What's for dinner?

[Wat_Tyler]

I find this interesting that the ONLY thing this poaster lists as being what's for dinner is;

Chinese food.

Do you know who eats Chinese food all day, every day?


Got it in 1...

Poaster/troll/bot food


You'd think it'd be Rice-A-Roni.

 

[ll74]

Poaster/troll/bot food


You'd think it'd be Rice-A-Roni.

If you don't realize where rice is grown, do commercials make you feel more American? Does it make you forget about tariffs that make it more expensive?

 

[Saint_Ann]

Sam's pulled pork on a bun, white Alabama sauce.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

American food!

 

[HisArpy]

American food!

So... a cheeseburger, fries, and apple pie?

 

[Typo Fu Master]

So... a cheeseburger, fries, and apple pie?

Yes! Just substitute cream of wheat, a splash of fish sauce, pepper and 2 eggs over easy stirred in. Simple, cheap, delicious and totally not pic worthy.

 

[HisArpy]

Yes! Just substitute cream of wheat, a splash of fish sauce, pepper and 2 eggs over easy stirred in. Simple, cheap, delicious and totally not pic worthy.

Your idea of "American Food" needs work. I suggest you take an online class or 6 because while some menu substitutions are ok substituting the entire meal after posting the bill of fare isn't.

One might even begin to believe that someone, in addition to not knowing how to operate a camera, can't cook.

 

[HisArpy]

It is SUNDAY!!!

Prepare yourselves to be wowed.


Just sayin'...

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Your idea of "American Food" needs work. I suggest you take an online class or 6 because while some menu substitutions are ok substituting the entire meal after posting the bill of fare isn't.

One might even begin to believe that someone, in addition to not knowing how to operate a camera, can't cook.

Don't knock it til you try it. Everything I mentioned, with the exception of fish sauce, is easy to get in the US of A. I might try switching out the fish sauce with marmite. Maybe add some parmesan cheese.

I do like weird combinations for some reason but for the most part, I like what I cook. That's the important part.

 

[Chernosoth]

The item I wanted was out of stock at the two stores I checked today. Tomorrow I'll check one or two more stores, and maybe also buy stew beef. Dump some in a crockpot and add spices is cooking I have time to do.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

Homemade sushi and challah! I know it’s a weird combo, but we’re having homemade sushi because it’s my last chance to make it before my son goes back to college.

We’re having homemade challah because my daughter likes to bake and it’s Rosh Hashanah.

 

[HisArpy]

Don't knock it til you try it. Everything I mentioned, with the exception of fish sauce, is easy to get in the US of A. I might try switching out the fish sauce with marmite. Maybe add some parmesan cheese.

I do like weird combinations for some reason but for the most part, I like what I cook. That's the important part.

The quintessential, or iconic, "American food" isn't Cream Of Wheat no matter what inclusions or additional flavor additives you put in it.

 

[HisArpy]

And here we go...!

Steak and shrimp with Romesco sauce, mashed sweet potato, mandarin orange salad with mixed greens covered with a honey/balsamic vinaigrette.

Dessert is a simple peaches and cream parfait to cut through the heavy entree.





Glamor shot of what you're drooling over.



Tender, juicy, tasty... wow!

 

[HisArpy]

The item I wanted was out of stock at the two stores I checked today. Tomorrow I'll check one or two more stores, and maybe also buy stew beef. Dump some in a crockpot and add spices is cooking I have time to do.

I usually know what's on the menu by Wednesday and, since I don't prepare meals from "fancy foods" most of what I cook I have in the pantry or freezerator already. If I don't have it because I was a lazy bastard and didn't pick it up ahead of time before I planned on cooking it, then I shop for that special thing I need on Wednesday when I make a trip to town anyway. On the rare occasions when I don't know what I'm making by Wednesday, I hold off shopping until Friday so the muse girls can put their heads together on my behalf and inspire me.

Of the very few times when something I wanted wasn't available, I just substituted for something else even if it was a slight downgrade in pizazz.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Homemade sushi and challah! I know it’s a weird combo, but we’re having homemade sushi because it’s my last chance to make it before my son goes back to college.

We’re having homemade challah because my daughter likes to bake and it’s Rosh Hashanah.

I'll bite. What's challah?

 

[Wat_Tyler]

And here we go...!

Steak and shrimp with Romesco sauce, mashed sweet potato, mandarin orange salad with mixed greens covered with a honey/balsamic vinaigrette.

Dessert is a simple peaches and cream parfait to cut through the heavy entree.

View attachment 2681318



Glamor shot of what you're drooling over.

View attachment 2681319

Tender, juicy, tasty... wow!

I really appreciate your presentation and your photographs. Also, you were making me some more in-depth research for my culinary pursuits. Unfortunately, I grew up in a household where no one was particularly interested in cooking. Oddly enough, we children sought broader horizons. I think I’m a little more adventurous for seasonings and my brother is probably a little more adventurous for recipes.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

I'll bite. What's challah?

Sweet Jewish holiday bread. The opposite of matzoh!

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

The weird Rosh Hashanah dinner was great! It turns out challah, apples and honey are the perfect compliment to raw fish and rice!

My son recited the V’ahavta from memory! Apparently he’s been spending Friday nights at Hillel while he’s at college.

 

[HisArpy]

I really appreciate your presentation and your photographs. Also, you were making me some more in-depth research for my culinary pursuits. Unfortunately, I grew up in a household where no one was particularly interested in cooking. Oddly enough, we children sought broader horizons. I think I’m a little more adventurous for seasonings and my brother is probably a little more adventurous for recipes.

My mom was the world's worst cook. She always said she could burn water and demonstrated that lack of culinary talent fairly frequently. Coming home to the smell of red hot metal in the house while she sat in her favorite chair completely engrossed in a book wasn't a rare thing. Consequently I grew up in the eat it and beat it home where wolfing down food without hardly tasting it was a normal thing. My younger years consisted of barely edible meals and the occasional baked dessert when we had extra money for ingredients I could use.

Until one day I decided to change that.

I'm a polymath - someone who seeks out new things to learn and master. It's what has driven me to do so many different, and seemingly unconnected, things over the span of my life. Cooking is just one of those things so in order to master it I began watching cooking shows on the TV, then using youtube to get more depth (because the TV shows edit HEAVILY for both time and to "keep culinary secrets secret"). I bought books, took a couple of online courses, and practiced my ass off to the detriment of both my waistline and wallet.

I learned a few universal but unstated rules about cooking (like wine over stock, stock over water) and got better. That spurred me to try harder. I'm still not really a chef, I'm more of a better than average amateur, but every meal I prepare gets me one step closer to that goal.

The thing is, anyone, including my mom, can be a better cook. It takes desire and a willingness to learn through experimentation and effort. Copy what others have done (for example; Chloe's peri peri chicken is on my to-do list Chloe, I want your grandmas recipe!!!) and pay attention to what you like and don't like about it. Then modify what you did like to change it so it's more what you want and less what you don't.

Presentation is experience more than anything. We, like birds, prefer color contrast and bright vivid colors. Play to that inherent thing and presentation almost creates itself.

BTW, for those who say they can't do this, most community colleges have some type of program about cooking. A lot of those are even online. (although the online versions are really crappy in my experience because you have to prep the lesson and then upload it for review. That review takes time so the course pares down what's being taught so the instructor has that time.) Basically, there's no excuse for anyone to be eating instant ramen other than being broke or a cheap assed bastard.

 

[HisArpy]

Something else to consider is dessert. Even simple desserts change the entire meal but we're not talking about store bought cake or a scoop or 3 of ice cream. A home made dessert somehow changes the perception of dinner to something more than "the usual."

This can be a stepping stone into a larger world.

You can begin small. Bake a cake, make a pie or cookies, something. Even just whipping some heavy cream and scooping it over fruit works. Or go all out and make ambrosia salad. It's the fact that you did something other than open a can or a box (or worse, bought it premade) that makes it special. Yes premade tastes good but that's not the point. The point is that a good cook does the work, they don't buy it done for them. Assemble the ingredients and put them together yourself.

Simplest dessert I know of that is absolutely home made: Make some instant pudding and chill until fully set. Whip a cup of heavy cream and confectioners sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. Fold in the pudding, one large scoop at a time. Continue folding gently until there aren't any white streaks. Serve in a small bowl. You can garnish with a maraschino cherry or mint leaves if you like and have some on hand but it's not necessary.

But be warned, this is a very dangerous path that often leads to adventures involving intimate relations with semifreddo and gelato.

 

[Bangley]

I'm trying to find some way to make my dinner fit the politics board...
I'm having linguine with white clam sauce, and Donald Trump protects pedophiles.

 

[Saint_Ann]

I'm trying to find some way to make my dinner fit the politics board...
I'm having linguine with white clam sauce, and Donald Trump protects pedophiles.

Pedophiles like "McDonalds eating" Bill Clinton.

 

[Chernosoth]

Something else to consider is dessert. Even simple desserts change the entire meal but we're not talking about store bought cake or a scoop or 3 of ice cream.

Indian grocery stores have flavors not seen in standard stores. I don't eat ice cream now, so I didn't check all the labels. I recall rose ice cream.

 

[HisArpy]

Indian grocery stores have flavors not seen in standard stores. I don't eat ice cream now, so I didn't check all the labels. I recall rose ice cream.

I make semifreddo when I want a frozen cream-based dessert. I can make it any flavor I want, add whatever I want to it from fruit to caramel to marshmallows and chocolate, and then freeze it. Any quantity, large or small, but smaller quantities mean I don't have so much that I'll sit in front of the tube and scarf it down by the quart in an evening.

I'm working on creating a decent gelato. It's more difficult than semifreddo and so far I haven't been successful at it.

Kind of like my recent Lemon Bar junket.

The one thing about all of the above is that most people, myself included, are afraid of cooking over a double boiler. It's not something that most people use here in the US so the unfamiliarity of it is what makes it so scary.

It's not. Believe me it's not. Control the heat of the water, keep the bowl out of the water, and never stop whisking until you have a mixture that will form ribbons on the surface of the mixture when you lift the whisk. Lift the bowl off the heat occasionally to ensure that it doesn't get too hot, the water won't care if you leave it to simmer untended for a few minutes.

You can buy double boilers but many cooks just use a clear glass bowl over a sauce pot. I use a stainless steel bowl because it heats faster and more evenly without the long heat retention times that glass has.

 

[LeahWill]

You can buy double boilers but many cooks just use a clear glass bowl over a sauce pot. I use a stainless steel bowl because it heats faster and more evenly without the long heat retention times that glass has.

Have you told NASA?