What's for dinner tonight part three (recipes, tasty, ketchup, pepper)

[bjh]

Shrimp, salad, baked potato

[HawaiiLover]

THANK YOU foodies, for informing me about Panko!! The chicken cutlets turned out delicious! So crunchy, and yet, the chicken is so tender inside.

There are quite a few recipes on the web for chicken and panko. One has you dipping the chicken in Dijon mustard and then the Panko.

I was at the grocery store this evening and I picked up another box.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

[arsbadmojo]

Sushi. I found an oriental market in Raleigh that has great sushi rice. I'd give you a brand name if there were English on the bag, but it's all Japanese. They also stock nori sheets and bamboo rolling mats. (although they aren't really nice ones)

I like the 'krab' strips, my wife prefers tuna (which I like as well). I made hers with wasabi, the tuna, avacado and cucumber. Mine were krab, red pepper, cucumber and wasabi.

I even attempted 'hot dog' sushi for my 4 year old daughter, but I didn't use any nori and it sort of fell apart. I've heard of making a very thin egg omelet in place of nori, but I just didn't have time tonight, but I'd like to try that someday.

Getting the rice perfected is probably the hardest part. It has to be rinsed really well, then prepared with sugar, rice vinegar and salt then cooled.

There are bunches of videos on YouTube on how to roll it. Takes a little practice, but not as much as you might think. They aren't joking when they say to keep your hands wet when handling the rice.

This dinner earned big bonus points from the wife; she loved it.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

And again, there's so much chat going on here that I wish I could have joined in on today... you all sure do have fun in the course of a day!

Kimba, so glad that baby is home at last, and I hope she continues to thrive - you and your daughter likely won't get much sleep for a while, but you know how worthwhile it is.

George, congrats on the successful salad dressing, likewise to Rickers for fajitas, HawaiiLover for experimenting with Panko and arsbadmojo on the sushi! We had a lot of adventuresome types out there today, I see. And George, love that photo of your furry family members; I can sure tell who's boss in your household.... Just like in mine, I'm sure!

We had such a grand time with our weekly dinner guests this week. They're great kids, and the conversation is non-stop laughter and hilarity, plus recipes. They both wanted the recipe for tonight's main course, and since Elston expressed an interest in it as well, I'll post it here.

Posole (Mexican pork and hominy stew)

1 lb. lean pork, cut in stew-sized chunks
Oil
1 qt. beef or chicken broth
1 Tbsp. chili powder (or more to taste - we use at least 2 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. dried cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder OR 3-4 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tsp. dried onion flakes OR 1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper - can use chipotle pepper for a nice smoky flavor instead
1 (28 oz.) can white hominy, drained
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and place a small amount of oil in the bottom. When oil is hot, sear the pork chunks on all sides, working with just half at a time to prevent crowding.

Return all pork to the Dutch oven and add the broth, spices, (and garlic and onion, if using fresh) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the can of hominy and add that to the stew; simmer for 30 more minutes.

Serve in soup bowls with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro over the top. We like this with good fresh corn tortillas, and the authentic way to eat it is with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice stirred in at the last minute.

Pico de gallo is a favorite dip that we make to go with all sorts of dishes. It's basically just chopped up Roma tomatoes with chopped onion, fresh cilantro, a jalapeno (or two) and salt to taste. The ratio I like is about 4 - 5 tomatoes to one small onion to a seeded jalapeno, with a good handful of chopped cilantro mixed in, but there's no singe "right" set of quantities or proportions. Adjust to suit your family.

[Nomadicus]

Excellent spaghetti and homemade sauce...Garlic bread...Best thing was the fellowship with a CD buddy. Wife and I visited "Lady with a brush". I got her new computer hooked up. Neighbor is working on getting her internet up...Tomorrow I install software for her and she will be back on line. Then it is grill time tomorrow night. Have some strip steaks that need to be put to the test...

[Katsmeeyow]

What a lovely evening!

[Northwoods Voyager]

Hi. I had appointments today and arrived home later than I wanted. So on the way home I stopped at a deli and brought home two (2) catfish dinners. Each had 2 nice sized fillets, homecooked green beans w/bits of bacon, real mashed spuds and white gravy, thick biscuits, soft on the inside and crisper on the outside. Butter and jelly added to the biscuits. Sweet Tea and marble cake completed the meal. All this for less than $13.00 total!!!

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by Northwoods Voyager

Hi. I had appointments today and arrived home later than I wanted. So on the way home I stopped at a deli and brought home two (2) catfish dinners. Each had 2 nice sized fillets, homecooked green beans w/bits of bacon, real mashed spuds and white gravy, thick biscuits, soft on the inside and crisper on the outside. Butter and jelly added to the biscuits. Sweet Tea and marble cake completed the meal. All this for less than $13.00 total!!!

Let me know when the next run is. Might be a good day to put that water heater in. Or maybe yet there has going to be pig roast coming up soon in your neck of the woods as custom is...I am so ready for a MO farmers get together with all the delicious foods.

[elston]

Originally Posted by MidwesternBookWorm

And again, there's so much chat going on here that I wish I could have joined in on today... you all sure do have fun in the course of a day!
We had such a grand time with our weekly dinner guests this week. They're great kids, and the conversation is non-stop laughter and hilarity, plus recipes. They both wanted the recipe for tonight's main course, and since Elston expressed an interest in it as well, I'll post it here.

Pico de gallo is a favorite dip that we make to go with all sorts of dishes. It's basically just chopped up Roma tomatoes with chopped onion, fresh cilantro, a jalapeno (or two) and salt to taste. The ratio I like is about 4 - 5 tomatoes to one small onion to a seeded jalapeno, with a good handful of chopped cilantro mixed in, but there's no singe "right" set of quantities or proportions. Adjust to suit your family.

Thank You MWBW for the explainations and recipes...I am glad you had such a good evening with your guests. It turns out I have had the pico de gallo..I just didnt know it...I believe in Mexican resturants they had it as a help yourself item on a self-service table in the dining room.....sorta like the mustard and mayo stand at a fast food hamburger place.

How is pico de gallo different from home made salsa? Fresher, non-processed?

Thanks again.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Originally Posted by elston

How is pico de gallo different from home made salsa?

Elston, I could be over-simplifying, but I've always thought of a salsa, whether home-made or at a restaurant, as involving cooked tomatoes or tomato sauce. The ones you buy in jars at the store are fully cooked, of course, and when I think of salsa, I think of either a fully cooked sauce or else one that incorporates cooked ingredients.

Pico de gallo, on the other hand, is made of raw ingredients just chopped up and mixed together. It makes for a wonderful fresh vegetable combination - and for those of us watching calories, using celery sticks instead of chips to scoop up pico is a great low-cal snack - but the flavor notes and mouth feel are different from what I think of as salsa. You get a lot more powerful onion flavor, for example, and the result is chunky and crunchy rather than the softer feel of cooked tomatoes or tomato products, if that makes sense.

I'm sure that there are a gajillion different interpretations and recipes out there - but that's the way I've always distinguished between the two in my own mind.