Really Good Meals

[stone]

A great starter or light meal:

Live mussels in shells. Pull out beards and scrape off barnacles etc. Make sure all are alive and fighting if you try and open them etc.
Chop up half onion, celery, garlic and add to a large pan with a little cider some black pepper and the mussels.
Put a lid on the pan and put on high heat until the mussels open up (a few minutes only).
Serve with fresh crusty bread.

[colorado4]

Benko is correct about the SousVide. The temps are very low.  We cook our steaks at 134 degrees (medium rare) for about an hour minimum, depending on the cut thickness.  We've found it to be a very convenient way of cooking.  Most foods cannot be overcooked so you can season food, add butter to bag, seal and drop bag in machine in morning and eat it that night.  Cuts with a regular knife.

Bags are bpa free.

[6 Iron]

Guinness lamb stew is my favorite comfort food to make, and quite simple, from the recipe at the link:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/7406/authen ... nness.html


I use about 15 halved new potatoes rather than the russets, and only 1/2 cup of the barley.

Gotta get a sous vide apparatus.

[AgAuMoney]

finely chopped swede

I must admit I had NO idea what that could be!  Thank goodness for google...

It appears you mean what I would call a rutabaga or yellow turnip.  Turns out people also call them a Swedish turnip, shorted to "Swede" in the Commonwealth.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga

[smurff]

Okay, Melveyr, it's Saturday evening and I just put the pork bellies in the oven.  They should be ready around 11:30 PM.

[stone]

finely chopped swede

I must admit I had NO idea what that could be!  Thank goodness for google...

It appears you mean what I would call a rutabaga or yellow turnip.  Turns out people also call them a Swedish turnip, shorted to "Swede" in the Commonwealth.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga

Sorry, I would have been equally baffled by rutabaga. Its a very standard vegetable here and I never imagined the word wasn't a universally used one like potato or carrot.

[smurff]

Okay, Melveyr, it's Saturday evening and I just put the pork bellies in the oven.  They should be ready around 11:30 PM.

I just finished eating one of the servings. SO GOOD!  

And I'm still hiding from the food police.

I left off the sauce--the bellies looked so good after pan frying  I couldn't wait. I got a nice crispy crust on mine by removing the gelatin and fat after taking the wrapped pieces from the fridge,  separating the fat from gelatin, and heating the fat in the frying pan to help sear the meat on all sides.  I added the gelatin to vegetables to flavor them.

In a couple of hours I'm gonna have seconds!

[melveyr]

Okay, Melveyr, it's Saturday evening and I just put the pork bellies in the oven.  They should be ready around 11:30 PM.

I just finished eating one of the servings. SO GOOD!  

And I'm still hiding from the food police.

I left off the sauce--the bellies looked so good after pan frying  I couldn't wait. I got a nice crispy crust on mine by removing the gelatin and fat after taking the wrapped pieces from the fridge,  separating the fat from gelatin, and heating the fat in the frying pan to help sear the meat on all sides.  I added the gelatin to vegetables to flavor them.

In a couple of hours I'm gonna have seconds!

Haha I am glad you liked it! It is a very different cut of meat. The sheer amount of fat on it makes it difficult to screw up because it is almost always moist 

[dualstow]

Doin Melvey's pork belly recipe right now!
Next: WiseOne's lentil recipe.

[WiseOne]

That looks like it should be illegal!  Would you be willing to post the recipe?

I'm working from home this afternoon and taking the opportunity to make one of my favorite dinners:  Red Lentil Soup.  Its charms are rather different from melveyr's elegant dish.

Chop fine & saute until soft:
1 medium onion
2 jalapeno peppers
2 small or 1 large carrot(s)

Ditto for these, but saute about 1 minute until fragrant:
1" piece ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp curry powder

Add 1 cup red lentils, 5 cups water, and 1/2 small can tomato paste.  Cook until lentils are tender, about 1 hour.  Add 1 can coconut milk and juice of 2 limes, then salt & pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

I should cook with lentils more. Healthy, affordable, and tasty Maybe I will try your recipe out soon... curry is good spice for them.

Here is the pork belly recipe. Better make it soon before Bloomberg outlaws it 

*Take a pork belly, cut it into portions, score the fattier/skin side, and rub it generously with salt.

*Put the pieces in the oven at 200F for 6 hours. Each one should be tightly wrapped in foil because you want them to slowly cook in their own fat, almost like a confit.

*After letting it cool down, put the pork belly portions into plastic bags and refrigerate them. This is nice because you will have an easy gourmet meal that is 90% done! The meat will also be surrounded by its fat helping preserve it.

*Place the pork belly in a cold pan and slowly bring up the heat so that it begins frying in its own fat. Once it gets browned to your liking, place the belly onto a paper towel and pour out the oil (or save it for soups/frying potatoes). Splash some balsamic into the pan and add some black berry jam. You will have a sauce in about 30 seconds.

This was a really fun dish and very affordable. Each portion costs roughly $3 including the sauce, but I felt like a king while eating it. I want to try a more asian crispy style next time.

Just had Melveyr's pork belly dish.  Seriously yummy!!!!  And yes I saved the rendered fat.  It would be a crime to throw it away.

[sixdollars]

Beef heart cut into sheets,
Grill until brown on both sides,
Meanwhile, brown a chopped onion, some mushrooms and chopped garlic in a pan.
Add the heart to the pan and add boiling water, some pine nuts, finely chopped swede, a few bits of carrot, salt, mixed herbs and a fresh chopped chilly pepper. Simmer for several hours. Leave off heat until next day.
Next day bring it back up to a simmer.
Cook jacket potatoes.
A minute before serving add fresh chopped spinach, chopped broccoli, some frozen peas. Heat hot briefly until these go very bright green.
Serve with the potatoes.

This sounds really good.  I'm going to have to try this recipe