What's For Dinner?

Inspired by Tomc, I attempted my first-ever Enchiladas last night. I've always loved Cheese ones best, so tried that. I had no idea how to make the filling and the store was out of my first choice of queso fresco and cotija. So I used some "Mexican" shredded cheddar cheese, a bit of milk, a bit of the green enchilada sauce, some chopped fresh cilantro and some chopped scallions. Was surprisingly good!

The filling "goo":
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I baked them at 375F for nearly 30 minutes. I made a mistake putting the extra sauce on top of the extra cheese (the cheese should go on last):
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Finished product served "street taco style" with a bit of chopped white onion and cilantro:
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Hi Ron...We did, but things like IR spectra, NMR spectra (I think), melting point of chemical derivatives, etc. This was 30+ years ago. I do remember that other people had to extract chemicals from orange peels (limonene), peppermint (???) and a few other natural sources (banana peels?), and the lab smelled like all get-out, especially when you take into account much of the extraction was done with ether!

You're a better man than I! When I'm cooking, I am constantly tasting & sampling, sometimes to the point that by the time the meal is ready, I'm full!
I don't think I could cook while I was on a fast.

When the missus goes wacky @ Costco/Kroger, I like making stews, pizzas, fajitas and soups. They are a great way to use excess food & minimize waste. Drives my wife crazy @ times, but my grandma raised me to not waste food. Putting in a full size freezer when we did our house renovation was likely the best idea we (i.e., the wife) had. Hope you are feeling better soon, Ron...T

 

More chicken soup! In fact, am about to whip up a batch for the wife and I. I think I'm getting the crud too. Wife blamed it on driving with the top down the other day (it was 70+ F); who knows, I would have thought that the extra Vitamin D we made should have protected us...T

 

Nice work, AzIt! Your filling sounds a bit like mine, except I used sour cream (we had it handy) instead of milk (we almost never buy milk), but probably too much sour cream. My wife, despite being from San Antonio, actually prefers shredded "Mexican" blend over the more traditional cheeses. Next time I whip some up though, no Old El Paso! May have to go down one of the local bodegas and get something more authentic, although their definition of "mild" and my wife's definition of mild are miles apart!
T

 

I think I might get that "mexican crema" liquidy stuff next time. They actually had that at the market (but not Cotija and Queso fresco), but I passed on buying it because I mistakenly didn't think we wanted the inside filling to start out liquidy...so we would have used sour cream but didn't have any, but we do have milk for the morning cappuccino's, so in it went (with some sauce so as to not make it milky or tasteless). Worked out okay. Btw - these had some "nice" spiciness to to them. I put a little cayenne into the mixture and the sauce had some bite. Edit: that reminds me, I also put a dash of garlic powder, onion powder and cumin into the mixture. Next time I would also put a dash of chipotle in.

 

Thanks much Tom, I appreciate lab comments, the compliment, and those tips. I’m not always strong, and in fact food weakness might be why I’m in this fix. I really need to get tested again for antibodies. I am likely sensitive to many new things I’m unaware of since my first/last test years ago.

We’d like a large freezer. It might necessitate getting stackable washer and dryer though to fit it.

 

Washer/dryer stack! Tried to talk my wife into that. Her response "What are we, college students living in a dorm?"

Definitely update your tests. We took both the wife & dog to allergy specialists (not the same one!) a few years ago, and for the dog it made a big diff when we changed her diet to avoid things she tested positive for (beef, dairy, liver). For the wife, most of her allergens seem to be air borne like mountain cedar pollen, mold, etc...T

 

Looks pretty damn good.

 

And now for something completely different, Bakharian food, the cuisine of the Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan.

I'd never heard of them either (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukharan_Jews) before finding out about this restaurant.

The cuisine is a mixture of Persian, Middle Eastern, Russian and Uzebi influences. This restaurant is run by an immigrant family. The Bubbe/Nonna is the chef and came out to explain the food and help us order. The restaurant is strictly kosher and closes on Friday at 3pm until Sunday morning for the sabbath.

The gf and I loved this place. We ordered 13 items and had a bit of each for lunch today, but have tons of leftovers for a couple of dinners. I got pics of most, but didn't get pics of a few dishes; notably the Plov dish with rice, veggies and beef; nor is there a pic of the best "dumpling" which was called Samsa which was ground beef and onion inside a bread cooked to flaky crispy perfection; nor of the Loves dessert (a bar of ground nut paste, honey, butter and sugar (sorta like Pakhlava).

Pelmeni Soup - was very flavorful scratch-made stock with bits of meat and veggies and the namesake dumplings
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Then we had some hummus and Lepyoshka bread, along with several "dumpling variants". Pictured here are Belyash and Piroshki (both stuffed with ground meat, one also had potato)
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Lulya Kebab (ground beef) and two kinds of bread, the one on the top of the plate was the fantastic onion stuffed bread called Fatir, the other is more Lepyoshka
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Next up were more kebabs - lamb and chicken. Good kebabs, not the best that I've had (that would be Tayyabs in London)
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Chuchvara, a dumpling cooked with caramelized onions and some spices. Not unlike Pirogi's, except with more flavor in the topping.
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Edit: Adding a pic oftheir Plov I found on yelp
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Thanks! The gf said it was the best Mexican food she has had...of course she has only eaten Mexican perhaps a dozen times, but I'll take the compliment

 

Wow, I've eaten at an Uzbek restaurant (DC area), but most of that food, I've never seen or heard about except plov.
Very cool Wiki link...T

 

I've never heard of them either but some of the names sound oddly familiar. It all looks delicious though!!

 

For the enchiladas you guys are making one tip I got from a buddies wife who is part Mexican and make AMAZING chicken enchiladas was she quickly dips the tortillas in the sauce before filling and assembling. Makes a mess but is oh so good. Yours all look great without doing it though so make me wonder?!

 

yeah, I think that is a good tip. I meant to do, but simply forgot to...next time hopefully I'll remember

 

I should attempt making enchiladas. Tonight is grilled cheese and more chicken soup night. Cold is finally clearing up! But don't feel like going back out to grab dinner.

 

Glad to hear you are feeling better, Max. I made chicken soup last night for the wife & I, and we both feel better today.
Not sure if it is a placebo or what!

Ran out to Kroger and got a small package of chicken legs. It came with 5 - 2 for me, 2 for wife, 1 for dog!
Diced up carrots, turnip, celery and white onion. S&P, a little paprika, parsley flakes, oregano and garlic powder.
I doctored mine up with a little leftover rice & a few jolts of Tabasco Habanero.
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Just added the water.
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After about an hour of simmering.

T

 

Tonight, it is lamb chops on the Smokey Joe. Marinated in olive oil, garlic powder, S & P.
4 mins per side over direct high.
Served with steamed veggies and a side salad.
T
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Lump charcoal + oak fire

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Assistant grill meister
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Finished product.

 

Wow!

 

Looking good Tom.

 

It's to cold for bbq here so I'm jealous.

 

This was an odd rice dish but came out good. Simmered in water until the last little bit when I put chipotle mayo and some general tao. Beans and peas mixed in.

Flavour was awesome but different. Picture won't upload for some reason.

 

It's mid - upper 40s. So, about 10 C or so. No wind though. Not bad for January. And, lamb tastes so much better on the grill. So, I decided to brave the cold and grill out.
T

 

Feels like 5*F here today. It's quite chilly and the breeze is what brings it to that temp. Jealous Tom!

 

I'm LMAO over here. Because if I couldn't read, all I saw was a dog and then steaks.

 

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T