Dinner! 2012

[robirdstx]

Today I made Chipotle Pork Posole from a Martha Stewart recipe. I upped the amount of adobo sauce to give it a little more heat. DH liked it very much.

[ScottyBoy]

Still working to highlight all the veggies I'm growing...still working on my new salad. (I've posted this thing a bunch but I'm working on it!)

Russets pureed with champagne vinegar, "soil", golden beets, carrots, cauliflower, watermelon radishes.

Garlic risotto and egg. Caramelized fennel, onion and celery broth to cook the rice. Garlic confit and pecorino parm pureed and added in the end. My buddy supplied the egg as always, 147 makes a nice medium cooked yolk with he white incorporating into the rice perfectly.

[FrogPrincesse]

Risotto with egg... That sounds really decadent.

Last night we had local white seabass with a dill beurre blanc, and sugar snap peas.

[SobaAddict70]

Had takeout Japanese, but I think I redeemed my foodie cred with some crêpes and compote de pommes

[jpwcollins]

First post in this thread - I've never really made much that I'd consider worthy of showing off - and I don't think that this is any different. But, seeing as I took a photo at the time, here goes!

Smoked butternut squash veloute with spinach and pecorino quenelles.

I'm not a vegetarian, but sometimes find myself eating meat-free for a while. I guess this was one of those days!

[bmdaniel]

Anna -

What's the mustard dressing recipe?

Thanks!

[Anna N]

Anna -

What's the mustard dressing recipe?

Thanks!

Without violating copyright:

1 T garlic

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1T grainy mustard

2T red wine vinegar

1/3 cup peanut or canola oil

I adjusted the garlic, oil, salt and pepper to my own taste.

[Franci]

I'd like a spoonful from each of your plates

Yesterday I cooked lamb shanks with gingered lentils from Odd bits. I'm slowly finding myself cooking throught it (and also Fat).

And tonight we also had spaghetti with clams. I'm eating this very often because it's one of my husband's favourite dishes

[mm84321]

Razor Clams with Fennel

John Dory Poached with Citrus, Daikon Radishes, and Olio Nuovo

[patrickamory]

We celebrated Chinese New Year with another try at red-braised pork.

[patrickamory]

And, sort of the polar opposite to my last post - I woke up not feeling great, and I have to take a transatlantic flight tomorrow at 5 AM. So I needed something restorative and something that would use up perishables in the fridge.

I came up with this chicken-vegetable soup. The thing that looks like an orange is actually a Rangpur lime:

It started from a combination of vegetable stock and brown-roasted chicken stock (I had about a cup of the latter in my fridge). For the vegetable stock, I chopped half a cabbage, a whole onion, a carrot, and 6 cloves of garlic and fried them in olive oil over high heat with a couple bay leaves and some Mexican oregano for 5 minutes or a bit longer - till they were reduced and smelling good. Added about a quart and a cup of cold water and a teaspoon of salt, brought to a boil, simmered for 30 minutes and strained. Dropped my lump of frozen chicken stock in it along with two peeled red wax potatoes cut into bite-size chunks.

Meanwhile I chopped the rest of the cabbage, 4 more carrots, 2 cloves of garlic, half a large onion, and about a pound of Murray's chicken breasts I had in the freezer. I also minced one green Thai bird chile. Warmed a mixture of 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs butter over med heat with the minced chile and 1/2 tsp salt, then added the onion, sauteed until translucent, added the garlic, continued sauteeing for another 2 minutes, added the stock, carrots, cabbage and chicken, brought to a simmer, and cooked until the chicken was done and the carrots and potatoes just tender - maybe another 10 minutes max.

Garnished with coriander leaves and the rangpur lime - the latter should be squeezed in and stirred in well, the perfume is _very_ strong. And fresh pepper ground on top as well. And some extra Maldon sea salt.

[Anna N]

Yet another salad this time with leftover prime rib dressed with a Worcestershire sauce vinaigrette.

[gfweb]

Shrimp pane, a Pepin recipe, shrimp bound together with a shrimp mousse, bread-crumbed and pan fried. On romaine with sherry vinegar/hazelnut oil.

JPWCthose spinach/cheese quenelles look great!

Edited January 29, 2012 by gfweb (log)

[kayb]

Marvelous meals, everyone.

Recently:

Chicken thighs cut into chunks and stewed with sweet potatos, tomatos, coconut milk, chiles and chicken broth. I was aiming for Caribbean; I missed it somewhere along the way. I need to tinker with it some more.

On the side, potato skins, my 16-year-old's favorite side dish and one of mine as well.

[djyee100]

robirdstx, I'll have some of that Chipotle Pork Posole.

patrickamory, the chicken-vegetable soup looks great.

jpwcollins, welcome! I like the spinach and pecorino quenelles.

A Clean Out The Fridge & Cupboards dinner here. Some well-aged carrots, potatoes, and celery root went into a Frenchified Shepherd's Pie.

The base was a beef stew with wine, stock, pearl onions, carrots, bay leaf and thyme in a flour-thickened sauce. For the topping, a mash of celery root and Yukon Gold potatoes with a little milk, butter, an egg to bind, and fresh chopped dill. The casserole tasted very good; I was pleased with how well it came out.

[Anna N]

....

A Clean Out The Fridge & Cupboards dinner here. Some well-aged carrots, potatoes, and celery root went into a Frenchified Shepherd's Pie.

.....

My kind of food and frugality. Looks delicious.

[Dejah]

Had a mini-cooking class / feast in our friends Bruce and Suzanne's new kirchen last night. I prepared char siu, hot and sour soup and char siu bars at home. Suz is a NOT a Hot 'n' Sour soup any more... She loved it. Bruce has had it before in my restaurant and was our karate sensi.

We started with slices of char siu and dark ale:

Suz's first taste of the soup. Good thing I took lots as she loved it.

I made some small baos - 2 mouthfull size ones. Larger ones were saved for their freezer.

Here are some of the items Suz learned to make:

She loved the rolls in restaurants but now she can make her own!

Siu Mai with pork shrimp, and waterchestnut

Coconut shrimp with mango chipotle dip

We stir-fried the choy with ginger and garlic. Chicken breast was added later and topped a big plate of Cantonese noodles.

We cooked and ated from 7 - 10. I was happy to leave the messy kitchen to Bruce and Suz...

[rotuts]

dejah, your food looks so deliciouis.

i wouldn't mind some tips on how you made that char sui if your are willing to share ...

[Dejah]

Hi rotuts,

This was the way I made char siu when I had my restaurant. At that time, we used a cut called "buckeye" because customers wanted lean meat. Now, at home, for ourselves, and for char siu baos, I use pork butt roasts for the fat in them along with the lean parts.

I cut the roast into 1 to 1.5 inch slabs, poke holes in them, and marinate them in the following combination. I don't have measurements, just eyeballing from years of doing it.

Marinade:

hoisin sauce, a glug of oyster sauce, soy sauce, Chinese wine, liquid food colour, salt, MSG (optional), sugar, sesame oil. The marinade is still of fairly thick consistency and will cling to the meat as it marinates. I use a glass lasagne dish to marinate the meat, making sure every part is covered. I turn it after a few hours, and usually leave it in the fridge overnight.

To roast, I turn the oven to 400, and have a pan of water on the bottom rack to keep the meat moist while roasting. I used to use S-hooks (made from cheap poultry skewers) to hang the meat from the rack that holds up my broiling elements. Think I've done that too often with too many chunks, and one of the brackets came away from the top of the oven. (would that be a good enough reason to get a new oven?!) That was the perfect way to get all around "charring" on each piece.

Now, I lay the pieces on a broiling pan with water in the bottom pan. This way, I have to turn them after the top has "charred", and finish the other side

Right out of the oven, I brushed them with honey diluted with a bit of hot water. This gives them a nice glaze and an immediate hit of sweetness when you bit into a piece.

I use this meat for char siu baos as well.

[mm84321]

Skate Roasted with Curry, Coconut and Seaweed

[Anna N]

No salad tonight as I was trying to replicate a dish that a deceased friend used to serve. I am not a fan of beans of any kind but remembered that I had enjoyed these "butter" beans which I have never been able to find. Recently learned that they are simply large lima beans! She made the dish in a casserole in the oven but I wanted to use the pressure cooker. This was my second interation and I am very satisified with the result. The beans are silky (not mealy) and the lamb is fall-off-the-bone tender.

[ScottyBoy]

Pork chop sandwiches. Breaded and fried, homemade ketchup, lettuce, mayo, sauteed onions and garlic, toasted bun. I liked very much

[kayb]

Weekend stuff:

Tamarind braised pork over rice.

Pot roast at 1 p.m., ready to go in the oven:

Have not yet downloaded the one of the finished product, but I forgot to photograph it until after my teenager and I had decimated it.

This was lunch today:

A tomato and mozzarella sandwich on a gluten-free roll, with bacon jam and honey chipotle mustard. With bread-and-butter pickles.

[ScottyBoy]

Awesome looking sandwich. This thread is always torture, need taste-o-vision.

[Norm Matthews]

Made Scotch Eggs at son's request for him to take have something to grab and go when he has morning classes.