DINNER? SUPPER? What's cookin'? Week of June 13-19~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Phentex]

What do you call your evening meal?

It's dinner here. My mom always said supper and I'm not sure why. :)

We haven't had a Sunday pot roast in a while and with weather in the 90's today, I'm dragging out the crock pot. Yes, the meat will cook to death but nobody minds.

I'm feeling the need for lighter meals this week (again with the exception of tonight and the burgers or dogs at the swim meet). My pesto was pretty decent this week so I'm going to use it for pasta at least once.

Any plans for the week?

[hippywife]

1. Today...

we make a'da braciole. LOL

I've never made it before so this will be something new. I'm dragging out the crock pot to let it simmer in with some Sunday gravy I got in the freezer after I get it stuffed and browned. :9

I do have to make some cream cheese roll ups, a bean and corn salad, FF Banana Cake and some brownies for the hubband lunches this week.

Other than that, I have no real plans for the week. We'll see how it goes.

Pot roast sounds good, too. No better way to cook in the summer than the ol' crockpot, well except firing up a grill. ;)

[yellerpup]

7. I've had braciole in a restaurant before but I've never made it

either. I can't wait to hear how it turns out. :hi:

[hippywife]

8. Not sure I'll be able to tell you

if it's a good braciole coz I've never even eaten it before. :rofl:

How are ya, babe? :hug:

[yellerpup]

10. I have a lot to be grateful for just on general principles

and I am good, but I have felt more positive than I have lately. I overcompensate for poopiness by working my tail off in the kitchen. The posole is a work of wonder. I just came back from having a taste now that the ingredients have had 15 minutes of simmering. If we were having company I'd make some fry bread to go with it, but we do have both flour and corn tortillas and organic corn chips. I think I've reached a point of pig-fat fatigue because I can't imagine frying bread at this point. How are you? How is the new job going?

[hippywife]

12. I'm sorry you are poopy.

At least you are accomplishing something, when I get poopy I put my nose in a book and don't come out until it's finished. I hope whatever is causing your poopiness goes away soon. You much too sweet to be wallowing in all that poop! ;)

I had chicken posole last week. One of the guys at work made it and it was delish! Yummy, yummy stuff.

Got some lard from the coop so at least I'm not stuck rendering today, too. LOL

Hope this cheers you up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehu3wy4WkHs


:hug:

[yellerpup]

14. Thanks!

No way can a person hang onto poopiness when such a rousing antidote is offered. Ahhh...all better! :hug:

[hippywife]

15. Yaaaaaa!

[hippywife]

24. Well, I wasn't terribly impressed with the braciole.

It wasn't a whole lot of trouble to make but it just seems like it should have been fantastic for what it was. A Sunday gravy with all the meat in it tastes every bit as good, and doesn't require all the extra steps. If it had really even come close to knocking my socks off, I'd make it again, but it was just good, nothing fantastico.

:hi:

[yellerpup]

25. Your description rather mirrors my restaurant experience with the dish.

It's been about ten years since I first had it and I've not made it myself or ordered it when we've gone out even once in all that time. Not that the original dish wasn't fine it just wasn't inspiring. Thanks for the refresher; I couldn't agree more. :hi:

[hippywife]

28. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Not a total loss and the sauce was, of course, fabulous! LOL :*

[yellerpup]

30. Fabulous, of course!

:-)

[hobbit709]

2. Tonight it will be buffalo burger on a ciabatta bread bun

with grilled onions and jalapenos, Stilton blue cheese on top.

Haven't figured out what the rest of the week will be but I got a heap of raspberries and blackberries.

[hippywife]

3. Had buffalo burgers last night

with grilled onions and baby bellas. The Stilton on top sounds wonderful. :)

[yellerpup]

6. I bought some yesterday.

Your burgers sound yummy.

[Warpy]

4. Salad, salad, salad

The hippie dippie market had a special on bagged mixed greens, so I bought several bags. I'll be supplementing them with smoked turkey, grilled fish, scampi, and deep fried tofu breaded with cornmeal and Parm. cheese, the oil flavored with the shrimpy-garlicky olive oil from the scampi.

Next week I'll be sick of salads so my diet will undoubtedly go to hell.

[Phentex]

44. I went through a salad spell myself...

just could not get enough of it. Maybe I was dehydrated or something but I was eating salad as a snack for a few weeks.

[yellerpup]

5. Lovely pork fat in the butcher case yesterday afternoon.

It was fresh and had quite a lot of meat on the strips so I snapped it up to make lard. You never know when it will be cool enough to render lard in the summer and $2.50 worth of prime pork scraps makes about half a pound. I separated the meat from the leftover fat and tossed one fourth of the cracklings over purple Boston lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, black olive salad and then re-tossed with honey mustard vinaigrette and served on a locally made flour tortilla that had been crisped in the oven. Tonight, I have sauteed all the individual elements of cumin, cilantro, carrot, celery, onion, garlic in some leftover pork fat and added them to a chicken broth that I had in the freezer. I added a can of Ro-tel original and now she's simmering. When I go back in I'll add some fingerling potatoes and two poblano peppers that I roasted yesterday. Then I'll toss in two turkey breast cutlets, a pound of chopped boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the remainder of the lean pork gleaned from the cracklings and finish it off by a grind of pepper, a rasp of lime peel and a squeeze of juice. All we'll need then is a shower of cilantro and a tortilla of any kind. Have a beautiful week!

:hi:

[hippywife]

9. Wow!

You're having an industrious day. Sounds interesting. :9

[yellerpup]

11. Delicious!

Here's a photo



Edit to add: I dropped all the chicken out of the recipe and used only the small pork scraps and two turkey breast filets. Now we are light on meat and heavy on veg. I love this stuff!

[hippywife]

13. That really looks wonderful.

Great photo, too. I can almost smell it. Mmmmmm!

[grasswire]

16. I never ever in my life have rendered lard.

I'm impressed.

[hippywife]

18. I haven't either but

it doesn't look too terribly difficult. Just a little smelly from what I've read. :hi:

[yellerpup]

20. The oven does all the work.

I learned how from a Diana Kennedy cookbook back in the early '80s. Cut fresh pork fat into smallish dice (or run it through a grinder) place it in a deep cast iron skillet and add maybe a half inch of cold water to the skillet. Put the skillet into a cold oven and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees until you smell the meat begin to cook, then turn the temperature down to 250 or so and just let is stew softly for a while. If you render at a higher temperature, your lard will come out carmel colored and a bit greasy when what you want for baking is pure white and fluffy. I remove the rendered fat with a bulb baster, cool it in the freezer in small batches, then return the separated 'jelly' that accumulates under the lard and comes from the bones and cartilages to the stew pot. The thriftiness of it appeals to me, not necessarily the price of making it, but the fact that you use parts of an animal that are often discarded. You are such an elegant pie maker I think you could appreciate the difference a portion of pure lard can produce in a crust.

[grasswire]

17. I'm making up a deconstructed stroganoff.

I want the flavors of stroganoff but not the fat and heft of it.

So I'm going to slice a piece of sirloin very thin and quickly pan fry it with dill, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Then I will remove it from the pan and caramelize some mushrooms and onion. Then I will deglaze the pan with some worcestershire and a bit of red wine and return everything to the pan just to heat through.

I plan to serve that with whole wheat noodles and steamed green beans. A small dollop of light sour cream on the side to stir in as desired.

[hippywife]

21. Sounds like a winner to me.

Really it sounds easy and delicious. :hi:

[yellerpup]

27. Your approach is so creative

and the food is well considered and wholesome. I bet you could sell that dish at a restaurant many times a day.

[cleveramerican]

19. We have been on sandwich kick.

Ruben's,BLT's ,Muffaletta's, Cubano's

made some awesome Philly cheese-steaks, and some memorable Meatball sandwiches too

I have been trying so hard to make a sandwich as good as anything I can buy.
Its harder than it may seem

[grasswire]

22. I love sandwiches for supper

If I didn't have to minimize carbs and if my "roomie" -- my niece -- liked them for supper I would most summer nights!

What is it that makes the difference between homemade and restaurant, do you think? A flattop grill? Or maybe they do things that aren't particularly healthy but taste good -- like keeping a pan of butter melted on the grill all the time and mopping it out with a worn brush?

[tigereye]

23. dinner - I've been making a chicken mango strawberry

salad with red onion and spinach. Quote good and filling and good for hot weather. Husband loves it. Can't have too much mango, in my view.


Also corn on the cob, steamed asparagus and salmon tonight.

[yellerpup]

26. Lap of luxury.

That sounds terrific.

[The empressof all]

29. I did my last Pulled Pork today

I put a Chili Lime rub on it----Got it browned in the Oven then threw it in the Pressure cooker with the HOT Pace Picante sauce. It's delish.... Since I'm making the transition back to not eating meat/animal proteins I told the Husband he better make it last....The next one may never come. :rofl:

[Vinca]

31. Yesterday chicken and bean enchiladas.

Today an Emeril "packet" meal with fresh spinach from the garden, chicken breast, sweet onion, feta and spices.

[yellerpup]

32. Tuesday: Chinese

Ants Climbing a Tree, a classic Scezhwan dish of ground pork-chili sauce over bean thread noodles. Crusty French roll, and a salad of a nice mix of farmer's market veggies and herbs. Dessert is fresh pineapple and goat cheese with ginger syrup. I stopped baking so much after Valentine's day and we've both pared a few pounds since then just from our new habit of having fresh fruit for an after dinner snack. Now I must go fill a snack request....Eat well! :hi:

[supernova]

33. Language: Dinner vs. Supper

Putting on my word nerd hat:

Dinner means the biggest, most formal meal of the day. Dinner can be the midday meal or the evening meal. Usually Dinner implies table linens, the good china, silver service, and possibly a restaurant.

Supper is a small evening meal, consisting of lighter fare such as soup and sandwiches. In some parts of Northern England, "supper" is also "tea."

[The empressof all]

34. I know it's regional but I also think there is a "Class" distinction

Growing up in the 50's and 60's, my blue collar family always had a large supper in the evening. We went out for Dinner.

Dinner is what TV families had in Dining Rooms. Suppers were for the people like us who ate in the kitchen......Gosh...remember those big old eat in kitchens? I don't think they design them that way now with the everything open trend.

[supernova]

35. It is regional here

You always went to grandma's for "Sunday Dinner" and everyone knew that you meant the midday meal with all the trimmings.

[Warpy]

37. My parents lived all over the country

My mother was a New Yorker from money and my dad was a midwesterner from academia. Supper was what we ate on weekdays. Dinner was Sunday afternoon, holidays, and what was served in restaurants.

[Phentex]

40. Same. Except it wasn't until we were south that

we had "dinner" on Sunday afternoons and that was rare due to church obligations. When we ate with relatives on Sunday, it was dinner.

I like to make an early dinner on Sundays now because I want time to relax before Monday morning rolls around.

[hippywife]

36. Quiche...it's what's for dinner.

Making a baby bella and onion quiche (I was outta spinach) with feta and cheddar. Sweet potatoes and tomato slices on the side. :9

[yellerpup]

38. Take a picture, please!

When I think of how pretty that will all look together on the plate I can almost breathe in the aroma.

[hippywife]

39. Oops!

I'm so sorry, doll. We just finished eating before I saw this. Maybe when we eat the leftovers, I'll take a pic of the plate for you. It would look better if I had the spinach in it, though.

How are you doing, my friend? :hug:

[yellerpup]

41. I'm okay.

Mentally prepping myself for dentistry (implants, bone graft) in two weeks. Next week is the last summer party with the cartoonists and so I put off doing the dental work until my 'professional appearances' are complete. Still no word on my book... BUT, the farmer's market is up again and we are eating well. Last night we had blue apricots that were quite good and smaller than the pluots that we have tried in the past. I've been reading the Pioneer Papers (U of Okla.) while researching a play I want to write and find many things to interest and delight me within those accounts of life in Indian Territory. How are you, my dear? The puppy? The girls in the hen house?

[Arkansas Granny]

42. We've been pulling out all the stops for the last week or so. My brother is in for a visit

and my daughter and I have been filling him up on home cooking. He's a 60+ bachelor and doesn't get to eat home cooked meals very often, so we've been fixing all the old favorites for him. Some of the menus have included meatloaf with stuffed baked potatoes, old fashioned pot roast with potatoes and carrots and a crawfish boil. Last night my DIL cooked traditional Vietnamese dishes for us (egg rolls, pot stickers, a noodle dish with pork and her spicy cole slaw served with crispy shrimp chips).

This morning I have cinnamon rolls rising to bake for breakfast and this evening the whole family is coming out for grilled pork tenderloin and rosemary au gratin potatoes. My niece is bringing homemade brownies and my son is making ice cream, so we'll build brownie sundaes for dessert. And to prove that you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy, tomorrow night we'll have pinto beans, fried potatoes and cornbread, by request.

He says we spoil him, and I guess we do, but getting the family together and cooking is one of our favorite pasttimes and his visit has given some good excuses for doing just that. He has also gotten to meet his new great niece and 3 great nephews that have been born since his last visit.

[Phentex]

43. How fun!

Yes, we cook for love. My sister plans to fry chicken tomorrow for her husband even though it's supposed to be well into the 90's!

Sounds like you've had some great comfort food of late! :9