Here's What I Had For Dinner - Part III - Don't quote pics!

notAMember

sporina wrote: »

chicken and garlic x 40 cloves??

Yup! The garlic is really mild after being braised in liquid for an hour. It's gorgeous. I have one of those big creuset dishes with a lid that can fit a whole chicken (it's ancient but does the job!)

I stuck half a lemon (a squeezed one leftover from the mornings pancake) and some herbs in the cavity, and seasoned the bird.

Then you heat some oil and butter in the dish, and this is the only tricky bit, turning the bird over to brown it. Bit of manhandling there. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes a side. Separate the cloves of garlic, leave them with peel on, just break them all up

Once that's done, add liquid. It can be stock, water, wine, marsala, all the recipes vary a little, so I used what was to hand, a glass of wine and some stock. Throw in the 40 cloves. Lid on and into the oven at 170C for an hour or so (depending on size of chicken)

When it's done, you take the whole chicken out of the pot and cover with foil to stay warm (or get your kitchen helper to start chopping it up!). Scoop out the cloves onto a chopping board and set the liquid reducing in the pot. Squish the garlic cloves with the back of a knife or spoon, garicky paste comes out, very satisfying! Chuck that paste back into your reduced liquid and stir, and it's a sauce / gravy with real wow factor. Feels like a total cheat as it's 15 mins "work" at the start and maybe 10 at the end, and you've something dinner party worthy.

sporina

Shenshen wrote: »

This was on Saturday, when we've had beautiful sunshine all day. I was feeling really summery, so decided on a light and fresh dinner.

We had a big bowl of chopped tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, olives and feta cheese with spring onions and oregano fresh from the garden. Dressed with just some salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, it was just delicious with some baguette I had toasted up in the griddle pan.

looks delicious but I would add a few black olives to that... olives and feta yummy

Shenshen

sporina wrote: »

looks delicious but I would add a few black olives to that... olives and feta yummy

There are loads in there. I used both green and black, chopped up.

Mystery Egg

sporina wrote: »

looks delicious but I would add a few black olives to that... olives and feta yummy

What did *you* have for dinner last night Sporina?

sporina

Shenshen wrote: »

There are loads in there. I used both green and black, chopped up.

oh apologies - i need another pair of specs.. :eek:

Mystery Egg wrote: »

What did *you* have for dinner last night Sporina?

Roast Chicken dinner with all the usual trimming... was yum

Witchie

Vegetarian ayam maggi goreng - or vegetarian chicken fried noodles. Used koka instead of maggi but it would still earn that name in Malaysia.

McMurphy

Homemade chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and sure I just threw in a few Cajun fries, cos - why not!

woodchuck

Creamy masala chicken

sporina

McMurphy wrote: »

Homemade chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and sure I just threw in a few Cajun fries, cos - why not!

hmmm my mouth is watering looking at that.. just you make the fries yourself?

PARlance

Not really a fan of leftover lamb but decided to do a red curry with it this evening. Think I converted myself.

Served with fennel and cardamon rice. No photos but it was lovely.

igCorcaigh

Witchie wrote: »

Vegetarian ayam maggi goreng - or vegetarian chicken fried noodles. Used koka instead of maggi but it would still earn that name in Malaysia.

Looks lovely Witchie!
We could really do with a dedicated noodle thread, there are so many available, and lots of good sauces/condiments to go with them too!

TheKBizzle

Roast chicken and all the fixins

McMurphy

sporina wrote: »

hmmm my mouth is watering looking at that.. just you make the fries yourself?

Fries were Cajun fries cooked from frozen in the air fryer. Pilau rice, shop bought (it's hard to beat the little packs Aldi do tbh) and the curry was made from scratch using chicken thigh fillets, cream/spices etc.

snowgal

last night was chicken pie, made from leftover roast dinner, sweetcorn, gravy roasties, chicken and ham, twas nice...
Tonight Im trying my hand at homemade pork burgers, will try get a pic

sporina

McMurphy wrote: »

Fries were Cajun fries cooked from frozen in the air fryer. Pilau rice, shop bought (it's hard to beat the little packs Aldi do tbh) and the curry was made from scratch using chicken thigh fillets, cream/spices etc.

hmm - chicken thighs are the best for dishes like this.. yum..

sporina

can't help but notice that a lot of us had comforting roast type dinners at the weekend.. sign of the times eh with the abysmal weather.. I really hope it will be salads and BBQ's soon..

miamee

Had a bit of a 'what's left in the fridge' dinner which actually turned out great. I had mince and an aubergine that needed to be used up so made a sort of lasagne with thin aubergine slices instead of pasta sheets. Fried some finely chopped spring onions, red peppers and mushrooms in the pan, added the mince and cooked. Added a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic powder and cooked for a bit. Lined my dish with one layer of aubergine. When the mince mixture was ready I added a layer of mince, layer of aubergine, layer of mince, added chopped black olives and sundried tomatoes and one last layer of aubergine. Into the oven at 180C for 30 mins and it was delicious!

It could have done with a cheese or saucy topping but we added a bit of cheese when it was dished up. The top layer of aubergine looks crisped in the pic but they were actually still very soft just dried up a little bit.

the beer revolu

^^
That's not a million miles away from moussaka but with beef rather than lamb

miamee

Funny enough I had been reading recipes for moussaka yesterday. I had no potatoes so decided not to bother, some of it must have stuck in my head though

sporina

miamee wrote: »

Funny enough I had been reading recipes for moussaka yesterday. I had no potatoes so decided not to bother, some of it must have stuck in my head though

my thoughts exactly on the moussaka.. but I didn't think there were potatoes in Moussaka? I have Greek mate who makes it frequently; she doesn't have potatoes in it.. ?

miamee

I have never had it or made it before but the few recipes I looked at had potatoes so I gave up!

Mr.Wemmick

A bowl of hot chilli tucked up on the sofa. I'm frozen with the cold along with a sore throat, 'tis perfect grub.

Mystery Egg

We had salad, garlic bread and carbonara... and I actually nailed the sauce this time. :pac:

Dizzyblonde

Mystery Egg wrote: »

We had salad, garlic bread and carbonara... and I actually nailed the sauce this time. :pac:

Yay!

We had chicken fried rice, and on the subject of eggs in frying pans I always scramble the egg in the microwave before adding it nowadays. I've had too many disasters with fried rice and eggs!

Surreptitious

miamee wrote: »

I have never had it or made it before but the few recipes I looked at had potatoes so I gave up!

It depends. Some have potatoes and others don't. I had it in Crete and that one didn't have any but it was seriously good!

Mystery Egg

I love moussaka and have made it many times and I used Antony Worrell Thompson's yummy recipe and there are no potatoes in it.

Tonight we had soft tacos with spicy beef mince, salad leaves, cucumber, jalapenos, cheese, sour cream and home made salsa and guacamole. Delish.

I'll post a few photos some day soon, I promise.

I also did a batch cook and made three cottage pies for the freezer, including one for my friend with a new baby who I'm meeting tomorrow, yay! :pac:

Dizzyblonde

Baked cod with a Cajun type rub, it was delicious.

Mystery Egg

I can never see the last post on this thread until I post on it again. Drives me nuts!

sporina

had chips, chicken and veg tonight - twas yum.. but the highlight? the chips! Honest Chips.. available only in ALDI.. if you have not yet had them I highly recommend.. (they are €€ - €3.50/500g - but imo, so worth it - just like proper chipper chips but with only a fraction of the calories)

Ryath

Chicken and Bacon Pie with a jacket potato.