1494 replies to this topic

[Miss J]

Miss J, with the spicing given the salmon and potatoes, pickled mango would go nicely. It has quite a crisp crunch to it. You can find it in Asian groceries, particularly Vietnamese.

Jinmyo - I LIKE that idea. In fact, I think I'll run out this weekend and track down a jar. My spicing gets stronger as the weather heats up, so I'm sure I'll be using it very soon indeed.  

Miss J

[Miss J]

Oh man...after all this talk of pie, I'm hungry. Again. And just 30 seconds after feeling intrigued by mango pickle too...I am SO feckless.

Maybe tonight after I've tried making ricotta a la Balic I'll turn my attention to pie. But what kind? Just 2.5 hours of thinking about pies whilst pretending to work before I can go out looking for ingredients...  

Miss J

[Jinmyo]

Grilled thick cut bone-in pork loin chop with a pepper and cumin crust on a rutabaga puree with watercress; garlic-rubbed crostini; stewed basiled tomatoes with white kidney and fava beans and Thai bird chiles; roasted asparagus with cremini mushrooms and parmesan shavings; celery root salad with lemon zest.

Eat the pork chop with your hand, clutching the bone. Don't worry. There's lemon water in that bowl.

[Sandra Levine]

I hate following Jinmyo.

Flounder, meuniere moderne -- filets dusted with flour, sauteed, pan deglazed with lime juice, a little more butter and some chopped coriander sprinkled atop.  Ramps, par-boiled, buttered, with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Frizzled burdock shreds.  Mache salad, with walnut oil and sherry vinegar.  A scrap of Spanish sheep cheese with a sliver of quince paste.  Sticky rice pudding with caramelized banana.

[mamster]

Hey, I've got one.  Near the back of the current Gourmet there's a recipe for some chicken patties over bean thread salad.  The chicken is ground with water chestnuts, cilantro, and jalapeno.  I monkeyed with the recipe a bit but was still afraid that it might come out tasting like health food (it was in the "lite" section of Gourmet).  The meat is formed into patties, three to a skewer, and sauted.

I got a good crust on the patties.  The salad (with english cuke, carrot, napa cabbage, and rice vinaigrette) was, well, rather noodley.  Laurie's going to take some of the veggies and leftover patties with pita tomorrow.

[Liza]

Davy gets all the credit for this one: he melted butter, added saffron, ginger, a little date syrup and reduced. This was then left to set into a paste, which we later rubbed under the skin and all over a chicken. The resulting bird was incredibly moist and flavored throughout. Really lovely, with a side dish of huitlacoche (corn smut), corn, onion, tomato, with a slew of spices - all mixed together and then topped with Cantal and slipped under the broiler. The huitlacoche came in cans and was brought back from Mexico by an enterprising friend.

[lullyloo]

Tried Jim Dixon's recipe for pasta with fermented black bean sauce last night, chock-full of ginger, garlic and fresh cilantro.  

It was something else.  There are so many possibilities for this sauce. I used linguini (my favorite long noodle), added sauteed chicken breast, snow peas, jalapenos, and topped with chopped fresh plum tomatoes.  Sided it with fat asparagus roasted briefly in olive oil.  Juicy delish.

 black bean sauce (scroll down)

[Andy Lynes]

Made a version of a Henry Harris dish on Saturday - warm salad of anya potatos, asparagus, chestnut mushrooms and bacon with red wine vinegar cream sauce (thats my version, the "proper" recipe is jersey royals, morels, asparagus and bacon with hollandaise).

Blanch the asparagus, cook the pots until just tender, then saute in butter, add the mushrooms and cook through, then the  bacon and asparagus at the last moment just to reheat. Pile into bowls, then deglaze the pan with the best red wine vinegar you can find and add some whipping cream. Poor over the salad and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Wash down with Pol Roger White Foil. Follow with a plate of Montgomery cheddar and walnut bread. Yum.

[col klink]

Saturday I made my baked baby red potatoes with onions. Tossed with parsley, garlic (last 15 minutes), asparagus spears (again, last 15 minutes, normally I roast them separately but I was lazy). Olive oil was drizzled over everything and there was plenty of coarse cracked pepper.

Sunday my buddy smoked up a leg of lamb that I brought over after marinating overnight in mustard, hot sauce, lime juice, peppar and many cloves of garlic, served medium rare. Until this weekend, I had forgotten how much I missed lamb. It was so juicy and succulent!

edit:  

oops, I forgot the brown sugar!

[Priscilla]

Pork tenderloin, dusted with dry mustard and allowed to sit around a bit for the mustard to activate before being dusted again, this time with flour, and browned on all sides, salted and peppered, bunged into the oven to finish whilst I attended to the closing minutes of asparagus risotto.

Deglazed with a hit of wine, seriously reduced, then a little heavy cream, allowed to reduce, salt and (especially) pepper adjusted, to make a little sauce.  Tenderloin sliced, arrayed on the very last of my backyard curly endive, bolting faster than I can pick it now, risotto mounded on the other end of the platter, sauce over the pork, served!  Bread based on that pain Italien in Bernard Clayton's Breads of France, a bread I've made for years but now am trying to make it happen with diastatic malt powder, rather than malt syrup.

Priscilla

[knews9]

using up leftovers...
boiled three very ripe plaintains and mashed with butter.  sauteed ground sirloin with onions, garlic, peppers, carrots and added corn at the last moment (corn was a misstep).
buttered casserole, layered plaintain mash, "refried beans", and meat and corn mixture, and another layer of plaintains.  baked at 350 for 30 minutes until slightly brown.  served with steamed spinach.
no more leftovers!

[SobaAddict70]

been working overtime lots, so not really time for my usual de gustibus d'jour

Sunday:  roast chicken with 40 cloves of garlic; roasted lemon potatoes; stewed greens (threw in some diced ham and duck fat for good measure); banana menage a trois (banana rum souffle with banana ice cream, and unsweetened whipped cream (I folded in just a smidge of chopped crystallized ginger into the whipped cream))

Tuesday:  asparagus risotto; leftover roast chicken; homemade cranberry chutney; steamed broccoli; leftover banana ice cream

gonna be stuck at the office tomorrow evening (*frown*), but dinner at Union Square Cafe on Friday....should be fun.

[Miss J]

Kept it super-simple last night - I've been going into work early and leaving late this week, so I've been pretty tired recently. But here's what we ate last night:

Kedgeree (inspired by Simon's discussion of it over on the India board) - nice & spicy & smoky & buttery. Undyed smoked haddock, basmati rice, homemade roasted curry powder, mustard seeds, ginger, garlic, onion, chile and sweet butter.
Chapatis from our local take-away
Fresh coriander chutney, homemade

Miss J

[Priscilla]

Miss J I couldn't find the kedgeree discussion on the India board, but then of course I am inept.  Can you point me to it?  Your dinner sounded fantastic.

Last night's dinner:  Tonkatsu (Japanese fried port cutlet), quick cucumber pickles, sake-simmered carrots, marinated bean sprouts, nice rice from the cooker.  Current fave bottled tonkatsu sauce is Kikkoman, which surprised me but the proof's in the pud and when it appeared at our house, due to being the only choice in the supermarket and I wasn't running to the Japanese supermarket just for that one item no way, we were astounded by its spicy goodness.  I like it when ignorant snobbishness, my OWN ignorant snobbishness, gets a little cured.

Priscilla

[CathyL]

My family was visiting from Denver, and after several restaurant nights I had the whole tribe over for dinner yesterday.  I picked up some wonderful stuff from Layla, our just-reopened Mediterranean place in Tribeca: baba ghanouj, muhammara (red pepper/walnut dip), spicy lavash chips, and carrot salad (shredded carrots, blood oranges, red wine vinegar, olive oil, a little orange flower water).

I smoked two silvertip roasts, with a spicy Tex-Mexish dry rub.  Accompaniments, in addition to the carrot salad: Yukon Gold chunks, roasted with garlic and rosemary; blanched green beans dressed with soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic & ginger, topped with crisp-fried shallots.  Dessert: killer brownies and whole strawberries.

A multi-culti jumble, I know, but it's what I felt like making and everything was devoured.  We all had a wonderful time...even though a pigeon relieved itself on my dad's jacket while we were sitting in the garden.  

[Liza]

This might be another thread, but tonight we're cooking a cold-air processed chicken, or Smart Chicken, the only brand employing this European technique in the US. Course, when D. mixed together melted butter, lemon thyme and foie gras terrine to rub under the skin, who the heck cares what the chicken tastes like. But I will report back nonetheless. Side of asparagus and morel tart (thanks, B Edulis!) and an almond mole.

[Sandra Levine]

Liza, can you tell us some more about this process for chicken?

[Liza]

I'll quote from the packaging:
"During a trip to Europe, I made what I consider a culinary discovery: European chicken tasted more like farm-fresh birds I remembered from my childhood. The European chickens tasted different because, as I found out, they're processed by a cold air method instead of the water immersion/absorption method commonly used by processors here in the States.
So I brought the technology home to the Midwest and created Smart Chicken, a premium poultry that introduced consumers to the superior quality and fresh taste of Air-Chilled chicken. MBA Brand Smart Chicken is the only chicken in the US currently using this flavorful method.
The Smart Chicken you are about to enjoy has the natural flavor that Europeans have been enjoying for years..."
- Mark A. Haskins, President and CEO, Smart Chicken.

I found out about this bird from the David Rosengarten Report, and dutifully sent my check to Tecumseh, Nebraska.
More, naturally, after the bird is cooked!

[Jinmyo]

The Loblaws grocery chain in Canada sells air-chilled chicken. Less water, which is always a good thing except when you want some water.

I also follow Jacques Pepin's dictate: Nehver ehver wassh chic-ken. Pat it dry. Then season it. Start at 450 F and that will kill any bacteria.

[Basildog]

Not Dinner , but my wife and i had a little picnic lunch today. I have just worked 12 days straight and it was very nice to take an hour off to go and sit in a field overlooking the estuary.Blue sky, boats on the water and the tree we sat under was in full blossum.

Lunch itself was a sandwhich (my tarragon bread), parma ham, smoked cheese,, plum tomato ,aioli and a can of pop.(i had to work and wife is pregnant so no wine   Followed by carmelised walnut and chocolate fudge.mmmmm. and the a doze in the sun

Just thought i would share this with you, no fantastic cooking skills , just a lovely time

[Liza]

Ok, I have no idea if it was the chicken or the foie gras terrine/butter etc. rubbed on it, but ohmygoodness, was it marvelous.

[Jim Dixon]

All the talk here (and other threads) about short ribs made me hungry, so I bought some (appx .5 lb) at the opening day of our farmers market from a local beef producer. Browned in hot oven, tossed in with my basic beans (sage, garlic, olive oil, salt...this time w/small white beans) and braised for 3 hours at 200F. Pulled out the meat, let cool, and picked some off to stir back a bowl of beans...wow. The extra fat and collagen made the beans really creamy.

Jim

[Priscilla]

Saturday night, old friends and the introduction of the Significant Other of one.  Chicken thighs cooked slowly as I saw David Rosengarten do a long time ago on FoodTV, accumulated pan juices degreased and reduced to make a little sauce, risotto with diced whole-milk mozzarella and chives stirred in at the end, Clarissa squash gratinate with sage, (I like sage with squash, and like Clarissa better than zucchini; too, its use in Mexican cookery makes it easily findable here in Southern California), a nice redleaf salad, pull-apart bread.  And the new Significant Other survived!  

Priscilla

[Malawry]

Friday night: Portabellos filled with spinach sauteed with butter, topped with nutmeg and Balsamic vinegar, and orzo with sundried tomatoes chez Stellabella (they ruled! plus I used the oil in the dish), artichokes, anchovies, capers, garlic, flat-leaf parsley, and nicoise olives.

Last night: Good ol' fashioned tossed salad, devilled eggs, toasted onion rye slathered with hummus. We're so eager for summer we decided not to wait for it to have a summery dinner.  

[Jinmyo]

Chow mein noodles with a spicy coriander shoyu sauce; almond soup infused with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, black peppercorns, ginger; steamed pea greens and dandelion greens with sautéed dandelion stems and pillow tofu in a mint and lime sauce; char siu (Chinese barbecue pork) with a hot mustard sauce.

[Miss J]

Priscilla - the kedgeree discussion happened in the Anglo-Indian thread.

As for this weekend's cooking - Saturday was the FA Cup Final, which was won by the mighty Arsenal FC. Amid the wild celebrations that followed, we did a bit of a backyard barbie for 10 ravenous footie fans:

Chicken Wings 1 - marinated for 48 hours in kejap manis (sweet soy sauce), light soy, a bit of sugar, star anise, and cinnamon cinnamon sticks. Stretched onto bamboo skewers for grilling and basted with dark sesame oil.

Chicken Wings 2 - marinated for 48 hours in a paste of garlic, ginger, lemongrass, fish sauce, and sugar and finely minced roasted peanuts. Stretched onto bamboo skewers for grilling, and served sprinkled with fresh coriander.

Chicken Wings 3 - marinated for 48 hours in a paste of garlic, ginger, birds eye chiles, fish sauce, fresh coriander and shallots. Stretched onto bamboo skewers for grilling and basted with chile oil. (Yep, they were HOT.)

Potato Salad - Jersey Royal new potatoes boiled in their skins, then halved. Dressed while still warm with minced shallots and panchetta cubes sauteed in olive oil, and minced raw celery, red wine vinegar and my extra-virgin Ligurean olive oil. Finished off with lots of freshly ground black pepper and a dusting of Malden sea salt.

A big mixed salad of soft & spicy leaves, blanched sugar snap peas, cucumber, celery, salad onions and courgettes, dressed with a vinaigrette of lime juice, zest, grapeseed oil, fresh coriander and salt & pepper.

Lots and lots of country bread from Baker & Spice.

For dessert: lashings of Haagan-Daas dulce de leche ice cream with homemade crisp almond biscuits (cookies).

All this and we'd been to a gig in Birmingham the night before.  It was a triumph of preparation!

Miss J

[tony h]

Yesterday - had friends over that I hadn't seen in a while & so did a bit more than usual.  The meal started with terrine of beetroot & confit of celeriac bound in an aspic-type jelly.  Accompanied with home made seeded loaf and raw spinach salad.

Mains - chicken breast (works better w lamb but one guest doesn't eat red meat) marinaded in Madeira then slow roasted.  Another terrine but of potato and wild mushroom (a la Charlie Trotter) with roasted asparagus and roasted pressed Parma ham (ham strips roasted between two heavy trays).  The sauce was a Madeira & port reduction with some of the chicken stock.

Desert - home made ivory ice cream (white cholocate) with sable of raspberries.  I even managed to rustle up some pettis fours of physalis dipped in caramel (a la Le Gavroche).

Don't know why but I'm a bit knackered today.

[SobaAddict70]

*sigh*

tonight I'm stuck at the office -- fortunately, the client's paying for dinner tonight...

Sunday:  spaghetti with garlic, olives and herbs; salad of bitter greens and oranges with a citrus viniagrette; fresh fruit.

Last night:  asparagus quiche; green salad with a white wine viniagrette; a baguette with rosemary butter; apple tarte tatin.

[wingding]

Southern Indian codfish stew-stocked up on curry leaves and coconut milk,codfish at Union Square market yesterday.Saute shallots,ginger,garlic,put on the coconut milk spices and curry leaf.Pop some mustard seeds,chiles,and more curry leaf in hot oil,and add to the stew.Serve along with long beans and rice.Good to go....

[Jinmyo]

Ziti with mint and garlic sauce with peas and pea greens; wild mushroom ragout (lobster, honey, morel, cremini) with red and green bell peppers, ancho, paprika, fenugreek leaves; roasted red and orange plum tomatoes with parmesan and caciocavallo cheeses, topped with rough bread crumbs; roasted jalapeno stuffed with parmesan and fruilano cheeses.