What's for Dinner? ~ Saturday ~ February 4th!

[Lucinda]

Hello!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned!
It's overcast and rainy here in the 'burg today.
Bill is still on his Chinese food kick, so that will dictate the dinner menu tonight. Egg rolls and maybe pork fried rice.
If I am not up to it, I'll be doing a hot roast beef sandwich.

What's for dinner where you are?

[Phentex]

1. Le Spouse wants to grill but I am thinking NO...

because it's supposed to rain. Not a big deal but it does seem to slow him down and I would like to eat at a reasonable time. Seems like a good day for a pot of stew or something. I think I'd like a hot roast beef sandwich!

[Lucinda]

13. Aww...that's too bad. I know how happy Bill was when he could char things, rain or shine.

We killed our grill a few years back and haven't replaced it. He used to grill often!
Bill is a very slow cook, unless someone is coming over. He's usually programming (his version of computer fun) and when he cooks, every thing goes on low so he has more time to tinker. Frustrating when you are hungry!

[livetohike]

2. We're having a deep dish taco pizza and a salad

and it is overcast here and in the 30's - no rain forecast for the next five days. Very strange winter so far.

Hope you are feeling better .

[Lucinda]

11. That sounds interesting! How do you make it?

And thankie. Every time I start to feel better, it gets rainy and I get worse again. Plus I broke the borrowed juicer I was using, and I miss that energy pop. We have had a ton of rain, and little to no ice or snow. Unusual for us!

[livetohike]

39. Here's the recipe

Deep Dish Taco Pizza

pizza dough to fit a 13x9 baking dish
1 lb. ground beef, or turkey (I use Yves crumbles)
1 small onion, chopped
15.oz can diced tomatoes and chilies
1 t. taco seasoning
4.oz shredded Cheddar cheese
salsa (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray the baking dish with cooking oil. Spread the pizza dough to cover the bottom and as far up the sides as you can.

Saute the meat or soy crumbles in a non-stick skillet with the chopped onion until browned. Add the tomatoes and seasoning and cook for one minute or until heated through.

Spread the mixture over the pizza dough and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese over top and bake for another 5 minutes or until melted. Let cool for 5 minutes. Cut into 6 serving pieces. Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.

One piece is enough for me, but my husband, who is a big eater ate 4 pieces. In addition to the salad I made and the black beans I served on the side!

[maddezmom]

3. Just got my actifry and going to test a few things

french fries, sweet potato fries, chicken wings and shrimp. Just going to do some mini batches to try and then if it works well will do for the kids dinner tomorrow.

[Lucinda]

10. Very cool!

Have fun! I wouldn't mind if you teleported some of the sweet potato fries my way...

I have to replace my neighbors juicer, so my shopping for kitchen goodies will be on hold for quite a while! New toy envy!

[maddezmom]

15. they came out okay, but will wait until I do a second batch to send them your way

tasted fine but I think I need to cut them a bit shorter so they don't get all twisted around. My dog is a bit freaked out by the noise it makes and it's been going non-stop for about 2 hours now. Have the chicken wings in now. So far so good.

[Lucinda]

16. Sounds like a lot of fun!

[maddezmom]

17. Here are the wings

[Lucinda]

19. Wow. Amazing color! How long does it take for those!

[maddezmom]

21. about 35 minutes

I added a bit of soy during the last 5 minutes...maybe a 1/2 tablespoon and only 1/2 of oil suggested since there was skin on. I think if I did a full batch it would be closer to an hour+. They kicked butt compared to the ones I do in the oven. The wings were fully cooked but moist and the skin was crispy without being burnt and not oily at all.

Working on a batch of reg french fries now and am trying with only have the oil again and leaving them in for an extra 5 minutes. So a total of 40 minutes.

There are a lot of recipes from the book I'm going to be trying out this week while the kids are here. There is a good one for fried rice I'm going to try along with pot stickers. For my little man, I'll refry the rice into patties or balls so it's easier to eat.

Here are the fries:

[Lucinda]

24. The fries look great too!

Bill loves all things fried, and this would be a much healthier way to go about it! Glad to hear it works well.

[Hotler]

4. Homemade green chile. n/t

[Lucinda]

9. We've never made it but I think Bill would love it.

We work with those flavors often in other dishes. Sounds like it would be great with some nice hot cornbread.

[Hotler]

40. Try adding a can diced green chiles to your cornbread sometime. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

5. Cowboy caviar.

Aldi had a super-duper produce sale this week. I am well stocked on grape tomatoes and avocados, so black bean salad it is.

[Lucinda]

8. Black bean anything is a winner with me.

Looove them!

[Lugnut]

35. Black beans work for me!

I found a recipe for chipotle black bean soup on a can of Goya black beans. It's out of this world!

[GoCubsGo]

42. I always put chipotle in my black bean soup.

It gives it a nice, smokey flavor. Kind of like making it with a ham hock, only without the ham hock.

[Hotler]

41. Cowboy caviar is also good made with black-eyed peas. n/t

[HopeHoops]

6. Real men DO eat quiche!!!!

My wife's making one for dinner and I got some trumpet and shitake mushrooms for it. She hasn't even started it and I'm already hungry.

[Lucinda]

7. I'm finally getting hungry myself.

I ate a waffle for breakfast and then went back to bed.
Quiche sounds good!

[HopeHoops]

12. I fed my wife coffee and breakfast in bed this morning.

The bread was a pumpkin bread my middle daughter made. I included a half orange and squeezed more oranges for juice. The coffee was a bit overly loaded with Irish Creme. Oops. Shit happens.

[Lucinda]

14. I'm sure she struggled through somehow...

I love pumpkin bread. A lot.

[HopeHoops]

36. She hated every minute of it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. was supposed to be ham and beans...

but I forgot to put them on the stove this morning. so pizza from scratch instead. yum

[Lucinda]

20. I'm planning on doing pizzas again next week.

Love homemade pizza!

[maddezmom]

22. so do we. Do you have a simple recipe you could share?

[Lucinda]

23. For the dough?

I make mine in bulk from a focaccia recipe.

I got in a hurry one day testing a focaccia recipe and couldn't wait for the second rise, so I flattened some focaccia dough, topped and baked it, and we loved it as a thin pizza crust. I make enough for six medium-ish pizzas at once, and store the rest in plastic gallon bags. It's super simple to make.

If that is of any interest, I'll post it.

[maddezmom]

25. please post it or PM me

[Lucinda]

26. Base dough recipe:

Pizza Dough - Thin Crust

Ingredients:
3/4 oz Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 c lukewarm water*
3 tab olive oil
5 cups unbleached bread flour (AP is ok too...but I usually use bread flour)
2 teaspoons salt (kosher or sea salt)

Prep:
(I prep in my mixer ~ can be done by hand)
Cream the yeast with apx 4 tbsp of the water
Add remaining water
Stir in the oil
Sift flour and salt together
Combine wet and dry and mix to form a soft dough
Turn onto floured board (or use dough hook in mixer)
Knead 8-10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic
Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 1/2 hours
Cut into 6 chunks and refrigerate in plastic zip bags.

To use:
Take from fridge
Pat with olive oil and let sit at room temp for about half an hour - then roll out, top, and bake 8-10 minutes in a preheated 500 degree oven.


* I will also occasionally add a bit more water after the flour goes in if I need it. It is NOT a wet dough though. Mountain air does weird things when baking.

[maddezmom]

30. thanks

thought I could bookmark but realized you can only bookmark an OP.

[Lucinda]

31. Sorry...I'll add it to my journal...then you can find it

[noamnety]

27. salad and green beans

A big romaine salad with grilled chicken, red peppers, cukes, avocados, and hot pepper rings, dressed with homemade mayo, balsamic vinegar and sumac, and a big pan of fresh green beans (sauteed again in last night's pan drippings, I'm in a routine with that).

My breakfast today was a new twist on the buttered coffee - I added cinnamon and chili powder to it. I think I'd like to retire so I can enjoy a giant mug of that unrushed every morning. My daughter thinks that's an acceptable justification for retiring but I'm not sure how to broach the subject with the husband.

[Melissa G]

28. I tried buttered hot chocolate this morning.

I took some grass fed butter with me on a trip with friends in case they wanted to try the buttered coffee. One already had. I can't do the heavy coffee caffeine, so I tried it with hot chocolate. I like the cinnamon idea.

Next time I try the coffee route, I'm doing decaf, I'm also adding cocoa, cinnamon and cardamon for a fancy mocha.

[noamnety]

29. Hmmm, I like the idea of adding cocoa to it all.

I may try that tomorrow - just the unsweetened cocoa powder in a small amount to the regular coffee.

[Melissa G]

38. I'm going to try to find some high quality, unsweetened dark

cocoa and then add the cardamon and cinnamon. It's a shopping day!

[Lucinda]

32. I've been playing with pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon butter on my waffles

I need to try it in some tea or coffee! Thanks for the reminder!

What do you do with sumac, and what part do you eat?

[noamnety]

37. The arabic stores here sell ground sumac

When the trees flower, they produce little tart (salty-lemony) fruits that are dried and ground. It's common to add it to a fattoush salad (but I add it all kinds of salads).


Some people just gather the red berries from local sumac trees and make "sumac lemonade" - I've never tried that, but I might this summer.

http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2008/08/sumac-lemonade.html

Making jelly from it sounds intriguing too!

[opiate69]

33. For a change, Mrs. Opi cooked tonight...she made a Kefta Tagine with some ground venison.

Knocked it outta the park.

[noamnety]

43. You inspired me to try this today.

I had some venison partially defrosted in my fridge, I just ground it and made it into little meatballs, I'm hoping to turn it into something memorable here.

[opiate69]

44. LEt us know what you come up with!

[noamnety]

45. This was my finished pan:

I might have made it too wet, probably because I used canned tomatoes instead of grating fresh, but it was so darn good anyway! That's a keeper.

[opiate69]

46. Nice!

on edit: The recipe my wife uses for some odd reason isn't tomato-based. I got it out of the local paper a couple years ago, and looks like it's from the book "Flavors of Morocco" by Ghillie Basan... very good dish though (although the prep=work drives poor Mrs. O nuts lol)

[Lugnut]

34. We went out for pizza.

We met our nephew and his wife and three kids for famous Old Forge PA pizza for supper. We don't get there very often but the pizza is worth the trip. It did not disappoint and being with family was a lot of fun.

[cbayer]

47. Swedish meatballs and salad

Cleaning out the fridge and getting ready to stock up!