What's for Dinner ~ Friday ~ January 17th

[Lucinda]

Not sure here...I'll probably have spinach pizza though...

You?

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I found loin lamb chops half price...

at Waldbaum's and bought enough to have them for dinner for the rest of the month.

[cbayer]

4. I love those tasty little devils.

Congratulations!

[bif]

2. Something simple and quick

Probably asian noodle soup.

[cbayer]

3. Chilled avocado soup and plantain/refried beans quesadillas.

Going to the market today and going to make the chicken stock this afternoon.

Life is good!

[rdharma]

6. Did you say 'avocado soup'?

Does this look like a good recipe? http://www.theamazingavocado.com/recipes/chilled-avocado-soup/

Also, have you tried any dish with nopals (prickly pear cactus paddles)?

My local store in Mayberry, NC had them the other day. Nopal paddles! I can't even get fresh mint most of the time and they have nopal paddles! I was very tempted to buy some ...... but had no idea what I'd do with them.

[cbayer]

8. The recipe I am using is different than that one.

This one calls for sautéing onions then adding cilantro

You then blend the avocados (raw) with the onion, adding chicken broth, lime and salt.

You can then chill or serve at room temperature and serve with tortilla chips and diced queso fresco.

I think adding the jalapeño would be good, but I would skip the buttermilk.

I have eaten, but not yet cooked, nopals. I'm also not sure what to do with them. They use them in fruit based drinks (agues frescas), so I might try that first.

[rdharma]

10. I wonder what nopal juice would taste like.

In desert survival classes they always pointed to the moisture in the nopal pad.

If I can find them in the store again, I might just buy a few and put through my juicer.

[cbayer]

13. I haven't tasted it just by itself, but the juice mixture I have had with it have been great.

There are lots of what we would call smoothie shops around here. The available ingredients always include nopal.

I had it once grilled and it tasted sort of like a potato, but sweeter.

Great idea you have. Juice it and then add it in quantities that you like.

I made tamarindo concentrate last week and it is really unique. I am adding it to juice mixtures and even cocktails.

[rdharma]

16. Nopal is supposed to be some "wonder cure" juice....

Good for high blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar........

I've only had it in the form of nopalitos..... a pickeled form. Lots of salt!

I've heard about grilled napols but have never had them.

I haven't found tamarinds around here. Are they like dates?

[cbayer]

17. Tamarinds are not like dates and they are also reported to be very healthy.

They are the most unusual fruit I have ever encountered.

They are covered by a dry shell that comes off easily.

Then you soak the fruits in water overnight.

At this point they look totally disgusting….

But if you can get past that and pull the strings and seeds out, you end up with the fruit.

You cook it in the soaking liquid with sugar until it is a concentrate.

It keeps in the refrigerator for a very long time. I made an amazing sauce for chicken with it the other night. Top notch.

And it makes a really thirst quenching refresher for just drinking during the day.

I am definitely learning a lot!

[fizzgig]

23. nomnomnomnom

[cbayer]

26. Howdy, amiga! This avocado soup was outstanding.

And really, really easy.

nomnomnom it right!

[littlewolf]

5. I think fish, maybe nice tuna steaks on the grill.

some kind of veggie, and a salad.

[rdharma]

7. Tilapia in Parchment

I don't like Tilapia! But I don't want to throw them away. So this is a "desperation recipe".

"I do not like them
in a house.
I do not like them
with a mouse.
I do not like them
here or there.
I do not like them
anywhere.
I do not like Tilapia.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am."

[livetohike]

9. Leftover Black Bean soup, quesadillas and some kind of salad

Spinach pizza sounds great! I could eat pizza everyday there are endless combinations .

[greatauntoftriplets]

11. Chicken with broccoli in a cheese sauce on the side.

[Galileo126]

12. Going to continue the fish theme tonight

Cod fish and chips, with peas.

Oh, here's how my night went last night with Bill and the gang...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1157&pid=37676

[Galileo126]

18. changed my mind

I'm going with blackened cod, steamed broccoli w/ lemon, and I've got a leftover baked potato I'm going to pan fry in a little duck fat.

I guess beer changes one's palate and preferences.

[FarPoint]

19. Thank you for the vivid report of the festive evening.

[Galileo126]

21. I like Bill's on-camera stuff

...but off camera, he's just a regular dude. And that make's us friends. He's a high profile science advocate, but he's just as pissed off as any American as to where we are going politically, (anti-)socially, and even the dumb-ification of cable TV.

ps: Bill's a good cook, but I think I have him beat.

[B2G]

14. Lock's chicken pot pie

Can't wait to try it!

[pinto]

15. Broiled pork chop slathered in black pepper and lime, kidney beans w/ bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes

[pengillian101]

20. I made our favorite Split Pea and Ham soup.

1969 Betty Crocker’s cookbook Split Pea Soup Recipe.

(*my variations in parenthesis.) Easily doubled recipe – it freezes well.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups dried split peas (*one plastic bag is 2 cups). 2 quarts water (*that is 8 cups and I add chicken bouillon
to that 8 cups of water so it is chicken broth. Or just start out with 8 cups of chicken broth)

1 lb smoked ham shank or ham hocks or 1 ham bone (*I start with a real bone-in ham. There will be more than enough
ham for your soup, and the leftover extremely tender ham is wonderful for sandwiches, etc.)

1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup) (*I use a lot more onion and you don’t need to chop anything so fine.)

1 cup finely chopped celery (*my celery usually is beyond usable before I use it, so I normally skip it)

1 sprig parsley (*I use dried parsley)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced (*my very original Betty Crocker recipe didn’t call for carrots – but my notes say I always added 1-1/2 cup of sliced carrots). They will cook down.

(* IMPORTANT * my little additions – a bit of chopped garlic in a jar, 1/4 tsp thyme, a bay leaf or two, and a generous pinch of cayenne pepper.)

DIRECTIONS

In large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat peas and water (*bouillon) to boiling; boil 2 minutes.

Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour. (*I quit doing this and just throw everything into the pot at once.)

Add bone-in ham, onion, celery, parsley and pepper; heat to boiling. (*add carrots and my additions – chopped garlic in a jar, 1/4 tsp thyme, a bay leaf or two, and a generous pinch of cayenne pepper.)

Reduce heat; cover and simmer (*at least) 1-1/2 hours.

______________________________________________

Remove ham and bone and painstakingly remove all the fat and skin and cut up the ham. Add the ham chunks to the soup (and give the fatty ham to your kitty or dog, they will love you.)

(*If you want a really creamy variation, use a hand blender in the pot before adding the ham back in. Trim meat from bone and add to soup (*if you use a whole ham with bone, save out about 1/2 the ham for other uses.

[Galileo126]

25. The oldies are goodies!

That is amost EXACTLY how I do my split pea soup. Only I use smoked ham hocks from the local store, because I don't have a smoker unit. Even with your 'little additions', I so same.

I do add some dried mustard powder just before serving, but it is a personal thingy.

Rock on!

[fizzgig]

22. chicken strips and tater tots

just waiting for the oven to heat up. sipping a rum and coke while i wait.

[laundry_queen]

24. Pork tacos w/fresh salsa, guacamole, and all the other stuff that goes with tacos. nt