Dinner! 2012

[Okanagancook]

The oxtail daube was from the SW France book. I have also made the beef daube from her Claypot book. Both were fantastic. The pig foot and skin really give the sauce that sticky yummy rich quality. The recipes are quite a bit of work and you have to start a day or two ahead of when you want to eat them.

[Paul Bacino]

Okanagancook.. I love just to eat Boiled Pig skin-- Hope it didn't go to waste.

Little lime and salt I'm good to go..

Nice

[Hassouni]

Stupidly cold for late April yesterday here, so spent all day boiling up chicken carcasses:

The resultant soup had carrots, celery, fennel, onions, barley, napa cabbage, and a surprising amount of chicken meat picked off the bones. Probably the clearest stock I've ever achieved.

Tonight, an Iraqi favorite, tepsi beitinjan, an eggplant casserole.

Ground lamb, browned:

Topped with broiled (traditionally, fried) eggplant slices

Which are then topped with a mixture of softened onions and garlic, green pepper, cumin, curry powder, and Arabic spices (7 baharat), and then topped with sliced fresh tomatoes, and finally with a sauce made of tomato paste, pomegranate syrup, and basil, and popped into the oven:

Always served with yogurt:

And, since it's the season and I found some lovely looking local stuff at TJ's:

Steamed with a drizzle of olive oil and salt

Edited April 25, 2012 by Hassouni (log)

[EnriqueB]

EnriqueB-- I use a mallet to crush them ( Pistachio nuts ) in a bag , 1/3 C, I then add about 50% Panko , 1 small clove of minced garlic, 1T Parsley, I then add 1T Ghee and then enough Evoo to make it slightly into a paste, S and P tt. Coat top--about 3-4 /6-8 oz portions

I Pan fry, skin on and Bake 425, Tell the Temp you like

Sounds great, I'll try soon. Thanks for the details Paul!

[Kim Shook]

Paul – the crust on your halibut of 4/22 is just amazing. That is, to me, what all pan sautéed fish should look like.

Stash – love the look of those sardines. I’m not even sure that I could find good sardines down here – need to check with the one decent fish shop that we have.

Kate – beautiful scallops!

robirdstx – glad you liked the burger method. The last time that I did them, I seared them outside on the gas grill’s burner, then brought the pan inside to finish in the oven. That will be my method from now on. It’s just too much smoke inside the house. I literally have trouble breathing afterwards.

dcarch – just blown away like everyone else!

Hassouni – your chicken soup looks wonderful and your china is gorgeous!

It seems that I’m being drawn to all the fish this week. Must do something about that! Dinner last night was some chili that Mr. Kim made, slaw and corn muffins:

That’s my bowl – Mr. Kim is not fond of chili-mac, while, to me it’s not really chili without the mac!

[Paul Bacino]

Kim,

I could do chili-mac, Yumm. I don't think of it like chili with macaroni in it, but macaroni dress with a bit of chili.

Nice

[Kim Shook]

Kim,

I could do chili-mac, Yumm. I don't think of it like chili with macaroni in it, but macaroni dress with a bit of chili.

Nice

I don't think this will win over Mr. Kim, but that's exactly how I see it! Lot's of cheese makes it mac and cheese with chili! I think I'm veering dangerously close to Hamburger Helper!

[Kouign Aman]

Kim - the shrimp corn dish looks both delicious and practical. Do you share the recipe?

Soba - such beautifully prepared sardines

RRO - supermodel scallops, are those.

percyn - those lamb burgers make me want to change our dinner plans

C.sapidus your meal plates always look so well put together

d.carch - edible art, as usual

Shelby - I can smell that pizza, I swear, and the strawberries are simply too too!

Okanagancook - the richness of the dauble is leaping off the plate

Hassoun - Did you buy the bowl just for that soup? The patterns and colors and whispy herb bits are perfect together.

Dinner last night was customized frittatas; bok choy/mushroom/onion/chili/chili paste* with shrimp topper for one, and sausage w cheese for the munchkin. Served w steamed cabbage, which they both like, tho one sauces with sriracha and the other w soy sauce, and a warm baguette.

(*repurposed leftovers)

[SobaAddict70]

Kim and Kouign -- thanks. those were from Eataly, by the way. on Facebook, Marcella Hazan thought they were herring. (yes, she's one of my "friends")

Kouign -- you have a gift for leftovers that I don't.

Kim -- I've never had chili-mac before, nor Hamburger Helper.

Hassouni -- ditto for your chicken soup. the weather seems to be regressing lately towards cooler temperatures, enough that I'm considering making a batch of soup this weekend.

tonight:

Tajarin with lobster, lobster roe, asparagus and green garlic

No cream was used, btw. Sauce consists of lobster meat from the claws and carcass; 1 tablespoon lobster roe; two tablespoons unsalted butter; a tiny amount of chopped green garlic; about 5-6 asparagus spears; sea salt and black pepper, to taste; and chives.

[avaserfi]

Dinner (unpictured) was a simple steak. Dessert was a fruit salad of drupelets and pips.

tangerine, raspberry, grapefruit, blackberry, orange, chocolate, vanilla

[Kim Shook]

KA – thank you! I always share recipes – no secrets for me. I actually got that recipe from our Maggie. She wrote about the dish on her blog,Cheap and Cheerful. How did you prepare the bok choy for the frittatas? I have some languishing in the fridge and our CSA just delivered 3 huge Portabellas (among other things) and I’d like to make something for Mr. Kim with the mushrooms.

Stash – well, see, I’ve never had TONS of the lovely things that you cook before, so we’re even . And if you would just remove those pesky green things from your pasta, I’d demolish that ! Just beautiful.

Dinner last night was an experiment with pork burgers. I’ve been thinking about a teriyaki pork burger with pineapple for a while. The combination of flavors appealed to me a lot. I made the burgers with ground pork, a bit of S&P, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 t. dried lemon grass, 1 t. dried ginger, 1/4 t. galangal and 1 1/2 T. of a purchased teriyaki glaze. I also brushed the burgers and pineapple slices with additional glaze while they were on the grill. This particular combination didn’t please me and it wasn’t until we were almost finished eating that I figured it out. The glaze has sesame oil in it. I love sesame seeds, but not the oil. It makes everything taste burnt to me. I chose the glaze because I wanted the thickness of it, but I think that next time, I’ll just use teriyaki sauce. Burger, tots, collards and slaw:

Close up:

Burger is dressed with some lovely spring onions and cilantro from our CSA box.

[Mr Holloway]

Beautiful burger Kim

Love the grilled pineapple

Shane

[Kouign Aman]

KA – thank you! I always share recipes – no secrets for me. I actually got that recipe from our Maggie. She wrote about the dish on her blog,Cheap and Cheerful. How did you prepare the bok choy for the frittatas? I have some languishing in the fridge and our CSA just delivered 3 huge Portabellas (among other things) and I’d like to make something for Mr. Kim with the mushrooms.

Kim- pretty burgers too.

I think just doing the mushrooms and bokchoy would be good, especially with garlic. All done in a frying pan w a bit of oil. I'd start with the mushrooms as they take a lot longer to cook, and add the bok choy near the end. Med high heat and lots of stirring once it goes it. Garlic at the end so it doesnt burn.

If you want something only slightly more complicated, go up to my last post before (no pix). This gets two thumbs up from our mainland houseguest.

[Hassouni]

hehe, to those that asked, these bowls have been sitting around forever, it's only a happy coincidence!

[SobaAddict70]

Venetian-style calamari, served with herbs and polenta.

Adapted from this New York Times recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/dining/calamari-with-herbs-and-polenta-recipe.html?ref=dining

Leftover polenta will be repurposed for breakfast this weekend. Ever had poached eggs on top of polenta?

[SobaAddict70]

BTW, there's no cheese or butter in the polenta so it can be used as a blank canvas. I'm more interested in exploring the corn flavor than adding things that might obscure the taste.

[FrogPrincesse]

Beautiful polenta with calamari, SobaAddict! I really like polenta but mine never comes out quite right. What kind of polenta do you use?

Tonight i made grilled corvina seabass with spicy lime soy sauce (recipe from Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen), served with sauteed rapini with garlic and chile (recipe from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques).

For the fish, I used a couple of frozen fillets that I marinated for a couple of hours in soy, fish sauce, ginger, chives, lime juice, and peanut oil. Then I cooked them on the grill, basting with the marinade, and added fresh cilantro and lime at the end.

The rapini was blanched and sautéed in olive oil with shallots, garlic, thyme, and chile de arbol.

Really simple but full of flavor.

[SobaAddict70]

FP -- polenta corn meal from Cayuga Pure Organics.

http://www.cporganics.com/

http://www.cporganics.com/store/795/14871

Edited April 27, 2012 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

FP -- polenta corn meal from Cayuga Pure Organics.

http://www.cporganics.com/

http://www.cporganics.com/store/795/14871

Thanks!

[jvalentino]

BTW, there's no cheese or butter in the polenta so it can be used as a blank canvas. I'm more interested in exploring the corn flavor than adding things that might obscure the taste.

I'm sure you found the quality of the polenta makes a world of difference. I was amazed at the corniness that quality fresh milled had over normal polenta.

[Kouign Aman]

Polenta is good food.

Last night was home made jiaozi, broccoli, snowpeas, and rice.

Tonight may well be this highclass combo, because its ready in 7 min flat, and the munchkin loves it.

(I dump in a bunch of extra cheese to assuage my conscience. Sharp cheddar and parmesan keep it tasting 'original' to her discerning tastebuds.)

<editted to adjust pix size>

Edited April 27, 2012 by Kouign Aman (log)

[mm84321]

Chilled Pea Soup with Buttermilk, Mint and Prosciutto

John Dory Seared with Garlic and Crayfish

Blanquette de Veau with Crayfish and Tarragon

[dcarch]

mm84321 and avaserfi –Very innovative food designs.

FrogPrincesse – Very nice grilled corvina seabass.

SobaAddict70 – That’s one perfect combination of calamari, with herbs and polenta.

Kim - teriyaki pork burger with pineapple souinds great and looks fantastic. I have to give uyour recipe a try for sure. Also, tell Mr. Kim that he is almost as good a cook as you are. :-)

Shelby – Those beautiful strawberries would go so well with the asparqagus pizza.

Kouign Aman – I admire your great repurposed customized frittatas. Fine looking jiaozi. What’s in the filling?

Hassouni – Very nice dinner you had there.

EnriqueB – "Pularda” with Heston Blumenthal's "Pommes Purée", just perfect.

rarerollingobject – I always look forward to you great dishes. The Vietnamese lemongrass pork neck and nem nuong have not disappointed me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - -

Nothing fancy, plain chicken dishes.

dcarch

Stir fried chicken with black garlic

Chicken with Lime sauce

[Kim Shook]

Stash – beautiful calamari! Looking forward to the breakfast polenta.

KA – love the juxtaposition of homemade jiaozi (which I had to Google) and Kraft dinner! You are truly a renaissance woman!

mm – just beautiful!

dcarch – thank you from both of us! Chicken with lime looks and sounds delicious. Do you know I’ve never tasted a fiddlehead fern. They are truly otherworldly looking.

Dinner tonight was salad, ham w/ an apple cider glaze, collards, sweet potatoes and corn muffins.

The dreaded marshmallow topped sweet potatoes:

Not only do I NOT apologize for this being the only way I like sweet potatoes, but I ADORE burnt marshmallows !

Plate:

[rotuts]

mm and dcarch: you took those pics as some sort of 5 star restaurant. I know it.

Ill just have to come over soon and see for myself.

brilliant!