The What's For Dinner Thread - March '11 (recipe index in OP)

[PrincessInOz]

Kathy - Happy Birthday! Hope you had a great day.

Glynis - Happy Birthday to your DD. I hope you'll post pictures of the tie-dye.

Ellen - I think I got a picture for you.

It did have beetroot in it and was yum! But the beetroot was completely hidden underneath the patty.


Today, I did some baking, which I hadn't done in a while. I obviously had not been watching the pantry stock because when I ran out of plain flour and went to get the spare pack; it was full of tiny weevils.

DH had to run to the grocery store and we then cleaned out the pantry and had to throw a few things out!


Anyway....up next will be dinner from last night and what I baked today - weevil free!



And because we had a late afternoon tea, I ended up having two hard boiled eggs for dinner. The boys settled on scrambled eggs on toast.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Snapper with Mango/Avocado Salsa and Mashed Potatoes


My starting ingredients:

• Snapper fillets
• Mango, 1
• Avocado, 2
• Lime, 1
• Potatoes, 5
• Salt and Pepper
• Plain Flour

For the mashed potatoes, I also used some:

• Butter
• Milk

Place potatoes in a pot and bring to the boil. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes or until tender all the way through.

Whilst the potatoes are boiling, prepare the Mango/Avocado Salad by cutting the cheeks off the mango.

Score each cheek into cubes…

….and turn inside out.

Use a knife to cut the cubes off into a bowl.

Don’t forget to use the sides on the seed of the mango as well.

Cut the avocados in half and score in a similar fashion. Place the avocado cubes in the bowl with the mangoes.

Cut the lime in half…

…and squeeze all the juice over the avocado and mango. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix gently and allow to rest.

There should still be time to prepare the snapper whilst waiting for the potatoes to cook.
NOTE: Use this method only if the fish is completely filleted. For fillets with skin on, there is no need to coat the fish and you should just pan-fry it, skin side down first.

Place the plain flour, salt and pepper over the snapper.

Ensure that the snapper is coated with the flour. This will add a little bit of crunchy texture when fried.

When the potatoes are cooked, peel the skin off and place back in the pot with some butter, salt and pepper and a little milk.

Using a masher, mash the potatoes until smooth.

Heat up a fry pan with some oil and place the fish in the pan.

Cook 3 minutes on each side.

We also made a green salad to go with our meal.

My dinner!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Strawberry Shortcake


My starting ingredients:

For the scone…

• All purpose flour, 2 cups
• Castor sugar, ¼ cup
• Baking powder, 2 tsp
• Salt, ¼ tsp
• Butter, ⅓ cup
• Egg, 1
• Vanilla extract or essence, ½ tsp
• Milk, ½ cup

For the filling…

• Strawberries, 2 punnets
• Castor sugar, ¼ cup
• Cream, whipping

Preheat oven to 190 C.

Prepare the strawberries by washing, hulling and slicing them. Place about one third of the strawberries in a bowl and crush them with a fork.

Add the remaining sliced strawberries to the bowl, along with the sugar. Set aside to macerate at room temperature for about 30 to 60 minutes.

To make the scone, mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the dry mix.

Blend or pinch the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
NOTE: Some people prefer to use a butter knife and continuously cut the butter into the flour for about 10 – 15 minutes. I have tried doing this but am usually too impatient so I use my fingers instead.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mix and add the wet ingredients.

Gently combine until the mixture comes together to make a soft dough. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out into a sausage.

Cut the dough to form your scones.
NOTE: Some people prefer to roll the dough out and use a scone cutter. Either method works.

Transfer the scones to a baking tray and brush the tops with a little milk.

Cook in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until brown on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Whilst the scones are in the oven, whip the cream until it forms firm peaks.

To serve, cut the scones in half. Arrange the strawberries on top of one half….

…and then top with the whipped cream.

Place the other half of the scone on the cream. You can serve the scone like this if you like.

But I was after Strawberry Shortcake today. So, I placed a little dollop of cream on top of the scone and added more strawberries on top.

Enjoy!

 

[Nancyg56]

Girls- I bought a whole copper river sockeye salmon last night. Should I filet it to cook or cook it whole? The pin bones are still in it so I know I need to remove them but I am a bit at a loss now.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Girls- I bought a whole copper river sockeye salmon last night. Should I filet it to cook or cook it whole? The pin bones are still in it so I know I need to remove them but I am a bit at a loss now.

Nancy - how many are you feeding? You could cook it whole or instead of filleting it, what about turning it into cutlets?


I made this at Christmas time.

Once you've cut the salmon cutlets, remove the center bone and any of the side bones that are attached. (I forgot to remove the center bone at Christmas and ended up with less stuffing in each cutlet than I would have liked.)

You need kitchen string to tie the cutlet ends together so that there is a center cavity that you can stuff. This is a little bit fiddly at first but once you work out the first one, the rest are easy.
Place the cutlets on an oven tray.

I made the stuffing using bread - that I crumbed and then added dill, toasted pine nuts, sultanas and anything else that you like to have in a stuffing.

Put the stuffing into the middle cavity and pack as much in as you like.

I baked it at 180 C for about 20 minutes.

 

[shovan]

Hey y'all!

Kathy, So sorry I'm late wishing you a Happy Birthday!!! I hope Clancy's was wonderful! I will need to hear all the details!

Princess, Great pics! That snapper looks so fresh, like it just jumped out of the water!

I haven't done any cooking this weekend. It has been so freaking hot here, that I haven't had much of an appetite. Friday night Bob & I ate watermelon for dinner!

Yesterday my youngest brother came in from Houston. My brother that lives here, did a crab boil. It was yummy but again way to hot!

Today we are having our Niece Calley's birthday Swim Party at our house! I love opening our house & pool to this BIL & SIL! They bring everything! I mean everything, set it alll up, do all the work, AND ALL THE CLEAN UP!!!! So we get the joy of seeing the kids enjoy the pool without any work.

I will fix a little something, Watermelon Margaritas for the grownups!

 

[TigerKat]

Glynis – I hope Katie had a great birthday and a great dinner last night! Good luck on the tie dyed shirts!

"KINDLE WATCH FAE OWER THE WATER" Vickie, you crack me up.

Aimee – I love fettucine Alfredo too but the fat & calories keep me from eating it. I’ve tried lower fat recipes but they never come close to the real thing. I may have to indulge soon.

Princess – What kind of burger is that? It looks so good! The snapper dish looked amazing as did the strawberry shortcake!

Sheryl – I hope Callie enjoys her party!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!! We had a fantastic dinner last night, I had fried oysters topped with brie for my appetizer. It wasn’t a combination I’d ever thought of but my oh my it was tasty! I had their signature dish entrée, a smoked, fried softshell crab…incredible!

WFD -Pan fried tilapia and shrimp stuffed bell peppers.

 

[HERSEY]

Kathy your b'day dinner sounds wonderful. I might have to rethink oysters. I love brie it might just cover up the slimyness.

Sheryl I love guess like that.

WFD is greens with grilled chicken.

 

[LBKB]

Thanks for the birthday wishes!! We had a fantastic dinner last night, I had fried oysters topped with brie for my appetizer. It wasn’t a combination I’d ever thought of but my oh my it was tasty! I had their signature dish entrée, a smoked, fried softshell crab…incredible!

WFD -Pan fried tilapia and shrimp stuffed bell peppers.

OH my goodness MMMMMMMMMM would do almost anything right now for those again.

 

[bigmerle1966]

Happy belated birthday Kat!

Didn't do much so far this weekend. Realized that I will be busy, busy for the next I don't know how many and didn't do anything. I do have to leave here in a few and go pick up a book I requested from the library, to find new shoes and pick up some stuff for lunches this week.

Doing something with shrimp and yellow squash for dinner tonight. Also thinking of making ice cream with brownies and caramel tonight.

 

[Nancyg56]

KAt- your dinner has be drooling! I am so glad you loved it!

SHeryl- that is the way to have a party! Have fun and enjoy a cocktail for me! I have not been able to indulge on this diet and today was the first time I really wanted something. My nephews had those hard coolers and they looked so good! I am planning on cheating next Saturday at the shower so I told Buddy a cocktail or two is going to be included

Princess- I think it is going to be just me and Bud so I may keep it in the fridge til tomorrow when Dan and Erica will be here. If I prepare it early I think I will stuff it with oranges and herbs, butter him up and toss him in the grill. We weigh in tomorrow late afternoon so dinner will be a bit late but if it is ready to go I think we will be okay. I would love it tonight but I am tired and hungry so we may just have ham with ...............salad, steamed veggies, a baked potato for Buddy.

Ladies- my meals are not adventurous but I am seeing changes so I am going ot keep this up. I refuse to be frumpy when I dance with my son on his wedding day!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Kat - Nice sounding dinner. Over in Oz, that burger is called 'burger with the lot'. Lettuce, tomato, beetroot, beef pattie, cheese, egg, bacon, grilled pineapple, onion and sauce.

Nancy - hope your salmon worked out. It sounds great. And I'm trying to lose weight too.

 

[TigerKat]

Janice – You don’t like oysters? I can’t imagine life without them.

Lauri – Hopefully y’all will make it back down here again and we can overdose on them!

Nan – Congrats on seeing changes!!!!! The no alcohol would be a deal breaker for me. Hooray for you being able to stick to it!!!!

Princess That burger looked really good!

WFD - White beans & rice and grilled Cajun sausages.

 

[LBKB]

Kathy your b'day dinner sounds wonderful. I might have to rethink oysters. I love brie it might just cover up the slimyness.

Sheryl I love guess like that.

WFD is greens with grilled chicken.

Janice I thought the samething before Kat made me try one then I was hooked. The ones I had down by Kat werent slimy at all.

 

[liamandcaili]

Sorry...I just can't seem to get here every day anymore. I do try to read at least. Dinner tonight was steak fajitas. It was definitely a night of eating our colors. Even the kids commented on how colorful their plates looked. We had red and orange grilled peppers, grilled vidalia onions, black beans, wild rice, cheese, guacamole, and grilled flank steak as options to put into the tortillas.

Now I've not told DH or anyone this but we never knew if I has havin a boy or a girl and after that scan I prayed to god I was having a boy because if if it was a girl she wasnae very bonny !!

Too funny!! My reaction when I saw Caili's ultrasound and you could see her face like she was posing for the camera was, "Oh...we are in trouble!!"

Jude's Christening was wonderful!

I'm glad everything went so well! I know the letting the baby cry to sleep is hard. I did end up doing that with Liam, but I don't think it was as young. Maybe that is why it was so painful.

I might have to rethink oysters.

Come to the coast and you will love them! They are not slimy. They are briny and they are like eating the ocean. I love them. Like they say at Summer Shack, "Eat Oysters, Get Lucky." Although my favorite shirt they have now says, "Frankly my Scallop, I don't give a Clam."

Nancy -- I am glad you are doing so well!

Over in Oz, that burger is called 'burger with the lot'. Lettuce, tomato, beetroot, beef pattie, cheese, egg, bacon, grilled pineapple, onion and sauce.

Holy heart-attack! I don't think I could have egg on a burger. Or even in the same day as a burger. Or in the same weekend...

The ones I had down by Kat werent slimy at all.

Oysters should not be slimy, just as fish should not be fishy.

Okay, now I am going to have to get some oysters soon.

Happy belated birthday, Kat!

 

[Glynis]

Hi all. I'm sorry I wasn't around today. The kids had friends over all day, and we were kept hopping!

Dinner tonight is Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers. It's a new recipe, but it sounded good. The best part is that Katie wanted to make it, so I've just been standing over her shoulder to advise when she felt like she needed it. So far, that hasn't been too often.

Did I ever mention on here that Alan wanted to go back to school for his Master's degree? Well, he filled out the applications, made a demo reel for the film school, and we waited... and waited... and waited. There were only 4 slots available, so after a couple of months, we figured that he'd been passed by. However, last week, we got word that he's been accepted! He's so thrilled!!! I'm so proud and happy for him! It means that he'll be working full time, and taking classes in the evenings. Basically, I'll be a single parent for the next 3 to 4 years. Oh well. Once it's all over, he'll be able to transition into teaching at a university, which he'd love to do, as he's getting older and it's harder to carry all the equipment, etc. Anyway, that's our big news here! Oh, I also forgot to mention that he received a 5% pay raise!!! He hasn't gotten a raise in almost 5 years, due to the economy, and before that raises were only 1%. So, this is going to help us immensely!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Holy heart-attack! I don't think I could have egg on a burger. Or even in the same day as a burger. Or in the same weekend...

It is affectionally called a Slop Burger over here. And yes...holy heart-attacks indeed. I'm usually in a food coma for a day after I've eaten one of those.

Did I ever mention on here that Alan wanted to go back to school for his Master's degree? Well, he filled out the applications, made a demo reel for the film school, and we waited... and waited... and waited. There were only 4 slots available, so after a couple of months, we figured that he'd been passed by. However, last week, we got word that he's been accepted! He's so thrilled!!! I'm so proud and happy for him! It means that he'll be working full time, and taking classes in the evenings. Basically, I'll be a single parent for the next 3 to 4 years. Oh well. Once it's all over, he'll be able to transition into teaching at a university, which he'd love to do, as he's getting older and it's harder to carry all the equipment, etc. Anyway, that's our big news here! Oh, I also forgot to mention that he received a 5% pay raise!!! He hasn't gotten a raise in almost 5 years, due to the economy, and before that raises were only 1%. So, this is going to help us immensely!!!

How exciting! Congrats to Alan for getting into film school.
Commiserations to you for being a single parent.
YAY for the Pay Rise - So happy for the both of you.




Long day at work today. And as it's Tuesday night, we had baked jacket potato and the usual trimmings. We're usually very boring mid-week with our menu and minimalist cooking. I try to make up for it at the weekends.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am dying thinking about that burger! My DSIL gets this heart-attack-on-a-bun burger at Red Robin. It is topped with an egg and gynormous. I gag just thinking about it but he loves that thing

GLynis- Congrats to Alan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The salmon was delicious! I rubbed him all over with olive oil, slit the skin several times on each side, rubbed him with lemon and garlic seasoning, salt and pepper, stuffed him with fresh thyme and rosemary adn orange slices, topped him with the orange slices. I stuck him in a foil pouch that was open on the top and place the entire package on the grill. The front portion of my grill is not as hot as the back so I kept it up front and let it get a little smokey. 35 minutes later it was done. I think it went 5 minutes too long. It was not over cooked but it was almost there.

Served it with salad,sliced cucumbers, broccoli and sweet potatoes for Buddy. Dan, Erica and I chose no starch.

Busy day today so sinner is . I have leftover fish so I may just make a big garden salad topped with the salmon. I like this and Buddy will eat anything.

 

[HERSEY]

Yesterday was a wild morning. If you saw in the news we had another storm blow through. This is the year of storms. We have once again made it through thank you God A lot of trees both whole trees and large limbs are down in the area. My maple only lost a few clusters of leafs and a few branches.

The humidity is coming down for a few days so that will be a good thing. I might actually feel like doing something around the house. maybe even cook. Thank goodness for leftovers

Nancy I am glad the salmon recipe turned out. I really dislike forking money out and not liking the resulting food.

 

[TigerKat]

Laura – Thank you for the birthday wish!

Glynis – Congrats on Alan’s raise and how awesome that he will be getting his Masters, though I know it will be tough for you.

Princess – I tend to do easy, quick meals during the week too and then go all out on the weekends!

Nan – That salmon sounds so good! I rarely get to eat it as my guys don’t care for it.

Janice – Y’all have certainly had more than your fair share of nasty weather. Glad to hear your humidity will be lower, wish that would happen down here.

Less than 100 days until Food & Wine Fest!!!

WFD - Lemon mushroom herb chicken over pasta, corn and a Creole tomato salad.