Dinner! 2012

[radtek]

I wish we could get pigeon here, but have to make do with rock-hens. Looks delish.

[naguere]

What a fantastic thread this , and the comments (RRO : ' I am a bit of a sticky beak') priceless. Thanks to the wonders of Windows 8 this subject is pinned to my start so as not to miss a one of them. Thank you all.

[Mr Holloway]

Always end up so hungry after catching up here

Great looking meals everyone

Dinner was lamb, sweet tater and burgundy mushrooms

Shane

[pep.]

Vegetarian dinner for 5: Caramelized butternut squash soup with pumpkin seed oil (based on MC@H)

Erdäpfelgulasch ("potato goulash")

Walnut pudding with bitter chocolate sauce and sour cherries in brandy

[mm84321]

Sweetbreads scaled with chestnuts, fregola sarda and white truffle

[robirdstx]

Tonight we made dinner on the grill:

I grilled Cajun Spiced Chicken Wing Sections and DH had his tossed in Sriracha and Butter with Ranch Dressing on the side for dipping.

I had mine naked!

[radtek]

Wow! People have been bringing it! Here's mine...

Ripe tomatoes from the garden macerated with balsamic, olive oil, minced red onion and garlic from this past Spring with home fermented jalapeño sauce and dried lemon-basil. Plated with Gorgonzola and house-cured pancetta.

Last night I dusted the chop with fine salt and fresh-cracked pepper then sealed for a rest in the fridge.

The lamb rib-chop was done SV @135F for 3 hours then quick-seared 30 seconds each side in olive-oil. Served with feijoada-rice and steamed Brussels sprouts tossed in a tomato-mustard vinaigrette based on the prior salad.

The lamb was amazingly succulent and a perfect medium. Unfortunately the tomato-mustard vinaigrette was a little BBQ-ey and clashed with the rest of the dish. And next time three sprouts will be enough. Having to chew through all of the sprouts no matter how perfectly cooked totally dominated the dish. It was good but a fail in these two aspects. Next time butter, salt and some lemon juice perhaps...

[rarerollingobject]

pep - that dessert looks great. Did you make the cherries yourself? I've been pondering brandy-ing some cherries. radtek - gorgonzola, pancetta and tomatoes sounds amazing. robirdstx, it's because of you I first tried sriracha with chicken wings and now I like it better than buffalo style.. mm84321, ridiculously beautiful as usual. Scaling sweetbreads! Amazing.

Dinner here was a new way with squid; pureed in the food processor with ginger, chilli and coriander and then fried as patties. With a shredded carrot/cucumber/ginger/chilli salad on the side. And more coriander.

[liuzhou]

Tonight I had dinner in black and white. Nearly.

Steamed cod with black garlic, ginger, (white of) leek, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine. A sweet and sour balsamic tomato sauce. Served with black rice.

[rod rock]

Too many wonderful dinners, i just can't pick one to comment. That vegan potato goulash from Pep looks delicious!

[David Ross]

Sweetbreads scaled with chestnuts, fregola sarda and white truffle

Looks delicious and I love sweetbreads. Can you give us some more details about the recipes/techniques?

[rotuts]

Id like to hear more about the pureed squid. sort of a great idea to add to a Tod-man-pla

[mm84321]

Looks delicious and I love sweetbreads. Can you give us some more details about the recipes/techniques?

Thanks. The sweetbreads are soaked overnight, of course, blanched, shocked, and then the outer membrane is removed. They are pressed for 2 hours to get the surface nice and flat, and portioned into even oval shapes. The chestnuts are peeled, first by hand, then in the deep fryer at 390F for 10 seconds, just enough to remove their second skin (they should still be raw). Then, they are finely sliced with a mandoline. To adhere, each slice of chestnut is brushed with a little egg white, and then placed onto the sweetbreads. To cook, heat a saute pan over medium heat with a little olive oil, and place the sweetbreads in, chestnut-scaled side down, cook for 5 minutes, then turn, add some butter, and cook for 5 minutes more. Let rest on a rack.

The fregola sarda is cooked like a risotto. Some minced spring onions are sweated in rendered marrow fat, then the fregola is added, toasted for 2 minutes, then you proceed with chicken stock, and cook until al dente. It is finished with parmesan, artichoke spread, 2 or 3 drops of white truffle oil, chopped white truffle, and some whipped cream. The nuttiness of the fregola worked wonderfully with the truffle. I actually prefer risotto made with it to risotto made with rice.

The white stuff you see on the plate is a garlic sauce. Basically 100ml of chicken stock reduced by half, then mixed with 50g of garlic oil, 50g of quark, seasoned, and emulsified with 2g of xanthan gum. It adds a very pleasant flavor of garlic to the dish without overpowering. Then the the veal jus, which I make by browning veal breast in (a lot) of butter with shallots and garlic, deglazing 3 times with a mixture of chicken and a light beef stock, simmering for 45 minutes while skimming off the fat, then reduce. I clarify the skimmed fat and break the sauce with it. The dish is finished with the tips of very young chives and a few leaves of tarragon.

Anyway, I though the sweetbreads were awesome. The chestnuts are crisp, and the sweetbreads are beautifully moist within. The fregola is also worth making on its own.

[Ranz]

Thai Curry with chicken thighs (sous vide), shredded cabbage, red and yellow bell peppers, soy sauce and yoghurt instead of coconut milk. Also added a sous vide egg.

The curry was milder than I would have liked, no doubt caused by the yoghurt substitution. Still very yummy though

[robirdstx]

On the grill again tonight,

hamburger on a toasted homemade bun with sliced tomato, onion, mayo and yellow mustard.

[C. sapidus]

Too many beautiful meals to comment on all, but RRO’s squid and Robirstx’s wings called to me.

Dinner from 50 Great Curries of India. Slowly brown-frying the onions lent great depth of flavor to the curry and cabbage.

Beef curry, Madras style: Brown-fried onions, a fried spice paste, and beef chuck, simmered until tender and then finished with coconut milk. Very popular.

Cabbage with spices and tomato: Slowly-fried onions, ginger, and chiles, and then finished with tomato, turmeric, and Kashmiri chile powder.

Yellow rice: Basmati rice, soaked and then steamed with cinnamon, bay leaf, black cardamom, clove, and turmeric.

[munchymom]

Dal makhani and mutter paneer, with brown rice:

[patrickamory]

munchymom that looks fantastic. We need more Indian dishes in this thread.

[pep.]

pep - that dessert looks great. Did you make the cherries yourself? I've been pondering brandy-ing some cherries.

No, those are from my mother. Unfortunately, she didn't get any good sour cherries this year, so last year's batch is all I have until summer

[David Ross]

An annual staple that I make every year when it gets cold-Duck Confit. Now this year I made a twist in the preparation and it worked quite well. After the confit has cured in the fat, warm the pot up in the oven to slowly melt the fat. After about 30 minutes, gently pull the confit out of the pot. Then to get a really crisp skin, deep-fry the confit in 375 oil for about 4 minutes. You can also roast the confit and crisp the skin in a hot oven, but the deep-fry is so decadent and results in a very crispy skin. Delicious.

[radtek]

I am so hungry after looking at all these images of wonderful wonderful food! Great job guys!

Dinner is gonna be late tonight and not for a couple more hours.

[pastameshugana]

...the deep-fry is so decadent and results in a very crispy skin. Delicious...

That sounds both decadent AND delicious. Call next time you're making it!

[David Ross]

...the deep-fry is so decadent and results in a very crispy skin. Delicious...

That sounds both decadent AND delicious. Call next time you're making it!

I'll make sure I let you know what time on Saturday I'm curing the next batch!

[Creola]

Every one's dinners look wonderful, I could eat Indian every night with Thai a close second. We had quick beef fajitas,guacamole and margaritas. I hadn't bought flour tortillas in years and tonight I remember why,they just don't compare to homemade.That hamburger of robirdstx decided my menu for tomorrow, it looked so good.

[patrickamory]

No picture, but we made Marcella Hazan's pasta with tuna and garlic, and old staple. It's so good, it's easy to devour a pound of pasta between two people.