Costco didn’t have caviar yesterday as I had planned to get, and my spouse wasn’t hungry! So I settled for making my favorite meal for myself :-)
I’m planning to have a currant scone with clotted cream after I run the dishes :-)

I don't eat caviar so don't know but is there any reason caviar has to be bought right before you are going to use it? Can it keep for a while...I remember you talking about seeing it last week. You have blinis and creme fraiche so need to get the missing piece ---can you get it at another not-Costco store?

Unopened, refrigerated at 28 - 32° F, non-pasteurized caviar will keep its quality for three weeks to a month; once opened, it should be consumed within a day or two. Pasteurized caviar, as long as the container remains sealed, will last a year and should be consumed within ten days once opened.

I doubt the Costco sells unpasteurized caviar.

I only shop regularly at Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Safeway; plus a gourmet food store that’ll be too expensive (that’s where I buy my $12-15 loaves and 12-oz coffee and gift chocolate bars). I’m reducing the local supermarket because their staff isn’t friendly (Davie style) so I’ll only go there rarely for Terra Taro chips and deli-sliced roast beef. I don’t know how their $42 caviar compares to Costco $42 caviar so I’m better off sticking with Costco.
I have creme fraiche which can be used with other food and I only have blini recipe / ingredients - thankfully zero actual blini.

thanks! I guess I’ll skip for now. I’ll survive :-)

I guess if you prefer the Costco caviar you might not be interested. Plus, since for some reason you will only shop at certain stores and I think that at the moment Whole Foods is on your banned list ( I know for a long while Costco was banned and I thought that Trader Joe was banned too but I guess not anymore). But for the rest of you out there---Whole foods has 30% off all caviar for Prime members I guess in time for New Years. They also have a sale on sparkling wines.

Pork tenderloin stuffed with minced garlic and fresh rosemary, homemade applesauce, roasted butternut squash, orange cranberry-blueberry bread, buttered green beans almandine and pumpkin pie for dessert. A 22 ounce bottle of Funky Buddha Last Buffalo in the Park to accompany.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...355796013.jpeg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8cfd4ddab.jpeg

That looks delicious, as does the beer.

Bama,

Nice to see you back posting. I was wondering if something happened to you.

grilled sirloin top boneless steaks (one was a bit rarer than medium rare)
sauteed onion / mushroom / cherry tomatoes
bbc

extremely pleased with the Costco steaks. Currently unsure about which beef I’ll next purchase from either safeway or Costco, depending on when I go...

this is probably a great deal. Happy shopping!

Fish soup for a change from CHRISTmas fare .. too much of succulent meats and sweets ( even though the salmon en croûte from CHRISTmas Eve ? was delicious )
Oh dear , we should consume the caviar in our fridge ! How can forget .. ?

thanks. I was bored with FT. Now I’m bored with real life so I’m back for a while.

Carryout:
fried chicken (4 pcs) with Yukon mashed, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts
Caesar salad with prawns
kids grilled cheese with shoestring fries
biscuits with honey butter and apple butter
total $80 with $20 tip

I’ll never cook fried chicken at home so it’s a great dish for me to get at a restaurant.

i definitely need a LOT more water - i still taste salt :-)

I’ll probably have some Honolulu brand chocolate chip shortbread cookies for dessert although I’m sure they also are salted :-)

Because of the mess or the difficulty? I kind of feel the same way, because a lot of places do fried chicken very well, and it's not typically very expensive. So not worth all the trouble for me.

We had delivery last night too. Enchiladas, Taco plate, and chips and guac from La Casa de Isaac and Moishe (a non-Kosher Mexican restaurant owned by 4 Jewish Mexicans who now obviously live in IL). We've wanted to try it for a while and found it to be pretty high quality food, although not spicy enough for us. But we'll be going back.

I much love love Michoacán in highland park - so great that I talk about it. But of course I’ve only eaten there and not had delivery.

for fried chicken - it’s the oil mess. Yes I could do oven-fried the way I’ve mastered oven-baked steak fries in olive oil. But fried chicken is a lot more complex than steak fries. I firmly believe that fried chicken needs a deep fryer or at least a big “pasta pot” with a lot of real oil (not olive oil).

oh - olive oil vs vegetable oil. I cook bbc in vegetable oil (1 tbsp) per recipe suggestions. Could I use olive oil??

I'm with you on the mess. Even with a splatter screen, it can be messy. Apparently, many southerners would disagree about the deep fryer. As I understand it from friends, the traditional way to make it is in a cast iron pan - a shallow fry. An old roommate (20+ years ago) made it once and I wish I would have sat in the kitchen and watched him do it.

But of course, the cast iron is even messier because of the short sides.

Also, have you tried Clucker's Charcoal Chicken? There's one in Highwood, I thought you might know about it. It gets great reviews for what seems to be fast food style roasted chicken (not fried). I've brought it up a couple times, but my wife just laughs. I think that means we're not eating there. :)

Oh course you can use olive oil .. Or you could steam it.

For sauteing vegetables, we use extra virgin olive oil in our house; sometimes, depending on the recipe, we use a 50/50 mixture of EVOO and butter. I wouldn't use olive oil for deep frying unless it's the highly refined and more neutral tasting "pure" olive oil (Costco sells two-packs of three liter bottles really cheap ~$24).

Ooh I don’t know this place but I’ve only had a couple highwood dining experiences. I like the bakery The Bent Fork (more than Deerfield Bakery!) and cant find any decent bakery in highland park.

Thank you! I start with the sauté and then actually do steam the bbc, so that There’s a little char. So my bbc is primarily steamed.

Thank you! I do use the cheap Costco (Maybe organic?) olive oil but I think it’s a single 1-1/2 liter for $10; I’ll seek out the one even cheaper because I use it for cooking and Roasting. I use the lux olive oil for salads...

Grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil plus a neutral flavor and heart healthy properties. I only use 2 oils in my house--EVOO or grapeseed. Grapeseed is best for frying, pan frying etc.

Got both sockeye salmon and cod at the grocery. Going to grill one or the other for dinner.

What do you do with the EVOO, drink it straight from the bottle?

Are you on LTHForum? (Local Chicago food board.) Case de Isaac gets a lot of love on there (or historically has), but I've never tried it.

Re caviar -- years ago I had a Persian boyfriend and when we broke up he had a 500 g tin of caviar that he'd brought back from Iran for me, but that I never got to enjoy! For years I did use the huge container of Iranian saffron he'd gotten for me on a previous trip back home.

We're going out tonight and tomorrow, then getting Bavette's takeout on Wednesday. Our order includes shrimp cocktail and crab legs, but I'm kind of hoping we over ordered so those can get saved for NYE dinner, when I'm tempted to do a seafood extravaganza. Sitka Salmon Shares delivered sushi grade albacore tuna, spotted prawns and Dungeness crab last week, plus we have salmon from last month, so I may do a cold seafood platter, maybe with some salmon carpaccio or sushi. If I'm feeling like going to the store, might also splurge on some caviar or lobster (only if I can find some claws -- I hate the tail meat). I wish Mr. CE were willing to try shucking oysters. While I am not a raw oyster fan, I've been wanting to do grilled oysters, which I love. (Maybe I could have them shuck them at the store, but give me the oysters, liquor and shells so we could them grill them without having to deal with shucking.)

LOL
Of course not...I mix it with vodka. :p
I use it for dressings or marinades or sauces.

I prefer the claw meat on lobsters but I also like the tail. You hate the tail meat? To me, there isn't a big enough difference to love one and hate the other! I thought you were doing takeout from a fancy place for NYE--plans changed?
Every year for a brief time at Christmas Costco sells a frozen bag (about 2-3 lbs) of lobster claws. This year I only saw it for a week but managed to snag 3 bags which I will save for a special treat over the next several months.

My friend from India told me that Indians got saffron from Iran. I found it so surprising.
anyway yelp had some very negative comments for Casa de Isaac which is why I tried Michoacán and then instantly loved it. It tasted like nice taqueria mexican food that I get in San Francisco.

I am not on that...but agree, for a north suburban restaurant, it compares very well to others.

For NYE, we ordered the RPM Steak NYE special. Lettuce Entertain You has a north suburb delivery within 13 miles of Northfield, so we qualify.
Lobster Bisque (which we may supplement with some chopped lobster tail from the grocery store)
Bibb lettuce salad
Black truffle risotto
Chateaubriand with roasted mushrooms and Bearnaise
Au gratin potatoes
Chocolate cake

I'm with Mr. CE. I love oysters but don't want to shuck them.

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Beef Rendang cooked at home. Didn't quite get the color right (probably could have caramelized it more), but the flavor was fantastic. I was skeptical of using so much lemongrass (it called for 4 stalks!) so I cut back to about half, but the recipe was right and it could have used more.

I find tail meat to be much tougher than claw meat.

Our fancy takeout is tonight (Eve of the Eve) but anticipate that leftovers will play a role in tomorrow's dinner, too.

enjoy tonight!!

one day I might go for the Costco lobster - I know it’s limited but it’ll return :-)

Not surprising, we made it through about half of our delicious dinner, and the rest is waiting until tomorrow. Dinner:

Appetizers:
Jumbo shrimp cocktail
King crab
(We ate about half of this)
___________
Salads:
Smoked salmon caesar salad
Crab stuffed avocado
(We have > half the caesar left over)
___________
Entrees:
Fried chicken with mashed potatoes
Steak frites
(We ate about half of the fried chicken, none of the mashed potatoes or steak frites)
___________
Sides:
Candied bacon
Roast brussels sprouts
Roast broccoli
(All saved for tomorrow!)
__________
Bread:
Homemade sourdough
(About half left for tomorrow)

So we get to savor our favorite steakhouse for two nights of celebratory dinners! Need to put another bottle of champagne in the fridge so we can toast the end to a truly horrible year.

Wow-you ordered for an army and it all sounds wonderful. What a feast!

Korean (bibigo) chicken won tons in hot water with garlic, ginger, fermented red pepper paste, cilantro, plus frozen spinach, broccoli, peas
pb&j on Japanese milk bread
honolulu cookie brand - chocolate chip shortbread cookies (pineapple shaped)


just curious what king crab is like, besides the leggy legs.

Gorgeous humongous overall menu :-)

Looks a bit different from my wife’s Rendang. How long do you cook it for? She has best results using beef that has been sous vide cooked first.

It's not something I'd want to encounter on a swim, that's for sure! But I'm not sure anytime eats anything but the legs.

We used flap steak instead of chuck roast (as we had flap steak on hand), so just cooked it in the Dutch oven and let it render down there. The coconut added at the end was cut a bit coarser than most I've seen, but I like the texture it adds to be in bigger pieces, too.

The flavor and texture of the meat were nearly perfect--I do think it needed to caramelize a bit more in the fat, though, once all the liquid cooked off.

Going to make another batch of pho today; last time, I sous vide cooked both the beef cuts, but then braised the roast in the pho for a long time. That made it a bit chewier than it probably should have been, honestly. This time, we'll sous vide the beef and serve it with the broth separately, as I've got the oxtail and the beef bones to make the broth without the need for rendering down the roast.

Splurged and got king crab legs and cold boiled shrimp for tonight's dinner, along with mixed green salad. If I get inspired, I'll make cornbread muffins to go along with.

That was my Christmas splurge and really loved it since it was a rare one for me.
As far as boiled shrimp....have you ever tried Ina Garten's method of roasting shrimp? That is my absolute go-to once I discovered it. The shrimp don't curl up or shrink as much plus they don't risk getting rubbery.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...ecipe2-2106558

Goat cheese and crackers, dry aged ribeye with baked potato and a broccoli cheese casserole, tres leches cake and of course a bottle of Veuve Champagne. Oh and a cigar. Gotta do New Years right.

Fantastic! Enjoy :-)

does the rest of the crab get used for mixed crab, like in sushi or other foods?

where do you get the tripe / tendon parts for pho? I love those pieces so much. I’ve not checked 99 ranch to see if they have it and would one day love to make a beef soup like this. I plan to return to 99 ranch after I run out of the frozen dim sum - I still have adequate inventory. I would prefer to use some beef bones to boil down (like Fred for turkey stock), but would possibly settle for buying beef broth or stock instead :-)