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

Mrs Fox

Mish mash mosh. Pan fried duck, broad beans, edamame, soy beans & peas, roasted sweet potato, aubergine and tomatoes.

Riverireland

Lam shanks tonight, very nice they were too. Should have done some mash to make the most of the gravy but were stuffed now anyway😊

katydid

Pumpkin and sage risotto is on the stovetop. My husband set up pumpkin beer, I made pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread with the mash. We roasted the other half, a third of it is going in the risotto, and the rest is in the freezer.

Not bad for one homegrown pumpkin!

Must go stir the risotto...

Riverireland

black_frosch wrote: »

Back to home food, still very lazy

<Mod pic snip>

Looks Delicous, what is it pray tell?

Whispered

Lentil curry with basmati rice. I was disappointed. It was nice but lacked a roundness of flavour. Something was missing. The two boys (husband and baby) had the same with some tandoori style chicken.

katydid

Whispered wrote: »

Lentil curry with basmati rice. I was disappointed. It was nice but lacked a roundness of flavour. Something was missing. The two boys (husband and baby) had the same with some tandoori style chicken.

Green Saffron do a great dahl spice mix

Whispered

katydid wrote: »

Green Saffron do a great dahl spice mix

Yes I had it last time I made a curry. It was lovely. But today was a "what is in the press so I don't have to make myself look presentable and go to the shop" type of day

I'm not quite sure where it went wrong really. I didn't have fresh herbs and spices so it was all jar stuff. Maybe that's the problem. It had garlic, ginger, cumin, Garam masala, cardamoms and coriander. Cooked in tin of tomatoes and same amount of water. It was a bit watery tasting, but the texture was prefect.

Woke up at ridiculous o'clock today so after browning a lamb leg and frying onions, I threw them together with some wine in the slow cooker on low for 7 hours. Then later I made garlic and cheese potato dauphinoise. Boiled some carrots too.

Oh so tasty, and somehow have some leftovers for tomorrow.

katydid

Balsamic chicken and mushrooms - flattened chicken breasts marinaded in balsamic vinegar, mustard and garlic, and fried (with the marinade). Then mushrooms sliced and fried for a few minutes, then finished off with balsamic and white wine.

A lot of balsamic, but worth it...I was licking the plate.

Tarzana2

Patatas bravas and roast chuck.

kylith

Penne with ragu of goat. Very tasty.

Goat is definitely a meat I'd like to try again, if I can find it cheaper.

Gongoozler

kylith wrote: »

Penne with ragu of goat. Very tasty.

Goat is definitely a meat I'd like to try again, if I can find it cheaper.

There's a few ethnic places in the city centre that do it, though not sure about prices.

What's it like?

Tarzana2

kylith wrote: »

Penne with ragu of goat. Very tasty.

Goat is definitely a meat I'd like to try again, if I can find it cheaper.

Where did you get it? Is it like lamb?

kylith

Gongoozler wrote: »

There's a few ethnic places in the city centre that do it, though not sure about prices.

What's it like?

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Where did you get it? Is it like lamb?

I got it in the farmer's market in Meeting House square. I bought two shanks of cabrito (kid) for E10. I cooked it in the slow cooker for about 9 hours with a glass of red wine until the meat was falling off the bone, then I shredded it into a tomato sauce.

It's rather strongly flavoured, but not madly so. It's not very like lamb, I don't think. Rather gamey and very, very tender. I would definitely eat it again. I think next time I'll stew it in veg stock then chuck in some pearl barley and veggies.

I'll have a look in ethnic shops for it, but I'm generally not keen on halal meats.

Tilly

Prawn stir fry

Gongoozler

Yeah the place I was specifically thinking was a place on parnell st, but pretty sure they're halal

Tarzana2

kylith wrote: »

but I'm generally not keen on halal meats.

Because of the practice itself, or does it being Halal actually affect the taste and texture of the meat? Sorry, Twenty Questions McGoo over here. :pac:

Whispered

Are patatas bravas easy enough to do? I love them when I'm out but ever tried at home.

nicki11

Whispered wrote: »

Multiple dishes made here last night as nothing suited everyone. I got a Thai red paste and was planning on making a chicken and veg curry for the baby and my husband and a veg one for me. But when I read the ingredients it's not a vegetarian paste. Then when I dolloped it onto the pan, the chilli hit my throat so I decided to make something milder for the little fella.

So my husband had chicken and veg cooked in Thai red paste and coconut milk, with bastami rice. The baby had chicken and veg cooked with a bit of ginger, Garam masala, crushed cardamom, few chilli flakes and coconut milk also with basmati rice.

Me, well I had a fried egg on toast. I just couldn't be bothered cooking meal number 3.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a Thai dish that doesn't need fish sauce or anything like that?

Hi I understand your difficulty (I'm allergic to soy- love it can't have it in more then a tsp amounts, so I substitute fish sauce) this should help its a vegan thai curry paste recipe, so you can make dinner as normal but separate out yours and then add the chicken for the baby and your OH.

http://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/vegetarian-red-curry-paste
http://www.lovefoodeat.com/thai-green-curry-paste-vegetarian/

Not sure the age of the baby or its spice tolerance but a mild thai curry goes down really well with my cousins (2 tsps of curry paste). Taste after adding the paste and have extra coconut milk just incase (some store bought brands vary in spice). If you add potatoes at any stage (in the curry or as a side) this also reduces spice. The best solution to increase spice is to chop some chillies -crush or lightly saute- and put them in a bowl for everyone to set their spice (hot oil is also good). Hope this helps

Tarzana2

Whispered wrote: »

Are patatas bravas easy enough to do? I love them when I'm out but ever tried at home.

Surprisingly easy! I used this recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1177/patatas-bravas

It was my first time making them, I just took a notion. The only ingredient I was missing was paprika. I used passata instead of chopped tomatoes too.

kylith

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Because of the practice itself, or does it being Halal actually affect the taste and texture of the meat? Sorry, Twenty Questions McGoo over here. :pac:

Both really. I disagree with the way the animal is killed, but I also feel that it effects the taste. Whether that's just the power of suggestion I don't know.

Tarzana2

kylith wrote: »

Both really. I disagree with the way the animal is killed, but I also feel that it effects the taste. Whether that's just the power of suggestion I don't know.

I did my college research project in the RCSI. Mostly, I'd bring in my own packed lunches, being a student and all. (Though I kept with packed lunches when working too) They used to have nice dinner options there at lunchtime so the odd time I would treat myself. What put me off though was because a huge amount of the student body there is from the Middle East, all meat used in the restaurant was halal. Can't remember if it affected the meat, but I wasn't too chuffed about all the meat being halal.

dibkins

Been delinquint posting here.

2 night ago i made soy braised pork belly with brocolli.



And then last night had the leftovers made into fried rice. Nom. The leftovers were even better than the original!

Mystery Egg

The vast majority of animals (around 90%) receive a stun to the brain before being killed by the halal method. Those that don't are acting unlawfully.

If you refuse to eat halal meat I would hope you would refuse to eat battery chickens for the same reason. There are plenty of legal slaughter practices that are sub-standard in terms of cruelty to animals.

The only way to ensure humanely killed meat every time is to always buy free range and basically to ask the farmer about their slaughter practices.

Diamond Doll

I thought the halal method was just that someone prayed over the animals before they were killed. I hadn't realised they were actually killed any differently!

kylith

Mystery Egg wrote: »

The vast majority of animals (around 90%) receive a stun to the brain before being killed by the halal method. Those that don't are acting unlawfully.

If you refuse to eat halal meat I would hope you would refuse to eat battery chickens for the same reason. There are plenty of legal slaughter practices that are sub-standard in terms of cruelty to animals.

The only way to ensure humanely killed meat every time is to always buy free range and basically to ask the farmer about their slaughter practices.

Are you sure about that? Halal needs the animal to be killed with one cut to the throat which they can't be sure of if the animal is no conscious. Halal and kosher slaughter are exempt from the requirement for the animal to be stunned.

I only buy free range chicken, and will only buy pork from my local butcher which is guaranteed free range also.

Mystery Egg

kylith wrote: »

Are you sure about that? Halal needs the animal to be killed with one cut to the throat which they can't be sure of if the animal is no conscious. Halal and kosher slaughter are exempt from the requirement for the animal to be stunned.

I only buy free range chicken, and will only buy pork from my local butcher which is guaranteed free range also.

Yes, I am sure. Those who perform the halal ritual are required by law to stun the brain first. The animal is therefore not conscious when it is being killed, just the same as non-halal standard slaughter.

A small minority don't adhere to this, but they are acting unlawfully.

There is no real way to know who has acted unlawfully in the slaughter of meat, but that goes for non-halal slaughter too. Slaughter practices in general are very poor and are a good argument towards vegetarianism.

Like you I try to only eat free range, but I know that when I eat out I won't be eating free-range, 90% of the time. It takes a lot of discipline to only eat humanely bred and slaughtered meat.

Neyite

Whispered wrote: »

Multiple dishes made here last night as nothing suited everyone. I got a Thai red paste and was planning on making a chicken and veg curry for the baby and my husband and a veg one for me. But when I read the ingredients it's not a vegetarian paste. Then when I dolloped it onto the pan, the chilli hit my throat so I decided to make something milder for the little fella.

So my husband had chicken and veg cooked in Thai red paste and coconut milk, with bastami rice. The baby had chicken and veg cooked with a bit of ginger, Garam masala, crushed cardamom, few chilli flakes and coconut milk also with basmati rice.

Me, well I had a fried egg on toast. I just couldn't be bothered cooking meal number 3.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a Thai dish that doesn't need fish sauce or anything like that?

I've a red Thai curry paste recipe that I adapted for veggie friends - I got a vegetarian substitute for the fish sauce and I cant say I noticed any real taste difference in the end result. You can reduce the amount of chillis in it, but its mild enough to give my toddler a small amount of sauce on his rice to flavour it along with the chicken and veg.

Whispered

Thanks Neyite.

Mystery Egg wrote: »

Slaughter practices in general are very poor and are a good argument towards vegetarianism.

This is why I'm veggie. Love quorn etc and people can't understand it.

the beer revolu

I think that there's a lot of assumptions, misinformation and ignorance surrounding the idea of halal meat.

I used to assume that halal slaughter was unnecessarily cruel and barbaric until I educated myself a little.