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Dinner suggestions appreciated

Gypsy

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,359
So I've re-discovered my love of cooking and have been doing it again several nights a week. Yay me.

But I'm kinda getting to the point of menu burn out. I've recently made everything I wanted to... so I'm looking for new ideas.

And I thought I'd ask for suggestions.

I have peas in the fridge. Nice ones. I also have some lovely leeks. I was thinking of a nice stew of some sort...with leeks. I'm very fond of leeks.

Any suggestions welcome (and they don't have to be about stew or leeks).

I'm pretty advanced in the kitchen. We eat just about everything except veal and a few other "moral objection" items. And I can buy just about anything I need to. And we do enjoy good vegetarian dishes as well, though I am not overfond of cooking with Tofu (though I'll eat it when others have prepared it well).

Love some suggestions to expand my menu options.
TIA.
 
Gypsy, I am the least qualified person to make suggestions (as I cannot cook much of anything) but my DH made apricot chicken the other day. Stone fruit is in season here at the moment so we have been cooking fresh apricots and chicken in our tagine :lickout: Just an idea if you haven't made it in a while. We get our recipes/ideas from taste.com.au

Hopefully Jen W will hear your call!

ETA: My specialty is salads. Recent favourite is spinach and pear salad. Combine these ingredients to taste and then serve:

Fresh baby spinach leaves
Fresh rocket leaves
Green beans
Shaved parmesan
Cashews
Thinly-sliced pear
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil

We occasionally add cherry tomatoes too. Maybe strawberries too if you want to go all out. This is our 5-minute mid-week salad we have with grilled pork chops. Nom nom nom.
 
Ooh that sounds right up my ally. Apricot Chicken sounds pretty good. I make a blackberry sage chicken that awesome. And a Rocket and Beet salad that's perfect with it. So this might be just the slight 'twist' of that tried and true dinner that I need. Just enough change to make it different.

The recipe is on that site? I'll have to look it up if so. I have a lovely jar of apricot preserves I can use if I can't find anything fresh locally.

I'll give the Salad a try for sure. I have rocket. I just need a pear and some spinach which I can get easily.

Wonderful suggestion.

I knew posting on here would be a good idea.

Any others?

ETA: Okay just checked out those recipes. YUMMY! So I'm going to get some dried apricots. Trader Joes does great Apricots. And the preserves will work with it. I've got some lovely shallots so I'll use those. I'm not feeling the morocan spices as we've had similarly spiced food (I'm Persian) several times this week already (but will remember it for another time). And I don't want to use sage. So I might try some orange zest with it, and some thyme or savory. I will make some cous cous for it though, and that pear salad.

That's tomorrow's dinner right there.

But there's the rest of the week to figure out as well. So more suggestions are welcome!
 
Echidna|1328094361|3116254 said:
DH reliably informs me that this is the recipe:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/24884/chicken+and+apricot+tagine

Blackberry sage chicken sounds delicious! Which evenings this week are you free for dinner? :bigsmile:
Click to expand...


OH! Even better. I have some great saffron. I'll use that with the orange zest and forget about thyme and savory. I'll add the ginger and coriander cause that sounds fabulous. Shallots, saffron, ginger, orange zest and top with corriander. Yes, that sounds perfect.

Echinda if you lived close to me you could come over any time.

I don't use recipes as anything more than guidance but if your DH is a good cook he can figure this out.

Blackberry sage chicken.
I make a brine by using one cup of boiling water to disolve 2 teaspoons of dried sage, 4 tablespoons of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. I add another cup and a half of iced water to that (with actual ice) and then make sure it's cold before I put the chicken in. If it's not cold enough I'll either add ice cubes or stick it in the freezer to cool it.
I take two boneless skinless chicken breasts and put then in the brine for a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes in the fridge. I take them out and pat them dry.

Then in a heavy bottom skillet with butter popping (hot hot pan) I sear off the chicken on all sides, a few minutes a side until it browns.

I have some very nice black berry preserves. And a bunch of fresh thyme.

One foil lined baking sheet I put a tablespoon of jam and spread it out to about the size of a breast. I top that with 4 or five sage leaves. I put the chicken directly on it. Then I top that with another tablespoon of jam and 4 or five more leaves.

I also add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. And just let it melt and brown while the chicken cooks.

I do that to both breasts. Then I put them in a 350 oven for 45 minutes.

I take the chicken out of the oven. Remove it from the pan and scrape all the sage/ jam left on it off and leave it in the pan
I add one chopped shallot to the skillet I seared the meat in (which should have butter and stuff in it already) and soften them until they are getting a bit golden. Then I take all the pan drippings and put them in there. Add some red wine (1/2 cup) and another teaspoon of jam as well as the rest of the sage plus salt and pepper. I let them cook until it smells like all the flavors of the sage have come out. I then strain the sauce (cheesecloth works) so all the chunks are gone. I make a very small rue, OR if I'm feeling lazy I dissolve some corn starch in some cold wine. That thickens the sauce. I put the chicken back in the sauce just to heat it to cooking temperature. Not longer than that, just heat it through, no more cooking. If I used cornstarch I add a tablespoon of butter after I've taken the dish off the heat to gloss up the sauce. If I've used the rue there is no need. The chicken is perfectly cooked and seasoned and the sauce is tangy sweet and savory.
 
Gypsy,

I'm also not a very good cook..but I am know for my salads... and then we just do a lot of grilled chicken and/or fish.. to go with the salad.. but one I get a lot of compliments on is my Cranberry-Gorgonzola...

Romaine
Arugula (or mixed greens) I like the strong flavor of arugula
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Kalamata Olives (I strongly recommend the ones from an Olive Bar... the jarred ones just don't have the right about of softness to me)
Gorganzola Cheese
Dried Cranberries
Balsalmic Dressing

There is something about all those flavors.. people love it then I hear they have made it for others... It's not actually my own recipe... I borrowed it from an Italian place here... and then made a couple of adjustments...

That's my only contribution... I also make a great Ceasar and a nice spinach with strawberries and feta cheese... but those are rather common...

m
 
Since I know you have a TJs near, have you ever tried their fresh ravioli? They're usually in the fridge section near the lunch meats. DH and especially love the goat cheese one which, IIRC, has sundried tomato in it as well. We also love the bnut squash ones (but fair warning, they are pretty sweet and are best with kale in the mix). I boil those up and top them by doing the following:

~Brown 1T butter in a skillet
~Add chopped onion and garlic (I use about 1/2 of a medium sweet onion and 1 med-large clove of garlic), soften
~Add any other chopped veggies you like (in the past, I've used any of: shredded brussels sprouts, blanched green beans, leeks, carrots, ~red pepper, celery, spinach, kale, mushrooms...basically anything works!) and sautee until crisp-tender.
~Add 1T flour and make a roux, cook, stirring often, until the flour has all been absorbed. If you are using dried herbs, add them now (tarragon, basil, oregano all work well with most veggie combinations).
~Add enough milk (I use 2%) to just coat the bottom of the pan and stir until the veggies are coated.
~Add about a cup of chopped chicken (I roast a chicken every week, so I just use the shredded chicken from that), a splash of white wine, and chicken broth (I think about half a cup to start), and bring to a simmer. Allow to thicken.

Add more chicken broth if you want more of a "sauce"...allow to cook down further for a more "creamy" topping.

If you're doing the bnut squash, I often finish it with a squeeze of fresh lemon (just a touch) and a bit of shredded parm.
 
I'm trying chicken lo mein tonight. I'll tell you how it goes and if it's good I'll forward the recipe.
 
Love this ratatouille. I make it at home for just us or make up a big pan to take to our dinner group. I've modified a bit, but pretty much stick to the recipe as written. (I about double the piperade and something like 8 - 10 times the vinaigrette)

Great served with fresh pasta.

World-on-a-Plate
 
I was planning to do this tonight but got home too late to cook. :cry:

Pork tenderloin with feta and basil.

It's really easy and with few ingredients and looks very nice served. Also you can eat it warm or cold so perfect for leftovers. The taste is amazing actually ( and I am not usually a fan of pork).

-You just cut it in the middle so you get just one flat piece of meat that you can roll.
-Cut up a lot of fresh basil and mix with crumbled feta.
-Place the mix along the middle of the meat, roll and tie up with kitchen sting so that it holds the form.
- Rub in some salt and pepper and then saute the whole piece.
-Cook in the oven until still slightly pink and let rest for a little while.

I usually serve with oven baked wedges of beetroot, parsnip, carrot and potato. Greek yogurt garlic sauce and a nice salad. But it works well with pretty much anything.
 
Gypsy, I made this chicken & dumpling stew for my DH often when it's cold out. It's a nice winter-y "bowl meal" so he loves it.

Chicken, leek, pea stew with dumplings:

Stew:
few TBS Butter
Bone & skin on chicken. I like using dark meat but you can make it with breast meat too
2 leeks, chopped
1 med chopped onion
few TBS flour
1/2 c wine
2 1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c milk
1-2 sprigs of taragon
Bay lef
1 to 2 c peas (I like peas, so I put more in).

Dumplings (optional):
1 c flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
salt
1/2 c warmed milk
1 tbs melted butter

In dutch oven on medium heat, brown chicken on all sides with skin on (you'll remove and shred the chicken later, but the skin and bones add flavor in cooking). Remove from pan and set aside.
Add leeks & onion. Add a pinch of salt as leeks & onion cook. When onions are translucent, start with 2 tbs of flour, whisk into leeks. You want to make a roux/bechamel kind of sauce, so you'll end up with a thick flour ball in your whisk. Break it off your whisk and add the wine, broth and milk. Whisk, whisk, whisk until it's all smooth-ish (there'll be chunks of onion and leeks of course, but don't want chunks of flour). Add bay leaf, taragon, and chicken back into dutch oven, cover and let simmer (turn heat down) for 30-40 mins. Check on the chicken half way, you don't want to liquid to evaporate.

Take chicken out of stew. Remove skin and bones. Shred the chicken (pull apart with 2 forks), and add back into the dutch oven. Add peas and simmer for 10-15 mins. You can serve this over noodles, or you can make the dumplings.

Dumplings: While chicken is cooking mix all dumpling ingredients together. It'll look like sticky play dough. After returning shredded chicken to dutch oven and adding peas, using 2 tablespoons, drop a little smaller than golf ball sized lumps on top of the stew. Cover and let simmer for 15 mins. Dumplings would be doubled in size.

~LC
 
Gypsy, this is a bit off the track possibly, but....

I went low carb/gluten free last fall. Cauliflower is my bestest friend these days. I made what turned out to be an amazing thick, creamy soup this week. It could have been an absolute disaster, and almost was, but it came out well.

Here's what I did and you can tweak it to whatever meat ingredients you want! Just about anything would work.

1 small onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth (I used 2 cups homemade from a crockpot chicken and 2 cups canned. I don't think it matters)
24 oz frozen cauliflower
1 cup milk/half & half/ cream or a mix of these- whatever you decide
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp xanthum gum dissolved in 1/2 tsp olive oil (or just some cornstarch dissolved in water)
shrimp- oh, about 1 lb or so, shelled, tails gone, deveined, etc; grilled in a skillet until just done
andouille sausage- I dunno, four or five sliced up rather thin and then put in skillet to render fat out
You could add chicken. Or beef. Or whatever.

Okay, saute diced onion in olive oil until tender in your favorite stock pot. Maybe add some garlic. Add broth and cauliflower and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then simmer for 25 mins or so until very tender. If you have a stick blender, use that to puree the whole sha-bang. If you have a regular blender, DO NOT fill the thing to about 3/4 full, hold the lid in place with your hand and then hit the power button. Boiling hot pureed cauliflower will go all over you and your kitchen and will burn the inside wrist of the arm that was trying to hold the lid on. Trust me, I have the red burn right now to prove this. Anyhow, once pureed and all pretty, put back into your stock pot and add the cream/milk/ whatever and the cream cheese. Whisk until smooth and pretty. Add the thickener (xanthum gum or cornstarch) and get it to where you like it. Add your meat- whatever your choice- I used andouille and shrimp. Salt and pepper to taste.

It was SO good. I was actually really surprised. This recipe was one that originally started with two cans of cream of potato soup and I wanted it to be low carb/gluten free and FRESH. It came out VERY close to the original recipe. We were pleased. Imagine some lovely leeks on the top.......
 
Potato-leek soup, my favorite way to eat leeks.
Make with olive oil, additional veggies and dill.
 
HI:

I use leek in my spanakopita...easy peasy and yummy!

cheers--Sharon
 
My bf and I are very Paleo-conscious. Unfortunately, we are limited at times.

However, one of my favorite things he makes is grilled hot Italian sausages or bratwurst from Whole Foods.
Then we cut up sweet onions and peppers and fry them with olive oil and salt. To really top the meal off, we make our own guacamole.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/guacamole-recipe/index.html

It's seriously amazing and oh, so fresh!
 
April20|1328139730|3116787 said:
Gypsy, this is a bit off the track possibly, but....

I went low carb/gluten free last fall. Cauliflower is my bestest friend these days. I made what turned out to be an amazing thick, creamy soup this week. It could have been an absolute disaster, and almost was, but it came out well.

Here's what I did and you can tweak it to whatever meat ingredients you want! Just about anything would work.

1 small onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth (I used 2 cups homemade from a crockpot chicken and 2 cups canned. I don't think it matters)
24 oz frozen cauliflower
1 cup milk/half & half/ cream or a mix of these- whatever you decide
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp xanthum gum dissolved in 1/2 tsp olive oil (or just some cornstarch dissolved in water)
shrimp- oh, about 1 lb or so, shelled, tails gone, deveined, etc; grilled in a skillet until just done
andouille sausage- I dunno, four or five sliced up rather thin and then put in skillet to render fat out
You could add chicken. Or beef. Or whatever.

Okay, saute diced onion in olive oil until tender in your favorite stock pot. Maybe add some garlic. Add broth and cauliflower and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then simmer for 25 mins or so until very tender. If you have a stick blender, use that to puree the whole sha-bang. If you have a regular blender, DO NOT fill the thing to about 3/4 full, hold the lid in place with your hand and then hit the power button. Boiling hot pureed cauliflower will go all over you and your kitchen and will burn the inside wrist of the arm that was trying to hold the lid on. Trust me, I have the red burn right now to prove this. Anyhow, once pureed and all pretty, put back into your stock pot and add the cream/milk/ whatever and the cream cheese. Whisk until smooth and pretty. Add the thickener (xanthum gum or cornstarch) and get it to where you like it. Add your meat- whatever your choice- I used andouille and shrimp. Salt and pepper to taste.

It was SO good. I was actually really surprised. This recipe was one that originally started with two cans of cream of potato soup and I wanted it to be low carb/gluten free and FRESH. It came out VERY close to the original recipe. We were pleased. Imagine some lovely leeks on the top.......
Click to expand...

We made shepherd's pie with cauliflower mash last week! DELISH!
 
Echinda, the chicken was VERY good tonight. I brined it with salt and lots of ginger. Then seared it off, topped with apricot preserves and more ginger and put it in the oven. Meanwile I made a lovely sauce of dried apricots, shallots, ginger, tangerine zest, tangerine juice, chicken stock and saffron for over it. And it was very lovely with the cous cous on the side.

Just the perfect recipe to get me out of my funk, thank you honey.

My DH is Italian so we do sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches often and just had them last week. YUM.
So many great ideas here. I've been curious for a while now to try cauliflower recipes. So I think that next week I'll give that a shot.

The chicken and leek with dumplings sounds delish. But my DH doesn't like anything that's even remotely like chicken soup. But I would be all over that if we had guests or someone else to eat with (cause then DH will go along with whatever because there are guests). So I'll keep the recipe for a time when we have company. Thank you!

I'm making a thick noodle soup with spinach, red chard, parsley, green onions, beets beans and noodles and whey (it's a persian dish) though, because I wanted something thick a yummy but vegetarian. That's for tomorrow.

And I' love potatoe leek soup, but I've been making it once a month for the last 4 months and I'm totally burned out on it. So I've decided I'm going to do a Gruyere, Fresh Thyme and Leek Tart with the Leeks. That's for Friday. A nice Riesling with that.

I'm also TOTALLY craving BLTs. Too bad tomatoes right now are all hot house... can't wait for summer.

The pork loin suggestion TOTALLY reminded me that I haven't made soulvaki in far too long. YUM. That's definitely gong on the list ofr next week.

Vc I'm going to check that out. Last time I tried their butter nut squash ravioli it tasted like graham crackers and was gritty like them too so I was totally turned off. But the Kale idea, something really savory and rich to balance it is intriguing.

Mayk, I ADORE arugula AKA rocket. It's the absolute best salad green ever. I'll have to try your recipe. It might go well with the Leek Tart for Friday.

Thanks all. This has been great, if anyone has any additional ideas please speak up.
 
Gypsy|1328180018|3117147 said:
Echinda, the chicken was VERY good tonight. I brined it with salt and lots of ginger. Then seared it off, topped with apricot preserves and more ginger and put it in the oven. Meanwile I made a lovely sauce of dried apricots, shallots, ginger, tangerine zest, tangerine juice, chicken stock and saffron for over it. And it was very lovely with the cous cous on the side.

Just the perfect recipe to get me out of my funk, thank you honey.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it was a success. Your alterations sound delicious! There are some great ideas here.
 
Gypsy|1328180018|3117147 said:
Vc I'm going to check that out. Last time I tried their butter nut squash ravioli it tasted like graham crackers and was gritty like them too so I was totally turned off. But the Kale idea, something really savory and rich to balance it is intriguing.
Click to expand...

I hope this batch is better for you! I think the first time we got them, I had the same feeling...at least that it was too sweet. But I think they've just slightly altered the recipe, because now I get sweet, but not TOO sweet, from the filling. And the kale/lemon juice/parm is a great foil for the the sweet. I hope you enjoy! (We also love the portbello mushroom ravioli and the artichoke ravioli...I'm dying to try the lobster ones, but DH doesn't eat "sea bugs" so that one will have to wait, LOL.)
 
I used to make this recipe a lot. We loved it (the kids don't!)....I've altered the directions a bit so that I can do as much prep work ahead of time and then just throw everything together when it's dinner time....

Chicken Breast Pierre: recipe can be halved easily

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I usually do 3)
1/4 c flour
1/2t salt
1 pinch black pepper
14.5 oz. can stewed, sliced tomatoes
1/2 C water
2T brown sugar
2T distilled white vinegar
2T worcestershire sauce
2t chile powder
1t mustard powder
1/2t celery seed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 t hot red pepper sauce

Directions:

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, water, brown sugar, vinegar, worcetershire sauce, chile powder, mustard powder, celery seed, garlic and hot sauce. Set aside for later (I usually do this early in the day)

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture. Melt butter and brown chicken on both sides. Add tomato mixture, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes (maybe longer if the chicken breasts are large).

Serve with wild rice (I omit the seasoning packet because the sauce from the chicken is so flavorful, I spoon that over the rice.)

Enjoy!
 
That looks good Yenny, I'll take a close look. Thank you!

vc, I think it's a great they reformulated, because they were just nasty. We have an AMAZING pasta company in Berkley so I usually just go up there if I'm needing ravioli, because theirs are so good.

Unstuffed cabbage is what we ended up having having tonight. My own original lazy recipe created years ago. My husband was more in the mood for that, and when I went to Whole Foods I had bought all the stuff for it.

Dinner was good tonight, and I've got all these lovely ideas from this thread to keep me creative.

Thank you all. Keep up the ideas.

I love red meat, so any red meat recipes are welcome.
 
I make this recipe--I have made it with salmon and it was good too! FI loves it and it's a quick and easy weeknight meal--especially if you clean and prepare the leeks in advance. I substitute lowfat Greek yogurt for the sour cream to save calories. and I bet peas would be good in it too!

This Epicurious.com recipe: Fish with Creamy Leeks

Fish with Creamy Leeks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup water, divided
4 (6-ounce) pieces thick white-fish fillets such as pollock or Pacific cod, skinned
1 tablespoon chopped dill

Whisk together sour cream and flour.
Wash leeks, then put in a large heavy skillet with butter, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover with parchment, then with a lid, and simmer over medium heat, stirring once or twice, until leeks are tender, about 10 minutes.
Stir in sour-cream mixture and remaining 1/3 cup water.
Season fish with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then add to leeks and cook, covered with parchment and lid, until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with dill.
 
Tuffy that sounds really lovely. I might try a variation of that. Braise some leeks to really get out the flavor and flour the fish, sautee it and add leeks over it and top with a sour cream dill sauce. Sounds great. Thanks for that suggestion.
 
I have found so many wonderful recipes on Pinterest (join if you haven't already).

The great thing is you will see things you never thought of before and you will have a picture to go along with it!

Happy cooking!
 
I need risotto lessons. Mine is always super dense and heavy. I'm doing something wrong. One of these days I'll have to watch Neatfreak as she makes it. Great suggestions Julie, though.


Pinterest for recipes? Really? I'm not into pinterest, but I do like food blogs. Maybe I'll venture forth to checking out pinterest.

Currently have a gorgeous quiche in the oven. Leeks, fresh thyme, real bacon crumbled, and Gruyere. YUM. It's a got some cooking to do, but it is going to be soooo good.
 
Yes, check out Pinterest. So many people pin food from blogs and that will take you to new places!
 
sphenequeen|1328465098|3119586 said:
Yes, check out Pinterest. So many people pin food from blogs and that will take you to new places!
Click to expand...

I totally agree! There's a whole category of just Food and Drink, so you can cut through all the other stuff and just peruse recipes. You will love it! It's kind of a shortcut to the food blogs.
 
Okay, I haven't had time to hit Pinterested but I'm getting more and more interested.

Tuffy, it was great! Leeks sauteed with butter and fresh thyme till light gold, set aside to cool (in fridge). Add to egg/cream mixture plus Gruyere and crumbled apple wood smoked bacon.

Only problem was I didn't make my own crust and didn't go crustless (which I love) and decided to try the Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts and they were super sweet. So we just ripped the crust off an ate the rest. Yum.
 
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