What's for dinner?

[dak4n6]

"One of my favorite things to make is carnitas. Basically you take a 5lb pork butt, toss it in a Dutch oven with spices (chilli powder, lots of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head), a few onions, and jalapeños (plus I like to add some poblanos because they're mild but offer good texture), and braise it for 4 or 5 hours.

Then you pull the meat, onions, and poblanos out and place them on a sheet pan with some more of the spices and a bit of the liquid and roast it ~30 minutes, or until the meat gets a bit crispy.
"
The quote function isn't working - the quote above is from Jamo.. I used to work in an upscale Mexican resaurant when I was in school. The owner's carnitas sceret was to marinate the pork in Coke for ~24hrs. Gave it just the right sweetness and tendrized the sh!t out of it. He told us not to reveal that to any customers because it was so simple and effective. Tonigh, we got two racks of baby back ribs waiting. I already made some homemade sweet&sour; BBQ sauce - lots of vinegar and sugar. Pair that up with some fingeling potatoes and pan sauteed asparagus and garlic, and a hearty zin. LG!

[Ernest Jones]

Filet Mignon with a blue cheese crust on horseradish cream potatoes and a cabernet sauvignon sauce.

[David in FL]

Nice!  How'd you do the potatoes, like a classic scalloped potato or more of a gratin?

[dfreuter415]

I retired after teaching 38 years, and while I do work at a golf course seasonally, I usually get home by 2:00 pm.  My wife is a teacher, as well, and will probably work another 4-5 years. So, I am in charge of making dinner from September through June during the work week.

Tonight I am making my wife grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, and teriyaki rice.

[Ernest Jones]

Nice!  How'd you do the potatoes, like a classic scalloped potato or more of a gratin?

That one's my wife's. The potatoes are cubed and closer to a scalloped potato than a gratin.

[jamo]

I made that carnitas recipe I described back on page one a few weeks ago. Decided to make it into nachos this time. I had the pork, store-bought fresh salsa and guac (i.e. not from a jar), turned a can of pinto beans into refried beans (I don't love the mushiness of normal refried beans, so I kept mine much chunkier, which was great), jalapeños from a can, freshly-shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, lettuce, and sour cream. Served over store-bought corn chips. It came out awesome. I didn't get to start making it until about 6PM so I had to wait until 11 to eat, but it was worth it. I happened to have a friend over who doesn't normally like pork, but she said it was great, and easily the best nachos she'd ever had. I didn't think to take any pictures of the process, but here's one of the finished product:

[David in FL]

[INDENT][/INDENT][quote name="Ernest Jones" url="/t/67232/whats-for-dinner/36#post_889756"] That one's my wife's. The potatoes are cubed and closer to a scalloped potato than a gratin.[/quote] No conflict between the strong favors of the blue cheese and the horseradish? Gonna do that this weekend!

[Ernest Jones]

[INDENT][/INDENT] No conflict between the strong favors of the blue cheese and the horseradish? Gonna do that this weekend!

Not at all. It's a Michael Smith recipe that we adapted a bit to our tastes. You can find the recipe on his website and then just play around with it. He has two version of the recipe, one is a little more intricate but they both give great results. We've used strip loin, rib eye and filet mignon. Usually just get whatever they have the nicest cuts of.

[butt3r3dt0ast]

Ughhh.. Sitting at my desk and just read this entire thread. I am SO hungry now!

Also, I just realized how pathetic my dinners have been recently :(

[Ernest Jones]

I have five Super Chilli plants growing in the garden and had an over flowing Tupperware of them. No one else in the house eats hot so I'm drying a few and I'm in the process of making a huge batch of hot sauce. Just puréed a pound of them with some kosher salt. Hot as hell! I'm stewing up some carrots in vinegar to add plus some fresh garlic to give it some depth. The whole mess will ferment at room temperature for about a week then I'll strain it through a fine sieve and it'll keep pretty much forever. The final consistency will be similar to Tabasco but with a far more complex flavour from the carrots and the garlic. Plus chillies kick ass on cayenne as far as flavour IMO.

[boogielicious]

40,000 - 50,000 on the Scoville scale!  Nice and hot.  Do you add any sugar or stabilizers?

[Ernest Jones]

40,000 - 50,000 on the Scoville scale!  Nice and hot.  Do you add any sugar or stabilizers?

No. Just the Kosher salt and vinegar. Final product will be "shake well before serving" Here it is with the carrots and garlic added. Another 5-6 days fermenting on the counter and then I'll press it through a sieve and see how much liquid I get out of it. Tastes great right now. Freakin' hot but tasty.

[Hardballs]

Roast chicken, potatoes roasted in goose fat, parsnips wrapped in bacon glazed with honey and mustard, steamed veg, and gravy! It gets my sons approval but he's got no teeth yet so I just blend a bit up for him!

[jlh1508]

Had some smoked salmon hash with a poached egg

[iacas]

I cooked some steaks on the grill. Got a little too black on the outside, but they were delicious on the inside.

I will NOT turn the grill to HIGH like the recipe said next time. medium should do fine. It got to over 600°.

[jlh1508]

Some more dinners from the last few months

Salmon in a lemon rosemary sauce over gruyere mashed potatoes

Short ribs in a red wine reduction with roasted carrots and mashed potatoes

Chicken thighs in a balsamic sauce over asparagus with roasted potatoes

And to finish it off smoked chicken wings

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

No. Just the Kosher salt and vinegar. Final product will be "shake well before serving"

Here it is with the carrots and garlic added.

Another 5-6 days fermenting on the counter and then I'll press it through a sieve and see how much liquid I get out of it. Tastes great right now. Freakin' hot but tasty.

Looks like "Liquid Hot Magma".  I foresee some "ass in the tub" time in your future!

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by Hardballs

Roast chicken, potatoes roasted in goose fat, parsnips wrapped in bacon glazed with honey and mustard, steamed veg, and gravy!

It gets my sons approval but he's got no teeth yet so I just blend a bit up for him!

You have exceeded the maximum available "cuteness" band-width on the forum.  We had to reset the system.