So what's for dinner?

Jack Daniel's on the rocks. Hubby ate at his mother's and I'm not going to cook just for me.

MM

I drink too much wine too late...only eat regular amounts three times a day. I guess I am gaiing weight from reading what you all are eating or from the sedentary lifestyle. Oh an wine, did I mention the wine?

Wine is good.

I was able to have some soup and it helped out immensely. I feel much better.

grandma2isaac said:

Tonight, not sure about dinner. I have chicken strips, meatloaf, and pulled pork along with my famous (in my family, anyway) deviled eggs to make for a family get-together for tomorrow. My baby brother has been battling lung cancer all year. He just found out two weeks ago it has now embedded itself into his pituitary gland. Inoperable. They have said that chemo will give him about six months. He is already running into walls, and you can tell his eyes aren't working in tandem. We are trying to get the family around as many Sunday afternoons as possible.

Sorry, having a pity me moment. Better now.

What exactly is a redneck taco???

Click to expand...

Oh, sweetie! I'm so sorry! I don't know what I'd do if I were going to lose one of my sisters like that.

Redneck taco is a hoecake (cornmeal, buttermilk, pinch of salt, same as regular cornbread, only you fry it like a pancake. Some people put sugar into the mix, which is WRONG! WRONG! and my sister should be ashamed! ). On top of that, pulled pork (or beef; never tried it with chicken). On top of that, cole slaw. Drizzle the whole thing with your favorite BBQ sauce (my husband makes his own Carolina style). Voila! Redneck taco. Probably not the healthiest dinner around, but yummy all the same. Surprisingly filling, too; everybody loves it, but not even my husband goes back for seconds and rarely do I make side dishes.

ETA: BTW, beef stew and cornbread tonight. Having a craving, and the cooler weather sends me straight to Comfort Food Land.

Hmm, sounds good, but I would have to call it something else for my husband to eat it. Tacos are like a religious icon for him.
The beef stew and cornbread sounds delish!

BTW, sorry everyone for sharing a sad story here, I apparently got carried away. I apologize, but thanks for letting me vent.

Lemon Butter Chicken over rice. OMG it was sooooooooooooooo good. the house still smells divine.
Butter, paprika, salt, pepper, chicken. Saute until mostly cooked. Remove chicken.
Butter, garlic, chicken broth, cream, Parmesan cheese, sherry, thyme, lemon juice, ALL THE SPINACH IN THE WORLD. Cook until spinach wilts. Add chicken. bake for half an hour.
I made this in my 12" frying pan. Very quick!

OMG. OMG. Sooo good. Droool........


No need to apologize. {{{hugs}}} if wanted.

Japanese hibachi minus the sauce.

There's a place near use that specializes in yakitori and rice bowls. I wanted to like it so much but...

...slow service, with the server "jokingly" complaining about them being "mainstream".

...flabby chicken wings, claiming to be "spicy Korean". Spicy, yes, but it was just standard Sriracha.

...pork belly yakitori -- didn't seem like pork belly. More like loin or country ribs and overcooked to boot. Ditto their chicken thigh yakitori.

...fried chicken yakitori. Overcooked. Tasted like they didn't change their cooking oil too.

...ramen bowl. Too much vinegar in the broth. Clashed with the overly sweet marinade they had for their ground beef bulgogi they had in the broth as protein.

So it's 6:30 in the morning, and am I doing something productive. Don't be silly!

Like I may have said here, the weather turns cold, and my brain goes "SOUP! I want soup!" I know tonight I'm planning to fix brats cooked in beer, fried cabbage, mac and cheese and fried potatoes, a a starch-tastic comfort food favorite for the whole family. Except me; I have to be in the mood for fried cabbage. So I've spent the last hour surfing the internet, trying to find a recipe that would combine most of these components into handy soup form.

I can't find one that makes me happy. I found several cabbage/potato/sausage soups, but at least two of them are cream based. Seriously, a cream-based sausage soup? Glurggg! I can see it with lean bacon or ham, like ham/potato soup; the curing/smoking process on good bacon or ham cuts a lot of the oil. But sausage would come out too greasy, by far. Besides, cabbage and cream do not sound like a nice combination in my mind.

So I'm trying to make up my own, using a tomato base. Believe it or not, my hubby found a ham bone in the bottom of the freezer yesterday, one I had forgotten about! So we'll start with stock made from that ham bone plus celery, carrots, onion (i use these so often, I put together celery/carrot/onion "soup kits" and freeze them for quick soup prep). Cabbage, sausage (remove from casing, browned and drained of any extra oil), diced potato. I have some dried bell pepper, might throw a handful in. Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay, thyme, rosemary, fennel seed, a pinch of dill, pepper, very easy on the salt. Crushed tomatoes, plus diced tomatoes. MAYBE throw in some corn at the last five minutes, but that might be gilding the lily a bit, dunno. Simmer the whole thing until the potatoes and cabbage are tender, about 30 minutes.

Cornbread to go with? No, I think white bread. Ooh, onion-herb bread!

Think that sounds nice? Now more important: think i can talk my family into letting me mess with their comfort food starchapalooza?

Risotto bubbling on the stove, with Brussel sprouts steaming away with lots of lemon, and kangaroo steaks under the grill, because why not?

Nachos.

Because sometimes you just have to make nachos.

New recipe! Chicken Scarpariello from Rao's in NYC. (Chicken cooked with Italian sausage, Bell peppers, sweet onion and vinegared cherry peppers, chicken stock and white wine.) I served it with bow tie pasta.

It's a keeper.

Perogies panfried in bacon fat with onion, mushroom, keilbasa.

Why anyone boils perogies I'll never understand.

An old standby.

Toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! (mine had a bit of ham too...)

Tonight is the night of takeout pizza (aka cardboard with tomato sauce) and many, many coffees.

An old favorite which I used to have all the time... roasted bell pepper and butternut squash soup. I added a drizzle of truffle oil at the end, which made it about 50 times better. Mmm. Almost makes me miss winter.

Hit a Mexican place tonight. Elote, chicken empanadas, pork tostones and spiced popcorn with cotija cheese.

jallenecs said:

I can't find one that makes me happy. I found several cabbage/potato/sausage soups, but at least two of them are cream based. Seriously, a cream-based sausage soup? Glurggg! I can see it with lean bacon or ham, like ham/potato soup; the curing/smoking process on good bacon or ham cuts a lot of the oil. But sausage would come out too greasy, by far. Besides, cabbage and cream do not sound like a nice combination in my mind.
?

Click to expand...

Just chop the cabbage and wait until 5-10 minutes before serving to stir it into the soup. It works well in a tomato or pepper base and really well with ham stock. It should be just slightly crunchy to those with teeth and easily swallowed by those without. That way you avoid the sulfur smell that people associate with overcooked cabbage

Lauram6123 said:

New recipe! Chicken Scarpariello from Rao's in NYC. (Chicken cooked with Italian sausage, Bell peppers, sweet onion and vinegared cherry peppers, chicken stock and white wine.) I served it with bow tie pasta.

Click to expand...

Lauram6123 said:

It's a keeper.

Click to expand...

Except for using pasta in place of rice, that sounds like what my family used to call jambalaya and years later I was infomed by a friend from Louisiana that it was not.

GeorgeK said:

Except for using pasta in place of rice, that sounds like what my family used to call jambalaya and years later I was infomed by a friend from Louisiana that it was not.

Click to expand...

Ha! My husband's from Louisiana, and if I called that jambalaya, he'd revolt. A proper jambalaya has to have the trinity. (Celery, bell pepper and onion.) And if I put Italian sausage in my jambalaya instead of andouille, he might just walk out the door.

Lauram6123 said:

Ha! My husband's from Louisiana, and if I called that jambalaya, he'd revolt. A proper jambalaya has to have the trinity. (Celery, bell pepper and onion.) And if I put Italian sausage in my jambalaya instead of andouille, he might just walk out the door.

Click to expand...

It depends on my mood how I react to those who see themselves as purists. I always add celery and make a point of getting celery with lots of leaves. That's where the flavor is. I'm not a fan of andouille so I don't use it. I don't know if I've just never had the good stuff, or if I just don't like the spicing and technique. To me it's always had a sort of rancid flavor, So I'll use whatever I have on hand. It might be cubed meat. It might be sausage. Before I developed an allergy it usually would have shrimp.

1. (bad mood) Fine, more for me.

2. (perturbed) If I cooked it I can call it whatever I want and you can eat it or not!

3. (whatever) You misheard me. This is Jambaloid.

4. (good mood) Oh look, your wine glass is empty

Broiled pork ribs marinated in apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, chili-garlic paste & bitter lemon and Thai pickled cucumbers.

Flank steak marinated with garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, black pepper, oil, and lemon juice, grilled and served with homemade chimmichurri sauce (made with parsley and fresh oregano, not vile soapy cilantro.) An immersion blender did a great job with the sauce, by the way--didn't have to drag out the food processor.

Baked, stuffed chicken, now that I finally figured out how to repair my propane range!

Marissa D said:

Flank steak marinated with garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, black pepper, oil, and lemon juice, grilled and served with homemade chimmichurri sauce (made with parsley and fresh oregano, not vile soapy cilantro.) An immersion blender did a great job with the sauce, by the way--didn't have to drag out the food processor.

Click to expand...

Bless your heart. Another cilantro hater.

leftover pork chop cubed and scrambled into eggs topped with cheese and a salad

Cilantro is ok in the right proportions, but a lot of people do seem to overdo it