What's for dinner?

[Vader]

And for those keeping cliché count, yes meatballs is one of the must have dishes (even if I don't actually like them).

You don't like köttbullar? Skäms på dig. Care to share an authentic recipe anyway?

[Ananda]

I make it pretty similar to this one:
www.recepten.se/recept/koettbullar.html

But, I add a little ginger to it not so you can taste the flavor, but it is there very underneath. Also a small bit of sugar. And, I use the blandfärs which is a mix of beef and pork. It's nearly the only time I ever make red meat in our house.

[aliantha]

Ananda, the shredded cheese package I have in the fridge says it holds 7 oz./1.75 cups/198g. So that's about the same if I only use 1 cup of shredded cheddar. Altho I tend to think now that I use a whole package, so that's a bit more cheese than you used, but the cheddar flavor is probably milder.

Vader, the broccoli-cheese quiche recipe I have also calls for cayenne, oregano and salt. And yes, it's the crust that'll kill ya. I'm lazy, so I tend to use a prepared crust. I also have a "quiche" recipe that does away with the crust entirely -- you cook it in a covered frying pan on top of the stove. And if you make it with fat-free evaporated milk, it's almost healthy.

I'm not a Swiss cheese fan, so quiche lorraine has never interested me. Plus Magickmaker won't eat red meat now, so bacon is out. I suppose I could use turkey bacon, and substitute some other kind of cheese -- but then it would be a turkey-bacon-and-random-cheese quiche, not quiche lorraine.

[Vader]

@ Ananda
Tack så mycket.

Fascinating. It like - what - 16 years since I been to Sweden the last time and I can still read the recipe.


@ aliantha
As far as I know the "original" quiche lorraine (well, call it "traditional") doesn't have cheese at all. Just as there's no cheese on a "traditional" French potato gratin.

[Linna Heartbooger]

Last night I had a most amusing innovation.. my brother-in-law made a chicken-pot-pie variant... in which he substituted...
*drumroll*
...lotus root for potatoes.

Yes, lotus root...


I didn't think I liked lotus root, but it actually turned out just great!

[Vader]

Lotus (technically it's not a root but a rhizome) is healthy beyond belief.

[Ananda]

That sounds fun, Linna. I bet the presentation was really nice with the shape of that thingie.

My husband cooked tonight. Translation: he ordered takeout pizza. It was chicken banana curry flavour. When we first met, he bragged about what a good cook he was. It is sort of funny. All these years later, he has cooked exactly one real meal and it was raw in the middle.

[Menolly]

I need to look up the carb count for lotus root. I've been using turnips in place of potatoes in the crockpot, but they have a bit of bite to them that some do not care for. If a lower carb count, perhaps lotus root will work.

[Savor Dam]

When we first met, he bragged about what a good cook he was. It is sort of funny. All these years later, he has cooked exactly one real meal and it was raw in the middle.

If the meal was a steak, he's doing it right. Otherwise...probably not so much.

[Ananda]

When we first met, he bragged about what a good cook he was. It is sort of funny. All these years later, he has cooked exactly one real meal and it was raw in the middle.

If the meal was a steak, he's doing it right. Otherwise...probably not so much.

Unfortunately, it was chicken.

[Savor Dam]

ewww...sorry to hear that. Sounds totally fowl.

[Linna Heartbooger]

I need to look up the carb count for lotus root. I've been using turnips in place of potatoes in the crockpot, but they have a bit of bite to them that some do not care for. If a lower carb count, perhaps lotus root will work.

Oooh, neat. Yeah, I didn't like turnips when growing up and have successfully avoided them since then. I thought the lotus root really absorbed the flavors around it and, more like potato.

My bro-in-law said he fried the lotus root in all the spices beforehand. (and completely peeled it - that peel is kinda scary!) Might not be necessary, though - even though he wasn't slicing it thinly, it was soft rather than crisp.

Ananda- ahhh. My husband (along with his two brothers!) really *IS* a much better cook than I am... I found it frustrating because I was trying to "compete" with his cooking ability during the first few years of our marriage. But yeah, I'm spoiled.

[stonemaybe]

3 leaks, sliced, and 4 garlic cloves squished, sweated in a nonstick pan for 10 mins. Add a pint of veg stock and drape 6 or 7 slices of parma ham on top. Simmer very gently for 45 mins, remove the ham, chop it up, and return it to pan and add a load of cooked linguine.

Tabasco if so desired.

[JazFusion]

I had a mini-Thanksgiving meal the other night. Roast chicken with sweet bavarian mustard and sage, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and green beans sauteed with mushrooms in a balsamic vinegar reduction.

I daresay it was mighty tasty.

Hamburgers are tonight because I'm feeling lazy.

[Vader]

ewww...sorry to hear that. Sounds totally fowl.

:p Nice pan ... pun ...

Today I made roasted duck breast (meat was still red to pink, the way I love it) with a brussels sprout foam. Served it with potatoes and chestnuts with a semi sweet balsamico reduction.

[Ananda]

ewww...sorry to hear that. Sounds totally fowl.

:p Nice pan ... pun ...

Today I made roasted duck breast (meat was still red to pink, the way I love it) with a brussels sprout foam. Served it with potatoes and chestnuts with a semi sweet balsamico reduction.

That sounds really nice!

[Menolly]

Wait, Vader.
A brussels sprout foam?
That sounds amazing!

How is such made?

[stonemaybe]

I'm a brussels sprout fan, but I have to disagree with Menolly. Sounds yuck!

[Vader]

Wait, Vader.
A brussels sprout foam?
That sounds amazing!

How is such made?

There you got me. It's actually a creamy mash, but "foam" sounds more exciting. :p

First I slightly fry the sprouts in a bit of butter (be careful not to let them get bitter), add a bit of chicken stock and let it simmer (with lid on) until the sprouts are done. Season with salt, pepper, a bit of sugar and freshly grated nutmeg (don't be too shy here). Purreed and add cream until the consistency is right. You can also sieve the whole stuff to be sure there are no solid pieces left.

If you don't like the taste of fried cabbage just don't fry them but blanch them in salted water (with a bit butter and sugar). The taste won't be so intense but the color will be greener I suppose.

If you really want it foamy you have to go molecular and make buy a whipped creeam dispenser with NO2 cartridges. But mixing it through with hand held blender again before serving will get it almost foamy as well.



The duck didn't turn out to be perfect. I should have been less done, but it was still all tender and juicy.

[Savor Dam]

Tonight was the third and final Shabbos dinner of Menolly’s latest visit here. While each has been built around chicken (a fairly traditional choice), there has also been a lot of variety.

The first Friday night of the visit was a roast whole chicken with mashed cauliflower and her renowned field green and chevre salad.

Week two featured chicken parmesan. We found a stellar deal on chicken hindquarters (really quite large ones!) for $0.59 a pound and bought about ten pounds. She broke all of them down into leg and thigh portions, then skinned, boned and flattened a thigh apiece for Dam-sel, Dam-et, herself and me. The rest of the chicken was frozen for future meals. She also chopped carrot, onion, red and green peppers, garlic, celery and mushrooms, turned all of that into her red sauce, then constructed chicken parmesan. We served this with whole-wheat spaghetti and grilled asparagus.

Tonight, it was chicken cacciatore. She made a crockpot of red sauce last night, then added frozen thighs and legs to it this morning and let it simmer all day at low. I made savory polenta and steamed some broccoli to go with it.

Not sure what the three of us will do next week, other than miss Menolly’s cooking and her company when she has returned to the land of the Gators…