Chufi

two things I suck at. Luckily, I don't like boiled rice, and my husband knows how to boil an egg (one of his very few culinary skills). My list of basics: tomatosauce vinaigrette omelet chicken stock roast chicken mayonaise custard all these things I can do. One other basic that I would like to be able to do, but I never get it right: steak. Always tough, too rare, too well done, blegh.

this is going to be interesting. I'm in the northern hemisphere, but not in the US, and this whole outdoorgrilling business is practically unknown here. Burgers are something you get at McDonalds, and meatloaf is an exotic dinner. However, minced meat is a staple here like it is in most western countries I guess. So, no outdoor grilling for me, but I have had a meatloaf phase a little while ago and I have made some pretty tasty ones. Maybe I'll look into those recipes and I have to say.. marlene's burger souds very tasty... I could always grill on my grillpan.. right??

little dinnerparty for husbands co-workers: to start, slices of baguette with cheat's onion confit (made in 2 hours on the stovetop ) with bleu d'auvergne then salad of aragula, roast green asparagus, steamed new potatoes, serrano ham, eggs, mint and a mustard mayonaise dressing: roast rosemary-garlic lamb, white beans cooked with garlic and sage, salad of grilled courgette, tomatoes and basil: raspberry pinenut crumble cake with panna cotta icecream (the icecream was storebought from one of the best icecreamparlours in town) edited to add that tonight I am dining on the leftovers: pureed, those beans turned into a wonderful soup. And there's a slice of that crumble cake left for dessert

How lovely. Pheasant chicks, baby rabbits and woodstrawberries, all basking in the English sunshine! The German winetasting is interesting. Don't know much about German wine.. but I'm going to tour the Pfalz this summer, so that's about to change!

thank you both so much. I was away part of the week but catching up was so much fun - I was very, very impressed with everything you both did. thank you for sharing your lives and your kitchens with us. get some well deserved rest now!

Beef stew with rhubarb Serves 6 as Main Dish. Khoresht-e Rivas, Persian meat stew with rhubarb. this recipe is adapted from Nesta Ramazani's Persian Cooking. 2-1/2 lb stewing beef 2 onions, chopped 4 T butter 1-1/2 c light stock (chicken) couple of strands of saffron juice of 1 lemon 1 bunch of parsley, chopped 5 sprigs of mint, chopped 5 stalks of rhubarb, sliced salt and pepper In a large pan, that will hold the beef later, sautee the onions in the butter for a couple of minutes until soft. Raise the heat, add the beef (cut into pieces) and fry for a couple of minutes. Crush the saffron strands and mix with a little hot water. Add this to the pan together with the stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer very slowly for 1 hour. Add the finely chopped herbs to the pan and simmer for another 30 minutes. Add the rhubarb and simmer for another 15 - 30 minutes or until the beef is very tender. Serve with rice. Keywords: Beef, Main Dish ( RG1292 )

Beef stew with rhubarb Serves 6 as Main Dish. Khoresht-e Rivas, Persian meat stew with rhubarb. this recipe is adapted from Nesta Ramazani's Persian Cooking. 2-1/2 lb stewing beef 2 onions, chopped 4 T butter 1-1/2 c light stock (chicken) couple of strands of saffron juice of 1 lemon 1 bunch of parsley, chopped 5 sprigs of mint, chopped 5 stalks of rhubarb, sliced salt and pepper In a large pan, that will hold the beef later, sautee the onions in the butter for a couple of minutes until soft. Raise the heat, add the beef (cut into pieces) and fry for a couple of minutes. Crush the saffron strands and mix with a little hot water. Add this to the pan together with the stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer very slowly for 1 hour. Add the finely chopped herbs to the pan and simmer for another 30 minutes. Add the rhubarb and simmer for another 15 - 30 minutes or until the beef is very tender. Serve with rice. Keywords: Beef, Main Dish ( RG1292 )

turnip parmesan souffle salad of butter lettuce, avocado, tomato, some blue cheese lying around in the fridge, and a dressing of red pepper, shallots and garlic sauteed in olive oil, and boiled down with lots of balsamic vinegar. leftover cardamom ricepudding for dessert.

meatballs flavored with mint, coriander, allspice, & cumin leeks braised in white wine, served cold with toasted pine nuts roast potaotes & carrots dessert: cardamom rice pudding brulees

that's what I alway do. And isn't it bliss to walk into a clean kitchen the next morning? especially if your head feels a little heavy I have to say that both your meals look spectacular. They make me want to throw a real, classic dinner party just like them, even though I could not cook a piece of meat like that to save my life. I am almost sorry I am going to London tomorrow and will be without internet for 2 days, but already looking forward to the catching up on Thursday!

Fresh herbs are very good to enliven pasta salad. Use lots of them, much more than you think. Mint, coriander, basil, parsley, oregano. Or thyme and rosemary chopped up and warmed in some oliveoil for a while. Also for pasta salad, I like to have the ratio pasta/other ingredients reverse from when I'm eating hot pasta for dinner. My pasta salad looks more like "vegetable salad with pasta"

Thanks for explaining Susan Tonight: miso marinated grilled salmon steaks soba noodles with spinach, portobello mushrooms, sesame seeds and sesame oil. followed by a large chunk of Lindt dark chocolate with caramel pecans, brought from France. Why can't I buy chocolate like that over here

rice, except: in the form of risotto, a rice pudding or a bowl of plain japanese rice next to my plate of sashimi. Basmati rice with curry.. ugh (to the rice, that is. Just give me the curry with some naan or potatoes). I think I just hate rice with sauce! Dry white rice covered in something saucy.. no, no, no. raw onions.

3 glasses of it, simultaneously?

For me it very much depends on who I'm serving dinner. With my husband or close friends, when I've cooked something 'weird', I will say "now try this and tell me if you know what it it is, guess the mystery ingredient "etc. But only with people I know very well, know their eating habits etc. With friends I don't know so well, larger groups etc. I will always tell them what they're about to eat. Like someone said upthread, what you put in your mouth is something nobody but yourself should decide for you.

when the restaurant chooses for you, it's entirely different I think. I have had many of those meals and indeed, it can be very interesting to all be eating the same food. For instance at winetasting dinners, this can lead to interesting conversation about the food & wine, in much more detail then when you're all eating something different. The shared experience can be wonderful. But in those cases, you don't have a choice. When you do have a choice (as in a regular restaurant setting) I feel it's somehow limiting and boring to have the same dish as my dining companion. When the choice is there I want to make the most of it.

I don't like sharing but I like tasting. When I get my plate of food, I want to be in charge of that, and I will have a specific order in which to eat the things on it. So no swapping plates around for me thank you. However I do like to taste the dishes my husband orders, we usually give eachother little bites of everything. I like to order as many different dishes as possible, even if I'm not going to taste them. (I might choose not to taste them because my husband orders something I really don't like or if the taste of his dish is going to clash completely with my dinner.) I still want to see what it looks like! Having the same plates before you is boring! So I try to negotiate the ordering with him.. which is difficult.. because he will keep saying 'oh I don't know yet'.. and then decide what to have the split second the waiter is at the table to take our order!

My rats say I have to be on the side of the ferret team. I don't know.. it's too hard to choose. So I'm not going to take sides but just enjoy the show.. and I'm sure it's going to be a very, very good one.

wow what a fantastic idea! Chilli cobbler! that's going in my notebook as "have to try this soon". I have been trying to stick to my budget better recently. I did really well this month, the grocery account says -0,84 cents and next months money is coming in tomorrow! My goal for next month is to actually save some of the grocery budget..

So how do you like white asparagus Susan? I'm curious, because from the discussions on EGullet I get the impression that Americans generally prefer the green ones. Our dinner: meatballs with chickpeas and spinach (Claudia Roden recipe) couscous salad with mint, coriander, raisins, toasted pepita's, chopped tomatoes. I think I'll have some greek yoghurt with chestnut honey for dessert.. again.

I'm Dutch and I hate licorice. It's not just that I don't like it, I can't stand it. Especially the vile aftertaste. I'm sorry Chocoholic!

hehe. For a minute I was getting all carried away by the thought that there actually was such a thing as Dutch champagne

Moet & Chandon is Dutch??

That dinner + wine takes me straight back to Beaune! did you poach the eggs in the wine sauce? I'm interested because after my trip to Burgundy I've looked at a number of recipes for oeufs en meurette but I think they all cook sauce and eggs separately. Dinner tonight was a lovely mix of leftovers: asparagus soup, made of nothing but the cooking liquid from our white asparagus feast, thickened with a little cooked potato and an egg yolk. Very delicate, essence-of-asparagus flavor. flour tortillas stuffed with leftover mole, leftover blackbeans, sour cream and grated gouda, baked with more cheese sprinkled on top. Ah, that mole is good stuff! green salad with grilled yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, lots of basil and balsamic vinaigrette.

I think it's more that big breakfasts aren't very common here.. many of the breakfasts I see on this thread would be considered dinner over here.. If you have a much lighter breakfast, alcohol seems out of place I guess. yes, I would love to try the oatmeal stout (but maybe I'll have it in the evening instead of for breakfast).. I'll have to visit my specialty beershop soon!