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

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    Beef rendang from a batch pulled out of the freezer, carrot acar, brown rice, some leftovers from last night's Chinese takeaway.
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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Grilled dinner tonight: hot-sweet marinated chicken breast and Italian-style mixed veg, cooked in what I grew up calling "Boy Scout Packets." The vegetables were fingerling potatoes (par-boiled a bit since they take longer than the veg to cook), zucchini, red onion, bell pepper, grape tomatoes, garlic/herbs/seasonings.

    While cooking, I was wondering if I'd actually finish before getting rained on, before a literal herd of deer wandered by. At least 15 by my count, including velvet-antlered males and fawns. They are prolific and frequent "guests" in this retirement community we are in. Ah, life adjacent to the NJ Pine Barrens (a large expanse along and inland of the central NJ coast), where the wildlife is not limited to the summer tourists, LOL.

    BTW, the veg packets get a few minutes' head start on the direct heat before I put the chicken on.

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  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,651 Member
    edited July 21
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    Pic from 4th

    Today, we did another large batch of grilled, hickory smoked carne asada spiced beef and chicken. Put on foil wrapped bakers at start. Ended with apple chicken dogs and large batch blend of sweet onion and bell pepper strips plus first time sliced shirataki mushrooms instead of butyon or crimini. They're a keeper for regular eatings.

    Will consider foil packet veggies, and whole fish with cilantro, orange, lemon and sweet onion slices tucked inderneath, inside and over. It's been awhile.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Quickie dinner plate for a busy summer Sunday that took over a week to produce. Of course, that is hyperbole, LOL, but ...

    Leftover grilled hot-sweet marinaded chicken and side veg as posted yesterday, topped with homemade pickled red onions and perched on a thawed home-baked roll as posted last week. Dessert was plain yogurt with fresh fruit.

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    Another quickie weeknight meal with a little help from batch cooked stuff in the freezer. Chilli con carne from Thomasina Meier's recipe served aji verde. Salad with halved grapes, blue cheese, and chopped candied pepitos and pine nuts, bulgur.
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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Another lite, simple summer dinner ... chopped salad with leftover grilled chicken. Added in a mixture of frozen (microwaved then cooled) peas and corn kernels. Oil, vinegar, mustard vinaigrette dressing. MFP approximates this bowl at 522 cals, 37g protein, 11g fat, 71g carb (of which 16g is fiber and 21g sugar). Room remains in my daily macro numbers for a little yogurt/fruit snack this evening. My wife, who still works, stopped for take-out Japanese tonight on her way home, while I'm content with these similar, simple, fresh meals.

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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    @acpgee

    Followup on two items:
    1. I was browsing the catalog of the flour/baking company from which I typically source my flours. I noticed they had what they called, "Italian-Style Flour," which differs from "00" and has only 8.5% protein, unlike bread flour, which has higher. "Great for focaccia" they claim. FYI on your pursuit of better focaccia if this is relevant.
    2. They also offer baking stones (for those crisp bottoms). A composite, mineral (cordierite) is about $60, and steel - salvages steel to boot - is well over $200. Directs my interests towards the composite one, LOL.
  • TheRavenspurn
    TheRavenspurn Posts: 7 Member
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    Spaghetti Bolognese.
    Carrot, Celery, Onion fried in Bacon fat and Bacon,
    Pan is deglazed with Beef stock, and Tomato Polpa. simmer for an hour.
    Minced beef poached in Beef stock.
    Onions are browned and caramelised in bacon fat, and the poaching liquid is added.
    This is reduced.
    Combined and served over Spaghetti.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    TheRavenspurn wrote: »
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    Spaghetti Bolognese.
    Carrot, Celery, Onion fried in Bacon fat and Bacon,
    Pan is deglazed with Beef stock, and Tomato Polpa. simmer for an hour.
    Minced beef poached in Beef stock.
    Onions are browned and caramelised in bacon fat, and the poaching liquid is added.
    This is reduced.
    Combined and served over Spaghetti.

    Not an everyday meal for me, but the occ. bolognese is a treat. this one sounds and looks good.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    TheRavenspurn wrote: »
    A baking stone is easy enough to manufacture.
    We used to replace the wood fired pizza oven tiles every 2-3 months.
    They would crack due to the heat.
    Grab some unglazed (have to be unglazed) 12"x12" quarry tiles
    These are normally available from your local hardware store or free from the local reclamation yard...
    Soak them in salt water for a couple of days,
    Dry them thoroughly, and then rub olive oil onto them to fill the pores.

    Bake at minimum 230°C for one hour, (the oil will smoke)

    Glazed tile traps the baking moisture and doesn't give that crisp bottom, I think. Worth a shot. We just moved to a retirement community last year, and I'm surrounded by big-box type stores - I'm missing my community hardware store. Would have to search out a tile place. Thanks for the tip.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    @mjbnj0001
    Bolognesee can become an everyday treat if you batch cook triple or quadruple the recipe and freeze in portions. Do use a food processor or cook with a buddy as otherwise peeling and chopping huge quantities of onions and other mirepoix ingredients is no fun. Other than that step making a triple batch is the same work as single batch.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    @mjbnj0001
    Bolognesee can become an everyday treat if you batch cook triple or quadruple the recipe and freeze in portions. Do use a food processor or cook with a buddy as otherwise peeling and chopping huge quantities of onions and other mirepoix ingredients is no fun. Other than that step making a triple batch is the same work as single batch.

    not any everyday treat because i am ratcheting down my meat consumption, lol. especially of red meat and processed meats such as bacon. i still eat them, but more selectively. i was fully vegan for most of my 20s into my 30s, but that was many years ago. appreciate the advice, thanks!
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,651 Member
    edited July 23
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    home cooked kidney beans from freezer with canned diced tomatoes for sauce to cook in roaster with chicken. Rough cut oven baked sweet potato chunks in frozen blends mostly broccoli & beans.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    We went out for maki rolls.
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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Tonight (Tuesday) - savory, lemony, yogurt-marinaded baked chicken, side of roasted zucchini, side of a commercial rice blend (gasp! not home-cooked, LOL, but it's my wife's favorite), and in the rice ring, the "excess" of the frozen peas and corn which bulked up last night's chopped salad. This is an afterwork dinner for my wife (she's still working while I'm retired), so I made sure to make things she likes ... for instance, there are two types of zucchini - the rounds were mostly for her, which are an Italian-herb style, while the spears are for me, and pack some cayenne heat. The shapes are to tell them apart.

    I also baked another batch of my lite whole wheat "hybrid sourdough" bread tonight, one loaf for now, one for the freezer for next week. The yogurt I opened for the marinade was also used in the "hybrid" process for the bread.

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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    edited July 24
    With the ongoing conversation in this discussion group on baking stones, baking steels, and good crust development, I thought I'd shoot the bottoms of the two loaves I baked from the posting above. For my regular loaf bread, this is about the crust doneness I look for. The upper crust is more crunchy, due to being brushed with water just before being put into the oven. The lower crust is done, but more sliceable. IMHO. 1st rise 8hrs, 2nd 30 minutes. Bake time 40 min at 400F. They're on the racks to cool overnight, will see in the morning how they look inside. Great aroma in the kitchen.

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    Lunch at my desk from the staff canteen of my new job.
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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    Lunch at my desk from the staff canteen of my new job.

    Congratulations on a new job. Looks like you'll be eating well at lunch. When I visited our offices in London, it was often Pret A Manger or other quick takeaway for lunch. They seemed to save the better dining options for dinner.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    A very quick weeknight dinner after going out for a drink with my new colleagues. Thai garlic pepper chicken. Vietnamese grilled aubergine salad with scallion oil stretched with some tomato we had lying around. Rice
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