What's Cookin' discussion

The idea here is simple... what are you making/having for dinner? Maybe we can get some ideas from each other, and ask for/exchange recipes.

I read Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany recently, and that made me want to make bolognese sauce, so that's what's simmering away on my stove as I type. So, I'll start with:

Pasta with bolognese sauce (thanks, Mario!)

Tonight......a recipe called 30 Minute Almond Chicken from www.kraftfoods.com.

Boneless thighs simmered in an Italian dressing and chicken broth sauce on a bed of fresh green beans and white rice mixed with sliced almonds.

We'll see how it turns out! :)

Hi Holli: if it turns out well, maybe you could post a link to it in the entrées section.

Shrimp Enchiladas...shrimp, corn, cheese, sour cream, salsa mix together, put mixture into tortillas top with additional salsa and enchilada sauce and remaining cheese...cook on 400 for like 20 minutes...yummy!

I'm heading over to the farmer's market this morning to pick up some tomatoes to make a caprese salad: sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella, and basil topped with olive oil and a little coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

*Edit: P.S. I just got really REALLY hungry reading everyone else's suggestions!

Whole Wheat Pasta with mixed vegetables, tofu and a Thai peanut sauce.

Sauteed red onions, spinach, slice red peppers and button mushrooms in olive oil. Added a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter, a splash fish sauce, soy sauce and a healthy scoop of red chili paste.

Mixed in cooked noodles and tofu with a splash of water. Steamed for a couple minutes.

Enjoyed.

Italian Wedding Soup with homemade meatballs and fresh spinach.

Grilled portobella mushroom burgers with caramelized onions and avocado.

(Please let it not pour again tonight!)

Grilled sockeye salmon with cherry tomatoes sautéed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Bison burgers with French Fries.

Lori: is the bison a lot leaner than ground beef? Do you just use it "straight" for the burgers? Or do you mix anything in?

Has anyone tried ostrich burgers yet? I have, and I found them to be delicious. The meat is lean.

Someone made them for me a long time ago, and I liked them but never had them after that... I have the same question for you that I had for Lori: Do you just use the ground meat straight, or do you mix anything in with it?

I have a freezer full of Elk.


:( There are no words. :(

This thread seems to have turned into the "unusual game meats" thread :)

I don't think I've ever had elk. I take it you're not too thrilled to have a freezer-full, Sally?

Do you want it? I'll ship it to you...


hahaha


It's too valuable to throw away - to creepy to eat.

Oh yes! Goulash connection! My mom makes fantastic goulash. I'd like to make it with barley, or long grain rice, I think.

I should qualify my ostrich statement with the admission that I didn't make the ostrich burger at home. I got it at a burger place. They also serve elk, but I haven't tried an elk burger yet.

Donna, you've had snake?? Rattle-snake??

Val, I am having leftover pasta for dinner. It is mixed with sweet Italian sausage and Classico vodka sauce (as you can see, I'm not much of a cook).

I have eggs and asparagus from the farmer's market, so I'm making Donna's pasta from message 4. Thanks, Donna!

*Edit - different types of meats that I've had are:

Bison
Venison
Ostrich
Rabbit
Alligator
Boar
Frog (sorry, Kermit)

I don't understand why Val's farmer market is open already but ours isn't!

Italian Veggie Rolls tonight.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-...

Very quick and easy...I used mostly fresh spinach instead of the other vegetables, FYI.

I have no idea, Donna. I checked online and the one the next town over, the big one, opened last weekend, so I'm heading over there on Saturday.

Aren't farmer's markets on Saturday morning the coolest?

We have a huge one here in Madison, but I actually prefer the smaller ones. I like to get to know the vendors and see them year after year.

I also have a nice Wednesday farmer's market that I really like. One of my favorite parts of summer is shopping there.

Just wanted to report back that Donna's pasta (see message 4) was delicious. We had to roast the asparagus instead of grilling it (still MORE rain out here in the Midwest) but that worked well.

Thanks again, Donna.

Tonight, I'm eating at our neighborhood block party, to which we are bringing chicken char siu and chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies.

Hopefully, we won't be rained out...

I added it to my "to read" list and requested it for my library holds list. Thanks!

RA, I love AllRecipes!

Shrimp quesadillas with avocado and salsa.

Grilled, marinated flank steak, zucchini, and roasted new potatoes from the farmer's market (cut them in half or quarters depending on size, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper and roast for about 40 minutes in a 450 degree oven). I've got to get a couple of last "roasts" in before it gets too hot...

An easy dinner tonight - we're having pesto pizza made with some nice tomatoes from the farmers market, with a corn, tomato and basil salad.

Which wonderful book
Was the wellspring of such a
Cul'nary delight?

(Sorry. Normally I wouldn't give in to the desire to use an apostrophe to gain myself a haiku syllable, but it's after midnight my time and I'm stuffed full of pizza :)

I've got to get that one from the library...

Going out to dinner tonight for sushi. I used to make my own sushi B.K. (before kids), but now I leave it to the professionals.

I'm eating out again tonight (yes, there's some kind of miracle going on over here) but I wanted to mention that I had one of my favorite sandwiches for breakfast this morning - sliced tomato on lightly toasted bread, with mayonnaise and a little salt and pepper. Yay, summer!

I'm having lentils with salt and pepper. I'm too lazy to go to the store, and there is no food in the house.
: (

I had a smart one's veggie quesadilla, baby spinach salad with apple cider vinegar and old bay dressing, fresh blackberries and a south beach chocolate pudding.

Chicken brats (they were out of turkey, so we'll see how that goes...) and corn, tomato and avocado salad. And some beets.

A good summery day dinner.

We're having Spanakorizo, which translates to spinach risotto with onion and dill. My kids love it. It's one of the sure things in my household (I know the kids will eat it)
When you mentioned goat, rabbit and snails as rare meats I had to laugh. Well, snails are cooked fairly frequently here.Mostly in winter, after a good rain you are likely to see people gathering them in the olive groves. And rabbit and goat are considered every day food. Our celebrationary food for Easter is kid(baby goat) stuffed with rice, the goat's liver and fennel)It may sound gross to you but trust me it tastes great.

Spanakorizo sounds delicious. Our weather here is in the eighties right now, so risotto (or anything that requires too much stove or oven time) is off the menu for me.

It's interesting that you cook those meats (goat, rabbit, and snails) at home. I actually wouldn't know where to purchase any of them if I did decide I wanted to make them at home... I'd have to do a little sleuthing.

I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner. I'm having one of those weeks where you fall back to making the same things that you've always made. I need some inspiration. Once the hot weather hits, I'm mostly grilling, and to me that means simpler food.

Maybe I'll just grill a pork tenderloin.

Hi Valerie
here in Greece goat and rabbit is to be found in almost any neighbourhood butchers shop.
The simplest meal of the greek kitchen is of course.... Greek Salad. If you make it with feta cheese it is a full meal by itself, all the necessary nutrients in there, easy and quick to make and if you use chilled tomatoes it's perfect for a hot night's supper with no unnecessary fuss.

That sounds good, BW. I've been away and out of my kitchen for a bit, and won't be doing much cooking this week, either... normally, that would upset me but right now I'm so hot that I'm sweating through my dress so the thought of not cooking is working for me.

I hope to be back soon with some fresh and exciting (and cool) dinner options/suggestions.

BBQ chicken, carrots, wax beans and an Indian cucumber:




(I got the cucumber at the farmers market... I'll let you know how it turns out :)

I didn't actually shoot that, but it looks just like it.
*Edit: I love the farmer's market.

Taco pie. We have some beef in the freezer and crescent rolls I need to use up. I know there are many better things I could be eating right now, but I'm trying to clean out the fridge before we leave for three weeks.

Talk about strange meats, Bunny! Bison is highly exotic from my point of view
Tonight we're having Imam Baildi - Roast eggplants filled with shredded onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes and parsley

Steamers! But I'm not making them... we're going out. Sorry I haven't been posting much but I've been on vacation and haven't really been cooking. I'll be home next week and post (and cook) more then.

This thread is making me hungry! I'm new here, but I will love it, I can tell.

Previously, I would have agreed that elk needs some added fat, but recently, a friend has begun to give me elk from his place in northern New Mexico. It needs nothing to make it tender, flavorful, or moist; I swear! It has no gamey flavor, either. He must be keeping the elk in pens or something, and feeding them beer and corn.

My meals in the summer may sound boring, but the lively fresh flavors seem sufficient w/o doing a lot to enhance the flavors. Grilled chicken with a lemon/melted-butter/lime/coarse salt drizzle; corn roasted over charcoal (in the husks) and cut off the cob, with chopped red peppers, onions, garlic, some sour cream with lime juice in it, and stirred up in a bowl; fresh lettuce salad with sliced from-the-garden tomatoes on top, olive oil/lime zest, salt and pepper dressing, topped with fetta cheese. Fruit with or after the main course.

Hey, it's summer. You wanted heavy sauces and outrageous toppings? Wait 'til winter.

I'm going to try to grill some trout tonight (I usually pan-fry it). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't fall apart on the grill.

It won't. Right?

I'll let you know how it turns out :)

Now I'm thinking about wrapping it in foil.

And now I'm having a conversation with myself.

By the way - welcome, Will!

I did end up going with the foil, and it worked out fine. Bunny - if you cook them right on the coals, about how long do you leave them on?

I don't wrap fish in foil; it's not a bad idea, but I use old bake pans over the coals and don't cover them, but put a drizzle of olive oil over the fish and lemon slices to keep it moist. I think it absorbs more of the charcoal flavors that way.

When they were done cooking in the tin foil, it did seem as if they were almost steamed (rather than grilled). I had only coated them with a little olive oil, so if I hadn't sautéed some onions and peppers it might have been a little bland. If I did it again, I'd definitely add more seasonings (at least a little salt and pepper) and probably some sliced vegetables to the packets to add more flavor.

Will - the thing that got me in the end (and why I ended up using the foil) is that I wasn't sure whether to cook the trout closed (they were whole trout) or whether to open them up so that the flesh side was right on the grill (I was afraid they might be a little too delicate for that).

Of course, when I looked it up on the net, I found suggestions for all three ways: in foil, no foil/closed, no foil/open.

I don't have a pan I'd sacrifice to the grill, but I could probably make one from foil...