Still sawing away at the minestrone soup and had a couple of picanha.

Yesterday I went to Cheddars and got a chicken fried steak for lunch with mashed potatoes and gravy the other side was coleslaw.
Glass of ice tea.
The service was fantastic and the food was really good.
The price was a little over what a hamburger fries and drink would cost at a fast food restaurant.
$21.41 including a 20% tip.
I've had chicken fried steak on the brain for days.

Last night it was fried fish and onion rings.

Last night, Beer Brats, Boudain, and Jalapeño poppers.

Tonight, Chalupas.

When I got up this morning, I could still smell that meat that I browned last night, for that pasta dish - the sort of Italian sausage, that I made with venison! I started out by cooking a cup of kidney beans and 1/3 c barley in about 4 c water in the Instant Pot, while getting the rest ready. I thawed the sausage slowly in the MW, ground up about 3 lbs of the last of the tomatoes I had, went out and harvested the last of the basil (ended up a little over ½ c chopped), and chopped up a large onion, and about minced about 2 tb garlic. When the pressure was down, I drained the beans and barley, then rinsed the pot out, and in a couple tb of olive oil on Medium Sauté, cooked the onions 'til starting to brown, then cooked the garlic for a minute, then added that tomato purée, some salt and about a half tb of pepper flakes (added more at the end), along with over half of the basil chopped up fine, then let it cook down. While doing this, I browned the meat in just a small amount of olive oil, since that venison is so lean, and when totally cooked, I deglazed the pan with just a small amount of water. When the tomatoes had cooked down by about a quarter, I added the meat, 3½ c water, and a pound of pasta, put the lid on the pot, set on Manual for 3 minutes, and when time is up, released the pressure. When pressure is released, I removed the lid, and stirred in the beans and barley, to reheat them, then stirred in about a quarter cup of chopped basil. I served with a little more basil on top.
Finished pasta dish, after adding the pre-cooked kidney beans and barley, to heat through. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last quarter cup of the basil from outside this year, after cooking about the same amount in the tomato sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The finished pasta dish, with a little more basil on top. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bit of codfish chowder here tonight. I bought frozen 3PS cod fillet - $7 for a trivial piece, enough for two servings, which is of course sky high for 'local' product, but there it is.
Evoo, onion, bayleaf, black pepper, sauteed til turning golden, then added salt, slabbed red potatoes, and a little water. Simmer 10 minutes then the well rinsed fish (sadly necessary) cut in chunks is placed on top for another ten. Sour cream stirred in. Very satisfying meal, in spite of the high price.

Last night made a large pot of romano bean chili with ground beef, home tomatoes and peppers.

Night before, it was a chicken stew - bulk pack of thighs - and a swag at tandoori like flavorings: Lal Mirch pepper, garam masala, quite a bit of coriander, fresh garlic and ginger, and a generous after-slosh of rice wine vinegar got it seasoned and simmering - not too bad.

So I am doing the cooking this week, finally! After stripping the freezer ready meals for hard work days.

Sometimes I come up with food to eat at the blink of an eye.
I have no idea what triggered this idea as I was walking to to house after work.
Beef barley soup.
And I mean not many vegetables either.
Just....
Celery a couple of stalks.
Cilantro a couple of stalks.
Epazote about a couple of stalks.
Nothing else.
Other select ingredients are...
Pearl barley no idea but at least a cup of not more.
Home ground brisket 1 pound.
Seasonings are.
Cumin 1 teaspoon.
Black pepper 1 tablespoon.
Knorr beef bullion powder 3 tablespoons.
Garlic powder 1 tablespoon.
Onion powder 1 tablespoon.
Homemade hot curry powder 1 teaspoon.
Kitchen bouquet a dash for color.
Dash of dark soy sauce.
Molasses not black strap 2 tablespoons.
All measurements are eyeballed.

Here it is and it's delicious if I do say so myself.
The perfect amount of salt without adding plain salt.
I did add a teaspoon of hot smoked Spanish paprika for more sting.

I’m ready for some late fall/winter foods. Craving them. Soup with Kale, Cabbage dishes.

I did buy a 12 plus pound frozen Turkey from Aldi, I think it was 79 cent per pound. A roasted turkey is sounding good. So is cranberry sauce.

We have some significantly cooler weather inbound next week. Until then, I’ll suffer with summer food.

Tonight is leftovers.

Tuscan Zuppa Soup without the cream.

I only got about 2 hours of sleep Thursday night and had to jump up at 5 AM and beat traffic to Austin to get something and head south before traffic got bad
Got off early added water and a lone sweet potato to the beef barley soup and had two giant bowls.
Took a nap at 12 noon and woke up at 6 PM.
Best nap or sleep I've had in a very long time.

karstopography wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 5:53 pm I’m ready for some late fall/winter foods. Craving them. Soup with Kale, Cabbage dishes.

Yeah buddy!

On that note, the last Tomatoes of the season: viewtopic.php?p=138937#p138937

Comprise the lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch's 1st Lasagna of the season... The Gotch

I just ate the last of the beef barley soup for breakfast.

It tasted just as good as day one

Fried chicken thighs with garden red potatoes and garden sweet peppers.

The beef barley soup for breakfast kept me from going to the store and spending money.
I had two giant and I mean giant onions that needed immediate attention.
One white and one sweet yellow.
The stump of the celery.
What was left of my garlic paste about two tablespoons.
Beef bullion powder.
I have barley so I decided to make barley onion soup.
Cooked the onions down in a stick of unsalted butter but didn't caramelize.
Sweet onions are sometimes too sweet to canalize in my opinion.
Added a half cup of barley.
Adding what as I need it.
I'm basically just using up stuff around the house so it doesn't go to waste and on a hard times diet to get off meat because it's so expensive.

I'll be adding other ingredients as I find and or decide to use them.
It's the second day it set overnight and is ready to eat.
I'll have it with slices of cheese but not melted in the oven.
I honestly don't care for stuck cheese on my spoon or fork.
And there won't be any bread.
The flavor is out of this world.

@worth1 The days of using bullion are gone for me. Try some 'Better than Bullion'. It truly is and there is a low sodium version too. I will not be buying bullion ever again. This is a game changer.

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Nov 17, 2024 2:01 pm @worth1 The days of using bullion are gone for me. Try some 'Better than Bullion'. It truly is and there is a low sodium version too. I will not be buying bullion ever again. This is a game changer.

I mainly use it as a salt substitute instead of regular salt.
Plus I want the msg.

I might be interested in a low sodium version though.

I don't always make pancakes but when I do.
Fresh Blueberry buttermilk pancakes from a mix with eggs and bacon.
A ridiculous amount of blueberries go big or go home.

Steen's cane syrup.

My kind of blueberry pancakes!

This is McDonald's in the rich part of town.
Us poor working stiffs gotta eat the trashy stuff.