What's for Dinner?

[irukandji]

despite the deceptive 48 degrees outside
we know it is "summer" and therefore have
fully embraced " the caesar" of salads....
with enhancements of grilled-to-perfection
chicken breast, almond slivers and craisins...

it is embarrassingly delish

[lisarea]

Eggplant and feta pizza night! That was the best one so far, so I'm going to stick with this way from now on.

So, just so I remember what I did.

I used something like this crust, but with a little less honey and more water.

For the sauce, sweat like a few Tbsp. finely diced garlic in EVOO, then add Italian spices (started with Penzey's Italian herb blend, then adjusted with individual spices later), a bay leaf, salt, and fine ground black pepper, to make a spooge.

Dice up a large eggplant really small, like a quarter inch cubes, then add to spooge and cook on low until just translucent.

Then add about a half or three quarters cup red wine, one 28 oz. can of tomato puree, a large (12 oz.?) can of tomato paste, a couple of squirts of anchovy paste (maybe 4"?), and a little water to rinse out the cans and get a just a little too thin consistency, so it can cook down. Simmer REALLY LOW, adjusting spices, while the dough rises.

Once the dough's ready, roll it out to fit two cookie sheets, brush with EVOO, scoop on lots and lots of sauce, then sprinkle feta (the kind the Costco sells in blocks, not the crumbled) on top, sprinkle with Italian herb blend, and bake at 400F for about 25 minutes, switching racks and turning halfway through.

[ravenscape]

Mirchi Ka Salan

I made this for the second time a couple nights ago. I had the dish at a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and couldn't wait to do something similar at home. First I had to figure out what the dish was (I couldn't remember if there was even a label for it on the hole-in-the-wall buffet table). Then I studied about a dozen recipes and then came up with a variation I thought would combine the best features. God I love the internet. I still occasionally buy a cook book, but I love being able to research several recipes, figure out what is authentic and what is compromise, and then synthesize something from all that data.

The traditional recipes calls for deep frying the peppers in oil until they develop some brown spots. I put them under the broiler for a bit instead and the dish was waaaaay less greasy that way.

6-8 whole peppers - slit them open, remove the stems and seeds, and broil until they start to blister and develop brown spots. set aside. I used Anaheims, but Pasillas or Poblanos would stand up very well to this curry sauce.

spice paste:

2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp fenugreek
2 tbsp black sesame seeds
1/3 cup peanuts
6-8 chinese dried red peppers
3 tbsp coconut powder

combine all the ingredients but the coconut powder in a dry hot heavy skillet. stir for a minute until they become aromatic. Then add the coconut powder and toast for an additional 15-20 seconds. remove from heat and grind or blend into a thick paste.



ginger garlic paste

1 small seranno chili, deseeded and stem removed
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger (about 1 inch of ginger root)

blend ingredients into a paste

finely dice a medium red onion.

cook the onion and ginger garlic paste and about a tbsp of canola oil in a large skillet until the onion turns golden. add the spice paste, 2+ tsp of turmeric and 2+ tsp of Indian chili powder to the onion mixture. add about 15 curry leaves torn in half and a similar quantity of cilantro leaves.

add the anaheim chilis and about a cup of water. turn the heat down and simmer slowly for about 20 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of tamarind paste, and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. test the flavors. If the curry sauce is too sour, then add more brown sugar, up to an additional tbsp.

cook for another 5 or so minutes until all the flavors are well blended.

[mulebear]

I made Tandoori Chicken for PapaMatt and served it with Saag. It was very tasty.

[mulebear]

I had to work late. I ended up having a Bagel with Lox and Cream Cheese for my dinner.

It twas yummy.

[livius drusus]

Now you've made me want penne al salmone.

[chunksmediocrites]

Qindai is making chicken piccata. Side of asparagus.

[viscousmemories]

I thought I could make easy pho ga at home by boiling some chicken and mushrooms in broth and mixing it up with cilantro and rice noodles. What I ended up making is boiled chicken and mushrooms in broth with cilantro and rice noodles, not pho. It was p. nasty.

[lisarea]

Pho is one of those things I wouldn't even bother trying because there is no way I could make it anywhere close to as good as at a restaurant, where they charge like $6 for a bowl the size of your head.

Tonight, we are having roast cauliflower and chicken curry, which doesn't sound as good now that I'm thinking about pho.

[viscousmemories]

Yeah the problem is I don't know of any pho places that use humanely raised meat, so I can never eat it at a restaurant guilt-free unless I get it vegetarian or with seafood (which I do often, but every once in a while I want beef or chicken). I'll try this next time; I saw it at the co-op recently:

How to Make Pho Soup - YouTube

[Qingdai]

The secret of Pho is in the broth, I think they use vinegar and chicken bones as part of the broth.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

I think they use beef fallow - at least, the place near me does. I've also heard you need something fairly unusual - oxtail, maybe?

[Ensign Steve]

WINGS! bok! bok! bok!

[Vivisectus]

Spaghetti and Meatballs, especially good when trying to get little kids to eat their veg.

Chop the below into small pieces

2 onions
3 red peppers
4 sticks of celery
4 medium carrots

And soften in a pot with a little olive oil. Add 4-6 cloves of garlic for the last minute or so - not longer! You do not want the garlic to really cook too much.

Add 1 -1.5 liter of good sieved tomato (passata)

Use a stick-blender to turn it all into a thick sauce once the vegetables are almost soft.

Add 3 TBS of dried basil, 1 TBS of dried oregano, 2 TBS of balsamic vinegar, 1 level tsp of smoked paprika and 4 TBS of tomato puree. Finish this off with a good dash of a full-bodied red wine, or else it will taste like a lame vegetable soup. Let all this simmer gently while you add the rest.

Mix 200 grams of lean steakmince with 200 grams of good pork mince, or just buy half-and-half if you do not live in a howling wilderness like I do. Add one eggs, 1/2 TBS of cumin and a pinch of smoked paprika, as well as salt and pepper. Mix well and roll them into little balls and brown them in a skillet, then add to the simmering sauce. Brown off some mushrooms too and add them once soft and browned.

Serve over good wholegrain spaghetti, sprinkled with some nice Parmezan-flakes, and garnished with a few cherry tomatoes.

Hey presto! Everyone has had their vegetables, with a minimum amount of fuss.

[mulebear]

Originally Posted by lisarea

Pho is one of those things I wouldn't even bother trying because there is no way I could make it anywhere close to as good as at a restaurant, where they charge like $6 for a bowl the size of your head.

It's a lot easier than you think. I've made Pho often with excellent results.

Ok... The best Pho recipes require things be done in several parts, but each part is easy.

[Doctor X]

WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT, mulebear, WE CARE ABOUT ESPRESSO!!!11!

--J.D.

[inland wave]

Mexican!

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by mulebear

It's a lot easier than you think. I've made Pho often with excellent results.

Ok... The best Pho recipes require things be done in several parts, but each part is easy.

Yeah, I would totally try it if I couldn't get it so easily here. One of the few things I really like about the place we live is that we are lousy with pho places. The strip mall that our favorite one is in has a total of three different pho restaurants, and there's another one right across the street. And that's just that intersection. So it's easy, cheap, we get to support small local business, and it's become sort of our go-to for when I don't feel like cooking. (We did just get a new taqueria here, too, with ACTUAL REAL MEXICAN TACOS, so that's going into the rotation now.)

So as not to be banned for off-topic posting, tonight we are having something like this, but with sriracha and a sort of tsaziki sauce instead of that mayonnaise abomination, plus green leaf lettuce.

[SR71]

Originally Posted by lisarea

Can you guys tell I like food? I TOLE YOU I was jonesing for a whole food forum, didn't I?

Anyway, so, I think we need a "What's for Dinner?" thread.

Me first: Be bim bob! (Bibimbap, as it's more commonly and inferiorly styled.)

Except I'm going to do it with basmati rice, because I don't have sticky rice, and we just bought a huge bag of basmati.

This is the plan:

Marinate thinly sliced beef strips in a mix of black bean sauce, rooster chili sauce, sesame oil, and ginger.

Saute all the following:

Spinach
Onions
Mushrooms
Bean sprouts
The marinated beef strips, with some of the marinate

keeping them pretty separate.

Serve over the rice, with a fried egg on top, with kimchee and more rooster sauce.

I've never made it before, but the nearest place I know that has it is way out in Denver, so I guess I may as well try it.

Pray for me.

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

I love Be bim bob. In fact my friends Mom and I went to three different places in Ann Arbor for it on three separate Saturdays, and decided that the best of them was Bell's Diner. As it happens, on a later occasion I asked the waitress how they make it, and she wrote this for me:

Korean Bibimbap Recipe (from Bell’s Diner, Ann Arbor, Michigan)

1. Spinach
2. Bean Sprouts
3. Cabbage and Carrot
   1. Cut thin then julienne
   
   Mix 1-3 with:
   Salt
   Pepper
   Sesame Seeds
   Sesame Oil
   Garlic Powder
   
   (Keep covered and refrigerate)
   
4. Cucumber
   1. Slice thin (around the cucumber, avoid the seeds)
   2. Julienne
   3. Do not marinate cucumber
5. Meat: Rib eye beef cut thin and marinate with:
   1. Sugar
   2. Honey
   3. Soy Sauce
   4. Garlic Powder
   5. Salt
   6. Pepper
   
   (Keep covered and refrigerate)
   
6. Egg
7. Hot Sauce
8. Sesame Oil

This is the recipe as it was given to me. As you can see, there are no measurements or indications of how to assemble the dish. What I know about that is just from the experience of ordering it. That is, it is served in a big aluminum bowl full of rice, with the vegetables and meat in little piles around the top of the rice, and a sunny-side egg on top. The hot sauce and sesame oil are provided on the side.

Have fun experimenting, and tell me anything you learn about making it in the process and, of course, how you make it better!

You will not believe this but I wanted to tell you gaiz to eat bibim bap so bad because it is gonking delicious and just about the only really vegetarian meal I really like, and when searched, it is the very first post in this whole thread, how weird is that?

I say vegetarian because I never eat the crappy meat they put in there anyway and the egg doesn't count, so it is vegetarian. Also I avoid most of the spinach because it is annoying and gets stuck, but it is OK if you really want to eat the spinach.

Also try naeng myun and mul naengmyun, they are buckwheat I think noodles, one is more soupy and one is drier, but they are both cold noodle dishes with vegetables mixed in. They are best on a hot day, and taste vinegary hot, and generally not expensive.

[viscousmemories]

Wow, I didn't realize this was one of the oldest active threads on the forum.

[Doctor X]

TELL ME ABOUT ESPRESSO MAKERS vm!!11!

--J.D.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Friend sent me a couple cans of Skyline chili, which I'd been wanting to try, so we had 4-way chili (spaghetti, chili, cheddar, chopped onion).

[Janet]

Tomorrow I'm making cream of mushroom soup with duck stock, because I bought mushrooms on sale at one store, then found I had a coupon that was about to expire on two from another store. So now I have a pound and a half of mushrooms, also leftover half and half from a recipe I made on New Year's and a ton of duck stock in the freezer. Haven't decided whether to add wild rice or not. Opinions welcome on that.

[Ensign Steve]

I had vegetarian chili for first dinner, and bey's going to make turkey and veg for second dinner. I love being a Hobbit!

[livius drusus]

Butternut squash and turnip soup. Sure, it sounds like something out of Blackadder, but it's damn tasteh.