Party, we love using quinoa in in a Tabbouleh. Lots of cucumbers, tomatoes etc etc, whatever I feel like putting in there.

Some people don't like quinoa when they try it the first time, and I tend to think it's because it was overcooked. So many recipes say to cook it for 20 minutes, then it becomes mush. We love it slightly crunchy so 14 minutes works perfectly for us.

jasdip, I never tried tabbuli with cucumber (the easy local Lebanese spelling). That would be perfect when I don't make tzatziki, and I will definitely try it soon! I agree on the quinoa cooking time.... the recipes on the pkg said 20 min, but I winged it. I guess my instincts were good. :)

I'd love more salad ideas using quinoa! My sister makes a quinoa, kale, and sweet potato salad that's good but they don't often have kale available here. I haven't tried a quinoa and black bean salad yet.... I LOVE black bean salads, but that combo always looks unappealing to me. :p Anyone have a good quinoa recipe using mandarin oranges?! actually... I'd bet that a cold-salad combo of quinoa, m. oranges, red onion, red pepper, sliced almonds, etc., would be really good!

Don't take your pups to the vet after feeding them quinoa, haha. They thought mine were full of worms.

Dinner here...Moose Lasagne.

Moose lasagna? That sounds interesting and I'm quite sure it's something I've NEVER seen on What's for Dinner before, although I've made venison lasagna....

I think my favorite way to eat quinoa is with some dried fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup, hot for breakfast.

Annie

"The 150,000 moose (estimated) that are strutting about Newfoundland today are all descendants of four other moose that were introduced from New Brunswick in 1904."

Not to go deep into our history. Moose is similar to deer and in the same species family but much larger. Not as gamey. Very lean. I usually make a chili style stew with deer but moose is less gamey and tender. Made a moose bourguignon for family and pinched a qrt for stew and a pint for the lasagne. (just the meat and sauce, then chopped it fine) The usual layers with veg and ,well, i messed up a mozzarella, so i used the ricotta and made a killer lasagne by default...with fresh tomatoes...
Then i made successful mozz and topped it.

sleevendog, I've eaten moose before, but it's not common here in lower Michigan.

There is an active moose population in the Upper Peninsula, though, having been reintroduced in the 80s with a goal of having a herd of 1,000 by 2000. That didn't happen because the whitetail deer carries something called brainworm, which doesn't harm them (blasted rats on hooves anyway) but kills moose. So, maybe 1,000 by 2015, with the eventual goal being an annual moose hunt to keep numbers stable. Since the original project was funded by hunters, it seems fair that hunters should eventually "harvest".

Sorry about the messed up mozzarella, I've failed to "pull" mine enough and it gets rubbery....

Annie

Annie, I love when you do a catch up post. Especially when you include pictures like the one with Madison enjoying a cupcake.

Sleevendog, How did you end up with a place in Newfoundland. One of my favourite places to visit. Love Newfoundland. I've never cooked on a wood stove. What a beauty.

A few things from last week.

I worked in the Victoria store a couple of days last week so we had take out one night.

Yummy, Yorkshire Puddings. I need to learn that!
I'm happily stuck with Clafoutis this summer after finding a decorative heavy cast iron cake thing at a yard sale. Just saw a French book on sweet and savory Clafoutis on Amazon but has not been translated so i've been experimenting. A basic egg custard.

ann-t. I was working up here and feel in love. I grew up on the Eastern Shore. My uncle and grandparents had summer homes on the Del and Maryland shore. (Now condos and outlet malls and traffic)
Newfoundland is like the Eastern Shore in the 50's.

I just returned from teaching neighbors mozzarella making and the best i have done yet. A houseful and kids sitting on stools watching. I pre-sliced beets and sweet potato on my madolin, oiled, and popped them in her oven and served chips after we stretched- I had a nice taffy. Let the host stretch the other. Nice to share in person and important to actually see mozzarella made.
I gave her a kit last summer but she never tried it.

(a fisherman that hates beets loved the chips)

Sleenendog, Do you spend your summers in Nfld?

A few more of our recent meals.

Matt spent a couple of days with us last week.

Dinner cooked on the grill. Halibut for Moe and I grilled a chicken breast for Matt the fish hater.

Raspberry Scones for breakfast one morning.

Chicken Breasts stuffed with mushroom Duxelles.

sleevendog, your moose lasagna looks fabulous. Wish I were there! :O)

Ann_t, your breads *always* look so wonderful to me!

Reading and posting to this thread has made me realize that I tend to go with less meat. Last night's dinner was one of my BF's southern favorites, sans a Smithfield ham. lol! We had pinto beans w/ optional chopped onions, mashed potatoes, warm from the oven GF cornbread, and a salad of mixed tomatoes, cucumber, and green onions.... the tomatoes were red grape, Taxi (yellow), and Kellogg's Breakfast (orange). Awesome. :O)

Same here Party Music, we eat less & less red meat. That said DS is coming for dinner tonight and we may be serving steak!

On the menu last night were Tequila Lime Shrimp! Not exactly Sol's version, but something close. I briefly marinated the pink shrimp (Key West, not imported) in lime juice, a bit of evoo, sugar, tequila, chipotle powder, a few pieces of diced hatch chilies, S&P.
I through them all in a grill pan (perforated metal pan for the bbq) and tossed them until a bit charred. I topped it with a sauce made from a super sweet prickly pear jam (bought in AZ in May), some Cholula Chipotle sauce and a bit of lime to cut the sweetness. It was a throw together meal we both loved. DH had guacamole & chips, I opted for cucumbers. Neither of us needed any more carbs!

Party, I would love a bowl of beans with a side of corn bread. And your tomato salad. The deers have been destroying my tomato plants. We had a hot summer and I was looking forward to lots of tomatoes, but it looks like I will get very few.

Ellen, I love grilled prawns/shrimp. Not sure I would care for the sweet sauce, but I would like the hot chipotle sauce and lime.

I don't normally care for sweet sauce with meats, but the only sweetness in this salsa came from the pineapple. I grilled fresh pineapple slices and the red pepper and then added sliced red onion, a jalapeno pepper, minced, garlic, cilantro, salt and fresh lime juice.

Happy Anniversary, Ann and Moe! I thought to myself when I saw that pineapple salsa that you were cooking with Moe in mind instead of yourself, LOL.

Here, there's not much cooking going on. Elery has a colonoscopy tomorrow, so clear liquids today. Plus, my dear sweet Mama's Boy Cooper died on Sunday night. I'm heartbroken, and he was only 4. So, I haven't felt like eating much either.

I did can 8 pints of salsa today, from a mix of Pineapple, Cherokee purple and Rutgers tomatoes. The heirlooms are doing better than the "field" type tomatoes this year, oddly enough.

Annie

Oh Annie, I'm so sorry. Cooper was so young. What happened? I loved all your posts that included Cooper. You know that I have a soft spot in my heart for Shelties. Cooper reminded me so much of Stetson. Both were foodies.

~Ann

Everyone's meals look wonderful as usual!

Annie, so sorry for your loss! Such a young dog!
I envy your canning capabilities! I canned in the past, but was always so leary of eating it, lol. Now, I'm just too lazy :)

Ann T, Happy anniversary! Your dinner looked lovely! Great milestone as well.

Sleevendog, that's so cool that you taught your neighbors how to make cheese! Love that you made root chips as well for a snack for after :)

Partymusic50, your dinner sounds like something I would really enjoy! Seem to be on a bean kick lately. Never much cared for them before. Now I incorporate them into everything!

Compumom, your shrimp sound wonderful. Prickly pear jam sounds interesting. I'm sure I would have loved that too!

Made a Greek turkey meatloaf the other day that was a keeper. Didn't have any breadcrumbs (or bread) and didn't want to use panko, so I added some mashed garbanzo beans to the recipe. Worked out perfectly, and will do that again. Great flavour and more protein!

party music, before I forget, I have to tell you that I love a "mess" of beans and cornbread, one of my favorite meals.

Ann T, I was remembering Stetson too. We'll never know what was wrong with Cooper. He had his teeth cleaned 11 days ago and was fine. I played fetch with him Friday morning. Saturday he was vomiting and the usual advice is to withhold food and water for 12 hours. I did and Sunday he wasn't vomiting any more but didn't want anything at all. I managed to get about 1/2 cup of Pedialyte in him and I told Elery that he would have to go to the vet first thing Monday morning. He and Elery went to bed because the only room that has an air conditioner here is the bedroom, that was 9 or 10 pm. When I checked at midnight, he was gone. The vet said if it happened that fast, there was something "big" going on. So, we'll never know, although I keep beating myself up that I should have gotten him to the vet. We'll also never know if that would have done any good, and at least he got to die at home, with his head on Elery.

Annie

Why do people eat "fast food"? It is cheap and quick.

My lunch cost $4 (even shopping at Whole Foods!) and took 10 minutes to prep and cook, just one cast iron skillet to rinse out.

This post was edited by johnliu on Fri, Aug 30, 13 at 18:36

johnliu, exactly what is in that? it looks interesting and I love red cabbage. :)

I have *never* eaten grilled shrimp! I remember the old ads done by "Crocodile Dundee" about 'tossing some shrimp on the barbie' and was told by someone then that grilled shrimp is really tough. As a result, I've never grilled it and have never been offered any. :p Now it's on my 'to try' list!

At a very nice local Thai restaurant, they cook fresh shrimp on a griddle. Not tough at all---very tasty! That would work in this application, too.

Beachlily, that sounds good. Of course you have access to great fresh shrimp and that can't hurt. Yum, I love shrimp.

John, that does look good. It looks like beef, red cabbage, tomato, some other stuff in a tortilla?

OK, time to catch up. Tonight Elery and I had an almost vegetarian dinner just because I had a refrigerator full of fresh local vegetables I needed to use. So, we had an eggplant parmesan knock-off made with eggplant, tomatoes and basil from the garden. I baked the slices of eggplant with breadcrumbs for crunch, layered with fresh tomatoes and basil. No ricotta or cottage cheese, so I left it out, sprinkled on some parmesan and called it good.

It was good, as was the broccoli, green beans with the last slice of home smoked Canadian bacon lurking in the fridge, and homemade maple oatmeal bread:

Yesterday we had chicken salad on that same bread with slices of Great White tomato from the garden:

In a nod to Rosh Hashanah, Elery grilled some honey glazed chicken with apples and stuffed an acorn squash with a multi-grain blend, as well as apples and honey:

I"ve had some help picking tomatoes, Madi picks them all, I'm trying to convince her that I cannot fry green Sungold tomatoes, LOL:

I've been canning tomatoes, mostly Rutgers, and these are what were in the eggplant:

Elery made a "fattie", macaroni and cheese and some scotch eggs in the smoker for Labor Day weekend:

I made chocolate sheet cake with peanut butter frosting and a cheesecake that I didn't take a picture of, for some reason:

I found some local peaches and made fried peach pies:

And one day we went to Bortell's, before they closed for the season on Labor Day. I didn't bother with fries, just lake perch.

Elery made chicken tortilla soup and a boiled dinner on one of the cooler days:

OK, I think I'm caught up! Now, what else is for dinner?

Annie

Party, Shrimp cooked on the grill are not tough. Overcooked shrimp cooked regardless of method are tough. I often grill shrimp/prawns.

Annie, I like your idea of "almost vegetarian". That is a vegetarian meal I could eat.

Love the picture of Maddie picking tomatoes. She looks so focused. I planted ten tomato plants this year and they were doing well until the deer decided they like my tomatoes. They have basically wiped out all my plants.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with fresh picked beets and greens.

Carne Colorada served over rice with homemade corn tortillas

Homemade Fudge

Maple Toasted Pecan.

Grilled Prime Rib with fries.

Grilled Lamb Sirloin Chops.

with Stacked Greek Salad.

I hate visiting this thread, as I want everyone to come make dinner for me! Everyone's food looks sooo good! I wish more of you would post recipes of what you make, because I would like to try everyone of your dishes!

Enjoying the food your making and the pics! keeps it up!

Annie, that stuffed acron squash loks wonderful! I'd love to have Elery's recipe (pretty detailed, as I don't "wing it" well), if he's willing to share it.

Y'all are cooking up some appetizingly beautiful dishes. Love the kinds of food that cooler weather brings.

jude,

Jude, that squash was actually a way to use up leftovers!

The squash was cut in half and cooked in the Nesco for about half an hour, then stuffed with a multi-grain mixture that contained brown rice, red rice, quinoa, a few others. We got it at the grocery store, so it's not exotic. We'd made it for a meal a couple of days before. So, Elery chopped up a couple of apples that needed to be used, added them to the cooked grains. Drizzled the acorn squash with honey, stuffed them with the grain and baked them another half an hour in the Nesco. (I was canning tomatoes and the stove was busy, LOL). Chicken was done on the grill.....

He says the next time he'd cook the grains in apple juice for more flavor and probably add walnuts or dried cranberries or both, as the filling could have used just a bit more flavor, in his opinion. I thought it was pretty good mixed in with the squash.

Annie

As usual, I made bread this weekend. I also made a chocolate-zucchini cake. We love this cake, and it's so easy, made from scratch. Cake and ice cream is tonight's dessert.

Another great WFD thread! Luscious photos, delicious descriptions!

I didn't take a picture, but tonight's fare was capellini with lobster in brown butter sauce with fried sage, and a tossed green salad. Yum!

Smiles,
Sooz

This salad is carrot shavings, blanched in salt water (in batches, 30 sec each, then into cold water, finally dried in a salad spinner) then tossed with vinaigrette; pesto that I made from my sage plant and some hazelnuts; fresh goat cheese. It has to be mixed to eat, but is prettier before mixing.

Pretty salad John. You haven't been around much. Nice to see you posting again.

Ann, I neglected to mention how good that fudge looks, like always. Even better than the perfectly cooked beef....

Annie

My usual summer disappearance. Every summer, I start preparing for the Seattle-To-Portland ride and trying to lose weight, SWMBO and the kids take off, for a month I just eat weird and scanty stuff while riding my bike, then we go to Tahoe and my French friends get me eating real food again. This year, I've been given some inspiring cookbooks, and the kids have finally started eating previous no-go foods (fish, mushrooms, tomatoes), so fall cooking is looking quite interesting.

John, your $4.00 WF lunch is a bargain. When I grab lunch at Whole Foods, I consider myself lucky if I walk out of there with loose change.

Everyone's food photos look delicious!

Btw, I'll have what little Madison's having. And will make sure to leave some on my face too...for later.
Then I'll dive into Moe's skillet breakfast.
Yes, I'm an honorary member of the 'Eat Dessert First' camp.

Speaking of desserts, Jasdip, your Chocolate Zucchini Cake looks very good to me.
I lost my favorite recipe long ago. And none of the ones I've tried since have come close. If you happen to see this, could you please post your recipe? Thank you.

Today it's cold and wet here in the thumb (MI). And I'm home nursing a cup of roasted tomato soup. I haven't loaded the pictures yet, because the weekend's almost over, and I've only just begun moping.

Sol

I have a fantasy, Opening a restaurant named "What's for Dinner". Every day one of you will rotate and be the new chef for the day. It will be a great restaurant!

A couple of simple dishes:

Spicy shrimps, mustard green on rice noodles (for a gluten sensitive person).

Sous vided roasted pork on asparagus.

dcarch

I wasn't all that hungry till I opened this thread, now my stomach is growling!

Sol, here is my Chocolate-Zucchini Cake recipe as requested. It's the only chocolate cake we eat, and everytime I make it I get asked for the recipe, or get asked to make it again.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour milk (add 1 tsp vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cup flour
4 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup oil
2 cups grated zucchini (I always add 3 to 3 1/2 cups)

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs well. Add sour milk and vanilla.

Blend baking soda and powder with flour. Add cocoa to butter mixture, add flour.

Combine oil and zucchini; add to batter. Mix and pour into a 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Talk about wanting to lick your screen, wow! Amazing... I think I'll have 2 of everything pictured :o)

I made beans in the pressure cooker for the first time tonight... Great Northern... I browned onion and garlic and threw in a few slices of smoked ham and the beans that I'd soaked overnight... I cannot believe how great they turned out. Every time I use the pressure cooker, I fall in love with it all over again! :o)

Still harvesting.... : )
Feels like spring.
Stuffed zucchini flowers with pan seared heirloom green tomatoes and cod cakes.
72, feels like 80. Leaves are blazing red and yellow.
Really, is it fall?

Cheryl, my old recipe was a double chocolate number, which included both baking cocoa and chopped chocolate.

Obviously, it's been quite some time since I made chocolate/zucchini bread, because that's all I could remember. Your recipe sound delicious. And I'll be hitting the farm stands around here for more zucchini. Thank you!

Sol

Another great thread! If I hadn't just eaten I'd be starving for sure. I haven't been cooking much due to kitchen reno and hectic schedule, but I finally got around to making something I've been meaning to try for a while.

One cooking show that's really grown on me is Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. A bar/grill in Washington served up this stout beer braised lamb and I couldn't resist. I even mail ordered their season all and I'm glad I did. It's got a sweetness that differentiates it from the usual suspects. The lamb was fantastic; seemed a shame to make a sandwich out of it with melted cheese and teriyaki mayo (?!) but it really came together well. Served au jus:

FOAS, Admit it. You know you have made a great picture.

I like the lighting and composition. Magazine quality.

dcarch

I never need an excuse to make and eat soup year round, but the cool weather practically forced me to make this broccoli potato cheese soup. The addition of a couple of potatoes was nice and mellowed a creamy soup even more.

I didn't even use chicken broth/stock so it was even vegetarian.

FOAS, that sandwich looks delicious. Love the au jus for dipping.

Coconut, I always enjoy your meals. Like you I am happy to eat soup year around. Potato leek is a favourite here, but I like the idea of adding broccoli.

A few of our meals since I posted last.

OK, this idea doesn't compete with the above food ..... when we were down in Sanibel, the hotel kept 2 tall glass jugs of water available at all time in the lobby. They were set on ice to keep them chilled. The first had limes, lemons and oranges. Took a sip and gagged. I have acid reflux that's nasty, so that wasn't for me. The other one was pineapple, strawberries and kiwi. I did the second one this morning after a trip to the farmer's market. Ohhhh, yum! The fruit infusion is still wonderful, even though the weather has moderated.

Yesterday was tax day for procrastinators. It went well so I celebrated with Scotch.

I haven't made Emeril's "drunken shrimp" in a long time. (Ruthanna this is for you, you recently mentioned you don't see many of us using watercress.)

And a Cooks Illustrated recipe also using Scotch:

FOAS, those pictures look like they came from a $10,000 camera, and from a $50,000 photo studio after a few hours of shooting.

A big thumbs up.

dcarch

FOAS, I'd be happy to eat at your house. The shrimp over watercress would be the perfect starter and your lamb is perfectly cooked, Just the way I like it.

Did you roast or grill the rack of lamb?

~Ann

FOAS, I don't even like lamb very much and I'd be happy with that, it looks delicious.

Coconut, I like the idea of adding broccoli to potato soup, I'm going to try that.

I'll have one of everything please, with a side of Ann T's fries.....

OK, time to catch up. Here goes:

Tonight's supper was beef stew with a side of white half runner beans and some Boston brown bread, steamed in the crock pot. It was an interesting method and we really like the final product:

I was a bit reluctant to cut up my homegrown and grassfed chuck roast, I was nearly tempted to just give it a quick pan fry and eat it rare, but I caved and into the stew it went, along with carrots, fingerling potatoes, onions, parsnips and turnips, plus fresh herbs from the backyard.

Last night we had pork chops, which were so big I had to cut them in half to get them on the plate. We also had sweet and sour collard greens, some fried okra for Elery and clapshot, which is a mix of potatoes, turnips and carrots, mashed. Yes, this is Elery's plate, LOL, although I did have a couple of pieces of okra. I keep trying it, but I'm still not sold...

Mother visited over the weekend, so I made chicken pot pie with a cream cheese and rosemary crust, a lot of steps. It was good but time consuming, I think I'd take some shortcuts next time. We had Elery's October beans as a side, and chocolate chip muffins courtesy of King Arthur Flour's website for dessert. The muffins had a wonderful flavor but I was talking to mother and forgot to add sugar until the end, and had to mix it in. The overmixing made a flat muffin and they fell apart when removing them from the pan. Didn't matter, we ate them warm under ice cream!

We've had duck, smoked and glazed with a dark soy sauce and hoisin glaze:

And applesauce muffins:

A breakfast from the farm, which included eggs from my "girls", fingerling potatoes and tomatoes from the garden, homemade chicken sausage, toast made from wheat berries that Elery ground and some autumn olive jelly, and fried apples from the old Wolf River tree:

Oh, and Ann T's stacked enchiladas one day, with chicken they were so filling I ate half of one, with cooked wheatberries on the side.

Finally, salmon cakes with tomato dumplings and homemade garlic aioli.

Nope, we haven't been starving. (grin)

Annie

I made a new recipe Monday afternoon -- Pumpkin Muffins from the "Joy of Baking" site. They should actually be called Pumpkin BRAN Muffins because the recipe includes 3/4 cup of wheat bran. In fact, that's why I made them. I'm always on the look out for good tasting bran muffin recipes, and this one's a real winner.

I followed the recipe but made a few changes. I used no sodium baking powder and omitted the salt altogether. I did use regular baking soda because I've had some difficulties with the no sodium version. I added 1/4 tsp. of ginger to the cinnamon too.

I usually substitute applesauce for half of the oil called for in quick breads. But, this time, since I was dealing with pumpkin puree, I used it instead. I also subbed dark chocolate chips for the dried fruit. And, finally, I added a cube of cream cheese to the muffin just because I love biting into a chunk of cream cheese.

My husband loved these muffins. I made jumbo size and froze them for his breakfasts. (He usually wakes up 2 hrs. before me, so I like to have a variety of breakfasty type things in the freezer for him.)

Anyhow, these were really good, and I know I'll be making them again and again. And I also know I'll always use chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Muffins:
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used 1-1/4 cups)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil (I used just 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour (I used WW pastry flour)
3/4 cup natural wheat bran
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I added 1/4 tsp ginger)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (I used chocolate chips)

Pumpkin Muffins: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a medium sized bowl mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, buttermilk, and oil. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in the raisins. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough when baked.

Fill the muffin cups with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes , or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins. (I made 6 jumbo size)

Here is a link that might be useful: Joy of Baking Pumpkin Muffins

Yum, shambo, those sound delicious and it's the perfect time of year. I'm saving your recipe for when I catch up!

Annie

Three muffins in the last two posts. Got to love that. I wouldn't mind one of Annie's Chocolate or Apple sauce muffins or Sue's Pumpkin muffins right about now with my morning coffee.

I'll finish this off with a couple of recent meals.

Ann_t - are Yorkshire puddings similar to popovers? Those look really yummy!

Yes, they do, don't they? Ann T reminded me that I haven't made popovers in a long time....

I did start WFD #333, as I thought we were still stopping at 100 posts due to the long time it takes to load all the pictures.

Please correct me if I'm wrong and we'll start to have the longer threads again, but this one is taking forever to load already, so many yummy pictures.....

Annie