What's For Dinner - Part 2

[Arete]

Thank you for the carmelized fennel recipe! It is in the plan for Saturday, and I'm definitely including the lemon juice step. :)

[RachelB]

^ Oh, good! I hope you enjoy it.

^^ Dr. Pusey, feel free to send me whatever dastardly fennel comes your way. :lol: I haven't found a vegetable I can't abide yet, though there are many I find kind of unexciting. (Most squash.) I guess I'm kind of creeped out by the cartilaginous texture of wood ear mushrooms?

We'll have leftover tomato soup tonight with some crusty bread and cheese, and a mushroom ragout (pioppini and browns, with plenty of garlic).

[DrPusey]

^Mmm, mushroom ragout.

Rachel, I'd gladly send you any fennel! It's kind of weird that I don't like it, because I love licorice sweets. Somehow I just don't care much for fennel. For a while there it was seemingly in every roasted vegetable sandwich combo that I encountered while eating out, but lately not so much.

Tonight we'll be grilling as it's unseasonably warm out. MrAnglican will have hamburgers (from my Dad's own beef). I'll have grilled vegetable lo mein. I have the nicest baby bok choy from the coop to put in the lo mein. :)

[RachelB]

^ I'm kind of the reverse. I dislike licorice sweets (but will sometimes make tea with licorice, because it's throat-soothing), am not fond of star anise (but will put up with it in veggie pho), will have standard anise in small doses (like in 5-spice powder), but fennel seed / frond / bulb I actually like. I wonder if it's a sweet / savory thing? There are a handful of things that I like in a savory context but don't generally enjoy in a sweet context-- rhubarb and coconut are also on that list for me.

Tonight, I'm attending a wacky dinner party. I wanted to bring a dish that would make people think, some 10-15 seconds after they had swallowed, "Oh. Wow. What just happened?" So I'm using fresh and dried apple as a kind of "sandwich" for walnut butter and horseradish. The horseradish sneaks up on you.

[1004srs]

Roast chicken, salad, and potatoes.

[wtylcf]

Just finished some homemade tortilla chips made with stale soft tortillas, and homemade guacamole. Next will be homemade sliders with fresh buns and a side salad.

[Arete]

Carmelized fennel wedges a la RachelB. Added 2 teaspoons instead of tablespoons of sugar. Used lemon juice and crumbled feta. Very tasty. :) Chicken cutlet to go with it.

[OkToBeTakei]

OKTBT, do you have a favorite source of Kerala recipes? I have a mostly Tamil cookbook I love, then a couple less-focused Indian cookbooks, but I maintain that there is room for more. :D

Tonight, we're trying another recent Smitten Kitchen recipe: warm potato and lentil salad with pickled shallots and cornichons.

Internet mainly RachelB also Rick Stein's India. It is just seriously a really great taste. Things you find out...all onions in India are red according to Rick.

[OkToBeTakei]

Here's the link to the crockpot vegan hot and sour soup recipe I used:http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/10/kathys-slow-cooker-hot-and-sour-soup.html. I made it as written, with the exception of about doubling the shiitakes called for. Oh, and I wound up adding about another 3/4 cup of water.

Tonight's dinner was nothing fancy - whole wheat spaghetti with mushroom pasta sauce, grated Parmesan, and meatless meatballs.

As a shameless meat or fish eater I used this, more so because it was dinner rather than a lunch or starter soup. Seriously more-ish.

1.5 litres chicken stock

1 teaspoon tom yam paste

4 kaffir lime leaves (finely chopped)

1 stalk lemongrass (tender inner part only) roughly chopped

juice of 1 lime

4 tablespoons thai fish sauce (nam pla)

3 small fresh red chilli (or green) finely chopped

1 teaspoon white sugar

150 grams button mushrooms (or straw mushrooms) halved or quartered according to size

500 grams peeled raw prawns (defrosted if frozen)

5 small spring onions (cut into short lengths then into strips)

1 small bunch fresh coriander (chopped)

I added more chilli because chilli :lol:

I'm going to try your recipe this week on kiddos pack lunch.

[DrPusey]

Tonight's dinner is going to be a stuffed portobello mushroom thingy, with cannellini beans, mozzarella, and a little bit of pasta sauce on top. I'll probably make a little romaine salad to go with, and we have amazingly nice blackberries from Trader Joe's for dessert.

[RachelB]

More fun with Ottolenghi's Jerusalem: we're making the herbed rice with pistachios and barberries. And because that's fairly light and not protein-y, I'll make a ricotta chocolate mousse to go with it. (One of my favorite things dating back to college: whirl up room temperature ricotta with honey or simple syrup, then drizzle in melted chocolate while mixing. It is easy, and on most occasions I prefer it to a richer proper pot de creme.)

[wtylcf]

Jerusalem cooking for me too. Making the lamb shawarma recipe. We sort of messed up a step in the marinade.... So hopefully it works out OK. Making harissa to go with it (with leeks instead of onion). I got an immersion blender with a puree attachment and it's the most exciting gadget ever; can't wait to blend my harissa. We'll have it with pitas and tomatoes and cucumbers.

[OkToBeTakei]

Ready...

Ready..

READY!

Ham, Mash and Cabbage!

Dinner at my Irish Mum's. Sometimes simple is the biz.

[Arete]

Russian here tonight. I made what is called Rosikee Salata in my family but the proper name is Salade Olivier. Potatoes, peas, scallion, cubed carrots, chopped egg, minced dill pickles, and mayo. To make it a complete meal, added some cubed ham. Banana for dessert.

[OkToBeTakei]

Russian here tonight. I made what is called Rosikee Salata in my family but the proper name is Salade Olivier. Potatoes, peas, scallion, cubed carrots, chopped egg, minced dill pickles, and mayo. To make it a complete meal, added some cubed ham. Banana for dessert.

Aretejo just as an absolute aside the only place I have heard the word scallion is Ireland. If you said it here nobody would know what you meant. How strange.

[Arete]

Aretejo just as an absolute aside the only place I have heard the word scallion is Ireland. If you said it here nobody would know what you meant. How strange.

What are they called in British English? I grew up in a town that had an Irish Catholic community large enough to warrant its own St Patrick's Day Parade, so now I wonder if scallion entered American English from Irish immigrants. :D

[OkToBeTakei]

What are they called in British English? I grew up in a town that had an Irish Catholic community large enough to warrant its own St Patrick's Day Parade, so now I wonder if scallion entered American English from Irish immigrants. :D

Haha. Just Spring onions. My Mum got funny looks saying scallions. Sybies in Scotland. I just loved seeing you write scallion :)

[OkToBeTakei]

More fun with Ottolenghi's Jerusalem: we're making the herbed rice with pistachios and barberries. And because that's fairly light and not protein-y, I'll make a ricotta chocolate mousse to go with it. (One of my favorite things dating back to college: whirl up room temperature ricotta with honey or simple syrup, then drizzle in melted chocolate while mixing. It is easy, and on most occasions I prefer it to a richer proper pot de creme.)

Not a recipe but he was on the UK equivalent of a US show that started here. The Taste. Nigella, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. I was drooling at the food closely followed by well to be honest all of them. Nigella because...Anthony because..Ludo..so bloody funny....BLIMEY!!! Then they add Yotam. Food programmes are better than sexy movies.

[RachelB]

Not a recipe but he was on the UK equivalent of a US show that started here. The Taste. Nigella, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. I was drooling at the food closely followed by well to be honest all of them. Nigella because...Anthony because..Ludo..so bloody funny....BLIMEY!!! Then they add Yotam. Food programmes are better than sexy movies.

A former co-worker gave me a Nigella cookbook as a going-away present. I don't cook out of it all that much, because it's not very adaptable for vegetarians, but I love the fact that her delight in the food comes through so clearly in her writing (and, from what I've heard, in her shows, too). And she is very photogenic, IMO.

[1004srs]

A huge salad and garlic bread. Pound cake with berries for dessert.

TOnight we are having chicken nuggets, roast potatoes, and broccoli.

[DrPusey]

Tonight supper is going to be quick - I'm putting some mushrooms that need using up into a quesadilla filling with some sauteed onions, corn, and colby cheese. Probably more blackberries for dessert.

[RachelB]

Spinach and pinenut filled ravioli. Steamed fennel drizzled with walnut oil and preserved lemon.

[RachelB]

Tomato and feta pizza. Mustard rapini sauteed, then tossed with ample roasted garlic.

[sparkles]

Lemon rosemary chicken minestrone, sort of a quick and dirty version of Italian wedding soup. Tomorrow is shakshuka.

[RachelB]

I was going to make a vegified Senegalese stew tonight, but my chopping hand is bothering me. So instead we had fried eggs atop leftover garlicky greens, daubed with some goat cheese.