What Did We Eat Today?

[chessiegal]

Last week I failed to check on what was coming in my Blue Apron box and ended up with 3 meals they picked for me. One meal was a sausage gnocchi bake. I know I wouldn't have picked that out because I've had their gnocchi once before. We found them dense and gummy. Aren't gnocchi supposed to be light and fluffy?

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Aren't gnocchi supposed to be light and fluffy?

I don't eat them because I hate potatoes, but my understanding is it's supposed to be somewhat chewy (but not gummy!), but most people get them wrong and they come out too dense.  Gnudi (which I've had, as it's made with ricotta instead of potatoes) is lighter and fluffier.

[annzeepark914]

Beef stew, mashed potatoes, and sauted spinach. 

[DearEvette]

On 9/29/2023 at 10:36 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Beef stew, mashed potatoes, and sauted spinach. 

Hah... we had the same food, just in a different format:

Porterhouse steaks, baked potato, creamed spinach.

[chessiegal]

Last night was another Blue Apron dinner I didn't choose (mea culpa for not keeping up). It was a sheet pan meal of potatoes, green beans, and meatloaf made from chorizo. The meatloaf was so spicy I couldn't eat it. The spice was all from the meat, nothing added but egg and breadcrumbs. I'm not sure what I could have done to cool it down. This morning I thought of putting sour cream on it, but I'm not sure how that would have worked taste wise. Sour cream on chili is good, but meatloaf? Not sure.

[Bastet]

Too spicy is not a thing for me, but I perused a few articles and they all gave the same options, so here's one chosen at random.

There are lots of recipes using a tomato or cream sauce with chorizo, so your sour cream idea would probably work.

I'm still cooking for my parents, and this weekend I made them a layered dish in a roasting pan: russet potato wedges, slices of red and green bell peppers, Italian stewed tomatoes, sweet Italian sausage, and chicken (a whole chicken, cut up).  It sounded right up their alley, and indeed they loved it.  It's not my type of thing, but it smelled so damn good when I took it out of the oven I kept a portion for myself without the potatoes.  I haven't tried it yet to see if they infected the peppers with their flavor, but if nothing else I will enjoy the sausage and chicken.

I'm not much of a pasta salad person, either, but I love pesto so much I wound up eating a fair bit of the pasta salad I made with penne, chicken, pesto, and grape tomatoes.  So simple, but so tasty.

 

[annzeepark914]

Chinese delivery!  I'm tired of cooking/eating American, Italian, Greek, etc., food and needed some Asian flavors.  Plus, I didn't want to cook. It was a nice change.

[BooksRule]

Pot roast in the slow cooker for dinner.  Nothing fancy, just a roast (chuck roast, I think) with some onion soup mix mixed with water, poured over the top and then cooked on high until tender.  I made some rice and then used some of the roast liquid to make some onion gravy.  That's all I had for dinner--meat, rice, and gravy.  I'll have some green veggies tomorrow. :) 

[chessiegal]

Grilled bacon wrapped filet mignon, gilled zucchini, and garlic mashed potatoes.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Homemade beef barley soup. 👌👩‍🍳

[chessiegal]

Grilled marinated salmon, grilled zucchini, and baked potato fires.

[chessiegal]

Yesterday I made pickled beets and eggs. I love my EggPod - perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs and the shells slide off easily. I added beets and an egg to a small premade spinach salad for lunch.

[DearEvette]

In honor of Oktoberfest, we had a beer themed dinner.  Oktoberfest beer, natch, was the beverage.  But the main dish was beer brats -- my husband had his with saukraut and his favorite locally made Horseradish mustard. I had grilled onions and another locally made spicy beer mustard.  We had loaded fries and spinach salad on the side.

[JTMacc99]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Yesterday I made pickled beets and eggs. I love my EggPod - perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs and the shells slide off easily. I added beets and an egg to a small premade spinach salad for lunch.

I made the pickled beets and eggs last week. This weekend, I made the much less frequent version of plain-old pickled eggs. They're currently sitting in my fridge soaking up the vinegar.  This isn't my jar, but it looks just like this:

It's pretty much just eggs with a brine made from 3-1 ratio of white vinegar to water. It has a little salt, a little sugar, pickling spices, an onion sliced thin, a clove of smashed garlic on the bottom, and some dill.  It's fun one, but definitely a strong vinegar taste.

[chessiegal]

I put the beets and liquid in a container, fill the beet jar up with white vinegar and add the eggs. Simple and I like the taste of the beets and eggs. These pickled eggs were always on every holiday table. We always had Thanksgiving at my aunt's house along with my grandparents. My aunt always put the dish of pickled eggs next to my place at the table because she knew I loved them.

[Mondrianyone]

I bought a really huge jar for making dozens of beet-pickled eggs before my husband fessed up that he didn't really like them. I guess I should have a lonely-lady pickle party someday.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses pickling spices with them, @JTMacc99. That's a beautiful-looking jar, even if if isn't yours.

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

I bought a really huge jar for making dozens of beet-pickled eggs before my husband fessed up that he didn't really like them. I guess I should have a lonely-lady pickle party someday.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses pickling spices with them, @JTMacc99. That's a beautiful-looking jar, even if if isn't yours.

I’ll take a picture of mine before I dig in. Mine is actually prettier. I bought some light blue jars this summer, and it’s just a photo waiting to be taken. 

[annzeepark914]

On 10/10/2023 at 1:24 PM, DearEvette said:

In honor of Oktoberfest, we had a beer themed dinner.  Oktoberfest beer, natch, was the beverage.  But the main dish was beer brats -- my husband had his with saukraut and his favorite locally made Horseradish mustard. I had grilled onions and another locally made spicy beer mustard.  We had loaded fries and spinach salad on the side.

My husband's a brats & sauerkraut fan. When it's his turn to host the poker game, he has brats shipped from Michigan. I keep forgetting to pronounce them as "brahts" (not brats as in obnoxious kids 😁). 

[Bastet]

I'm still cooking for my parents (to supplement the random stuff my terrible-at-cooking dad makes while a slew of doctors try to figure out why the hell my mom can barely make it down the hall and back) and when my mom doesn't feel well, getting her to eat vegetables is like getting your very worst stereotype of a toddler to do so; I have to gussy them up.  This weekend I made caramelized broccoli with garlic and smoky glazed asparagus, and she liked both of them (as did I, especially the asparagus).  So if you have a picky vegetable eater, FYI, these got a thumbs up.

I also made another chicken, sausage, and tomato concoction that is not really my jam, but tasted good.  The (whole, cut up) chicken is coated in a flour, pepper, and paprika mixture and browned in a Dutch oven (which I'd earlier cooked the sausage on low for 20 minutes to render the fat, so I used that for the browning "oil") and removed.  Then you cook sliced onion and mushroom, stir in the remaining seasoned flour as a thickener, put the chicken back in, add a little water and a can of crushed tomatoes, and caraway seeds.  Simmer, then put the sausage back in, add peas, and voila -- food for a week.

I also made my parents a dill chicken and potato salad that I won't eat, as I hate potatoes, but I picked out some chicken pieces and it was tasty.  The sauce is just olive oil and white wine vinegar, and then you add scallions, dill, lemon juice, and a dash of cayenne to the whole thing.

We eat somewhat differently, plus I need things that work well as leftovers (as I am NOT going over there even every couple or few days to cook; I cook at home and deliver food once a week for them to reheat), so I've been forced to try recipes I normally skip.  I don't always want to eat them myself, but they've all come out pretty well thus far.

[chessiegal]

You're a good daughter @Bastet. It's a good thing you are a good cook and enjoy cooking. I hope your mother is better soon.

[PRgal]

I think my son has quite the palate.  We had his birthday party this past weekend and our package at the venue included pizza and snacks (we had to bring the cake).  My son barely ate the pizza!  This is a kid that never, ever turns down carbs with cheese.  Why didn’t he eat it?  The pizza was cr@p (had a slice myself…..)!  The other kids didn’t care.  
 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by PRgal

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

You're a good daughter @Bastet. It's a good thing you are a good cook and enjoy cooking. I hope your mother is better soon.

Thank you, that's kind of you.  Right now I very much do not enjoy cooking (and I never enjoy doing dishes) because I'm doing so damn much of it, but hopefully we get some answers soon, she starts feeling better, and I can get back to a normal routine.

Next up: Some sort of lemon chicken.  Maybe with almonds.

[annzeepark914]

Spinach frittata, and roasted mini Yukons with aioli on the side. Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows is dessert for me as I watch Skate America 🩷⛸️

[DearEvette]

Smashburgers and onion rings.  Also for desert I made apple fritter rings.  

We live in an area where we are surrounded by apple orchards (and vineyards)and my husbands LOVES apple season and all the varietals.  This yesr Crimson Crisps and Macouns are the faves, sweet and tart and with a satisfying snap when you bite into them.  But we got a bunch of Jonah Golds that were a little punky so those I am using to cook with.

[scriggle]

I made Smitten Kitchen's tangy braised chickpeas yesterday. I made a couple of minor modifications, more garlic because 4 cloves is not enough and cremini mushrooms instead of portobello because they looked better. I added some baby spinach at the very end. I served it over rice. Very tasty.

[Ancaster]

On 9/29/2023 at 7:41 AM, chessiegal said:

Last week I failed to check on what was coming in my Blue Apron box and ended up with 3 meals they picked for me. One meal was a sausage gnocchi bake. I know I wouldn't have picked that out because I've had their gnocchi once before. We found them dense and gummy. Aren't gnocchi supposed to be light and fluffy?

 

On 9/29/2023 at 2:09 PM, Bastet said:

I don't eat them because I hate potatoes, but my understanding is it's supposed to be somewhat chewy (but not gummy!), but most people get them wrong and they come out too dense.  Gnudi (which I've had, as it's made with ricotta instead of potatoes) is lighter and fluffier.

I love potatoes and I don't remember ever meeting someone who who hates them - my mind is having a hard time computing what there is about potatoes to hate.  Except, ironically gnocchi, which I've never had but which always sound unappetizing and as if they'd be gummy!

9 hours ago, scriggle said:

I made Smitten Kitchen's tangy braised chickpeas yesterday. I made a couple of minor modifications, more garlic because 4 cloves is not enough and cremini mushrooms instead of portabella because they looked better. I added some baby spinach at the very end. I served it over rice. Very tasty.

This does sound good, and different.  I'm 90% vegetarian and always looking for new variations on the same old same old, if you know what I mean.  Adding spinach is definitely something I would do, too.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

I love potatoes and I don't remember ever meeting someone who who hates them - my mind is having a hard time computing what there is about potatoes to hate. 

Their taste.  Same as with everything else on the relatively short list of foods I hate.  I know I'm quite the outlier - though certainly not alone - with this, given the popularity of the potato in much of the world, thus it being my opening post in the Unpopular Likes/Dislikes thread, but I will not eat potatoes unless they're so disguised an ingredient they're just a vessel for tasty things, no longer tasting like potatoes. 

[Ancaster]

9 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Their taste.  Same as with everything else on the relatively short list of foods I hate.  I know I'm quite the outlier - though certainly not alone - with this, given the popularity of the potato in much of the world, thus it being my opening post in the Unpopular Likes/Dislikes thread, but I will not eat potatoes unless they're so disguised an ingredient they're just a vessel for tasty things, no longer tasting like potatoes. 

That's the thing though, while I love them, I don't think of them having a "big" flavour that would lend itself to being hateful!  I don't hate much food - bananas are the only thing I refuse to eat and they make me gag in any form (childhood trauma!).  I can get people hating asparagus, or olives, but potatoes?  They seem so innocuous!  Ah well, more for me.

[Bastet]

8 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

They seem so innocuous! 

Thus the unpopular dislike thread entry.  Asked and answered, for years now; most people like them or at least don't dislike them, but I hate them. 

[JTMacc99]

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

Their taste.  Same as with everything else on the relatively short list of foods I hate.  I know I'm quite the outlier - though certainly not alone - with this, given the popularity of the potato in much of the world, thus it being my opening post in the Unpopular Likes/Dislikes thread, but I will not eat potatoes unless they're so disguised an ingredient they're just a vessel for tasty things, no longer tasting like potatoes. 

As we were standing around a bowl of salsa when I was in college, one of my friends said "Ah, the chip. It's sole purpose to serve as a vessel for delicious dips."

Also, @Bastet I think you do a really good job of articulating the things you hate. I get where you're coming from with potatoes. Taste is subjective, and when somebody doesn't like something because of the taste, I get it. I like spicy food, but I don't like Habanero based foods. It's not because of the heat they bring; I don't like the way they taste/smell. It ruins food for me. 

I am also perfectly clear that if you were my guest, pumpkin and sweet potato pies with fresh brewed coffee is a poor choice for a dessert course. 

 

[DearEvette]

I made Spicy Sesame Soup with pork Xiao Long Bao dumplings.  The video recipe came across one of my SM feeds.  It came out pretty well.  Here is a tik tok of the recipe.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I am also perfectly clear that if you were my guest, pumpkin and sweet potato pies with fresh brewed coffee is a poor choice for a dessert course. 

I feel so seen.

[annzeepark914]

We had take out Persian & it was delicious-- especially their thin pitas & light hummus (that had no taste of the hated tahini 🎉). Kabobs & that wonderful pilaf from the ME. So we now have Afghan delivery & Persian takeout when the kitchen here is closed 😉

[ebk57]

32 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

We had take out Persian & it was delicious-- especially their thin pitas & light hummus (that had no taste of the hated tahini 🎉). Kabobs & that wonderful pilaf from the ME. So we now have Afghan delivery & Persian takeout when the kitchen here is closed 😉

May I ask from where?  I used to love going to Moby Dick, House of Kabob near the office, but haven't been there in ages.  

[annzeepark914]

54 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

May I ask from where?  I used to love going to Moby Dick, House of Kabob near the office, but haven't been there in ages.  

Yes...Moby Dick Kabob! And they provided very good raita on the side. 

[Bastet]

I made my parents* Ina Garten's Indonesian ginger chicken and didn't keep any for myself because I knew they'd eat the whole thing in time - indeed they called last night after trying it for the first time, raving about the sauce as I knew they would - and that plus the other stuff I delivered (a lemon chicken with artichokes entree, a potato salad, Ina's spinach gratin, some simple green vegetable sides, and lemon chicken & cauliflower rice soup) would tide them over awhile, but I made extra of the marinade and soaked some chicken wings in it overnight -- I have those in the oven and greatly look forward to devouring them while I watch the afternoon football game.

For dinner, I think more chicken -- chicken chasseur (but without the tomato, as that's how I make it), as I wound up dredging one more breast than I needed for the lemon chicken dish and have some scallions and mushrooms that need to be used soon.

*After a stint in the hospital, via the ER, my mom is in no imminent danger and on the road to recovery (unless the PET scan, the one outstanding test - coming in a couple of weeks - throws us a curveball), but it's a slow one, so I'll be doing this for a while still.

[DearEvette]

Chili and jalapeno corn bread.

[annzeepark914]

The kitchen was closed this afternoon at Chez Park914. Mr. P914 has been watching football all day.  So, I nuked a Stouffers Swedish Meatballs & Noodles, and served it to myself w/ Felix brand lingonberries (a very Svenska combo!). I'm usually quite persnickety regarding Swedish meatballs (my mother's were the best--she put ground ginger, nutmeg, Allspice and white pepper in hers) but Stouffers are better than the bland ones a lot of Swedish- Americans make, to be honest. So, now to watch 60 Minutes (once boring football is finally over).  💙💛

[chessiegal]

Today is my birthday. I picked up jumbo lump crab cakes from our local fish monger. I'm serving them with steak fries and cucumber salad. We don't usually eat dessert, but I picked up some cheesecake at the grocery store. Later I got a birthday surprise from my stepdaughter. It was a box of a variety of 4 large cookies from crumbl cookies. 

[WendyCR72]

On 10/30/2023 at 2:01 PM, chessiegal said:

Today is my birthday. I picked up jumbo lump crab cakes from our local fish monger. I'm serving them with steak fries and cucumber salad. We don't usually eat dessert, but I picked up some cheesecake at the grocery store. Later I got a birthday surprise from my stepdaughter. It was a box of a variety of 4 large cookies from crumbl cookies. 

Happy Belated Birthday!

[Quof]

Homemade lamb rogan josh.

In an attempt to make it healthy, I served it over cauliflower rice.  F#*k that noise.  The leftovers will be served on basmati.  

(I'm fine with cauliflower rice, but Indian food needs the real stuff). 

[annzeepark914]

Fast & easy is my kitchen motto right now (am in occupational physical therapy with a left arm muscle strain) so it was rotisserie chicken, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, doctored up Stove Top herb stuffing, doctored up jarred gravy, and lingonberries. It was ok. We might order out tomorrow...the kitchen at Chez P914 just may close for a few days 😁

[chessiegal]

Yesterday I was going to make ground beef tacos for dinner. I was both surprised and disappointed when I went to garage fridge to discover there were no more Omaha Steaks hamburgers left that I could use. I went to the store today and got ground beef, so tacos tonight.

[Bastet]

Oh, happy day -- my mom called this evening to say when they're done with the latest batch of food I made them, I will no longer be on personal chef duty; she's recovering nicely and able to do almost all their cooking again (my dad tries, and he doesn't destroy things [well, other than sometimes overcooking meat even with a thermometer, which to me is damn near a criminal act], but it's just not a skill he possesses so he makes only a few things). 

They're going to miss my cooking being their daily fare, as I make a wider variety of meals than my mom does.  She's a great cook, she just never cooked as many different cuisines as I do and by 80 she has for years now settled into a smaller repertoire than she used to pull from, opting for the dishes that are less work.  Totally fair, of course!  So I'll still take them something more interesting, it'll just be one thing, and once a week when I'm going to be there anyway, not me bringing five days worth of food at a time.

Last night I had pizza at a friend's house and took two pieces home, so that was lunch -- it had tapenade as the sauce, a very thin layer of melted mozzarella cheese to form a base, and topped with big feta cheese crumbles, artichoke heart quarters, and chicken.  I probably should have heated it up rather than eating it cold, but I didn't want to wait.

I was going to have the piece of chicken with asparagus mousse I'd reserved from what I'd made for my parents last batch of food as my dinner tonight, but when I realized one of my avocados needs to be used right away, instead of just using it in the side salad, I became overwhelmed with the craving to use it as guacamole on tacos.  So that's in the refrigerator, along with some marinating shrimp, and I'm enjoying a margarita.

So I'll have that chicken for dinner tomorrow night.  Lunch will be my reserved serving of a pasta salad I did a whole lot of picking at as I packaged it up for my parents -- I had to use "regular" pasta as my mom doesn't like whole wheat pasta (while that's what I prefer, for the taste and texture, plus the bonus of being healthier), and it's nothing exciting, just the pasta (rotini) with chicken and a lot of stir-fried vegetables - carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, red bell pepper, and scallions - tossed with a tamari and rice wine vinegar with lots of fresh ginger sauce, but, damn, does it taste good.  (I'd never made it before, as I'm not a big pasta salad person, but I have discovered a couple of good exceptions through this ordeal.)

It will be nice to go back to cooking for one!

[annzeepark914]

I finally tried the oil on the knife technique and I was able to cut an onion without burning eyes. I wipe a little light olive oil on the knife and had no problems slicing and then mincing an onion today. 

Made a spinach & sausage frittata, and roasted potatoes with aioli for supper. 'twas good ☺️.

[Quof]

I typically cook turkey parts, rather than a whole turkey, then throw the bones in a bag in the freezer.  Today I finally had enough to make stock, so I made browned turkey stock 

https://www.seriouseats.com/brown-turkey-stock-recipe

then used it to make Italian Wedding Soup. 

[Anela]

I made some fries in my air fryer, and it didn't mess up this time. 20 minutes, around 375 degrees, after soaking in water for a long time, then drying them off, adding oil and seasonings. Nice and soft, the way I like them, slightly crunchy on some ends. Salt and vinegar completed them.

I also had some sausage patties to eat, so cooked them, too.

[Ancaster]

I didn't have any plans for today (Thanksgiving), which is fine by me.  I planned to have an early dinner yesterday at a Thai place next door to where I've just moved, with extra dishes so I'd have loads of leftovers for today.  What a disappointment :-(  I'd had great food at their sister restaurant before, but this was not good.  I think the waiter, in retrospect, was new and inexperienced, and I suppose the chef is probably different than the one I'd eaten at before.  So, a bad crispy tofu app, and a super fiery glass noodle larb salad last night, and boring pan fried garlic green beans  and mediocre tom kha today.  Only the rice was good (surprisingly, since I've found it's often something Asian restaurants cheap out on unless you're going high end).

After that sad brunch today, I just finished a great Thanksgiving toasted cheese sandwich with English Cheddar and Gruyere and Branstons pickles (kind of chutney) with butter lettuce salad that I made myself.  I am reluctantly deciding that with rising food prices and lowering food quality, I am better off cooking for myself and saving going out for high end restaurants and to like minded friends'.  The (former) great cheap and cheerful places just don't seem to be doing it for me these days.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Ancaster
Add yesterday to make sense

[annzeepark914]

Hungarian Goulash & noodles, with a tossed salad. I found the recipe for the goulash back in the early days (for me at least) of the internet. 

[DearEvette]

I made a Cacio e pepe that tasted of peppery perfection! For such a simple dish with only three/four ingredients tops, it can be either hit or miss for me when I make it.

So it becomes about technique and balance. And my dish last night was the perfect balance of the noodles being just right level of al dente and the sauce being just the right texture of creaminess and cheesiness and the pepper being bright pop in each bite but not too overwhelming.