What is/was for dinner?

[Scepticalscribe]

This afternoon, I spent some time preparing my current version of the old classic of sausages (artisan, proper butcher's sausages) with my homemade onion gravy and - initially, I had thought of serving this with mashed potato, - but realised that I far preferred roasted potatoes.

So, sausages, onion gravy and roasted potatoes.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Spicy fish soup, (perfect and gloriously warming during this current cold spell), followed by stewed apple and pear.

Spicy fish soup:

Sauté a finely chopped large onion (or two medium onions) in olive oil; when that has softened, add several (today, I added six), thinly sliced large cloves of garlic; several chopped anchovies were added, stirred, mashed, and allowed dissolve; a very finely diced chilli pepper was also added and stirred through. Allow this mix to become soft and translucent.

Next, I poured in some stock, to which I had added two or three dessertspoons of Thai fish sauce.

A tin of San Marzano tomatoes was opened, poured into a dish, and mashed, then seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, and a little brown sugar. This, too, was added to the mix in the pan, and the contents of the tin rinsed and added.

This lot - and by now, it looks amazing and the aroma was incredible - was allowed to simmer away for over twenty minutes; this was when I added the fish, a classic chowder mix, and let it cook (which takes around ten minutes or so).

Ladled into a bowl, it was served with finely chopped parsley. Very tasty.

Stewed Apple & Pear:

Two large cooking apples (organic) were peeled, and thinly sliced and put into an oven proof dish; two pears (also organic - all of these were purchased from the person who grew them in the farmers' market) met a similar fate.

A lemon was grated - the grated rind sprinkled and stirred through the apple and pear mixture - and juiced; and yes, the juice was also poured onto the apple and pear mix; a little water, around a quarter to a third of a Le Creuset mug - was added; a generous quantity of organic brown sugar was stirred through the apple and pear mix; some cloves were added as was a sprinkling of a spice mix (nutmeg, cinnamon etc).

The dish was then placed in a preheated oven at a low enough temperature (around 140C, 280F) for around an hour, checked every twenty minutes or so, and stirred if necessary.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A soup, (a soothing, warmimg, winter soup) based on a couple of Italian recipes:

Italian sausage, with spinach (actually, I used kale as I had kale but did not have spinach) and potatoes.

This dish starts with heating a large saucepan, one to which you have a lid, and into which you have poured some olive oil (yes, I used Italian olive oil, as I had it).

Remove the casing from the Italian sauages, proper artisan butcher's sausages (these actually are Italian sausages, flavoured with fennel and a little chilli), and break the sausage meat up into small pieces before adding them to the pan, where they will be gently sautéed until browned.

Remove the sausages with a slotted spoon and place them in a dish.

Meanwhile, a soffritto - finely diced carrot, celery, and onion - is added to the pan, and allowed to simmer away until reduced and translucent and soft. This does not take the "five minutes" some mendacious recipes tell you; it takes something closer to thirty, if not more.

As I like garlic, and as garlic goes so well with Italian food, I added six fat cloves of finely sliced garlic to the soffritto.

Once this has all softened, it is time to add the stock to the pan; I used chicken stock, to which a tablespoon of tomato puree had been added. Next to be added, were a few potatoes, peeled and chopped and diced into small pieces; this, too, takes well over twenty minutes to cook, not the "ten" some lying - or optimistic - recipes seem to suggest.

When you add the diced potatoes to the stock, you can also return the sausages to the mix and place a slightly tilted lid on the pan; at this stage, I also added some rosemary and thyme, leaving the woody stems as they were, with needles of thyme and rosemary still attached, all the better for easy removal prior to tucking in to dinner - I had the herbs and they confer a wonderful flavour to the finished dish while the aroma was absolutely amazing.

Once the potatoes are well on the way to softening, one can then add the roughly chopped kale and replace the lid.

Once the kale has cooked through (around seven to ten minutes) dinner is ready to be served, savoured and devoured.

 

[George Dawes]

I had a tin of heinz spaghetti on some toast washed down with a nice cup of tea

Living the high life 😅

 

[anika200]

A coworker put mac and cheese from the Costco deli in a plate and told her family she made it herself for Thanksgiving this year.😂

Hahaha, what a bunch of dumb ass ****. Just make your own food and own it would be much better. Coworker/human fail.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Treated myself to a lovely sandwich today: Foccacia with Milano salami and (melted) Gorgonzola Cremosa. Delicious.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Slow roasted pork belly.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Slow roasted pork belly: (Loosely based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe).

Score the skin of the pork belly in the classic diamond shape with a sharp knife, and rub salt - and brown demerara sugar - into the cracks.

In a roasting tin, heat some olive oil: Then, sauté some roughly chopped onion, some garlic (I used six fat cloves, roughly sliced), and some roughly sliced (and peeled) cooking apples (tart, sharp tasting apples).

Some star anise was added, as were caraway seeds, and some juniper berries, and the lot sautéed; add a little more olive oil, then, add the pork belly to the roasting tin, skin side down, to lightly colour it and seal it.

When that is done, turn it over, and add some white wine to the roasting tin; burn off the alcohol, and add some stock (I used chicken stock); I then added locally sourced (organic, natural) apple juice. Pour in sufficient liquid for it to reach the skin of the pork belly - you want the flesh bathed in those lovely cooking juices.

At this stage, the roasting tin goes into the oven, (180-190C 360-380F) which has been pre-heated, where it will spend two and a half hours; take it out every hour to check for liquid (and add some more apple juice if necessary; after nearly two hours, I also added honey to the beautifully crispy skin).

I served sautéed potatoes, a mix of standard potatoes and sweet potatoes, peeled and diced, (sautéed in olive oil) and thoroughly soaked and rinsed in water to remove some of the starch; they were sautéed along with finely chopped red onion, several finely diced fat cloves of garlic, and sprigs of rosemary and thyme.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Slow roasted pork belly: (Loosely based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe).

Score the skin of the pork belly in the classic diamond shape with a sharp knife, and rub salt - and brown demerara sugar - into the cracks.

In a roasting tin, heat some olive oil: Then, sauté some roughly chopped onion, some garlic (I used six fat cloves, roughly sliced), and some roughly sliced (and peeled) cooking apples (tart, sharp tasting apples).

Some star anise was added, as were caraway seeds, and some juniper berries, and the lot sautéed; add a little more olive oil, then, add the pork belly to the roasting tin, skin side down, to lightly colour it and seal it.

When that is done, turn it over, and add some white wine to the roasting tin; burn off the alcohol, and add some stock (I used chicken stock); I then added locally sourced (organic, natural) apple juice. Pour in sufficient liquid for it to reach the skin of the pork belly - you want the flesh bathed in those lovely cooking juices.

At this stage, the roasting tin goes into the oven, (180-190C 360-380F) which has been pre-heated, where it will spend two and a half hours; take it out every hour to check for liquid (and add some more apple juice if necessary; after nearly two hours, I also added honey to the beautifully crispy skin).

I served sautéed potatoes, a mix of standard potatoes and sweet potatoes, peeled and diced, (sautéed in olive oil) and thoroughly soaked and rinsed in water to remove some of the starch; they were sautéed along with finely chopped red onion, several finely diced fat cloves of garlic, and sprigs of rosemary and thyme.

@Apple fanboy: I should add that the pork crackling (well, salt, demerara brown sugar, and - later - honey, were all added at various stages of the cooking process yesterday) from this dish of slow roasted pork belly is absolutely delicious today.

 

[Apple fanboy]

@Apple fanboy: I should add that the pork crackling (well, salt, demerara brown sugar, and - later - honey, were all added at various stages of the cooking process yesterday) from this dish of slow roasted pork belly is absolutely delicious today.

Sounds Devine. A jacket potato and frozen pizza here as Mrs AFB isn’t eating again this evening.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sounds Devine. A jacket potato and frozen pizza here as Mrs AFB isn’t eating again this evening.

I remembered that you had written that you liked pork crackling; now, I will ad that slow roasted pork belly (well, any pork belly, for, these days, I live toute seule) is not a dish that appears frequently on my menu.

However, it is nice this time of the year, slow cooked, tasty and soothing; and the left overs - that succulent pork, that delicious crackling - are superb in open faced sandwiches - with mustard and locally sourced (natural) artisan cranberry sauce - the following day.

 

[Quake1028]

A local place here does some pork belly tacos which are fantastic.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A local place here does some pork belly tacos which are fantastic.

Sounds delicious. Do enjoy.

 

[Quake1028]

Sounds delicious. Do enjoy.

Thank you. Haven't been there since pre-Pandemic actually. A good reminder I need to get there, and soon.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Greek lemon chicken accompanied by Greek lemon potatoes.

 

[Quake1028]

Greek lemon chicken accompanied by Greek lemon potatoes.

Oooh that sounds fantastic! Just need the lemon soup for even MORE LEMON. And then some lemon dessert to top it off.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oooh that sounds fantastic! Just need the lemon soup for even MORE LEMON. And then some lemon dessert to top it off.

Well, I love lemons.

It is similar to the Greek (lemon) lamb (and Greek lemon potatoes) recipe that I posted in one or two of these threads last summer. Will see if I can find it and post it here.

Essentially, the trick is to place the meat in a marinade - preferably for at least a few hours - prior to cooking: The marinade is comprised of: Olive oil, grated lemon rind, squeezed juice of a lemon, lots and lots of minced garlic (I use around a head of garlic, something between eight-ten-twelve cloves), and oregano (dried - which is all I have), or fresh; today, I also used fresh herbs, a few stems of both thyme and rosemary.

The marinade can also be used when the dish - the chicken pieces - I used thighs, wings and feet - (skin and bone attached, because this is where the flavour lies) finds its way into a roasting tin (already seasoned with olive oil, and layered with thin slices of peeled potatoes) on top of the potatoes (which have been introduced to more minced garlic, slices of lemon, thyme, rosemary, oregano..)

Today, the cherry tomatoes I had intended to serve as a sort of side salad (along with thinly sliced cucumber) were too ripe; so, they, too, found their way into the roasting tin.

 

[Quake1028]

I also love lemons. I hope my post didn't come off as sarcastic or condescending. I love greek potatoes, the lemon soup and all lemon desserts.

 

[gigatoaster]

New year eve dinner: œuf de lompe (cheap caviar), Champagne Comtes de Champagne Maison Taittinger, then fois gras (armagnac & truffles, then seafood platter (gambas, oysters, langoustines, lobster), 6 cheeses (aged mimolette, Brie à la truffe, Comté, Roquefort, tomme à l’ail de l’Ours, Morbier) and Meursault. And a cake. What a fest!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

New year eve dinner: œuf de lompe (cheap caviar), Champagne Comtes de Champagne Maison Taittinger, then fois gras (armagnac & truffles, then seafood platter (gambas, oysters, langoustines, lobster), 6 cheeses (aged mimolette, Brie à la truffe, Comté, Roquefort, tomme à l’ail de l’Ours, Morbier) and Meursault. And a cake. What a fest!View attachment 2135211
View attachment 2135210

Ah, excellent.

That looks both divine and delicious.

You can never go wrong with a Meursault.

Do enjoy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Roasted (diced) potato, red onion and (cooking) apple, drizzled with olive oil, and flavoured with fresh thyme and rosemary.

This was served with fillet steak (cooked rare, which is what I prefer), and aioli, (homemade garlic mayonnaise, prepared from three ingredients: Egg yolks from organic, free range eggs, minced garlic (four fine fat cloves) and olive oil).

 

[anika200]

Roasted (diced) potato, red onion and (cooking) apple, drizzled with olive oil, and flavoured with fresh thyme and rosemary.

This was served with fillet steak (cooked rare, which is what I prefer), and aioli, (homemade garlic mayonnaise, prepared from three ingredients: Egg yolks from organic, free range eggs, minced garlic (four fine fat cloves) and olive oil).

Simple, few ingredients (its all relative), cooked well is always a great idea. Seems it was probably pretty tasty. 👍

 

[Quake1028]

Last night we had Thai food from a food truck that comes to our neighborhood every so often. Really good!

 

[anika200]

New year eve dinner: œuf de lompe (cheap caviar), Champagne Comtes de Champagne Maison Taittinger, then fois gras (armagnac & truffles, then seafood platter (gambas, oysters, langoustines, lobster), 6 cheeses (aged mimolette, Brie à la truffe, Comté, Roquefort, tomme à l’ail de l’Ours, Morbier) and Meursault. And a cake. What a fest!View attachment 2135211
View attachment 2135210

My God, where did all this amazing food come from? What ocean, what place, what expense, just beautiful of course. Oysters look a little dry though, but then again its probably concentrated flavor.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Simple, few ingredients (its all relative), cooked well is always a great idea. Seems it was probably pretty tasty. 👍

Yes, if the actual basic ingredients (all of the vegetables are organic, and bought from the people who grew them, likewise, the fillet steak came from beef that, in turn, came from animals that were ethically reared, with an eye to envorinmental best practice, and were slaughtered, and the meat then aged, by the enterprise that sold them to me; the eggs, as mentioned in yesterday's post, are organic and free range) are of a good quality, then, the meal itself can be relatively simple.

This evening's dish also features fillet steak, (cooked rare, by preference and not seasoned at all before it meets a very hot pan with olive oil), and yesterday's aioli. (Free range and organic egg yolks, minced garlic, and olive oil slowly drizzled and - eventually - whisked until it is a golden mass of solid glory).

The (root) vegetables were roasted, as were yesterday's, but with a bit of a difference.

Finely diced sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, red onion, and (cooking) apple were roasted in dish with a Middle/Eastern North Africa influence, with a sauce prepared from olive oil, to which was added, harissa, sweet smoked pimentón, (paprika), ground cumin, black pepper and a little brown sugar. After an hour and a half in the oven, some pomegranate molasses were also stirred through.