What's for Dinner, Sat., April 4, 2015

[NJCher]

I imagine many of our fellow cooks will be working on Easter dinner or relaxing after last night's Seder.

I bought some baby kale, so I'm going to make one of the salads at the link Japple gave me the other day ( http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2013/0711/Citrus-massaged-kale-salad ).

For the entree, spicy orange pork with broccoli.

I did much of the prep work in the middle of the night so I could work on my garden all day today. Yesterday I spent most of the day at some of my favorite open-air markets, but I was surprised to see that the Italian market has now been taken over by merchants from the Middle East! It was only a year ago that I was there, and it was about 50/50 at that time. Now 100%.

For my garden, I bought lots of rosemary. Last year I learned the hard way that this has to be purchased early in the season. Also oregano, basil, and dill. Many, many varieties of greens. There may be others, but I can't remember them all now.


Cher

[Phentex]

1. Pizzas on the grill if I'm lucky...

looks like the weather is going to hold up.

I need to make a dessert for tomorrow but I'm not inspired by anything so far. I'm craving brownies but thinking of making something easier for the little ones to eat like some cute mini cupcakes.

[littlewolf]

2. fish taco's with quick pickled onions and radishes and slaw. nt

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Sirloin tip roast was on a really good sale.

I'll be eating it for a while. Leftover broccoli.

[Galileo126]

4. Shrimp and avocado tacos

The avocado finally ripened (THAT only took 4 days). I made a fresh pico de gallo this morning, so that will definitely be in the tacos.

Made a low and slow chili using chuck roast and 7 different chiles (among other things) yesterday. I have plenty leftover for lunches this week. Mmmm.

[cbayer]

5. Chicken curry with cauliflower and beans.

Am working on dinner for tomorrow. Glazed ham, potato salad, pickled poblanos and a caesar salad - all served cold. We are having guests in the heat of the day and I want to avoid turning on any heat if possible.

Rosemary is very slow growing but will not survive a freeze. Consider growing it indoors or protecting it in the winter, and it should last pretty much forever.

[pinto]

6. Broiled peppered chicken thighs, lemon broccoli. Biscuits (to note the Irish Easter Rising)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising

The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland, secede from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in World War I. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798.

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. And next year is the 100th anniversary!

The GPO is a place of pilgrimage for me in Dublin. Amazing to stand where the Irish Republic was born, looking much like it did back in 1916 despite the damage. In front, you can still see where the bullets hit the building.

[pinto]

8. ...

[SheilaT]

11. The first time I went to Ireland, in the fall of 1972,

I stayed at a B&B in Dublin. Another man staying there, an Irishman from the west of Ireland, took me down to the GPO in Dublin and talked about the Easter uprising as if it had happened just a couple of years earlier.

[pinto]

13. I think it's a strength and a hurdle for the Irish, long memories.

My grandmother, whose dad was in the Dublin Fusiliers and whose grandmother marched in the "Women's Brigade" protests in Dublin, related lots of stories she could recall from her younger days. She had the knack of framing them as times gone by, though. Didn't discount them or ignore them but moved on to America.

Oh, seeing as we're in the C & B group, she taught us how to harvest mussels, seaweed, and snag a few lobsters after a storm when they got washed up in the rocks.

[SheilaT]

14. All four of my grandparents came from Ireland,

although they left well before the Easter Uprising. My paternal grandparents I have no memories of, just mom's parents. My grandmother (we called her Nanny) had gone to work in England at age 16 or so, and was there two or three years before coming to America. I understand the family she worked for encouraged her to come here, and she never ever had a bad word to say about the English.

[japple]

9. Grilled turkey breast, steamed red potatoes, sauteed cabbage with garlic and cumin.

eom.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

10. It was pseudo-thanksgiving tonight.

We had a little turkey, so we did stuffing and mashed potatoes to go with it.

I also picked up the 'Cooks Illustrated' issue on doing roasts today, which I'm hoping will answer a lot of questions I never even thought to ask and explain why my roasts always come out too dry.

[SheilaT]

12. A tossed salad, and then for dessert

homemade bread pudding with vanilla sauce. And some champagne, because most meals are improved with champagne.

I'm very content.