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

autumnbelle

How do u do the courgette chips?

Gloomtastic!

fussyonion wrote: »

Is halloumi nice? I've never had it. What does it taste like?

It's like a hard mozerella but because you brown it by frying it in olive oil, it has a lovely nutty flavour and crunchy texture. Use it instead of meat.

Dr.MickKiller

fussyonion wrote: »

Is halloumi nice? I've never had it. What does it taste like?

Just to add to Gloomtastic!'s reply, it's a robust cheese so you can grill it (as I did) or have it in skewers and grill them. Like tofu and paneer, it's dependant mostly on the other ingredients but it has a salty taste, which works well with tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, olives etc. It's quite filling and as Gloomtastic! said, use instead of meat.

autumnbelle wrote: »

How do u do the courgette chips?

The recipe I used is here: http://www.wagdoll.co.uk/2013/02/baked-zucchini-fries-totally-clean.html

If I was doing it again, I don't think I'd use egg to stick the coating to the courgettes, I couldn't get an even coating. I was thinking of giving them a light coating of olive oil and them putting them in a zip lock back with the coating ingredients. Anyone any ideas?

RasTa

No after dinner thread so sticking this here.

Yesterday was the first time I've ever made a desert. Also same for pastry, was going to make the filling and realized I had put caster sugar in the base instead of icing so had to start again.

Rolling the pastry was a disaster as it kept on breaking whilst trying to lift into the tin so ended up rolling it on the base of the tin. I was getting stressed doing it so the base was a bit thick imo and I don't think I baked it long enough before adding the filling as it shrank in some parts.

Anyway after all of this it was lovely and I will be making more, might add some vanilla next time although this was just lemon it was fantastic, put loads of zest on top of the juice. I'd love to blowtorch it before serving but don't have one.

ibarelycare

Yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday so cooked him dinner last night.


Starter was skewered satay chicken, from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. It doesn't look very appetising but it was fantastic.




Main course was falafel burgers (from appleb's recipe in the Cooking Club) with sweet chilli sauce, and lemon, garlic and rosemary hasselback potatoes (recipe taken from this thread).




Dessert was the most challenging dish of the night.

April O Neill

RasTa wrote: »

No after dinner thread so sticking this here.

Yesterday was the first time I've ever made a desert. Also same for pastry, was going to make the filling and realized I had put caster sugar in the base instead of icing so had to start again.

Rolling the pastry was a disaster as it kept on breaking whilst trying to lift into the tin so ended up rolling it on the base of the tin. I was getting stressed doing it so the base was a bit thick imo and I don't think I baked it long enough before adding the filling as it shrank in some parts.

Anyway after all of this it was lovely and I will be making more, might add some vanilla next time although this was just lemon it was fantastic, put loads of zest on top of the juice. I'd love to blowtorch it before serving but don't have one.

I'd like to be alone with the pie. And yes, I am going to eat it.

Seaneh

The first Bluefin of the season was at market in Galway today, the Gannet lads got two big fellas (they had the two heads on display at maret) and were selling lovely big fresh steaks for €18p/kg which is insanely cheap.

They also had Skipjack and Albacore and they were super cheap, at €12p/kg.

Picked up about 400g of Albacore and 250g of Bluefin, had the albacore for lunch, just seared with a little seasoning and a tiny soy and honey glaze, barely showed it the pan, was lovely, the bluefin is for dinner

SillyMangoX

My first time every cooking venison, made a casserole! Absolutely delicious

GrahamThomas

Moroccan-style lamb burgers with sweet potato wedges and a mint, rocket & pomegranate salad

oscarBravo

John Torode had the Celebrity Masterchef contestants make this last week. We liked the look of it and decided to give it a go.



We started with a whole duck, pan-fried and oven-roasted the breasts (which were rubbed with Chinese five spice), then made dumplings with the minced leg and thigh meat, served over noodles in a broth made from the carcass and bones. It was rather good, even if the breasts were slightly overcooked.

Faith

That sounds incredible.

Mrs Fox

oscarBravo that looks absolutely delicious!

Mrs Fox

This was from a few nights ago -- Lidl's Salmon Wellington with prawn and white wine sauce, sauteed new potatoes with garlic, steamed spinach and rocket on side.

cee_jay

I made Spaghetti Amatriciana, following this recipe: http://www.realitalianfoodies.com/recipes/rif-spaghetti-amatriciana/
The RIF sauces are my go to sauce at the moment when I need something quick and easy, and they taste pretty good too!

Loopy

Last night we had fishcakes & salad..
Nyom

Guill

Half way through these before I remembered to take a pic. Slow cooked ribs with Tomato and Mozzerela (or however the hell you spell it).

homemadecider

Chicken, sweet potato, carrots (all roasted) with wilted spinach. Very very full and happy now.

MissFlitworth

Yesterday I poached an egg in some homemade 'baked beans' (ie - chickpeas in a sweetish, smokey tomato sauce) and we had them with bacon & soda bread then today I sharpened up the sauce with a little balsamic, through in some chunks of sausage and had chickpeas & sausage with pasta. Tasty and helped with my desperate urge to spend no time in the kitchen (dinner was very nearly a kitkat and a drifter and a twirl)

Dizzyblonde

Tonight we had sticky chicken thighs roasted with sausages tucked in around them, boiled baby potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and onions. I was too hungry to take a photo, but it was really good.

Toast4532

Today we had beef stew that mum made.

Haven't been doing much cooking recently and am kinda missing it. I have a craving for some salmon fishcakes I made before but cannot find the recipe for. Those fish cakes at the top of the page aren't helping my craving, they look incredible.

Martyn1989

A slight variation on Mussels Marinara with whole grain 'sgetti

Martyn1989

B0jangles wrote: »

No pictures, A. because they are not really very photogenic, and B. because they got eaten v. fast, but last night we dined upon home-made chip-shop style Doner Kebabs

And they were as deliciously gooey as the real thing, I highly recommend making them to all kebab fans out there!

:eek:

Care to elaborate?

In full detail....

IvyTheTerrible

Greek-style pasta salad, with penne pasta, feta cheese, red pepper, black olives, cucumber, pine nuts and olive oil. Nom!

B0jangles

Martyn1989 wrote: »

:eek:

Care to elaborate?

In full detail....

Absolutely!

There is one ingredient that might be hard to get at the moment; it's the "American-style Hamburger sauce" Lidl sells whenever they are doing their American food specials - it is a really perfect substitute for the pink sauce you get in the kebab shop. It's worth checking your local Lidl now though, mine still had a few bottles up til a week or so ago.

Anyway, you start with making the kebab meat thusly:

1 lb lamb mince
2 cloves crushed garlic
1.5 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Add 1-2 tsp marjoram (to taste) and 1-2 tsp mint (to taste)
I have fresh oregano so I always chop up a couple of sprigs and add them too, in addition to the drieds stuff.

Mix it all up in a big bowl until the meat is nice and squidgy and let it rest for a couple of hours.
When you are ready to cook, form the meat into a rectangular loaf shape and put in on tinfoil on a baking tray.

Cook at around 180 (fan) / 200 (no fan) for about 45mins -1 hour or until it is cooked through. Those times are a bit of a guess since I always divide the meat into two batches so the loaves I cook are halfsize.

To serve you need:

Fresh pitas (Aldis are the best I think - less chewy than the other brands)
Thinly sliced white cabbage
Thinly sliced raw onion
Garlic sauce (Can be got in tesco)
Lidl hamburger sauce

Split your pita and heat in gently in the microwave.
Stuff it with cabbage and onions
Top that with hamburger sauce
Top with thinly sliced kebab meat
More hamburger sauce
Garlic sauce

Either stuff into face immediately or wrap in tinfoil and leave in warm oven for 10-15 minutes to sort of warm through completely, then stuff into face.

Repeat as necessary.



Edit: this is the sauce I mean:

April O Neill

B0jangles wrote: »

There is one ingredient that might be hard to get at the moment; it's the "American-style Hamburger sauce"

Isn't burger sauce just ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together?

B0jangles

April O Neill wrote: »

Isn't burger sauce just ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together?

Basically, yes - but the lidl stuff has pickles, mustard etc etc added into the mix, it's very tasty.

vicwatson

April O Neill wrote: »

Isn't burger sauce just ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together?

Thought that was Marie-Rose sauce no?

RasTa

Crappy photo but a lovely Kenyan Coconut Curry(Kuku Paka) thanks to the curry bible. Super easy to make the paste and most ingredients you will have at home anyway so just add chicken.

Everyone should own this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Madhur-Jaffreys-Ultimate-Curry-Bible/dp/0091874157/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375986923&sr=8-1&keywords=curry+bible

MissFlitworth

Baked sweet potato potato cakes with bacon & feta and a piece of salmon. DISASTROUS. Put so much nutmeg in they tasted like perfume and just did not 'cake' up then overcooked salmon till it was like something from a tin. Hate those dinners that take a ridiculous amount of effort and then end up underwhelming and leaving you feeling like you've been gargling with L'eau d'Issey

Dizzyblonde

MissFlitworth wrote: »

and leaving you feeling like you've been gargling with L'eau d'Issey

My absolute favourite perfume! I wouldn't gargle with it though. Sorry your dinner wasn't great after all the effort - I hate when that happens.