What's for Dinner part 8.

[BigFatCoward]

12 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

In my experience there are two kinds of steak eaters, people who use sauce and people who think you are mentally deranged if you use sauce.

Friends who I used to regularly have Sunday dinner with look at me like I have two heads because I like horse radish with my roast beef and sauce with my steak, oh, and mint jelly with my lamb, yet all kinds of crap with chicken is perfectly fine because they like to put crap on their chicken. 

I can take or leave horseradish with beef, or apple sauce with pork. But I would refuse to eat lamb without mint sauce, what would be the point. 

[Soylent Brown]

9 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Eating leftover pizza for dinner tonight. Too damn tired to cook. 

You say that like it's a bad thing! I sometimes consider ordering extra pizza just so I get have to have pizza breakfast and pizza lunch and pizza dinner and pizza supper the next day!

And if I'm feeling fancy, pizza elevenses too!

[Xray the Enforcer]

IMO it depends on the cut of meat that you're using to make your steak. A dry-aged ribeye already has enough fat and umami going on that you do not need to put sauce on it. In fact, you've just wasted a lot of money if you bought that expensive cut of meat and then covered up the flavor with a highly seasoned sauce. I mean, you could do that, but why waste the money?

If you bought a much less expensive cut like a flank steak or sirloin, though, sauce away. 

[Xray the Enforcer]

26 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

You say that like it's a bad thing! I sometimes consider ordering extra pizza just so I get have to have pizza breakfast and pizza lunch and pizza dinner and pizza supper the next day!

And if I'm feeling fancy, pizza elevenses too!

That's exactly what we did -- ordered extra pizza at lunch and then just dove right back into it for dinner. We usually try to cook a nice meal on Sunday to mentally prepare for the upcoming week, but yesterday that was just a bit beyond us. hahaha. Pizza was really good though. 

[HelenaExMachina]

If I make pizza I always make extra for leftovers. I actually do that with most meals I make because sometimes the leftovers are better than the actual meal...

Had prawns and veg in sweet chilli sauce, served with a pitta and some salad. Very tasty.

Today I'm making carrot and lentil soup and a loaf of wholemeal bread. The soup should last a few days at least and the bread too (unless I get peckish...)

ETA: I don't eat meat anymore but mint sauce with lamb was always a must when I did. I was never a steak girl but I've served plenty in pubs and most people ordered with sauce - though as BFC seemed to imply, served in a boat on the side.

Edited October 5, 2020 by HelenaExMachina

[Tywin et al.]

8 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Did you eat two porterhouse steaks?

I actually had two striploin steaks out for my brother and I, and ended up freezing one of them because they were just too big. As it happens, we didn’t even finish the one. Breakfast is going to be steak and eggs.

Ah, youth. Sadly, ah, old age.

Nah, the steaks were for three people. I'd die if I tried to eat both.

[VigoTheCarpathian]

RE:  meats and sauces - my personal experience has been it definitely depends on the quality and cut of meat.  Most beef I can afford on a regular basis can do with a little marinade, Worcestershire, herb butter or some kind of chimichurri.

Last night:  Our CSA use-up-the-rest-of-our-share meal.  Buddha bowls with coconut rice and quinoa, roasted beets and leeks, InstantPot pinto beans, sautéed greens (beet and turnip), and a quick tomatillo salsa.

 

[MercenaryChef]

14 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Weigh in on the sauce with steak debate, if MC says it's wrong I'll take it on the chin (though not change my ways, a little pot of creamy pepper sauce to dip your chips in is a joy). 

classic french cooking was the inspiration for steakhouses, ie sauces! i am pro sauce! for kair's birthday some years ago we had a magnificent giant dry aged ribeye slathered in a ramp bearnaise before seeing the cure at madison square garden. that was the fucking best!

only time i am anti-sauce on steak is in the world of real japanese wagyu. that meat is just so fatty and rich with umami i want nothing more than flakes of maldon salt or in a super traditional preparation a tiny grating of real wasabi.

all this beef talk aside got a chicken roasting with assorted veggies and tatos for tonight. roasting chicken is maybe one of the greatest things you can do to a chicken.

[Fragile Bird]

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, Chef!

[Xray the Enforcer]

Last night made gà kho gùng (aka chicken in a caramel sauce) and damn that's going on the regular rotation from here on out. Despite the name, the dish is not at all sweet due to the depth of caramelization and the other ingredients (shallots, ginger, generous amount of fish sauce). Served it with rice (ofc) and roasted delicata squash + roasted broccoli dressed in a modified nuóc mâm.

Sincere apologies to anyone who can read Vietnamese -- I'm struggling with the proper diacritical marks on the letters. 

[MercenaryChef]

12 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Last night made gà kho gùng (aka chicken in a caramel sauce) and damn that's going on the regular rotation from here on out. Despite the name, the dish is not at all sweet due to the depth of caramelization and the other ingredients (shallots, ginger, generous amount of fish sauce). Served it with rice (ofc) and roasted delicata squash + roasted broccoli dressed in a modified nuóc mâm.

Sincere apologies to anyone who can read Vietnamese -- I'm struggling with the proper diacritical marks on the letters. 

fuck yes! a favorite dish of mine!!

[Xray the Enforcer]

yeah! I've had versions in restaurants but never made it myself. I had no idea it was so freakin' simple, especially if you batch the caramel sauce ahead of time. 

[Tywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

yeah! I've had versions in restaurants but never made it myself. I had no idea it was so freakin' simple, especially if you batch the caramel sauce ahead of time. 

Alright I've got to try this. On a similar note, a wonderful dish is African Peanut stew (it probably has different names depending on where you are. The combination of the two flavors plus a ton of veggies and sweet potatoes is to die for. Throwing in some chopped up steak also increases the taste. It's best when hot peppers are included. 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Tywin et al.

[Fragile Bird]

Do sweat potatoes taste like dirty socks?

[Tywin et al.]

27 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Do sweat potatoes taste like dirty socks?

Thankfully the peanut flavor is so strong that even dirty socks would taste good in the dish. 

[Xray the Enforcer]

11 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

African Peanut stew

This is a winter staple in our house! So good. We make ours with chicken and chiles, and we tend to serve it over millet.

The kho recipe I used was a combo of one in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and some details from other recipes. Basically: dice up some chicken, throw it into a bowl with 3 tablespoons caramel, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, a couple of diced good-size shallots, and 2" of ginger that has been thinly sliced. I put in some white pepper because it was sitting on the counter, but you can skip that step if you don't have it. Let the whole mess marinate for a few minutes (I think I left it for 30 while I prepped other stuff). Then dump it all into a smallish pot with maybe 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook cover until the chicken is done, then uncovered to thicken up the sauce a bit. Serve over rice with sliced green onions on top. 

(the base recipe omits the shallots and the white pepper; online recipes added all kinds of shit in there like garlic, chiles, shallots, etc. I was feeling incredibly lazy but also I had the shallots, so that's why I went with the variation I did.)

Edited October 7, 2020 by Xray the Enforcer

[MercenaryChef]

so at my new gig i am not the big boss so i am mostly coming someone else's food and realizing their vision, but staff meal is all me!

i take a lot of pride cooking a family meal for the team. on the rotation this week: adobo chicken tacos, korean grilled chicken, dandan noodles, meat loaf, Portuguese style fish stew. 

[BigFatCoward]

3 hours ago, MercenaryChef said:

so at my new gig i am not the big boss so i am mostly coming someone else's food and realizing their vision, but staff meal is all me!

i take a lot of pride cooking a family meal for the team. on the rotation this week: adobo chicken tacos, korean grilled chicken, dandan noodles, meat loaf, Portuguese style fish stew. 

Getting a new job in this climate shows how respected you must be in the industry. 

All of the above please except meatloaf, never tried it, never want to. 

Dinner tonight is sri lankan curry, skinless and boneless chicken thighs marinated in the base rub, my own concoction hot sauce (6 chillies, maruga scorpion, ghost, Carolina reaper, scotch bonnet, jalapeno and habenero) and honey (so it really caramelized and crisps up) cooked under incredibly hot grill. Served with sticky coconut rice. 

Topped with crispy onions, coriander, scallions and chopped peanuts. 

Edited October 8, 2020 by BigFatCoward

[MercenaryChef]

18 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Getting a new job in this climate shows how respected you must be in the industry. 

All of the above please except meatloaf, never tried it, never want to. 

Dinner tonight is sri lankan curry, skinless and boneless chicken thighs marinated in the base rub, my own concoction hot sauce (6 chillies, maruga scorpion, ghost, Carolina reaper, scotch bonnet, jalapeno and habenero) and honey (so it really caramelized and crisps up) cooked under incredibly hot grill. Served with sticky coconut rice. 

Topped with crispy onions, coriander, scallions and chopped peanuts. 

first,  that curry sounds exceptional!

and second thanks for the kind words!

third, meatloaf is awesome!

[Tywin et al.]

18 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

my own concoction hot sauce (6 chillies, maruga scorpion, ghost, Carolina reaper, scotch bonnet, jalapeno and habenero)

I appreciate your dedication to the fire, but is the habanero necessary at that point?