What's for Dinner?

My former boss makes the best flan.

A1E646A1-.jpg
 
My brother does a duck taco that will change your life, lol... but that sounds pretty great China

I had a dream about duck last night!

Instead of a la orange? It was black pepper and raspberries
 
Not sure where to put this...

I'm watching the old shows of "Great Chefs." So many classic dishes and techniques that are completely lost today. So many memories. I remember coming home from the restaurant, opening a bottle of wine, getting something to eat and sitting down to watch these shows late at night.

At this time I was living with my girlfriend/ future wife who came from a family of means. We lived in a 250+-year-old gorgeous MD mansion with both of her parents, who were very well to do Jewish doctors.

God bless Dora, she was the housekeeper (for lack of a better term) from South Carolina. I would come home late at night and she always had something ready for me to eat. Her Fried Chicken was the best. She could not read. She could not write. She smoked Salem's like they were going out of style. She was older and had a cheap wig. But she could cook her ass off. She would give me shit every night but always had great simple southern food ready for me to eat. We had this weird relationship where we would give each other a hard time, but also respected each other.

God bless her. RIP
 
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I’m not familiar with that show, but my first exposure to cooking (other than watching my mom) was watching the ‘Galloping Gourmet’ on TV. I remember he drank a lot of wine when he cooked, lol, but not much else. I need to watch a couple episodes on You Tube for old times sake.
 
Not sure where to put this...

I'm watching the old shows of "Great Chefs." So many classic dishes and techniques that are completely lost today. So many memories. I remember coming home from the restaurant, opening a bottle of wine, getting something to eat and sitting down to watch these shows late at night.

At this time I was living with my girlfriend/ future wife who came from a family of means. We lived in a 250+-year-old gorgeous MD mansion with both of her parents, who were very well to do Jewish doctors.

God bless Dora, she was the housekeeper (for lack of a better term) from South Carolina. I would come home late at night and she always had something ready for me to eat. Her Fried Chicken was the best. She could not read. She could not write. She smoked Salem's like they were going out of style. She was older and had a cheap wig. But she could cook her ass off. She would give me shit every night but always had great simple southern food ready for me to eat. We had this weird relationship where we would give each other a hard time, but also respected each other.

God bless her. RIP

I'm not sure that they've all been lost. True, there are some dishes that have gone out of fashion at restaurants, but I think many chefs are still aware of and use many classical techniques. You might check out Chef Jean-Peirre's YouTube channel. A classically trained French chef shows a lot of those techniques.

Chef Jean Pierre YouTube Channel
 
Felt like chili weather here today so...

I like to think I have perfected my chili over the years, some of my 'keys' to good chili include:

- beef tips not hamburger.
- lots of onion, fresh garlic, and I usually add (don't stone me) some chopped celery and jalapeno
- will occasionally add some bacon to the mix although not today
- roasted cumin seeds (not ground cumin) make a huge difference
- I make a tea with dried mexican peppers (New Mex, Guajillo, etc...) by seeding and then roasting them, and soaking in boiling water for 30 minutes - using only the liquid
- lots of tomato
- Kidney bean heavy (I know texans will scream sacrilege but I love my chili with beans)
- beer add is a must, and I usually add a bit of beef and chicken stock
- Dried oregano and basil
- I always use several varieties of chili powder
- be careful not to add too much liquid... it can be hard to get a good thick chili if you overdo the liquids.
- I usually cook my vegetables first, remove them from the pot, then do my beef which I prep by adding the chili powder, dry spices, and some kosher salt and pepper ahead of time. Once the meat is somewhat browned, will add the veggies back in, followed by tomatoes, beans, and liquid additions. Simmer for several hours.

I love to eat my chili with plain old saltines

Missed this post earlier - my bad

Your recipe sounds really really really good.

I don't make chili because my wife makes outstanding chili - best I've ever had. I made her recipe at my Dad's house for the Jan 2006 game in Seattle but it didn't come out right. For the Jan 2008 game, I asked my wife to make it at home, then I brought it to Seattle in my suitcase. TSA was not particularly pleased. But it was great.

However, I'm making birria at the moment and a lot of your comments parallel my birria recipe

Curious - Is there a particular problem you have with ground beef in your chili?

roasted cumin seeds - yes

Guajillo - hail yes

lots of tomato - yes

beans in the chili - hail yes (but not in my birria)

oregano and basil - yes

beef stock - yes

chili powder - yes

cook the veggies first - yes

When the birria is done, I make birria tacos, of course

Birria tacos are my favorite food. Better than sushi. Better than Christmas ribeye. Better than smoked brisket. Way better than tex mex. It's my birthday dinner. It's my last-day-on-earth dinner.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love birria tacos, and those who have never tried birria tacos.

The tacos themselves are outstanding, but then you dip the taco into the birria before biting. Like a French dip. It's just stupid good.

Mexican-Birria-STEP4.jpg delish-202104-birriatacos-014-1619806491.jpg

Edit: Zero degrees F at my house right now and still dropping - a good day to make chili or birria
 
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Missed this post earlier - my bad

Your recipe sounds really really really good.

I don't make chili because my wife makes outstanding chili - best I've ever had. I made her recipe at my Dad's house for the Jan 2006 game in Seattle but it didn't come out right. For the Jan 2008 game, I asked my wife to make it at home, then I brought it to Seattle in my suitcase. TSA was not particularly pleased. But it was great.

However, I'm making birria at the moment and a lot of your comments parallel my birria recipe

Curious - Is there a particular problem you have with ground beef in your chili?

roasted cumin seeds - yes

Guajillo - hail yes

lots of tomato - yes

beans in the chili - hail yes (but not in my birria)

oregano and basil - yes

beef stock - yes

chili powder - yes

cook the veggies first - yes

When the birria is done, I make birria tacos, of course

Birria tacos are my favorite food. Better than sushi. Better than Christmas ribeye. Better than smoked brisket. Way better than tex mex. It's my birthday dinner. It's my last-day-on-earth dinner.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love birria tacos, and those who have never tried birria tacos.

The tacos themselves are outstanding, but then you dip the taco into the birria before biting. Like a French dip. It's just stupid good.

View attachment 9307 View attachment 9308

Edit: Zero degrees F at my house right now and still dropping - a good day to make chili or birria

I gotta say, it's so great to have a few more folks who love to cook here on BGO. I have dominated the cooking threads here for years.

I love hamburger chili too Mark. I fell in love with a recipe using beef tips 20 years ago, so that's my go to.

I have made birria tacos once and loved them but for some reason haven't gone back to them. You have inspired me to revisit. I am not even sure I made a dipping sauce last time. I will get my ish together and try them again because of your endorsement.

Chili in a suitcase? That's the stuff of legends my man, lol...
 
Yeah, for the birria, I use shredded beef, but I have some ground beef here in the 'fridge that I'm probably going to throw into the stew as well.

Haha - The chili was in zip lock bags. I doubled them up for good luck. Wanted to bring it in my carry-on, but TSA said no, told me to put it in a suitcase. PITA. So I had to go back to the initial check in area, retrieve my suitcase, put said bags of chili in said suitcase, and pray it didn't puncture for some reason. It all worked out. :p
 
I use Chuck roast and dried chilies for my chili. No beans they are cooked and served on the side.
 
In general, I like beans in my chili (and beef), but I like no-bean chili if I want to put chili on my hotdog ;)

There was a restaurant near here called Olney Ale House. Went there a long time ago when we first moved in. I wanted chili. All they had was vegetarian chili. What??? I ate it. And I never went back. That was almost 40 years ago. :p
 
Not sure where to put this...

I'm watching the old shows of "Great Chefs." So many classic dishes and techniques that are completely lost today. So many memories. I remember coming home from the restaurant, opening a bottle of wine, getting something to eat and sitting down to watch these shows late at night.

At this time I was living with my girlfriend/ future wife who came from a family of means. We lived in a 250+-year-old gorgeous MD mansion with both of her parents, who were very well to do Jewish doctors.

God bless Dora, she was the housekeeper (for lack of a better term) from South Carolina. I would come home late at night and she always had something ready for me to eat. Her Fried Chicken was the best. She could not read. She could not write. She smoked Salem's like they were going out of style. She was older and had a cheap wig. But she could cook her ass off. She would give me shit every night but always had great simple southern food ready for me to eat. We had this weird relationship where we would give each other a hard time, but also respected each other.

God bless her. RIP
I enjoyed reading this. Thank you.
 
Missed this post earlier - my bad

Your recipe sounds really really really good.

I don't make chili because my wife makes outstanding chili - best I've ever had. I made her recipe at my Dad's house for the Jan 2006 game in Seattle but it didn't come out right. For the Jan 2008 game, I asked my wife to make it at home, then I brought it to Seattle in my suitcase. TSA was not particularly pleased. But it was great.

However, I'm making birria at the moment and a lot of your comments parallel my birria recipe

Curious - Is there a particular problem you have with ground beef in your chili?

roasted cumin seeds - yes

Guajillo - hail yes

lots of tomato - yes

beans in the chili - hail yes (but not in my birria)

oregano and basil - yes

beef stock - yes

chili powder - yes

cook the veggies first - yes

When the birria is done, I make birria tacos, of course

Birria tacos are my favorite food. Better than sushi. Better than Christmas ribeye. Better than smoked brisket. Way better than tex mex. It's my birthday dinner. It's my last-day-on-earth dinner.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love birria tacos, and those who have never tried birria tacos.

The tacos themselves are outstanding, but then you dip the taco into the birria before biting. Like a French dip. It's just stupid good.

View attachment 9307 View attachment 9308

Edit: Zero degrees F at my house right now and still dropping - a good day to make chili or birria

I live with in walking distance of one of the best birria taco places around, La Tingeria. I can get them whenever I don't feel like cooking. And they're pretty cheap. The only downside is people are always parking up and down the street when they go there, and sometimes have been known to block my driveway (I've had words with a couple of these people).
 
I live with in walking distance of one of the best birria taco places around, La Tingeria. I can get them whenever I don't feel like cooking. And they're pretty cheap. The only downside is people are always parking up and down the street when they go there, and sometimes have been known to block my driveway (I've had words with a couple of these people).
The best BBQ place in ATL is Fox Bros...and it's in a residential neighborhood. I drove once, will never do it again. Parking is a fuckin' nightmare.
 
I live with in walking distance of one of the best birria taco places around, La Tingeria. I can get them whenever I don't feel like cooking. And they're pretty cheap. The only downside is people are always parking up and down the street when they go there, and sometimes have been known to block my driveway (I've had words with a couple of these people).
Awesome. I sometimes get them from a food truck in Olney a couple miles away. Food truck birria tacos are surprisingly good! But not quite as good as my own cook. :D
 
I got birria on the stove top simmering gently. But I'll be having that tomorrow night or maybe mid-day tomorrow. Tonight I'm gonna make a Farmer's Daughter burger. It's a type of smash burger, but not conventional. It's really good. Rated best burger in Appalachia.

Hope there's not a paywall

 
I'm biased but my wife makes a cheesecake flan that makes even the biggest flan haters a fan. 😁
That's what he makes, cheesecake flan. It's his mother in laws recipe and was our signature dessert at the restaurant. We had flavored ones too...Kahlua, chocolate, guava, etc.
 

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