did this pig ear terrine, turned out real nice

AlekH wrote:did this pig ear terrine, turned out real nice

"Real nice" is a bit of an understatement...friggin' gorgeous is more like it.

AlekH wrote:did this pig ear terrine, turned out real nice

Agree 100% with BR, "real nice" is understatement. Love the plating, absolutely delectable.

Tomatoes, Skokie Farmer's market, idea Andy Rickter's instagram.

Tomatoes lunch, riff on ramen burger dinner.

Gary,

I have to ask: how messy (or not) was the ramen burger to eat?

Would you do it again?

Regards,
Cathy2

C2,

Not messy to eat at all, I ate the top bun first while dipping in chili oil and the sandwich itself open face.

Do it again? For sure! I adore pan fried noodles. Its actually quite easy, ring mold, par cooked noodles, slow pan, oil, patience. A burger on pan fried noodles, whats not to love.


Pan fried noodles, count me a fan!

Gary,

How were the tomatoes? It's early but I've already had some good ones this year (and some not-so-good ones). I'm curious how the ones you bought at the Skokie Farmers market were. Btw, those plates all look delicious!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:How were the tomatoes?

Good, not exceptional. Yellow tastier than red. I made a special trip to the Skokie Sunday Farmer's market for tomatoes after seeing Andy Rickter's post on instagram. Corn, also bought there, was terrific.

Keeping with the pan fried noodle and tomato theme, BLT's with a side of pan fried noodle.

Still keeping with the tomato and noodle theme.

Grilled the leftover sai ua / la lot mashup from the most recent montrose picnic, turned out good, waaay fragrant with lime leaf like I like it.

AlekH wrote:Grilled the leftover sai ua / la lot mashup from the most recent montrose picnic, turned out good, waaay fragrant with lime leaf like I like it.

Wow. Looks amazing.

Tonight's dinner was supposed to be a shrimp boil. When one guest fell ill, we moved this to dinner tomorrow.

Instead dinner was pasta with slow-cooked cauliflower, anchovies and garlic. I skipped drying and cooling the cauliflower after blanching, instead it was shaken dry and into the frying pan. I did do the 20-minute pan roasting, added a touch of rosemary and no chilis. I did not make the anchovie-garlic paste, because anchovies break up so quickly and easily. Breadcrumbs was Panko.

Delicious!

Regards,
Cathy2

Som tum with chicharrones from Edgewater produce.

AlekH wrote:Som tum with chicharrones from Edgewater produce.

Looks like a good variation - dried shrimp are not terribly popular in my house. Doesn't help with the Kosher-keeping daughter-in-law though, probably need bonito flakes or something like that for her. What's the primary veg? Can't tell if it's green papaya or something else.

Oh there's lots of dried shrimp in there too but I like to pulse them in the food processor before adding to the paste.

And it is green papaya but shredded on a too dull box grader which gives a finer texture than optimal imo.

Was at Mariano's on Elston thought I'd buy a Bell and Evans chicken breast and see if it equaled the glorious tasty juicy behemoth of a chicken <insert double entendre> from Joseph's Finest Meats . While checking out the breasts I noticed they had pre-coated in the case, tortilla (the counterman's favorite), panko Parmesan and one other I forget. I asked if they were Bell & Evans? Response, no, and if they were they would be 30% more expensive.

I wanted air chilled Bell & Evans, and I could easily duplicate coating at home with better chicken, cheese, spices etc, so I opted for boneless skinless chicken thighs. Mariano's chicken breast did not sing to me, I like chicken thighs, plus I wanted to pan-fry.

Short story long, I made pan-fried panko Parmesan Herbs de provenance coated chicken thighs with Granny's Kugel and mushroom gravy. Not photogenic, needed some color, but tasty.

Tonight will be bean, bacon and ham soup. It will have carrots, onions, celery, bacon, ham and thinking about putting a few diced potatoes in too. And a few chopped tomatoes maybe just a can or two of diced. I will smash some of the beans so it is creamy rather than brothy. I am missing my soups and I am not fond of the soup bar soups. The Danada deli has not opened yet and I'm missing their cabbage soup. the pea soup, and bean soup. Soup season here and no soup.

They do have the bell and evans breasts, at least at the one on Webster and Ashland - plain with no coating.

leek wrote:They do have the bell and evans breasts, at least at the one on Webster and Ashland - plain with no coating.

G Wiv wrote:Mariano's chicken breast did not sing to me, I like chicken thighs, plus I wanted to pan-fry.

Thanks, I knew that, and was what I meant but did not specifically designate when I wrote "Mariano's chicken breast". Either way, Mariano's on Elston B & E breasts did not look all that enticing which is why I went B & E thighs, aside from simply liking that (chicken thigh) part of the chicken.

Yesterday at JB Market (the Glenview Joong Boo), whole chickens were $1.49/lb, whole Amish chickens $1.99/lb. Did the upgrade, roasted a la Thomas Keller (just salt and pepper in a skillet at 450, add thyme to the juices afterward and baste off the heat), fantastic bird. I should have done two, one of each kind to see the difference.

pounded and fried pork cutlet, roasted herb shrooms, and cucumber salad. skipped the potatoes

Not sure why but I made Korean corn cheese, most often found in Korean bars, as a side with dinner tonight. laikom you're right, its delicious. #homecooking

I may use some of my Appalachian sour corn and give this a go.

Took a stab at some Izakaya-style dishes a while back for a theme dinner with a few friends. Forgot to post all of them then, so I'm posting them now . . .


Okonomiyaki
In the pan cooking in a combination of peanut oil and bacon fat. A few recipes I found online called for the inclusion of bacon strips in the pancake itself. That wasn't what I wanted to do but I liked the idea of incorporating some bacon flavor, so I used the bacon fat in the cooking medium.


Okonomiyaki
Fully 'dressed' with kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, furikake, togarashi, crispy shallots and, of course, bonito flakes


Black Cod Misoyaki
with tsukemono and sesame seeds over short grain rice


Yakitori
Glorious platter of assorted yakitori made by our friends


1.7 L Wakatake Junmai Daiginjo Sake

=R=

More "Japanese," as I found a nice piece of tuna in the freezer and made an attempt at Tuna Tataki . . .


Seared Tuna encrusted with Sesame Seeds


Seared Tuna atop wasabi/soy/honey sauce

It was fine for a first effort. I cooked it a bit more than I should have but it was still tasty. I realize now that if I hadn't encrusted the ends, it would have been much easier to monitor the doneness. C-minus.

=R=

New Year's Eve dinner:
(Real) Caesar Salad (Gourmet magazine cookbook recipe)
Bone-in in rib eye steak, sauteed mushrooms with red wine pan sauce
Twice Baked Potato (Recipe from The Takeout website)

Only error was too much milk in the potato mix , it slumped. Quite tasty though.
I forget how good a fresh Caesar, no blackened chicken, no artisanal kale, really is. Bright lemon, vinegar and Worcestershire, anchovy, egg yolk and olive oil, nothing like bottled Caesar dressing.