What's for Dinner?

[Aliantha]

Yumm! I'm coming to your place for dinner!

[Clodfobble]

Tonight is a recreation of the meal Mr. Clod made for me on Valentine's Day (well, the main part of it anyway, I'm not going balls-out with sides and dessert like he did...) It's a steak and arugula salad recipe from epicurious.com:



2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese plus Parmesan cheese shavings
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 12-ounce rib-eye steak
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon (packed) dark brown sugar
4 cups (lightly packed) arugula
2 large lemon wedges


Mix grated cheese and butter in small bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper; set aside. Sprinkle steak generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak; cook to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to plate. Add vinegar, shallots, and sugar to skillet; boil until reduced to glaze, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Divide arugula and Parmesan shavings between 2 plates. Squeeze lemon over. Slice steak; place atop arugula. Top steak with Parmesan butter. Drizzle lightly with glaze.

[glatt]

Yeah? Well we had spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce. The parmesan was freshly grated though.

[busterb]

Fried shrimp, hushpuppys, and corn fritters.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by glatt

Yeah? Well we had spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce. The parmesan was freshly grated though.

Freshly-grated by you, or just non-powdered stuff that someone behind a deli counter somewhere grated? The latter is the kind I use. It's the same price, why would I do the work myself?!

[glatt]

By me. I find the flavor is a little stronger if it was grated just before dinner. But I'm not sure if you can taste the difference once it's on the food.

[chrisinhouston]

Tonight we are using up more of our pantry since we leave Hawaii for home on Friday. There used to be a show in the early days of the Food Network TV called Door Knock Dinners where the host would knock on doors in upscale neighborhoods with his celebrity chef and ask if they could come in and cook a dinner using only what was in the pantry and refrigerator/freezer. They came up with some pretty good meals actually!

So here is what I had.

2 cans of tuna (the good kind in olive oil).
Assorted vegetables like onion, celery, f. corn and f. peas.
Last of the milk my wife used for cereal.
Some cheeses like a bit of cheddar and Emmentaler and Parmesan.
small items like spices and flour
A package of premade pie crusts

So I made a tuna pot pie! The Marriott has a pretty nicely supplied kitchen for these self catered units but no rolling pin or pie plate so I used the stainless steel frying pan and a wine bottle to press the unrolled pie crust an inch or two larger to fit the pan. Poured in the other items I had done in another pan and topped with a crust. Even did an egg wash over the whole thing and baked until it was golden brown and bubbly.

Only 2 nights left and mostly vegetables so who knows?

[Sundae]

Okay, no photos.
Just a precis of what we ate in the last week.

Wednesday (first evening)
Harissa couscous and roasted vegetables
Seemed to go down well. I wasn't happy with the carrots - had too much "bite" to them. Al dente carrots became my signature dish during the week.

Thursday
One of my Gits meals. Methi Masar. With brown rice and naan bread. I think we all liked. I certainly did; did not taste like a ready-meal. I think maybe we are connoisseurs.

A very popular vegetable curry made of a combination of fenugreek leaves, green peas & fresh cream. And much liked by connoisseurs. Along with the aromatic taste of the fenugreek leaves and the green peas, the natural delicate flavours of Methi Matar are enhanced by a subtle aroma of spices and seasonings.

Friday
Tuna pasta bake. Made with "sandwich" tins of tuna (with tomato and beans.) Topped with real breadcrumbs and Arran cheese. Needed more seasoning and more tuna. But it went down well enough. The only time I think I got the portion size right! Sorry teh Limeys, I'm too used to cooking for one.

Saturday
No cooking - opening of the K Social Club that Limey has been a big part of. It means for half the week she has somewhere she can meet people and have a drink (soft or otherwise) within a two mile walk. Anyway - they provided a buffet. From which I salvaged cooked potatoes. I'm such a scavenger, but thankfully Limey was not embarrassed and seemed okay with my waste not want not approach.

Sunday
Chicken breasts marinated in soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger. With leftover potatoes and baked carrots. Carrots still not quite soft enough in my opinion. But the chicken, although not highly flavoured (I should have made a sauce) was at least tender and moist.

Monday
My penultimate night.
More Gits. Punjab Chhole - chickpeas in gravy with brown rice and naan bread. Again the pack was for two people, but the portions when divided into three were embarrassing this time. I consoled myself that chickpeas are very filling, as is brown rice.

A favourite from Punjab – " The Land of the Five Rivers", whose people are well known for their zest for life and their wholesome cuisine, Punjabi Chhole is a tangy dish of chickpeas in spiced, thick gravy of onions and tomatoes. Cooked slowly in a special sauce, its sour and tangy taste goes well with pitta bread or dinner rolls

Also made sweet potato crisps (chips) and knocked up a lazy salsa for dipping.

Tuesday - my last night
Limey sorted this one out really.
We had rollmops from Ikea, salad and boiled potatoes.
Guess what Mum and I are having to eat tonight? Well, the rollmops are from Sainsburys (sans dill) but the rest is the same!
I did toss the Limeys' potatoes in garlic butter, but I won't be doing that for Mum tonight.

In hindsight I should have taken up some of the recipes I've cooked before for Mum & Dad where we've had leftovers. Chicken & chorizo, chicken & dhaal, Spanish beef. Instead I took up food I could eat myself or share with just Limey. It would have been great to have had large cook-all-day recipes that the three of us could sit down to in the evening. We all sat down together every night anyway, but I felt I could have offered more than just assembling pre-made food.

Eating with the Limeys is pure pleasure. I always eat alone at home. And my eye is usually on the clock, so I can get everything eaten and cleared away before the 'rents come in and turn the kitchen into Piccadilly Circus. Even eating early I am often disturbed cooking and/ or eating by one or the other faffing about. And I can't complain; it's their kitchen. The Limeys on the other hand seem to see pre-dinner as wind-down time and even if they do "invade" they are so laid back it's not an issue.

Anyway - see how tonight goes. Mum hasn't had rollmops in a long time and is really looking forward to it.
One step up already.

Thanks to the Limes for letting me play in their kitchen.
I'll do better next time x

[limey]

It's almost always wind-down time at Chateau Limey, especially if someone else is in charge of getting the dinner!


Sent by thought transference

[Sundae]

Limey, I finally remembered why coconut water is so good for you. Well, good for me.
It's choc-full of potassium.

And for an ex-heavy-drinker and banana-phobe like me it's a real boon.

[DanaC]

Oh man, I love coconut water. On a hot day, there is nothing quite like it for refreshing.



Tonight I had gnocchi (fresh kind from the supermarket chiller, not dried long-life) with a leek and mushroom sauce (mushroom pasta sauce ready bought and added some leeks, done in very little water so there was a small amount of the liquor to go into the sauce) with some crusty bread.

[Sundae]

Bought some coconut water today

One of the beverages I am toasting Thatch with.
Although if I were of the Catholic persuasion I would believe she was already being toasted sufficiently.

Little bit of politics for you there...

[DanaC]

Ha! Nice Elton impression

[Sundae]

Well I admit, it's a little bit funny...

[DanaC]

lol, other Elton :P