What's for dinner?

[Deleted]

Will be having a traditional Lenten(Ash Wednesday) repast this evening of Gumbo Z'Herbes. A gumbo made with a variety of greens (turnip,mustard,collard,pepper grass,carrot tops,some use cabbage). Some use ham seasoning ,others a meatless version (to stay in line with the fasting from meat thing). Made properly can be one of the tastiest gumbos in creation.
Served over rice of course.
Of course I'll be reciting T.S. Eliot's epic poem ASH WEDNESDAY while Mr. C. cooks."Because I do not hope..."


Will post recipe if anyone's interested. Great veggie fare.

[bixaorellana]

I love greens and do not have a good, tried recipe for gumbo z'herbes. So yes, please -- I'd love to have the recipe.

[Deleted]

I am not at all turned on by the thought of a gumbo in which 75 jumbo shrimp are not peeking out of the broth.

[bixaorellana]

So open minded!

I have swiss chard that needs addressing, so will probably stir fry it in olive oil with garlic & chile. Oh yeah -- forgot I have a new york strip, too. I'll feast tonight!

[Deleted]

Well, all I had was leftovers -- boiled beef and couscous vegetables. At least that's out of the way so tomorrow will be something new (although it will probably have something to do with all of the sausages that my Swiss guests brought me; they seem to think that French sausages are unworthy).

I also have at least 5 kilos of Swiss chocolate piled all over the place. I must remember to start distributing it at the office tomorrow, since I eat very little of it. I can't really leave it lying around the nursing home or the staff will kill me.

[Jazz]

Tonight I'm having salmon, sauteed with garlic, butter and lemon. With this, a quick stir fry of swiss chard, portobello mushrooms, green beans, broccoli and garlic...with walnut bread. Dessert is a fruit salad of raspberries, blueberries, fuji apple and walnuts.

[bixaorellana]

Wow! What's the occasion, Jazz? That's gala.

[Deleted]

Tonight I must cook some Swiss sausages. I know I want a green vegetable with them but I haven't decided yet which one. I am also suffering from a severe garlic deficiency and feel the need to consume massive amounts of it as soon as possible.

[bixaorellana]

Potatoes mashed or crushed with tons of garlic?

[bazfaz]

I had scrambled and toast. This a quantum leap from just toast.

[bixaorellana]

Good, Baz -- you're getting there!

Since I was stymied in my attempt to go to the market for fresh comestibles, I'm falling back on what's already in the house. I have a bunch of toasted chickpea powder, so I'm making soup.

I sauteed cut-up cactus pads, poblano pepper, and onion, then turned off the heat & stirred the powder into the vegetables. This stuff loves to clump. Then I added some fresh-tomato sauce from the other day & boiling water and one whole smoked chile. It's simmering away right now. I'll add a bunch of chopped cilantro at the end.

I'm pretty sure that the toasted chickpea powder is used in Indian cooking, too, but I don't know what it's called.

[Don Cuevas]

We cleaned up the remnants of salad fixings today, and had an enjoyable late lunch of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, marinated white beans salad, cooked carrots, sweet yellow and red peppers, Kalamata olives, a little panela cheese, and a couple of tinned sardines in tomato sauce. Also a slice of toasted pain du campagne.

Tomorrow we'll go out out with friends to splurge on another seafood meal.

[Deleted]

I had a late lunch of a dozen and a half oysters on the half shell, a small salad and a large bottle of Pelligrino water so I'm going to forego dinner and have a small bowl of mango sorbet.

[bazfaz]

Tonight I have requested a fish fillet and a couple of boiled potatoes.

[mockchoc]

That reminds me to use up my canned chipotles I bagged and froze ages ago!

I'll do a pork meatbally thing too I think later in the week with them.

[bazfaz]

Praw.ns and pasta tonight. There are mushrooms and broccoli too. And pineapple

[Deleted]

It looks like you're getting back up to speed, baz.

I am cooking pork belly (fatback) with Mexican black beans (I would have used red beans if I had had a bag of them), including a chopped onion, a lot of crushed garlic, coriander powder, and a few other spices. The aroma pervades my dwelling (but I will be out all afternoon).

Normally, I should make rice to go with that, but I will make up my mind about that about six or seven hours from now.

[bixaorellana]

For the record, rice or some other starch should always be eaten with beans in order to release the beany protein. Since you used black beans, you could have tortillas instead of rice, but bread would be nice, too.

Look ~~ I found a picture of you enjoying your beans! Really, you should take your hat off at the table. www.theamericanmag.com/article.php?article=1858

[bazfaz]

Mrs Faz is making lasagna tonight.
She's been cooking for a week now and has murmured that she thinks tomorrow, as therapy, I should get up to make supper. My head is empty of ideas.

[Deleted]

Tonight will be a mixture of prawns and dim sum from the freezer, which reminds me that my dim sum baskets are getting rather old and I should buy new ones soon.

I'll also buy a few carrots at lunchtime to grate with my papaya tonight, and dinner will be lovely.

[bazfaz]

I am well enough to cook tonight for the first time in ten days but I am being cautious: boeuf bourguignon from the freezer, with a starter of green lentils and smoked lardons.

[bazfaz]

Lamb curry tonight - one Mrs Faz made earlier.

[Deleted]

I must finish grating my papaya, but I will put different things in tonight's salad.

[Don Cuevas]

Leftovers again.

Tomorrow, Chiles Poblanos Rellenos de Atún y Papas. Served cold, with a caper vinagreta. (Btw, these are not the batter dipped and fried chiles rellenos. They are roasted, peeled, seeded and nude.

EDIT: later... Today, the leftovers came together in a nice way, and once again, showed that the whole can be greater than its parts. Of the leftovers, there was a cup of cooked spaghetti, a cup or so of lightly cooked broccoli, and some fading romaines of the day. The romaine was left raw as a foundation for the cooked stuff.

The new ingredients were a 1/2 kilo of setas (shelf mushrooms), a little onion, garlic, a little sliced chile poblano, a 1/3rd cup of pecans, a quartered Roma tomato, some Hue seasoning, s&p, juice of a Mexican lime and a sprinkle of dried, sweetened cranberries as a garnish.

The onion, garlic, chile and pecans were sauteed in olive oil; the spaghetti and broccoli tossed in; the tomato wedges, the seasonings, ¡y ya! The cranberries over all. It was very pretty. Tasted fine, too.

For once, I didn't make too much, and we finished it in one sitting.

[bazfaz]

A simple Thai supper tonight. An omelette with some small squid; then stirfried pork with chillis, ginger, coconut, fish sauce and dark sugar.

[Deleted]

My late meal tonight is just a cucumber salad with tomato and red onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Nothing else.

[Deleted]

There's a new halal fried chicken place just across the street. I didn't see it arrive, but it can't have been there for more than a week. There was a small café there before. I won't try it tonight, but perhaps tomorrow I'll bring something home.

[bixaorellana]

Omelet with small squid?! Sounds like something I want to try. Details, please!

[Deleted]

Oh, I have to remember to buy a package of those small squid soon -- I love them in salad.

[bazfaz]

Bixa, omelette with small squid...
I chopped some ginger, garlic and a Thai chilli. I put them in a small frying pan with some oil. After a minute I added the small squid. Then the beaten eggs. It is a flat omelette, not one of those folded over, moist French ones. So I just put a lid on the pan and let it gently solidify while I did other things.