What's for Dinner, Sun., July 30, 2023

[NJCher]

This is the time of the year I live for: fresh vegetables ripening and presenting me with the opportunity to do some creative thing with them. Yesterday I posted a pic of the results of a walk-through of one of my gardens (I have 3, gardening glutton that I am).

In the crazy heat of the last few days, I learned that the air fryer can do a magnificent job of cooking stuffed peppers and tomatoes. Just use a good amount of olive oil.

Today, however, it's cooler and I have more options. I'm using The Flavor Bible for inspiration on my two yellow zucchinis ("Butter Cube" ) -- which I think I am going to simply saute' in butter with herbs, then serve with a spoonful of ricotta with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

I like to look at what The Flavor Bible suggests and then make up something new to me. Here's what I can work with. The caps are the best pairings:


ZUCCHINI


Techniques: fry, grill, pan roast, roast, sauté

BASIL

bell peppers: green, red, yellow

bread crumbs

butter

CHEESE: cheddar, dry feta, goat, Gruyère, mozzarella, PARMESAN, pecorino, queso fresco, RICOTTA

chile peppers: dried red (e.g., chipotle), fresh green (e.g., jalapeño)

chives

cilantro

cinnamon

coriander

corn

cream

curry leaf

dill

EGGPLANT

fish

French cuisine, esp. Provençal

GARLIC

Italian cuisine

lemon: juice, zest

lemon balm

lemon thyme

marjoram

meats

mint

mustard seeds, esp. black

OIL: pecan, vegetable, walnut

OLIVE OIL

----------------

Some .edu is offering The Flavor Bible for free as a .pdf but you have to answer some questions and I didn't bother because I already own it.

Later I think I'll do some air fryer peppers and onions for a kabob or two using marinated tofu I'm going to get off the salad bar at WF.

Dessert: CHOCOLATE!

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Too hot for much fanfare

Chicken bacon ranch pasta salad (but it's homemade!)

[chillfactor]

2. Dinner today

Air fryer beer brats with green bell pepper and yellow onion

Fried potatoes

Corn-on-the-cob

Sweet iced tea

[Callalily]

3. Cheesy Tofu Quiche with Spinach and a fresh spinach salad

[irisblue]

4. Italian style chicken sausages and peppers. Cold tea

[Emile]

5. Cheeseburger and crinkle cut fries.

Small bowl of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with Hershey's chocolate syrup with walnuts.for dessert.

[Cairycat]

6. Chicken bog

a stewy, chicken and rice affair. Boiled sweet corn. As an appetizer, fried okra from the air fryer. (Kind of a southern theme going.) Dessert is some little pears I got at the Farmers Market, they look like Forelle pears. I pared them and poached them in a spiced syrup, then boiled the syrup down to serve over them.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/chicken-bog-recipe

[iamateacher]

7. Spinach/cheese casserole

And new potatoes, air fried. Cooler here today, no humidity, what a relief!

[mike_c]

8. refrigerator grazing for Ms K and some shrimp dumplings for me

We have lots of fresh greens and stuff, so I'll probably build us both salads to go along with 'fridge foraging. Lots of leftovers too. It's too hot for major cooking this afternoon.

I also opened a new five-pack of Ah-Sha knife-cut noodles yesterday found that they have changed the packaged sauce. They used to package it with a shoyu based sauce and dehydrated veggies in a second "flavor pack." Now the main sauce packet has a chili oil sauce instead and a packet of dry powdered chili to mix in. I like it! It's got a genuine kick, even for an old fire breather like me.

I've mentioned before that I'm a noodle and dumpling fanatic. I buy Taiwanese Ah-Sha noodles by the case, seriously. Does anyone else like them? I also buy noodles at the local oriental grocery, or make my own fresh, but those Ah-Sha bags are the perfect portion size for me with a handful of fresh veggies added. I add extra soy sauce to the sauce packet along with aged black vinegar, sesame oil, and homemade chili oil. I could eat it every day!

[NJCher]

11. I love noodles, too

I saved your post so I can look for the Ah Sha.

[TexasDem69]

9. Fried potatoes and onions

And grilled corn on the cob.

[Runningdawg]

10. Shrimp tempura, stirfry pork with green beans and carrots, soba noodles, fresh pineapple.

[Retrograde]

12. Still thinking about it

Had a large, late brunch and still don't feel like eating much. Maybe we'll just heat up a package of samosas.

[pansypoo53219]

13. fried brat pennies.

[pansypoo53219]

14. fried brat pennies. USINGER brat.

[MissMillie]

15. Sis treated us to a late lunch at one of her favorite eateries

https://shattuckgolf.com/the-taproom/

Not fancy by any means, but the food is good, and the restaurant is lovely. It's at the base of Mt. Monadnock, right near a golf course. It looks as though the building used to be a church.

Anyway, at this restaurant, your meal is free if it's your birthday. So the 4 of us had a good meal (and sis had a beer) for the cost of Dad & Al's dinners (and sis's beer). I had a turkey BLT, Dad had fish & chips, and Sis and Al both had a reuben sandwich.

Then we went back to Dad's and had dessert: the lemon cheesecake I made on Saturday. It was as delicious as I hoped it would be.

It was an absolutely lovely outing. The temperature and the humidity finally fell and there was a slight breeze and, well... I could not have asked for a nicer birthday.


Funny side note: The Dublin Road Taproom has 24 beers on tap, 23 of them crafted by local brewers. I had to laugh when I noticed 4 people at the table next to us drinking Bud Light. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're not boycotting Bud Light. But geez... a choice of 23 locally brewed beer, and they're drinking Bud Light. No sense of adventure.