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

emeraldstar

tmc86 wrote: »

Everyone is welcome, boob tape or not!

Great! See you Sat?

sdp

Faith wrote: »

tmc86, can I have your recipe for the prawn and chive cakes?

plus 1 for recipe please

hardCopy

Some pancake pics

Vanilla Ice Cream and berry compote. Chocolate buttons and marshmallows.



We also had lemon & sugar and butter & maple syrup.

Then of course we ran out of batter and had to finish off the chocolate, marshmallows and ice cream anyway because they had to be gone before Lent began.

tmc86

Faith wrote: »

tmc86, can I have your recipe for the prawn and chive cakes?

They were originally meant to be mini crab cakes but they didn't have any crabmeat at the supermarket so I bought prawns.

Ingredients
I used a packet of shell fish de la mer prawns (approx 250g)
150g of breadcrumbs or 3 slices of bread if making yourself
a chopped handful of Chives (scallions can also be used)
4 tblsp Mayonnaise (I used natural yoghurt as a healthier alternative)
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
2 lightly beaten eggs
S&P to taste

I finely chopped the chives and prawns and mixed them with the natural yoghurt. I then added the worcestershire sauce and S&P and once this was mixed, I stirred in the beaten eggs.

I left the breadcrumbs until last as it is easier to jusge the consistency that you want as you can always add more breadcrumbs. Once this is all combined you want to be left with quite a firm ball of the mixture.

Now its simply just a case of using a normal desert spoon to judge the size of the cakes that you want to make. Roll these out in your hands and place on some greaseproof paper until you're ready to cook them.

Using a very hot non stick pan lightly sprayed with veg oil you cook them for 2-3 minutes each side.

For the dipping sauce, I prepped it earlier and left it in the fridge for an hour to chill. Combined finely chopped garlic, a handful of chives, 4-5 tbsp of natural yoghurt and lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon.

homemadecider

Fillet steak, perfectly medium rare (thank you, meat thermometer), broccoli with parmesan, and spinach & courgette cooked in garlic butter.

pampootie

Wholewheat spaghetti with chicken, chestnut mushroom, garlic, red pepper, baby spinach, sundried tomato pesto and parmesan. Tragically my enjoyment was somewhat ruined by the discovery of a small grey slug in the spinach leaves before I added them, meaning I had to interrupt my meal constantly inspect each small grey piece of mushroom in case Mr Slug wasn't travelling solo.

the beer revolu

Tom Yum soup (paste from a jar:o) with tiger prawns, Chinese leaves, ginger, garlic, rice noodles, bean sprouts, spring onion green and coriander.
Tasty.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

hardCopy

Valentine's Steak

Gloomtastic!

The night that it was .......

A starter of scallops in the shell in a white wine sauce, topped with mashed potato and Parmesan cheese with breadcrumbs.

Main was Gambas (giant prawns) fried in butter and olive oil, lots of garlic, chilli flakes and paprika, finished with lots of lemon juice and parsley. Served with green beans in butter and garlic and homemade bread rolls.

Desert was a M&S-bought treacle, salted caramel and dark chocolate in a glass.

All washed down with loads of Proscecco and my wife bought me a 10 year tawny port to finish.

Wife has rolled off to bed, I've just finished the washing up and enjoying another glass of port while typing this. Excellent evening had by all!

Lingua Franca

the beer revolu wrote: »

Tom Yum soup (paste from a jar:o) with tiger prawns, Chinese leaves, ginger, garlic, rice noodles, bean sprouts, spring onion green and coriander.
Tasty.

That looks absolutely gorgeous and is one of my favourite soups. Why the embarrassment at the jar paste, though? You even added a few more ingredients of your own to personalise it. I don't have a problem with Thai/Indian/Indonesian jar pastes and have no shame in using them. They're much cheaper than buying a whole bunch of fresh ingredients that you're not going to use up and often contain harder to get ingredients like fresh galangal and other things that I can't spell. I don't equate jarred curry pastes with jarred curry sauces.

For content tonight we had medium rare steaks, cauliflower and homemade gnocchi, all served with generous ladles of stilton sauce and a bottle of Piper Heidseck that was a housewarming gift. I was too hungry to take a pic.

April O Neill

hardCopy wrote: »

Valentine's Steak

It's even kinda in the shape of a heart. Kewl!

mickgotsick

Steak, wedges and a whiskey sauce.

Loopy

Fab meals in here of late.
Chicken stir fry last night.

the beer revolu

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Why the embarrassment at the jar paste, though?

Ah I was being a bit tongue in cheek really. Kind of making fun of myself as I can be a bit of a pedant who mostly insists on making everything from scratch even if there is little benefit in it. I do really like that Tom Yum paste, though - it's Madam Wong brand.

Lingua Franca

I'm out of Tom Yam paste right now. I love it because I love being able to whip a tasty, nutritious soup in minutes.

Tonight I whipped up a tasty nutritious soup in minutes using left overs. 2 chicken breast boiled in stock, then removed and shredded. Whilst my partner shredded the chicken I threw a sliced onion into the pot, sliced and added the end of a bunch of celery, shaved a few carrots in there, topped and tailed some green beans into it, handful of frozen peas, a couple of sheets of noodles, a dash of tabasco and a great big glug of soy sauce.

5unflower

Two nights ago we had pork strips fried up with potatoes, peppers and courgette, served with some creme fraiche



And tonight it was a lamb mince and macaroni bake

gebbel

I had a burger made with 100% beef (I witnessed the mincing!) with some red onion, cumin, chili powder, garlic, wholegrain mustard, worcestershire sauce salt & pepper. Burgers done on a grill pan after a brushing with olive oil. Ballymaloe relish instead of ketchup. It really hit the spot.
Chips are deep fat fried real chips. Inferior oven chips need not apply!

blueshed

last night had a T-bone steak, home made chips, fried duck egg, corn on the cob and pepper sauce.

the beer revolu

I was given an unidentified joint of wild venison (reckon it was some part of the leg). I wasn't too sure what to do with it. I was afraid if I fast roasted it, it might be like shoe leather so I pot roasted it for just over 2 and a half hours on a bed of root veg and red wine with loads of garlic and herbs. The end result was rather dry but very tender and flavoursome. I served it with the veg, sautéed sweet heart cabbage, mashed spuds, pickled gherkins, Dijon mustard, fresh blueberries and gravy made from the cooking liquid blended with some of the veg (didn't make for a very attractive looking gravy but tasted good. If doing again, I'd leave the gravy thin).

LaChatteGitane

What fantastic food on here lately !
I've been slacking a tad and been in Ireland for a week (in our new house). There is nothing to cook with in the house as yet, so we had dinner at friends' and a couple of times pub grub.

Anyway, the dinners we had before we left.

A mix of sauteed veg and a veggie burger. Saying it like that doesn't conjure up culinary delights, but it was tasty enough for one empty stomach.


Can't remember what this was supposed to be, except for the cauliflower and brocolli mash.


Prawns, fennel & orange salad with courgette fritters


Meatballs made from beef & lamb (no horse), creamy mixed mushroom sauce and rice.


A chilli made with chicken thighs

LaChatteGitane

And from today it is a race against the clock to empty the freezer. Can't move house with a full freezer - not accross the sea you can't. 2 more months !!

Undefined curry with beetroot croquettes (that I made 1.5 yr ago )


It worked well, because the croquettes had garam massala in them.

Yitzhak Rabin

Really simple, but really delicious. Turbot fillets with a butter sauce, mash potatoes and fried savoy cabbage.

Toast4532

We were away for the weekend and on Friday we ate in Vina Mara in Galway.

For starter I had the Fish cakes, they were amazing, it was the first time I'd had fish cakes and I would definitely have them again.

My boyfriend had the red pepper and chickpea cakes, they were nice too, I wasn't overly keen on them but then I don't like the taste/flavour of peppers anyway.

For main course we both had the steak and chips, and it was cooked to perfection, it was beautiful.

For dessert we shared the Profiteroles filled with cream that had a delicious butterscotch sauce.

Then yesterday for lunch we went to Artisan, I was very disappointed with the food/atmosphere/staff/service so definitely won't be returning.

I had the salmon salad, which was half a plate of fresh smoked salmon and a few salad leaves and my partner had the guinea fowl which was OK.

Our food was about €20 and tbh it wasn't worth it, it was pretty "meh", we'd have gotten something nicer for the same money or maybe a bit more money but I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for decent food.

We had a snack in the bar in the Imperial hotel and it was delicious, just something light to keep us going until dinner later, I had chicken wings and my partner had a scone, both were lovely and inexpensive.

Can't wait to go back to Galway and visit Vina Mara, that place is amazing.

oscarBravo

I made a couple of pork pies using "standing paste" - pastry made with boiling water instead of cold, and kneaded so that it's quite firm, allowing the pastry to support itself while the pie is cooked.

The filling is simply stir-fry pork chopped into small pieces with diced apple, salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme and oregano. Ideally I would have made up a jellied gravy to pour in through the wee hole in the top, but I didn't have the time or the energy!





The crust ends up quite doughy, almost bread-like, but I really like it.

hardCopy

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.

A fine excuse to use my carving set






My first attempt at roasting beef and my first attempt at Yorkshire Puddings, all turned out well except the roast veg didn't really crisp up as I had the oven lower than normal for the beef, ended up trying to blast the veg for an extra 20 minutes while the beef rested.

Beef was nice and pink and the puds rose nicely and crisped up.

the beer revolu

hardCopy wrote: »

Beef was nice and pink and the puds rose nicely and crisped up.

Perfectly cooked beef and risen YPs?
Anything else can be easily forgiven provided your gravy is fantastic.

(I've not had great success with Yorkshire Pudding):mad:

hardCopy

the beer revolu wrote: »

Perfectly cooked beef and risen YPs?
Anything else can be easily forgiven provided your gravy is fantastic.

(I've not had great success with Yorkshire Pudding):mad:

Gravy was a non-starter

By the time I got the veg cooked off I didn't want to go to the effort of making the gravy while everything else cooled.

We just had ketchup instead :eek:

the beer revolu

hardCopy wrote: »

Gravy was a non-starter

By the time I got the veg cooked off I didn't want to go to the effort of making the gravy while everything else cooled.

We just had ketchup instead :eek:

Go to the naughty step!!

Lingua Franca

Are those Sabatiers? Oooooh so jealous!

the beer revolu

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Are those Sabatiers? Oooooh so jealous!

Be careful if buying Sabatier.
The name wasn't trade marked by any one company so you never really know what you're getting. Some are excellent some not but having the name Sabatier on it means little.