What Are You Having For Dinner

[SheepDog]

What are you using for leavening? Baking soda and baking powder lose their power if they get moisture. Baking powder is worse. I use sourdough so I don't have to wonder if it will rise but it takes a little extra time.
You can check baking powder by putting a bit in a saucer and add a little water. if its good it should foam up right away. do the same test with baking soda but use lemon juice instead of water. If they pass the test, timing or working the mix can give bad results. Try adding the leavening after the rest of the dough is mixed or try not to mix or knead as long. (I have assumed you are making rolled and cut biscuits)

 

[Bacpacker]

She was using self rising flour

 

[SheepDog]

Self rising flour is just a fine grind with baking powder and salt added. Moisture can affect it too.

 

[hashbrown]

Biscuits and gravy. Bacon of course.

Speaking of which, all you folks that make your own biscuits, are you having trouble getting them to rise? Last 2 times wife has made them they are just flat and crumbly, no rise, no fluffy centers. My mom is experiencing the same thing the last 2-3 years. Even different flour brands doing the same thing

I make biscuits at least once a week, I use baking powder and about twice what any recipe calls for.

 

[Patchouli]

@SheepDog you are a sourdough bread maker? I keep thinking about trying that again. My mum in law used to make it. Heading over to the bread threads.

 

[SheepDog]

Yes ma'am, I learned to care for and make sourdough when I was a much younger man. It taught me patience.

 

[Peanut]

I had bowls for dinner, a bowl of chili with extra onions and a salad. Yummy!

 

[Weedygarden]

Corned beef with cabbage and carrots.

 

[dademoss]

@SheepDog you are a sourdough bread maker? I keep thinking about trying that again. My mum in law used to make it. Heading over to the bread threads.

Cheapest sourdough starter, if you don't want to start your own:

Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter

https://carlsfriends.net/source.html

 

[Peanut]

Corned beef with cabbage and carrots.

I bought some corned beef in a can some time ago. Been wondering what to do with it. Corned beef isn't a southern staple. Most of my cookbooks are southern cuisine, nothing in them about corned beef.

 

[Weedygarden]

I bought some corned beef in a can some time ago. Been wondering what to do with it. Corned beef isn't a southern staple. Most of my cookbooks are southern cuisine, nothing in them about corned beef.

It is a St. Patrick's Day tradition and there is always a display in the store of corned beef this time of year. This comes wrapped in plastic with probably lye in the liquid. It is jelly like. There is a seasoning packet. Cook in a pot for 50 minutes per pound. Mine is 2.26 pounds. I'll slice it and have Rueben sandwiches with the leftovers. I have bread, kraut, swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing to make the sandwiches. Arby's has Rueben sandwiches sometimes.

 

[Peanut]

Except in a few big cities St. Paddy's wasn't celebrated here. I never met a catholic until I was in the military. One year my mom bought Lucky Charms cereal as a joke and said "here's your st. paddy's" lol.

I like Reuben sandwiches and have had corned beef and cabbage many times when I lived up north, good stuff. I'd never turn it down.

I was going through my pantry last week and noticed the canned corned beef. I had forgotten I bought it and it wasn't expired. I'll come up with something.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Tonight we had meatloaf and steamed broccoli. Tomorrow we are planning to be putting on a bit of the Irish with corned beef and cabbage.

 

[Weedygarden]

Except in a few big cities St. Paddy's wasn't celebrated here. I never met a catholic until I was in the military. One year my mom bought Lucky Charms cereal as a joke and said "here's your st. paddy's" lol.

I like Reuben sandwiches and have had corned beef and cabbage many times when I lived up north, good stuff. I'd never turn it down.

I was going through my pantry last week and noticed the canned corned beef. I had forgotten I bought it and it wasn't expired. I'll come up with something.

No Irish in my family, but it adds variety to the diet. I've had people tell me that everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's day. LOL! Given my need to question everything, I don't wear green on the day as is expected.
Denver has an annual St. Patrick's Day parade. They had it last Saturday morning, after not having it for two years due to the pandemic. I hadn't even heard about it until it was over.

My grandmother used to use the meat grinder and grind it up after the first meal with potatoes and onions and make corned beef hash. I remember if well!

I don't know if I have ever seen corned beef in a can. I'm always looking for variety for the pantry and storage.

 

[Weedygarden]

Tonight we had meatloaf and steamed broccoli. Tomorrow we are planning to be putting on a bit of the Irish with corned beef and cabbage.

I'm a day early! I'm house sitting. We are getting snow overnight and I have no idea how much, so I went to the store, bought my corned beef, and decided to cook it.

 

[Patchouli]

Zatarain’s red beans & rice, steamed shrimp on the side. The box mix was 2/$4. Suited us for size portions.

 

[Peanut]

Looks good @Patchouli I'm out of shrimp at the moment. Frozen shrimp is getting scarce in stores. Might have to make a run down to the Mobile docks and buy it there.

I like Zatarains products, have some in the house now. Fry batters for fish/shrimp and chicken. I've come to like "Louisiana Brand" batters a little better.

I made gumbo last week using the zatarains mix, have red beans and rice mix in the pantry. I step all such mixes up a little, fresh herbs, garlic, anything thing fresh takes a store bought premix to a new level, the more the merrier. Can't wait wait until my kitchen herbs are up. I need to set up my little "porch green house" and get those started.

Anyone else use zatarains? Not so much their batter but their mixes like gumbo. They use to much of some spice, can't put my finger on it. It gives them there signature flavor but I wish they'd dial back the mystery spice a little.

I want to start cooking things like gumbo from scratch. If I could figure it out the zatarain spices I'll know what not to do.

 

[hashbrown]

Looks good @Patchouli I'm out of shrimp at the moment. Frozen shrimp is getting scarce in stores. Might have to make a run down to the Mobile docks and buy it there.

I like Zatarains products, have some in the house now. Fry batters for fish/shrimp and chicken. I've come to like "Louisiana Brand" batters a little better.

I made gumbo last week using the zatarains mix, have red beans and rice mix in the pantry. I step all such mixes up a little, fresh herbs, garlic, anything thing fresh takes a store bought premix to a new level, the more the merrier.

Anyone else use zatarains? Not so much their batter but their mixes like gumbo. They use to much of some spice, can't put my finger on it. It gives them there signature flavor but I wish they'd dial back the mystery spice a little.

I want to start cooking things like gumbo from scratch. If I could figure it out the zatarain spices I'll know what not to do.

I like their red beans and rice and the dirty rice!

 

[LadyLocust]

Tenderloins w/ sautéed garlic and steamed asparagus.

 

[Tacitus]

I worked from home today...wife came home from work at 4:30ish, and walked in and said, "Happy Hour?" I said, "Sounds good!"

Cheese and triscuits on the deck, with wine for me and beer for her.

Happy hour lasted a little longer than we planned, and we opted for leftovers for dinner. I finished off the beef stroganoff, and she finished off the curry chicken. All in all, a very nice Wednesday night.

 

[LadyLocust]

I worked from home today...wife came home from work at 4:30ish, and walked in and said, "Happy Hour?" I said, "Sounds good!"

Cheese and triscuits on the deck, with wine for me and beer for her.

Happy hour lasted a little longer than we planned, and we opted for leftovers for dinner. I finished off the beef stroganoff, and she finished off the curry chicken. All in all, a very nice Wednesday night.

Margarita Monday, Tequila Tuesday, Whatever Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, Firewater Friday

 

[Amish Heart]

Hey Peanut, use that canned corned beef to make a hash. Add some fried potatoes, onions, seasonings to it.
Husband wanted a turkey patty tonight and steakfries. Granddaughter wanted a corndog and fries. I had some leftover ham and beans with cornbread on top. We all had fruit salad.

 

[Patchouli]

@Peanut I had never tried the red beans and rice but have used something else Zatarain's, forget what. Yes, I think I'll step up on stocking their products when the price is good. Shrimp still seems to be plentiful around here although the price went up a little. Is it cumin or coriander that gets ya? I noticed it too but I don't mind it. I had a good shrimp creole recipe but haven't fixed it in a long time.

 

[Terri9630]

I just cooked up some sausage, added a couple of jars of red beans and added rice. Didn't really feel like cooking.

 

[Bacpacker]

Looks good @Patchouli I'm out of shrimp at the moment. Frozen shrimp is getting scarce in stores. Might have to make a run down to the Mobile docks and buy it there.

I like Zatarains products, have some in the house now. Fry batters for fish/shrimp and chicken. I've come to like "Louisiana Brand" batters a little better.

I made gumbo last week using the zatarains mix, have red beans and rice mix in the pantry. I step all such mixes up a little, fresh herbs, garlic, anything thing fresh takes a store bought premix to a new level, the more the merrier. Can't wait wait until my kitchen herbs are up. I need to set up my little "porch green house" and get those started.

Anyone else use zatarains? Not so much their batter but their mixes like gumbo. They use to much of some spice, can't put my finger on it. It gives them there signature flavor but I wish they'd dial back the mystery spice a little.

I want to start cooking things like gumbo from scratch. If I could figure it out the zatarain spices I'll know what not to do.

We keep quite a few Zatarains on hand. Depending on what you add to it you can make other of stuff with it. We like the Jambalaya best.we load it with onions, tomatoes, peppers kidney beans, shrimp, smoked sausage.

 

[zannej]

My friend gets the Zatarains red beans and rice. I went out and got some for him along with some sausage when he was out of $. I've never cared for it, but then I have spice allergies.

My brother makes his red beans and rice from scratch. Garlic salt, better than bullion ham flavor, onion powder (bc I can't eat hydrated onion), probably some other spices, and salted pork along with the beans. Rice he adds a little of the ham bullion as well.

A friend who moved to Michigan was telling me he wants to try to make this: Tasting the Past: An Ancient Roman Recipe for Parthian Chicken

One of the ingredients is from an extinct plant so he'll have to substitute. Brought back memories of when we used to use Nam Pla. Also made me think of Balachan for some reason. The Filipino maids in Singapore loved that stuff.

Went to Panda yesterday and had long beans, chicken sticks with ginger, and chicken with broccoli & carrots. Last night I had a grilled cheese sandwich. Mom wanted shepherd's pie but hadn't put all of the ingredients on the list so I couldn't make it. Ended up making her grilled cheese sandwiches instead. Tonight will probably be shrimp scampi & ramen noodles for her. She insists on eating no chicken, pork, or beef on Fridays. I will probalby have pork chops or liver.

 

[Amish Heart]

Soft tacos tonight.

 

[Weedygarden]

Anyone else use zatarains? Not so much their batter but their mixes like gumbo. They use to much of some spice, can't put my finger on it. It gives them there signature flavor but I wish they'd dial back the mystery spice a little.

I have used it and have some boxes of Zatarain's red beans and rice and dirty rice. I also keep the andouille sausage for it in the freezer. I want to make my own mix with dehydrated red beans and rice, but I need to quit talking about it and make it. I have some dry small red beans just for making it. What is the best rice for making these recipes?

 

[Peanut]

What is the best rice for making these recipes?

Which do you prefer? I use Jasmine (long grain) for just about everything. It's puffier, easy to cook with less starch than short grian so it's less sticky. In my experience long grain is much better in leftovers than short grain.

 

[Double R]

Sourdough starter is down since I fed it. I see hubby made pizza dough. Going to be a very tasty dinner tonight