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

Dolbert

Bacon slow-cooked in cola served with creamy garlicky gnocchi

dipdip

Very little cooking being done in our house at the moment for a variety of reasons. Last night had an Indian takeaway - chicken kadai and lamb bhuna with pilau rice and garlic naan.

Tonight we are planning to eat smoked salmon pate to start, followed by chilli garlic prawns with lots of ciabatta for dipping, with some salad. Then there'll be mince pies, custard and prosecco while decorating the tree.

fussyonion

I always make my own curry, from scratch (paste and all!) but I tried Aldi's Specially Selected Madras Sauce recently and though it was absolutely delicious, tasted just like Bombay Pantry and that's saying something!

It's so handy for nights when you don't feel like cooking and it's nice and spicy.
Served with rice and naan bread

(I love curry!)

annamcmahon

Tonight I made a delicious chicken casserole with cherry tomatoes, red peppers and smoked paprika. Had it with rice.

iwantmydinner

What I know about curry would fit on the back of a postage stamp but I adore those Aldi curries. OMG the flavours!

MissFlitworth

Experimentation with sausage stuffing rolls over here tonight (want to do little cocktail stuffing rolls for our Christmas drinks), this one is stuffed with caramelised apple and has smoked ham twixt sausage and pastry. And no sausage really, pork mince with sage, thyme, breadcrumbs & egg.


Verdict: too much apple. Still lovely though and will repeat experiment

Billy86

fussyonion wrote: »

I always make my own curry, from scratch (paste and all!) but I tried Aldi's Specially Selected Madras Sauce recently and though it was absolutely delicious, tasted just like Bombay Pantry and that's saying something!

Anyone who sneers at Aldi/Lidl deserves a smack in the face and the extra bill to go with it. I was admittedly a post-GFC converter, but it's amazing how they are not only the cheapest by a distance, but the best for most things outside of M&S (which is very much a 'treat' on my current budget, though I don't begrudge their very much earned mark-up). Really winds me up to see some of their competitors just bleat out "IRISH! Irish! Irish Irish Irish!" as things currently are and expect that to just solve everything for them as if it were 1997.

Also on that, the Superquinn (I think?) stuff with the kind of tedious "sssllloooooowwww cooked" ads are really good, the pork belly at least. If you're looking for a lazy bite to eat, don't go any further.

Billy86

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Verdict: too much apple.

Does not compute.

Might not work great for this, but apple put through a cheese grater with a bit of cinnamon, friend for 2-3 mins on high heat in butter (then strained so it's not greasy) is sheer heaven for sweet/fruit pancakes or pork-based stuff. Keeps together very well too in a clump, and though I haven't tried, I would imagine either sealed with cling film or in a freezer bag squoze like a vc-pac it would probably keep a few days.

MissFlitworth

Love apple & pork but just put too much in, bit of a jam donut effect! Next time will just drop the apple to pig ratio a tad. Definitely will try grated apple trick!

MissFlitworth

Ding ding ding... Round 2. This one is also wrapped in bacon but stuffed with mature cheddar and a little chili ketchup. It's good, no giving out about this porker.

the beer revolu

Pan fried lamb leg steaks; roast Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot and garlic; stirfried sweetheart cabbage; sauce Romanesco.

Gloomtastic!

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Ding ding ding... Round 2. This one is also wrapped in bacon but stuffed with mature cheddar and a little chili ketchup. It's good, no giving out about this porker.

Try adding some fennel seeds and grated Parmesan to your sausage meat. Yum, yum, yum!!!

Minder

Tonight we had goat curry with basmati rice, whipped goats cheese, poppadums and a selection of chutneys.

Animord

Last night I had buttered leeks with venison steak. The venison was sealed in a very hot grill pan and then finished in the oven. I made a sauce from a very reduced beef stock pot with honey, balsamic vinegar and juniper berries. It was really good.

IvyTheTerrible

Beef Stroganoff, from a recipe by Delia Smith.

I know she's not in fashion any more but I never go wrong with any of her recipes, and this is no exception. Lovely.

Animord

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Beef Stroganoff, from a recipe by Delia Smith.

I know she's not in fashion any more but I never go wrong with any of her recipes, and this is no exception. Lovely.

I love Delia, and I think that for the classic, standard cooking she is absolutely the best. I prefer her to Darina, or Prue Leith or any of the others. She does really good, straight up ordinary food if you know what I mean. And her recipes work, which is always a bonus.

the beer revolu

Water buffalo tail casseroled with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, fresh herbs, red wine, tinned tomatoes. Served with wet polenta. Sweet mother, it was tasty - lick the pattern off the plate tasty (if my plates had patterns:rolleyes:).

herisson

Made Pad Thai from scratch last night but added broccoli, mushrooms and bacon bits to it.

Also had prawn toast made from scratch too.

Today, chicken roasted in garlic butter with peas and roasties.

Have a dessert of white chocolate, vanilla and chocolate chip cheesecake setting in the fridge.

drquirky

herisson wrote: »

Made Pad Thai from scratch last night but added broccoli, mushrooms and bacon bits to it.

Also had prawn toast made from scratch too.

Today, chicken roasted in garlic butter with peas and roasties.

Have a dessert of white chocolate, vanilla and chocolate chip cheesecake setting in the fridge.

What would possess you to add bacon bits to pad Thai?

herisson

drquirky wrote: »

What would possess you to add bacon bits to pad Thai?

I like bacon bits.

kenco

Last night I did a bit of surf and turf made up of a Lidl lobster (nice but not much of it) and some nice striploins. Served with some roasted spud chunks and roasted sweet red peppers.

Nice but somewhat lacking in overall flavors.....

ibarelycare

fussyonion wrote: »

I always make my own curry, from scratch (paste and all!) but I tried Aldi's Specially Selected Madras Sauce recently and though it was absolutely delicious, tasted just like Bombay Pantry and that's saying something!

It's so handy for nights when you don't feel like cooking and it's nice and spicy.
Served with rice and naan bread

(I love curry!)

I rave about these sauces to anyone who'll listen! I'm like you, I absolutely adore curry and I used to always make it from scratch, hate the jarred stuff. But more often than not now I use the Aldi ones, I love the separate dry spices you get with them. Madras, Rogan Josh and Jalfrezi are my favourites, and I always add a bit of hot curry powder to give them an extra kick. Love them with chicken, chickpeas, wholegrain rice and naan. My favourite dinner by far, have one of them at least once a week, and prefer them to takeaway curries now!

PigeonPie

ibarelycare wrote: »

I rave about these sauces to anyone who'll listen! I'm like you, I absolutely adore curry and I used to always make it from scratch, hate the jarred stuff. But more often than not now I use the Aldi ones, I love the separate dry spices you get with them. Madras, Rogan Josh and Jalfrezi are my favourites, and I always add a bit of hot curry powder to give them an extra kick. Love them with chicken, chickpeas, wholegrain rice and naan. My favourite dinner by far, have one of them at least once a week, and prefer them to takeaway curries now!

Exactly what I had for dinner this evening. I always throw in a can of coconut milk too to make it mild enough for my little ones. Always used to make curries from scratch but the aldi ones with the spices on top are delish and sooo handy to throw together.

kenco

ibarelycare wrote: »

I rave about these sauces to anyone who'll listen! I'm like you, I absolutely adore curry and I used to always make it from scratch, hate the jarred stuff. But more often than not now I use the Aldi ones, I love the separate dry spices you get with them. Madras, Rogan Josh and Jalfrezi are my favourites, and I always add a bit of hot curry powder to give them an extra kick. Love them with chicken, chickpeas, wholegrain rice and naan. My favourite dinner by far, have one of them at least once a week, and prefer them to takeaway curries now!

Definitely going to try these giving the reviews here. Dont make curries too often but when I have part of me longs for the dry spices to do it properly!

MissFlitworth

Last night we rehearsed Christmas stuffing & really good roasties with chicken. Roasties cooked in beef dripping are mega. Was all v. tasty but the star of the show was a plum and apple crumble following dinner, I poached plums in a mulled wine type syrup (cinnamon stick, chunk of ginger with a clove stuck in it, orange peel) and popped them on top of diced apple & sugar in a pie dish, then poured custard on top of that and topped with crumble. It was very, very nice (although it had to make a second trip to the oven because following a bottle of prosecco all to my self I whipped it out initially while the apple was still crunchy)

Mrs Fox

Tonight I had rainbow trout cooked in a bag with garlic & parsley butter, and steamed peas broccoli. Deliciousness, oh yeah.

Minder

Fillet of beef with sauted garlic mushrooms and spinach, skinny chips amd a madeira sauce.

fussyonion

Chicken Karahi with basmati rice and naan bread, from Bombay Pantry.
Absolutely divine, especially cos I have a cold and didn't feel like cooking.

hussey

I had a round of 'Cookbook challenge' over the weekend, and since I was working from home, I had the chance to go all out

Starter was twice baked cheese souffle, originally from Masterchef Au recipe, I only can find a pic of the souffle after the first bake
Main: Beef Wellington with read wine jus, again from Masterchef Au recipe
Dessert: Pineapple, doughnuts & gingerbread icecream from Philippa Sibley

dipdip

Last night we had honey mustard chicken thighs with broccoli and roast potatoes and gravy; tonight we had home made pizza topped with a rich tomato, onion and garlic sauce, ham, salami, pepperoni, sweetcorn, mushroom and mozzarella (leftovers for lunch tomorrow). Tomorrow night we're having beef and three bean chilli. Back in the cooking groove now.