September 2016, Whats for Dinner??

bethk wrote:I don't think I would want a noisy piglet living next door to me.  They are really clean animals but they can be noisy as all get out when they want something.  Good thing your neighbor is just babysitting for a while.

Tonight's meatloaf with mashed potatoes and (colorful) peas & carrots.

Beth wrote:But it's a BIG meatloaf for just the two of us. I'll probably have enough leftover for sandwiches plus a meal of leftovers.

bethk wrote:The best part of the meal was picking up the bits of peas & carrots with a forkful of mashed potatoes.....LOL

bethk wrote:Dessert or bedtime snack.....

bethk wrote:The best part of the meal was picking up the bits of peas & carrots with a forkful of mashed potatoes.....LOL

bethk wrote:The best part of the meal was picking up the bits of peas & carrots with a forkful of mashed potatoes.....LOL

Beth wrote:I'm also going to try a dish I saw on Sarah Moulton.....fideo. It's a Mexican spiced vermicelli pasta dish, much like Spanish rice but made with broken vermicelli pasta instead. The pasta gets toasted like you do with Rice-a-Roni (you know I love that!) and then absorbs the flavors and moisture like a one-pot pasta dish. I checked out a few recipes and came up with what I think we'll like.

Crybaby wrote:

bethk wrote:The best part of the meal was picking up the bits of peas & carrots with a forkful of mashed potatoes.....LOL

I like carrots and I adore peas but I've never cared for peas and carrots together.  They do look so very pretty on a plate, though.  Don't get me wrong, as I eat them when they're served to me but I just don't find they go together very well.  The first time I ever saw them served together was school lunches, as we never had them at home.

And anything tastes good with mashed potatoes!

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:

Crybaby wrote:

bethk wrote:The best part of the meal was picking up the bits of peas & carrots with a forkful of mashed potatoes.....LOL

I like carrots and I adore peas but I've never cared for peas and carrots together.  They do look so very pretty on a plate, though.  Don't get me wrong, as I eat them when they're served to me but I just don't find they go together very well.  The first time I ever saw them served together was school lunches, as we never had them at home.

And anything tastes good with mashed potatoes!

I am the same way when it comes to peas and carrots. Like then both, but not together.
What I do, is separate each pea and carrot into their own pile, and then eat them.

bethk wrote:Have you ever done the crispy shallots before?  Man, I tried and tried to get those right before I finally found the secret.  Start the thin sliced shallots in cold oil and don't let the oil get too hot, keep stirring.  The real tip is to take them out BEFORE they turn very brown, just when they look dry.  They continue to brown up after they are out of the oil. I can't tell you how many shallots I ended up burning before I figured it out.

Or, ask Imelda how she makes hers.....she sprinkles them on her foods all the time.

bethk wrote:What I didn't realize, Michelle, since I had never heard of the dish before was that they sell the Mexican vermicelli already broken in a package in the Latin section of the grocery store.

Bugster2 wrote:I forgot to tell you that I just read an interesting article on parmesan cheese. Did you know that what you buy in the USA that is made in the USA is not real Parmesan? I did not know that. It also contains wood pulp. I did not know that either. The real Parmesan is labeled Parmigiano-Reggiano. From now on I will only buy the real stuff. Who wants to eat wood pulp?

Uncle Jimmy wrote:I am the same way when it comes to peas and carrots. Like then both, but not together. What I do, is separate each pea and carrot into their own pile, and then eat them.

bethk wrote:Have you ever done the crispy shallots before?  Man, I tried and tried to get those right before I finally found the secret.  Start the thin sliced shallots in cold oil and don't let the oil get too hot, keep stirring.  The real tip is to take them out BEFORE they turn very brown, just when they look dry.  They continue to brown up after they are out of the oil.

I can't tell you how many shallots I ended up burning before I figured it out.

Or, ask Imelda how she makes hers.....she sprinkles them on her foods all the time.

I have never succeeded in making fried crispy shallots, mine are always store bought  Asian stores sell them, but you have to be careful, some of them have fillers, like the shallot skin or flour, but the higher price ones usually pure shallots and their crispiness last long

today I made some oxtails, I boiled the oxtails with salt, black peppers, cloves, nutmeg, bay leaves and a piece of tamarind, first I boiled them with plain water, after they are boiled for a few minutes I discarded the water, I replace it with clean water, added seasoning and boiled them in my pressure cooker until they are tender

In another pan, I heated a bit of oil, I added some minced shallots, garlic, some candle nuts ( omit if you can't find them ), grated ginger, some chili sauce/oelek ( I used my homemade chili sauce ), soy sauce and brown sugar ( in my country we have sweet soy sauce, we used it a lot for grilling, substitute for soysauce and brown sugar ), I sauteed them then added some of the broth, added the oxtail in the pan, I cooked them until the broth dry ( evaporated ), I broiled them just before serving.. goodness delicious



I boiled ( cooked in microwave) some potatoes for Dirk, mine with rice

Bugster2 wrote:Both Katie and Joe don't like one food contaminated with another. I don't care if that happens. Joe picks out mushrooms, Katie picks out real bacon. I can't think of anything I pick out of food. If it were possible, I would pick out citrus rinds from pie or anything else. I can't stomach the stuff. Oh! I just thought of something I do pick apart: fruit pies. I love the juices and sauce but I don't like the fruit itself. It is a textural thing with me. I pick out the fruit. I pick raisins out of cookies too.

Bugster2 wrote:
Question: I am always using large quantities of Parmesan cheese and find the grating exhausting. Do you grate all of your cheese at once and store it in the fridge or grate only what you need? Also what do you use for grating? I use a Microplane and it does a great job but it is tiring.