Roasting them in the oven with chopped garlic and EVOO is great too. Mixed with a bit of red wine or balsamic vinegar and spread on crostini, makes for a delicious roasted cherry tomato bruschetta, as well.

Boo... We went to our local pub for dinner and they'd just run out of corned beef and cabbage :(

They call themselves a pub! That shouldn't happen. I am sure that you were looking forward to it all day, too.

Trader Joe’s chicken enchiladas
nachos
Nopalito tortilla chips ($5.99/bag but oh so great!)
guacamole

probably Girl Scout cookies for dessert - I received an order of 6 boxes today!

Lemon pepper grilled halibut, butter lettuce salad, orange slices, baked potato, soda bread.

how’d you do the soda bread? Happy 3/17!! :-)

Both look great!
I planned on cooking Corned Beef today for my parents as they wanted it two Sundays ago. They changed their mind three days later as both baby backs and STL cut ribs went on sale unbeknownst to them, so I'll post picks this weekend, but (again) their changes affect my weekly shopping.

We did our corned beef and cabbage dinner several days ago, along with the required corned beef sandwich leftovers.
Tonight we went out to a local pub for the first time in many weeks. Had a couple of good beers, and hot dogs which they serve to satisfy the requirement that a bar must serve food to have indoor seating. A good evening.

How was your corned beef? Or are you cooking it Thursday? Slow cooker?
you are such a good baby and I hope your parents recognize how great you are. Care giving can be extremely mentally exhausting.

did you use rye like corky for the leftover sandwiches?
I loved the corned beef and my spouse isn’t interested in more - I’m pretty sure that neither of us actually had corned beef in 2020, and I can’t recall having it in 2019; at jewish deli my spouse prefers lox plates and I’m not sure when an actual pastrami or corned beef sandwich was actually consumed at a deli. I’ve often chosen pastrami instead of corned beef as a sandwich choice. So it’s hard for me to buy rye when it’ll only be for me as a sandwich when I could instead just cook corned beef hash without needing to buy rye. My personal favorite bread is tartine country loaf which I eschewed on Wednesday and could consider buying on Thursday.

Same here...no way we were having real corned beef yesterday because of my wife. However I had an alternate plan to satisfy whatever percentage of Irish is in me (somewhere between 1%-43% if you believe the DNA test my brother had done - they group a region and we suspect England is much more prevalent in our heritage). I had found Reuben sausages at Mariano's last week. I asked the meat counter guy and he said they were made with corned beef and sauerkraut (made with cabbage!). They were approved by my wife and we got 2 of those and 2 giardiniera sausages - both went in the freezer. When we took the thawed package out of the refrigerator last night, we discovered that we had accidentally grabbed the giardiniera instead. :(

What the heck is wrong with your wives? :D
Corned beef and especially pastrami are two of my absolute favorite foods. Luckily my wife at least likes them.
We make a corned beef dinner about 4 times a year.

A friend is cooking me corned beef and cabbage tonight. I will stop and pick up a bottle of Jameson's to enjoy with it. We were originally going to do it last night, but the weather forecast was very dodgy and she knew that if storms did come, my cats would prefer me at home with them.

Trust me, that's just the tip of the iceberg. She's not really picky but has some weird dislikes. In this case, she likes pastrami, and will order a pastrami Reuben (sometimes called a Rachel) at one of our local delis. What I will say is, despite her dislikes, she's not one of those people who has an issue with me having those foods in the house, eating them with or without her there, etc. She would have been fine with me making a hunk of corned beef while she ate a steak :).

On the other hand, I can't think of a food she likes that I definitely won't eat. Although there are certain combos that I won't touch, such as cottage cheese and fruit -- which I know many here will think is crazy. I like them separately but not together.

Tonight's scheduled dinner:
Pan Fried Steaks,
Steamed Corn,
White Rice

My wife went out to dinner last night with her sister. She told me to buy something for myself on the way home from work. I knew I had some things in the freezer, so I decided to just cook something at home. While rifeling through my freezer, I found some thin cut steaks I froze from January, so I took them out to thaw in the refrigerator and decided to have them tonight.

I don't like cottage cheese. It's the texture that turns me off to it.

I was! They are not doing indoor dining and it was very windy and rainy last night, which brought them down to only four outdoor tables, so I suspect they were just trying to be extra careful about projections and not waste any, given that they are just operating by the thinnest of margins.

Ooh fun. Now that I know how to do it, corned beef will be coming back fiercely into my life. I’ll never buy corned beef at any deli ever again. Thankfully Max’s in highland park has tongue sandwich.

lucky - enjoy!!!

isn’t a Rachel made with Turkey substitute?

I hope that you can still get your corned beef & cabbage :-)

Ooh this is a favorite dish for me - steak with rice. And the corn, usually canned. I’ve not yet tried to make it - I’ve had leftover steak sautéed with bok choy or tofu etc but I’ve yet to cook a raw steak and have it with rice. One day... I’ll also have to buy the corn.

I love these nights, but they are few and far between during the pandemic. I got one last Friday though, and I made wings -- another of her quirky dislikes even thought she would love a buffalo chicken wrap or sandwich. Those thin cut steaks you mentioned probably would have become a cheesesteak for me! Although the only way I get that "wit Wiz" is if I buy the Wiz myself, because she refuses on the basis of some kind of vague health concern. :D

Hmmm...maybe I got that mixed up. Perhaps its just called a pastrami Reuben :).

Here is the plated dish.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4e34a481fa.jpg
Decided to have Mashed Potatoes instead of rice.

Celebrating tonight
 

We’re celebrating some good news tonight and pulled out some ribeye caps to sous vide and finish in the wood pizza oven.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...45556ce50.jpeg
Ribeye caps finished in the wood oven with some grilled onions and bell peppers.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bd1f120c5.jpeg
Plated with some fried rice because rice is obligatory (and delicious) in this household.

Steaks are perfect!

Salumi sandwiches on seeded sourdough baguette with arugula and Trader Joe’s Bomba crushed Calabrian Chilies - coppa and spicy salami
kettle jalapeño chips
blood oranges

I received 12 boxes of Girl Scout cookies (mostly toffee tastic and s’mores) in the past 2 days (yay for no mail failure!) so I might have some for dessert. I now want more Samoas and Tagalongs so I’m going to order more.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ebb651fe7.jpeg

Gorgeous. I had been about to say, “that isn’t rice!”

were the ribeye ends frozen or in the fridge?
I’m starting to fear that my frozen Choice steaks are not as good as just Choice steaks. Maybe the freezing is affecting the meat more than I thought. So I might stop freezing steaks and just buy them on nights that we will have steak. Eek.
of course, that might reduce freezer inventory so that I can just finally buy the Essa bagels from goldbelly.

I've never really noticed a difference personally. Why do they seem different?

Only if they are not packaged well and they get freezer burn or if they are frozen for a long time. Other than that, I agree. And I don't know what the grade has to do with anything either.

The ribeye caps were fresh from Costco and we patted them dry, vacuum sealed them, and froze them when we got home. That steak was frozen Dec. 2, 2020 and came out great. I'll check next time I'm at Costco to see what grade they were. I think they are USDA Prime and pictures of them else where show Prime.

Aces - good to know.

Costco has both choice and prime ribeye - thanks for the date info.
i’m wondering if I’m over cooking them on the grill and under resting them. I’ll test it out - the steaks taste great to me but I have extremely low standards. So it’s possible that I’m making them more medium than intended. :-)

We cook the ribeye caps sous vide in a water bath for 2 hours at 131 F to get them medium rare, then just do the crust in the grill, about 30 seconds per side on very high heat (800 F for this batch). Water bath temp controls the doneness and then grill is just for finishing for texture and flavor. After figuring out the prep and cook, we have a hard time going out for steaks :eek:

Charcuterie board, salad with pistachio vinaigrette, and garlic Parmesan wings with a smoked bourbon and blood orange cocktail.

Romaine salad with mandarin oranges, slivered almonds & sesame dressing
steamed broccoli
teriyaki marinated grilled halibut

Pizza: Detroit style with onion & spicy salami
pizza: flat with sweet peppers, onion, & spicy salami
mixed green salad

Girl Scout cookies for dessert

Actually, it could affect them, although really in slight ways. If you freeze sashimi-grade fish, the crystallization can change the texture. I also find freezing fatty fish then thawing tends to make the fish slimier... For something like beef, I'd assume it will restructure the fat in some way. May not be noticeable to common folk, but to the connoisseur, who knows

The baby backs were on the smoke (apple and cherry combination) for 3 hours and 20 minutes before the hour long wrap. They were juicer than normal and the eaters (aka my parents) preferred it.

STL ribs went to the freezer as they didn't want two slabs this week.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...460487be39.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bebfa8b7ce.jpg

Gorgeous. You are so good.

do you just wrap it in foil? What does the wrapping do; is it like resting a steak?

Wrapped in foil with the top side patted with butter and an apple juice/cider vinegar/former smoke's "wrap juice with pork fat" and back on the grill for another 45 minutes. I did not place these in a styrofoam cooler to rest for another hour. Wrapping limits the amount of smoke and also keeps moisture in.


News is my bratty niece and nephew will be over for another weekend (second since their parents received the vaccine), so just PB and J or chicken fingers with rice or quesadillas next weekend as they drop them and their dog off to go drinking.

Saturday fondue supper - I’m soooooo excited!!!
vacheron fribourgois and gruyere cheeses
dippers: ciabatta, some apple, and maybe baklava or jalapeños. Maybe chips. Ooh.
organic kielbasa sausage
cornichons
Maybe warmed rotkohl (from the jar)

chocolate dessert fondue unless we are too full from the cheese
we have separate fondue pots for savory and sweet

You really are so good. omg. Kids and a dog so that their parents can drink (and possibly drive?!?!?!).
I love my challenging nieces and no way will I watch them the way you are with your niece and nephew. Park play dates and former restaurant meals where I’m not the adult responsible for them. Oh wait, we took them for Tea after Xmas 2019. That was yum.

I have to watch them since the other adults in the house prefer to see their grandchildren and their dog, not really take care or entertain of them, so that becomes my responsibility.
The 11-year-old apparently got braces this week or next, so I'm glad she is the lover of rice and dry cereal. The six-year-old boy is the problem as it seems he is just PBJ, apples, and tacos, which he did say I made better than his parents. I think it is because the beef was properly seasoned and not a sodium bomb taco packet. He cried three weeks ago at Sunday dinner as he "missed his teacher" when having lasagna. Days later he wanted to go back to pre-school because of said teacher.

Those kids also don't like lasagna, just spaghetti, and meatballs or frozen/Little Caesars pizza which my brother and sis-in-law buy on Fridays. I also had to buy the candy for their Easter baskets because I knew my parents really don't look at calendars anymore. It has been going fast, so I may have to restock.

Keto pizza casserole

Rao's marinara, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, and Italian seasoning over top of roasted cauliflower.

Doesn't satisfy a pizza craving, but not bad and the kiddos liked well enough.

I hope you enjoy the Rao’s marinara. It’s on sale at Costco until 4/4!

I have a bumper crop of dill so Mr CE is making matzo ball soup -- smells delicious! Plus we bought some awesome cheeses at WF so that was an appetizer. Since the pandemic started, and we stopped entertaining and we stopped shopping at WF frequently, our cheese consumption has decreased considerably!

It was street concert night. My friend who is also vaccinated came over and I got my first hug in a year, Thank you, scientists.
We drank bellinis
snacks:
quesadillas with chicken, cheese, avocado and cilantro
Proscuitto and cantalope with balsamic glaze
chocolate pudding cake (store bought---split a slice) topped with sliced strawberries, whipped cream and sprinkles