So...whats for dinner?

april485

Yummm Minus!

I have had food made with piri piri before and loved it. They are African chili peppers known as "Bird's Eye" Chilis. I had Piri Piri chicken at a Portugese influenced restaurant. Actually, my friend ordered it and I tasted it and loved it so we shared our lunches and I got to eat half of it. That was plenty as it was spicy but still had a wonderful flavor.

You can buy the chilis in dried form from Penzeys or even Whole Foods these days as this is becoming very popular in the US.

ChiSandy

Special, have you found that Invisligns put a serious damper on your going out to eat or dining in general? Just got mine today, and having to take it out to eat, then brush/floss/rinse before putting it back in seems like a royal pain---especially since total eating/cleaning time isn't supposed to exceed 4 hrs. a day. And since my teeth haven't started to hurt yet, when I took the aligner out I had a pastrami on marble rye for dinner--and the crust caused one of the little "attachment" anchors to come unglued from my R canine. Almost swallowed it~!

carolehalston

Last night was a prime rib eye and boiled small red potatoes with butter and sour cream. Wonderful meal. And so easy.

Tonight will be crab cakes. If we aren't blown away before dinner time. The weather forecast is dire for this afternoon and tonight. We're in the danger zone for high winds and tornadoes.

SpecialK

chisandy - Invisalign is certainly an adjustment! I don't go out to eat all that often so the whole bringing a toothbrush with me thing wasn't that much of an issue, but I imagine it will be for you! I tended to remove my trays and put them in the case before I went in to the restaurant, and then not put them back until I got home. The exception was if I was going somewhere else after dining out. My dentist wanted me to be wearing them 22 hours out of 24, so I learned to only eat when I was really serious and I ate more rapidly - usually when I was home, lol! In all honesty I did not always wear the trays that many hours every single day, I doubt anyone does. My case ( and possibly yours as well) was complicated by receiving Prolia, and it slowed me down considerably so be prepared for that, my teeth just didn't want to move. I was an exceptional responder on Prolia though - so maybe it will not be a problem for you. My dentist had several patients on Prolia and they experienced slowing as well. What should have taken a year or less, took two full years for me and I only really needed bottom straightening, my uppers were good although I wore full mouth for the whole time. I was also treated with massive steroids for two months when I lost my hearing and I had zero progress during that time as steroids are contraindicated for Invisalign. What you may not know yet is that you have to wear trays - after the attachments have been removed from your newly straightened teeth - for that same 22 hours a day, for an entire year, so nothing changes for that year after you are done with the actual straightening. I believe that after a year you switch to just wearing the trays nightly. I was told that in addition to only drinking water or clear liquids with the trays on I could have white wine, champagne or a wine spritzer - this was after my husband's high school reunion where I was running about taking my trays in and out all night, ha!

auntienance

Spent the morning cleaning out and reorganizing the laundry room/pantry. It looks much more presentable. Where did all these aluminum containers come from? (Trick question. They came from Costco. They're great for packaging food to give away, but apparently I've never thrown one away. And why are there twice as many lids as containers?) Mysteries of the universe.

I also spent some time organizing my drawers using the Marie Kondo folding method. I've never seen even one of her videos but I read an article that demonstrated the folding method. Amazing - the woman's a genius - all of my t shirts fit easily into one drawer and actually closes without effort. I haven't figured out bras yet though.

The calzone looks great, haven't made them in a while. May have to be Saturday's menu.

Tonight is taco Thursday with black beans and some kind of salad. I wish I had an avocado but I don't and I don't want it badly enough to drive to town to get one.

auntienance

Carole - stay out of those tornadoes! That's the only thing I hate about spring.

ChiSandy

Okay--here comes the food porn from my trip:

Here are my dining companions at the rijsttafel dinner in Amsterdam, and my plate piled high from the passed-around dishes:

te

The dinner didn't include dessert, as we had to vacate the place (Indrapura) by 8 pm, so we returned to the Sofitel Grand Canal Hotel's "Flying Dutchman" bar for a genever digestif and the classic dessert Paris-Brest (shaped like a bike wheel to commemorate a bicycle race from Paris to Brest, on the NW coast of France):

Salmon sushi and Pavlova at the restaurant in the David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem:

ChiSandy

Next, after a day of hiking on Masada and floating in the Dead Sea (no, you don't wanna see me in a swimsuit and shower cap), back to our hotel. There was some sort of political rally/concert taking place outside, which I photographed from my balcony (those sre the walls of the Old City, by Jaffa Gate):

Had dinner at the nearby Happy Fish rooftop restaurant in the Mamilla St. Market, an upscale outdoor shopping arcade. The market was built on land that used to be a slum, but some of the buildings dated back several centuries and were preserved, stone by stone, to be reassembled in the new market. The numbers you see on each block are not grafitti--they were written to indicate where they belonged when reconstructed:

I had fish shwarma (with Tunisian couscous, pickled root veggies and insanely silky hummus) but I had stopped taking pix of my meals for awhile because I couldn't convert the HEIC files from my phone-cam to my iPad. But something else captured my attention: I kept hearing barking, but when I looked for the dogs, instead I saw feral cats chasing each other. Apparently, they taught themselves to bark to make it likelier that diners would slip them some morsels--dogs are pets in Israel but cats are mostly strays, trapped & neutered and returned to the streets as rodent-exterminators. Here's one (sorry for the lousy color balance):

Turns out that blue-tented stage was part of the Old City Lights Fest, which is a nightly audiovisual sound & light show projected on the Old City walls:

Next, various exotic (to our American palates) fruits, veggies, meats, pastries, etc. at the Mahane Yehuda marketplace tour (with our guide, David Kichka, an Israeli food TV personality):

Pickles & Yemenite pastry:

Leeks:

Artichokes:

Strange veggie, like a cross between a zucchini/cucumber/pepino melon/winter melon--extremely short season:

Fava beans (sans the liver of an IRS agent and a nice Chianti):

Center: beef shanks. Left: chicken hearts. Right: Kosher version of "Rocky Mt. Oysters" (turkey testicles):

Jerusalem artichokes (from Jerusalem but not artichokes):

Typical produce stand:

Entrance to a very weird smoothie stand (Bizarre Bazaar?):

Facades:

Smoothies (some weird, some not):

Two very strange smoothies:

Smoothie stand owner, "etrog" enterpreneur (he also makes skin care stuff from citrons) and one of the lawyers on our tour:

Our guide with the etrog (citron) and gat leaves (illegal in US & EU, together they make EtroGat smoothie:

Lox:

Bet you've never seen, much less eaten. a fresh raw green almond!

Oldest stall (>100 yrs) in the market:

Fresh aka "moist" dates (there's a pun here and I'm not gonna make it):

Date trio: Medjool, fresh, Deglet noor:

Olive mart:

Kube (deep-fried lamb-filled croquettes):

Ethiopian mart:

Taste of Chicago, East (note Blackhawks banner):

Georgian pastries (like an omelet/empanada/calzone):

Tropical & familiar fruits

Jerusalem "kugel" (sweet):

Persian spice mart:

Our guide at ShukCafe:

Roaster at ShukCafe:

Getting late--post some Tel Aviv tomorrow.

HikingLady

ChiSandy Thanks for sharing all this!!!! I am a food-obsessed person, and loved hitching a ride along on your trip by seeing those lovely photos, and also the previous ones.

I'm new here! I love to cook, and love to eat good food. I don't think I've posted on this thread before, but I've been reading it for awhile, for inspiration! I'm really just getting my bearings again about preparing food and enjoying it, after going through a traumatizing time in 2018, with foot surgery + breast cancer treatment.

DH and I just had a 9-day trip to Kauai. It was my huge reward for being healed and strong enough to enjoy hiking and snorkeling, which we did!

Back home now, I've been inspired by our food there to create some teriyaki sauces using my new guava jam I picked up on our trip. Made pork ribs with that sauce + roasted baby potatoes + many stir-fried vegetables with some sesame oil and ginger yesterday, and will marinate, then bake chicken thighs in another gingery sweet-n-sour sauce today and serve with brown rice and other veggies. For tomorrow, I'm using some of the (oven-baked with a rub, then finished on grill with my sauce) leftover pork from the ribs + brown rice to make a fun fried rice, adding lots of veggies and a new, very intense soy sauce I found in a Chinese market in my neighborhood.

In Hawaii, I bought some of this seasoning, which is used to pep up the rice in sushi and other dishes. It's a Japanese condiment, and I am adding it to the brown rice for fun. It has Nori + dried vegetables + dried shrimp bits, and it adds some color and fun flavors to any rice dish.

carolehalston

Very interesting, Sandy. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to more photos.

Our dinner last night was very good. Crab cakes, steamed asparagus and a romaine salad with favorite additions and dressed wtth olive oil and white balsamic. The asparagus was cooked perfectly. Dh made a remoulade sauce that went well with the crab cakes.

I think we'll have shrimp tonight and use up one of the packages in the freezer. Several veggie choices in the refrigerator and more salad makings.

auntienance

Great pictures Sandy, LOVE the olive mart. That would be my first stop.

Lacey12

Cool pix, Sandy. Thanks for the travelogue! At the food market I especially loved the images of the dates, olives, and those piles of Persian spices. I actually do have access to raw almonds at a local Middle Eastern grocery store I frequent, but have yet to buy them.

Welcome HL! Happy for your recovery and that you had such a nice trip to celebrate it. That spice looks interesting.

We rarely eat red meat, but I decided it was about time to have a brief indulgence. So, last night we had one of our faves....lamburgers. I prepared them by mixing in fresh garlic, rosemary powder, salt and pepper, and crumbled feta cheese. We had them on toasted kaiser rolls with red leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion (apologies, Carole). I use ketchup and dijon mustard on my roll. We hadn't had these for many months so it was a good treat! We also had a cucumber salad that I dressed with kalamata olives, red onion and chopped orange bell pepper. Last side was fresh (but clearly well traveled corn on the cob (am guessing from Florida?). It was a summery dinner for a raw coolish day. No complaints about our weather, tho, knowing what the mid-west and southern states are enduring. Stay safe everyone!

ChiSandy

Glad I took that market tour before getting my Invisalign (just the top teeth), because I have to take it out to eat and then brush, floss, rinse it and put it back in as soon as I'm done. No nice clean ladies' room to do that at a foreign market! Have to keep it in 20-22 hrs/day, so I have to be careful about planning my eating. Having a quiet Passover at home tonight--Bob wanted to go out to Cellars, but it looks like restaurants are going to be a PITA for me. Tomorrow night's temple Seder will run nearly 3 hrs. (so breakfast will have to be fast & lunch nonexistent), and Sunday's Easter brunch at least 2 hrs.

Last night was Bob's leftover filet mignon Oscar, roasted Brussels sprouts and Caesar salad. Tonight, our mini-Seder will be matzo ball soup (my broth will be chicken, Bob's vegetarian--it's Good Friday and he's Catholic), Caesar salad with sardines, the "Hillel sandwich" (which tonight will be with Israeli haroseth--very dense and almost jammy, so I cut it with crushed matzo & cashews and a little cider--horseradish, and Israeli "shmura" matzo). Then gefilte fish and green beans, with all sorts of gooey Passover candies & snacks for dessert. More conventional Seder tomorrow, of course--have to remind Bob not to have meat during the day as the main course is always roast chicken.

eric95us

Hi.. HL....My wife and I, too, like to hike. Grand Canyon, White Tank Mtns, Superstition Mtns, Kendrick Pk...all in Arizona.

Chi...Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That looked both good and fun. I was glad to be able to at least take a look.

DD talked Sharon trying veganism, and I'm going along for "the ride". Last night Sharon made a pasta dish with vegetable (carrots, broccoli, onion, garlic, eggplant), ginger and mushroom stir fried in sesame oil. It was VERY good. It used some of the now dried Birds Eye peppers that I grew last year and I think the pepper's taste fit into the dish very nicely.

This year I'm growing Serrano Peppers in the back yard. When I've grown these in the past, I've boiling water canned some (in 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water) and dried some. I slit the canned ones to make sure the "juice" can get into the pepper fairly quickly.

Tonight I cooked a bean "burger"....Sharon liked it, but I think the spices need some adjustment. I've cooked quite a bit of vegan stuff for DD and the spices are what makes or breaks the dish. The "next time try" note is to use more of all the spices except the pepper. After that, I may try some diced onion in the "burger".

It turns out the move toward vegan wasn't that much of a move from where we had been eating. At one physical exam, my total cholesterol was at 201 mg/dl (1 "point" over the "limit") and the NP gave me a book that stressed a mostly plants for food diet. Following the book's advice dropped my total cholesterol to the mid 140s. Oddly enough my HDL remained at 39, despite all of my exercise.

Carole, I hope the tornadoes just stay away from everyone...everywhere.

DD just called, "Dad, this Sunday, can you make a double batch of sourdough rolls?" Now, to figure out what else to cook. :-)

MinusTwo

Hiking Lady - glad to see you over here. Kauai is my favorite island. Loved reading about everyone's meals.

For dunch, I sauteed mushrooms with garlic and thin pork loin medallions then simmered with a brandy cream sauce & served on noodles. I think the addition of a 'glop' of Dijon mustard is a winner. I don't usually fool with Bechamel for myself, but it turned out to be very good.

carolehalston

Last night was large breaded shrimp (Louisiana fish fry breading) cooked in the air fryer. Over-cooked a little but still good. Home-made tartar sauce (made by dh). Sauteed zucchini, browned in a small amount of butter. Slices of lightly buttered French bread heated in oven.

Eric, I'll be interested in your vegan meals. And also in whether you continue to find them satisfying. I smiled at your daughter's request for double batches of rolls. What is the menu for vegan Easter dinner?

Lacey, your lamb burger sounded good. You do like your onions as much as I dislike them!

Tomorrow morning I will be boiling a smoked shoulder ham, making a mashed potato salad and also a large tossed salad with romaine and additions. Instead of blue cheese I will put coarse grated parm reg in the salad and use a Caesar dressing. We will transport the food to my sister's house where the family will gather. I'm thinking this will be the last family meal with my mother. She has been visibly failing in body and mind as to be expected with her age and health issues.

Tonight will probably be chicken thighs, yet to be purchased.

MountainMia

First time in this topic. Last night we had small portions of salmon filet, steamed broccoli, and green salad. Tonight dinner will be chicken tortilla soup my best friend made. And tomorrow for Easter, we'll have ham, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus, and rhubarb pie. Daughter and her 2 children will join us. I told Daughter to bring something she knows the kids will eat besides the ham. I think she'll do a pan of macaroni and cheese and some cut veggies. And I doubt the kids will eat my pie, so maybe something else for dessert, too.

auntienance

Carole, I'm so sorry about your mom, it's so difficult watching their decline. How nice that's she's able to get out to celebrate with your family tomorrow. I think my dad missed that ability most of all.

Tonight is calzone and a salad. I'm also making a raspberry and whipped cream Swiss roll for dessert. Tomorrow we are going to friends for Easter brunch. If we have any appetite for supper, I'll warm a ham butt, sautee some asparagus and tiny new potatoes. If we're too stuffed from brunch, a distinct possibility, it will be omelets for dinner and the ham for Monday night.

Happy Passover and Easter my friends.

Beaverntx

Welcome, Hiking Lady and MountainMia!

Last night was our usual Friday dinner of homemade pizza. This time I made individual crusts. Our granddaughter is here for the weekend so we had a variety of toppings. Tonight will be planned overs of layered chicken enchilada casserole since we plan to be out and about today. Easter dinner plans are for ham, baked sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus with balsamic browned butter sauce, pickled eggs and beets, green salad, and dinner rolls.

ChiSandy

Last night was our informal (no Haggadah reading, no ceremony) Seder-for-two. Started with matzo balls in broth (Bob's vegan and mine chicken); then Caesar salad with sardines; then handmade matzo from Israel--made into the Hillel sandwich (symbolic of the bitter with the sweet) of grated horsersadish and charoset (the common Ashkenazi version being a mash of crushed matzo, sweet red wine, chopped apples, sometimes raisins, and cinnamon). I had a jar of the Israeli Sephardic version--more palatable than the little hard truffle-like paste ball served at the Sephardic Seder I once attended in Madrid--which is a jammy spread made of the above ingredients but based on dates and pureed. I added some chopped cashews, matzo and a little apple juice to thin it out so it was a little less gluey. Entree was gefilte fish and roasted green beans. Dessert was chocolate-covered macaroons & Passover candy.

Tonight at temple will be more trad. Reporting back later.

ChiSandy

OK--temple Seder started with chicken matzo ball soup; then the ritual foods (apple charoset, really HOT horseradish, hard-boiled eggs, parsley, saltwater and of course matzo). Dinner was roast chicken (meatless lasagna for the vegetarians), honey carrots, roast potatoes, and breaded (with matzo meal) zucchini cutlets. Surprisingly, no dessert. (In previous years, it was either sorbet, fruit compote or coconut macaroons). 3 hours long. Bob was a really good sport about it.

I threw my back out (sudden spasm) earlier--took Tylenol, baclofen and a hot shower, then did several piriformis stretches till I could manage to do my hair and dress. Bob walked but I took a Lyft (and a cane just in case). We walked home together. Hopefully, we can both walk to brunch at noon.

Happy Passover tonight. And Happy Easter tomorrow.

eric95us

DD and MIL were going to be over for Easter dinner, so Sharon and I prepared enough food for six (so DD could take home leftovers).

DD ended up needing more time to take care of homework, so she had to bow out and MIL called and said she was too tired to come.

So, we had a small 3 course meal with just the two of us.

We made a pumpkin soup, garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized onion gravy, mushroom "stroganoff", sourdough rolls, and a fruit salad. Everything came together within about 5 minutes of each other......

We have LOTS of leftovers, so we won't be cooking for a few days.

Sharon is sitting on the couch with her banjo. As soon as she gets her banjo out, the two dogs get excited (like we are getting the leashes out for a walk) and begin to position themselves as close as possible to her. The cat then shows up, makes one of the dogs move over and he then lays down. The yellow lab is to Sharon's right. The cat is to Sharon's left and "generic black dog" is laying on her feet.

If Sharon sits on the couch without the banjo, the animals don't bother to come over, so I guess they like the banjo.

Chi...I hope your back is feeling better.....

ChiSandy

Yesterday at brunch I had tomato-basil-mozzarella quiche (yes, I at the crust & cheated on Passover because it was outside the house), mesclun salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and bourbon-pecan bread pudding for dessert. Can't eat that leftover in the house, but Bob can (or if Gordy comes over on his day off tomorrow--he couldn't take it to work with him yesterday). Late dinner was corned beef hash with diced poblano & red/yellow bell peppers & red onion, topped with an egg.

This morning I made matzo brei: soften matzo in hot water, soak in French toast batter (my secret is freshly grated nutmeg and a couple drops of Fior di Sicilia flavoring), pan-fry in butter and top with maple syrup. (Alternatively, granulated sugar). I had only the low-carb bran and egg matzos, plus a little of the handmade round Israeli "shmura" ("guarded") stuff--insanely expensive but for some reason, stale right out of the box this year. I think tomorrow I will pick up a box of regular Passover matzo.

Tonight: pan-seared Arctic char fillet, steamed asparagus with olive oil, sea salt & lemon, and Bob's leftover roasted potatoes from brunch. This was the first local asparagus of the season--delicate and thin.

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was pork piccata made with sliced pork tenderloin, steamed broccoli and tossed salad.  

Tonight will probably be seared catfish fillets with a veggie and salad.

Beaverntx

Last night was leftover pasta topped with marinara sauce, chicken breast and parmesan cheese-- kinda Chicken Parmesan the quick way. Also the ubiquitous green salad. Tonight will be some assortment of the various leftovers that are taking up space in the fridge, but I love having some there instead of starting from scratch every evening.

SpecialK

eric - I recall our vegan convo with our waiter at dinner - it will be interesting to see what you both think about doing it - I could also easily be vegan, although I do enjoy a steak now and then! Funny about the animals and the banjo - they must like it!

Dinner on Sunday was loaded deviled eggs, an old school relish platter, ham, au gratin potatoes, spinach salad with goat cheese, pecans, and apple with a raspberry vinaigrette, roasted asparagus with hollandaise, and a cheesecake with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. I have a question for the group - the cheesecake recipe was an old one from college (from my roommate who is a registered dietician, and now a PhD and professor at our alma mater, currently a Fullbright scholar in Africa at 64!) and I know some refer to it as cheese pie. I am wondering what everyone's experience is with this - graham cracker crust in a pie plate, not a springform pan. Typical combo of eggs, sugar, vanilla and cream cheese, baked until set. Cool 20 mins, then top with a thin layer of sour cream with sugar and vanilla. The texture is like cheesecake, but it looks like a pie and is shaped like one.

DH left town yesterday for the week - doing some reviewing of new military equipment around the country, will be back on Fri. I am hosting a bridal shower on Sat for my next door neighbor's daughter. A week or so later I leave with a friend for a trip to California, road trip from the bottom up to Napa where our husbands will join us for some wine tasting and relaxing.

ChiSandy

Breakfast was provolone melted atop low-carb whole wheat bran Passover matzo (talk about cross-cultural)!

Lunch was a failed experiment: the Vitamin Shoppe had a frozen three-cheese mini pizza: grain-free. Had to try it. The crust was not cauliflower, but rather ground chicken mixed with parmesan cheese. Followed directions to first nuke it and then remove the cardboard disk beneath and crisp up the crust in a preheated frypan with cooking spray (I used Spectrum Naturals Grapeseed). Well, when I nuked it, it oozed well past the disk on to the paper plate below. Took some tricky spatula-work to transfer it to the skillet, and Herculean effort to remove it without it sticking completely to the pan. Tastewise it was fine, but the crust's texture was like a squashed and seared McNugget. And one of the cheeses was cheddar--which does not belong on a pizza (nor in quiche, for that matter). Back to the drawing board.

Dinner was the rest of the corned beef hash, but with 2 cups of diced red & poblano peppers and red onion. No egg--didn't need it. Yum!

Anyway, I was bitterly disappointed with the HolyLand shmura matzo I'd bought for our mini-Seder. It was hard & stale, besides being too burnt to crisp up in the toaster oven. Good only for making matzo brei...darned expensive matzo brei. So I decided to check out the offerings at the kosher section at the Jewel in Evanston. Well, since people buy shmura matzo for their Seder tables but not the rest of Passover, all the shmura matzo was deeply, deeply discounted. That HolyLand for which I'd forked over $15 (for 3 little matzo rounds)? $4. And apparently others' impression of it was the same as mine: there was an entire pallet of it on sale, with no takers. Figured that the fact it was baked in Israel, in Dec., might have had a lot to do with its execrable texture. Unlike at Mariano's, Jewel had several brands of shmura matzo, some of it baked in Israel but others in NJ, Brooklyn, and even Montreal. There was a rabbi there stocking up for the rest of the week (it's day 4 of 8), and he pointed out the wheat and the spelt matzos from Montreal were the best he'd ever eaten. (I was skeptical: the best cardboard is usually not much better than the worst). But I got it home and tried it. WOW! 6 delicate large rounds, crispy & tasty beyond belief. Too good, in fact, to put anything on it--but I couldn't resist putting chopped liver on one piece for lunch (and cherry jam on another for dessert tonight). Bob took one bite and his face lit up. For nine bucks (down from $39) I'm getting some more tomorrow.

Oh, for those wondering what the heck is "shmura" matzo, especially because all Passover matzo can have only flour & water and must be baked no longer than 18 minutes after the dough is mixed and kneaded--lest the wild yeasts in the air cause the flour to ferment & start rising--it is matzo made from flour that has been "guarded" from harvest (to make sure the grain stays dry and doesn't ferment) to milling to hand-mixing and kneading, baking (in a stone or brick oven) and packaging. After each batch, all surfaces are scrubbed and the bakers' hands washed to remove all traces of flour or dough that could inadvertently rise. (There are some machine-made shmura matzos but they taste the same as their plain Passover counterparts--they're machine-mixed, kneaded, "docked," and baked in a conveyor or rotator oven).

(Should have warned: "geek alert").

SpecialK

chisandy - thank you for the matzo tutorial - very interesting!

ChiSandy

Made matzo meal latkes for lunch today after returning from my mani. (No recipe on the box any more, so I looked it up). I love the airy texture from folding in a whipped egg white.

Dinner was matzo ball soup, lamb shoulder chops Greek-style (garlic slivers, S&P, oregano, lemon & olive oil, seared in cast iron) and steamed Brussels sprouts.

illimae

ChiSandy, I’m not a fan of lamb but your dinner sounds great! I might try something similar with pork chops.