The What's for Dinner Thread - August 2014 (recipe index in OP)

[franandaj]

Alison - Sounds like a fun evening. I'm envious. I think either Fran or you need a new laptop.

She's the one who got hers infected with viruses that caused her hard drive to fail. I'm not moving to Windows 8. Besides, I only go to the DIS, photobucket and Facebook. Banking sites and bill paying sites. Who knows where she has been, all over Craigslist, eBay, every shopping site known to mankind. She can have the new computer, I'm plenty happy with my old one!

 

[franandaj]

While I have a few moments to steal, I will post our dinner from Michael Symon's Lola in Cleveland. It was very dark in here, so pictures came out a little blurry. Now when I was going off about Midwestern bars, this is not what I meant. This is a normal high end restaurant bar with a wine wall behind it.



Proof that I was there.



Now here are the crispy pig ears. They were tasty, but a little tough and not something that I need to try again, but at least I can say I have tried them.



We split both the pig ears and this lobster salad. It was good, but wasn't overly special.



We got the corn chowder and they split the portion for us. This was really good!



My lamb was to die for! You know how I say that I can never finish a meal? It was tough, but I ate every last bite of this except what I shared with Fran.



She got the Halibut and it was also wonderful, but I liked my lamb better.



We also got a side of this roasted corn with pancetta and chanterlle mushrooms. It was so good! They have corn coming out their wazoo in that part of the country, I think we tried every special corn dish at every restaurant we went to!



And finally our dessert, The 6AM Special, Brioche French Toast, Maple Bacon Ice Cream and Caramelized Apple.



That was a fun culinary night!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alison - What a wonderful meal looking meal! Looks like you had a great time.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just a reminder that it's Slow Cook weekend this weekend.

Looking forward to reading/seeing the recipes!

 

[franandaj]

We just ate ours, I will have to report, and I might be doing another soon.....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beouf Bourguignon



It's slow cook month! It was always going to be a bit a challenge for me as I don't have a crockpot or a slow cooker in the house. So I chose to cook a classic recipe that I could cook in a slow oven instead. I ended up cooking this for 3 hours in the oven, so I hope it counts!


My starting ingredients:

• 750ml Red wine (I had Cab Sav in my stores, so that’s what I used)
• Citrus rind (I used fresh mandarin peel)
• 200g streaky bacon, rind removed, cut into batons
• 1.2 kg chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces
• 2 tbs plain flour
• 350 g French shallots, peeled
• 200g small Swiss brown mushrooms
• 1 bunch Dutch carrots, trimmed, peeled
• 300ml no-added-salt beef stock
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Bouquet garni (I have bay leaves, thyme and parsley in my garden and I tied these up to make mine)

In a pot, heat and boil the red wine with the citrus rind for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool whilst you prepare the rest of the ingredients.







In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook for about 3 - 5 minutes and remove. Set aside to use later.






Season the beef with salt and pepper.






Brown in the dutch oven (with the remaining fat) for about 2 minutes each side. Cook in batches and do not overcrowd the pot.






Toss the beef in the flour until covered.






Add the shallots and cook until slightly browned.






Return the bacon to the dutch oven and cook for another minute or so.






Add the floured beef back to the pot.






Pour in the red wine and stock in equal quantities until covered. Allow to boil whilst you scrape the bottom of the dutch oven to deglaze the bottom.






Add the tomato paste, bouquet garni, mushrooms and carrots to the Dutch oven.











Cover and cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours in a preheated oven at 325 deg F (160 C). Check the pot every so often and give it a stir.
I thought the mushrooms and carrots were cooked at this stage and removed them from the Dutch oven. I should have added them later rather than adding them when I did. Cover and cook for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours in the oven at 145 C. When the beef is tender, season with salt and pepper. Return the mushrooms and carrots to the dish and heat for another 15 - 20 minutes.






Serve with whatever sides you like. I served dinner with snow peas from my garden.






My dinner!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Food looks good! Great now I am hungry and it is only morning...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Morning all. It's Monday again. Where does the weekend go?

I took some chicken tenderloins out of the freezer last night. I think I might just crumb them and make some chicken and chips for dinner tonight.

Hope you're all well and enjoyed your slow cook weekend.

 

[franandaj]

We have been enjoying the weekend although it has been incredibly tiring. I made my crock pot dish on Saturday. I hope to have pics up today. We did some serious cleaning and putting away Saturday so it was nice to have dinner already made. I plan to use the crock pot again this week because I was looking for a recipe for Saturday and remembered some other great recipes that I made in the crock pot. I picked up the ingredients for that meal when I bought what I needed for Saturday.

Since tonight is labor day, I plan to try and use the grill at the new house. I've thawed a rib eye steak. Last night we ordered take out on our way home from Disneyland. We had gone out to the park to meet up with another DISer who ran the 1/2 marathon yesterday. We had some drinks, took our obligatory picture, and then Fran bought some stuff (big surprise there!). I had some spaghetti with sausage, mushrooms and cream sauce, while she had a Philly cheese steak sandwich.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Happy Labour Day, everyone.


Tuesday night and it was baked potatoes for dinner. I'm trying to be good with food and exercise again. I must have a trip coming up.

 

[dgbg100106]

Woohoo it's Friday!!!

Oh I am so excited - I forgot it was crockpot month. You all know I am the crockpot queen. I LOVE love love my crockpot and use it all the time. Hummm let's see what will I fix. Decisions decisions!!

Ok I am going to get a bit mushy here but please let me. Today is a wonderful day...........My daughter, Elizabeth went in for a physical last week and the Dr. found a lump in her breast (she was concerned also) so he sent her for an immediate mammogram (she is only 34). It has been a lonnnnng week waiting, but she got the call from her Dr. late yesterday afternoon. NO CANCER!!! She will have to have another mammogram in a year and really watch but for now we are praising God. So ladies, if you haven't had your mammogram - GO GET IT!!! Thanks for letting me share we really are very thankful.

And on a completely different note - I have had my new car exactly 3 weeks and on the way into work this morning a truck passed me and WHAMMO a pit in my windshield. Doug just now took it down to the glass place and they say they can fix it. Oh I hope so, Matthew hasn't even seen it yet and the poor thing is already beaten and abused. We also were able to get the 6 hail pits pulled out. But REALLY!!!

I guess in the skiem of things it really isn't so bad.


WFDT ~ Grilled Jalapeño and cheddar Brats, grilled corn and chips.

Make it a great day and an awesome weekend.

That is great news about your daughter. Many blessings...

 

[dgbg100106]

David and I have been away in South Carolina, and watching some college football, it was a great weekend.

I also got my project launched so I am happy and hopefully I will have more time for the DIS now that it is live...

 

[PrincessInOz]

David and I have been away in South Carolina, and watching some college football, it was a great weekend.

I also got my project launched so I am happy and hopefully I will have more time for the DIS now that it is live...

YAY! Good for you. Well done. I trust there are no major post-launch issues?

 

[EJ4Disney]

Hi Girls,

I was back to work yesterday, but you all know how that first day back is.....I was swamped!! I have tried to read back but really just think I will jump in.

We had a really nice few days off. We really didn't "do" much but just not having to go in to work was heaven. On Tuesday I had a Dr. appointment, then we went for breakfast and home to work. Wednesday we puttered around and around noon headed for the State Fair. We had a ball and didn't get home till almost midnight. Thursday we again puttered around and left for Lincoln around 1. We met Matthew at his apartment then went for dinner. Came back and watched football. Friday Doug and I cleaned and did Matthew's wash. He has a 2 bedroom both with bathrooms. He told me when he moved in that our bedroom and bath was up to us, and boy did he mean it. He keeps the rest of the apt. good but I needed to get in there and really clean, this way I don't have to lift a finger the rest of the season. Saturday was the Husker game and we won!! Yea!! Sunday we all went back to the State Fair and Marty, Stephanie and Lilly met us. We had so much fun. Doug and I had tickets to the Brently Gilbert concert so at 7:30 we said goodbye. The concert was good and we were home in our own beds by midnight. Monday we did NOTHING.....I mean nothing. Perfect way to end vacation.

Today is my last day again. So yesterday was really busy and today/tonight all activities start back up here at the church. My quiet time is over. Tomorrow we are working on the bedroom and on Friday we will again head to Lincoln.

I did my crockpot meal on Saturday. It was so neat that after the game was over we went back to the apt. and when we walked in the front door it smelled the whole complex up. Here is what I fixed:

I took 4 frozen chicken breasts and laid them in the bottom of the crockpot. Place a slice of cheese on top of each breast (we like swiss and provolone, but you can use anything you prefer). On top of that place one can of cream soup, (I used cream of mushroom, you can use whatever you like) on top of that put one box of stove top dressing (any flavor you like) and the melt 1 stick of butter and drizzle over the top. Place the heat on low for 8 hours. It was so good.

WFDT ~ Grilled sirloins, asparagus, summer squash and zucchini in my grill rack, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. YUM!!

Make it a great day!!

 

[franandaj]

Congrats on the project launch Brandi! Hope to see you a little more often!

Ellen - sounds like you had a great relaxing time off. That crock pot recipe sounds great! I would urge you to go back a page or two and at keast look at some of the pictures. PIO's slow Cooke meal looks very tasty and I posted pics from my dinner at Michael Symon's restaurant, including the crispy pig ears. They arent luke you would think.

I'm making a beef pot roast in my crock pot tonight. Ill be starting it soon and letting it cook all day.

 

[EJ4Disney]

Morning Girlies,

Alison ~ Thanks for the hint to read back. Oh my goodness those meals look amazing. Are you all ready for Mom and Dad's visit?

to everyone else.

I am off today at noon. I can honestly say that I am loving this part time working. Makes me really start thinking about retiring. Doug just turned 55, but has worked for the Co. for 37 years (yes, he started with them at 18, right out of High School) and can retire at 58 with full pension. He is really thinking about it, but I don't think I will that soon. But I can truly see me going to part time. This last 2 weeks has been really really nice.

We are heading into Lincoln this afternoon. Marty has a big project to work on this weekend so he can't go, but Stephanie and Lilly are. So we are picking them up at 2 and heading to "Unca Matts". She (Lilly) called me last night and was so excited to tell me she was going to the football game with us. This will be her first game and so much fun. The kids' tickets are a row in front of us and over about 6 seats, so we will be close if Lilly gets restless, and Matthew's tickets are just in the next section so there are plenty of people she can visit. I really think she will be alright and if not we will leave.

WFDT ~ Texas Roadhouse!! nuff said - YUM!

Make it a great day and have a wonderful weekend - GO BIG RED!!

 

[kimmar067]

....WFDT? GF penne with vodka sauce and sliced boneless chicken breast....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi everyone. Seems like there are a number of rather tasty sounding dinners being made.

WFDT? I haven't quite decided yet. I went to the market and have some marrow bones on the boil. It might well be some hearty marrow bone soup. The alternative is takeaway.

 

[franandaj]

We ended up going to the nursery and getting home too late tonight. I had planned on cooking a ham, but getting home at 5PM was too late for ham. I ended up thawing a spaghetti sauce packet from the freezer and we had spaghetti and meat sauce with salad and Texas Toast.

Tomorrow I'll make the ham.

So Ellen, how far exactly is Lincoln from where you are? Just trying to get some context into your drives. My guess is it's like when we drive to Hollywood, but after driving through Ohio and Indiana, I'm guessing that your drives are nothing like what we experience going to Hollywood and more like what we saw from Cleveland to Auburn.

 

[kimmar067]

Morning Girlies....Make it a great day and have a wonderful weekend - GO BIG RED!!

....wow, YOU root for Rutgers? Who'da thunk?