What did you have for dinner? -Part dois

Chinese food delivered. Basil Shrimp, Shrimp Curry, Lemongrass Shrimp, ribs and eggrolls. Enough for at least one more meal.

Old 'N Chill said:

Chinese food delivered. Basil Shrimp, Shrimp Curry, Lemongrass Shrimp, ribs and eggrolls. Enough for at least one more meal.

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That has a hint of Forest Gump.

We had curried butternut squash soup with naan.

Lovebug said:

We had curried butternut squash soup with naan.

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That sounds wonderful.

Game day and on-line holiday shopping. Chanukah is done, Christmas will be done Monday. Deli meats, noodle and apple kugel, green bean casserole, cherry cheesecake, brownies, chips, dips and popcorn.

Two bratwurst on the barbie, brioche buns and two Stella Artois beers.

The way Georgia is playing tonight I’ll be eating humble pie.

Leftover Chinese food.

I made haluski (braised cabbage and noodles) I made mine with smoked kielbasa and mushrooms. Served with with dark mustard and warm rye bread.

@Chomsky and @AGENT J , Is halsuki supposed to be cooked down or is it supposed to still have body in the cabbage?

Smoked mussels in the half shell and toasted fresh baked garlic bread. Extra thick cut. I like to baste one side with garlic butter and quickly flash that under the grill after it has been initially lightly toasted. Sometimes I throw a bruschetta mix on it as well, but that takes extra planning. But not everyone likes garlic, so some slices just get toasted and buttered. Local supermarket sells live mussels, and they are pretty cheap. The local 'green lip' variety which are quite large. Lightly steam until you can just open them, but without cooking them too much, or open them raw if you can without breaking them up too much. Debeard them and drain any liquid. Detach the mussel from the remaining half shell and then sit it back loosely in the half shell for the next stage. Add a topping of your choice. I use any and all of - Sweet Chilli sauce, Worcester sauce and finely diced onion, cider vinegar and honey, garlic butter, lemon and honey with grated lemon rind, Soy sauce and brown sugar. I also sometimes do a range of these using herb butters. Lot's of options. Stick them in a cold temp smoker for a couple of hours. Use a heavy smoke setting. Without moving them or draining any liquid that has formed, wind the smoker temp up to a medium level and top any or all of them with lightly grated Parmesan or a cheese of your choice. Smoke for another hour or so until they have firmed up a little and look cooked. Serve in the half shell alongside the garlic toast. About 10 mussels per person gives a light meal. I always do an extra bunch of mussels that are finishing their smoking as we eat. You can guarantee that most people will be still licking their lips at how good these things are. This dish is a little bit fiddly and takes time to prep, but it's really good!!

I started out planning to do mussels in white wine sauce, but a friend dropped off a couple of fresh Rainbow trout for me to smoke so I had a change of plan. Had already started rising the bread to go with the white wine sauce, so a pretty simple switch once I had the smoker fired up.

Lisa said:

I made haluski (braised cabbage and noodles) I made mine with smoked kielbasa and mushrooms. Served with with dark mustard and warm rye bread.

@Chomsky and @AGENT J , Is halsuki supposed to be cooked down or is it supposed to still have body in the cabbage?

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I buy mine, I don't make it. But the cabbage should be medium texture, not overly cooked-down. It should be relatively small pieces, as the dish is usually more noodle than cabbage.

Interesting enough, I never knew the name for this dish when growing-up. It is reasonably common, and I ate it whenever I came across it. Sometimes at home with my parents & grandparents, other times in restaurants & deli's.

Just remember it's noodles with cabbage flavoring, not a heavily cabbage laden dish per se, and the cabbage should be fully cooked - but not cooked-down.

I'll see if I can find a good picture on the net.

And, thanks for asking!

Baked salmon, rice pilaf and garden salad.

Lisa said:

I made haluski (braised cabbage and noodles) I made mine with smoked kielbasa and mushrooms. Served with with dark mustard and warm rye bread.

@Chomsky and @AGENT J , Is halsuki supposed to be cooked down or is it supposed to still have body in the cabbage?

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Following up:

This dish below looks about right, as far as cabbage done-ness and noodle size. It's a wee bit heavier on cabbage than I'm used to, but not that far off. Small bits of smoked meat, often bacon, is critical for the flavoring - you can't leave that out.

By looks alone, I'd happily eat the dish below.

Enjoy!

Ishm said:

Smoked mussels in the half shell and toasted fresh baked garlic bread. Extra thick cut. I like to baste one side with garlic butter and quickly flash that under the grill after it has been initially lightly toasted. Sometimes I throw a bruschetta mix on it as well, but that takes extra planning. But not everyone likes garlic, so some slices just get toasted and buttered. Local supermarket sells live mussels, and they are pretty cheap.

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Lucky you!

Ishm said:

The local 'green lip' variety which are quite large. Lightly steam until you can just open them, but without cooking them too much, or open them raw if you can without breaking them up too much. Debeard them and drain any liquid. Detach the mussel from the remaining half shell and then sit it back loosely in the half shell for the next stage. Add a topping of your choice. I use any and all of - Sweet Chilli sauce, Worcester sauce and finely diced onion, cider vinegar and honey, garlic butter, lemon and honey with grated lemon rind, Soy sauce and brown sugar. I also sometimes do a range of these using herb butters. Lot's of options. Stick them in a cold temp smoker for a couple of hours. Use a heavy smoke setting. Without moving them or draining any liquid that has formed, wind the smoker temp up to a medium level and top any or all of them with lightly grated Parmesan or a cheese of your choice. Smoke for another hour or so until they have firmed up a little and look cooked. Serve in the half shell alongside the garlic toast. About 10 mussels per person gives a light meal. I always do an extra bunch of mussels that are finishing their smoking as we eat. You can guarantee that most people will be still licking their lips at how good these things are. This dish is a little bit fiddly and takes time to prep, but it's really good!!

I started out planning to do mussels in white wine sauce, but a friend dropped off a couple of fresh Rainbow trout for me to smoke so I had a change of plan. Had already started rising the bread to go with the white wine sauce, so a pretty simple switch once I had the smoker fired up.

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Damn. That sounds beyond delicious! I love mussels!

Have you ever had a Thai mussel dish called Hoi Tod? It's stir fried mussels with a very thin and light egg-breading mixture, served over a bed of bean sprouts, and accompanied by a spicy & sweet home-made sriracha.

Chomsky said:

Following up:

This dish below looks about right, as far as cabbage done-ness and noodle size. It's a wee bit heavier on cabbage than I'm used to, but not that far off. Small bits of smoked meat, often bacon, is critical for the flavoring - you can't leave that out.

By looks alone, I'd happily eat the dish below.

Enjoy!

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That's what mine looks like. I use about 2-1 cabbage vs noodles. I start by rendering bacon and then sweat onions and celery in the bacon, while I prep the cabbage. I blanch the cabbage and then add it to the onion mixture. I save the cabbage water and boil the noodles in it. Spices are salt, pepper, caraway, Vegeta and thyme. I boil the noodles and then add them to the cabbage, and then sliced mushrooms and kielbasa in fork sized pieces.

I usually use beer as a little bit for the braising liquid but I didn't have that so I saved a few TBLs of the boiling water and used that. I put the lid on and allowed it to steam for 20 minutes.

My mom hated it because it reminded her of growing up poor so she would never make it. I only learned of it at church dinners/fundraisers, along with cabbage rolls that she also would never make.

Lisa said:

That's what mine looks like. I use about 2-1 cabbage vs noodles. I start by rendering bacon and then sweat onions and celery in the bacon, while I prep the cabbage. I blanch the cabbage and then add it to the onion mixture. I save the cabbage water and boil the noodles in it. Spices are salt, pepper, caraway, Vegeta and thyme. I boil the noodles and then add them to the cabbage, and then sliced mushrooms and kielbasa in fork sized pieces.

I usually use beer as a little bit for the braising liquid but I didn't have that so I saved a few TBLs of the boiling water and used that. I put the lid on and allowed it to steam for 20 minutes.

My mom hated it because it reminded her of growing up poor so she would never make it. I only learned of it at church dinners/fundraisers, along with cabbage rolls that she also would never make.

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You sound like a good cook!

I don't really get the "not eating poor people food" though, as "peasant" dishes are often the tastiest stuff! And cabbage rolls? Golabki? Seriously? That's a Polish national dish! It's literally on the menu of every Polish restaurant in America.

Anyway, good work on the noodles & cabbage dish. I personally love the stuff.

Have a good night!

Chomsky said:

You sound like a good cook!

I don't really get the "not eating poor people food" though, as "peasant" dishes are often the tastiest stuff! And cabbage rolls? Golabki? Seriously? That's a Polish national dish! It's literally on the menu of every Polish restaurant in America.

Anyway, good work on the noodles & cabbage dish. I personally love the stuff.

Have a good night!

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My mom grew up poor (10 kids on a farm in Ft Wayne Indiana area), so there was always cabbage from the garden (they grew enough to also make kraut) and flour to make noodles. They never had much meat, except chicken, especially during the depression and then WW2. She hated chicken. They ate a lot of cabbage dishes and she didn't like to make them because they had bad memories for her. I love cabbage dishes. She would grudgingly eat roast pork and kraut on New Years but that's about it.
At the very end she would only eat cheeseburgers or grilled ham and chesse in a pannini press. Those were her favorite foods.

I love cabbage rolls but its a lot of work for just 2 people, (6-8 rolls) so I dont do it often unless there is company.

I love to cook and bake. The kitchen is my happy place. Despite my radical lefty persona around here I am actually very domestic and prefer it.

Chomsky said:

Lucky you!

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About $2/lb live weight, but sometimes if I am organized I get them in bulk and they are quite a bit cheaper. When we are away on the boat we can often just gather them from the rocks in certain areas. Definitely one of my favored seafoods.

Chomsky said:

Damn. That sounds beyond delicious! I love mussels!

Have you ever had a Thai mussel dish called Hoi Tod? It's stir fried mussels with a very thin and light egg-breading mixture, served over a bed of bean sprouts, and accompanied by a spicy & sweet home-made sriracha.

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I've visited Thailand maybe 10 times for some work I used to do, but don't know that dish. Sounds good though. A really common food here is marinated mussels. Marinated in different vinegars and sugars with various herbs and spices. Quite a few flavors. I like to dice them up as the filling for a toasted sandwich as a quick snack. Another good one is to dip them in batter and deep dry them. Not so good for the waste line, but really nice eating.

Ishm said:

View attachment 67480138
About $2/lb live weight, but sometimes if I am organized I get them in bulk and they are quite a bit cheaper. When we are away on the boat we can often just gather them from the rocks in certain areas. Definitely one of my favored seafoods.

I've visited Thailand maybe 10 times for some work I used to do, but don't know that dish. Sounds good though. A really common food here is marinated mussels. Marinated in different vinegars and sugars with various herbs and spices. Quite a few flavors. I like to dice them up as the filling for a toasted sandwich as a quick snack. Another good one is to dip them in batter and deep dry them. Not so good for the waste line, but really nice eating.

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I LOVVVVVE mussels. I usually steam them in white wine and tomato (Court Bouillon) and serve with linguini.

Ishm said:

View attachment 67480138
About $2/lb live weight, but sometimes if I am organized I get them in bulk and they are quite a bit cheaper. When we are away on the boat we can often just gather them from the rocks in certain areas. Definitely one of my favored seafoods.

I've visited Thailand maybe 10 times for some work I used to do, but don't know that dish. Sounds good though. A really common food here is marinated mussels. Marinated in different vinegars and sugars with various herbs and spices. Quite a few flavors. I like to dice them up as the filling for a toasted sandwich as a quick snack. Another good one is to dip them in batter and deep dry them. Not so good for the waste line, but really nice eating.

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The earlier post timed-out before I could add a pic of the Hoi Tod. Here's one:



* image credit World Food Guide

Lisa said:

I LOVVVVVE mussels. I usually steam them in white wine and tomato (Court Bouillon) and serve with linguini.

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Another really simple version of that is to poach them in coconut cream, with diced onion, a light curry of your choice, and dash of sweet chilli sauce. Serve over your favorite pasta as you suggest. That's my "I'm feeling lazy but want mussels" dish.

Red beans and rice with hot links cut into it.

Ishm said:

Another really simple version of that is to poach them in coconut cream, with diced onion, a light curry of your choice, and dash of sweet chilli sauce. Serve over your favorite pasta as you suggest. That's my "I'm feeling lazy but want mussels" dish.

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That sounds very good. I love Thai, Indian, and Khmer food. Serve it over the more substantial rice noodles that are use in Pho...........

Arlette said:

Red beans and rice with hot links cut into it.

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That is usually for Monday but Sunday works as well.

Lisa said:

My mom grew up poor (10 kids on a farm in Ft Wayne Indiana area), so there was always cabbage from the garden (they grew enough to also make kraut) and flour to make noodles. They never had much meat, except chicken, especially during the depression and then WW2. She hated chicken. They ate a lot of cabbage dishes and she didn't like to make them because they had bad memories for her. I love cabbage dishes.

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So do I love cabbage! And just about anything with potatoes. Those are the two Polish "peasant" staples, but I have absolutely no qualms with them or my family heritage.

Apparently, my grandparents had no qualms with our cultural culinary heritage, and indeed they even nearly starved under Hitler's Europe! In America, we celebrated those traditional Polish peasant foods, daily & especially on holidays. In fact my family is from the Southern mountain area of Poland, where the denizens are thought of as "Polish Hillbillies" of sorts by the rest of Poland. Say what other Poles may, but everyone in Poland agrees the Polish Highlanders (The Gorali) make the tastiest Polish food! And my family very much agrees!

Here's the wiki entry on the Gorali (Polish Highlanders), if your interested:

Lisa said:

She would grudgingly eat roast pork and kraut on New Years but that's about it.
At the very end she would only eat cheeseburgers or grilled ham and chesse in a pannini press. Those were her favorite foods.

I love cabbage rolls but its a lot of work for just 2 people, (6-8 rolls) so I dont do it often unless there is company.

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Yep. Understood. I love to cook, but only if I have the time and I'm cooking for others. In fact to cook just for myself feels . . . kinda' depressing! Food's definitely a communal thing!

Lisa said:

I love to cook and bake. The kitchen is my happy place. Despite my radical lefty persona around here I am actually very domestic and prefer it.

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Meh. I won't let others shape a political narrative about me or others. We're multidimension beings. We have many facets, and cannot be pigeon-holed. Especially by political narratives that are often self-servingly false.

Who doesn't want a happy home-life?

Arlette said:

Red beans and rice with hot links cut into it.

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Damn, if that don't sound good. Makes me want to run out to Popeye's!