Dinner! 2003

[torakris]

Friday night:

Stuffed cabbage (made the way mom makes them!)

green bean and hard boiled egg salad (tweaking the recipe from a couple of days ago)

dessert was lemon jello made by daughter Julia age 5

[Jinmyo]

Kristin, so how does Mom make them? Whose Mom?

[gknl]

Pasta with preserved tuna, pine nuts, capers, and preserved lemon from Judy Rodger's Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I had preserved tuna left over from the market basket challenge, so I made this. Toast pine nuts, add the tuna (which was preserved by gently heating it in olive oil with lemon zest, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper) with some of the oil, stir to combine, add the capers and preserved lemon (both minced fine), then add the cooked pasta. Easy one pot meal and very luxurious.

The book says you can substitute canned tuna, just infuse the preserved tuna flavorings into some olive oil, then add the tuna and proceed as above. The recipe also called for fennel seeds, but I didn't have any so I left them out. Didn't miss them this time.

[Varmint]

Just finished a meal of raw diced tuna with a spicy mayo, lime, shallot, basil and black sesame seeds served on endive leaves. Then we did seared sea scallops with cremini mushrooms, sweet corn, tomato, tomatillo, and thyme served on smoked mozzarella grits. For dessert, store bought pound cake served with store bought ice cream, topped with a blackberry/raspberry coulis.

[Jinmyo]

Very nice, Varmint. The smoked mozzarella grits are a nice touch.

[torakris]

Kristin, so how does Mom make them? Whose Mom?

Like my mom, of course!

cabbage leaves stuffed with beef and rice mixture seasoned with worchestire sauce, Coleman's mustard, sauteed onions, S and P placed in a casserole and covered with a can of condensed tomato soup mixed with 3/4 can of water.

She probably got the recipe off a soup can, but I can't eat stuffed cabbage any other way.

Had dinner with friends on Saturday so no cooking.

[tommy]

varmint, glad to see more pictures posted here.

i've considered spicy tuna in endive. i've always been concered that the endive is a bit too bitter and would overpower the tuna in that respect. were you pleased with that balance?

[Belmont3]

Pan Seared Rabbit with Dijon pan sauce, roasted new potatoes and glazed baby carrots

[Ruth]

Yesterday I decided to make room in the freezer by converting some bags of lobster shells and shrimp heads into a saffron perfumed seafood stock. I added potatoes, leeks and fennel and finished with pieces of halibut, monkfish and salmon. Topped with sour dough croutons and a quickly made rouille it made a great dinner.

Ruth Friedman

[NeroW]

Friday: pan-seared shrimp in pumpkin seed/tomatillo sauce with Basmati. From "A New Way to Cook," which I have been so pleased with so far.

Saturday: beef carbonnade. Again.

And Sunday: chicken au vinaigre and potatoes/carrots/onions cooked en papillote, or as the S.O. says: "hobo style." Didn't know how to match wine with vinegary food (??), drank water.

Edited February 10, 2003 by NeroW (log)

[Miss J]

Friday: Fish-fragrant beancurd with boiled rice, Western-style leaf salad with sesame-citrus dressing. Lychees. Some late-evening dark chocolate during a long car journey.

Weekend: away from home, so I mainly washed dishes and attempted to be helpful.

Sunday night snack: wholegrain crostini rubbed with garlic, topped with chopped cherry tomatoes and finished with Malden sea salt and a drizzle of a gorgeous, fruity olive oil from Borough Market. It was so nice (even with sad little winter cherry tomatoes) I decided I'm going to make it again alongside some soup tonight.

[Varmint]

varmint, glad to see more pictures posted here.

i've considered spicy tuna in endive.  i've always been concered that the endive is a bit too bitter and would overpower the tuna in that respect.  were you pleased with that balance?

I thought the endive was a great complement, as it was not overly bitter. Plus, the spicy tuna was pumped up a bit with some lime juice, which ultimately worked well with the endive.

[Jinmyo]

Yellow udon noodles in Chinese celery and spinach broth.

Stir-fried Napa cabbage with ngoc mam.

Roasted pillow tofu triangles and shaved red pepper and bamboo shoots with Guilan chile sauce.

Shattered chicken (chicken meat torn from thighs and drumsticks) with huagu (flower mushrooms), sesame chile oil, and much ginger and garlic.

Mustard green pickles.

[SobaAddict70]

Paneer marinated in yogurt with garam masala (cardamom, shredded coconut, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, asafoetida, chiles), then sauteed with bell pepper, onions, tomatoes and urad dal;

Coconut rice (basmati cooked in coconut milk and water, with curry leaves, chopped cilantro and some yellow dal);

Cauliflower, stewed with tomatoes, chickpeas, raisins and spices (including turmeric);

Banana lassi.

SA

[FoodMan]

Saturday:

Pork Chops with sweet chipotle peanut glaze. Served with Peach/English Cuc./greens salad dressed with Balsmic and EVOO.

Sunday:

Cold and rainy outside. Perfect day for Red beans and Rice. Made with smoked Ham Hocks and sausage. Served with homemade sweet corn bread.

FM

[seawakim]

Dinner last night was fun and eclectic:

Salmon wrapped in Pesto Phyllo

Vegetable Cake with fennel

[clb]

Saturday: roasted sweet potato and tomato soup. Bread (Baker & Spice baguette) and cheese (a cheddar with a vg crystalline texture, Durrus and a new to Neal's Yard mild goat's cheese log). Purple sprouting broccoli salad with EVOO, lemon juice and anchovy dressing.

Sunday lunch (yes, I know...): leg of lamb with garlic, anchovy, rosemary, white wine and lemon. Roast potatoes and parsnips. Steamed purple sprouting broc.

Sunday supper: linguine with Wealden Round, roasted fennel and cherry tomatoes (from Tamasin Day-Lewis, as was the soup on Saturday). Rocket, spinach and avocado salad.

Monday: ma po dou fu (beancurd cooked in stock with chilli bean paste, fermented black beans, spring onions, ground Sichuan pepper), cold red pepper in a rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil dressing, dry-fried green beans and rice. Oranges. This was a revelation. All from Fuchsia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery which I've been reading on and off for a couple of months. Finally spent the morning at Wing Yip and Oriental City buying the ingredients. I _think_ the Sichuan peppercorns were the business (see the Sichuan peppercorn thread). Bought them at the Spice Shop in Portobello. Excellent aromas when I roasted and ground some of them. My only previous attempt at Chinese food, inspired by Barbara Tropp's China Moon Cookbook, had come to an end with the horrible smell created when roasting another batch of doubtless manky Sichuan peppercorns for her Sichuan pepper-salt. And I've never had a wholly satisfactory meal in a Chinese restaurant - horrible sweet gloopy sauces blah, blah, blah. But goodness I enjoyed this.

clb

[scamhi]

Sunday night Dinner:

Lydia Bastinanich night

Mushroom risotto made with cremini and dried porcini added baby spinach instead of parsley.

Roast spareribs w/red wine vinegar and red pepper and honey

Roast brussel sprouts with EVOO and salt.

[Jason Perlow]

We made:

1) Pounded boneless pork chops, force marinaded via vacuum sealer in a Soy Vey teriyaki bath for 1/2 an hour and sauteed in a cast iron skillet, served in a sauce of pan juices deglazed with red wine vinegar, more Soy Vey Island Teriyaki sauce, canned pineapple chunks and chopped green onion.

2) Boiled potato pierogies with a sauce of melted butter.

3) The all too famous Jim Dixon/Amanda Hesser baked/caramelized cauliflower in Bettini EVOO.

[torakris]

Monday night dinner:

I was babysitting my friend's 2 daughters (ages 2 and 6) so the 5 kids ate:

Japanese style curry rice topped with a hamburger patty

(this curry was actually made Sunday by my husband, while I was out at dinner with friends, it was quite good even though he mistook a can coconut cream for coconut milk, definitely not your diet curry! )

My husband and I ate:

Spicy eggplant and basil fritters (adapted from Jack Bishop's Italian Vegetarian)---I REALLY love these!!

simple salad of baby spinach and bibb lettuce

1/2 rack of BBQ ribs from Costco (a gift from my inlaws)

dessert for all:

Costco apple pie

[Jason Perlow]

Fried rice with egg, chinese sausage, spinach, mushrooms, carrot, scallion, garlic, sesame and cilantro

Boiled heads-on shrimp with asian dipping sauce. Target "ChefMate" brand 16qt stainless-steel stockpot shown.

[tommy]

spiced rubbed poke chops

roasted brussels sprouts/potatoes.

salad with dressing of lemon juice, evoo, garlic, s/p.

some cheap zin from california.

[seawakim]

Tonight I'll be making Spaghetti with Mario Batali's Bolognese sauce for my hubby. I will serve it with a Classic Caesar Salad.

Recipe for the sauce is here:

Mario Batali's Bolognese Sauce

[nyfirepatrolchef]

Saturday at work...in light of my newfound German Potato Salad Recipe (thaaaaaank you again Peter B Wolf!~)

pan fried pork chops (salt garlic pepper nutmeg)

German Potato Salad

German Style Sauerkraut (or what I grew up know as such) Kosher Kraut, Grated Apple, Caraway, some brown sugar

Five people cleaned out just under a cup of five pounds of salad. It was soooooo nice.

[Miss J]

This was a revelation.  All from Fuchsia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery which I've been reading on and off for a couple of months.

Yay - another Fuchsia convert. And you've been to Wing Yip, too - I love that place. The fish counter rocks out.

I had a rather less successful night of cooking, sadly. I made a smooth carrot and coriander soup (celery, bit of apple, carrots, leeks, chicken stock, roasted ground coriander, fresh coriander leaves) that wasn't anywhere near carrot-y enough. I needed to use more carrots and less other veg. Overall, it was a little boring.

However, the tomato-topped crostini with the posh EVOO was gorgeous, again.

Edited February 11, 2003 by Miss J (log)