What do your meals look like (show me pictures)....

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Replies

  • Velvetpixels
    Velvetpixels Posts: 51 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    Met up with a colleague for dinner out.
    https://smokestak.co.uk/food-menu
    wb7enu104pe3.jpeg
    w1qzcb7d235l.jpeg
    xtaznugqdzsg.jpeg
    eije2o2t8ycf.jpeg

    Do you eat out a lot? Most of your meals look kind of extra....with more than one course? They don’t look like dinner at home. Sorry , I’m just being nosey. They’re gorgeous but how do you have the time to sex your food up so consistently 🤣🤣?
  • MrsDani008
    MrsDani008 Posts: 35 Member
    edited May 2021
    s3hj3vpegrth.jpg
    Beef burgers on Iceberg lettuce, dill pickle salad and corn on the cob (which I only ate half of)
  • Velvetpixels
    Velvetpixels Posts: 51 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    acpgee wrote: »
    Met up with a colleague for dinner out.
    https://smokestak.co.uk/food-menu

    Do you eat out a lot? Most of your meals look kind of extra....with more than one course? They don’t look like dinner at home. Sorry , I’m just being nosey. They’re gorgeous but how do you have the time to sex your food up so consistently 🤣🤣?


    During current lockdown we ate at home. Restrictions eased mid April in London (terraces are open) and we ate out once two weeks ago and twice this long weekend. We ate out maybe 3-4 times when lockdown was lifted last September and Octoer temporarily. Before lockdown I cooked only on weekends because I have the corporate job and hubby is a freelancer. Since WFH I have become the weeknight cook too. I enjoy cooking and probably spend 40-60 minutes a day on it, which I guess is double the time most households spend. We get a takeaway maybe once a month.

    I do have a few tips for speeding up relatively elaborate dinners.

    1. Batch cook. Whenever I make dishes that freeze well (anything braised suchs as stews, curries, chicken cacciatore, bolognaise sauce) I cook a triple batch to make freezer meals. A triple batch doesn't take more time than a single one if you use the food processor for tasks like chopping onions and dicing veg. On days I don't feel like cooking you can just defrost a meal, and add starchy and veg sides. On days I don't feel like cooking at all I will toss a handful of frozen peas while warming up my freezer dish and serve over a tin white beans warmed up in the microwave.
    2. Sauces in squeeze bottles. I keep frequently used sauces in the fridge in squeeze bottles. If I make vinaigrette or stir fry sauces or marinades I will make a months worth. Most of these keep indefinitely, but only make a week's worth of sauces with perishable ingredients such as ranch dressing (buttermilk) or caesar dressing (raw egg). Be sure to buy food grade squeeze bottles which won't impart a plastic taste.
    3. Frozen broths and gravies. I save all bones in "bone bags" in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I have one for red meat, another for poultry, and another for prawn shells. You can toss your clean veg trimmings and peels in too. When the bone bag is full I make stock by simmering the food waste with a halved onion (skin and all is fine) for a few hours. Portion for different uses. Large portions for making risotto or soup, smaller containers of gravies and bisque. On a day you don't want to bother making a starchy side, warm up a tin of white beans or chick peas in some gravy or bisque.
    4. Frozen partially prepped ingredients. If I need to make caramelized onions I will make a huge batch to freeze in silicon ice cube trays or silicon muffin tins. Once frozen they can be transferred into ziplock bags. Similarly I thinly slice ingredients such as ginger, galangal and lemongrass against the grain, blitz in the food processor and freeze in ice cube trays so you don't need to chop or grate while you are actually cooking.
    5. Store cupboard garnishes. I keep toasted chopped peanuts, candied nuts, and toasted coconut flakes in the pantry for garnishing dishes. i like tossing candied nuts into salads containing salty cheeses such as feta, blue cheese or parmesan. Melt a tablespoon of sugar in a frying pan until it caramelizes. Toss in a single layer of walnuts, pecans, and/or pumpkin seeds and stir to coat with caramel off the flame. When cool, break up the praline and store in a jar or air tight container. Keeps almost indefinitely until nuts are in danger of going rancid. I also buy ready made fried shallots (like the fried onions Americans use in Thanksgiving green bean casserole) for garnishing dishes. Toasted peanuts or coconut are good on SE asian salads or curries. If I ever need to toast these on a dry skillet, will make a large quantity to store in jars.
    6. Cooking in stages. I normally WFH, and do my workout before dinner. I cook in two stages most nights because it reduces stress. I will chop veg, marinate meat, peel potatoes (leave covered in water) or measure rice and pasta, pre-workout or during an afternoon break. After workout, will do the actual cooking. On nights we have salad will make salad post work out first. Then cook main after we have eaten salad. This is more of a strategy to fill up on salad first before the main.

    These are the prepped sauces I currently have on hand in the fridge. Vinaigrette, nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), goma (Japanese sesame salad dressing), caesar dressing that needs to be used this week, lalab (Indonesian salad dressing), marinade for chicken satay, marinade for char sieu (Chinese roast pork), stir fry sauce for beef lok lak (a Cambodian stir fry I make regularly). Hilton is a dressing from the Hilton cookbook for dressing a rare beef salad made with equal quantities nut oil (hazelnut, walnut or sesame), balsamic and soy. Viet caramel is the coating for Pok Pok wings.
    2luh95zasmch.jpeg

    You’re an absolute legend, I wish you were my wife 🤣🤣

    Thank you so much for the tips, I am going to re organise my kitchen now, you’ve inspired me 😘
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    acpgee wrote: »
    Met up with a colleague for dinner out.
    https://smokestak.co.uk/food-menu

    Do you eat out a lot? Most of your meals look kind of extra....with more than one course? They don’t look like dinner at home. Sorry , I’m just being nosey. They’re gorgeous but how do you have the time to sex your food up so consistently 🤣🤣?


    During current lockdown we ate at home. Restrictions eased mid April in London (terraces are open) and we ate out once two weeks ago and twice this long weekend. We ate out maybe 3-4 times when lockdown was lifted last September and Octoer temporarily. Before lockdown I cooked only on weekends because I have the corporate job and hubby is a freelancer. Since WFH I have become the weeknight cook too. I enjoy cooking and probably spend 40-60 minutes a day on it, which I guess is double the time most households spend. We get a takeaway maybe once a month.

    I do have a few tips for speeding up relatively elaborate dinners.

    1. Batch cook. Whenever I make dishes that freeze well (anything braised suchs as stews, curries, chicken cacciatore, bolognaise sauce) I cook a triple batch to make freezer meals. A triple batch doesn't take more time than a single one if you use the food processor for tasks like chopping onions and dicing veg. On days I don't feel like cooking you can just defrost a meal, and add starchy and veg sides. On days I don't feel like cooking at all I will toss a handful of frozen peas while warming up my freezer dish and serve over a tin white beans warmed up in the microwave.
    2. Sauces in squeeze bottles. I keep frequently used sauces in the fridge in squeeze bottles. If I make vinaigrette or stir fry sauces or marinades I will make a months worth. Most of these keep indefinitely, but only make a week's worth of sauces with perishable ingredients such as ranch dressing (buttermilk) or caesar dressing (raw egg). Be sure to buy food grade squeeze bottles which won't impart a plastic taste.
    3. Frozen broths and gravies. I save all bones in "bone bags" in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I have one for red meat, another for poultry, and another for prawn shells. You can toss your clean veg trimmings and peels in too. When the bone bag is full I make stock by simmering the food waste with a halved onion (skin and all is fine) for a few hours. Portion for different uses. Large portions for making risotto or soup, smaller containers of gravies and bisque. On a day you don't want to bother making a starchy side, warm up a tin of white beans or chick peas in some gravy or bisque.
    4. Frozen partially prepped ingredients. If I need to make caramelized onions I will make a huge batch to freeze in silicon ice cube trays or silicon muffin tins. Once frozen they can be transferred into ziplock bags. Similarly I thinly slice ingredients such as ginger, galangal and lemongrass against the grain, blitz in the food processor and freeze in ice cube trays so you don't need to chop or grate while you are actually cooking.
    5. Store cupboard garnishes. I keep toasted chopped peanuts, candied nuts, and toasted coconut flakes in the pantry for garnishing dishes. i like tossing candied nuts into salads containing salty cheeses such as feta, blue cheese or parmesan. Melt a tablespoon of sugar in a frying pan until it caramelizes. Toss in a single layer of walnuts, pecans, and/or pumpkin seeds and stir to coat with caramel off the flame. When cool, break up the praline and store in a jar or air tight container. Keeps almost indefinitely until nuts are in danger of going rancid. I also buy ready made fried shallots (like the fried onions Americans use in Thanksgiving green bean casserole) for garnishing dishes. Toasted peanuts or coconut are good on SE asian salads or curries. If I ever need to toast these on a dry skillet, will make a large quantity to store in jars.
    6. Cooking in stages. I normally WFH, and do my workout before dinner. I cook in two stages most nights because it reduces stress. I will chop veg, marinate meat, peel potatoes (leave covered in water) or measure rice and pasta, pre-workout or during an afternoon break. After workout, will do the actual cooking. On nights we have salad will make salad post work out first. Then cook main after we have eaten salad. This is more of a strategy to fill up on salad first before the main.

    These are the prepped sauces I currently have on hand in the fridge. Vinaigrette, nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), goma (Japanese sesame salad dressing), caesar dressing that needs to be used this week, lalab (Indonesian salad dressing), marinade for chicken satay, marinade for char sieu (Chinese roast pork), stir fry sauce for beef lok lak (a Cambodian stir fry I make regularly). Hilton is a dressing from the Hilton cookbook for dressing a rare beef salad made with equal quantities nut oil (hazelnut, walnut or sesame), balsamic and soy. Viet caramel is the coating for Pok Pok wings.

    You’re an absolute legend, I wish you were my wife 🤣🤣

    Thank you so much for the tips, I am going to re organise my kitchen now, you’ve inspired me 😘

    One more tip for making meals look special is to grow pots of chive, parsley, mint and basil on your kitchen windowsill. Snip off a little garnish yourr dishes. A particular trick they use in Spain is to add chopped mint to brighten up dishes that would other be stodgy, such as stews.
  • Velvetpixels
    Velvetpixels Posts: 51 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    acpgee wrote: »
    acpgee wrote: »
    Met up with a colleague for dinner out.
    https://smokestak.co.uk/food-menu

    Do you eat out a lot? Most of your meals look kind of extra....with more than one course? They don’t look like dinner at home. Sorry , I’m just being nosey. They’re gorgeous but how do you have the time to sex your food up so consistently 🤣🤣?


    During current lockdown we ate at home. Restrictions eased mid April in London (terraces are open) and we ate out once two weeks ago and twice this long weekend. We ate out maybe 3-4 times when lockdown was lifted last September and Octoer temporarily. Before lockdown I cooked only on weekends because I have the corporate job and hubby is a freelancer. Since WFH I have become the weeknight cook too. I enjoy cooking and probably spend 40-60 minutes a day on it, which I guess is double the time most households spend. We get a takeaway maybe once a month.

    I do have a few tips for speeding up relatively elaborate dinners.

    1. Batch cook. Whenever I make dishes that freeze well (anything braised suchs as stews, curries, chicken cacciatore, bolognaise sauce) I cook a triple batch to make freezer meals. A triple batch doesn't take more time than a single one if you use the food processor for tasks like chopping onions and dicing veg. On days I don't feel like cooking you can just defrost a meal, and add starchy and veg sides. On days I don't feel like cooking at all I will toss a handful of frozen peas while warming up my freezer dish and serve over a tin white beans warmed up in the microwave.
    2. Sauces in squeeze bottles. I keep frequently used sauces in the fridge in squeeze bottles. If I make vinaigrette or stir fry sauces or marinades I will make a months worth. Most of these keep indefinitely, but only make a week's worth of sauces with perishable ingredients such as ranch dressing (buttermilk) or caesar dressing (raw egg). Be sure to buy food grade squeeze bottles which won't impart a plastic taste.
    3. Frozen broths and gravies. I save all bones in "bone bags" in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I have one for red meat, another for poultry, and another for prawn shells. You can toss your clean veg trimmings and peels in too. When the bone bag is full I make stock by simmering the food waste with a halved onion (skin and all is fine) for a few hours. Portion for different uses. Large portions for making risotto or soup, smaller containers of gravies and bisque. On a day you don't want to bother making a starchy side, warm up a tin of white beans or chick peas in some gravy or bisque.
    4. Frozen partially prepped ingredients. If I need to make caramelized onions I will make a huge batch to freeze in silicon ice cube trays or silicon muffin tins. Once frozen they can be transferred into ziplock bags. Similarly I thinly slice ingredients such as ginger, galangal and lemongrass against the grain, blitz in the food processor and freeze in ice cube trays so you don't need to chop or grate while you are actually cooking.
    5. Store cupboard garnishes. I keep toasted chopped peanuts, candied nuts, and toasted coconut flakes in the pantry for garnishing dishes. i like tossing candied nuts into salads containing salty cheeses such as feta, blue cheese or parmesan. Melt a tablespoon of sugar in a frying pan until it caramelizes. Toss in a single layer of walnuts, pecans, and/or pumpkin seeds and stir to coat with caramel off the flame. When cool, break up the praline and store in a jar or air tight container. Keeps almost indefinitely until nuts are in danger of going rancid. I also buy ready made fried shallots (like the fried onions Americans use in Thanksgiving green bean casserole) for garnishing dishes. Toasted peanuts or coconut are good on SE asian salads or curries. If I ever need to toast these on a dry skillet, will make a large quantity to store in jars.
    6. Cooking in stages. I normally WFH, and do my workout before dinner. I cook in two stages most nights because it reduces stress. I will chop veg, marinate meat, peel potatoes (leave covered in water) or measure rice and pasta, pre-workout or during an afternoon break. After workout, will do the actual cooking. On nights we have salad will make salad post work out first. Then cook main after we have eaten salad. This is more of a strategy to fill up on salad first before the main.

    These are the prepped sauces I currently have on hand in the fridge. Vinaigrette, nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), goma (Japanese sesame salad dressing), caesar dressing that needs to be used this week, lalab (Indonesian salad dressing), marinade for chicken satay, marinade for char sieu (Chinese roast pork), stir fry sauce for beef lok lak (a Cambodian stir fry I make regularly). Hilton is a dressing from the Hilton cookbook for dressing a rare beef salad made with equal quantities nut oil (hazelnut, walnut or sesame), balsamic and soy. Viet caramel is the coating for Pok Pok wings.

    You’re an absolute legend, I wish you were my wife 🤣🤣

    Thank you so much for the tips, I am going to re organise my kitchen now, you’ve inspired me 😘

    One more tip for making meals look special is to grow pots of chive, parsley, mint and basil on your kitchen windowsill. Snip off a little garnish yourr dishes. A particular trick they use in Spain is to add chopped mint to brighten up dishes that would other be stodgy, such as stews.

    Oh I can do that, I have a little herb 🪴 garden on my patio, I love fresh herbs 😁
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    I made grilled eggplant w my MIL's recipe.lzg925b1nuyw.jpg

    @snowflake954 That eggplant looks amazing!

    Thanks! In Italy my husband's mother made this. It's a family recipe from Puglia. Ask your husband if he's ever seen it.

    Hi @snowflake954 😉!

    This made his day. He is missing the produce back home. To him, nothing beats the melanzane Or carciofi from his Nonna Mafalda’s garden.

    He asked if it is melanzane al pesto? Menta?

    🤗

    Nope. I grilled the slices of eggplant (melanzane) and salted them. I then layered them w EVOO, garlic, red pepper flakes (peperoncino), parsley, and a spray of vinegar---repeat--repeat. I called my husband's cousin to be sure I remembered how my MIL made them. She told me that they also use mint (mentucchio) instead of parsely.

    Yum!!!! That was parsley!!!!! Lol
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Starter of griddled baby gem with a drizzle of leftover caesar dressing from last week's Nicoise. Main of Thai beef green curry with roast courgette and basmati rice.
    twulrcjp2pqp.jpeg
    infs6hthvktl.jpeg
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    Went out to eat tonight.

    Rack of lamb and Branzino. The Branzino was baked in parchment paper and it was soooo good. Going to have to try baking in parchment next.

    fy2g191m3acv.jpeg
    6hy1yl8hldmg.jpeg



  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    Went out to eat tonight.

    Rack of lamb and Branzino. The Branzino was baked in parchment paper and it was soooo good. Going to have to try baking in parchment next.

    fy2g191m3acv.jpeg
    6hy1yl8hldmg.jpeg



    I always do mine in parchment paper--branzino or orate or rombo. It comes out perfectly. I put the cleaned fish on the parchment paper with the scales still on, then I staple the ends of the paper loosely (I use generous pieces of parchment) on top. I don't put oil or salt or anything on it. Just plain. After half an hour in a very hot oven--done. At that point I take out the fillets, portion it out, and everyone puts on what they want. The fish has it's own oil, so I don't add any. p59unrj5ur7p.jpg
    6z2kjlp3799w.jpg
    ibyojdxs74do.jpg
    I prefer mine with salt and lemon. However, you need good quality fresh fish for this.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    Went out to eat tonight.

    Rack of lamb and Branzino. The Branzino was baked in parchment paper and it was soooo good. Going to have to try baking in parchment next.

    fy2g191m3acv.jpeg
    6hy1yl8hldmg.jpeg



    I always do mine in parchment paper--branzino or orate or rombo. It comes out perfectly. I put the cleaned fish on the parchment paper with the scales still on, then I staple the ends of the paper loosely (I use generous pieces of parchment) on top. I don't put oil or salt or anything on it. Just plain. After half an hour in a very hot oven--done. At that point I take out the fillets, portion it out, and everyone puts on what they want. The fish has it's own oil, so I don't add any. p59unrj5ur7p.jpg
    6z2kjlp3799w.jpg
    ibyojdxs74do.jpg
    I prefer mine with salt and lemon. However, you need good quality fresh fish for this.

    @snowflake954 I cannot wait to try this!!! 😋 Thanks!! 😉
  • o0Firekeeper0o
    o0Firekeeper0o Posts: 416 Member
    kyu7xdozdzpi.jpeg

    Pork chops with garlic/butter/sage pan sauce and mushrooms with lemon and rosemary.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Pan fried sea bass topped with gremolata on tinned beans warmed up in shellfish bisque we had in the freezer. Sauteed spinach on the side.
    55zf1sp66pxn.jpeg
  • LazyBlondeChef
    LazyBlondeChef Posts: 2,809 Member
    edited May 2021
    Grilled grass fed beef patty. Slaw of cabbage, edamame, mango, green onion and cilantro with a dressing of rice wine vinegar, miso, sesame oil, mint and a bit of tahini and soy sauce to cut the tartness because I didn't have enough miso. I had intended to pair grilled steak with this slaw but the small grocery I went to didn't have any today so I was forced to change plans and went with the ground beef instead. Steak would have worked better with it but overall the flavors were good.

    kgplstdeaiwj.jpeg
  • Mofee1
    Mofee1 Posts: 12 Member
    Hmmmm... this thread is from 2012?????? I know I'm a newbie poster here, but this seems odd....