What did you have for dinner? -Part dois

Ahhh yeah!

Tonight it's gonna be Cubanos, mariquitas, and empanadas...

Wherever anyone travels in the mideast, from Greece to Morocco, every nation, every region, every town, every village, every tribe, every clan, every family each has the best hummus. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, whatever, all make the best hummus. Secret recipes abound, and there are tasting competitions, with intrigue and even violent disputes. It can be eaten in combination with anything, felafel, steak, lamb dishes, fish and seafood dishes, vegetarian dishes, in sandwiches and wraps, in and of itself, for breakfast, lunch and dinner or snacks. You can buy it in specialty stores and supermarkets. With different added flavors. It can be thick and stick to stomach, or light an fluffy, but always creamy.

The best is made at home to taste. It is simple.

Either 1 1/2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans aka chickpeas or a 15 oz can. Some prefer them skinned, I don't. Why give up the extra fiber, nutrients and flavor?
1/4 of tahini (sesame butter, also easy to make at home, but the recipe for another day)
the juice of 1 fresh squeezed lemon, and 1/4 tsp of cumin, 4 cloves of raw garlic

Pulse in a blender for 4 minutes, stopping every minute or so to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to create an even blend

Your free to flavor with other spices or savory herbs, onion, shallots, whatever tickles your fancy.

Use it as dip, eat it on bread, crudités, crackers, whatever.

After chilling, I served it with fresh loaves of Nan from a local tandoori place, green salad, snap peas, assorted olives, iced teas

fresh fruit, berries, marzipan cookies, with halvah for dessert

Pizza night, and my son wanted Papa John's so I gave in- all the meats and extra peppers on the side for me. :doh

Little Caesar's veggie deep dish pizza.

Had friends over, and my friends parents.
BBQ:
3 Chicken Breasts, 3 Drumsticks
1 Ribeye Sous Vide in bourbon
1 Filet Mignon
1 NY STrip Steak with Weber's "Chicago Steak Seasoning" this like the ribeye was Sous Vide first

1 lbs of shramps, you peel em eat em style
1 Small Filet of Chilean Sea Bass, pan seared
Caesar Salad

I've gotten REALLY good at the Sea Bass

Creole chicken. Leftover mariquitas.

Just Chinese take-out tonight. Craving for hot and sour soup and spring rolls.

Tonight I'm doing "philly cheese steak" sloppy joes (ground beef, onion, green pepper, bound by copious amount of melted provolone) and hash browns....

Apple turnovers for dessert.

Helix said:

Little Caesar's veggie deep dish pizza.

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I'd never call LC good, but I actually do like their deep dish (even if they call it Detroit-style)

ChezC3 said:

I'd never call LC good, but I actually do like their deep dish (even if they call it Detroit-style)

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they've kind of surprised me. of course, i'm not a particularly picky pizza connoisseur, but i like their pizza, it is pretty economical, and it reheats well from frozen state.

Bacon cheeseburgers.

Grass-fed meat share beef, bone marrow (I separately removed it, mixed it in), on garden greens, onion, toasted bulky rolls. 3 slices thick-cut bacon each.

Meatless spicy lentil stew with whole wheat bread and a banana for dessert.

Helix said:

they've kind of surprised me. of course, i'm not a particularly picky pizza connoisseur, but i like their pizza, it is pretty economical, and it reheats well from frozen state.

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Ahem,... you.......reheat.....your,..pizza?:shock:

Tonight it's a chopped salad with blackened shrimp...

ChezC3 said:

Ahem,... you.......reheat.....your,..pizza?:shock:

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yes. my preferred technique is 400F for five minutes, which is what i do at home. this makes the thawed pizza better than fresh, IMO. at work, however, we only have a microwave as an option. that makes it considerably more difficult to reheat properly, but it's better than not having pizza.

Helix said:

yes. my preferred technique is 400F for five minutes, which is what i do at home. this makes the thawed pizza better than fresh, IMO. at work, however, we only have a microwave as an option. that makes it considerably more difficult to reheat properly, but it's better than not having pizza.

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My preferred technique is to hide all of the end pieces at the bottom hoping the wife only goes after the top layer of middle pieces (We eat square pizza slices(thin crust, never deep) here in Chicago, so it only makes sense that style is called "chicago cut") and then feast on a half dozen or so chilled to perfection pieces of pizza on the couch watching TV while the wife sleeps her night away...

ChezC3 said:

My preferred technique is to hide all of the end pieces at the bottom hoping the wife only goes after the top layer of middle pieces (We eat square pizza slices(thin crust, never deep) here in Chicago, so it only makes sense that style is called "chicago cut") and then feast on a half dozen or so chilled to perfection pieces of pizza on the couch watching TV while the wife sleeps her night away...

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i definitely prefer the edge pieces. as for deep dish vs thin, it sort of depends on what i'm craving. i do a little of both. i like the crust to have a thin layer of slightly crispy no matter what style i'm eating, which makes the microwave reheat a challenge. i'll bet that there's some sort of gadget i can get for that so i can reheat better at work. i might look into it.

Helix said:

i definitely prefer the edge pieces. as for deep dish vs thin, it sort of depends on what i'm craving. i do a little of both. i like the crust to have a thin layer of slightly crispy no matter what style i'm eating, which makes the microwave reheat a challenge. i'll bet that there's some sort of gadget i can get for that so i can reheat better at work. i might look into it.

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I don't know if you've mentioned having one before, but I swear by my toaster oven. In the summer I cook with it exclusively. The better ones, such as mine have a deep cut-out in back to support a frozen pizza perfectly. Would do fine work with your left over slices. Comes with a convection mode, broiler, heats up to 450, and of course an actual toast mode -- I'll never go without having one. It's a must for me.

ChezC3 said:

I don't know if you've mentioned having one before, but I swear by my toaster oven. In the summer I cook with it exclusively. The better ones, such as mine have a deep cut-out in back to support a frozen pizza perfectly. Would do fine work with your left over slices. Comes with a convection mode, broiler, heats up to 450, and of course an actual toast mode -- I'll never go without having one. It's a must for me.

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i've always been really curious about those. my guess is that i will probably try one out eventually. my short term goal is to figure out a way to keep the pizza from turning to mush in the microwave at work. i just looked it up, and saw some stuff about putting a glass of water in with it. i'm not sure how that would work, but i will do further research.

Helix said:

i've always been really curious about those. my guess is that i will probably try one out eventually. my short term goal is to figure out a way to keep the pizza from turning to mush in the microwave at work. i just looked it up, and saw some stuff about putting a glass of water in with it. i'm not sure how that would work, but i will do further research.

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I really can't say enough good things about them. Great to have during holidays, it's like an extra oven. It won't be a kitchen toy that you try once and never use again. Funny story, me and the wife got one that we'd put on our wedding registry. Had it in the original box and never used it for like 3 years. Finally did and we're on our 3rd one now. Never without one, seriously.

As for the water and microwaves, that sounds, if I am correct in how microwaves work, like it might be some sort of indirect cooking method then, but I don't know, never heard of that one.

I know wrapping a warm can of beer(soda) in a wet paper towel and throwing it in the freezer will give you an ice cold one to take out in roughly 7 minutes. That I know for a fact.

ChezC3 said:

I really can't say enough good things about them. Great to have during holidays, it's like an extra oven. It won't be a kitchen toy that you try once and never use again. Funny story, me and the wife got one that we'd put on our wedding registry. Had it in the original box and never used it for like 3 years. Finally did and we're on our 3rd one now. Never without one, seriously.

As for the water and microwaves, that sounds, if I am correct in how microwaves work, like it might be some sort of indirect cooking method then, but I don't know, never heard of that one.

I know wrapping a warm can of beer(soda) in a wet paper towel and throwing it in the freezer will give you an ice cold one to take out in roughly 7 minutes. That I know for a fact.

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i will probably try both.

Chicken Sofrito. Wife did it. Too lazy to copy/paste description from before in this thread.

Salsa Verde Tortilla Chips with Bean Dip

Oreo Thin Bites White Fudge Dipped mini cookies for dessert

Helix said:

i've always been really curious about those. my guess is that i will probably try one out eventually. my short term goal is to figure out a way to keep the pizza from turning to mush in the microwave at work. i just looked it up, and saw some stuff about putting a glass of water in with it. i'm not sure how that would work, but i will do further research.

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Try purchasing a susceptor. Susceptors convert microwave energy to thermal energy and are used in microwave ovens to crispen and brown foods.

HumblePi said:

Try purchasing a susceptor. Susceptors convert microwave energy to thermal energy and are used in microwave ovens to crispen and brown foods.

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yeah, that looks like the little inserts that come with Lean Cuisines. those work pretty well. i'll look into it.