What Did We Eat Today?

[Bastet]

6 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Crab cakes are hard to make though (keeping them together - they fall apart on me as I'm getting them in the skillet or flipping them over).

Do you make them in advance (a few hours) and refrigerate them?  That seems to help.  I still sometimes have a couple fall apart on me when I flip them, but I'd rather have that than crab cakes with too much binder, so I've learned not to grumble when it happens.  Someone once told me she first cooks hers in the broiler, to brown the top, then puts them in a pan to fry the bottom (thus never having to flip), but I've never tried that.

[annzeepark914]

I put them in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Maybe I should leave them in there longer?  I don't like a lot of binder in crab cakes either.

[Giselle]

On 6/21/2017 at 4:56 PM, Spunkygal said:

I had a broken crown removed today and was in the chair for over two hours. Found a bottle of chardonnay in the fridge, so that's dinner.  I love my dentist, but I SO hate him. 

Well, crap, I feel guilty. In the interest of full disclosure, I found the bottle in the grocery store's refrigerated section. Don't judge.

You could tell us it had a screw cap you and you put ice in your glass or you said "screw it" and swigged right out of the bottle. We wouldn't mind nor judge as you've been through hell today.

Hope you're feeling better. :-)

[Giselle]

On 6/15/2017 at 5:09 PM, 3pwood said:

What kind of wine pairs well with lemon yogurt?  Depends on what kind of chips, perhaps?

Riesling or sauternes perhaps?

The creaminess of the yoghurt can can help temper the sharp acidity of the lemon.

[Giselle]

Dinner tonight was BBQ duck with rice noodle soup, table salad garnish, mango and coconut sticky rice.

[Mellowyellow]

28 minutes ago, Giselle said:

Dinner tonight was BBQ duck with rice noodle soup, table salad garnish, mango and coconut sticky rice.

We would sooooooo be friends in real life!!!!!! Yuuuuuuuuum!!!!!!! I love that dessert but the boys don't like asian desserts. 

[biakbiak]

This morning I was making scrambled eggs and randomly decided to add some whole grain mustard it was a taste sensation, the mustard seeds popped and the eggs took on Indian vibe, I definitely be doing it again maybe adding some other Indian flavors. 

Tonight it will be some sort of chicken stir fry with Szechuan green beans.

[Mindthinkr]

Bibb lettuce with alfalfa sprouts, cut up zucchini, red, yellow and orange diced peppers, spring onions, feta and a dollop of cottage cheese. Bought a steak then became too tired to cook it so I think I'll have it for breakfast. 

[Bastet]

Seafood salad tacos; I love the cool filling/warm tortilla combination.  And a jicama salad with lime-cilantro dressing as my side dish.

[Quof]

My phone just rang.  "Is this XYZ Restaurant?"  "No, it's not. I wish it were, then I wouldn't have to make dinner." 

She was not amused. Whatever, lady, you're the one who called the wrong number.  (and I looked it up, she had 3 of 7 digits wrong.)

[2727]

Beef and bean burritos, and you'd better believe I pile on the guacamole and sour cream toppings.

[ebk57]

Ledo's pizza.  If you live in the DC area, you know... yum!

[Mellowyellow]

Crispy skin chicken and Vietnamese udon noodles in chicken stock (banh canh)

[chessiegal]

I have access to local Maryland fresh crab meat most of the year. I find that using half lump and half backfin (helps with the filler) works well. I refrigerate them at least 1 hour if not more before pan frying in the teeniest amount of oil. Most of the time they don't fall apart. When I order them when eating out, I get them broiled. I haven't tried broiling them in my counter top oven because I'm usually making fries in there.

[Lisin]

10 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Ledo's pizza.  If you live in the DC area, you know... yum!

We had Ledo's on Thursday! It's my favorite but my husband doesn't love it so he gets the stromboli and I get a small pizza and then have lunch for the next day too. I grew up on it and he didn't so I think that's why I like it and he doesn't? I don't fully understand not liking it lol. 

[Mindthinkr]

@chessiegal Do spill the beans on some of the most memorable things that you have eaten on your trip. I love hearing about travels and food. (Booze a welcome subject as well if you've had any good wines. I know you've been disappointed with the tepid GnT's) 

[harrie]

On 6/22/2017 at 10:35 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I put them in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Maybe I should leave them in there longer?  I don't like a lot of binder in crab cakes either.

The recipe I use says the crab cakes can be formed and refrigerated overnight; for me that basically works out to almost 24 hours. I find the longer they sit and meld, the better they hold together, but I still get breakage. If the broken part isn't too big, sometimes it can serve as a good quality control check, which is what we call stealing an extra bite at my house.'

 

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I have access to local Maryland fresh crab meat most of the year. I find that using half lump and half backfin (helps with the filler) works well. I refrigerate them at least 1 hour if not more before pan frying in the teeniest amount of oil. Most of the time they don't fall apart. When I order them when eating out, I get them broiled. I haven't tried broiling them in my counter top oven because I'm usually making fries in there.

@chessiegal, I hope you appreciate your good fortune!

 

Last night's dinner was crumbly black bean nachos while we watched the NHL draft.  Tonight will be a cold lobster salad with avocado on the side; it should hit the spot after a few hot, humid, sweaty hours spent in the garden. 

Edited June 24, 2017 by harrie

[Mindthinkr]

5 minutes ago, harrie said:

quality control check, which is what we call stealing an extra bite at my house. 

lol...my excuse is that I have to taste it to make sure that it's seasoned correctly. Sometimes I do so much "quality control" that I'm barely hungry when I do sit to eat. 

I too have found that putting them in the fridge for half a day does help bind them...or adding a wee bit of corn starch. 

[ariel]

57 minutes ago, harrie said:

If the broken part isn't too big, sometimes it can serve as a good quality control check, which is what we call stealing an extra bite at my house

 

 

Quality control checks are very important.  That's my excuse for an extra nosh. ;)

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

@chessiegal Do spill the beans on some of the most memorable things that you have eaten on your trip. I love hearing about travels and food. (Booze a welcome subject as well if you've had any good wines. I know you've been disappointed with the tepid GnT's) 

We just got back from dinner (9:30 pm local time. When we were crossing on the QM2 we had a 6:30 pm dinner seating, so we've been eating later and later - some restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:30 pm). My husband has fallen in love with pasta carbonara - what's not to love about that, and had it for dinner again tonight. I had a pasta with mushrooms that had a wonderful sauce - not sure how to describe it except rich and peppery (not tomato based). The heat in Rome has been wilting - over 90 degrees every day. It's difficult to be outside between 1 and 5 pm. Yesterday we spent 3 1/2 hours at the Vatican Museum, and had some gelato at Old Bridge Gelateria that Rick Steves recommended - we waited almost as long as we did to get into the museum - almost 20 minutes but it was worth it. Today we went to St. Peter's Basilica, and stopped at a local place near our hotel for a lite bite - prosciutto and melon. My husband had a beer and I had a glass of proseccco. Cantaloupe must be in season as every one we've had has been just as ripe and sweet as can be. I had spaghetti with clams and mussels last night that was quite good. One night in Paris we ate at a little café across from our hotel and I had the best quiche I have ever eaten. Other meals have been so so. Our first night in Florence my husband had some mediocre pizza. We have a friend who travels a lot, and has lots of suggestions about where to eat, but they usually involve some travel, and after walking 5 - 8 miles during the day seeing sights, I'm just ready to take my luck with what's nearby.

I will say that the food (and service) on the QM2 was very good and I appreciated that they gave us reasonable portions so that you could have an appetizer, salad, main course, and dessert and not walk away from the table feeling stuffed.

Flying home on Tuesday - 10 hours in coach to Newark on United, then layover to BWI. Long day. Last year out travel agent got us home from Marseille on Lufthansa low cost airline in "comfort class". I have a feeling I'll be missing that this year.

[Mindthinkr]

@chessiegal Oh I love a ripe cantaloupe. With Parma ham, procuitto or cottage cheese with liberal fresh ground pepper on top. I don't blame you for not wanting to hike for your final meal of the day. It can be a lot of jostling around in crowded museums and trying to see everything when you are there. Sounds as though you are enjoying everything and I'm so happy for you. Sounds like you'll be making Carbonara for your husband when you come home. It's pretty easy and tasty. 

Ah comfort class...is that like Business class or First class? I find as I'm getting older the extra room and small comforts are worth it. My SIL told me to spend the extra money on comfortable travel. She told me that if I don't my kid will when she gets any inheritance lol. Love her no guilt attitude. 

Thanks for the update and food travelogue. Continued happy travels to y'all  

[MargeGunderson]

I'm having watermelon, but I really want spaghetti carbonara! That's one of my favorite pasta dishes.

[Mindthinkr]

Agreed. My mind has been stuck on the Carbonara ever since Chessie mentioned it! 

[annzeepark914]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Other meals have been so so. Our first night in Florence my husband had some mediocre pizza. We have a friend who travels a lot, and has lots of suggestions about where to eat, but they usually involve some travel, and after walking 5 - 8 miles during the day seeing sights, I'm just ready to take my luck with what's nearby.

That's the interesting thing about food in Europe (esp France and Italy).  People expect it to be wonderful and yet there are some mediocre restaurants (just like we have here) which is always a surprise.

Don't envy your trip home. When I'm heading home I want to be there now (if I were Samantha Stevens I'd wiggle my nose, that's how impatient I am to get home).  Hope you've been able to find a really excellent pizza pie :>)

[2727]

Ah, carbonaro you caloriffic delight!

Tonight I made one of my frequent rotations of penne pasta and asparagus with a simple sauce of butter, parmesan/romano and garlic. I tell myself that the flavor of the pasta comes through better than with a tomato sauce.

I love me a good crab cake but am not good at making them and sadly most restaurants in my experience use inferior crab, too much filler, and then they over season to disguise the fishy-tasting crab. For which they charge an arm and a leg.

My local supermarket had a BOGO special for cold pressed watermelon juice and as much as I adore watermelon, I found the juice to be somewhat cloying. I guess there's a reason I don't drink the juice out of the bottom of the dish after I eat watermelon.

[Giselle]

Pasta a la Norma. I use Saveur's recipe but I also add sausage because hubby will pick out the eggplant. Served along with a sesame semolina loaf and marinated tomato salad, hubby got a green salad.

Blackberries with sweetened mascarpone.

[Giselle]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 0:13 AM, Mellowyellow said:

We would sooooooo be friends in real life!!!!!! Yuuuuuuuuum!!!!!!! I love that dessert but the boys don't like asian desserts. 

I believe we would be friends too. I love Asian desserts. Mung bean pudding, pumpkin filled with custard, sweet corn pudding, turon. egg tart, sweet potato soup, steamed rice cakes. To quote you, "Yuuuuuuuuum!!!!!!!"

One of these days I'll be bold enough to try making the fried crispy rice cakes with cane sugar drizzle.  Went to Little Saigon for "stock up" shopping with my sister in law and niece this past week. We bought some of those at Van's and they were gone before we got back home.

Have you ever tried them or made them? Just tell your boys it's a different kind of Rice Krispy treat just as good if not better.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Giselle
to not yo

[biakbiak]

Tired and tipsy from various Pride events we came ho,etc and ordered all the Chinese food in the world: scallion pancakes, dumpling combo, spare ribs, Kung Pao prawns, cashew chicken, eggplant in garlic sauce, and chow mein. Way too much food but that means cold Chinese food for breakfast tomorrow before the parade. 

[Giselle]

9 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Tired and tipsy from various Pride events we came ho,etc and ordered all the Chinese food in the world: scallion pancakes, dumpling combo, spare ribs, Kung Pao prawns, cashew chicken, eggplant in garlic sauce, and chow mein. Way too much food but that means cold Chinese food for breakfast tomorrow before the parade. 

What did your fortune cookie say?

I save absolutely every fortune I get and have a big 2.5 gallon jar almost filled with years of them. They are from fortune cookies, Esmeralda at Disneyland, Zoltan, the Thai temple my sister in law attends, and anywhere else I get them. Any money I find also goes in the jar, my new years money that I bury and dig up for luck each year goes in there too as well as a found whisker from each cat I've had. Hanging off the knob on the lid it's topped with a hand of Fatima, a Greek glass evil eye charm, a labyrinth charm, a symbol charm of my Chinese horoscope animal; an angel.

It's all in fun. You can never have too much luck and good vibes when you are working hard, making choices, creating your own opportunities and counting your blessings. Maybe God and the universe sees that and helps it along. Who knows.

[biakbiak]

16 minutes ago, Giselle said:

What did your fortune cookie say?

This place doesn't do fortune cookies, instead they have yummy almond cookies.

[Giselle]

Just now, biakbiak said:

This place doesn't do fortune cookies, instead they have yummy almond cookies.

Mmmmmmmm! I love the cookie and I like almonds but I always pick the almond off the cookie and give it to someone.

[Mellowyellow]

@Giselle yes I think my mum used to give them to me for a snack. My two won't even eat rice crispy treats. The kidlet will eat things like salmon sashimi but no hamburgers go figure!

Have you tried che  chuoi which is bananas stewed in coconut milk? 

Dinner tonight is a lazy classic of fried rice. 

[chessiegal]

14 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

@chessiegal Oh I love a ripe cantaloupe. With Parma ham, procuitto or cottage cheese with liberal fresh ground pepper on top. I don't blame you for not wanting to hike for your final meal of the day. It can be a lot of jostling around in crowded museums and trying to see everything when you are there. Sounds as though you are enjoying everything and I'm so happy for you. Sounds like you'll be making Carbonara for your husband when you come home. It's pretty easy and tasty. 

Ah comfort class...is that like Business class or First class? I find as I'm getting older the extra room and small comforts are worth it. My SIL told me to spend the extra money on comfortable travel. She told me that if I don't my kid will when she gets any inheritance lol. Love her no guilt attitude. 

Thanks for the update and food travelogue. Continued happy travels to y'all  

When we came home last year through Frankfort, we were on Condor, a low cost Lufthansa airline, that had a direct flight to BWI. The plane had 1 row of first class, and then about 10 rows of "comfort class" - plenty of leg room, 2 seats each side of the aisle. The flight was 9+ hours. They fed us 3 meals and brought wine and beer in between. I should have asked our travel agent if that was still an option this year.

The best meal we had in Paris was a dinner cruise on the Seine recommended by a friend. It wasn't cheap, but between the food and scenery, it was really worth it.

http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/english.html

[NutMeg]

8 hours ago, Giselle said:

What did your fortune cookie say?

I save absolutely every fortune I get and have a big 2.5 gallon jar almost filled with years of them. They are from fortune cookies, Esmeralda at Disneyland, Zoltan, the Thai temple my sister in law attends, and anywhere else I get them. Any money I find also goes in the jar, my new years money that I bury and dig up for luck each year goes in there too as well as a found whisker from each cat I've had. Hanging off the knob on the lid it's topped with a hand of Fatima, a Greek glass evil eye charm, a labyrinth charm, a symbol charm of my Chinese horoscope animal; an angel.

It's all in fun. You can never have too much luck and good vibes when you are working hard, making choices, creating your own opportunities and counting your blessings. Maybe God and the universe sees that and helps it along. Who knows.

I love your attitude and I must confess that I too have a hand of Fatima as well as Chinese fung shui stuff hanging around. But however did you ever manage to get hold of a cat's whisker!? I have baby cat teeth (found it embeded in the long skirts I once wore), and of course cat's hair everywhere, but cat's whiskers!!!??? 

[Giselle]

15 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

I love your attitude and I must confess that I too have a hand of Fatima as well as Chinese fung shui stuff hanging around. But however did you ever manage to get hold of a cat's whisker!? I have baby cat teeth (found it embeded in the long skirts I once wore), and of course cat's hair everywhere, but cat's whiskers!!!??? 

Aww, baby kitten teeth. Don't have any of those.

A cat's whiskers grow and fall out and grow again just like their fur. As I've cleaned the house, made our bed or refreshed their beds & cat tree one can show up. They are found few and far between. 

My niece found one once and it was a great way to teach her about how they work to keep a cat safe and informed.

[NutMeg]

1 hour ago, Giselle said:

Aww, baby kitten teeth. Don't have any of those.

A cat's whiskers grow and fall out and grow again just like their fur. As I've cleaned the house, made our bed or refreshed their beds & cat tree one can show up. They are found few and far between. 

My niece found one once and it was a great way to teach her about how they work to keep a cat safe and informed.

Aww, I should have been more attentive - my cat is black with a couple of white hair on her tummy, the one I had before was black and white, so I'm afraid I may have confused the random whisker fall out with fur. I'll try to pay more attention to texture from here on out :)

As for the baby kitten teeth, I would have totally missed them if my kitten at the time hadn't anchored herself by the teeth to the long cotton skirt I was wearing that day - and it's only by chance that I noticed the embedded minuscule tooth. And then it happened again, so I do have a pair ! Still, cats that allowed me to feed them before or since all managed to kept their "kitten teeth" hidden from me.

[Nysha]

I was supposed to go to a friend's house for bbq ribs, corn on the cob, and potato salad. I was going to surprise them with a pitcher of homemade sangria. I ended up not being able to go, so I drank sangria and felt sorry for myself. 

[Mindthinkr]

I'm attending the bi-monthly neighborhood block party. My first. The host provides the booze and everyone else brings a dish of appetizers or finger foods. Can't wait to see the array. 

Ate a PBnJ so I wouldn't be too hungry. 

 

Sorry @Nysha that your get together didn't work out, but yum on the Sangria. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Mindthinkr

[Quof]

Why would you feel sorry about having a pitcher of sangria to yourself?

[Bastet]

16 hours ago, 2727 said:

I love me a good crab cake but am not good at making them and sadly most restaurants in my experience use inferior crab, too much filler, and then they over season to disguise the fishy-tasting crab. For which they charge an arm and a leg.

Yeah, crab cakes are something I just will not order in a restaurant, because they'll almost certainly be inferior to what I make at home (even when made with good crab, it's too little crab and too much of everything else).

Movie night at a friend's house last night, so we ordered pizza; I got mine with smoked mozzarella, Italian sausage, and red peppers (olive oil base; I don't much care for traditional tomato sauce).  Tonight I'm going to my parents' house for dinner.  So, two nights in a row where I a) don't have to cook the food and b) come home with leftovers.  Excellent.

[chessiegal]

Had the best pizza in Italy so far - down home place near our hotel on Via Nationale in Rome. Basic tomato and mozzarella with mushrooms with a thin crispy crust. Not sure what kind of fuel they had in the oven but watched them pull it out piping hot.

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I'm attending the bi-monthly neighborhood block party. My first. The host provides the booze and everyone else brings a dish of appetizers or finger foods. Can't wait to see the array. 

Ate a PBnJ so I wouldn't be too hungry. 

 

Sorry @Nysha that your get together didn't work out, but yum on the Sangria. 

Bi-monthly neighborhood block parties? Yikes! That's too neighborly for me. We have an annual blowout which is enough for us. And I say that while acknowledging that I have an amazing group of neighbors. 

[Quof]

I'm having my first strawberry shortcake of the season.   That is all. 

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Bi-monthly neighborhood block parties? Yikes! That's too neighborly for me. We have an annual blowout which is enough for us. And I say that while acknowledging that I have an amazing group of neighbors. 

There are 30 homes in our neighborhood and  it works out that you host once every three years. It only lasted about 2 hours (about the same as the meet and greet cocktail party last week). My next door neighbor hosted it and he's from Venice, Italy so there were plenty of good wines to choose from and a lovely relaxed vibe. He also had vodka, Scotch, Bourbon, etc with mixers and cut up lemons and limes as well as martini olives.  Dishes brought included deviled eggs with caviar or shaved truffles, crab dip (abundance of crabmeat-fresh, very little filler), 3 plates of shrimp and dips, brownies, chocolate cake, pinwheel turkey wraps, finger sandwiches on flatbread and chicken salad on Hawaiian rolls, deep fried mushrooms, mini quiches, olives, pickles, cheeses, crackers and some apricot pastries. His dining room table was overflowing with choices.  I was kind of at a loss; I knew very few people but everyone would approach me and introduce themselves. Very friendly and asking questions to make sure that I knew where everything is located and if I needed help (finding things...not unpacking). Almost a third of them are originally from Europe. 

These are the kind of people that I think would be enjoyable to see once every other month. I'm not overtly social (bookworm, cat lady and a wannabe poet) but everything was casual, chatty and they all lead interesting lives. That's my first impression. My tune is subject to change but so far so good. 

P.S. I'm happy to report that my dish was completely eaten. 

[2727]

Sunday dinner was takeaway chopped pork from my favorite barbecue joint, with sides of corn fritters and lima beans. Good thing the restaurant is about 10 miles away or I'd be showing up there a couple times a week.

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

P.S. I'm happy to report that my dish was completely eaten. 

What did you take? I always avoid my block parties, so good for you. What part of the country are you in with so many European emigres? Sounds like the food was pretty American?

On 6/24/2017 at 4:32 PM, Mindthinkr said:

Oh I love a ripe cantaloupe. With Parma ham, procuitto or cottage cheese with liberal fresh ground pepper on top.

Now there's a food gripe for me -- finding firm, small curd cottage cheese. Imagine an old time "diet plate" from the 50s with a scoop of cottage cheese on it. Every brand I've tried from the supermarket is very loose/liquidy that couldn't stand up to a scooper for love or money. I've tried draining it but it's not the same. Ricotta has the right texture but I don't really like the taste of it plain.

Edited June 26, 2017 by 2727

[Mindthinkr]

@2727 I brought bacon water chestnuts. It's as simple as it sounds. I begin with 1 lb bacon..trim the excess fat and then cut the all the slices in half. I then wrap a half of a slice of bacon around a drained, rinsed whole water chestnut and secure it with a toothpick. I assemble them in a baking dish and then pour a bottle (or 2) of low sodium soy sauce until they are at least halfway deep. At this time I can add extras if I know who's nibbling. Red pepper flakes, brown sugar, maple syrup or garlic for instance. I allow them to marinate in the fridge for 5-6 hours. Then I bake them at 450* for @30 minutes. I will usually turn them over towards the end of the cooking period  (pushing the toothpick to the other side) and then broil them for the last 5 minutes just to make sure there's no raw bacon. Crispy is good. I replace the usually burnt toothpicks with the fancy ones with the frills on the ends for service. I made over 2 dozen and they were amongst the first things gone. 

[Mellowyellow]

 Chicken laksa tonight

[chessiegal]

This is the best dinner I had in Italy - fettucine with mushrooms at Ristorante Cotto.

http://www.cottoroma.it/?lang=en

[BooksRule]

Leftover BBQ'd chicken thighs and some kind of frozen veggie zapped in the microwave (probably a medley of broccoli and cauliflower).  I want a green salad, but I've been working in the yard and am too tired to do anything except operate the microwave and fix a big huge glass of water.

[Qoass]

More leftover antipasto salad.  I was at a catered event this weekend and complimented the chef on its deliciousness so he offered me a box to take home.  It was so good I didn't even notice that there was cauliflower in it.  I thought I hated cauliflower.