Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What is/was for dinner?
- Thread starter Gutwrench
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I should have posted this in the dinner thread rather than the general food thread, although it meets the requirements of both equally:
Last night I thoroughly enjoyed a seriously good dinner in a splendid (and apparently quite well known) traditional restaurant in Kiev: A platter of four different types of caviar (sturgeon, trout, herring, pike) to start - served with stunning homemade brown bread, and blini.
Pickled herring.
A salad of roasted parsnip, beetroot, potato, carrot dressed with a honey dressing that included sesame seeds.
Serious borscht.
Some strange dish of dark dumplings stuffed with what they described as calf er......
Potatoes stuffed with something best not described but horribly delicious.
Classic chicken Kiev.
A bottle of Chablis Premier Cru, and several bottles of Borjomi (Georgian sparkling mineral water).
Espresso (and recioto) for me, green tea and cognac for my most agreeable American dining companion.
Sublime.
Last night I thoroughly enjoyed a seriously good dinner in a splendid (and apparently quite well known) traditional restaurant in Kiev: A platter of four different types of caviar (sturgeon, trout, herring, pike) to start - served with stunning homemade brown bread, and blini.
Pickled herring.
A salad of roasted parsnip, beetroot, potato, carrot dressed with a honey dressing that included sesame seeds.
Serious borscht.
Some strange dish of dark dumplings stuffed with what they described as calf er......
Potatoes stuffed with something best not described but horribly delicious.
Classic chicken Kiev.
A bottle of Chablis Premier Cru, and several bottles of Borjomi (Georgian sparkling mineral water).
Espresso (and recioto) for me, green tea and cognac for my most agreeable American dining companion.
Sublime.
Would not have put those two thing together and cheese too, looks like I need to make some pastrami.
Last night was beef stew and a cast iron skillet of cornbread. The Instant Pot turns out a great meal, every time!
At my daughter's request, last nights dinner was a pot full of Southern style chicken and dumplings. Both kids went back for large second helpings and I'll be having some for lunch today. It's a family favourite, easy to make and so delicious! Not one of these dishes with noodles or matzo sized "dumplings", either. This is what they looked like, (but it's not my pic).
Yes totally agree, we love making it too. This weekend I want to try grilling some chicken and then putting it in the sauce and making dumplings. I saw something similar when Food Safari was doing its Denmark episode, I forget what the dish is called but it looked pretty good.
Bought some oxtail pieces today; an oxtail casserole/stew beckons over the week-end.
Preparing an oxtail casserole:
I have just finished browning the oxtails, and added sautéed pancetta, plus sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, several sprigs of thyme, a few sprigs of oregano, stock, and a bottle of St Bernardus 12 (a Belgian stout).
That has now headed into the pre-heated oven, and while I have prepped the vegetables, (onions, leeks, garlic - including young garlic, carrots, cherry tomatoes, celeriac, all diced), they will take another hour of so of slow sautéing, after which they can join the oxtail pieces in the copper casserole dish in the oven.
I have just finished browning the oxtails, and added sautéed pancetta, plus sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, several sprigs of thyme, a few sprigs of oregano, stock, and a bottle of St Bernardus 12 (a Belgian stout).
That has now headed into the pre-heated oven, and while I have prepped the vegetables, (onions, leeks, garlic - including young garlic, carrots, cherry tomatoes, celeriac, all diced), they will take another hour of so of slow sautéing, after which they can join the oxtail pieces in the copper casserole dish in the oven.
Slowly sautéed cherry tomatoes and a tin of Italian tomatoes (chopped) along with their liquid were added around two hours in; after a further hour or so, I added a tin of Italian cannellini beans.
The casserole was in a slow oven (at a low heat) for over five hours, and when I removed it, the meat was - quite literally - falling off the bones.
Yes, it was very, very tasty.
The casserole was in a slow oven (at a low heat) for over five hours, and when I removed it, the meat was - quite literally - falling off the bones.
Yes, it was very, very tasty.
Roast sage and rosemary chicken. Had some yard work in mind but my allergies are killing me today. Might roast some vegetables alongside a salad for dinner, too.
This house sits on a no-homemade-bread-for-you coordinate, I swear. I cannot (super emphasis on NOT) even make starter dough.
Anyway, I can make nice homemade noodles...all thanks to the noodles Gods.
My stepdaughter is visiting so I made noodles with andouille sausage. Basically, instead of shrimp scampi, all it was, was andouille scampi.
She’s very sensitive to spiciness so I was sweating it...but she liked it. Whew. Thank god for lemon zest and juice. It pairs perfectly with homemade egg noodles.
Sorry no pix.
Edit....lemon pics though.
Anyway, I can make nice homemade noodles...all thanks to the noodles Gods.
My stepdaughter is visiting so I made noodles with andouille sausage. Basically, instead of shrimp scampi, all it was, was andouille scampi.
She’s very sensitive to spiciness so I was sweating it...but she liked it. Whew. Thank god for lemon zest and juice. It pairs perfectly with homemade egg noodles.Sorry no pix.
Edit....lemon pics though.
Last edited:
I'm really curious how you managed to not get it to work. Also, to clarify your post, acids tend to draw heat from spicy foods. I don't know the chemistry behind it, but you can make a slurry of scotch bonnets with cider vinegar and herbs and it'll be less spicy than a slurry made with plain water. About 13 years ago I pickled some cukes on the advice of a forum member on another site for a hobby and stuffed the jar with habaneros but used your typical vinegar solution instead of salt water. It was spicy, but not the spicy you expected if you'd used 20 or so habaneros chopped up.This house sits on a no-homemade-bread-for-you coordinate, I swear. I cannot (super emphasis on NOT) even make starter dough.
Anyway, I can make nice homemade noodles...all thanks to the noodles Gods.
My stepdaughter is visiting so I made noodles with andouille sausage. Basically, instead of shrimp scampi, all it was, was andouille scampi.
Sorry no pix.
Edit....lemon pics though.
View attachment 831570
One my favorite quick meals when I was based out of the south for some time was Andouille sausage sandwiches. I'm sure if I was within Cajun country in Louisiana I'd have gotten even better tasting stuff, but it was great compared to the bland food you get in the south or rather did back then.
Me too. I’m not having any luck in MN or CA. It can’t be me. Haha. I’ve gone through a bushel of flour and not one loaf of bread yet. It just lays there like an inanimate object.
One thing that comes to mind is the yeast you used. You picked up either of my recommendations. Was the yeast package tight and cube like or was it like a chips bag? Even if you bought the high sugar yeast meant for sweeter breads.
Either the yeast you bought was dead or you killed it when you bloomed it. But even then the weather in your CA house should have allowed it to rise easily. You could eyeball the whole thing and it would work.
With pro instant, you don't even need to bloom it. Anything past lukewarm will kill it instantly. If you don't knead the dough enough to develop the gluten, it'll also cause rising issues.
Next time you want to try, just dump the amount of years needed in cool or cold water with the flour and go for something really easy. Like Parker House rolls. Kneed it using your stand mixer with the hook for 5-8 minutes and then do the rest by hand.
That said, you can't do bread and I can't make a few things either. Well, I can, but they don't taste right.
Last edited:
Not sure what yeast you're using, but I've used Fleischmann's Active Dry yeast forever, both professionally and at home. As long as it's within its dates and alive you're golden. Just add a teaspoon of honey to your lukewarm water and let it bloom.Even their Instant version works well.
Do you have a bread making device/machine?
Some of my friends swear by such a thing.
Yes. I bought one several weeks ago and it works great. But I’m never happy it seems. I want sour dough bread now. Plus all my failures has made it personal.
Yes. I bought one several weeks ago and it works great. But I’m never happy it seems. I want sour dough bread now. Plus all my failures has made it personal.
My sympathies.
Yes, I love sough dough bread (and sour rye bread) too.
But, I will trust others to make it for me, not least because I wouldn't trust my frustrated bad-tempered self to do it properly.
And it’s so readily available too. (I bought a fresh loaf yesterday while at the market buying yet another bushel of flour.) I don’t understand why I’m doing this to myself.