What are you having for dinner? (wanna share your recipe?)

[The Albatross]

Salmon... may look for a new recipe later, sugar snaps, au gratin potatoes, roasted cauliflower.

 

[nursenurse]

I made a turkey chili last night. Bought some black jalapeños that were labelled “Kaboom!”. There are three of them in the chili along with some crushed dried chipotle chili flakes. Something may be going kaboom, all right !!!

 

[The Albatross]

Smothered chicken thighs with mushroom gravy and cornbread stuffing, a green salad and snow peas.

 

[nursenurse]

Last night was cioppino, a hit among the adults and the grandson. The grand daughter, not so much, she is not a fennel fan we all discovered. I used shrimp, scallops, mussels and cod, and made the seafood stock from scratch. I didnt think this step would make such a big difference, but home made versus bought, I should know better. Worth the effort. I made bread from the jennycancook.com site, as well as a chocolate cake that uses mashed sweet potato, also from Jenny’s site. Grandson wanted more seafood broth to soak his bread in. Grand daughter mostly ate bread and cake. She tried a shrimp and a mussel though, so kudos for the effort. An evening of bread and cake never hurt anyone once in a while. And after having not seen them for over three months, the hugs were phenomenal.

 

[Friday]

Last night was cioppino

Loooooooove cioppino! :inlove:

My favorite cooking oops! ...ever... was when my mom -anosmic, zinc toxicity- bought & used cilantro instead of parsley. Now every cioppino I make has a big ole handful of chopped cilantro in it.

And after having not seen them for over three months, the hugs were phenomenal.

Welcome home :happy:

...from your 3 hour tour! OMFG. I was half worried you’d end up stuck there for the winter!!!

 

[nursenurse]

Lol, @Friday, it sure felt like Groundhog Day sometimes. They are already pestering me to go back in July, we have to self isolate for two weeks prior, paid. I just got home. Not going back until September unless I get bored.

I think the cilantro would be a great addition, and although the son in law would never complain if I added it (he eats what ever you put in front of him, a delight to feed), I know he doesn’t really like it, so Italian parsley it was. However, if I make it again when he isn't here, I would throw a handful in. I LOVE cilantro. The first meal I ever made for him at my daughter’s request, when they just started going together, was liver, veal. The Ex Boy, who was not quite yet the Ex, didn't like liver, so she waited until he was on a business trip, because I had to make Ian the liver, lol. I raised an eye brow because it is an acquired taste once you are an adult. My Ma trained us as kids by calling it steak, lol, fortunately she was a wonderful cook. Ian liked it, I think, a quick seasoned flour dip, bacon and onions already fried off, and liver quickly seared in the pan drippings plus a bit of butter, you know, in case things started to stick. Last night, the Grand Daughter ate like a humming bird, the rest of us killed 4-1/2 pounds of seafood, save for a few fish flakes, a couple of mussels and a shrimp. The Son in Law took that home, he is able to go to his office during Covid, so now he has his lunch, along with the bit of leftover bread. Finished one big loaf and half of the second. I think I gained weight just typing this.

 

[Friday]

TheKiddo’s Birthday is next week... And he’s asked for tamales.

I’m trying to think of even one time I’ve made tamales all by my seeeeeeeeeeelf:singing: and I’m failing. Most time intensive tedious recipes (tamales, gyoza, and other freezer staples) I make fun :sneaky: by dragging over a dozen or so friends who also have more time than money, cranking up the music, breaking out the beer (or wine, or margaritas), and busting out a few hundred -each- of whatever’s going. Everyone contributing $20 sees us well stocked, and makes a couple hundred dollars worth of finished product (each). With at least half a dozen or more flavors.

It’s so traditional to NOT make tamales by ones self there’s even a name for that particular cooking party; Tamalada! :woot:

I have neither friends, nor my own kitchen at the moment... so I am going to be cooking like a FIEND for the next week. New filling every day, and then either steaming and freezing that night -because it’s “hot” out, it makes sense to steam things at night- or simply putting the fillings aside, & on the day before steaming the lot of them.

This (Following) is one of the better English websites/recipe collections I’ve come across (she uses all the tricks I was taught; making sure your dough floats, putting a penny in the bottom of your steamer so you know if you’re running dry, using your filling oomph -red chili sauce, salsa verde, adobo, etc.) in the dough, along with stock, & “that’s just not healthy” levels of lard (we came THIS close to TheKiddo asking for fried chicken for his bday, and that’s just not healthy either. But both ARE delicious!).

I’ve never made red chili sauce... so since I it’s not the end of the world to have 1 out of 7 flavors come up bust if it goes badly (to live in the freezer until we’re just that hungry, rather than served up at the bday)... I’m going to give it a whirl.

The dough
Tamal Dough (Masa para Tamales) + Video - Muy Bueno Cookbook
Tamal Dough made with Masa Harina - Muy Bueno Cookbook
The sauce
How to Make Authentic Red Chile Sauce + Video - Muy Bueno Cookbook
The tamal
How to Make Tamales + Red Chile and Pork Tamales + Video - Muy Bueno Cookbook

***Note*** For those not sharing a border with Mexico? Tamales = Plural. (And tamales are almost alwaaaaaays plural!!! :D Yum double yum YUMMY) Tamal = Singular.

Fortunately, MY favorite tamal is not TheKiddo’s favorite. Because it really requires a tamalada -or a duck hunter in the family- to make duck & cherry tamales on a shoestring budget! So far these are the fillings I’m making this week:

- Pork & Red Chili Sauce (new for me)
- Beef Barbacoa
- Chicken & Salsa Verde
- Green Chili & Cheese

I’ll probably do a Cuban Mojo pork (Orange juice, lime, onion, garlic, clove/cinnamon/peppercorn), and might do a cheater chicken mole (I refuse to make real mole sauce, unless I’ve lost a bet, have 3 days to kill, and own -or have access to- a gasmask. That sauce is f*cking brutal. But Herdez Salsa Ranchera + chocolate chips = a wicked easy almost mole.) ... but I really haven’t decided. I also haven’t decided if I’m going to make the green chili & cheese all mixed up (very much like the one on the website I linked), or armadillo-egg / whole-style... with chili relenos or jalapeño popper wrapped in masa. I figure I’ll save it to do last and see how tired I am.

 

[Friday]

I’ve never made red chili sauce... so since I it’s not the end of the world to have 1 out of 7 flavors come up bust if it goes badly (to live in the freezer until we’re just that hungry, rather than served up at the bday)... I’m going to give it a whirl.

The red chili sauce I made? Has all the allure of grass clippings, sprayed with mace, left to sit for a week, & then pissed on by the neighbors poodle. :bored:

Well THAT didn’t go as planned! :facepalm:

I’ll try again... I think I know what I did wrong (instead of blending and straining right away, I left it to sit in fresh water overnight... because I was on f*cking fire... dry chili dust had soaked into my clothes, & I needed a shower, and figured “the worst that could happen” would be the extra heat would get drawn out). Oh no. No no no. Soooooo much more could go wrong! :hilarious::roflmao: Oopsies.

 

[The Albatross]

All standard Independence Day fare.... Texas Caviar (black eyed pea cold salad), shoe peg corn salad, 'tater salad, venison burgers one day, Southern/Cajun slaw grilled hot dogs the next, mango sriracha wings last night and watermelon.

 

[Teasel]

I would like to try Tamales sometime, and plenty of other Mexican foods too.

shoe peg corn salad

Do you have a recipe? Interesting name :)

 

[The Albatross]

Do you have a recipe? Interesting name :)

Shoepeg corn is a cultivar of white sweetcorn valued for its sweetness. I use both the white and yellow.
Sort of... the mayo is an approximation because it is that and the wet ingredients plus the juice from the fresh tomatoes that make the "dressing". Throw it all together and mix well. Let it "marry" in the fridge stirring every few hours til the dressing forms well. Serve cold as a side.

• 5 teaspoons mayo
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 to a half teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn, thawed (any combo shoepeg or yellow)
• 1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved OR 1/2 to 2/3 cup diced tomato juice and all
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or dill (your choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 to a teaspoon of lemon grass
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley

 

[nursenurse]

After a week of cooking at my BFFs cottage, we had a down night of hot dogs off the barbie. Mustard and onions for me, had there been done kraut I would have happily piled it on. Breakfast was pancakes for the grand kids, from the mix the BFF had at hand. Even the little one ate a huge pile. For lunch before they left, pasta salad, kind of a kitchen sink thing. I used farfelle pasta, dressing that started out with half mayo and half sour cream, then some lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. My daughter had made a salad Nicoise the previous night, so there was a bit of her olive oil and lemon garlic dressing left. That went in too, along with some parsley. Then the veggies - cucumber, celery, red bell pepper, left over potatoes from the Nicoise, which had some dill, some hard boiled eggs, green beans, and a partridge in a pear tree. Put out various cheeses that folks could add at will, but feta was best. And some Kalamata olives. Because, why not. The biggest critics, which are my two grands, had three helpings each. I would say it was a hit.