Dinner! 2012

[kayb]

Carrots cooked with cinnamon and basil

Details, please? I love the sound of the flavor combination.

[suzilightning]

It has cooled down a bit here in NW NJ so I actually feel like cooking. Yesterday did a cottage pie takeoff from Rachael Ray that sounded good - meh. It was Italian pork sausage, ground beef, onions, peppers and beef broth topped with garlic mashed potatoes. I added some dried oregano and basil to the meats but it was just ...... not to be made again.

Two nights ago and again tonight (for Johnnybird's celebration meal - he is now eligible to retire though probably won't for a bit) I made lobster ravioli with fresh pasta. Got some steamed lobster claws(the only good meat on a lobster IMHO) from the local supermarket. Pulsed the lobster up in my robocoupe with a very few chopped capers, some fresh basil and a tiny scoop of minced shallot. I bound it with the littlest bit of tartar sauce. The other day I poached them, dried them on some toweling then sauteed in a bit of good olive oil. I added some marinara but it didn't work that well. Tonight i'll just make a bit of a light garlic olive oil sauce and serve with a salad from my CSA bag.

I also made some fettuccine that I served with some sauteed onion, yellow pepper, sugar snap peas, green squash and shrimp with sesame oil.

[mm84321]

Carrots cooked with cinnamon and basil

Details, please? I love the sound of the flavor combination.

Sure. It is really simple, and really excellent. Melt a few tablespoons of salted butter in a pan, then add carrots (whole, or sliced into equal sized pieces) and enough water to come up about halfway. Cover with buttered parchment and stew very gently, swirling the pan occasionally. Once the water has evaporated, and the carrots are glazed, add a touch of soy sauce, a pinch of powdered cinnamon, and some leaves of basil (here I used cinnamon basil). Finish with fleur de sel.

I made some again tonight to go with dinner.

Edited July 12, 2012 by mm84321 (log)

[mgaretz]

Mark – your meatloaf looks EXACTLY like how I always want mine to look. We are visiting friend in Florida soon and I've requested meatloaf – hers is the best I've ever tasted and she gets that mahogany crust like yours.]

Thanks Kim. It's pretty easy. The glaze is just ketchup and sugar. You can use white or brown but I usually use white because I'm too lazy to get the brown to dissolve. I don't measure but it's about 1/2 cup ketchup to 3 tbs sugar. Cook the meatloaf to an internal temperature of 135f in a 375f oven. Then take it out, turn on the broiler and baste the meatloaf. Give it about 6-7 minutes under the broiler then repeat the glaze and broil for another 6-7 minutes. You'll have to determine the time based on your broiler and how close the meatloaf is to the burner. Pull it both times when it starts to get a bit charred, to your taste of course.

Edited to add that the meatloaf is cooked on a broiler pan as a free-form loaf, not in a meatloaf pan.

Edited July 13, 2012 by mgaretz (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Was talking to the medical student who was working with me today in the clinic and mentioned that I was making the Momofuku pork buns for dinner. Her response - she'd always wanted to go to Momofuku and had made it to Milk Bar last time she was in NYC. Realized she would be welcome to join me for dinner!

[FrogPrincesse]

These buns are so beautiful, Kerry. I am going to make the roasted pork belly this weekend for our friends and family. This is such a delicious dish.

[Dejah]

Finally got my joong made, a couple of weeks late for the Dragon Festival in June due to teaching schedul. Fed 30 international students, family, some friends and neighbors, and still have about 75 left for the freezer. Haven't made joong since my mother, my joong master passed away 2 years ago. It was a bit sad making them by myself, but also a happy session of remembering our happy conversations over the years. Subconsciously, I laid out all my ingredients, supplies on the same red card table the same way as we did for so many years. I even poured myself a cup of hot water that my Mom always requested! Am I my mother's daughter or what?

We are finally getting hot summery weather here on the Manitoba prairies, so no cooking last night,. We just heated up acouple of joong and made a quick, simple wintermelon soup (no picture of soup)

And a neighbor surprised me with a tub of lychee bobas from the frozen yogurt shop. She didn't bring yogurt as it wouold not have survived the 10 minute drive. But it was fun to sit and enjoy each boba as it popped and sent a little squirt of lychee flavoured juice onto the tongue!

[Steve Irby]

Gulf Coast Bouillabaisse - Red Snapper, Cedar Key Clams, Pensacola Bay Shrimp and bay scallops. The recipe is loosely based on a Patricia Wells recipe from At Home in Provence with fennel and orange zest. I caught the fish yesterday when I went fishing offshore with friends. I grilled some of the ribs, or frames,and added the cooked meat to the finished broth and used the heads for stock. The light smoked taste from the grilled fish and orange zest is great.

After a trip to our farmers market this morning I made a fresh okra and corn chowder. Lots of okra sauteed with onion and garlic and blackened fish seasoning. It is combined with potatoes stock, heavy cream and fresh cut corn.

[Raoul Duke]

Stuffed Zucchini ala Marcella Hazan, just prior to going into the broiler for the finish. Italian zucchini, garlic, onions from the garden, olive oil from our groves, home ground pork shoulder and some San Marzano tomatoes and Parmesean from the store.

[patrickamory]

Wonderful looking bouillabaisse Steve

[rarerollingobject]

Calamari, grilled with salsa verde, and a green salad. I like to leave the skin and wings on..I don't find the skin bitter the way some people do. And there's quite a bit of meat in those wings!

[Mjx]

. . . .

And a neighbor surprised me with a tub of lychee bobas from the frozen yogurt shop. She didn't bring yogurt as it wouold not have survived the 10 minute drive. But it was fun to sit and enjoy each boba as it popped and sent a little squirt of lychee flavoured juice onto the tongue!

Are those essentially alginate spheres? I've had standard tapioca pearls in bubble tea, but I've never come across these... they look delicious, though.

[Dejah]

MJX: These popping bobas are made from water, sugar, fruit juice,calciumj lactate, seaweed extract, malic acid, potassium sorbate, and fruit flavourings. Amazon had a kit: At Home Molecular Gastronomy - but it's not available at this time.

These are very different from the tapioca ones, which are chewy. These pop in your mouth when you squish the chewy thin covering. Tried eating them by themsleves - fun but got boring. NEEDS YOUGURT!

[Mjx]

Thanks Dejah! I actually have the necessary ingredients to attempt this, and I think it's interesting to see this modernist technique entering the mainstream, ready-to-eat market

[patrickamory]

A meal from Land of Plenty.

Dry-fried beans:

And red-braised pork:

Edited July 15, 2012 by patrickamory (log)

[rotuts]

May i ask how you do your red-braised pork? It certainly looks stunning.

[patrickamory]

Hi rotuts, it's a combination of Dunlop and a Hunanese version from eGulleteer Prawncrackers. Details here:

Red-braised pork

I've deep-fried the entire piece before, but really you only need to fry the skin, which is what I did this time. Really simplifies the process. Also, you can sub water for the chicken stock. In fact, this is an incredibly easy dish.

Edited July 15, 2012 by patrickamory (log)

[rotuts]

thank-you. in your picture there is a clear 'supernate' if you will floating over a darker liquid. Is that oil? the darker liquid from the cooking?

thanks

[patrickamory]

That is mostly rendered pork fat, with a little bit of vegetable oil. I would have skimmed it but partner likes it so much!

The darker liquid is from the cooking.

[rotuts]

fantastic looking dish. Its on my list!

[Jmahl]

Chicken mole on white rice with zuccini cheese medley Coahuila style.

[ScottyBoy]

fantastic looking dish. Its on my list!

Me too, looks awesome!

Edited July 15, 2012 by ScottyBoy (log)

[mm84321]

Black bass with garlic and fava beans

[Mr Holloway]

Great meals everyone, always get hungry looking at this thread

Pork loin with Scotch bonnet sauce and Bone Dust, worked in with a jaccard

Some sides and grilled pineapple for dessert

Ashen's BBQ sauce to top it off(Thanks Dave)

Nice heat level in the pork and great flavour from the BBQ sauce

Shane

[rotuts]

do the pork pieces in the above photo come off the larger pork loin at the top?