general Tso's

Marlboro lights...

I took this photo 2.5 hours ago for a new high-end pizza/pasta restaurant website I'm doin'.

They packaged the meal up and gave it to me to take home.

Best clams I ever et. (I skipped the pasta because J is coming home with salad.)

http://cellar.org/2011/clamdinner.jpg

I have never eaten clams. That looks tasty.

ick. Don't like that pic.

I had some Potatoes Going Funny Soup.

I checked out several potato soup recipes and realized I didn't half half that shit in my cupboard, so I made things up as I went along ...

See, I had these potatoes that I bought two weeks ago at not my regular supermarket ... and they went funny fast. Didn't just grow those stubby little eye things (which doesn't happen that swiftly with my regular market taties), but they put out these colored things that were starting to produce leaves and all.

Didn't want to throw them away, and needed a way to salvage three potatoes at once (I had used one for a cheese potato and sausage omelet last weekend).

Had an onion sitting around too ... peeled and diced, tossed into the pot with some oil (plain old veggie oil, couldn't find the olive oil, might have thrown it away post expiration date). While the onions were sweating, knocked off the eyes, scrubbed, peeled, and diced the taters.

Tossed them into the onions.

Added garlic powder, black pepper, cooked for 15 minutes, covered with water, cooked for another 15 minutes. Added a wee bit more water.

Then I tried to used the immersion blender attachment from my Kitchenaid Handmixer. Useless for this application ... put on regular beaters. Splashed soup around kitchen, but ended up with a smooth soup, which is what I wanted.

Awesome, particularly with a handful of cheese and some croutons tossed at it.

Could you PM me the name of the restaurant ... or I could wait until they appear in your customer list. But I might want to check them out sooner than that ...

Fish-n-chips. With plenty of salt and vinegar.

Have found a chippy that sells 'mini' fish portions. Which is great because I always end up leaving half the food. Now I might actually finish what I bought!

I have a charm that might not be obvious to the naked eye.

For every size and shape I've been, I've always hypnotised independent fast food sellers.
From when I was a tiny teen to the 'bab van, to getting a free drink at the 'bab shop (with the student nurses) to various chicken and pizza and F&C outlets.

When the rents were away I'd go to the F&C shop for Grandad.
I would ask for a piece of fish and half a scoop of chips.
I'd even advise them to remove chips from the scoop - he simply would not eat them. Over time they would only charge me for the fish :)

Same with the kebab place in Leyton.
So many times I told them only to put one layer of kebab on my roll.
So when I was really brassic I'd go in and lay my coins on the counter (no shame!) and ask what it would buy me. They always managed to make a full roll for me, and sometimes lied to give me chips too.

That's why we got discounted ice-creams!

True.

One way or another it looked like I would eat you if I didn't get enough icecream.

Had some sushi...yum...

Pork chops , Greens , Augraten taters , it was DEEEEELISH !!!

I had a bratzel, a Breckenridge vanilla porter and a Bell's cream stout at Flying Saucer. That shit was good.

Dinner was in two decadent parts tonight:

Had an early fun meal at Austin Grill in Rockville, MD. Smokey barbacoa beef enchiladas with chipotle sauce, and gigantic margaritas! Grilled chicken wings and bites of fried cheesecake were also involved.

Later, had a half of a juicy gourmet burger at Vintage Wine Bar in Philly. Topped with Manchego cheese, bacon and roasted red pepper.

Pan fried blade steak, medium-rare, with bread fried in olive oil, Greek salad, beer.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.. :)

Lasagne and salad. It was good.

Tonight we're having slow roasted pork with baked potatoes and pumpkin. Roasted whole garlic and capsicum and zucchini with also brocoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce, all smothered in a rich thick gravy made from the pork juices.

I'm thinking tonight is fried chicken...

but grilled is more healthy

Smoked Salmon and Shrimp on a bed of lettuce with cocktail dipping sauce

Rib-Eye Steak
Sauteed potatoes
Mushrooms
Onion Rings
Snow Peas
Sauteed Asparagus

Quad-decker Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, whipped cream and Mars Bar (Milky Way) slices
Trifle

:D

Birthday dinners rock!

I forgot to mention the cheese and crackers, but we don't have room right now, so mybe I was seeing the future. :lol:

Made an awesome Turkey "Creole". Speechmarks because I don't want anyone to be offended by the fact it was a recipe from a British Turkey site, and actually had no creole flavouring that I could see. But I added some. Well, my version. Which might be even MORE offensive.

Look, okay, I'll let you make "Cornish" pasties if you let me make Turkey "Creole".

Made in advance and left to settle (covered of course).
But tasting while making says nom nom nom.
See what those dining think.....

Mum has already intefered by buying broccoli as a side (wtf?) and saying "It's okay, I'll cook that. And the potatoes" okay, so rice & peas is out then.

But I have a march on her as she's chopsing away, so at least I can try to do the two unwanted ingredients my way...?
Also bought some bread - it's a more "saucy" recipe than I had expected, perhaps because of my changes. You've gotta have crusty bread if you're making a recipe in sauce, right?

That's what the Creole's say.

Turns out there was a bit too much of a "tingle".
Still, saying that, Mum still suggests I might like to make it for the next time the Girls come round. If a little bit less "tingly".

This is good, as I made the meal last time and it went down well.
I can be a culinary matermind once again (mwah-ha-ha-ha!!!!)

It's just this time I'll try not to get offended about any of her suggestions or amendments. Referring to the last Girl's Night, nit tonight. Hand on heart I realise that her main issue is the fact that the food is home cooked, as the only lady in her group who doesn't home cook is slightly looked down upon.

Tonight is the last night of chicken tacos. I will be starting the filling for the shells from the chicken sausage thread because I WILL be making them tomorrow night for dinner. I will have pictures over there, too.

Falafel. With heirloom tomatoes (the real star of the show, they were... inexpressibly delicious), butter lettuce, sweet onion on pita bread. The tziki sauce I made using my girlfriend's recipe was very tasty, but thin and on the sweet side.

Only the resolutely parasitical vote for Obama or a Democratic candidate, V. You should be bitterly ashamed. But not of your cooking.

I will be having chicken a la king over wheat egg noodles. Cross your fingers - I have never made it before!

Chicken korma tonight.
Low fat version.

Well, lower fat.

Baked spaghetti

Breakfast

Sausage, eggs, Ezekiel raisin toast with peanut butter and marmalade

Tonight is a revamp of my stuffed zucchini boats

Tornado weather = chicken pot pie soup!!

Pastry in a soup?!
Or is Pot Pie a pie without pastry?
Which means it is not a pie at all....?


My head is e.x.p.l.o.d.i.n.g!

My mama makes a beef 'pot pie' that isn't actually a pie. It's squares of a thick pasta she cuts up and cooks in with the cooked beef that's now in a broth. So it's soupy. And it's the yum.

When we were kids I called it Popeye.

What does 'POG' stand for?

Papaya Orange Guava juice

or

Potato Onion Garlic soup

:smack: :facepalm:

LOL - it is more like the second. It is pretty much the filling for chicken pot pie (I think - I've never made it). This is the recipe I use: http://crepesofwrath.net/2008/11/16/...-pot-pie-soup/
It is REALLY good. I haven't made it yet, but I will tonight and post some pictures for ya over on my cooking thread :D

Boo - can't find my camera. Sorry Sundae! No pictures :(

The other night, guacamole was the MUST HAVE taste as dinner approached. We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand on the side of the road and got some suitable avocados. Next to the avocados was a package of hush puppie mix, so we got some of that too. Hush puppies and... and fried catfish of course. I don't any pictures of the making (pretty simple rinse fish, pat dry, cover with beaten egg, dredge through fish fry mix, fry), but I do have before and after pictures.

Delicious!!!!

V - looks wonderful!
What are hush puppies?
I could look it up, but I'd prefer to hear it from a real person ;)

Chicken in BBQ sauce tonight.
With red rice and/ or roasted sweet potatoes (I'll have a bit of each, Mum doesn't like sweet potatoes much, Dad isn't fussy) and a side salad for greenery.

Home made pork and beans. YUM!!!

Thanks, it was delicious.

Hush puppies are made from finely ground cornmeal and some savory spices. Spices, I don't know, the spicy kind? Actually, they're not spicy they're just tasty. I bought a pre made dry mix, these weren't from scratch. I added an egg and four tablespoons of water to make a very thick paste. I formed them into rough spheres about the size of golf balls. I flattened these slightly so I could have a definite top and bottom as I fried them in about half an inch of oil, not immersed as in a deep fryer. This let me more easily control the evenness of the cooking. Anyhow, they're fried up for a couple minutes and you can see them in the upper left corner of the first picture. They came out hot of course with a steaming interior. They are about two or three bites each. We served them with honey on the table and tartar sauce, but you could use butter or hot sauce or whatever you like. The taste (indeed the ingredients, especially the corn meal) is very similar to the fish fry coating. I made about ten of them and we had three left over for snacking later.

Looks good BigV! Now I want hush puppies.

I think I am having a BBQ chicken wrap

I have cornmeal, egg, and I certainly have spices.
Do you think I could bake rather than fry?

They sound good.
Now I can justify looking up recipes.

Tonight:

Lamb Burgers with cucumber sauce and pickled red onions on top.

Asparagus in the oven with drizzled balsamic vinegar.

Orzo pasta.

Red wine.

No, I don't think you can bake hush puppies. Frying's kind of the point. You can make delicious cornbread by baking, different taste, different texture. Same corn, etc. Why wouldn't you fry them?

I'm lousy at frying.
I don't know exactly what I do wrong, but I always seem to have too much oil, on too low a heat (so it gets absorbed and doesn't crisp) or too little (so it sticks) or too high a heat so it burns. And I can't work out what is wrong quickly enough to change it.

I just never learned to fry properly.
Yes, I blame Mum ;)
Apparently Nanny Robinson (Dad's Mum) fried everything, which was common. So Mum set about converting him after they married.

To this day I can make a decent English breakfast, but not a fried one.

Last night we had something like a beef wellington, but with pork fillet instead, cause pork is cheap here at the moment.

I wrapped the fillet in bacon then fried it, then laid out the pastry and spread a desert plum and pepperberry jam over it. Then wrapped the cooled meat in it. Baked for about 30 mins. It was nice. I also served lightly steamed green veges with cheese sauce, and something I call a pumpkin puff, which didn't quite turn out how I was hoping, but pretty close. Basically it's just mashed pumpkin mixed up to a kind of batter with SR flour and baking powder with a bit of chicken stock, then into a pan to bake with cheese on the top. Oh, I folded a couple of whipped egg whites into it too. So almost a kind of souffle, but not quite.

Oxymoron right there. It's not right without fried eggs and fried bread.....

(and how do you cook the tomatoes and mushrooms?)

I'll let you grill (broil) the meat, although over here that's apparently an anathema -the bacon must fry until it's so crispy it's a fire hazard.... ;)

Grilled bacon & sausage, poached or scrambled egg (although I always have fried if someone else is cooking!), beans and toast. And a mug of tea.

I always ask for no mushroom or tomato if I am eating out and I can't stand fried bread.

You eat at my house, you get my version :)

Seriously, just bread that's fried? In a skillet, or deep fried? Plain, or buttered, dipped in something (eggs and milk would make it french toast in USA), or seasoned?

See Spexx, in the UK they don't have the same kind of bread that we have. Theirs is made of ground beef and cheese.

Seriously, plain bread, in a skillet, and the oil is traditionally the leftover from the bacon.

Well that's ok, then.