What Did We Eat Today?

[Mountainair]

For lunch tomorrow I'm making America's Test Kitchen Chicken Tortilla Soup. It's a favorite of mine and sounds perfect for this cold weather! I prepared it today since I'm starting to feel under the weather. In fact I did all my cooking chores today so I can take it easy tonight and tomorrow. 

Tonight I made some yummy Cheese Steaks (with real steak) and curly fries. We ended up having steak last night for my mom's birthday so the Chicken Tortilla Soup will be a nice beef break :)

[annzeepark914]

I make the copycat California Pizza Kitchen chicken tortilla soup which is just like the original.  Well, tonight I made Shrimp Curry and it will be the last time I do anything with shrimp.  Why the heck can I no longer buy shrimp that doesn't taste like the smell of almost-past-it shrimp?  It makes no difference where I buy it or the source (Wegman's, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods...fresh or frozen...Atlantic Ocean or a farm in Belize, etc).  What are they doing to the shrimp after catching them???  I've bought shrimp for years and always had good luck but not in the past year or so. Something's going on.

[chessiegal]

I buy my shrimp from a local seafood market. They only buy their shrimp from US Gulf shrimpers, and they're always wonderful.

[biakbiak]

Sausages, saurekraut, melted comté open faced sandwiches on rye and a green salad with a garlic confit dressing.

Edited January 7, 2018 by biakbiak

[MargeGunderson]

Pumpkin stuffed with baguette, gruyere cheese, apple chicken sausage, thyme, and heavy cream. Oh, and I made runsas for lunch this week. They are slightly sweet buns stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, cabbage and onion, and a slice of American cheese. So delicious. 

[PRgal]

Tonight?  I'm attempting to cook turkey drumsticks in my Instant Pot.  I'm not sure how long to cook them for.  I was thinking between 15-20 minutes for pressure cooking on high.  I have two drumsticks and they're between 1/2 and 2/3 lb each including the bone.  Package says 534 grams and they're more or less evenly sized).  They'll likely be cooked with apple chunks and onions (how I typically cook turkey) and served with vegetables of some sort and either quinoa or rice.

 

Thoughts? 

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

Thoughts? 

My guess would be 15 minutes should be enough, but I'm still an instant pot novice.

 

I cooked a bunch yesterday, as the combination of super cold weather, the need to clean up some Christmas decorations, and the need to pay for everything Christmas had me in the house most of the day and not either working outside or starting up any new projects. 

Made pizza for lunch, that goes over well with the kids. Pulled some pesto out of the freezer that I think I made in July to dot the pizza. For dinner I made my grandmother's very northern Italian chicken and mushrooms. My dad makes it very close to how my grandmother made it. I changed it up to suit how I eat. The sauce is the same, but instead of a cut up fryer, I use exclusively boneless thighs, and instead of the dried mushrooms he uses, I just saute down a whole bunch of little brown mushrooms in the same pan after I brown and remove the meat. 

 

I think today, as the next three nights I have assignments to bring my daughter to activities, I'll try to cook some stuff that will also work as a second quick meal on Wednesday or Thursday to help me out. Maybe some mac and cheese for the girl, and I have some ground turkey that I could cook with taco seasoning to make burritos for the boy. 

[biakbiak]

 Hatch chili mac and cheese and leftover chocolate pudding pie from my GG party.

[PRgal]

4 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

My guess would be 15 minutes should be enough, but I'm still an instant pot novice.

 

 

Thanks, @JTMacc99.  I did 18 minutes and it was fall-of-the-bone meat!  :)  I probably could have used slightly less water, though.  

[EllieH]

We're working on eating down the freezer, so last night was chicken, sweet potato fries and peas, followed by some homemade vanilla ice cream

[Athena]

2 hours ago, EllieH said:

We're working on eating down the freezer, so last night was chicken, sweet potato fries and peas, followed by some homemade vanilla ice cream

We are doing the same and I made a chicken pasta soup from a frozen chicken carcass and some frozen bone in chicken breasts for Sunday dinner. Still a bit to go, but we don't have a chest freezer. 

[Mindthinkr]

App: I deseeded half of a cherry tomato and popped a small mozzarella ball wrapped in basil. Then I drizzled them with aged balsamic vinegar. They're addictive. Main: Spaghetti made from fresh sweet tomatoes with perponchini, onion, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and basil topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Apple strudel for desert (if there's room in our bellies). 

[Quof]

Dessert goes in the esophagus.

[chessiegal]

I'm taking the night off. Since it got so cold, and then snow on the grill, I've been doing a lot of cooking. This afternoon I got full size salads with chicken for both of us from Panera.

[film noire]

Bucatini with Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce (I could eat the whole pot with just a piece of bread).

[annzeepark914]

Tonight will be meatloaf (Bubbie's meatloaf by Dave Lieberman), Zucchini & Fennel Saute, and baked potatoes.  Last night's dinner was a great clam sauce made with TJ's Arrabbiatta marinara, half a jar of Belletierre's marinara, some white wine (actually FRE Chardonnay) and seasonings along with clams. 

[Mindthinkr]

Tonight is Red Beans and Rice. I'm using Camelia brand red beans that my bestie shipped up from New Orleans. I began with the trinity (celery, onion and green peppers) and cooked it all with the beans (soaked overnight) and Andouille sausage. I will make a topping of died onion, green and red peppers, and celery. Pass the Hot Sauce lol. 

[chessiegal]

Putting the grill master back to work - grilled marinated salmon filet, steamed broccoli, and leftover mashed potatoes.

[EllieH]

Cold front blew through yesterday, so it was a good night for grilled cheese and tomato soup.

[Zola]

Home made Chicken Bhuna curry and boiled rice.  My partner requested this as she loves my Bhunas :)

 

chicken breast fillets, diced
medium onions, finely chopped
crushed garlic cloves
fresh root ginge
chopped tomatoes
ground turmeric
chilli powder
ground coriander powder
ground cumin
mild curry paste
fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
green chillies
 

Edited January 12, 2018 by Zola

[JTMacc99]

Well, it is National Curried Chicken Day. 

I have a pizza dough in the fridge. I think that will be dinner for the people who aren't me in my house. I'll probably just go salad, maybe with some chicken breast and/or hard boiled egg. Now that I'm temporarily counting calories again, I need to save some points for booze later tonight.

[Zola]

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

Well, it is National Curried Chicken Day. 

I have a pizza dough in the fridge. I think that will be dinner for the people who aren't me in my house. I'll probably just go salad, maybe with some chicken breast and/or hard boiled egg. Now that I'm temporarily counting calories again, I need to save some points for booze later tonight.

I had no idea it was "NCCD". We don't have that many "National blah blah" days in the UK. But for the record, my Chicken Bhuna was delicious :)

[Mindthinkr]

Grouper baked with garlic, shallots, lemon and parsley. Trying some of the bacon wrapped scallops from Trader Joe's as well. The sides will be fennel and some fried potatoes. 

[chessiegal]

We're having crab cakes from The Fresh Market. I had been buying them at Whole Foods, but they stopped making them last week. I asked this morning why they weren't selling them, and the fish monger said they didn't have crab because it had been a bad year for crabs. That's bullshit. MD had a good year for crabs. Next time I'm there I'll make sure to see if they're selling fresh MD crab meat (didn't look this morning). If they do, I'll be complaining. I make a decent crab cake - I use 8 oz. backfin and 8 oz. lump, which makes 4 crab cakes , so dinner for 2 nights. It was just easier to buy two already made. FM's aren't as good.

Edited January 13, 2018 by chessiegal

[mansonlamps]

On 1/11/2018 at 2:54 PM, Mindthinkr said:

Tonight is Red Beans and Rice. I'm using Camelia brand red beans that my bestie shipped up from New Orleans. I began with the trinity (celery, onion and green peppers) and cooked it all with the beans (soaked overnight) and Andouille sausage. I will make a topping of died onion, green and red peppers, and celery. Pass the Hot Sauce lol. 

My mom grew up in Baton Rouge Louisiana, daughter of Italian immigrants.  Red beans and rice was a favorite of my childhood, but ours was different from most recipes I see. My mother would be horrified by green peppers LOL, but mostly ours was always made with smoked butt rather than Andouille sausage.  No idea why, but to this day it's still one of my favorites.

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, mansonlamps said:

My mom grew up in Baton Rouge Louisiana, daughter of Italian immigrants.  Red beans and rice was a favorite of my childhood, but ours was different from most recipes I see. My mother would be horrified by green peppers LOL, but mostly ours was always made with smoked butt rather than Andouille sausage.  No idea why, but to this day it's still one of my favorites.

I lived there for many years and would make it with many different meats. I won't even tell you what my friend used when money was so low but it can even be made vegetarian. I have rarely met a version that I didn't like. I'm happy to hear that you have fond memories of that dish too. Comfort food. 

[EllieH]

Chicken baked with enchilada sauce, with rice and green beans

[biakbiak]

Took some chicken broth from the freezer added some ginger, garlic, cilantro and scallioms and then added some pork shumai from a local dumpling place and made a dumpling soup.

[Bastet]

I'm running low on chicken stock, so a fresh batch is simmering away on the stove, and I'm going to make noodle nests so I can make Deborah Madison's Chard and Cilantro Soup With Noodle Nests for lunches next week (I only eat soup for lunch; it's a rule <g>).  I'd been flipping through her Local Flavors cookbook, looking for ideas for cool weather greens, and realized I hadn't made this soup in eons. 

You make nests by mixing fine egg noodles (e.g. capellini), with egg yolks, whipped egg whites, Monterey Jack cheese, and chopped cilantro, to form what look like bird nests.  Float them in oil until golden and drain, then drop one into each bowl of a soup made with scallions, cilantro, chard, and celery.  Yum! 

Right now, I'm watching football and snacking on a toasted baguette topped with cooked endive, (Italian) Fontina cheese, and thin-sliced prosciutto.

[MargeGunderson]

22 hours ago, chessiegal said:

We're having crab cakes from The Fresh Market. I had been buying them at Whole Foods, but they stopped making them last week. I asked this morning why they weren't selling them, and the fish monger said they didn't have crab because it had been a bad year for crabs. That's bullshit. MD had a good year for crabs. Next time I'm there I'll make sure to see if they're selling fresh MD crab meat (didn't look this morning). If they do, I'll be complaining. I make a decent crab cake - I use 8 oz. backfin and 8 oz. lump, which makes 4 crab cakes , so dinner for 2 nights. It was just easier to buy two already made. FM's aren't as good.

It’s Crab Bash at my local Fresh Market and I really wanted to get some crab cakes but it’s pantry clean out month, plus I already have a ham in the fridge. I like Fresh Market’s crab cakes, but I grew up in a landlocked state so I think my standards are pretty low. 

I’m making ham, potato gratin, green beans, and homemade Parker House rolls.

Edited January 14, 2018 by MargeGunderson

[chessiegal]

There's a locally owned seafood market that only carries fresh MD crab. I've gotten so used to that that anything that's pasteurized or comes from South America just doesn't taste as good. They sell pre-made jumbo lump crab cakes - for $19.99 a piece. My husband's birthday is coming up - I think I'll splurge and get them for his birthday dinner.

[Mindthinkr]

17 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

There's a locally owned seafood market that only carries fresh MD crab. I've gotten so used to that that anything that's pasteurized or comes from South America just doesn't taste as good. They sell pre-made jumbo lump crab cakes - for $19.99 a piece. My husband's birthday is coming up - I think I'll splurge and get them for his birthday dinner.

That's a wonderful treat for a birthday dinner. I agree with you that Maryland crabs are great but Louisiana has good crabs too. 

[chessiegal]

14 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

That's a wonderful treat for a birthday dinner. I agree with you that Maryland crabs are great but Louisiana has good crabs too. 

I think the key is fresh. Caught, picked, packed, and sold in a short amount of time. Since we're always dodging crab pots when boating in the Chesapeake, I feel like I've earned a good crab cake. ;-}

[BW Manilowe]

11 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

That's a wonderful treat for a birthday dinner. I agree with you that Maryland crabs are great but Louisiana has good crabs too. 

Before my Dad died, my Mom would usually order him a shipment of Stone Crab (maybe just the legs/claws, I can't remember for sure now), sometimes from Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant in Miami, sometimes not, for either his birthday, Christmas, or sometimes both. He loved that stuff.

[BW Manilowe]

Since we're talking about shellfish (sort of), I feel like I should pass this article  along, for those who may like raw shellfish but haven't heard about this. I don't mean to gross anyone out, just passing along info to anyone here who particularly likes raw shellfish:

A woman in the Texas/Louisiana area died from coming into contact with a serious bacteria, called Vibrio. Contact was made either through "brackish" water containing the bacteria getting into an open wound somewhere on the skin, while she & her companion(s) were gathering a shellfish dinner (I think the article said it was for the victim's birthday dinner), or by ingesting the raw shellfish they gathered (in this case oysters) which were contaminated with the bacteria (& presumably not cleaned well enough to decontaminate them before eating, if it's even possible to remove the bacteria that way).

By the way, the bacteria mentioned isn't "flesh-eating" in the way that Necrotizing Fasciitis (the probably best-known "flesh-eating" bacteria) is. But it apparently does cause skin sores on those who have it. Unfortunately, despite getting to the hospital, eventually, & undergoing treatment, the woman involved passed about 3 weeks after becoming sick.

Edited January 15, 2018 by BW Manilowe
Replaced linked article with another which still links to an article on the subject matter I posted about.

[Mindthinkr]

3 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Before my Dad died, my Mom would usually order him a shipment of Stone Crab (maybe just the legs/claws, I can't remember for sure now), sometimes from Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant in Miami, sometimes not, for either his birthday, Christmas, or sometimes both. He loved that stuff.

Joe's Stone Crabs do just usually come with just  their claw as they can be removed from the crab and then the crab can get gently be tossed back into the water to grow another claw (usually bigger). I've always heard that Joe's is the most famous spot in Miami for them (and they ship). Snow Crab season is Oct 15-May 15.

Good warning about the consumption of raw seafood. 

[JTMacc99]

So I'm doing a bit of a course correction here at the start of the year. Need my skinniest of pants to fit again. It's unacceptable that they do not. 

Therefore, I dove back into my Weight Watchers and other healthy recipe collections, just see if there were any new items I might want to try and to dust off some older ones I liked.

Last night was just a spinach salad (mushrooms, egg) with grilled chicken. Over the weekend I also made use of a couple pounds of very lean ground turkey to make a batch of whole wheat chili mac. It's better with the ground beef that is called for in the recipe, but not bad with the 98% turkey plus it's even healthier. That one is something I've been making for a couple years. It's about as close to comfort food as somebody trying to lose weight can get.

I also made a big batch of this taco filling from what they're calling Turkey Flatout Taco Cups. I didn't do the taco cup thing. It's pretty good on it's own, and I decided to serve it on a tortilla instead. Next time I might make it without adding the chipotle directly into the whole batch as it ended up being a little spice for my son. I can just hit my serving with chipotle hot sauce for the same effect.

The rest of this week will feature leftovers of this stuff and new ways to eat the rest of the grilled chicken. 

The sooner I'm done dieting, the better. I had to really finagle my food intake on Saturday to make room for the couple of craft beers I planned on drinking that night.

[MargeGunderson]

January is pantry challenge and I didn’t feel like cooking tonight, so it was a random mix of appetizers. Leftover devils on horseback that I froze after Christmas, Brie and cranberry wrappef in filo from Trader Joe’s and mashed potato bites with cheddar and bacon covered in panko crumbs from Fresh Market. 2 boxes and one bag gone from my freezer! 

[biakbiak]

Still trying to work out my sous vide machine so did fried chicken and chocolate cheesecake (so freaking delicious!) With it, baked beans and potato salad in the instantpot (at different times).

[Zola]

A few weeks back I tried my hand at Chicken Thai Red Curry, for myself to begin with. And really enjoyed it. So I did the same again for some invited guests, and they too said how nice it was. But a couple of them suggested trying the Green Curry version (using green peppers rather than red), as they're not overly keen on really hot spicy foods.

So tonight I will treat myself to a Chicken Thai Green Curry (I hope it won't be too bland because I do like spices in my dishes)

chicken breast fillets - diced

Thai green curry paste

olive oil

coconut milk

onions - finally chopped

crushed garlic cloves

green pepper - chopped

baby aubergines, halved

baby courgettes, stalks trimmed

fresh basil leaves - chopped

chopped coriander leaves

Edited January 16, 2018 by Zola

[annzeepark914]

Tonight will be grilled portobello mushrooms with sauted onions & peppers, and aioli on rolls + a tossed salad (with a new ginger soy dressing I made today).  It's too cold to grill outside so I'll slice the mushrooms and cook on a grill pan on the stove.  I love winter but geez...it's a tad bit too nippy for me this year.

[chessiegal]

Last night I made Trader Joe's lemon-thyme chicken (so moist and flavorful), so tonight I'm making chicken noodle soup with the leftover chicken.

[DeLurker]

I've just finished prepping the Peruvian style roasted chicken I am making for tonight's dinner.  Theoretically it was going to be last night's dinner, but I forgot about the time it needed to marinate. 

I've never made it before - just tripped across a recipe and it sounded good.  I looked up a couple of other recipes for it to see what variants are out there and then I usually hobble a recipe that take a little from each.  I guess it is supposed to be done on a grill, but the first recipe I found was for roasting in the oven so I am sticking with that.

I also spatchcocked (?) it myself.  A couple of the recipes I read called for that and described the process so I gave it a shot.  May not be as beauteous as TJs or a butcher, but not bad for a newbie!

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, DeLurker said:

 

I also spatchcocked (?) it myself.  A couple of the recipes I read called for that and described the process so I gave it a shot.  May not be as beauteous as TJs or a butcher, but not bad for a newbie!

Good work! You have to be pretty brave the first time you do it and just go for it. With every time you keep doing it, it will get easier and prettier. Congratulations and I hope that your Peruvian chicken comes out well. 

[DeLurker]

I liked how it turned out, although it did not get that lovely skin color shown in the pictures.  I'd like to try making it on a grill though too.

Spatchcocking wasn't actually too hard with a good pair of kitchen shears so I'll be trying this again.  I often bake whole chickens but the skin on the underside never gets that nice color - this technically solves that.  And the backbone just goes into my designated Bone Bag in the freezer for broth.

[biakbiak]

Making a vegetarian thai green curry for a vegan friend and the store was out of vegetarian fish sauce so googled and found a substitute which is a shitake mushroom broth with a lot of soy sauce and then reduced and I thoight it was a great subsitute, I froze the extra in half fikked ice cube trays to use in the future. 

[chessiegal]

Woke up at 5 am with a cold, and have spent the day in the bedroom in my recliner with a quilt across my lap, watching TV. My husband ran the dishwasher this morning, and this afternoon I heard him emptying it. Now he's making scrambled eggs and bacon for dinner. I'm one lucky girl.

[Fairfax]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Woke up at 5 am with a cold, and have spent the day in the bedroom in my recliner with a quilt across my lap, watching TV. My husband ran the dishwasher this morning, and this afternoon I heard him emptying it. Now he's making scrambled eggs and bacon for dinner. I'm one lucky girl.

Yes you are -- wish I had a dishwasher!

[chessiegal]

The snow melted on the deck and grill, so we made the Trader Joe's herb and garlic beef sirloin steak with chimichurri sauce. Our first try and it was quite good. It's enough for at least 4 servings, so leftovers tomorrow.  

[JTMacc99]

Excellent idea. It’s going to be mid-40s today, so grilling weather for me. Probably chicken burgers from my local butcher.