What's for Dinner?

[Boone]

I do a very similar potato dish but do a rough smash on them (I use smaller potatoes of different varieties) and I put some crumbled bacon in mine. No breadcrumbs.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I do a very similar potato dish but do a rough smash on them (I use smaller potatoes of different varieties) and I put some crumbled bacon in mine. No breadcrumbs.

That sounds pretty damn good! Grandma used russets, yellow onions and the cheapest cheddar cheese she could find and made her own bread crumbs.

 

[Primus Porcus]

That looks like our families 'yummy potatoes', also known as 'funeral potatoes'

 

[skinsmarydu]

Made a nice big fat salad for dinner with damn near everything in it, including kidney beans! Bleu cheese, of course.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

My wife and I have been SO busy recently, we have really been struggling to find time to cook dinners. Both of us cook, but time is at such a premium, we've been really struggling to find time to do anything. However, we're both a little food snobby, so this has presented a bit of a challenge. Good food doesn't have to take a long time to prepare, but it often takes some dedicated time. And we have a 12 and 7 year old, so that adds a bit of an additional constraint.

My wife found a woman who has a bunch of "5-minute dinners" (Sara Martinez on Facebook) which are pretty good. They typically involve throwing a bunch of stuff into a bake pan and baking it. Quite a few of them have been really good.

I really like to do a "one pot chicken" which involves browning chicken (thighs or breasts), adding crushed tomatoes and veggies and then tossing in the oven. We'll do some "meat and pasta" (lots of variations in which meat, which sauce, which pasta), but that's not extremely healthy. We almost never do burgers except during the summer on the grill.

So if anybody has any really simple, maybe healthy, really quick ideas, let me know. Always looking for new alternatives.

This is much harder in the winter than the summer when I can throw things onto the grill and make a meal pretty quickly...

 

[Boone]

I do this recipe at least every couple of weeks. You can speed it up by skipping the cilantro, using bottled lime juice, skipping the zest, and using powdered or paste ginger, and srirachi. I just marinate, throw in the air fryer for 25 minutes or so and it is delicious.

Vietnamese-Style Baked Chicken Recipe

For an easy, flavorful dinner recipe, marinate chicken thighs in Vietnamese fish sauce, palm sugar, herbs, and spices, then bake until golden brown.

www.seriouseats.com

 

[Boone]

I made a big batch of Jambalaya from Jeff Smith's (The Frugal Gourmet) cookbook which was a gift from my mom when I was in college. It's not exactly a healthy meal with pork chops, sausage, and ham and lots of grease. But man, when it was finally ready around 9 pm last night, it hit the spot after not eating all day.

 

[skinsmarydu]

I made a big batch of Jambalaya from Jeff Smith's (The Frugal Gourmet)

Hubby made that same recipe on the regular when we were first dating. That's the only thing I approve of white wine in.

 

[skinsmarydu]

Badass salad. Lettuce, tomato, red onion, green pepper, shrooms, a hardboiled egg, ham, cheddar, bacon bits, and croutons. (Miss my kidney beans, dammit, I'm out.) Pics to come.

I DO love a good salad.

 

[skinsmarydu]

Hubby made that same recipe on the regular when we were first dating. That's the only thing I approve of white wine in.

Sorry, I think I got that wrong...he made the one that Justin Wilson made. My bad.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I'm doing lobster tails & asparagus on the grill tonight. We made up my Grandma's
Potato casserole last night & we'll pop it in the oven tonight. It's my wife's favorite potato dish. We saute the leftovers and serve them with sunny-side up eggs for breakfast.
My grandma made these as long as I can remember.
Here's the recipe, if you're interested.

View attachment 14134

How did the grilled lobster tails turn out? I've grilled them at tailgates, and they are always a big hit. Too expensive for a large crowd though.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

How did the grilled lobster tails turn out? I've grilled them at tailgates, and they are always a big hit. Too expensive for a large crowd though.

View attachment 14283

View attachment 14284

They turned out great! For whatever reason, cooking lobster seems to intimidate people but, as you know, it's crazy easy to make. We buy a few tails whenever it's on sale and freeze 'em.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I made a big batch of Jambalaya from Jeff Smith's (The Frugal Gourmet) cookbook which was a gift from my mom when I was in college. It's not exactly a healthy meal with pork chops, sausage, and ham and lots of grease. But man, when it was finally ready around 9 pm last night, it hit the spot after not eating all day.

I don’t know if it’s the same one, there might have been more than one cookbook, but I have a frugal gourmet cookbook and watched frugal gourmet an that’s essentially where I started to both enjoy cooking and learn to cook.

My mother gave me mine for Christmas one year.

 

[skinsmarydu]

They turned out great! For whatever reason, cooking lobster seems to intimidate people but, as you know, it's crazy easy to make. We buy a few tails whenever it's on sale and freeze 'em.

Yep, hubby and I never screwed up lobster, crab or shrimp. We were both foodies, so he had his stuff to do and I had mine...it was like a concert. One day we pulled off "The Andy & Mary Cooking Show". It was hilarious, we had so much fun cooking together.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

Yep, hubby and I never screwed up lobster, crab or shrimp. We were both foodies, so he had his stuff to do and I had mine...it was like a concert. One day we pulled off "The Andy & Mary Cooking Show". It was hilarious, we had so much fun cooking together.

Wow!
We cook together too and call it "The Fran & Rick Cooking Show!" Crazy, right? Our kitchen is the size of a galley, so it's controlled chaos. My Mom loves to watch us work in the kitchen...she describes it as a dance, where we're weaving in and out, opening and shutting cabinets , prepping food, stirring pots, etc. It's real quality time....
Truth be told, I'm the cook and she's more like a sous chef. She's a fabulous baker which is great because my baking "skills" leave a lot to be desired.

 

[skinsmarydu]

She's a fabulous baker which is great because my baking "skills" leave a lot to be desired.

Funny thing...I was talking to my mom in VA yesterday, lamenting about how I can't bake for shit.
I was a Hardee's manager back in my 20s and my biscuits came out a foot tall.

 

[Boone]

You and me both. I can make a good pie, but cakes, breads, etc... are typically a disaster. My former sister in law was an extremely talented cook and she made bread that was the best I have ever had. She showed me several times how she made it but whenever I tried it came out a dense hard little loaf that was nothing like hers.

I finally gave up. As Clint says, a man's got to know his limitations

 

[skinsmarydu]

My grandmother that I'm named after made the best biscuits everrrrrrrrrrrrrr...and I wish I'd paid closer attention. She just had this big bowl of flour (kept it covered overnight) and worked it from there with the buttermilk and such. Hand-pattied. She made at least 2 dozen a day. They were always in the "thing", you could just walk in and get one to nibble on.

I just can't do it.

 

[RedWolf]

You and me both. I can make a good pie, but cakes, breads, etc... are typically a disaster. My former sister in law was an extremely talented cook and she made bread that was the best I have ever had. She showed me several times how she made it but whenever I tried it came out a dense hard little loaf that was nothing like hers.

I finally gave up. As Clint says, a man's got to know his limitations

Baking is an art, one which I never really mastered. I hired great Bakers and great pastry chefs and let them do their thing.

 

[Boone]

Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan bread for dinner last night. One of my favorites. I did the chicken on my Weber kettle which made it especially good.