What's for Dinner, Sun., Sept. 18, 2022

[NJCher]

Shrimp salad on wheat crackers with slices of cucumber and cherry tomatoes

Later on I might have butternut squash soup with mushroom ravioli.

Blueberry basil kombucha.

[Emile]

1. Taco salad tonight!

[chowmama]

2. Moussaka

with leftovers for later in the week. Galaktobouriko for dessert, with a tiny glass of metaxa brandy.

There was a Greek festival last weekend, and I did not get enough! I make a good moussaka. I've never tried making galaktobouriko, but it's my favorite in restaurants and festivals. It's the filo and syrup similar to baklava, and the filling is a semolina thickened custard, flavored with vanilla. I substituted my baklava syrup instead of what all the available recipes called for - they like lemon peel, I like a little orange peel hit. Pinch of clove because it goes well with orange, in addition to the standard cinnamon.

I haven't had metaxa since my college years. One year I shared a house with several other theater students and one journalism major. One of them got a bottle for Christmas and we were rude enough to polish off the whole bottle in a single night. We really did owe him another bottle. Anyway, it was good, and I had a little with my dessert at the festival.

[MissMillie]

3. pulled pork sandwiches and football with family

pulled pork w/ mustard-based BBQ sauce, homemade coleslaw and pickles on toasted onion rolls.
potato chips
cut canteloupe

Some of my family stayed in town last night after the bridge tournament. So we all dined together earlier today and watched the Patriots win.

My brother Tom and I won the bridge tournament. I won $11.00 in dime-a-chip poker.

[unc70]

4. Where are you to be having mustard bbq sauce on pork?

SC? It is almost sacrilegious to be putting that yellow (!) stuff on perfectly good pork.

Now I have a hankering for some good ole Eastern North Carolina BBQ -- with vinegar sauce.

[MissMillie]

6. I live in New England

And I find most tomato-based BBQ sauces too sweet for my liking.

[unc70]

7. Eastern NC sauce does not have tomatoes

It is probably the oldest and simplest sauce. A typical simple version has apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, a dash of Tabasco, and a little brown sugar. Western NC adds tomatoes or even ketchup, sweeter but usually not cloying like you find further west. A lot of teasing about the best "real" BBQ, and we all think that the SC mustard style doesn't qualify.

All in good fun.

[MissMillie]

8. I just think pork and mustard work well together

I have nothing against tomatoes or even ketchup. The tomato-based BBQ sauces (especially the ones you buy in the store) just seem a little too sweet for me.

For the record, everyone else at the table used tomato-based BBQ sauce on their sandwich. I was the outlier. My sis was kind enough let us choose our own BBQ sauce after the pork was braised and pulled.

As I sit here and think about it, the only time I don't put mustard together w/ a pork product would be on a BLT, which of course has a slice of tomato on it. But hot dogs, bratwurst, kielbasa, Cuban sandwiches... it's all mustard. Even when I make a scalloped potato main dish (usually adding kielbasa or ham) I put a tablespoon or so of mustard in the recipe.

Oh, I made some baked beans this weekend. I am a firm believer that Boston-baked beans do NOT--EVER--contain any kind of tomato product (and yes, my recipe calls for two teaspoons of dry mustard).

[SYFROYH]

5. Cheese burgers off the Weber. Toasted buns.

My 17-year old son's favorite.