The 'Here's what I had for dinner last night' thread - Part II - Don't quote pics!

katydid

Shenshen wrote: »

Canelloni, filled with courgettes, muchrooms, black olives, ayvar and garlic.
The filling ran out a bit, but tastes fantastic

Ayvar?

Shenshen

katydid wrote: »

Ayvar?

Yep, one of my must-have cupboard stables

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajvar

maryfred

Shenshen wrote: »

Yep, one of my must-have cupboard stables

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajvar

Do you make yourself or buy somewhere?

Shenshen

maryfred wrote: »

Do you make yourself or buy somewhere?

I buy it, there's a shop in the English Market here in Cork that has a few brands to choose from. But I find that most shops that would have Eastern European or Middle Eastern/Turkish ingredients will stock it.

katydid

Shenshen wrote: »

Yep, one of my must-have cupboard stables

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajvar

Oh thanks. Never heard of it.

Shenshen

katydid wrote: »

Oh thanks. Never heard of it.

It doesn't seem very common in Ireland - it took me quite a while at first to find it here.
I'm from Germany originally and have family in Austria, it's quite a common condiment there.
I love cooking with it, it's lovely in pasta sauces, nice and creamy and tasting of grilled peppers.
Or just stir it through boiled rice for extra taste.

Mars Bar

We never get to shop in Aldi but we took a look yesterday when we were in the city and we bought their 4 Bird Roast.

We had it today with oven roasted carrots, butternut squash with black pepper, sweet potato with chilli and paprika and some steamed broccoli. It was divine! The meat was so tender. I don't eat duck or goose so this is something different for me.

J Mysterio

I find a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird a bit unnecessary.

Mrs Fox

Courgette 'noodles' Bolognese. Up till today I've refused to call it 'courgetti' or 'zoodles', but since I may have successfully converted the kids from the traditional spaghetti (my girl has low tolerance to durum wheat), I needed to make it sound fun to them so they happily took to 'courgetti'.

StripedBoxers

Tonight is duck breast fillets, spinach with garlic and a little bit of cheese over the top, carrots, broccoli and potatoes. Have some Asparagus so might do something with that too.

the beer revolu

StripedBoxers wrote: »

Tonight is duck breast fillets, spinach with garlic and a little bit of cheese over the top, carrots, broccoli and potatoes. Have some Asparagus so might do something with that too.

Snap. (partially)
Duck breasts, sea spinach and rice.

The Hill Billy

Succulent roast chicken, cous cous drizzled with the juices from the pan, & a salad of baby leaves, beet root, walnuts & feta.

MissFlitworth

On Saturday we made a batch of this pizza dough (which I think I initially spotted in a post of Minder's ages ago. Love this forum. All my nicest meals are ones I accidentally happen across in here.) It is wonderful stuff and 600gms of flour ended up with us having pizza for dinner for 3 days. Score!

Our oven is a cantankerous old lady and a pizza stone takes a long, long, long time to get remotely hot in it so we've started making pizza in a hot cast iron pan (with foil wrapped around the wooden handle) which is another idea I'm pretty sure I got here, that we just lob into a hot oven. So the base is as good as we're going to get it here I think. Ah, happy.

Day 1 & 2 were tomato sauce (made by blending down skinned plum tomatoes and then reducing them in a hot pan with a little sugar and salt), mozzarella and serrano ham and parmesan added when the pizza came out of the oven. Today was mutti pizza sauce, mozz & diced chorizo. Served with the Potatoes Roasted in Hot Sauce version 4 - sriracha, a little soy, a little vinegar and a little syrup. Drizzled lightly with sesame oil when out of the oven.

tmc86

Pad Thai from the Cooking Club (minus the beansprouts!)

tfak85

Homemade pizzas, one with ild garlic pesto, asparagus, pear and rocket, the other with tomato sauce, pancetta cubes, leeks and ricotta!

Shenshen

I found a packet of pasta parcels from Lidl's special Easter offers still lurking in the back of the fridge.
So yesterday, it was pasta parcels filled with mushrooms and truffle, green asparagus and a lemon and herb butter.

Loire

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Our oven is a cantankerous old lady and a pizza stone takes a long, long, long time to get remotely hot in it so we've started making pizza in a hot cast iron pan (with foil wrapped around the wooden handle) which is another idea I'm pretty sure I got here, that we just lob into a hot oven. So the base is as good as we're going to get it here I think. Ah, happy.

Hiya, how does that work? Our oven is about 20-30 years old I'd say, with heat coming out the sides and out the top. I really should change it but we're hoping to get a new kitchen in the next 12 months. I can never get my pizza dough crispy as a result!

Thanks,
Loire.

MissFlitworth

I heat the pan/skillet up on a hob till it's pretty hot then put the dough directly into it (it looks like it's going to stick but as it cooks it detaches itself!). Dress the dough while it's in the hot pan and then put the whole shebang in the oven. No pictures of ours because the top of the cooker was MANKY and I felt ashamed looking at it but this is the general idea of what you'll end up with



I don't think I'd try it with anything other than a seasoned cast iron pan though cos I'd say the dough would absolutely stick to a steel pan and then my little fat heart would be broken

Loire

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I heat the pan/skillet up on a hob till it's pretty hot then put the dough directly into it (it looks like it's going to stick but as it cooks it detaches itself!). Dress the dough while it's in the hot pan and then put the whole shebang in the oven. No pictures of ours because the top of the cooker was MANKY and I felt ashamed looking at it but this is the general idea of what you'll end up with

http://www.azestybite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Skillet-Pizza-pic-640x496.jpg

I don't think I'd try it with anything other than a seasoned cast iron pan though cos I'd say the dough would absolutely stick to a steel pan and then my little fat heart would be broken

Thanks for that - I'll get me one of them there cast iron skillets so!

Loire.

MissFlitworth

It's awesome Loire! I was getting really narked with my 'still pretty raw in the centre but burnt on top' pizzas and this has worked a treat.

Last night we had chicken roasted with herb butter under the skin (lemon thyme, parsley & garlic), a green salad sprinkled with dukkah and bread. Tis the season for nice meats and green things and consuming full bottles of olive oil soaked into white bread.

kylith

Lazy dinner - meats and cheeses, olives, semi sundried tomatoes.

Also roasted some chicken thighs (E1 each! Bargain!) for tonight and since I won't need the skins and they'd only go soft and horrid I ate those too

J Mysterio

MissFlitworth wrote: »

my little fat heart

:pac::pac::pac:

the beer revolu

Loire wrote: »

I really should change it but we're hoping to get a new kitchen in the next 12 months. I can never get my pizza dough crispy as a result!

Thanks,
Loire.

Really, for the amount you cook, it is worth having a decent oven.
I deliberated for ages before replacing my (not very) old oven that I hated but now wonder why I did. Just work your new kitchen around your new oven.

For me, I'd never stray from having a built in double oven. Ranges are lovely to look at but do you want to be down on your haunches every time you check something in the oven?

I found that the most expensive ovens aren't necessarily the best - they just have more bells and whistles that I'd never use. It was a mid range Electrolux that ticked all my boxes and three years on I'm very happy with it (I was willing to spend more for the right oven but that was the right one for me).

You cook lots. You deserve a decent oven.

emaleth

Loire wrote: »

Thanks for that - I'll get me one of them there cast iron skillets so!

Loire.

When you do, try this

It's now the go-to pizza in my house

Mars Bar

I tried that courgetti. It's the first time I've ever made a Bolognese sauce from scratch! It was yummy if just a little bit runny. I did miss the texture of the pasta and I think I'll just go with a small amount of wholemeal pasta tomorrow instead.

kylith

Carbonara again. I'm on a mission to perfect carbonara. This time I used a duck egg and it was lush.

This weekend I'm planning to make pasta with duck egg. It's been too long since I made pasta.

katydid

kylith wrote: »

Carbonara again. I'm on a mission to perfect carbonara. This time I used a duck egg and it was lush.

This weekend I'm planning to make pasta with duck egg. It's been too long since I made pasta.

<picture snipped>

That looks gorgeous. I did pasta tonight with mushrooms, bacon, spinach, rocket, creme fraiche, parmesan, and a big dollop of home made wild garlic pesto. YUM. I should have taken a pic.

Dr.MickKiller

Beef tacos. Had them with shredded carrot, radish and a dressing of sour cream, horseradish, coriander and white wine vinegar.

Mrs Fox

Tamari ginger chicken on the barbie, red cabbage and radish slaw, potato salad. So good.

MissFlitworth

Leftover chicken from Tuesday turned into a pasta bake. Wayyyyy too much pasta bake. We'll be eating it till doomsday. Having one of those 'don't want to throw away food but what do you do with this much food that you made to use up leftovers' moments. Pasta smoothies? Pasta bake bubble & squeak?