Dinner--or Dessert--Tonight

[apl68]

Sunday evening was our church's annual wild game supper.  I was able to sample, fish, venison, barbecued raccoon, and squirrel.  And some very nice homemade rolls, whipped potatoes, and apple pie.  I think the pastor's wife may have shot the venison.

[ab_grp]

That sounds like a really interesting meal, apl68! Anything in particular stand out in your sampling?

Spouse made a beef stew yesterday that will serve as lunches for the week, and we made shrimp fra diavolo last night.  It didn't turn out as well as it has in the past, but we haven't figured out where we might have gone awry.  But, it was good enough, and we have leftovers for an easy dinner.  Not sure if we will do that or a salad with leftover steak tonight.  I think it's one I have mentioned here before, with a shallot vinaigrette and yummy corn on top. 

[apl68]

The raccoon was quite good.  Some of the venison also came in the form of some very nice sausage and rice.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I think tonight is a turkey burger and salad night.

[Economizer]

Bachelor Dinner 2020 v.03

Chicken Cacciatori, Kinda!

Buy, then, bake a frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu role up, w/cheese and ham, product, from an offshore grocer for 38 minutes at 375 degrees
Microwave 1/2 box of pot sized thin spaghetti product, adding ample water, in a medium micro-OK bowl on high for 11 minutes
Heat 1 can of Italian style stewed tomatoes, adding about 1/4 cup dried spaghetti sauce product, until heated.
Ready a small container from an cinnamon applesauce six-pack

Then,

Remove the chicken from the oven and, on a cutting board, chop it up into small, bite sized pieces
Remove the spaghetti from the microwave and drain or strain it
Leave the spaghetti sauce concoction on its burner, turning its cooking temperature down to WARM

Followed by,

Putting about half the noodles on a plate, adding the chicken stuff to the spiced tomato sauce, and heating it a bit more

Finally,

Put chicken sauce on the pasta, season with Parmesan cheese, salt or pepper to taste, and place apple sauce container on the plate or a side dish

Enjoy!

Beveage,

Iced Tea, sweetened to taste

Note: Easily serves two grownups!

[mamselle]

Comfort food (the wind is blowing loud and strong, the wind it sings so loud a song....sorry, RLS...). Mac and cheese with bacon and cut-up-tomato added. Arugula salad on the side, hot tea and cookies for dessert.

Thankfully all my students for tomorrow moved their lessons around to other days this week.

M.

[Vkw10]

Baked sweet potato, dressed with yogurt and roasted red pepper.
Navy beans with leftover ham and julienned root vegetables.
Chef Boyardee ravioli and celery sticks.

I'm clearing out pantry and refrigerator, so everyone ate something different.

[ab_grp]

We are making cheesesteaks for the first time in a year.  I can't wait!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Last night was spaghetti with a red sauce, salad and chocolate pudding for dessert. Tonight may well be veggie burgers, salad, potato and pudding/jello. If I can manage to squeeze out some free time, I plan to make some brownies, or cookie bars. One can only eat so much jello...

[mamselle]

My Aunt Blanche was the coolest.

One time she was making pies and she had leftover dough.

"Well, there's not enough for another pie, and too much to throw away," she said. "What can we do with this?"

So she started adding stuff.

Sugar. More butter. A bit more flour. She had me get two eggs from the fridge. Some water.

A whole lot of Baker's Cocoa.

Mix. Stir. Mix some more. A little more water. Pour it in a pan and bake.

That was the day I learned about transformation.

Turning pie dough into brownies...

It was a neat trick, and I keep thinking there's a lesson in there, somewhere...

M.

[ab_grp]

Has anyone been experimenting during extra time at home? We had some aspirations but got bogged down in the adjustments.  Still, we have made some of our previous favorites (fish pies last night, several pizzas, a tilapia pasta recipe that my spouse refers to as "the garlic dish" or "the jalapeno pasta").  We will probably try some new ones or work on our creativity now that we have started to get some kind of routine going. 

Though it is not strictly a dinner or dessert item, I ordered some bagels and cream cheese from NYC that are lifting my spirits greatly.  I haven't had a bagel since moving here several years ago (not really a bagel area), so now seemed to be a good time to order good foods on occasion from other areas of the country.  Of course we put the poor bagels in quarantine for a bit, but they have certainly been worth it.

Hope everyone is doing and eating well!

[ergative]

We've been experimenting. Flour's a bit hard to come by here* but I had a box of cornstarch that had been sitting in my pantry for a couple of years, and apparently you can use it in place of flour. Sort of. I made this recipe: https://honestcooking.com/cornflour-sponge-cake/

It turned out reasonably okay. I thought I'd be clever and combat the fatless dryness by pouring a sugar syrup flavored with some years-old cointreau from the back of my cupboard over it. But that made it too sweet, and also a bit soggy. I mean, we ate it. Where before there was no cake, there is now cake. But I don't really see myself making any attempt to repeat the exercise.

[ab_grp]

I had no idea you could (sort of) use corn starch for flour! I'm sorry it didn't turn out to be the greatest, but trying doesn't hurt.  Maybe drink a fair bit of the cointreau first and then work on eating the cake?

We had been nervous about flour but then found a hook up.  For us, eggs are a little harder to get.  I have been reading any articles that come by my feed about substitutions and will see if I can dig them up.  I had been wondering if one can make flour from something (this is probably a dumb question so prepare yourself/ves) like bread? Probably not.  I guess we will just make some bread crumbs with bread that is on the way out.  At least those can be used to thicken or fill out some dishes.

[dismalist]

Am preparing a Rice 'a Roni au bouef hache. Together with vin de la maison. Scruptuous!

[mamselle]

I've toasted bread and then ground it fine between a big glass and a little glass. Ditto crackers.

They get a bit soggy but the water mostly cooks out; just don't add very much at a time, and mix in other dry ingredients earlier than you might otherwise to help absorb the liquid(s).

You can also use old bread of many kinds, mixed together with an egg, milk/water/milk substitute, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a bit of honey or maple syrup to make bread pudding.

Potential toppings include caramel, ice cream, a bit more maple syrup or honey, etc.

Hmmmmm....do I have any dried bread tonight?

M.