The 'Here's what I had for dinner last night' thread - Part I

The Hill Billy

Braised shoulder & ribs of lamb with roasted garlicky veg.
Also made an ox-tail stew for dinner this evening.

xxdilemmaxx

Spicy fillet of pork served with sofrito tomato sauce, and mashed potato a la 'Cooks Tour of Spain'. Turned out really well actually.

Minder

Last night was a Thai Duck Curry with jasmine rice and spicy prawn crackers for a bit of crunch.

Saturday night was a bowl of noodles with green beans and bean shoots, thinly sliced lamb, dressed with fish sauce and lime juice with chillies. A handful of crushed peanuts and a few leaves of coriander finish the dish.

The Sweeper

Chili con carne. By the bucketload.

oblivious

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Chili con carne. By the bucketload.

I hope you weren’t drinking a load of Guinness/stout with that, the UN may have to consider charges of attempted genocide;)

The Sweeper

No, drank too much last night. Fragile today.

tSubh Dearg

Tonight for dinner I made a delicious wild mushroom and parma ham bruchetta as a starter. Then I made Nigella's party poussin with the accompanying cous cous and buttered fresh spinach.

All yummy and took no time at all to prepare, definately going to make them again.

The Sweeper

Sounds gooood.

I've taken to wok cooking at the moment. Last night made beef with black bean sauce, and beef with red and yellow peppers in a sweet bean sauce, served with plenty of steamed rice and stir fried asian greens with ginger and chili.

Went down well!

Minder

Last night I made a stunning Lamb Biryani from The Cinnamon Club cookbook. The meat was marinated in yoghurt with spices, lemon juice, mint, cooked onion and garlic & ginger paste for four hours. The cooking time was 35 minutes. The recipe describes how the dish is cooked over a low heat with the lid sealed and only the smallest hole for steam to escape. I used a tagine to cook it. The marinade & meat were placed in the bottom of the tagine and some part-cooked rice layered over the top. A couple of dabs of butter and some saffron infused in milk over the top. It cooks for 8 minutes on a high heat, then 25 minutes on the lowest heat setting. I put a heat diffuser under the dish.

The lamb was cooked to perfection, moist and very tender. The rice was fluffy without being stoggy and very aromatic. I served a dhal dish on the side, with a yoghurt and cucumber dish and a salad of tomato & coriander with red onion; mango chutney and pappadums.

The Sweeper

Changde rice noodles with red braised beef from the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. I had some lamb stock in the fridge that was still good, so flavoured that up and made broth for the noodles. The beef is stewed with ginger, cassia bark and star anise. Very, very flavoursome, add some of the beef stewing liquid to the broth in the bowl, add flat rice noodles, add other bits and pieces (some shredded greens and crunchy beansprouts) and pile the beef on top. Great meal for a cool evening.

The Sweeper

Last night for dinner I set off to meet friends of my parents who are in Australia for a wedding. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and meet them in Prahran (they're in St Kilda, for anyone who's ever been in Melbourne) so I could nick off to the market after lunch.

Lunch was okay, went to a nice looking place called Fog on Greville Street, starter, main course and a drink $30 a head - calamari starter was okay, squid was very fresh, garlic aioli was fine, coating on the calamari a little doughy, as though the oil wasn't hot enough or the 'batter' recipe could do with sprucing up. Mrs-Friend-Of-Parents had calamari as well, and Mr-Friend-Of-Parents had a bowl of black mussels that looked fantastic, and they seemed to be fresh and gorgeous, though there was a pool of garlic butter left in the bowl that made you wonder if the chef was trying a catch-and-release programme in a sea of garlicky butter...

Mains, they had pork belly that looked very good - meltingly tender, served with red cabbage and potatoes, though possibly overkill on the amount of dressing sauces on the plate. I had a veal ragout. SALTY. That is all.

Well I left them at 4.40pm and took off drunkenly towards the market, which thankfully only starts closing at 5pm. I went back to the Asian supermarket and raided them for spices including brown cardamom (looks like nutmeg), star anise and cassia bark. Also bought some packets of wide, flat rice noodles, a 5kg bag of rice and a 2-litre bottle of peanut oil (isn't is astounding what you think you can carry when you're drunk?) and two jars of chili bean paste and a jar of sweet bean paste.

Also got some very fresh ginger and a couple of excellent pieces of galangal, as opposed to the shrivelled up rubbish I ended up with previously, more fermented black beans...

...then got outside the closing market, realised bags were v. heavy and got husband to collect me and take me home, where I promptly fell asleep on the couch at 7.30pm, only to be awoken at 9.30pm, covered in cats. There is no better bed than an immobile drunk sleeping person.

Tonight's dinner shall be something involving the wok, rice noodles and chili bean paste.

Minder

Last night I made braised red pork - the red colour comes from making a caramel with a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Pork shoulder, star anise, cinnamon stick, dried chilli and a big piece of ginger are added to the caramel - top up with water and allow to cook for 40 minutes. A tablespoon of cornflour thickened the sauce at the end. Served garnished with spring onions and some plain jasmine rice.

As Mrs Minder doesn't eat pork, I also made a noodle soup with bok choi and king prawns. Chicken stock flavoured with chilli, garlic, ginger, soy and spring onion, and thickened with a couple of teaspoons of cornflour. It also had thin strands of omlette and a pile of bean shoots.

xxdilemmaxx

Minder wrote: »

Last night I made a stunning Lamb Biryani from The Cinnamon Club cookbook. The meat was marinated in yoghurt with spices, lemon juice, mint, cooked onion and garlic & ginger paste for four hours. The cooking time was 35 minutes. The recipe describes how the dish is cooked over a low heat with the lid sealed and only the smallest hole for steam to escape. I used a tagine to cook it. The marinade & meat were placed in the bottom of the tagine and some part-cooked rice layered over the top. A couple of dabs of butter and some saffron infused in milk over the top. It cooks for 8 minutes on a high heat, then 25 minutes on the lowest heat setting. I put a heat diffuser under the dish.

The lamb was cooked to perfection, moist and very tender. The rice was fluffy without being stoggy and very aromatic. I served a dhal dish on the side, with a yoghurt and cucumber dish and a salad of tomato & coriander with red onion; mango chutney and pappadums.

Hi Minder, could you make this if you didn't have a tagine? Sounds delicious...

Minder

xxdilemmaxx wrote: »

Hi Minder, could you make this if you didn't have a tagine? Sounds delicious...

It can be made in any pot or casserole with a heavy lid. Put a sheet of tin foil or greaseproof paper over the pot before putting the lid on. The idea, according to the book, is to seal in the cooking juices and the whole thing will steam. There needs to be a small hole for the steam to escape, but there is not much liquid anyway, hence the very low heat - stops it catching.

I can post the ingredients list later if you want it.

xxdilemmaxx

I have just the thing to cook it in, would love the recipe for that and the dhal dish if you have time to post them?

Minder

xxdilemmaxx wrote: »

I have just the thing to cook it in, would love the recipe for that and the dhal dish if you have time to post them?

xxdilemmaxx – two recipes. Let’s know how you get on if you try them.

Lamb Biryani
1 Kg lamb cut into bite sized pieces
A pinch of saffron strands infused in 3 tbsp warm milk

Marinade ingredients
100g youhurt
2 onions cooked in a little oil until soft and golden
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
A handful of mint leaves chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp of salt
¼ grated nutmeg
Green chillies split – to taste depending on the heat you prefer

For the rice
400g basmati rice
3 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
4 cloves
2 blades of mace
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Salt

Garlic and ginger pastes are made by whizzing each with a couple of tbsp of water in a blender. Each will keep in the fridge for a week – I made 4 oz of each which looks like a lot when you are only using 1 tsp for this recipe.

Add all marinade ingredients to a bowl with the meat and leave for at least 4 hours.

Wash the rice in a couple of changes of water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Part-cook the rice in plenty of water with the whole spices and drain off the excess water. It should take about 10 minutes uncovered and should still have a little bite in the centre.

To cook the dish, add the meat and marinade to the casserole. I lightly oiled the pot before adding the meat to help prevent sticking. Spread the rice over the top and sprinkle on the saffron milk. Dab with a little butter. Cover and seal the lid with tin foil leaving a small hole for the steam to escape. Cook on a high heat for eight minutes or until the steam starts to escape. Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes on the lowest setting. Once cooked leave to stand for 5 minutes before opening.

For the Dhal
300g red lentils
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric

Seasoning
1 tsp chopped garlic (or paste)
1 tsp chilli powder (or less to taste)
2 medium fresh tomatoes chopped

Put the lentils in a pan with 1 litre of water, the salt & turmeric and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes. For the seasoning, fry the garlic in a little oil and add the chopped tomato. Cook for 5 minutes. When the lentils have softened and the dhal has thickened, add the seasoning and cook for another 10 minutes. Garnish with a little chopped coriander.

The amount of salt in the recipes is best left to your own discretion. It is important in the marinade to help tenderise the meat, but the amounts for the rice and dhal etc are a matter of taste.

Mr Magnolia

Last night was rick stein's stroganoff. I over-seasoned it slightly by mistake

Minder

Last night I made a laksa. Chicken with straw mushrooms and beanshoots in a coconut broth with noodles.

The Sweeper

Minder - what rice do you use for the lamb dish? Long grain? Basmati? Jasmine?

I have a cold at the moment so got dinner cooked for me last night - roast chicken.

Other thing - on dhal. I make my dhal almost like a risotto. Soften some minced onion and garlic in some melted ghee. Add the turmeric and add 1/2 tsp of ground cumin. Add the lentils and stir until coated. I then ladel chicken stock into it, bit by bit, until the lentils are cooked and have absorbed all of the stock, risotto-style.

I season with salt on the first ladelful of stock and again on the third ladelful. I must try adding tomatoes and chili powder to mine now. I find the stock gives it a very rich flavour. But I don't like dhal too runny, so mine is more like a thick porridge.

Minder

Basmati rice for a biryani. For the dhal, I cook the garlic on a high heat until it is golden. It is almost burnt. Have the tomatoes ready and chuck in the pan when the garlic is cooked enough. Some recipes add a handful of chickpeas for texture. Chicken stock is fine but can dominate the flavour. The addition of chilli powder makes it a tarka dhal - like ordinary dhal only 'otter:D

The Sweeper

Still have a sodding cold. It's the cold that wouldn't die. When I got home from work yesterday I laid into a bowl of spaghetti with pan fried prawns in chili and garlic, then went to bed.

johnk123

Dont know if this is the right place to post this but i'v just discovered this forum and want to introduce myself. I'm 16, and absolutely love food! I really enjoy the whole cooking thing. Hopefully i can get some new recipes here and continue to broaden my knowledge on more diverse recipes. Thats all for now....... actually, now that i think about, this post is kinda pointless. Sorry!

The Sweeper

John, this is the point where you edit it to add what you had for dinner last night.

johnk123

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

John, this is the point where you edit it to add what you had for dinner last night.

OH yeah, sorry..... I had fish pie with home made wedges! Delicious!

Seraphina

wow, everything i cook seems so boring and plain and ordinary compared to this stuff.

last night - meatballs in a sort of bbq-y sauce (looked up a few receipes on the net, didn't have all the ingredients for any of them so kind of mixed and matched) with chips, green beans and corn

tonight - leftover meatball mix made into mini meatballs for meatball pasta bake, with cauliflower, broccoli and topped with cheese.

i don't have half the ingredients in most of the stuff here, i just don't buy condiments (salt, pepper, herbs, mustard, stuff like that) i've a bit of garlic i've used about 4 cloves from in the last 2 months.

i should really try expanding my repetoire and experimenting with some of the stuff here

Minder

Shorba. A stew/soup made from lamb shoulder diced very small. Tomatoes, mint, lemon juice, cinnamon, cumin, garlic and tumeric. It is simmered with a couple of litres of stock or water before some tiny pasta pieces are added. The result is a lightly spiced, thick lamb soup great with some warm bread.

The Sweeper

Seraphina wrote: »

wow, everything i cook seems so boring and plain and ordinary compared to this stuff.

I don't think any food is boring really, unless it's fast food or something mass-produced from the frozen section that includes various shades of grey.

Seraphina wrote: »

i don't have half the ingredients in most of the stuff here, i just don't buy condiments (salt, pepper, herbs, mustard, stuff like that) i've a bit of garlic i've used about 4 cloves from in the last 2 months.

i should really try expanding my repetoire and experimenting with some of the stuff here

First: buy sea salt and whole black pepper in a grinder. I almost never condiment my food at the table but I will use these in nearly everything I cook.

For a long time there I was cooking and overlooking the addition of enough salt. Part of my brain was going "Oh yeah, salt is bad for you" and gradually I'd stopped adding it. Recently I saw someone salting something I'd cooked at the table and I thought 'hmm, maybe there isn't enough salt in that', salted something the next day while cooking and suddenly realised there was a whole world of rounded out flavour that I was missing because I'd been leaving out the salt. And I'm not talking tablespoons of the stuff here, I'm talking a 1/2 tsp of sea salt into a dish that feeds four people - it makes a huge difference.

However, if you don't recognise that it makes a difference, you won't use what you buy - so next time you make a sauce, make it how you normally would and then pull out a few small bowls. Put two tbsps of the sauce in each bowl, then to one add a tiny amount of salt, add salt and pepper to another, to the third add a pinch of herbs (dried oregano is good in tomato sauces) and so on. Stir the seasoning through and leave it sit for 5 minutes. Then come back and taste your usual recipe first, then each of the changes. You should notice a difference!

In other news, had a fried egg with a slice of fried ham and a slice of rye bread for supper last night. Have to tidy the fridge up today and see what we have. Am thinking beef and guinness pie.

The Hill Billy

Tunisian-style Chicken stew.
1 chicken (jointed) marinated in olive oil, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon & cloves, then browned & set aside.
Sweated carrots, onions, peppers & squash with a few minced cloves of garlic.
Returned chicked pieces to pot. Added two tins of whole plum tomatoes, good squirt of tomato pureé & a splash of chicken stock, juice of a lemon & a couple of bay leaves.
Simmer for 2 hours.
Serve with cous cous & some chopped coriander.

tSubh Dearg

We're having a bit of a mixed bag dinner this evening. Steamed sea bass served with those twirly pastas I can't spell fusilli I think with pesto sauce.

We both over fed on fruit earlier today so don't feel that bad leaving it out.

Last night had spiced roasted poussin with roasted veg. Very tasty.

daiixi

Goulash last night and fish with salad tonight.

If anyone has a yummy goulash recipe please share! I've come across lots and am trying them all one by one to find the best.