What's for dinner?

[kwtoxman]

Thx so much @Joe Bass! I love bread as well. Too much work for me so show some bread @Chris-CJ

!

I love grilled octopus well cooked... so tender and such soft flavors. The GTA is very lucky to be a top 5 NA city by population with near seaport access; it gives amazing food and seafood availability including reasonably fresh octopus.

IDK if you remember my Mayan Riviera MX AI vacation posted a while back now, it had some great pictures and meals including a lot of octopus and squid. I'm heading back to the same resort in Jan and I plan to have 10+ meals of grilled octopus on that trip for sure

!

That breakfast dinner looks awesome.


More food pictures.

Grilled kalbi beef.

Another few scratch burst garden cherry tomato sauce spaghetti meals. I didn't have grana padano cheese so I hand-grated some bocconcini here.

Potato and cheddar cheese perogies pan fried in butter with ground 4 peppercorn and salt plus sour cream.

Sample plate with pickled pepperoncinis, two cheeses (Boursain herb and garlic plus Oka classique), chunky tapenade with green olives, florina peppers and chilis plus three types of crackers ({C sea salt baked pita, PC quinoa baked pita and Raincoast oat and cranberry).

 

[Joe Bass]

Sunday night is pasta night.
Bowtie pasta with Alfredo sauce and mushrooms for the resident vegetarian.
Bowtie pasta with red sauce for my little guy, and the wife and I added a meat and pepper sauce to ours.
No cheese added this time.

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[kwtoxman]

Nice @Joe Bass

. Inspiring. I just picked up an alfredo sauce plus tortellini, both beef and three cheese and am looking forward to it

.


I'm filling most every meal with good stuff day to day now, lucky me and hopefully lucky you too at home. Here are some more recent food pictures to share.

Another sample plate, this one with pickled pepperoncinis, pickled California pickled hot chili peppers, three cheeses (habanero and cracked black pepper Monterey jack, Beemster classic gouda and Oka classique), two types of crackers (Raincoast oat and cranberry plus quinoa baked pita), Coppa di Parma (Italian/Corsican style salt cured thin sliced deli pork), fresh garden carrots and a fresh mandarin orange. Great eye appeal ?.

Edemame with sea salt.

Stovetop wok Asian stir fry bok choy with lots of fresh garlic and a bit of oyster sauce.

A stove-top wok Asian stir fry, this one made with extra large zipperback shrimp (12-16/lb), lots of flour stick noodles (pancit canton), bok choy, minced garlic, asparagus, garden carrots and a Thai red curry sauce. I really enjoy the unique texture and flavour of this noodle.

Cheers and enjoy the weekend.

 

[Joe Bass]

Not sure how many do the following substitute/ cheat, but I find it tasty, quick and cost effective:
I stock up on Campbell's cream of mushroom soup when it's on sale (last time they were 2/$0.99, I bought 2 cases of 24)
Then I mix 2 cans with some milk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is smooth, but not runny.
I will add salt & pepper to taste, and a splash of dried parsley.
Pour over your favourite pasta and top with some parmesan for a nice dish.

Does anyone else do this?
And if not, if you try it, share some pics and let me know what you think.



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[kwtoxman]

I have family that do similar @Joe Bass

. There's some great Instant Pot recipes that use cream of mushroom soup, and some good pork chop cooks with it (family again). I don't like that soup so I don't use it.



Here's another example of great food I enjoy, chocolate. It's one of the most popular food types and flavours in the world, with historical roots in North America (MX). The chocolate scene is huge and extremely variable, bringing something for everyone.

It's not hard for a foodie to deep dive into chocolate and reap its benefits. I have somewhere between 30 and 40 different types of chocolate in the house. It ranges from top rated premium chocolate through to more basic offerings/bars as well as cooking/baking chocolate.

Here's a recent picture of some of the top rated premium chocolate in the house. Many are world competition award winners and it includes some of the rarest chocolate in the world. It's a big high res image so one can click on it to zoom in to read the individual chocolate bar labels.

Cheers

 

[jc100]

Last real chocolate I bought was from a cacao farm last year 5h away from San Jose, Costa Rica, artisanal made in small batches from different strain and age trees on site, signed by the native farm worker that picked and sorted and fermented the beans. Shook hands with him and chatted a bit too while he was on his way down from the plantation. Not sold anywhere else in the world except the farm. Blows away any commercial stuff including the Hummingbird world award winning stuff from Ottawa I’ve tried. Since I got my hands on that I don’t spend a lot on chocolate here now at all. I’ll bring some more back when I visit the farms on holiday. The process is fascinating and fresh cacao beans and fruit are very tasty. You can buy the pods at the side of the road in the growing areas at about a dollar a pod. The soft pith surrounding the beans is citrusy and delicious. The beans are crunchy and earthy and full of flavour but not chocolate like at all until they’ve been fermented, ground and rendered. I’ve got a few blocks of cacao nibs from there that I need to cook with too.

We had a tasting at the plantation with various producers beans and mixes. Some chilli chocolate, pepper chocolate, herbed chocolate, fruit mixes and plain. It was all really, really good. Bought a ton....gave away some as one of a kind gifts and ate all the rest.

Definitely recommend visiting a farm/plantation if you can but it will spoil you for life. If anyone goes to Grenada in Nicaragua the chocolate museum there is awesome too (also plantations to visit). I’ve had rainforest made chocolate in Panama made in a similar way the aztecs made it too but that’s definitely a very acquired taste. It’s incredibly bold and a little grittier as it’s harder to prepare without easy access to some equipment.

We usually visit farms/plantations when we’re away as we love trying food when it’s removed from the industrial commercialization of North America. There’s a lot of fruit that doesn’t make its way here because of North American tastes and preferences like amazing white pineapple that’s sold in many places ( North Americans prefer yellow) and fruits like custard apples, cashew apples and other oddities that don’t easily make their way here.

Just bought a Black Friday flight deal to head to Costa Rica again so I can stock up on coffee. Can’t wait.

 

[bigpoppa]

@kwtoxman bro you eat like an actual king.

 

[crankcall]

@KW , indulge me here. In a previous life i was trained as a photographer, Take some photos on a white plate, in a white bowl. I find the blue plates distract me visually from the food. Or tell me to bugger off, either is ok.
@Joe, you were 99% there, wipe that plate edge after stirring so you dont have excess sauce all over the china.

remember the chef training mantra; first you eat with your eyes.

@Joe, we have vegetarian and vegans in the family, look for a book (maybe C'mas gift?) for your kid called "Oh She Glows" , before you think what?? I dont want my kid to 'catch the gay' , its a vegan cookbook written by a very good author/chef and the recipes are very good, very tasty and sensible, They dont try to have you pretend something is not what it is. I have that cookbook in my kitchen to feed my meat challenged friends and family.

 

[Joe Bass]

@crankcall noticed the sauce after I posted and ate and thought "damn! That pic would have been so much better if I saw that!"
My little cousin is vegan and showing us some good recipes too.
Will get the book.
Thanks!

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[kwtoxman]

Thx @bigpoppa! LOL, I enjoy sharing things and ways so we can ALL eat like kings

. All my posts are food and meals available to everyone and it's great to inspire each other with easily sourced food.

There's lots of great chocolate out there. I also enjoy less costly options like Lindt and Rittersport chocolate. Many stores have them and they are often discounted further off of regular price. My favourites include the Lindt Crunchy Caramel bar, Orange Intense bar, Swiss Classic Crunchy bar, Creation Creme Brulee bar, plus their chocolate collections such as Swiss Luxury, Creation Dessert, Signature, Truffles, Pralines and Connaisseurs. There's the Rittersport Praline bar for me too.

@crankcall, sorry but I don't own any white plates. Using blue plates is not a big deal to me, if I go professional I'll keep that in mind for sure.

Small details definitely help (I try to wipe my dishes, at least to a point), but I wouldn't sweat the small details too much @Joe Bass. Most people don't even bother to take pictures of their meals and cooks here, let alone in general. Sometimes I/we do better than other times in getting great pictures and accounting for all the details, but the point of my posts are to share great food ideas and meals, then eat well. In doing that, it helps to eat the food fresh and hot

.

I don't think my chocolate picture host link will last long. I guess we'll see.

With the holidays let's see some great meal pictures here! There won't be anything too wild for me, but it will be cooked well and tasty. As we roll into the holiday season, I've been enjoying Christmas nuts regularly here, as well as Mandarin oranges. It's a good season for good food.

Cheers

 

[kwtoxman]

More food and meal pictures. Grilled pork back ribs are in significant rotation here (I did that sale bulk buy). This time I made up a rack of BBQ and a rack of chipotle adobo pork back ribs. Grilled low and slow for four hours over water trays with the Weber Summit grill. Winter, pffft. No smoking the ribs this time for a change. I make up the chipotle adobo rub from scratch and it's my own inspiration for a seasoning. Highly recommended. Big pictures and lots of details.

Served with toasted garlic butter bread.

Have a great weekend.

 

[jc100]

Yucca al mojo and enchiladas tonight. Yucca al mojo is a Cuban dish of yucca root in a garlic, onion, olive oil and lemon sauce. Done well it’s delicious and pretty quick to make and also dirt cheap too. Enchiladas are vegan with refried beans, rice, enchilada sauce, fried poblano strips and veggie mince. Bit of a Hispanic theme tonight. Might be time for a large margarita later.

 

[kwtoxman]

More food pictures.

Here's another recent Asian wok stir fry I was particularly happy with. It was made with extra large shrimp (12-16/lb), shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, fresh garlic, minced ginger, red sweet pepper, garden carrots, celery, baby bok choy, chow mein noodles, Chinese red chilis (mortar and pestle ground), chili flakes, sesame seeds, roasted cashews, sesame oil, peanut oil, Chinese dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and Thai black soy sauce (sweet). Big pictures and lots of detail.

?.

Here's another scratch garden burst cherry tomato sauce spaghetti meal. I didn't have the fresh basil this time but instead riffed a bit again (extra oil, cheese and fresh garlic); it was excellent and is still a favorite meal.

Have a great weekend.

 

[sburns]

I think this thread should be re-named "kwtoxman's food porn"
Excellent stuff all around though.

 

[kwtoxman]

The more food picture posts the merrier! Show the love .

It's a shout out here, look to do some great quality and value food shopping at the local grocer this time of year. If it's not a typical holiday meal food and fresh it's often on sale at the local grocer around now. I picked up a lot at the local grocers yesterday.

Lots of fresh chicken and pork on sale at a very good price (but not all). I picked up a small pork shoulder blade roast portion (2.5 lbs), two 1 inch thick pork chops, three packs of split chicken wings and two one pound boneless skinless fresh Atlantic salmon fillets.... all marinated in unique premium store sourced (made?) products (you've seen many of the marinade names here from me before). And on sale at crazy good prices (e.g., one pork chop was $1.64). I also picked up my faves of frozen pizza finally on sale again ($2.99 per), plus OJ, asparagus and PC Black Label white stilton cheese with mango and ginger (all discounted).

Lots of other good and seasonal food to ogle. I grabbed some new premium deli meat that looked too good to not try. Also some more cheeses, a custom cut 20 oz over 1.5 inch thick angus beef ribeye steak vacuum packed from my fave butcher), premium local small-farm pork bacon, fresh butcher-made jalapeno & cheese Ukrainian kovbasa sausage, San Francisco Sour Dough bread (I think the outside is buttered when cooking so it gets that hard shiny skin, my favorite), Brioche sweetbuns, mussels, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuit mix (I try to have them once a month and always have it in stock), saffron, cashews, 1L whipping cream, eggnog and nutmeg. Some great meals are lined up for this week with many other excellent options available the rest of the time.

The basement chest freezer is full again. Lots of good stuff out there and much of it on sale. Get out there and get some.

Cheers

 

[jc100]

I’ll pick up a nice crate of fresh Canadian oysters tomorrow and break out the oyster knife. The Guinness is already chilled.

I like em as is...no lemon, no tobasco. Hard to get the really plump ones though, forgot their name but they are tasty. They are all good.

 

[Joe Bass]

Which frozen pizzas @kwtoxman ? Dr Peter Ristorante?

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Edit: that was absolutely 100% supposed to say "Dr Oetker"

 

[kwtoxman]

@Joe Bass, for me this time it was Dr Oetker Casa Di Mama Three Meat thin crust rising edge pizza, Casa Di Mama Hawaiian rising edge pizza (it's a rare cream base type) and Dr Oetker Ristorante Pepperoni Pesto thin crust.

Casa Di Mama - 3 Meat - Products

Authentic Italian Pizzeria style crust topped with a spiced tomato sauce and deli meats including pepperoni, smoked ham and chunks of Italian sausage.

www.oetker.ca

https://www.oetker.ca/ca-en/our-products/casa-di-mama/hawaiian

Ristorante Pepperoni Pesto - Products

Ristorante Pepperoni Pesto Pizza is topped with mozzarella & Edam cheese, pepperoni, authentic Italian pesto, juicy cherry tomatoes, over our signature pizzeria style sauce.

www.oetker.ca

These are really tasty for me. Here's a Pepperoni Pesto I did. Probably on the Weber Summit grill.

Kudos to those that do scratch pizza with the dedicated ovens at home regularly. That's next level awesome; I admire the effort.

 

[Joe Bass]

I've tried the Casa Di Mama, but like the Ristorante ones better.
Funghi
Margherita
Spinach

I also stock up at the $2.99 price

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[kwtoxman]

I've tried the Casa Di Mama, but like the Ristorante ones better.
Funghi
Margherita
Spinach

I've shared a similar food journey and enjoyed all those pizzas over the years

. I moved on from that Funghi pizza with all the funghi stir fry's I now make, both vegetable and deluxe (mixed with meat/noodles/nuts, etc). I love Margherita pizza and enjoyed a few of those; I moved on from that one to quality restaurant options since there are many now. I often use a restaurant close to me that focuses on many Neopolitan pizza standards. This place uses an Italian imported clay brick oven set to at least 900 degrees F... and they typically bake a pizza in 90 seconds; it's old school reasonably top notch Neopolitan Margherita pizza at a good price. Win win. That Ristorante Spinach thin crust pizza is pretty awesome

. I've enjoyed it in high rotation; it was a few years back now. I remember posting about it here before, and I'm currently taking a break with some other stuff. Super tasty.

For $2.99 I easily see how these pizzas make some regular rotation for sure, bringing a reasonable quality experience and outstanding value (with the added bonus of a no-prep 10-12 minute cook). Very nice.

Enjoy and share all food experience.