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

the beer revolu

Deepsense wrote: »

Its for me! :eek: Shock horror! Im refining my diet. Dairy does not agree with me and Im getting mroe and more dubious about the real benifits of eating chicken as time goes on. Chicken breast - I should clarify. If a recipie calls for a whole chicken then its easier to source one that hasnt been raised in misery - Ill never be a "Quorn au vin" gal! But for simpler dishes like the fajhitas, then yes, its easier to go soya than hunt down the right chicken.


Thanks Honey-ec. Had it and yes, pewfect.

Tonight was lasagne - had it in work, it was the worst lasagne Ive ever not eaten.

BTW - job pimp here, mods delete if not appropriate, but there chef jobs going with the company I work for - best rates Ive seen and all the usual benifits. pm if and Ill send on the details.

Only messing:D I reckon there's few enough health benefits from eating meat and dairy.....but I do like the taste :P (I'm not such a dairy bunny, though - except butter)

NewFrockTuesday

Tonight was mushroom crostini with provencale sauce. The chefs at work made it and it was daaaayyycent!

MAking blueberry and porridge bread...well...thinking about it....may not actually happen outside my head.

bonkey

Last night was a starter of lambs-leaf, smoked salmon and crouton salad, followed by a main of slow-roasted pork, roasties, cauliflower cheese and boiled veg.

Dizzyblonde

Last night I had my first ever rib eye steak, with buttery mash and sautéed mushrooms and onions.
Delish.

bills

thai fish cakes, garlic potatoes & carrots & green beans

Minder

Grilled skewers of prawns with garlic butter and espelette chilli. Roast chicken with chinese spices and a special fired rice.

bonkey

fishfingers, boiled spuds, and some salad.

Haut cuisine, at its hautest.

Honey-ec

Last night (and the night before, actually) was white chilli served in crisped potato skins as I'm not overly fond of rice.

Tonight was going to be lamb karahi but I had such a busy day in work that I couldn't face the thought of cooking at all. No idea what I'm going to eat now. I think I'll go and mull it over with a glass of wine in the bath...

NewFrockTuesday

Tonight was smoked cod with chickpea and sundried tomato salad. Nice enough I suppose.

Was grazing on quality street all day. Damm them and their Christmas market cornering.

Honey-ec

Deepsense wrote: »

Was grazing on quality street all day. Damm them and their Christmas market cornering.

I didn't even know they still made Quality Street! Thought they were gone the way of Terry's All Gold and Black Magic. Although they could still make them too, for all I know, I'm not really a chocolate eater...

Was always partial to the oul toffee pennies, though....

Kenny_D

Had steak with a really nice red wine pan sauce. First time I've tried the sauce and will be making it again on Friday. Was delicious

Gaspode

Has an unbelievbaly good shepherds pie last night. Sometimes Mrs G just pulls these things out of the bag and suprises me with a stunning version of what is normally a fairly mundane meal! Yummy.

the beer revolu

Some friends coming round tonight so:

Homemade fragrant crispyish duck in pancakes with spicy rhubarb sauce.

Roast lemon, garlic and thyme organic chicken with roast potatoes and shed loads of roast garlic. Homegrown kale, pan roast squash.

Lidl Greek style yoghurt with rhubarb and ginger jam (homemade)
and ginger cookies (tesco) -I can rarely be arsed with dessert.

Cheese

German White pinot to start (never had a white pinot before)
Californian Pinot Noir with main

kenco

Had the inlaws over and due to last minute planning ended up picking a SQ deboned leg of lamb (not butterflied but kinda rolled). Had no idea what it was going to be like but it was not too bad all and was enjoyed by all.

Served with boiled carrots and roast spuds..

Dummy

Chicken & Apricot loaf, served with wedges covered in onion, some garlic and mozerella cheese.

Rice pudding with homemade plum jam for dessert.

Nice Irish brie and crackers for afters.

All washed down with a very well chilled rosé. Oh I made homemade lemonade for the kids - made the syrup last night and then it took only 5 mins to make the rest up today.

My wife wants hungarian goulash for next Saturday (it's supposed to be really wintery next weekend)- talk about ordering in advance. Haven't made goulash in years and years and years. Wonder if she means the soup or the beef dish? Never asked her.

JIZZLORD

I'm just after stuffing myself with bacon and colcannon.

I can barely move!

the beer revolu

Last night I wanted something healthy as I had a rubbish lunch but I didn't really feel like cooking.

So, into a pot: some puy lentils, some red cargo rice, a carrot, onion, stick of celery, some leek (all finely chopped), chicken stock (from freezer), white wine, thyme, pepper, salt (at the end) and simmered for about half an hour.

Really easy, tasty and healthy - would make a good side dish with duck or something too!

NewFrockTuesday

Ate out last night. Had gorgeous smoked salmon and prawns in blue cheese sauce with penne pasta. Was delicious. Tonight is manky old casserole from Sunday and making a shoperds pit with a surprise layer of pureed turnip between the meat and the spuds.

Thsi could be reaaly really good...or really really bad :P

Im egging good though.

the beer revolu

Deepsense wrote: »

Ate out last night. Had gorgeous smoked salmon and prawns in blue cheese sauce with penne pasta. Was delicious. Tonight is manky old casserole from Sunday and making a shoperds pit with a surprise layer of pureed turnip between the meat and the spuds.

Thsi could be reaaly really good...or really really bad :P

Im egging good though.

I think that would work fine!

Honey-ec

the beer revolu wrote: »

German White pinot to start (never had a white pinot before)

Really? Not even a grigio? I love Pinot Bianco but it's rare as hen's teeth over here (outside of very good wine shops, which are few & far between in Tullow...)

superficies

Last night had to be quick and easy so it was just pasta with a sauce I made with chorizo, onion, garlic, sundried toms and a tin of toms with a drop of red wine vinegar, some basil and some oregano

Tonight it's my favourite thing to eat and cook: fish pie. Yum yum. Taking after my Granny I put hard boiled eggs and green beans in mine too. Unlike her though I use fresh salmon (she uses tinned and is also delish) and a layer of prawns as well and mash the spuds with whatever poaching milk is left over after making the bechemal. Yum yum. Is it dinner time yet? Cooked it this morning and have been waiting (im)patiently ever since!

the beer revolu

Honey-ec wrote: »

Really? Not even a grigio? I love Pinot Bianco but it's rare as hen's teeth over here (outside of very good wine shops, which are few & far between in Tullow...)

I've had pinot grigio alright but this was a white wine made from Pinot Noir.
That's a first for me.
Twas good too:)

_blank_

everyone eating out this week?!

We're both heading home to our parents' tomorrow, so threw together some freezer stuff, and the last of the veg.

Mashers (roosters)and carrots (farmers market, yum)
Green beans and peas (frozen)

I also finely chopped half a mushroom, some strips of red pepper, some onion and some goats cheese and stuffed a chicken breast with that, wrapped in bacon and roasted for ~50mins, with some balsamic reduction on the side after cooking.

The OH is a veggie, so she had a nut burger with the rest of the veg.

It was lovely.

Going to have a nice bottle of Soave now

terenc

Looking forward to Christmas and sitting down to with my family and some friends to a festive meal probably have the usual battle with the children over why they wont eat a sprout but then I was know different myself at that age.:DI love them now especially cooked with a bite.:)

Minder

A spaghetti with pan fried scallops and prawns in a tomato, garlic and white wine sauce. Some finely sliced basil to finish.

Edgedinblue

two slices of pizza

watna

Started cooking the Christmas dinner. We're eating at about 4 so think the Chicken will need so go at about 12 (It's 10.30am now). I got one that feeds 12 people but there is only 4 of us. I love leftovers!

Made slow cooked spiced red cabbage which is in the oven bubbling away. I have my stuffing all ready to go - it's a pistachio and prune stuffing and looks yum. Also making potato dauphinoise, roasties, and carrot and parsnip mash. Not sure how well my oven will cook roasties but will give it a go.

For dessert having pavlova - which I made myself for the first time ever (all previous attempts have gone in the bin!) and making a milk tart for my OH who is originally from South Africa and it's tradition apparently! Got to get that on the go now.

Don't you just love Christmas dinner? This is my first time making it completely by myself. Last year we had a bbq but I wanted a proper Christmas dinner this year seeming as we're having an orphan's Christmas. Going to save the BBQ for boxing day.

terenc

Collected my goose to-night lovely bird. Free range of course.

The Sweeper

Christmas Day fare in Australia:

Breakfast: traditional fry with home-made soda bread, recipe by Darina Allen. This fills you up for the day so Christmas dinner/lunch can be served any time between 1.30pm and 3pm and nobody's starving and desperate for it.

Pre-dinner: fresh oysters with a round of bloody marys.

Christmas dinner: pan-fried scallops for starters. Main was cooked crayfish, 1/2 per person, with garlic butter; plus a whole red snapper, baked with a stuffing of onions, red peppers and chopped tomato, with the zest and juice of half a sweet valencia orange and some fresh oregano and basil - the veg is softened in butter then splashed with white wine first, then allowed to cool before being added to the fish, which is oiled and salted before being stuffed with the veg, topped with slices of the other half of the orange, and wrapped in a baking parchment and foil package and baked in the oven.

Starch sides were a potato gratin (a request), a second potato dish which was roast potato wedges done in a dish with lemon, rosemary and anchovies - excellent with fish. I also made a rice dish of Jamaican Jewelled Rice, which is basmati that I cook, pilaf style, with an assortment of roasted pine nuts, flaked almonds, chopped pistachios and finely sliced dried apricots, sliced fresh medjool dates and dried cranberries, along with some finely chopped zest from another sweet valencia orange, and a little of the orange juice. The rice is flavoured and coloured with saffron and cooked by absorption method with chicken stock. The result was just gorgeous and matched the snapper beautifully, with flavours of orange in both.

Christmas day supper last night was mussells in a white wine and cream sauce, with a couple of pints of large green prawns, half done in garlic butter, and the other half in a dry spice mixture of salt, white pepper and szechuan pepper, with some cold beers.

All in all, it was bloody marvellous. The seafood topped out at around $250 AUD (about €155) for four people and it was bought fresh on Christmas Eve morning, involving a 7am trip to the market 45 minutes away with an ice-filled esky. The only thing that wasn't fresh and raw was the crayfish, and that was fresh and cooked already.

The main advantage of Christmas day seafood: minimal clean up. You're not struggling with roasting trays and gravy dishes and mashed potato pots and so on. That's not so bad on a cold winter's day, but when it's 26 degrees, as our Christmas Day was, the last thing you want to be doing is struggling with roasts and sides and the dishwashing afterwards.

Definitely doing that again next year. May add crab claws to the mix then.

the beer revolu

Did Christmas dinner for the in-laws....

Smoked Salmon and Parma ham.
Marlborough Bubbly.

Roast Goose with chestnut, cranberry and orange stuffing.
Roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, artichoke & garlic.
Spiced red cabbage.
Giblet gravy
Cider cooked, apple and mustard glazed ham.
Barossa Shiraz/Grenache

Haven't found room for my Mums Christmas pud that I brought over yet!
Made Brandy butter to go with it too.

First time cooking goose - yummmmmmmmmm.
And now have six jam jars full of goose fat!