Of course that's OK - the more the merrier.

Thanks everyone!

I'd also like to add something else to the Filipino Chicken Adobo & rice we're bringing. I made a batch of savory corn & pepper muffins (Dorie Greenspan recipe) that I'd like to bring as well. Granted, it's not necessarily to be eaten with the chicken adobo, but I liked them and wanted to share (and we just can't eat a whole dozen of these between the 2 of us in our household).

Well, it looks like the weather in my neck of the woods is going to prevent me from making it to the dinner tonight.
There is blizzard warning and all staff are being asked to leave around 3:00.
I'm so disappointed:
a) To miss the opportunity of having dinner with all of you
b) To think of how much cabbage salad and tabbouleh I will be eating this week!
If you are in or near Arlington Heights and need some salads - you know who to call.

Jyoti

Jygach,

Weather has been revised with the snow starting between 5-6 PM according to Tom Skilling.

Regards,

dansch wrote:Ok, definitely doing Vietnamese braised pork belly with fried tofu and eggs. Something about frying hard-boiled eggs and then braising them just intrigued me. As best I can tell, this dish is called "Thịt Heo Kho Tàu"
-Dan

I chose this as my first dish to eat - today for lunch. And I'm not 100% certain what I am supposed to do with the multicolored rice (or is it rice and other stuff). Dan, you said "it will be obvious" but I guess it's not to me. Just tuck it in among the fried tofu and pork belly, etc. and nuke?

It smells good, anyway

Feeling rather dopey, sorry.

leek wrote:

dansch wrote:Ok, definitely doing Vietnamese braised pork belly with fried tofu and eggs. Something about frying hard-boiled eggs and then braising them just intrigued me. As best I can tell, this dish is called "Thịt Heo Kho Tàu"
-Dan

I chose this as my first dish to eat - today for lunch. And I'm not 100% certain what I am supposed to do with the multicolored rice (or is it rice and other stuff). Dan, you said "it will be obvious" but I guess it's not to me. Just tuck it in among the fried tofu and pork belly, etc. and nuke?

It smells good, anyway

Feeling rather dopey, sorry.

We're learning as we go here, and as I coordinate the next meeting, I'm going to start developing some guidelines (one of which will be to include a "how-to" with dishes that come with some assembly required).

David

Well, I still think it's more me being dopey than the food being hard to assemble.

(I would, also, like instructions on how to cook the spaetzle)

leek wrote:Well, I still think it's more me being dopey than the food being hard to assemble.

(I would, also, like instructions on how to cook the spaetzle)

Not that the food is hard to assemble, but that it would help to have some direction as to what goes with what.

I agree; instructions might help (I plan to mic the spaetzle).

So that's what I did with Dan's dish - along with the tofu, braised pork, and egg - just tucked the rice in along one side and nuked.

It is REALLY good! And filling - a good winter dish. And also probably enough for 2 servings, especially if you have a veggie or salad along with it. The sauce isn't overbearing, but has a really pleasant flavor and texture.

So far, this exchange is batting 1000 as far as I'm concerned

I enjoyed hellodali's harissa with GAF's veggie curry, balanced admirably with a hunk of dansch's pork belly. It's fun having this range of tasty foods to choose from at lunch time.

leek wrote:I chose this as my first dish to eat - today for lunch. And I'm not 100% certain what I am supposed to do with the multicolored rice (or is it rice and other stuff). Dan, you said "it will be obvious" but I guess it's not to me. Just tuck it in among the fried tofu and pork belly, etc. and nuke?

Yeah, as I looked at the nicely-labeled packages of food, I felt a bit bad about not having provided any information about contents, serving recommendations, etc. Sorry about that - I'll make sure to do a better job next time.

FWIW, the rice is Red Cargo Rice

leek wrote:It is REALLY good! And filling - a good winter dish. And also probably enough for 2 servings, especially if you have a veggie or salad along with it. The sauce isn't overbearing, but has a really pleasant flavor and texture.

Thanks! I'm glad to hear it went over well. This was a completely new dish for me, and I was a little worried about it. The sauce included shrimp paste*, which as someone who loves fish sauce, I can honestly say smells revolting. I opened the small container only to find that the contents were sealed under a layer of wax. I popped up the edge of the wax and ... whew. Needless to say, I was scared to introduce any of this substance in to a dish that otherwise tasted pretty good. I figured if there was a crowd to try out shrimp paste on though, this would be the crowd.

I had David's pork and beans today for lunch and it was fantastic. My officemate caught a whiff and walked over to check out what I was eating. Honestly, I haven't had beans near that good since the last time I went to Hog Heaven in Ruckersville, VA (my favorite BBQ place back in VA).

-Dan

* I had tried a couple of dishes, one at Tank Noodle (a braised dish of small pieces of pork belly, good, but too chewy) and one at TAC Quick (the shimp paste rice with various condiments/mix-ins served alongside the rice), that featured shrimp paste and had been interested to try cooking with it. Both of the dishes I tried had a pronounced shrimp paste flavor, but nothing prepared me for the scent of the raw material.

And I'm enjoying Cathy's blinchki's as I write here. Very tasty. I love admiring my freezer full of interesting and tasty dishes for the next few weeks!

I've had Cathy's blinchkis (with sour cream & fresh chives) and Dan's braised Vietnamese pork (with the red cargo rice, which I heated/sauteed with some chopped garlic)... both are excellent!

All these great meals so far have me looking forward to next month's round of dishes!

These dishes (those that I have had so far) have been terrific. I'm going to nominate the "LTH small household food exchange" as a GNR. Who could imagine that pork and beans could be so good. Happens when you know your pig.