DefinitelyDressage.com

Yes, the garden is pumping out food now!

Last night, I roasted veggies from the garden (eggplant, zuchini, peppers, onions) and then smoked a side of salmon. Served with a lemon tahini sauce and of course some sliced heirloom tomatoes. Desert = French melon

I'm going to try my hand at Swedish meatballs today. There's lots of fresh parsley, basil and tomatoes in the garden, so caprese salad is also on the menu--again lol.

Drool-worthy dinner tonight: I seasoned a couple lamb shanks (I get amazing lamb from next door to Obie's barn) in alaea salt and white peppercorns, seared them off and then put them in the Instant Pot with a bottle of robust red wine, garlic and herbs and slow cooked for about 6 hours till falling off the bone. Made a gravy with the remaining sauce, put the shredded meat back in, then served with horseradish.

For a side dish, parnsips and leeks from the garden in a gratin with pepper, herbs and sharp cheddar. I have a new shallow enameled pan with a good lid, so I slow cooked this in the oven for about 4 hours. Nice and creamy, but also a little caramelized on top. I have tons of leeks and parsnips right now, and will be doing this one again!

Chicken thigh cutlets, browned. Spaghetti. Onions, lightly fried, with some garlic-balsamic preserve I made a long time ago (just the dregs in the jar rinsed out with water). Salt, pepper, and about 200g of frozen spinach.

Pretty damn delicious meal for a jet-lagged cook!

Egg salad sandwich (hospital food)

Linden wrote:Egg salad sandwich (hospital food)

Well egg salad sounds fairly hospital proof!

Here's a recipe from the Seattle Times many years ago (if yellowing paper is any indication!) - just a payback for some of the terrific recipes I've gotten here. It is very good and also vegetarian:
Santa Fe Stew with Chipotle Cream
1 T olive oil
1 med onion peeled/finely chopped
2 med cloves garlic, peeled/minced
1 med red bell pepper, stemmed/seeded/coarsely chopped
1 each med Anaheim and Poblano chili, stemmed/seeded/finely chopped
2 cups tomato sauce combined w/1 cup water
1/2 half teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups peeled and cubed (~3/4 inch) squash (we used butternut and steam it but not to mush)
1 can (~14 oz) yellow hominy, rinsed/drained
1 can (~14 oz) each black beans & pinto beans, drained/rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
2 tablespoons lime juice
(1 tablespoon cilantro if you like)
Chipotle cream (I just make up how much sour cream needed and add chipotle to taste, considerably more than this!)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon mashed chipotle in adobo sauce

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion, bell peper, chilies, garlic - cover and cook ~10 minutes, adding a couple of tablespoons of water if they begin to stick (I just cook until soft, add garlic last minute or so)
2. Add tomato sauce/water combo, cinnamon and cumin. Simmer 10 minutes. Add (steamed) squash, cover and cook 10 minutes. Add hominy, both beans, and corn. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice (and cilantro, if used).
3. Stir together sour cream and chipotle to taste and dollop on top.

We have this with cornbread, it is terrific and just deepens in flavor overnight.

Covid 19 self quarantining ("hunkering down") casserole recipes:


Cauliflower/Cheese I don't know if veggies in this context freeze well, perhaps someone else can answer? I substitute a Mex cheese mix for the Parmesan, and have been know to use a tiny bit of cayenne.
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/barefo ... tin/15433/

Koolkat wrote:Covid 19 self quarantining ("hunkering down") casserole recipes:


Cauliflower/Cheese I don't know if veggies in this context freeze well, perhaps someone else can answer? I substitute a Mex cheese mix for the Parmesan, and have been know to use a tiny bit of cayenne.
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/barefo ... tin/15433/

Are you talking about freezing the cooked casserole? Or just the cauliflower? I wouldn't freeze the casserole ... maybe leftovers as a test?

I think the cauliflower would get watery when it thaws out. I make cauliflower rice and freeze it raw, and when it thaws, I put it in a tea towel and wring a ton of water out of it.

Yesterday I made a big pot of broccoli and cheddar soup, and we're having leftovers of that tonight. Not super exciting, but it was tasty and I have enough to take to work for a few days' lunches too.

OK, thanks for that ! I was talking about freezing the casserole. I'd like to make some casserole like dishes for freezing and thawing at a later date.

In general dairy-heavy dishes get very grainy in the freezer, and, if you reheat too fast, end up separating. Add in the way that cauliflower holds liquid, and it's a soupy disaster.

Tuesday: Sage + milk roast chicken with roasted balsamic cherry tomatoes and roasted potatoes
Zucchini soup Wednesday
Risotto with chicken and vegetables last night (thanks to the in-house chef he had mushroom risotto)
Something with potatoes tonight

Cooking out of the store cupboard/garden as we are officially in lockdown in NZ for 4 weeks (minimum!)

OK, didn't freeze the cauliflower casserole, just ate it for 3 days (third day with meat, DH was about to faint). . .

And on day 26, jello, cheerios, and Vienna sausage:



Just kidding, not my work of art!

O.M.G.

That is amazing!

Pretty happy with yesterday's effort. I really wanted something Thai so turned a bunch of leftover odds and sods into a really delicious Massaman curry. Yum yum yum! About half home-grown to boot (chicken, pumpkin, potatoes, zucchini, celery, lemongrass).

So, I haven't been on here in a while because I have not been well and gone through many scary tests. I'm feeling better and back to cooking and baking. With the virus and shortages at the grocery store I have been baking bread every other day. It does spoil one so I may have to keep that up. Also, I'm making my own mayonnaise and salad dressings along with everything else I make. I found some delicious minneola tangerines and I made a pound cake with them. Good to be back and see what everyone is making especially my friend, silk.

Aww, shucks, Rockabilly!

In-house chef (my flatmate) is still cooking but we've reined him in from doing something every night.

He did some lovely pumpkin and sage ravioli with a burned butter sage sauce.
Last night eggplant parmigiana with a simple salad on the side

I forget some of the other dishes, as I've been so busy working and therefore happy to turn up and eat... haha.

I did roast lamb with roast potatoes and gravy, and coleslaw (shredded beet, carrot, granny smith apple, green cabbage) with vinaigrette dressing on Easter Monday. I studded the roast lamb with rosemary and a mix of crushed garlic, crushed chilli and anchovy oil and only cooked it to super rare. It was super delicious and I'm looking forward to lamb leftovers tonight, yum.

I have not been cooking and baking like I usually do, but the fresh vegetables from my Amish neighbors are beginning to be available so I am looking forward to that. Tonight I am making a Pear, Grape and baby greens salad. I have started experimenting with different olive oils and vinegars. Right now I am loving champagne vinegar which I make mayonnaise with.

I started baking sourdough after we got out of complete lock down ("Level 4", which was essentially 'go home, stay home').

I haven't baked many loaves. Initially successful, I had a couple of dismal failures as I forgot the quantities and increased the water by 50ml. We put that batch of gummy baked bread through the meat mincer attachment of my Kenwood, then into a deep cast iron baking tray sitting on the fire to dry out, then ground the resulting "spaghetti" bits into breadcrumbs... Waste not, want not, etc etc!!

Since realising my mistake, loaves have returned to being amazing. Last night I did part of the batch in my Lodge cast iron mini muffin tins (the same ones I use for Yorkshire pudding). It was a resounding success and tiny little sourdough buns will definitely be repeated!

Not dinner, but I am making pickles tomorrow. I got cucumbers fresh from the garden among other things.

Yesterday was a bit of a marathon, as my brother and his family had been invited for tonight's dinner
1) two dishes with scalloped potatoes (one for last night, one for tonight)
2) roast pork (shoulder) - just for me/lunches/other dinners as my brother's family is vegetarian
3) two trays of roast veges (two types of sweet potato, beetroot, pumpkin, and carrot/parsnip/onion)
4) sirloin steak (for last night) and quickly pan-fried mixed vege (onion, thinly sliced green cabbage, and some leftover steamed broc/cauli/carrot - in the pan with the meat to soak up any extra juicy seasonings)
5) apple crumble (you call it "crisp" in the US)

What we ate last night was all very delicious. This morning I was told my brother and his wife don't feel well so won't be here for dinner... I guess I have lunches and dinners sorted for a week then

I did a lot of cooking the past two days too. We should be set for the next several days, which will be nice because I don't know where the extra time goes that I *should* have with teleworking.

So not specifically dinner, but I've made:

Flourless avocado brownies
Guacamole
Deviled eggs
Smoked leg of lamb
Steamed asparagus
Steamed beets
Tuna salad with cherry tomatoes

After today's lunch of kale, tahini, and hard boiled egg salad, we can finally close the fridge again CSA was kinda ridonkulous last week! I still have a great big bag of radishes and hakuri turnips, a big bag of garlic scapes, 3 big kohlrabi, several bunches of bunching onions, tat soi, bok choy, 6 zuchinni, 4 cucumbers, a 10# napa cabbage, 2 large beets, mushrooms, and a ton of citrus, apples, and pears

What remains is going to become:
- pickled garlic scapes
- scape and white bean dip (with sliced kohlrabi and hakuri to dip)
- scape biscuits (for the freezer)
- kimchee
- fattoush
- kohlrabi slaw
- totally lazy, stovetop chili (zuchinni)
- stirfry

And it all starts over on Wednesday!

Y'all are making me jealous and tired! We had a salad with a warm dressing with walnuts and shallots with fresh greens, pears, grapes and blue cheese.

Cook's Illustrated Lemon Bars for dessert. I put a review of them on Cook's Illustrated and I said if you want to impress someone make them these lemon bars.

Loving my roast leftovers - ha! - also have leftover spicy tomato/beef stew that I made last week. Basically beef cheek (diced), 2 tins of diced tomatoes in juice, a BUNCH of smoky/spicy seasonings (garlic, chilli, bbq, etc... I didn't go easy on the chili). Simple and delicious, with a great kick.
I also have a pulled pork stew for tonight... It was half of the pork shoulder roast, diced, cooked on the fire with some leftover Asian-style sauce (anchovy oil, soy, shaoxing cooking wine, oyster sauce, etc etc etc), onions and 5 chopped apples .

One dish I'm making for tomorrow night is a sweet potato pikliz; it needs to marinate overnight. Grated or sliced sweet potatoes, red onion, radishes, turnips, garlic, and green chile in vinegar-lime marinade. DH surprised me by giving it three thumbs up the first time I made it.

Reviewing my new veggie garden, I realize I am about to be inundated. We've already been doing well with lettuce, arugula, lots of herbs, we'll be starting on the chard this weekend... peas will follow shortly, the tomatoes are covered in blossom and starting to see some little green globes. Once the zucchini hit, I'm in trouble (or the neighbors are...) beans are looking healthy, radishes aren't far off, carrots should probably have been thinned. I'm having fun and fortunately, we like our greens!

For anyone with an overload of cucumbers here is a quick and easy recipe to use. Refreshing in the summer and great as a side dish in the winter.
Cucumbers for freezing
7 c thinly sliced cucumbers
3 med. onion, sliced
1 green pepper, chopped
2 c sugar
1 c vinegar
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 T salt
Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Put in containers and freeze. Just defrost to serve.

Briarwood - I never would have thought of freezing cucumbers! Do they stay crispy or become mushy when defrosted?

Hopefully my garden will produce some cukes; I guess meanwhile I can try it with zucchini.

I recently scored the Staub French oven of my dreams (5.75 qt oval in Basil), and I am making everything in it! It puts the most amazing sear on meats, compared to my old enameled Lodge oven. I'm mostly making slow roasted chicken, but last night was a beef chuck roast with Brussels sprouts, onions and carrots. The night before, braised cabbage cooked in the drippings from the last roast chicken, then the leftover shredded chicken added back in, along with dill, sour cream and sauerkraut. It took a long time to braise the cabbage down, but it was super simple and hands-on time was minimal.

Tonight was a spaghetti squash casserole with spaghetti squash, Italian sausage, olives, ricotta, and topped with shredded cheese.

Tomorrow, I have some teeny pork spare ribs (kune kune pig raised by a coworker) that I will probably cook down into a ragout in said Staub pot and serve over cauliflower rice, alongside a nice salad. I just bought a small lamb from the same coworker, so lamb will be on the menu in the near future.

StraightForward wrote:I recently scored the Staub French oven of my dreams

That's great! Did you get one with an animal topper? Basil is my favorite color. I have two. One with a Rooster topper and one with a pig.

Rockabilly wrote:

StraightForward wrote:I recently scored the Staub French oven of my dreams

That's great! Did you get one with an animal topper? Basil is my favorite color. I have two. One with a Rooster topper and one with a pig.

No, it's just the regular knob. But it fits in my Breville Smart Oven perfectly; I think the animal knob would make it too tall.

New flatmate broke a dial on the oven and it can't be repaired so..... ovenless. Argh. Normally not a problem but it does limit the ability to 'just' chuck on a roast or something.

It is asparagus season here, I don't think I've gone a day without at least one serving of it for the past fortnight. Yum! I've had a lot of cavolo nero from my SIL's abundant garden; the tomatoes and zucchini we have planted aren't too far away, either.

Last night I went to see my aunt and uncle for dinner. We had super simple chicken thighs, cooked on a bbq, with steamed asparagus and sweet potato, and a salad. Tonight I'm out at an event so that means nibbles and pizza. I bought some veal steak before I clicked that I'd be out for 2/4 dinners this week, so need to cook some of that up for lunch and portion the rest into the freezer. I'll probably serve it with... asparagus, HAHA!

Ok, here's the Thanksgiving edition: I saw a recipe for slow cooker turkey thighs where the turkey is the only ingredient, other than salt and pepper and any herbs and/or spices you want. No liquid, no vegetables. The promise was perfectly done meat with a crisp skin. The meat was indeed perfect; the skin wasn't exactly crisp, but it wasn't soggy either. I could have run the thighs under the broiler for a minute or two and the skin would have been very crisp. But I don't eat the skin, so I didn't care.

I put two turkey thighs in a 5-quart Crockpot, sprinkled them with salt and pepper and some rosemary, and cooked them on low for 6 1/2 hours. They taste like they were roasted in the oven. Plus, there were enough drippings to make a small amount of gravy, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We ended up with enough brussel sprouts to feed an army. I roasted them one night, shredded them and added them to a carbonara the next night (they cooked with the pancetta), and finally finished them off shredded and mixed with kale in a vinegar slaw.

Amazingly there were actually still some left over, but I gave them to my neighbors. Time for a brussel sprout break!

We bought a locally raised beef quarter last month, so I decided to have the tenderloin for Christmas dinner. Started out by rubbing it down with Red Boat salt and letting it dry out in the fridge for a few days, then today I seared it in duck fat, added garlic, horseradish, thyme, rosemary, herbs and red wine, and cooked it sous vide for three hours, gave it another sear with some butter, and topped it with sauteed mushrooms in red wine sauce. It had to be the most melt in your mouth beef I've ever had. On the side, buttery mashed potatoes and honey mustard Brussels sprouts. Then for dessert there was a tiny cheesecake with raspberry topping, a pecan pie, a skillet apple pie and vanilla ice cream. If I don't gain 10# eating leftovers this weekend it will be a miracle. At least I ran 4 miles this morning!

I made a NY Times recipe for a salad with roasted cauliflower, browned cubes of Halloumi cheese, and avocado on a bed of arugula (I used spinach since that is what I had). It was very tasty!

Something with the armfuls of beans and zucchinis that are producing prolifically in our garden.

I was spoiled by a home-cooked beef stew the other night, beef with potatoes and peppers - delicious, and something I wouldn't normally make myself.

I had bone-in short ribs and used this recipe as a jumping off point to make braised red miso short ribs: https://www.piedmontese.com/RecipeDetai ... -rib&type=

Mine did not have the carrots or celery - instead I put in sliced red and yellow bell pepper and halved crimini mushrooms halfway through cooking, and used ginger and tomato paste instead of red wine. Served over cauliflower rice topped with a few cashews, it was a definite winner!

Last night, pork chop with salt, pepper and fresh thyme out of the garden, pan fried and served with a simple risotto and steamed beans, and fresh corn on the cob with butter and salt (omg, I could eat that and nothing else and be happy)

Had to fend the cat off from the pork chop leftovers, ha!

We had Rockabilly's wonderful Lemon Butter Chicken with a bit of pasta, asparagus, buttermilk rolls, and belgian chocolate ice cream. Yummy!!

Just wanted to share a dessert recipe that puts together quickly and also makes a nice visual appearance.

It definitely benefits from waiting a day to eat and gets even better on day 2. It's delicious with a sprinkling of raspberries!
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ora ... meal-cake/

I just tried baked feta. OMG! I thought it was going to be meh but it's not.
Preheat oven to 400 F. On a sheet pan, spread out broccolini or broccoli florets (can also use asparagus or whatever suits your fancy, 1/2 red onion sliced thin, 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half, 1/2 lemon sliced thin. Coat with 3 tablespoons olive oil and mix. Add 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes and mix. Cut a block of feta into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Layer on top. Bake for 20 minutes turning the vegetables at 10 minutes.

Ooh, that sounds good. I have lots of cherry tomatoes right now. Had some lovely goat feta recently; might need to go get some more. Thanks!

I'm hoping I'll get my cooking mojo back now that the weather is cooling off.

So, what is for dinner?

After two weeks of cooking and eating all the things, I am a bit out of steam.

I have half of a roast chicken in the fridge, nice russet potatoes to bake and salad materials, but it isn't hugely appealing as it proved to have been a rather athletic bird--tough and a bit stringy, even though it was a ridiculous price.

We’re having cabbage thoran with tofu. Perfect dinner, but after tonight we’re out of all fresh produce.

I have a hard time being enthusiastic about salad when it is snowing outside. So, I think I'll make a soup for dinner tonight. Maybe minestrone, as I could use the leek that's been wasting away in the frig. And add the last of the turkey meat.

We fixed low country chicken pilau last night (lots of leftovers) and cheddar chive (minus chives) biscuits as an accompaniment. Recipe for both is below. I grilled a chicken breast the night before to dice in and used 2 locally produced andouille sausage (skinned) for meat (we don't eat a lot of meat). The skinned sausage was cooked in the dutch oven first and then excess fat removed. After that pretty much went with recipe although it took nearly twice as much liquid and time for rice to cook. This may be because I used a long grain rice mixture to which I added ~1/2 cup of wild rice. This gives it a definite "nutty" tone which works with spicy sausage really well. Before adding the chicken/sausage, both were diced/chopped. The biscuit recipe is a family favorite for years, and I've never added chives (like cooking with buttermilk, which you need here for acidity). Definitely a meal for cold, rainy nights. May cut back on rice next time and add in red beans for a red bean rice type meal. Pumpkin pie with gingersnap crust for dessert!

https://kitchendreaming.com/lowcountry-chicken-pilau/

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/ ... cuits.html

Ok to take this thread in a "What's for Thanksgiving?" direction for a few days?

I have a dilemma. I thought I was going to be have 6 people. Not having the desire for a lot of leftover turkey (one or two nights for the two of us and some snacks for the dog is plenty), I ordered a 14-16 lbs bird. My mom always got enormous turkeys (3 brothers and she loved making turkey things for days) so to me that sounds like a large chicken. I digress.

There are now two more people coming. Should I upgrade the bird? And...I'm thinking maybe adding a dish. Will have rolls (mom makes, they're divine). Salad, dressing/stuffing, cranberry stuff, pumpkin and apple pie. I usually skip the potatoes because I make amazing stuffing/dressing apparently, and potatoes are only eating in token amounts.

What's your favorite Thanksgiving sidedish? That's tried and true? I *can* cook but don't want to do something really complex unless it can be made somewhat ahead.

Thanks for any suggestions!

That bird should be fine. We love roasted Brussels sprouts. Maybe with a honey mustard pan sauce or topped with hazelnuts to make it fancier.

It will just be two of us. I'm making a braised duck and turtle cheesecake. Probably Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. DH makes Stovetop every Thanksgiving, much to my horror.