Show Us Your Dinner! (Home Cooking ONLY please!)

While not really a lunch or a dinner...I had three eggs in the fridge that I needed to do something with...so I hard boiled them and made Deviled Eggs!

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Persian Pleasure

This meal was such a pleasure. I have made it before, but it never turned out just right. Temperature and timing are most critical. I was committed to making it happen this time, and was not disappointed.

First, a nice salad, created by my beloved bride and sous chef. I like my dressing on the side, and tend to eat it with my hands, dipping in the dressing as needed. The dressing is a nice home-made ranch, and the salad consisted of wedges of iceberg lettuce, carrot sticks, and violets and nasturtiums from the garden out back.

Next, Persian Chelow with Tahdiq (Persian Rice with a Crispy Crust): This is prepared in several stages, and in a Dutch oven, in two layers. The bottom (crispy) layer: Basmati rice, vegetable oil, plain Greek yogurt, cumin seeds, and sea salt. The upper layer: Basmati rice, cumin seeds, butter, sea salt and chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Finally, Persian Skewered Tamarind Fish with Dried Lime Butter and Chives: The skewers: fresh bay leaves, and cubes of Scottish Salmon, Chilean sea bass, and Ahi tuna, marinated in tamarind paste, water, turmeric, olive oil, and grated onion The skewers are broiled, and the fresh bay leaves blacken and smoke, yielding a surprisingly wonderful flavor and aroma. The sauce: Persian dried black lime, water, verjuice (juice from immature, sour grapes), fresh-squeezed lime juice, fresh thyme, butter, and finely snipped onion chives from the garden out front.

This was all washed down with fresh grapefruit juice and vodka.

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Enjoy,
Rich P
 
While not really a lunch or a dinner...I had three eggs in the fridge that I needed to do something with...so I hard boiled them and made Deviled Eggs!

index.php
One of those classic, all-time favorites. With just the right amount of paprika, too!
 
Persian Pleasure

This meal was such a pleasure. I have made it before, but it never turned out just right. Temperature and timing are most critical. I was committed to making it happen this time, and was not disappointed.

First, a nice salad, created by my beloved bride and sous chef. I like my dressing on the side, and tend to eat it with my hands, dipping in the dressing as needed. The dressing is a nice home-made ranch, and the salad consisted of wedges of iceberg lettuce, carrot sticks, and violets and nasturtiums from the garden out back.

Next, Persian Chelow with Tahdiq (Persian Rice with a Crispy Crust): This is prepared in several stages, and in a Dutch oven, in two layers. The bottom (crispy) layer: Basmati rice, vegetable oil, plain Greek yogurt, cumin seeds, and sea salt. The upper layer: Basmati rice, cumin seeds, butter, sea salt and chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Finally, Persian Skewered Tamarind Fish with Dried Lime Butter and Chives: The skewers: fresh bay leaves, and cubes of Scottish Salmon, Chilean sea bass, and Ahi tuna, marinated in tamarind paste, water, turmeric, olive oil, and grated onion The skewers are broiled, and the fresh bay leaves blacken and smoke, yielding a surprisingly wonderful flavor and aroma. The sauce: Persian dried black lime, water, verjuice (juice from immature, sour grapes), fresh-squeezed lime juice, fresh thyme, butter, and finely snipped onion chives from the garden out front.

This was all washed down with fresh grapefruit juice and vodka.

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Enjoy,
Rich P

Wow, your dish brought back some very fond memories the rice looks perfect! Now I'll be thinking Persian today. Meat dishes with prunes or pomegranate seeds were some of my favorites.
 
My wife made one of my favorite dishes last night...and we didn't eat it until today. We feel that pea soup with ham not only tastes better on the second day, but it thickens up in the fridge. She adds carrots, onions, split peas and garlic. Here's a photo to show how thick it is. :D

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Rainy, raw day with the flea market cancelled again. My wife and I decided to pretend it was spring and barbecue. I did burgers and hot dogs on the charcoal grill. My wife made homemade macaroni salad (peppers, onions and celery), baked beans (molasses, brown sugar, onions and bacon), tossed salad and fresh butter and sugar corn.

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My wife and I decided to pretend it was spring and barbecue.
Sadly I know what you mean. Two days to May and we woke up with a rain/snow mix at 34 degrees.
Gonna be another one of those no spring/no fall years again I fear.
Oh and BTW, you got my stomach-a-rumblin with that pic.
 
Thai Celebration - Tom Kha Gai

My best friend moved away a few years ago, to replace his lost employment. It just so happened that, a few years and employment positions later, he has been returned to Tucson. To celebrate, I decided to work up a festival in a bowl, Tom Kha Gai. My friend was present for the whole process, all the while telling me about a restaurant he used to live near, that made a soup out of sticks and leaves, but did not tell him that he was not supposed to eat them when he came across them in the bowl. Strangely, I was making such a dish for him. I did make sure that I told him to simply set certain elements to the side, when he came across them in the bowl. A good time was had by all, and the food turned out great.

First, my beloved bride's fresh springrolls: springroll wrappers, glass (yam) noodles, Nappa cabbage, finely grated carrots, chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, and salt...served with sweet Thai chili sauce.

Next, a bowl of medium-grain rice.

Finally, a bowl of Tom Kha Gai: cubed chicken thigh meat, chicken broth, coconut milk, galangal (kha in Thai, a rhizome, and one of the tasty sticks to set aside) , lemongrass (another tasty stick to set aside), wedges of white onion, cubed tomatoes, kaffir lime leaves ( a tasty leaf to set aside, from our tree out back), quartered Crimini mushrooms, Thai dragon chilies, fish sauce (Red Boat), sliced sweet peppers, chopped cilantro, sea salt, and fresh-squeezed lime juice.

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Enjoy,
Rich P
 
All I can say is it's getting to where I can use my new teefers. It won't be long and I'm gonna start phukin my grill up. Shrimp and steak will be the first thing. I can see the image in my head. My girl friend is more ready than me. She's tired of cooking, and I'm glad I haven't been able to eat it.
 
Indonesian - Sup Buntot

@cableguy inspired me, and I went forth, seeking my first excursion into Indonesian food. I am told that this one is a very popular street food, and the variety in its preparation is as diverse as Pho is in Vietnam. There are many recipes on the web, but I wanted something as authentic as I could get. So, I did some searching on YouTube, and found a couple of Indonesians making it, but speaking no English. I still watched, and saw some ingredients being used that the textual recipes did not include. So, I tweaked the best textual recipe I could find, with the ingredients I saw used in the videos.

One ingredient I did not use (I forgot, but did find): candlenuts. They are somewhat toxic until cooked, and have a slightly bitter taste, but appear to be used mostly as a thickening agent. I decided to use what I obtained while learning to make Vietnamese Pho: the collagen from long, slow-cooked bones will thicken a broth, and give it a nice, rich mouth-feel.

Never having made this before, I did not want to risk making a huge amount of this. My research showed that there could be a lot of overlap in the preparation of sup buntot and Pho. So I decided to let it take my normal 28 hours to make the broth base. I used half of it to make the sup buntot, and saved half to make some Pho, later. I did tweak my normal Pho broth base a bit. Normally, I boil beef bones and tendon for 12-14 hours, then remove the clean bones, and put in oxtails and beef brisket for 5 hours more simmering. For this dish, I did the bones as usual, but then added oxtails and beef neck bones (instead of the brisket).

No salt or spices are used at this stage. When the broth is ready, the products from the bones and tendon are set aside, along with the oxtails and neck bones. Then, the oil is skimmed off of the top, and set aside to cook other things in. Then, most of the spices are ground into a paste, and tempered in hot oil in a saute pan, then added to the broth after a bit of caramelization, and simmered for a good while. When the broth and spices have matured, the broth is run through a sieve, in go the vegetables, and back in go the oxtails, and simmering continues until the veggies are done. The results are served, like Pho, with a variety of garnishes, to be added as desired to customize your own bowl. Unlike Pho, sup buntot is served with a bowl of rice, to round things out.

I must say that, though I was concerned about committing to this dish, It will now take its own honored place in our regular fair. I'll continue to explore Indonesian food. There is a lot there to keep me busy for quite a while...

Here is what goes in: beef marrow bones, beef oxtails, beef neck bones, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, lemongrass, galangal, nutmeg (I used 50-50 of nutmeg and its covering, mace, for a bit more bite), cubed carrots, cubed potatoes, sea salt, palm sugar, hot white pepper, shallots, garlic, onion, and coriander. Here are the garnishments for serving time: sliced tomatoes, sliced scallions, Chinese celery leaves, wedges of fresh lime, French-fried onion slivers, and hot chili sauce (chopped Thai dragon chilies and Indonesian sweet soy sauce).


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Enjoy,
Rich P
 
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My cooking today was Braised Beef Short Ribs. Very simple braise with onions, garlic, cabe rawit (Indonesian Bird chilies) ketcap asin (Indonesian soy), whole canned tomatoes, some of my own habanero/chipotle hot sauce, a little cumin and white pepper. Sort of an Asian/Southwestern fusion. I used the rice cooker as usual.

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My cooking today was Braised Beef Short Ribs. Very simple braise with onions, garlic, cabe rawit (Indonesian Bird chilies) ketcap asin (Indonesian soy), whole canned tomatoes, some of my own habanero/chipotle hot sauce, a little cumin and white pepper. Sort of an Asian/Southwestern fusion. I used the rice cooker as usual.
I truly enjoy fusions. Such do require quite a familiarity with the cuisine and spice pallets of the foods to be" fused." I need more experience with Indonesian food, but it appears that a West African/Indonesian fusion just might be nicely profitable. A few more sorties, and I will give it a shot.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
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