The What's For Dinner Tonight Chat

[mushroom]

Just washed some baby lettuce from the garden for a salad, and cut some swiss chard - don't know what's going with that yet (maybe a mini white lasagna for two), but have you ever tried boiling enough water to wash your veggies in all the time? What a PITA They keep saying they are going to lift the restriction "soon" What a lot of energy will be saved!!

[love2travel]

  On 4/2/2011 at 1:09 AM, mushroom said:

Just washed some baby lettuce from the garden for a salad, and cut some swiss chard - don't know what's going with that yet (maybe a mini white lasagna for two), but have you ever tried boiling enough water to wash your veggies in all the time? What a PITA They keep saying they are going to lift the restriction "soon" What a lot of energy will be saved!!

Lettuce from the garden? You're not kidding, are you? The snow finally started melting here yesterday but we have a few feet to go.

Anyway, tonight we are having:

Roast Chicken with Moroccan Rub and Roasted Lemons

Roasted Baby Potatoes and Carrots with Fresh Thyme and Rosemary

Melted Leeks (in white wine)

Cornbread

[etta694]

Whenever I read your posts, Love2travel, I fall apart drooling.. (and others too.. but especially these...)

If I made this, it would read -

chicken

potatoes and carrots

cornbread

(never cooked a leek in my life)

and that's how it would taste too...

It's a good thing people post meals.. it makes me want to learn to cook..

[love2travel]

  On 4/2/2011 at 4:24 PM, etta694 said:

Whenever I read your posts, Love2travel, I fall apart drooling.. (and others too.. but especially these...)

If I made this, it would read -

chicken

potatoes and carrots

cornbread

(never cooked a leek in my life)

and that's how it would taste too...

It's a good thing people post meals.. it makes me want to learn to cook..

I enjoy describing things so you get the feel and taste of the recipe.

You can (and are) learn(ing) to cook! It comes with practice and experience. Once you start to develop confidence in it you can cook most things at home (except for sous vide, etc. for molecular gastronomy - I'm dabbing in it but need more practice). Experimenting with fresh herbs, for example, is revolutionary. Then perhaps move on to mastering cooking proteins to temperature. For example, on Thursday I taught a class on a bunch of stuff which included brined pork tenderloin with a vanilla bean vinaigrette. Three guys in the class told me it was the best pork they'd tasted. Ever. It was still blush pink inside and we literally cut it with a spoon. One said that up until Thursday he hated pork! After showing him how to properly sear and oven finish it he was stunned at how simple it was. He said he is now motivated to sear, etc. That is success. I could see light bulbs going on in several people and so tried to nurture their interest.

Food is important. All I do is try to make it enticing, compelling, interesting and exciting. When I see an uncommon ingredient I grab it. Then I experiment with it. My attention span is short and I really enjoy variety. I cook with a whole load of passion and heart.

So, once you have a bit of excitement for it, grab on and hold tightly to it. Then nurture it. It will grow like wild - it can be an addiction. Get in the kitchen and play. Even supposed "failures" can be successes because you learn what to and not to do the next time.

I have tons of experience with it which helps. Technically I suppose I must admit I am almost middle aged. I've loved cooking and have experimented with it since the age of 6 so it's in my blood.

There is a fascinating book called "The Flavour Bible" which outlines flavour combinations. Knowing what goes with what is a great start. For example, perhaps blue cheese and chocolate sauce sounds odd but it is fabulous with braised short ribs. Cayenne in brownies is wonderful. It goes on and on and on...

[Lisa]

Chicken wings, pasta salad and basketball!!! Go VCU!

[etta694]

This is intriguing me.. I never knew I cared . Firstly, I want to go to your class.. (that sounds awesome) or any class but we live in a small town so.. no go but.. second, buy that book and start to experiment. You know, I never really cared about cooking before .. don't know why.. but NOW it matters! Thanks for the advice..

(I know why...I had a nominal home-ec teacher.. taught survival cooking.. I had no idea cooking was interesting!)

(another thing about small towns.. can't buy vanilla beans.. )

hee hee.. basketballs don't stew up very good..

[love2travel]

  On 4/2/2011 at 5:02 PM, etta694 said:

This is intriguing me.. I never knew I cared . Firstly, I want to go to your class.. (that sounds awesome) or any class but we live in a small town so.. no go but.. second, buy that book and start to experiment. You know, I never really cared about cooking before .. don't know why.. but NOW it matters! Thanks for the advice..

(another thing about small towns.. can't buy vanilla beans.. )

hee hee.. basketballs don't stew up very good..

I'm surprised that our small town actually does carry vanilla beans! They also carry lemongrass after I practically begged several times. It's certainly not a gourmet town by any stretch - it is a wealthy oil town that is full of young transients who rely on icky take-out. So, I am getting to know the produce guy, butcher, etc.

And you'd be surprised at how good braised basketballs can be...

[mushroom]

love2travel, you could make a living writing menus for restaurants Everyone would want to order every dish.

[love2travel]

  On 4/2/2011 at 7:46 PM, mushroom said:

love2travel, you could make a living writing menus for restaurants Everyone would want to order every dish.

Man, wouldn't that be a fun, low stress job?

[etta694]

  On 4/2/2011 at 8:48 PM, love2travel said:

Man, wouldn't that be a fun, low stress job?

And it would be ALL GLUTEN FREE!!! :D

[sa1937]

Well, since I couldn't make it to love2travel's house, I had oven fried chicken, baby red potatoes and a tossed salad plus a glass of Chardonnay.

When you live alone, sometimes dinner is a miracle.

[love2travel]

  On 4/2/2011 at 10:45 PM, sa1937 said:

Well, since I couldn't make it to love2travel's house, I had oven fried chicken, baby red potatoes and a tossed salad plus a glass of Chardonnay.

When you live alone, sometimes dinner is a miracle.

Sorry you couldn't make it! Next week...

Your dinner sounds wonderful - there is something so special about oven fried chicken! Mmmm....

[Marilyn R]

I wonder how we would start a petition to get love2travel on the food network, or in the food section of our local newspapers. Hmmm.

Tonight we had roast beef and mashed Yukon gold taters with onion gravy and a salad of baby lettuce from the garden with mustard viniagrette. And I think I ruined my PC. I was cleaning that little valve with a toothpick and the toothpick broke off. I soaked the top (with stuck toothpick) and stuck an embroidery needle in there, hoping to pluck out the toothpick end. No such luck! I gave dear BF a new needle and he failed too. Now I'm scared to use the PC...doen't want to blow the house up! Any suggestions?

If that ends up being the last meal with the PC, at least it was a really good one!

[love2travel]

Basic and simple this evening:

gluten-free Italian Sausages Braised in White Wine with Lentils de Puy and Potatoes

Orange, Fresh Mint and Fennel Salad with Grapefruit Tarragon Vinaigrette

Banana Bread

Told ya it is simple!

[GlutenFreeManna]

BBQ chicken (love2travel's sauce recipe), spinach with garlic and steamed rice.

[sa1937]

Tonight I'm lazy and pulled out some Mexican Soup from the freezer. I just posted the recipe in the recipe section if anyone is interested in a no-brainer recipe.

And a Lemon Lover's Cupcake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting (also pulled from the freezer).

[love2travel]

Nothing wrong with stuff pulled from the freezer when you feel like it!

Tonight we're doing the summertime theme thing because we still have LOTS of snow on the ground. But it has started to melt so we are in the mood for BBQ. We're having:

BBQ Rubbed Baby Back Ribs with Apple Bourbon Glaze

Roasted Potato Salad

Steamed Broccoli

Vanilla Bean Pear Crisp

[jerseyangel]

A big hamburger (no bread) and a big salad.

[love2travel]

Baby Back Ribs Marinated in Sherry, Soy, Hoisin, Ginger and Spices

Scallion and Lime-Infused Jasmine Rice with Caramelized Shallots

Roasted Radishes with Lemon Butter and Pistachios

[GlutenFreeManna]

Lemon Pepper chicken, Saffron rice and steamed green beans.

[sa1937]

Pizza!!! I already have enough leftover flour mix from last time so have a head start to make two crusts and freeze one (using a recipe from Gluten-Free Baking Classics). And a salad.

[Marilyn R]

We had shrimp fried rice tonight. First time in a very long time (since I cut out soy). I used about 1 1/2 T Coconut Aminos, (from Whole Foods or another health food store), added about 1/2 tsp salt, juice from a lime, a dash of fish sauce & mixed that in a little ramekin for the "unsoy" sauce. It was great!

Veggies: onion, garlic, celery, carrots, zucchini, frozen (defrosted) peas, yellow pepper, swiss chard and minced ginger.

It was a pretty plate with all those colors...

[artboys]

We had grilled halibut with rice and broiled zucchini with garlic spices on it. It was delish.

[sa1937]

Last night I made a stir-fry using marinated beef, julienne carrot sticks, snow peas, onions and mushrooms served with rice. Yummy!

[Nor-TX]

Last night I made a meal direct from my childhood. I made salmon patties: 2 large cans pink salmon mashed with 3 eggs, 1/4 cup corn meal, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of onion powder. Used butter flavored spray and a bit of my dairy free margarine - Smart Balance and fried until brown and crispy on both sides. Served with some canned creamed corn. Yummo!