from a rotisserie chicken, a box of spring mix and a jar of salsa (actually 2, mild for the kids, hot for me). I slaved over the toaster oven for like 10 whole minutes...
Pot roast with potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery in a rich tomato-based gravy, simmered all day in the crockpot.
stuffed crumbed chicken breasts with roast potatoes and greens. thanks, beest :yum:
Tonight; chicken soft tacos made from a rotisserie chicken, a box of spring mix and a jar of salsa (actually 2, mild for the kids, hot for me). I slaved over the toaster oven for like 10 whole minutes...
I spend more time preparing the toppings than on anything else when I do tacos.
Whats spring mix?
A mixture of sorta fancy greens. Baby spinach, radiccio, that sort of thing.
I thought as much after I posted it, but she wrote a 'box'. Greens in my part of the country come in bags.
Technically its a
compostable clam shell. I like it better than the bags, the greens seems to stay nicer longer.
That was all the toppings - I forgot about the tomatoes I had...
I can't see a picture on their site - can you take one and post it?
I'm intrigued. I just know I have the wrong image in my head :)
Mm. Couple of marinated, seasoned (sort of Mexi-spicy, from the market a few blocks away) chicken breasts between three people, and abundant frozen veggies: 3 colors of peppers, TJ's Harvest Medley (like stir-fry mixed veggies) and half a bag of frozen peas, and some frozen TJ's Toasted Corn. Slowly cooked the breasts from frozen, pulled them out and kept them warm in the toaster oven, and cooked all the veggies in the chicken juices.
Okay, all in all. Maybe not super memorable, but sufficient. Playing with seasonings doubtless would add to the fun factor.
I don't have a kitchen, but I'm trying to be creative. Tonight, I will serve nachos. I put tortilla chips on a plate, pour a can of chili on it, a little hot sauce, canned cheez wiz, and some chopped jalapenos. I sit it on my window sill to warm it up in the sun (my room faces west). I plan to wash it down with a couple of bottles of British ale
Roasted acorn squash, grilled lamb tips, assorted sauteed veggies (sugar snap peas, mushrooms & carrots)
Tonight it's salad for me; box of spring mix, diced chicken breast, snap peas, carrot shreds, avocado, and tomatoes, with black bean and roasted corn salsa as dressing. The kids are having chicken quesadillas with their choice of raw veggies on the side.
Last night was faux mac & cheese (pasta with pureed butternuts squash).
Oh God, I can't believe I ate those nachos. I think they are fermenting. This is going to be bad......
Hang on...I've obviously missed something very, very crucial....why have you no kitchen and why are you Currently Homeless?
I noticed his photos were coming out of a random Hotel Room. It's all so confusing....I thought he was just on business.
Ok, here it is. I'm a soldier recovering at a Military Medical Center. I'm living in outpatient quarters, hence no kitchen or dining facility. I have a bed, a chair, and a desk.
I'm homeless because my wife divorced me while I was on my first deployment to Iraq. She couldn't handle the situation. Thus, I have no home to return to when I leave here.
Hopefully, the Army will get things fixed and I'll be able to volunteer for another deployment. I won't have to find a place to live, etc for another year. That will make 4 deployments in 5 years
Are you likely to be well enough for a new deployment sarge?
Sarge, I was going to post about the very tasty MRE (meal ready to eat) that I"m about to enjoy. But wow, shoot me pm with your alt email addy, I can't get on my AKO mail right now.
I guess I need to explain further. The Army is very good to me and is really giving me some great care. I am a Senior NCO and I make a very good living. On top of that, I draw separate rations pay to cover my meals. The Army provides me with a nice clean place to live. Please don't think I'm destitute.
I have Lupus which has affected my face and arms in addition to other things. I have become very sensitive about my appearance, so I don't go to restaurants to eat. I buy food on post where I feel more accepted.
The Army is doing there very best to stabilize my medical problems in order to retain me. If I am able to deploy again, it will delay me having to return to the civilian world till 2010 where I will have to get a job and find a place to live.
I'm sorry I turned this thread into such a bummer. I didn't mean to. Let's get back on track talking about some good food. BTW, don't ever try that nacho recipe I described earlier. "It weren't a pretty sight" about 2 hours later:p
Sarge, thank you for your service and your honesty. You're a good man.
Sarge, I just want to say Thank you. For everything you have done for our country, and everything you will do. You have a remarkable outlook on life and I wish you all the best.
Thanks ya'll. Now what's for supper tonight
I have Lupus which has affected my face and arms in addition to other things.
Sarge,
I'm very sorry to hear about your Lupus. One of Mrs. Dar's college friends had it.
How are they treating it?
I'm thinking pizza for dinner. With beer.
Yum, me too Pie.
Some Cassano's pizza and some Miller Lite. I haven't partied for my b-day yet! This means green olives on my pepperoni and extra cheese pizza; I may be the only person on earth who likes green olives on a pizza, so I am going to have to get some just for me!
Dinner last night was beef stir-fry. Easy enough to do with a real wok and a gas stove. It was delicious. I've got the rice thing down.
Cleaning up is less fun, however.
Dinner last night was beef stir-fry. Easy enough to do with a real wok and a gas stove. It was delicious. I've got the rice thing down.
Cleaning up is less fun, however.
You've got that wrote, dar. If'n
you cook the
spouse cleans up (and vice versa, of course!)
You've got that wrote, dar. If'n you cook the spouse cleans up (and vice versa, of course!)
You'd have to see how I cook. It wouldn't be fair to make someone else clean it up.
I've got the rice thing down.
The one appliance in my kitchen that I absolutely could not live without is the rice cooker. That thing is a miracle of modern convenience.
Yum, me too Pie.
Some Cassano's pizza and some Miller Lite. I haven't partied for my b-day yet! This means green olives on my pepperoni and extra cheese pizza; I may be the only person on earth who likes green olives on a pizza, so I am going to have to get some just for me!
No you're not! I love both kinds of olives on my pizza...and banana peppers too.
Has anyone used a rice cooker to cook quinoa? Any suggestions?
The way a rice cooker works is by temperature--water boils at a constant temp. Once all the liquid has been boiled off and/or absorbed, the cooker senses the pot temperature rising above boiling point, and shuts itself off. This is why you couldn't do risotto in a rice cooker (aside from the fact that you have to keep stirring it while it's cooking,) because the final product is still very liquidy. I've never eaten quinoa, but if it's "done" when all the liquid is absorbed, then yes, you could make it in a rice cooker.
I'm going to have cornflakes.
The one appliance in my kitchen that I absolutely could not live without is the rice cooker. That thing is a miracle of modern convenience.
You means "saucepan" - right :eyebrow: ?
Oh no, believe me, I am quite experienced at ruining rice in a saucepan.
Yep, as a (sorta-not-really) Indian, I gotta say that a rice cooker is a must-have. Indians, Chinese, Japanese, all swear by theirs.
Has anyone used a rice cooker to cook quinoa? Any suggestions?
Yes; it's the only way I ever have. It works. Have the liquid 2x volume of quinoa. Use chicken stock for the pilaf effect. Remember to rinse the quinoa in a sieve beforehand to remove the bitterness.
We're having spicy beef stew tonight.
Yummm. :)
Yes; it's the only way I ever have. It works. Have the liquid 2x volume of quinoa. Use chicken stock for the pilaf effect. Remember to rinse the quinoa in a sieve beforehand to remove the bitterness.
Muchas gracias! I'll be giving it a try as soon as I get my rice cooker out of storage. :D
No you're not! I love both kinds of olives on my pizza...and banana peppers too.
Yabbut, I'm really picky. I hate black olives, any kind of pepper, onions, mushrooms...etc.
People hate ordering pizza with me! :o
We won't be sharing Shawnee - for me it's not pizza without onion.
I also love pineapple, jalapenos, anchovies and pepperoni. It's funny how often people say, "Oh we can just share, I'm not fussy" then back out when they hear my preferences.
My evil ex used to order pizza for us both, and because I wasn't paying I didn't get any choice (personally I compromise if I'm treating someone!) So we always had Meat Feast. Which as I remember it was meat, meat, meat, meat and mushrooms.
heheee...I'm always like "you know, you can live without mushrooms, and I can't eat it with mushrooms...sooooo" and then we proceed to order 2 smalls instead. ;)
On the same token, I don't insist on green olives. There are few pizza places who know how to get just the right amount of GOs anyway, and it works best on the kind of pizzas you can get from the bar where I worked so many years. There are a couple places around.
I wish I liked more stuff. You wouldn't know to look at me how terribly picky I am. ;)
We won't be sharing Shawnee - for me it's not pizza without onion.
I also love pineapple, jalapenos, anchovies and pepperoni. It's funny how often people say, "Oh we can just share, I'm not fussy" then back out when they hear my preferences.
I'd eat that pizza, except for the anchovies, but you basically can't get those anywhere here anyway.
But seriously, do they not do half-toppings on pizzas where you guys live? It's a given here that you can put any of your toppings on all or just half of the pizza.
You probably can now - I haven't shared a pizza in years :(
We won't be sharing Shawnee - for me it's not pizza without onion.
I also love pineapple, jalapenos, anchovies and pepperoni. It's funny how often people say, "Oh we can just share, I'm not fussy" then back out when they hear my preferences.
My evil ex used to order pizza for us both, and because I wasn't paying I didn't get any choice (personally I compromise if I'm treating someone!) So we always had Meat Feast. Which as I remember it was meat, meat, meat, meat and mushrooms.
ANCHOVIES ... PEPPERONI - I'l fight you for 'em SG! Come up here and we'll make our own (bread-machine dough and any topping you like). YummmmMEEEEE!
I'd eat that pizza, except for the anchovies, but you basically can't get those anywhere here anyway.
But seriously, do they not do half-toppings on pizzas where you guys live? It's a given here that you can put any of your toppings on all or just half of the pizza.
You can, but with things like peppers, putting them on half does you no good. The pepper oils creep over big time. 'Shrooms you can get away with, but mostly the people assembling the pizza don't really care, and you end up with stray shrooms all over the place. They're pickable, of course, but it's easier to just get a small pizza I like.
I'd eat that pizza, except for the anchovies, but you basically can't get those anywhere here anyway.
But seriously, do they not do half-toppings on pizzas where you guys live? It's a given here that you can put any of your toppings on all or just half of the pizza.
You can't get anchovies??? Did I just read that correctly??? What's a pizza without anchovies!?!
I have never heard of any pizza place actually serving anchovies in the States, even the fancier specialty restaurants. But I'm sure there are a couple out there somewhere... when I was a teen working at a fast-food pizza place, we had a British guy call up once and try to order corn on his pizza. He was just blown away that we not only didn't have it, but were doing the telephone equivalent of pointing and laughing at him.
(Of course, now that I am a gourmet adult, I actually make a pizza involving corn on a regular basis. But to be fair it doesn't use the traditional tomato sauce either...)
Must be Texas. I never order anchovies, but I just looked at a couple of local places that have their menus online, and they all have anchovies. The big chains don't have them, but big chain pizza is no good.
Well, okay, it does seem that I spoke in haste. Now that I've done a more thorough search, I did find an Italian restaurant here in town that openly has them on the menu. But it was part of a larger article on anchovies, and the restaurant's quote in the article is about how they just sit on the shelf and no one ever orders them.
but with things like peppers, putting them on half does you no good. The pepper oils creep over big time. .
:notworthy
That
is the ulimate in pickiness!
:D
Oh, I really miss having time and energy to cook real dinners these days. Most of the time I make something frozen or from a kit. I am trying to teach my kids to cook, too; we're starting with Hamburger Helper. :)
Tonight we had coneys (that's chili dogs with cheese) and macaroni and cheese. Real fancy stuff.
Tomorrow, though, I have no school - it's Veteran's Day. Got plenty of stuff to do, essay to finish editing, client work to do, but I'm going to make a nice meal for a change. Got a pork roast in the fridge. Still thinking about what to do with it, besides sticking it in the crockpot with some veggies. Which is certainly an option.
Oh and BTW I like green olives on my pizza too. My favorite pizza (well, one of them) is pepperoni and green olives from LaRosa's. I like all the veggie stuff on pizza - I'm not picky like SOME people. ;)
When we get pizza delivered here, we get a Large for the boys with a bunch of meat, and a medium for the girls with veggies - tomatoes, mushrooms (only if they use fresh, not canned), peppers, green and/or black olives. We've even gotten spinach on pizza; it's pretty good.
I also like Donatos' Mariachi Beef pizza. Yum.
Trader Joe's mac'n'cheese, sugar snap peas sauteed with shrimp.
Tonight I made a pot roast with baby carrots and onions in my brand new
dutch oven. It turned out awesome!! Way better than the old crock pot.
We had chicken satay tonight. We make our own satay sauce though. I don't really like any of the bottled ones.
Just buffalo beef burgers with cheddar, maybe scalloped potatoes. I'm still thinking of another side, but no one seems to carry the hoagie rolls I want so I may have to slum it at albertsons for a few. I could also pick up the nasty mayo I like. Yep, slumming it in the unhealthy stores while my husband isn't around....
I also have an excuse to go buy a new coffee french press today!! Yea!! The other one apparently broke on my husband this morning because when I woke up I found the french press saran wrapped and rubber banded together? It was weird. So I have been using a rag as a filter and grinding the beans extra thin to make cups of coffee. Ghetto! Love it!
Anchovies are always available in the 'za joints in California -- I think it would cause shock and anger if they were not. The wife and I (and this is usually her idea) will have anchovies added to a veggie pizza as reinforcement, though we also get them from time to time with a meaty one. She dislikes pepperoni; says it's too greasy. Can't say as I see eye to eye there.
Except for being fish, anchovies otherwise hew to all the essentials of pizza animal protein: strongly flavored, and more or less oily. Too, Californians put sliced avocado on pizzas too. We would. Goes on right after the pizza comes out of the oven so the slices are well warmed but not brutally melted.
I haven't seen hardly anything in the way of green olives, though they're probably around. I'm very fond of black olive teamed with Italian sausage. An added sprinkle of green olives...? Hmm. And hot peppers give pizza macho: it does not slide apologetically down your gullet, but puts up a respectable battle. Sort of the buccal equivalent of mechanical bull riding.
I love a cheese pizza with black olives and anchovies. Need to make sure there's plenty of garlic in the sauce though. Most people think that sounds disgusting, but I'm telling you, it's a nice pizza.
..... Sort of the buccal equivalent of mechanical bull riding.
Have you ever thought of a career as a food writer?
corn tortillas; cilantro chicken sausages, shredded and panfried; mango salsa; guacamole; shredded cabbage; black beans.
Oh, and I second limey's recommendation, UG. :thumb:
*slightly green around the gills* this was so the wrong thread to read in recovery. I ate olives the evening I started with the bug...I doubt they were connected, but right now I feel i'd be happy to never ever see another olive again.
Last night I made a real down home dinner. No capers, no splash of burgundy wine sauce, no half-shells, no hints of saffron, not even a melange, nothing balsamic, no endives, and not even a hint of jus.
I made a meatloaf, cheesy potatoes, green beans, and biscuits.
I saw everything I made, and I saw that it was good.
So I eated it. :yum:
Sounds good.
I had a meatloaf craving recently but have never made it and didn't feel adventurous. Is there a standard recipe? Do I have to buy soup mix or something? Would turkey burger work?
You know, I wing it every time, which is unlike me, and sometimes it turns out good and sometimes not. I just used seasonings, an egg, tomato sauce, and some bread crumbs. Oh, and ground round.
Hmm, but I bet there is a soup packet that would be good, and I'm sure turkey burger would work too. I'll have to try that sometime; I used to use turkey substitute meats a lot more.
I like meatloaf with some chopped onion in it.
I make meatloaf with ground turkey every time, jinx. Better texture and less grease.
Specifically, it's a pound of turkey, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup chili sauce or ketchup, and 1/2 an onion. 45 minutes at 350.
Do you cook yours in a bread loaf pan, or form it into a loaf shape on a baking sheet so the grease has a way to drip out?
In a loaf pan. But with the turkey, there's basically no grease. I might try it without a pan if I ever use ground beef again.
I make a turkey meatloaf mixture, then cook it in patties in a skillet over medium heat, covered. Very fast, and little grease.
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 c breadcrumbs
salt
seasonings
You can go wild with the seasonings. I've listed some combos I like below. Be sure to adjust the salt appropriately to compensate for the salt in the seasonings.
* Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard and minced onion
-- (classic meatloaf tastes, add sides of broccoli & mashers)
* Green curry paste, garlic and chili sauce
-- (serve with lime wedges, shredded cabbage & peanut salad)
* Fresh herbs, parmesan, sundried tomatoes & minced olives
-- (cover in marinara and melt some mozzarella over it!)
* Adobo seasoning, grated queso anejo, cilantro and chilies
-- (serve with frijoles negros and your favorite salsa)
I like meatloaf with some chopped onion in it.
Traitor to the homeland.
Sounds good.
I had a meatloaf craving recently but have never made it and didn't feel adventurous. Is there a standard recipe? Do I have to buy soup mix or something? Would turkey burger work?
You could use salsa in your meatloaf. Onion soup mix is good in it too. I like onions and green peppers in mine.
I made myself a very delightful jacket spud with butter and a little grated cheddar and chopped spring onions (can't recall what you guys call them now). Mmmm. Very tasty.
@ Dana green onions?
I made spinach stuffed chicken breasts. Mayonnaise, feta, spinach, and garlic nestled inside a butterflied chicken breast wrapped in... BACON!
*shakes head* no, was something else. It was mentioned recently, but I can't remember the word.
They're long and thin with a little onion bulb at the end.
[eta] Griff, right now I would cheerfully sell my soul to eat that chicken lol
Yes! Thankyou. That's the one.
Doesn't sound as appetising to me as spring onions :P Ithink because it makes me think of both scally wags and scullions.
I made this weird lasagna-in-a-box kit because I was in a hurry and didn't feel like cooking anything major.
But I burned it, because I got sidetracked scooping the cats' litter boxes and scrubbing the laundry room floor they peed all over. Yuck. Then I had to take out the trash, and I noticed that they'd peed on the rug by the front door too. Then my son asked me for help with his math homework, DH's friend came over to pick up an old oil tank...went back to the kitchen, smelled the lovely aroma of scorched tomato. Crap.
So I made stuffing and gravy and heated up the leftover pork roast from yesterday. Oh well.
Oh hey, how was that pork roast yesterday? You sounded quite excited atthe idea of doing the full home-cooked works:)
It was OK, nothing special. I just sprinkled on some pepper and shoved it into the oven. At the last minute I brushed on some (homemade) peach preserves. Not bad.
But I got sidetracked (this is a recurring theme) by a project for a client of mine and neglected the side dishes. I'd meant to make roasted potatoes to go with it, but ended up "baking" some in the microwave instead.
I think it's time to dig out the crockpot!
The peach preserve sounds like a cool idea.
Have you ever thought of a career as a food writer?
Oh, and I second limey's recommendation, UG.
Should I start by writing about Key Lime Pie, do you suppose?
No idea why they keep making the things with regular piecrust when there is graham cracker crumb crust out there, the natural partner of citrus/condensed milk fillings. Or gingersnap crumb crust.
Key Lime Pie! Last time I had that was in Key West. Good stuff.
Bonefish grill, a chain restaurant, has surprisingly good key lime pie. I wish I had a piece now actually...
I think I'll roast and scoop my squashes for thurday to take my mind off the pie.
I didn't get around to making the pumpkin pie for Turkey Day. We ate late, and not overmuch. But tasty. Scratchbuilt reduced fat mashed potatoes, and a rather radical vegetable dish of squash, eggplant, and sweetened hot peppers with spinach leaves. Maybe not quite enough sage stuffing for leftover turkey sandwiches, though. Darn.
I don't know if Australians go for this much, but there are few leftovers better than a sandwich filled with a slice of turkey breast, a quarter inch slather of sage turkey stuffing, and a similar layer of jellied cranberry. Mm-mmm! Not a sammich I'd take to work, though, as the cranberry jelly will probably make the bread soggy by lunchtime.
My mum used to like stuffing and chicken sandwiches. She sometimes used to put chutney on the bread. I'm not too fond of stuffing myself, but one of my boys likes it.
Nothing very exciting was on the menu tonight, just some macaroni and a batch of black-eyed peas stewed up with cabbage, celery, and a lot of spices. I kind of wish I'd had some cheddar to sprinkle over the top.
We're going to make some steak and bacon pies and have one for dinner. :) Mmmmmm...now that sounds yummy..with some salad on the side.
I made goulash today. Ground beef, chopped onions and green peppers, garlic, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, chili powder... and I cooked the elbow macaroni in with everything else (I added some water for the pasta). Good times.
I think I now know why I'm so much bigger than everyone else... it is my cooking. If I cook, it is "down home cooking". For meat loaf, you can actually buy seasoning packets. Those are handy when I don't have a lot of seasonings on hand. I've made it from scratch many times too. Some of the spices I put in it usually are garlic, parsley, and sage. Sometimes I throw in random spices as well. I also make my meatloaf with 1 lb of ground hamburger and 1 lb if sausage. It makes for AWESOME meatloaf. I always drain the fat though. And I always add chopped onion and green peppers to my meatloaf. I usually have potatoes of some sort with my dinner... but I'm really picky with vegetables. Usually we end up eating green beans, corn, or salad. hehehe All the meals everyone else makes sound so exotic and healthy compared to mine!
I'm also good at beef stroganoff... beef, cream of mushroom soup, and sourcream basically. And you just put it over cooked pasta. Oh, and I season my beef while I brown it and add onions and garlic. Yum!
Since I can't actually cook at work, I end up ordering out a lot.
Tonight my favorite delivery restaurant had one of my favorite specials ... the "Cowboy Cheesesteak."
It's a regular Philly Cheesesteak that is made just that much better by the addition of bacon, onion rings, and A-1 Steak Sauce.
Ooh yumishness.
Mrs. dar made a lasagne. It was very tasty. I like mine cheeeesy.
Mm, yesss... good flavorsome ricotta, that truly makes a lasagna. Tomato paste is pretty much tomato paste, ground beast is still ground beast.
Since I like a lasagna not to slide apart on the plate, I layer it up with the uncooked lasagne. They get done in the baking and control excessive moisture in the final product.
That's too dry for me, UG. I like mine sloppy. :D
I like mine well-structured, with extra sauce. Sloppy-ness should come from the sauce, not extra water.
I pat the noodles dry an/or put them in the salad spinner - keeps things together very nicely!
Oh and UG - Tomato paste IS NOT Tomato paste!
Well, I'm always willing to hear about a better somethingorother. But be advised my palate is not frightfully subtle. I may have real trouble distinguishing one canned tomato paste from another.
Sloppy migrates to my shirt front much too easily. And only camouflage trousers can hide a similar misfortune below the beltline.
I can get at a Smart & Final, Albertson's, Ralphs, Trader Joe's, a WholeFoods with a bit of a hike, and numerous Mexican grocery stores, even the Vallarta chain.
My parents are out visiting graves today, so I've had an orgy of Christmas wrapping. Well, it counts as an orgy in my book as I was left sweaty, exhausted with sticky fingers, and I kept having to yell at Diz to keep out the damn way.
They're bringing back
pie n mash for themselves - I will be having a healthier tea and feeling quite virtuous for it. Mackerel and rocket fishcakes, sliced Charlotte potatoes (blitzed for 7 mins in the microwave) and baked beans.
Not exactly what Gordon Ramsey will be dishing up tonight, but good enough for me. Utilising 3 different cooking methods (hob, oven, microwave) counts as cooking in my book.
Today, I'm thinking sausage gravy over macaroni, steamed broccoli on the side. My strange version of comfort food.
Now, I just have to find "lite" or poultry breakfast sausage at the wasteland that is my local supermarket. (That's been the one significant downside to this whole Maryland thing -- shitty supermarkets.)
Ain't they got TJ's in MD? Annapolis still has its Graul's, no? And try scouring the Rte 1 corridor in the Laurel area, and downtown Baltimore for little old health-food groceries.
See if WholeFoods' website would inform you of any stores in your part of central MD.
Tonight we're having roast chicken. Rather than make a stuffing, I usually put a couple of peeled whole lemons and fresh rosemary in the cavity. Makes for the best ever gravy for the meat and veges.
In the way of veges we're having potatoes, onions, garlic, eggplant and zucchini. All roasted. And we're also having honey roasted carrots.
Yummy. Smells delish. And it's all just so easy.
Ain't they got TJ's in MD? Annapolis still has its Graul's, no? And try scouring the Rte 1 corridor in the Laurel area, and downtown Baltimore for little old health-food groceries.
See if WholeFoods' website would inform you of any stores in your part of central MD.
My shopping pattern is to drop by the store most nights on my way home (since I usually don't know what I want to make till an hour or two before hand.) That means the store I go to needs to be close to home.
There is a TJ's, but they don't have the type of "ethnic" items I'm looking for. I agree that what they have is good; the selection is just smaller than I'd wish. Whole Paycheck is ridiculously expensive, and I will not support their Machiavellian ambitions. (There's another place called "Roots" that is about the same thing.)
Damnit, I just want my Wegmans. I hear that one will be opening up in the next year or so, and my life will be complete. :love: It will also spur healthy competition and improvements in the existing stores (I saw that exact effect when W came to my old neighborhood.)
For "ethnics" I'd definitely scour central Balto, then.
I just baked what feels like a ten pound dish of ziti (Soprano's Family Cookbook recipe---crispy, cheesy, noodly goodness) and now sugar cookies are in the oven. It's snowing ever so softly and there's no place like the cellar for the holidays.
I made the most awesome pizza the other night. The sauce was 1/4 cup ranch, 1/4 cup hot wing sauce, and about 2 Tbs cream cheese all mixed together. Mozzarella cheese, and chicken on top. I meant to put some green onions on too but I forgot until after I'd already put it in the oven.
Hot sliced turkey over pumpernickel bread, cranberry sauce and gravy. Green beans on the side.
/No, I didn't get enough Thanksgiving
//They're making ham for Christmas, so that's no help.
I made the most awesome pizza the other night. The sauce was 1/4 cup ranch, 1/4 cup hot wing sauce, and about 2 Tbs cream cheese all mixed together.
Interesting. Is that your own invention, or did you read it somewhere?
It's based on a coworker's invention from back when I worked at a Domino's pizza as a teen. You can get real creative when you only have a set number of ingredients to eat from every day.
We used to just smear together one ranch packet and the wing sauce from the hot wings we sold--but Domino's wing sauce isn't nearly as spicy as the stuff I had in my house, and mellowing it with more ranch just made it too ranchy, so I tried cream cheese instead. We used to pull the meat off the chicken wings and toss it on the pizza, but now I just cut up a boiled chicken breast instead.
The other invention I remember fondly from those days was a "Clodfobble* special:" one pepperoni, topped with a jalapeno and a squirt of barbecue wing sauce. Perfect for a busy night when you didn't have time to make a real pizza for yourself. Most people agreed it was really yummy, once I finally convinced them one by one to try it. I don't think my digestive system could stand up to very many of them these days though...
*[insert real name here]
I thought last night was full of great comfort food, but my roomy only had half the plate. I ate the whole plate...but I guess my roomy is a tough customer. I have this theory that it was too rich of food, and I should tone it down next time.
New York Strip steak, with red onion and mushrooms sauteed on top. Smoked Mozzarella and Sundried tomato pasta salad, zucchini and squash with fresh garlic (light baste and cook time), and gourmet organic baby red potatoes, with a lick of sweet butter.
sounds yummy cloud
Last night I made stuffed pasta shells with ricotta cheese, mushrooms and spinach smothered in a sweet thick spaghetti sauce.
Did you just call me Cloud?
Alright, I'm going to change my name with the moderators approval.
Cloud is awesome, but this is getting ridiculous!
laughs out loud alot
sorry cic...my mind was someplace else. Probably drooling over New York Strip steak, with red onion and mushrooms sauteed on top. Smoked Mozzarella and Sundried tomato pasta salad.
While I was at the grocery store I picked up mushrooms to sautee but honestly wouldn't have been able to recall who posted that tempting dish. sorry again
Redneck night. 2 slices of fried bolanoa, coated with a home made hot sauce. Can of chilipote chilies blended with a 8 oz. can of tomato puree. Cold slaw with home made dressing.
15 Bean soup, made with a ham bone, that simmered all day while we were at the gym. It's yummeh.
Heh, we had that too. I think I want to work on the seasonings, though. It was only okay. Or maybe I need more than just the joint of the ham.
Today was slow-cooker Posole. With cornbread. Not bad, but I added a can of Rotel w/habanoros.
So who forgot the thyme and bay leaves in the stew? Me. Please don't worry folks! It isn't too late. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, my beef stew has been saved!
Yes I will have my old fashioned comfort food and love it. Love it, love it! :)
Birthday Dinner ... Veal Parmesan Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries, and work cake (pineapple butter cake) and momwolf cake (spice).
Well will you tell me what bay leaves are for? I do it, but never have solved this mystery.
Happy Birthday!
Beef/veggie/barley soup in progress... the boy decide not to wait and had dogs with kraut instead. The girl ate most of a container of strawberries and then puked the m right back up. She's babysitting a bowl of oatmeal now...
(no bay leaves in my soup but I was considering crisping some sage...)
Well will you tell me what bay leaves are for? I do it, but never have solved this mystery.
Choking on.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you!
Chopped kale sauteed with bacon, onions & red wine, seared pork chops, rustic bread. :yum:
Making pork chops cooked in Worcestershire sauce and mac n cheese and mashed pots....yummy for my hubby
Had to pick up scripts for momwolf, so I hit the salad bar.
Baby Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, and one of those mixed greens assortments, feta cheese, carrots, cukes, chickpeas, baby corns, dolmas, some kind of wheat berries with dried cranberries, walnuts, and other things I can't identify, egg salad and chicken salad. Oh, and I hit the bulk aisle and got some of those sesame stick crunchy things.
Although it contined more roughage, I probably would have been better off ordering a cheesesteak.
Chopped kale sauteed with bacon, onions & red wine, seared pork chops, rustic bread. :yum:
For once in my life, I stuck with the plan. I added a little beef stock to up the 'soup'-ish quality of the meal, added some dry rub to the thin-cut chops. Damn tasty, on a cold night.
Wolf -- cheese steak AND salad bar, nummy nummy...
I'm doing proper cookery for my parents at the moment. And loving it.
Some of the recipes will need to be tweaked before I make them again, but it's a case of try it and see first time round.
They're all low fat, high in fibre and designed to squeeze in as many of our 5-a-day as possible (recommended portions of fruit/ vegetables for a healthy lifestyle).
So far this week we have had Nasi Goreng (needed spicing up), Turkey Meatloaf (more turkey, less courgettes) and Tandoori Chicken (take out of the oven sooner - dried out a bit).
Today's dinner is Mediterranean Fish Stew. And coming up this week is Chicken Goulash with Dumplings, Cheesey Leeks, Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake and Roast Pork Chops stuffed with Apple.
My Mum loves it. For the last 40 years she has been in chrage of cooking everything in this house, except on Friday nights and Saturday lunchtimes (Dad's domain). Yes, my Dad did his fair share when they both worked shifts, but that meant cooking for us while she was working, not cooking for her. Now she's getting meals which she knows are good for her, cooked from scratch, and I also plan everything out in advance and make sure we have all the right ingredients and as little as possible goes to waste. Oh and I cook very different things that she would, which is always nice.
It's making me feel very good about being here.
I'd like to make a low fat anchovy sauce for serving with fish, or maybe as a side to liven up rice. I'd rather not have it oil based, use a creme fraiche instead, but the only creme fraiche sauces I've found use anchovy paste - which we don't have - instead of anchovies in oil, which we do.
Lemon and a dash of Tabasco feature in most recipes - yup, have those too.
Any ideas on how to put it together?
Rinse most of the oil off the anchovies and mash the fishies up to make your own anchovy paste?
Or...could maybe try a little 'Gentleman's Relish' ? Not sure where you'd get it, but I think the supermarket fine foods section usually carries it.
I haven't had it for years (used to love it on toast) so I can't recall what else is in it, but I think it's mainly anchovy paste.
[eta] just checked wiki. It's also known as 'Patum Peperium'. It's a secret mix of herbs spices etc, but it's min 60% anchovy. Also though, maybe try a 'fish sauce' instead? or Oyster sauce?
Or...could maybe try a little 'Gentleman's Relish' ?
That just sounds naughty.
You Brits and your food names.
Good plan Limey, thanks.
I know where I can get Gentleman's Relish Dani, I'm just trying not to buy in anything I don't need on a regular basis. You know what I mean - one Jamie Oliver recipe calls for powdered mustard and it doesn't go down well and then the tin sits in your cupboard until the end of the world, when you finally consider eating it with braised cockroach.
Wolf - my Mum was talking about
head cheese earlier this week. It's a dish made from pig's head and trotters, that her Grandmother made. She understood the double entendre, she just didn't understand why I couldn't get over it. Every time she said it again, I sniggered. I was out of favour for a while after that - nostalgic family stories about food are nothing to be sniggered at.
We have head cheese here too.
We don't eat it either.
But you guys have spotted dick. Somehow we managed to escape that. Maybe it had to do with not having gone through a plague and a great fire? Well, we had our great fire, I guess (Chicago), but still no spotted dick.
Jeez, wolf, it's just raisins in the pudding, and most of the pudding seems to be farina.
It's just old is all - names and words and their meanings change.
I'm more worried about the Bowdlerisation of street names going on at the moment. If you happen to live on a tiny, ancient alley called Cuntbucket Lane, because prostitutes used it as a cut through to get to the Docks, you should be proud of the history!
Still, at least there's a trend of changing pub names back to the original, after the annoying '90s trend of comedy names - Frog & Nightgown, Slug & Lettuce etc.
Hee -- I'd drink in a place called Frog & Nightgown, particularly on nights with live Irish music by live Irish musicians. All the more so if their material ventures across the North Channel, aye, the Minch.
We went to the Goat and the Tricycle, when I was in Bournemouth...
This is a fictional pub in Achewood. Surprised flint didn't post it yet
cheesesteak here :D (back to the original topic and all)
Just made Spiced Apple Cake as a treat. Low fat recipe I haven't tried before, but I read through the ingredients (only had to buy apples) and the method and it looked just fine to me.
All was going great! Everything as it should!
Until...
Well you see I read the description a while back. And after all it is called Spiced Apple Cake. I checked I had the right sized tin, weighed everything carefully, couldn't see how anything could go wrong. In hindsight I should have rechecked the description, which says that this is a "biscuit style" cake. Then again, maybe the person who wrote the recipe should have advised you to ROLL the two layers out. Roll them out, cut them to size, place in tin.
Nope. I "spread" or in reality squash "less than a half" of the dough - and it is a dough, think cookies, although it is not called that, it is called a mixture - into the tin. Then add the layer of pureed apple. Now... oh. Add the rest to the top and smooth out gently. But I can't! It's sticky dough, not cake mix. It doesn't smooth out, especially on a fluid layer of apple. Had I really understood the recipe, of course I would have rolled it out and cut it to size and placed gently on top. But I was following a damned recipe! It's the reason people buy low fat recipe books!
I have cut the screaming and swearing out of this. But I do feel let down, and yet personally responsible. The worst of both worlds. Mostly, I laugh at culinary disasters. And if it's someone else's I can always find something to praise and to salvage. But this time I'm afriad self pity and pathos have kicked in. I peeled six cooking apples, all excited, thinking my parents would be really impressed with me. I rubbed in the marge (something I hate doing) and got gunk under my nails. And if ONLY it had made it clear it was a rolled out dough, not a spreadable one... ah well. Sure more experienced cooks would have got that immediately (self pity again - arrrgh).
Like every single other recipe from this book, it requires amendments before trying it again. I just don't think I can be arsed. I'll stick to brown rice with beans and low fat yoghurts in future. This is the nail in the coffin of enjoying cooking :mecry:
My only consolation - the house smells gorgeous. Apples and spice and baking.
There's that at least :)
Biscuit cake non-cake.
Lump of non-spreadable-on-apple dough on top.
Small spoonful out of left corner tasted okay. But how would you serve something like that? Apart from straight into the bin.
Don't worry, I have a review of my meds tomorrow.
And yes, that is my Slytherin mug. My Dad bought it for me (?)
lol...I'm sorry. Maybe it tastes good?
Eh, presentation, schmesentation.
Looks more like beef brisket that got cold and all the fat firmed over.
Mmmm-mmmm, makes it even more appetising having that in my head :lol:
There are three possible explanations for the 'dick' part of spotted dick. One is that it is a shortened form of pudding (essentially the last syllable, softened from ding to dich/k), another is that 'dick' is a corruption of dough (like duff) and another is that it comes from the german word for thick.
You might find this amusing, from The Straight Dope:
The word "dick" has appeared in any number of strange places. Around the 1840s, "dick" was used to mean a type of hard cheese; when treacle sauce was added, it became "treacle dick", and finally when currants or raisins were added (looking like little spots), the "spotted dick" was born.
Mmmmm....dick cheese.
'
Lesson to be learned here. Don't make apple cake unless the word "Jewish" is in front of the words "Apple" and "Cake."
Do you want to post the recipe and see if others end up with the same? The recipe could just be bad, and your cooking is perfectly fine.
I peeled the top off and blitzed the dry part. It's now a crumble topping and we will eat it tonight. The recipe is fine, as long as you don't expect the cakey part to have a cake mix texture. The bad is in the description. It's a DOUGH and should be treated as such.
Mum also says, she has never used 6 apples for anything except maybe a crumble, so a 6 apple filling for a CAKE is already an issue. Given that she raised us on home cooking, I accept her opinion.
If you are still interested I am more than happy to post the recipe. It'll be in English measurements though. If you make it better than me following the given instructions I will wilt slightly, but will accept the education.
Made Leek & Potato soup this afternoon.
Well, I had some leeks I needed to get rid of.
Seem to have made rather a lot though...
I put some Ass Kickin' Hot mustard in it. Good because it tastes GREAT. Bad because it means Mum won't help me with it.
I wonder if there are any homless shelters in need of a hot soup in the coming cold spell?!
Lunch today: red beans and rice with smoked sausage. Nom nom nom
Made Leek & Potato soup this afternoon.
Well, I had some leeks I needed to get rid of.
Seem to have made rather a lot though...
I put some Ass Kickin' Hot mustard in it. Good because it tastes GREAT. Bad because it means Mum won't help me with it.
I wonder if there are any homless shelters in need of a hot soup in the coming cold spell?!
Can you put it in single portion quantities in the freezer? That's what I'd do!
Trouble is, what to put it in.
I don't have enough tupperware, and defrosting from bags always seems to get messy.
I guess I try the bags again and just be more careful this time :)
Freeze it in muffin cups, the take them out frozen and place in bags... then when you want some, take one or two out, put in a bowl and defrost that way.
As Jaydaan says, or use the tupperware and then decant into bags ...
Freeze it in muffin cups, the take them out frozen and place in bags... then when you want some, take one or two out, put in a bowl and defrost that way.
Not that is a great idea!
I don't know what a muffin cup is, but we have plenty of mugs I could half-fill. Only question is - can I be sure they will come out once they're frozen? Should I grease them first (slightly wary of this as it is an ultra low-fat soup).
Actually I seem to remember doing this before, in a bowl, then having to leave the bowl in the freezer for the next week...
I'm not very capable I'm afraid!
You could probably substitute individual yorkshire pudding trays for muffin cups.
How about empty yoghurt pots, margerine tubs, plastic beakers, small flower pots (!) all lined with plastic bags, then pour the soup into those - freeze and voila! Greasing them is probably a good idea all the same ...
(I expect you've eaten all the soup by now!)
If they do freeze solid to the bottom of the cup/tin, just plonk the bottom of the tin into HOT water for 10 seconds. It will thaw enough to remove the soup-sicle, and the melted soup should re-freeze to the 'sicle without any trouble. Then chuck them all into a freezer bag.
I didn't cook last night! I ordered a pizza delivery. I am not a huge pizza fan, but I now realise thats because most ofthe pizza round here is shit. I don't like the Pizza King, I don't like Balti House and Pizza Palace pizzas...and I despise frozen pizzas.
So anyway, a flyer from Dominoes hit my mat the other day and I thought oh fuck it....go on then...so twice in the last 3 days I ordered pizza. Being able to pay by card over the phone is dangerous!
So yesterday for tea, J and I shared: a 7" bacon and double cheese, a 9 1/2" Hot and Spicy, a combo box with chicken kickers, potato wedges and three different dips and a portion of two frosted waffles with dips.
Lovely. Mmm. Nicest waffles for ages.
Not that is a great idea!
I don't know what a muffin cup is, but we have plenty of mugs I could half-fill. Only question is - can I be sure they will come out once they're frozen?
You need a
silicon muffin pan. They are non stick and flexible, you just turn them over and push whatever you've made out of each cup. Just remember to put it on a cookie sheet before filling with liquid or its hard to pick up.
a 7" bacon and double cheese, a 9 1/2" Hot and Spicy,
More proof that Brits are just fundamentally more reasonable about their serving sizes. The smallest pizza Domino's even offers here is ten inches, and in my experience (working there for several years as a teen,) absolutely no one orders it.
Not dinner but lunch today I had a sandwich with hommus, baby spinach, tomato and cheese.
I'm so tired I thought I could do with the extra iron and vit c I might get from such a sanger.
The freezer provided our dinner tonight. I'd put up some vegetable barley soup. It was delicious.
Bloodyhell, that looks tasty, Toad!
Mm HHHMMMMMMmmmmmmm!
Homemade pizza ...
Bread machine dough, topped with
tinned chopped tomatoes
chopped onion
chopped cooked beef
sliced chorizo
grated cheese
(I sprinkled a few capers on mine, too!)
Oooooooooooh, lovely!
Although... are they intentionally [ahem] darker than average?
Not judging of course, I am quite comfortable with pizzas of a more swarthy complexion...
And can I have jalapenos on mine please?
Irish Nachos. I got carried away with the cheese.
buster...would you come and be my personal chef for the next couple of months?
The dishes you've been producing here lately get my mouth watering every time!
crepes filled with ricotta and asparagus, seasoned with lemon zest, tarragon and dill, with smoked salmon on top...
buster...would you come and be my personal chef for the next couple of months?
The dishes you've been producing here lately get my mouth watering every time!
buster knows his way around food. That's for sure.
Oooooooooooh, lovely!
Although... are they intentionally [ahem] darker than average?
Not judging of course, I am quite comfortable with pizzas of a more swarthy complexion...
And can I have jalapenos on mine please?
Yes, they were a little dark but I've had no complaints.
Jalapenos - of course my dear!
Foil wrapped sweet taters, on rack, baking on wood heater. In blue frog pot, Le Cr*something.
I tried this in an aluminum pot, didn't seem to hold heat like cast iron. IMHO.
Le Creuset, non?
Yep. Not bad cookware for a dumb redneck, non?
Mm. Cast iron's greater mass will hold heat longer than aluminum pieces do. The downside is it also takes more energy in to bring the cast iron to temp.
There's a variety of waterless cookware out there that uses an iron core for its conductive layer. A sideline in my business is I sell one of its competitors -- an aluminum-cored variety under the Cutco brand. You burn less fuel getting it up to temp, and the lids are made same as the pans, so the heat quickly conducts right around the whole pan, surrounding the food in even heat top and bottom, which makes the pan pretty much nonstick -- hot spots stick your food; ever notice food stuck and burned on the pan is almost always on the bottom? Waterless has a couple of admirable tricks -- to take full advantage of its nonstick convenience, you always use low heat, except for a burst of medium power to get it warm, after which you go very low indeed. This also causes well-made waterless cookware to develop a vacuum seal between pan and lid. Whatever's gently cooking inside keeps all its juices and flavors completely inside the pan, so they end up staying in the food. Mighty tasty; I've spent most of my life disliking carrots. Cooked waterless, carrots actually taste good. :shock: Who knew? Not this kid.
We used to demonstrate what these pans could do by boiling an egg without using water. Okay, it was more like baking the egg in the shell. We stopped because we kept having the eggs explode in the pan and blow the pan lid at the kitchen ceiling. Exciting, but it didn't sell a lot of cookware sets.
Classic spinach lasagna with homemade marinara & whole wheat noodles, romaine salad with red peppers, walnuts and buttermilk dressing...
Fuck. That sounds gooood.
My mom is visiting. She's vegetarian; this is my version of rolling out the red carpet.
Italian beef on soft french bread. (Easy and tasty dinner for after 6pm mass) For dessert we had blizzards from DQ.
[darlet #2 had a school project that required getting marketing materials from Dairy Queen (soft serve ice cream franchise for you far-off folk). We felt obligated to buy something. At least, that's going to be my story.]
Made Mexican Eggs today from my low fat recipe book (so don't expect to see cheese or tortilla chips!). It called for 3 tablespoons of cilantro. WHAT? So I halved that, and all in all I have to say I really enjoyed it! I had been tempted to leave it out altogether, but given that it was such a large amount I figured I needed at least some.
Next time I will keep the same amount, halve the chilli flakes (slightly too hot for Mum, who has to avoid spicy food) and reduce cooking time by about 5 minutes to get a runnier yolk.
But it was delicious.
Oh - second photo shows sliced boiled potatoes on the side. There is a yolk in the second dish, it just slipped under the white.
Were you using dried cilantro, SG? The recipe may have been specifying fresh, three tablespoons of fresh cilantro isn't that much... Looks good!
Those are pretty. I love how you can see the steam coming off them in the second pic.
Huh! I suppose it's theoretically possible to overdo on the cilantro. Yeah. I've never seen it offered dried.
But just chop the fresh stuff, about two passes through the pile with the knife, and put it in a little bowl on the table. Sprinkle it on your food with your fingers, to taste. About the kind of coverage you'd use with grated Parmesan and other shaker cheese. Sort of a bright green condiment... that isn't mint sauce. Though cilantro might work on roast lamb... I say, I say, hmm.
Mexican Eggs -- looks like Huevos Rancheros, not so? (Freely translated, Eggs Rancho Style) Chop tomatoes, onions, peppers both hot and bell, maybe add some herbal seasonings, a bit of red pepper flakes to bring the heat to the proper level, all mixed, heated in a frying pan (a/k/a the infamous "skillet") with the eggs poached in the middle of everything?
Were you using dried cilantro, SG? The recipe may have been specifying fresh, three tablespoons of fresh cilantro isn't that much... Looks good!
It didn't specify one way or the other. I used cheaty stuff in suspension from a jar - not precisely fresh, but not dried either.
...and put it in a little bowl on the table. Sprinkle it on your food with your fingers, to taste.
Shrug - the recipe called for it to be added at the beginning, and it was cooked for 1hr 15 mins in total, so I figure sprinkling it on top would get a different flavour effect. I enjoyed at as it was, it surprised me.
...Mexican Eggs -- looks like Huevos Rancheros, not so? (Freely translated, Eggs Rancho Style)
That pretty much sounds like the recipe, except no hot peppers, only chilli flakes. I figured Huevos Rancheros might be something slightly different - I've certainly had it with cheese - as the recipe book just called this dish Mexican Eggs. Still, they might figure Brits wouldn't know what they meant otherwise ;)
Beans on toast tonight - we're going to see my neice's school production of West Side Story (she's crew not cast, sadly) so we have to eat early.