Perpetual "What's for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Today" thread

sweetharleygirl · Post by **sweetharleygirl** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:42 pm

Ummm, depends on how you like them. Some people like the potatos to be well rounded in the browning, I like mine very brown and one side and a little softer on the other so I don't turn mine over. It's just a recipe I made up on my own so I don't have and ingredient mesurements or anything like that, i just play it my ear (or sight as the case my be.)

It may take a couple times of making it to get it the way you like it, but once you do it's worth the time cuz they're great.

Post by **Darb** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:47 pm

Some of my better recipes arent really fully quantified with formal lists of amounts of various ingredients - more of a general description that I use to jog my memory and re-create at need.

Here's one for foil bag roasted potatoes ... you can do it in an oven, or in a pre-heated gas grill set on low. You can adapt it for quantities that feed 2-4 or 15+ people, depending on how many potatoes you use, and how many/large pouches you form. Pros in a restaurant setting would just do this in a big hotel pan.

As for myself - I usually just break out the extra wide heavy foil, turn on the grill, chop up what ever's handy (sometimes potatoes, sometimes veggie medley, sometimes seafood, whatever), add seasonings to taste, add enough liquid to cook it properly, enough fat to enrich it, close the pouch, and roast it until done ... it's casual and easy to me, but perhaps not as easy to others or arent used to such cooking.

Brad's Foil Pouch Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Olive oil - enough to moisten the foil before adding ingredients.
Potatoes, peeled & diced med (3/4") - as much as you desire.
Onions, peeled and shredded (not a lot - just enough for flavor & caramelization)
Garlic, crushed & minced (just a whisper - this is not a garlic dish)
Parsley: A light sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley.
Rosemary, dried & crushed - very generous sprinkle
Thyme, dried & crushed - a light dusting
Fresh lemon juice - a modest splash
Equal parts Dry W.Wine & Chicken Broth - a generous splash (enough to sweat the potatoes, and little enough to just finish evaporating by the time the potatoes are done cooking)
Chef salt & pepper - a generous sprinkle of both.
Cold Butter, chipped - enough to enrich & lubricate the dish and add flavor.
Optional: Brie, chunked (enough for a little flavor, but not enough to make a mess)

1. Foil Bag: Chop potatoes & onions as indicated & set aside. Lay out a double thickness of extra wide aluminum foil (shiny side up), spray or rub with oil, and form the chopped ingredients into long pile down the length of it - then pinch the long sides towards each other (but not closed yet) and crumble the left and right ends closed & fold upward to form a wide shallow trough filled with the chopped ingredients. Make sure the pouch is not too long to fit in your oven or gas grill. If you need more pouch room, make more pouches and roast them side by side, or 1 below the other, rather than trying to make one pouch that's too big.
2. Basting Broth/Seasonings: Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, rosemary, thyme and lemon juice. Next, in a small mug, mix all the remaining liquids and spices, and then drizzle it over the contents of the pouch. Last, drizzle with the olive oil, add the butter (and the optional brie), and seal the foil pouch.
3. Bake or Grill: (pick one)
Â· GAS GRILL: Preheat grill to high, place foil-pouch veggies in middle of grill. Either grilled closed over indirect heat, or open over low heat, at roughly 375-400F for 25-35 mins, or until spuds are tender and liquid is reduced and absorbed. In necessary, par-open foil near end of cooking to aid evaporation/reduction.
Â· BAKE: Preheat oven to 450F, place foil-pouch on lowest shelf and roast 30-40 mins, or until tender.
4. Check periodically to make sure the pouch doesnt run dry and begin to burn on the bottom ... if necessary, add a little extra liquid. At the end of cooking, the dish should be moist, but not runny - if there's a little extra liquid left, drain and discard. Experience will be your guide on how much liquid to use. Figure about 3 fl oz liquid per pint of diced potatoes to start, and adjust up or down from there. When done, empty contents of foil into a large bowl, toss lightly, and serve. The onions should be golden, and the potatoes tender but not too mushy or disintegrating, and the dish should be moist & rich, but neither dry nor soupy.

sweetharleygirl · Post by **sweetharleygirl** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:52 pm

Brad this recipe sounds great, and I like the way you describe the amounts with the ingredients it's better than just saying "however much you want" like I would. This is one I would definatly try, I'm always looking for new ways to make potatos.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:54 pm

I'll have to get some taters and try this out

Post by **Darb** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:58 pm

Go easy on the brie ... that part is really a leftover from when I mix in other veggies, rather than limiting it to just potatoes with a little onion.

Tip on dried rosemary: you can pulse it a few seconds in a spice mill to crush it well ... or, if you like, you can grind it further (I'll grind it completely to powder for then I mix it with flour to make pizza dough). Crushing it like this helps the flavor permeate better, without leaving needles that get stuck in your teeth.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:00 pm

Was slow to reply...the trying it out part was in answer to wendy's post.

I'm not against trying the others from Brad though

sweetharleygirl · Post by **sweetharleygirl** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:03 pm

Hope you like them, I'd feel awful giving you a recipe you dispised!

Post by **Darb** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:12 pm

I'd feel awful giving you a recipe you dispised!

That's something I rarely worry about. One thing I've learned, as both a foodie, a zymurgist, and as a former beverage judge, is that taste preferences are, in many cases, very subjective.

You can have a perfectly wonderful recipe or beverage that's well crafted, well balanced, well flavored, and a very good representation of what it should be ... and some will love it, some will hate it, and others will be entirely indifferent. That's not necessarily an indictment of a given recipe - it's more of a testament that some people like apples and others like oranges, if you know what I mean.

Now, something I would feel awful about would be posting a recipe with a glaring mistake - either a technical blunder, or a botched/mis-typed quantity, that might cause someone following it to ruin their efforts. I'd feel badly about that.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:17 pm

I may dislike it, but never dispise it...well unless it was nothing but brown beans and green peas...two foods I very much dislike.

Post by **Darb** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:22 pm

I bet I could make you a green pea risotto, with parm and gouda, that would curl your toes.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:53 pm

The only thing that makes my toes curl at the moment is my kitten...

However I'm willing to try just about anything once

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:56 am

Bought a roasted chicken, some cheese and bread.

Thats what I had for dinner on Saturday night, last night was a large Caeser salad. Not really sure what tonight will bring..

didn't buy potatoes because I didn't like the look of them this week

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:28 am

Dinner tonight is a beef, sugar snap pea and spinach stir-fry (kids love it, believe it or not), cheesy minute rice (I have a cup or so of pre-grated cheese that will go bad if I don't use it) and freshly baked apple crisp for dessert (we went apple-picking yesterday!).

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:33 pm

mmmmm that dessert sure shoulds good...I hope there's lots.

Are you using baby spinach? or reg?
I happen to enjoy both but find most people don't like either or only eat baby

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:03 pm

hehe I tend to make small batches, otherwise I just eat what's left *sigh*

I tend to only use baby spinach these days, because my kids don't object to it. They're not crazy about mature spinach (although I like it).

Post by **wolfspirit** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:17 pm

I'd watch what spinach you are eating over the next few days.

the recall has been expanded to 21 different states (most here in the NorthEast US), and I certainly don't want to get E.Coli from spinach.

Scott

violetblue · Post by **violetblue** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:14 pm

I know, I've gotten lazy about washing bagged lettuce etc., but I'm going to be sure to do it from now on. Although I don't know how much good it will do. Do you think any of those vegetable/fruit washes would help?

I'm feeding the carnivore within me tonight, with a hamurger with bacon and Monterey Jack mixed in, balsamic roasted vegetables, and some gourmet chips. Oh, and red wine, of course.

I was eating my usual lunch of dried fruit and nuts and a lady in the office was completely incredulous that I was eating that. She asked me if I eat like that all the time. I'm not sure what that meant. Maybe I should eat alone.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:08 am

Last night was a Taco Salad. Single man style you know from the bag to the bowl toss and serve. lol

I might get something different tonight, I have an urge for some fish, or shrimp...hmmm I should stop at the store on the way home tonight

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:27 am

Got a few friends who've gone out Moose Hunting...

Got me thinking about Game meats and if anyone had any good recipes for them?
I've had moose deer and rabbit and have enjoyed them all.

Post by **Darb** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:39 pm

I've had deer and elk, but not moose.

The important thing, as with all big game, is to make sure it's properly aged and matured for the optimum length of time at the correct temperature ... otherwise the meat will be dryish, tough, and relatively unflavorful.

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:02 pm

I'll admit here to being rather out of touch with hunting game and preparing the meat properly.

However I do enjoy the difference in taste from time to time and enjoy trying new foods.

Post by **Darb** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:53 pm

Dinner tonite: Natural Casing Gourmet Hotdogs, and Spaten Lager.
Dinner tomorrow: Ditto, and more besides.

I worked at an annual octoberfest fundraiser over this past weekend, and helped pour 32-35 kegs of beer (Spaten Lager & Spaten Octoberfest). When we closed down on Sunday, the volunteers and staff divvied up all the leftover food. Plus, we got to drink down all the remaining partial kegs, before they got shipped back to the distributor.

I got handed 9 lbs of brats and 7 lbs of dogs (I gave away the brats to a fellow volunteer), and then I popped the trunk of my car and proceeded to fill seven 64oz growlers (which I'd had the good sense to bring along) with Spaten Lager. I gave away 2 growlers, and took home 5.

Hard to argue with free beer and free food.

I'm already stepping it up in the gym this week, to offset the dip in my diet ...

Emperor · Post by **Emperor** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:42 pm

Its either Soup or Pizza....can't decide yet

daetara · Post by **daetara** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:46 pm

pizza and a pretzel, between volleyball games...yum!

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:17 pm

last night was asian beef & broccoli with noodles... unfortunately, all I had on-hand was spaghetti LOL (and my sauce needs work... I just improvised with the little bit of stuff I had in the fridge, and it was pretty bland). Lunch was more of the same (for me *and* the kids - they actually ASKED for it).

Dinner will likely be pasta with tomato sauce & cheese, since I'm feeling lazy and I didn't do dishes last night... however, I might saute some onions, garlic, celery and spicy pepperoni to go in the canned sauce.

Oh, and I've decided that raw celery is evil. It gives me heartburn, and it ALWAYS gives me hiccups. *grumble*