What's for dinner? Tuesday, 1-19-16

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Cheryl J

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I really wanted to make macaroni and cheese (thanks to CG for the inspiration :)), but I'm out of milk, it's raining, and I don't want to go to the store.

I'm thinking a loaded up salad with lots of crunchy veggies that still need to be used up. Might thaw some shrimp and roast them, and drizzle with a little garlic and lemon butter.

Anyone else as undecided as I am? :ermm::LOL:
 
A few days ago DH couldn't believe 4 meatloaves were going out the door and not coming back. So I made another one; Paula Dean's BBQ meat loaf. To be served with another recent request; carrot and raisin salad, made with our own carrots.
 
The plan was roasted chicken breasts with shallots and mushrooms and several veggie sides. But the wind is howling and the escarole that I rinsed off to saute as a side might be made into an escarole and white bean soup instead. Chicken doesn't seem warming enough on a day like this.
 
I really wanted to make macaroni and cheese (thanks to CG for the inspiration :)), but I'm out of milk, it's raining, and I don't want to go to the store.

I'm thinking a loaded up salad with lots of crunchy veggies that still need to be used up. Might thaw some shrimp and roast them, and drizzle with a little garlic and lemon butter.

Anyone else as undecided as I am? :ermm::LOL:

Don't you have any evaporated canned milk Cheryl?;)

I'm loving this rain too and thinking of making some chicken stock. Chicken soup of some kind sure sounds good! Lowrdy how I'd love to do dumplings but that's just too much to ask of my will power.
 
We have enough leftover Thai from yesterday to feed a small army. I'm snacking on my Crying Tiger beef. Dang, I love their sauce. It's a combo of honey, hot pepper, and something else. Really glad I ordered extra sauce.
 
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A few days ago DH couldn't believe 4 meatloaves were going out the door and not coming back. So I made another one; Paula Dean's BBQ meat loaf. To be served with another recent request; carrot and raisin salad, made with our own carrots.

Poor DH, made me think of my stepfathers favorite joke. He would always tell it when my mother and her church group were busy fixing food for someone in the community that needed help.

An old man was lying in his death bed upstairs in his home. As he lay there, gasping for each breath, he was sure he could smell freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. He crawled out of bed and slowly limped down the stairs. Sure enough, across the kitchen, there was a huge platter of chocolate chip cookies on the table. He finally made it to the table and he reached a shaking hand towards the cookies. Suddenly, his wife slapped his hand away and yelled, "DON’T TOUCH THOSE - they’re for the funeral!"

Tonight it is a big salad and a smothered pork chop with sauerkraut.
 
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:LOL: Aunt Bea!

We have leftover spaghetti sauce, so we'll cook up some more noodles and I'll make salads. It's freezing cold and I wish I had green beans, but I don't. Oh well.
 
It's freezing here too. I was going to make a pot of chili, but my sons wanted Greek tonight. So dinner is keftedes (Greek meatballs), rice pilaf, tzaziki, sliced tomatoes, and pita bread.


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Very basic but enjoyable - just baked potato with caramelised shallots, sun dried tomato and mexican chili cheese - with a salad.

I just wanted to use the oven for roasting red peppers (preparing for a buffet tomorrow) so I baked a potato alongside it. I think I maybe am overcooking the peppers since they reduced down a lot and were a bit slimy when peeled. I thought the idea was to blacken the skin which I did. :ermm:
 
Very basic but enjoyable - just baked potato with caramelised shallots, sun dried tomato and mexican chili cheese - with a salad.

I just wanted to use the oven for roasting red peppers (preparing for a buffet tomorrow) so I baked a potato alongside it. I think I maybe am overcooking the peppers since they reduced down a lot and were a bit slimy when peeled. I thought the idea was to blacken the skin which I did. :ermm:

Do you have a gas hob Creative? I have better luck roasting peppers over an open flame, turning with tongs until blackened. Then pop them into a zip lock bag to steam for a while. The black skin will easily wipe off with a crinkled paper towel, leaving the meat of the pepper only slightly cooked.
They can also be done in a closely watched electric or gas broiler.
 
To roast red peppers, I cut them in half, remove the stem and membranes, and flatten them on a baking sheet. Cook under the broiler/grill on the highest oven rack for 6-8 minutes till blackened. Place in a bowl with a kitchen towel over the top for 15 minutes to steam, then peel. The meat should be soft and wet but not slimy.
 
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Do you have a gas hob Creative? I have better luck roasting peppers over an open flame, turning with tongs until blackened. Then pop them into a zip lock bag to steam for a while. The black skin will easily wipe off with a crinkled paper towel, leaving the meat of the pepper only slightly cooked.
They can also be done in a closely watched electric or gas broiler.
Yes I have...maybe that would be better to do it that way. Thanks. However, it would take a while/longer since I did 3 red peppers (for a salad). I have done it that way before, i.e. for 1 pepper.

Would grilling them (all together) be the same as over a flame? That may be a compromise if so.

However, baking them till blackened works well when making harissa which is what I usually make with them.
(I blitz them and add red chilli, tomato puree and oil)
 
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That's a great method for a bunch of peppers GG.

Usually, I'm doing two of them to make stuffed bell peppers, so I want to keep them whole before splitting and cleaning out for the stuffing. Hopefully I can split the stem for a nicer presentation. They have a perfect head start for baking too.
 
To roast red peppers, I cut them in half, remove the stem and membranes, and flatten them on a baking sheet. Cook under the broiler/grill on the highest oven rack for 6-8 minutes till blackened. Place in a bowl with a kitchen towel over the top for 15 minutes to steam, then peel. The meat should be soft and wet but not slimy.
I prefer to keep them whole. That way they keep their juices inside.

Everywhere I hear about covering them afterwards so that they peel easy but I have always found them easy to peel once cooled, i.e. without doing this. Yes I am realising now that I have overcooked them....such a shame.
Oh well, lesson learnt. :ermm:
 
That's a great method for a bunch of peppers GG.

Usually, I'm doing two of them to make stuffed bell peppers, so I want to keep them whole before splitting and cleaning out for the stuffing. Hopefully I can split the stem for a nicer presentation. They have a perfect head start for baking too.

To remove the peel from a raw bell pepper try using an old fashioned vegetable peeler. Cut the peppers in half. Start the peeler along the cut edges to remove long wide ribbons of peel from the pepper and work towards the center. I first saw this in an article about removing the surface pesticides from bell peppers and later saw Jacques Pepin doing it on one of his television programs.
 
That's a great method for a bunch of peppers GG.

Usually, I'm doing two of them to make stuffed bell peppers, so I want to keep them whole before splitting and cleaning out for the stuffing. Hopefully I can split the stem for a nicer presentation. They have a perfect head start for baking too.

Yeah, I'm used to buying a bunch when they're on sale, or ripening all at once in the garden, so I roast them to freeze for later, or use in salad. When I made a batch of stuffed peppers last summer, I cut them in half lengthwise because they fit in my containers more easily lol
 
Don't you have any evaporated canned milk Cheryl?;)

I'm loving this rain too and thinking of making some chicken stock. Chicken soup of some kind sure sounds good! Lowrdy how I'd love to do dumplings but that's just too much to ask of my will power.

Well, it was a nice afternoon of cooking making chicken bones stock in my Nesco roaster with lots of veggies that needed using. After I strained it all, I used half to make a quite delicious cream of chicken/mushroom soup with thigh meat and both fresh Crimini and dehydrated wild mushrooms.
The most pleasurable part is my dear Souschef cleaned up everything. I loved the flowers he brought from the store too. Don't ask me how I ever got this lucky. Trust me, I don't deserve it.
 
Don't you have any evaporated canned milk Cheryl?;)

I'm loving this rain too and thinking of making some chicken stock. Chicken soup of some kind sure sounds good! Lowrdy how I'd love to do dumplings but that's just too much to ask of my will power.

I usually do, but after checking I saw that I was out! :( I need to restock. Mac and cheese will definitely be on the menu for tomorrow. Your chicken soup sounds delicious, and the flowers are such a nice plus. What a guy!!
 
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