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Post by cristina on Sept 5, 2010 18:37:16 GMT
A friend gave me some spring salmon which he caught in BC. I made a salmon tartare with the trimmings, seared the fillets and finished them in the oven and served them with baby summer squash, sea asparagus and wild chanterelles. To precede we had some heirloom tomatoes with burrata, basil and olive oil. imec, delicious looking meal, as always. Burrata was new to me though. After looking it up I was intrigued. Did you make it yourself, or do you have a source for locally made burrata?
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Post by cristina on Sept 5, 2010 18:39:44 GMT
The paws/feet on this thing were the exact same size as my hands.... (I am going to see if I can talk him out of the paw skin and get another friend of mine to make me some gloves!! ). I'm crossing my fingers for you on those gloves! I have never had the opportunity to eat alligator. Is there another meat that is close to comparable?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2010 1:47:02 GMT
Thanks Cristina,I'll keep you posted on the gloves!!! Alligator meat is not too unlike chicken,although,there are parts of the belly that are reminiscent of pork. It is not a strong taste at all. My favorite is in an etouffe,which my husband brought some meat home to make,that,or a sauce piquante. My least favorite is fried.
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Post by joanne28 on Sept 6, 2010 2:56:20 GMT
Decided to make another soup. I was going to make potato leek soup and started slicing the leeks. I then realized I didn't have any potatoes. Quick change of plan - I also chopped up celery and carrots, simmered it all in my homemade stock, bit of seasoning & then pureed it.
It wasn't too bad - my husband really liked it. I'm working on soup as a diet aid.
It's odd as I've never been much of a soup fan and lately I'm really interested in making different soups. Having homemade stock makes life much easier.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2010 3:25:03 GMT
Sounds yummy, Joanne. How did you make your stock? I have a good friend who's a great cook. She's always either feeding me or getting me to taste something and I always urge her to write her creations down, to no avail. If you think about it, please share your soupy delights here. It will have the happy side-effect of getting you to write the recipes or instructions down for yourself, too. anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=recipes&action=display&thread=3055&page=1
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 6, 2010 15:40:53 GMT
Have you cooked shark much before, Kerouac? It overcooks very easily. Those seasonings should be delightful with it. I'd like to know how it comes out, as I almost always cook it the same couple of ways & would like to branch out. Mick, that meal sounds fabulous! Hope you'll eventually start a thread or at least post some recipes in The Galley. Even though everyone here professes a love for East Indian cooking, many people (me) know little about it. I'll see what I can do.
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Post by cristina on Sept 7, 2010 1:56:03 GMT
As today was a holiday, I put a wee bit of effort into making arroz con costra...a variation of paella that includes an egg "crust." Most recipes call for a mixture of pork and chicken, but as I don't care for chicken I left it out. My meat additions included tiny pork meatballs made with a bit of egg, breadcrumbs and ground almonds, pork loin in 1"dice and sweet Italian sausage sliced in 1/2" segments. The rice was further flavored with sautéed peppers and garlic, which I puréed in the little food processor, as well as with saffron and chickpeas. With all of the pork, I added (because I like it, not because its in any recipe), a bunch of raisins and toasted, slivered almonds. The "costra" comes at the end of cooking, when about 8 eggs, beaten with a little milk, are poured over the top and the pan is sent back into a high oven for about 8 minutes. My only complaint, and this is usual for me, is that the saffron available here is not the best quality, so its flavor was a bit subdued, I think. Otherwise, it was a fine, filling dish, albeit not very summery. It is still summer here, even if I wish it wasn't.
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Post by imec on Sept 7, 2010 2:04:24 GMT
This sounds terrific cristina! Would love to see a picture...
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Post by Don Cuevas on Sept 7, 2010 9:56:21 GMT
Yesterday we had Hot and Sour Soup for a late lunch. I used shredded, cooked chicken breast in place of pork, and some of the chicken stock previously made in a pressure cooker then frozen. The result was lighter in body but very good. As we didn't have any bamboo shoots, I shredded peeled, sliced jícama, and we could scarcely tell the difference. (Not my photos.) With the soup, we ate reheated corundas given to us by our neighbors. These corundas seemed a bit unusal as the had a few bits of carrot plus some strips of chile jalapeño. The surfaces were unusually yellow. (Not my photos.) The combination, slightly reminiscient of chicken soup with matzo balls (although we ate the corundas separately, from a plate) was a good one. Later, we had some apple-berry cobbler I'd made.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 7, 2010 16:21:54 GMT
Jícama is my stand-in for water chestnuts. I peel chayote, slice it in half the long way, then cut cross-wise slices from the halves for perfect "snow peas".
Cristina, is that recipe from Spain, maybe from your family? It's very unusual and completely out of the ordinary. I'd love to know more.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 7, 2010 16:27:46 GMT
No idea what I'm getting tonight. Mrs Cactus had a big lunch with a friend today so I'm eating on my own.
Might be sent to the kebab shop...............
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Post by Don Cuevas on Sept 7, 2010 23:12:42 GMT
I've started writing my What's For Dinner posts ahead, using a text editor, then pasting them when the connection permits.
What’s for dinner, September 7, 2010
We started with an uchepo (sweet corn tamal) or two, drizzled with pon pon gee dressing, (hot and spicy seame-peanut dressing. I based this one on salsa macha) which I’d prepared for a Pon Pon Gee Noodles with chicken, cucumber, scallion, cilantro, etc. We’d planned to eat the leftover Hot and Sour Soup, but there was no room, after the uchepos. Thus it is with leftovers: they tend to increase rather than diminish if alterations are made.
The Pon Pon Gee Noodles were very good, with the requisite chile zing as well as the numbing sensation provoked by the Sichuan Pepper in it. There was a noticeable hint of garlic that lingered on the palate like a haunting memory.
We drank a very good hot green tea with it. I can’t decipher the characters to tell you what kind it was.
Some really rich, freshly baked banana bread after. Two nice loaves made with 6, black-ripe bananas, and butter for the shortening. Someone here could have a nice little business making these, IF they were Mexican citizens or had the necesary work permits.
Snow pea subsitutes: Sra. Cuevas had great success growing snow peas this summer. If we’d had the freezer then, I’d have blanched and frozen them.
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Post by cristina on Sept 8, 2010 3:21:05 GMT
Don C, the flavor combination of your uchepo with the spicy dressing sounds delicious. I really enjoy opposite flavors in a dish. imec, I did not take a picture of the arroz con costra because it frankly would not have photographed well. Puréeing the peppers into the broth really diluted the vibrant color that the saffron should have added, so other than the raisins, there wasn't much color contrast. The next time I make it I will skip puréeing and instead cut the peppers into slivers. Then I will take a picture. Just for you. Bixa, it is indeed a Spanish dish, I believe of the Alicante region which is also home to Valencia. It is not a family recipe but is a recreation of a dish I had in a restaurant. So my version is a mash-up of a few different recipes that I've found, with my own contribution being the nuts and raisins. Anyway, I think of paellas the way I do of risottos; other than the specific rice cooking technique, you can really add whatever you want. The egg part is what makes this dish unique. And the crust that it forms really does enhance the rice, IMO. Oh, and it was really good on the 2nd day as I brought leftovers to work for lunch today.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2010 1:27:49 GMT
I've never had pon pon gee noodles, but I know I'd like them. And spicy Chinese food with hot green tea? Heaven! I am totally intrigued by that arroz con costra, Cristina. With that saffron and the fancy egg topping, I wonder if your addition of nuts and raisins wasn't perhaps returning some original Moorish touch to the dish.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2010 1:30:24 GMT
Oh yeah ~~ I forgot I opened this thread in order to gloat about my supper, which I just finished. I made a fairly plain potato salad into which I folded smoked fish. Had that with some cut up tomato on the side. I feel as though I wrote the book on good.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 10, 2010 4:35:51 GMT
Sounds like a poor man's version of 'Labskaus'... Labskaus - a Specialty of the Seafaring town of HamburgLabskaus is a one-dish meal made with mashed potatoes, corned beef and beets. It’s bright red from the beet juice and served with a fried egg, pickles and pickled, rolled herring (Rollmops).
Labskaus used to be a poor-person’s food, but now pickled meats and fish are so expensive that it has become a luxury food, even served at fancy restaurants. It also has a reputation for being a hangover cure.Serves 3 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients: * 1 small onion, chopped * 4 tsp butter or margarine, divided * 1 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 4 medium) * 1/2 cup milk * 1 cup beef broth * 10 oz corned beef, or 1 can, chopped * 1 small can of pickled beets in slices * 1 T pickled beet juice * 9 Rollmops (pickled herring wrapped around a gherkin pickle) * 3 eggs * Salt * Pepper Preparation:Cook the potatoes in salted water until soft. Brown the onions in 2 tsp butter for 3 minutes and remove from heat. Brown the corned beef cubes in the same pan until warmed through. Chop 5 beet slices small, reserving the rest. Drain the potatoes and add the milk. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher (they will be chunky). Add enough broth to make the potatoes wet, but not runny. Fold in the browned onions, chopped corned beef, chopped beets and the beet juice. Season with salt and pepper. Using a non-stick pan, melt 2 teaspoons butter and fry the 3 eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Divide the Labskaus onto 3 pre-warmed plates. Arrange one fried egg on top of each mound of Labskaus, add the Rollmops, the reserved pickled red beets and spicy German pickles and serve at once. Tip: Pre-warming the plate is essential for total enjoyment of this meal because it can cool down so fast. Place plates in a oven that has been heated for a few minutes and then turned off. Use potholders to remove them shortly before serving. The way I know it is that the rollmops is not served on the side. We use Bismarck Hering, which is basically an unrolled Mops ;D Just cut them up roughly and mix them in.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2010 6:36:04 GMT
Wow -- robust! I would love to try that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 7:00:29 GMT
When I was reading the list of ingredients, I was afraid that the rollmops were going to be mixed with the corned beef. What a relief!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2010 7:06:23 GMT
Re-read the last part of HW's post -- they are mixed into the potato/corn beef dish.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 10, 2010 7:45:22 GMT
Well, according to my version... Actually I quite like it. I thought Bix might like it too, since she's so into beetroot! I can do without
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Post by Don Cuevas on Sept 10, 2010 12:47:52 GMT
Yesterday, a simple, un-exotic midafternoon dinner: Camarones para pelar at Mariscos La Güera. Peel and eat shrimp.
Three hours later, after braving a deluge rainstorm, racing to get to our door while battling a raging river of water coming down our street, we then changed into dry clothes and had tea and reheated Hot and Sour Soup.
It appears that it also rained during the night. I'm going to make cream of potato soup, which may be enriched with cheese and roasted chiles Poblanos.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 14:09:55 GMT
Well, according to my version... Actually I quite like it. I thought Bix might like it too, since she's so into beetroot! I can do without It looked to me like they were put on top at the end, no? Not at all the same as "mixing" in my book. It even seemed to me that a fried egg was being used as insulation.
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Post by imec on Sept 10, 2010 21:03:29 GMT
imec, delicious looking meal, as always. Burrata was new to me though. After looking it up I was intrigued. Did you make it yourself, or do you have a source for locally made burrata? Sorry, missed this question... It was just a mass market version made somewhere in eastern Canada. Tonight: Mac'n'Cheese
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 21:58:10 GMT
I just had some very strong cheese (don't even remember what kind it was so strong) with Wasa while I kept track of my simmering oxtail. Tomorrow, I am planning on something more elaborate.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 10, 2010 22:38:53 GMT
I had a melange of crumbled Mexican beef chorizo, poblano pepper, onion, garlic, tomato, cabbage, and garbanzos, flavored with fresh thyme & rosemary after simmering with a whole turmeric leaf. It was good.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2010 16:35:07 GMT
I ate at least 3 dozen freshly dug,iced cold cherry stone clams last night,along with some fresh sweet corn,and some fresh cantaloupe.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2010 20:41:02 GMT
Extremely simple meal of okra, turnip strips and a bit of oxtail meat. I sautéed the vegetables in a bit of olive oil and then simmered them in some oxtail broth -- but not very long, to keep them from getting mushy. Most of the oxtail is now in the freezer, after having been stripped from the bone.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 12, 2010 0:00:30 GMT
Wow -- that looks really, really yummy!
I killed the rest of the potato salad, with the rest of the fish added to it. Later, still hungry, I made one of those sandwiches that manages to perfectly hit the spot. I sliced some (overly bland) Chihuahua cheese (like Monterey jack) and laid it on a piece of whole wheat bread that had been liberally smeared with salsa macha (thick paste of ground hot chiles with oily ground pumpkin seeds). On top of the cheese I placed thin slices of quince paste, then a few more slivers of cheese as "glue". Toasted this jewel on a dry griddle, then feasted.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 12, 2010 0:05:41 GMT
Just as simple a supper, but very good. Ratte potatoes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratte_potato are typically expensive, but a potato stand at Jean-Talon market had some "second quality" ones, $1 for a smallish basket. There was nothing on earth wrong with them except that they were irregular, in strange shapes with limbs or tentacles. Fun! I boiled or rather simmered these until almost done, while chopping up some fresh new garlic. After draining them I sautéed them in olive oil and at the very end added the garlic (immediately taking the pan off the burner, as the garlic can easily brown too much). Served in a tapas dish with a dollop of Greek-style goat yoghourt.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 12, 2010 0:09:23 GMT
Perfection!
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