Dinner! 2003

[Jinmyo]

I got David Thompson's "Thai Food," and after brooding over it for while I decided to make some stuff from it tonight.

Seth, having cooked Southeast Asian style meals as part of my repertoire professionally for many years, I'd just like to recommend reading this book from cover to cover, trying out techniques one is unfamiliar with (even without trying to do a dish as such), then putting the book away forever. It is an unparalled resource. Not a book of recipes to cook from really but a course of, um, "indoctrination". In a good way.

[Jinmyo]

Bison ribs (from the Greenmarket) braised with mirepoix + garlic and rosemary, Chilean cabernet sauvignon, and canned    beef broth.  Oh, and sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.    Cooked overnight in the crockpot. 

I haven't done bison ribs. How were they, really? Any reason to use bison? Is there enough fat and wobbly stuff for slow cooking?

I've never been happy with bison. Or buffalo. Or "beefalo".

[SethG]

Jinmyo, thanks for the advice re: Thompson. I've been reading it for a while, and I do feel I've learned a lot without ever cooking from the book. But many of the dishes sound delicious, and the pictures are incredible. I went one for two the other night (I guess it was really one for three, since one dish was never completed), and with better planning in the future, I gotta believe there's a lot of great meals in there.

Wednesday night:

Mamster's Pancetta Embossed Chicken. I didn't take a picture, but I know you'll believe me when I say it looked just like Helenas' version did back on August 21, right here on the dinner thread. I don't have her romantic lighting, however, so a picture wouldn't have done mine justice!

Thanks for the recipe, Mamster. It was great, and so easy.

I also made Jack Bishop's Tomato and Mozarella Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust. I admit I peeked at the recipe in a bookstore before I made it. It too was very good and very easy.

And some asparagus, with Julia Child's lemon-butter sauce.

[torakris]

Weds night:

polenta topped with Italian sausags simmered with tomatoes, onions and fennel

salad of baby spinach and arugula with sliced smoked duck breast and orange slices

roasted button mushrooms

[hjshorter]

Wed night:

teriyaki simmered salmon

steamed asparagus dressed with sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds

japanese rice with furikake - my daughter loved the sprinkles

[Suzanne F]

Jinmyo: the only reason to use bison is if you're feeding people who are afraid of fat. Or who want something exotic (like ostrich) but not too exotic (like alligator or rattlesnake).

The flavor is like very mild beef. Good beef short ribs are better; even so-so beef short ribs are better.

The lack of fat was not a problem, since I had seared the ribs and sweated the mirepoix in olive oil first. And used a whole bottle of wine and a can of broth. However, the lack of "wobbly stuff" has kept the sauce from jelling; I pureed the veg into it, but it is still missing that unctuous mouthfeel.

Now that I've tried it, I don't have to make bison again.

[torakris]

Thursday dinner:

saba no amazuke -- saba (mackeral) was cut into small pieces and deep fried and then put into a "marinade" with sugar, soy, sake, mirin, vinegar, chiles and ginger, then I added julienned carrots, zucchini, and onions, then let it sit for a couple of hours

hiya yakko -- cold tofu served with ginger, red cabbage sprouts and tamari

miso soup with potatoes and onions

Japanese rice

[snowangel]

Smoked chicken (smoked by me!), sweet corn and sliced Brandywines.

My 2003 sweet corn and tomato days are oh so sadly coming to an end , but I enjoy each and every kernal of corn and bite of tomato as much as the first of the season.

As the days cool, braising and roasting and soup making will take over.

[Malawry]

A salad inspired by one on the menu at 15 ria, chef Jamie Leeds:

bibb lettuce, shaved red onion, macerated dried cranberries, nuggets of goat cheese

Two English muffins with butter. I'm trying to eat up all the bread products I'd frozen before the power outages, since I don't think they should be refrozen and I don't want to waste them.

[smallworld]

Last night:

Cucumbers and dried prawns stir-fried in a chilli-garlic sauce.

Pickled bamboo shoots (called 'menma' in Japan- anyone know the English name?).

Stir-fry of shiitake, cloud-ear fungus, pork, fluffy scrambled eggs, and chunks of Japanese green onion. Simply flavoured with soy sauce, sake, and pepper.

'Hong Tang Dan Dan Mian' (or at least that's what the cookbook calls it). Thin egg noodles in a small amount of a hot and spicy stock, topped with spicy, garlicy ground pork and thinly sliced green onions. I can't get enough of these noodles!

[Kim WB]

Tonight, I was the short order cook. Made chicken stock today, so had lots of thighs! Son # 1 had french bread hoagie with lotsa mayo and the chix meat, cooled. Son # 2 had warmed meat, canned corn, and some of the french bread, toasted. My husband was working late, so I had a chicken thight to hold me over. He came home 8ish, and I boiled some egg noodle alphabets, shredded the chix, and he had a big hearty bowl of soup, with some toasted olive bread from Wegman's , with a chunk of asiago cheese. I had part 2 of dinner, the heel of the french bread, lightly buttered, with bobolink cheddar and a thin stream of Sierra Nevada Porter mustard, plus a gren salad with some balsamic glazed onions i/0 dressing. I'm drinkking Chateau St. Jean Chard, ( sorry, Tommy) and Bob is enjoying 99 Sito Moresco (Langhe) Gaja Barbersesco. The kids had milk, and are now onto strwberry syrup, milk and double stuffed oreos. I taped Friends, and when homework was over we watched it. IMHO, Joey is the best character on TV. So pure, so simple, so HOT.

[Jensen]

Riffing on Alton ... I tried a meal en papillote tonight. I thought there wasn't enough liquid in Alton's version and I was right. Next time I'll trust my instincts. [Delete man-rant]

Last night was much better ... pappardelle with sauce bolognese, steamed summer squash, and a quick salad of lemon cucumbers, some heirloom tomatoes, and red bell peppers.

[torakris]

Friday night :

bulgur pilaf with zucchini and feta (from Foodman's class on Lebanese cooking)

carrot and pine nut salad

sauteed spinach and bacon

dessert:

chocolate chip cookies

[Alex]

very fresh roast chicken (was clucking earlier that day) -- Cook's Illustrated method, with rosemary and lemon in cavity

potatoes roasted with the chicken

steamed broccoli with anchovy sauce (also CI recipe)

1995 Labouré-Roi Vosne-Romanée

dessert = biscotti and Vin Santo

[Malawry]

Linguine primavera with shrimp

Garlic bread

A big red-leaf-lettuce salad

Ahhh, Americana.

[Jinmyo]

I don't do this kind of thing often, but when I do I plan for it and make extra of the components.

I had much leftover:

chicken thighs roasted with a chipotle glaze; steamed green cabbage tossed with seared poblanos and white onion; sauteed wild mushrooms (chanterelles, frozen porcini; eryingi, fairy ring, reconsituted lobster, duxelle of cremini); roasted hot Italian sausages (with fennel) and English bangers; Yukon gold mashers with the skin left on.

In Corningware roasting pans I put a layer of green cabbajazz (I love cabbage), tore up and spread out chicken and sausages, pressed, another layer of cabbajazz, pressed, mushrooms, pressed, packed potatoes, pressed, a layer of panko, minced chicken skin tossed atop. Cooked at 350 F for 45 minutes, a drizzle of porcini oil.

With minced roasted tomato and fennel with pecorino inside radicchio cups. Chicken broth with a few enoki mushrooms. Cornichons and slices of sopresetto and frico of smoked provolone.

It's weird but I like it and it's popular.

[fifi]

I don't often post on this thread but I do have to gloat about the Mahi-Mahi filets that are now poaching in butter. They were swimming less than 24 hours ago... courtesy of my fisherman boss.

Edited September 28, 2003 by fifi (log)

[torakris]

Jin

that sounds incredible, wish my leftovers sounded so good!

Last night

BIBIMBAP

with salmon sashimi, mizuna, daikon, cucumbers and yellow pepper

served with lots of kochujang

wakame and egg soup

[suzilightning]

since we had a rain day at the hawkwatch i could cook for a few days -

did something john loves(please remember his mom didn't really cook and his dad is meat and potatoes) - whole wheat pasta, oven fried brocolli spears with garlic and olive oil and(shudder) chicken a la pizziola(chicken breast pounded thin, sauteed in olive oil, finished off in the oven after being topped with sauce, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and a mix of 4 cheeses)

also did a butternut squash casserole and some red flannel hash for my breakfast the next couple of days

[Dana]

Roasted Chicken with herb butter

Risotto with shallot and dried porcini

Oven roasted vegetables

Spatchcock

[Jinmyo]

Very weird:

Cress and daikon sprouts with crumbled feta and Dijon taquitos (rolled corn tortillas).

Korean barley with Lundberg short grain brown rice cooked with morels, porcini, matsutake, gypsy, lobster, field, black trumpet, and bluefoot mushrooms.

Red cabbage and red onion soup with white beans and smoked paprika (chicken stock).

Grilled chipotle double thick pork chops.

Steamed baby bok choy and choy sum with butter and lemon.

[SethG]

Sunday night:

We had a friend over for dinner. I braised a boned leg of lamb, stuffed with garlic, parsley and rosemary, with great northern beans added for the last half hour. It all came out nice and buttery.

I also made a simple pasta to go with, sauced with Pecorino/Romano cheese and leftover pancetta from my Mamster embossed chicken the other day,

and sauteed spinach.

[torakris]

My husband threw out his back at work yesterday and couldn't walk so I had to drive into the depths of Tokyo and pick him (at the most congested time of the day) and then take him to the hospital. We got home after 5 and didn't feel like cooking so i tossed some Jasmine rice into the rice cooker (just one washing required! ) and tossed some cauliflower, zucchini and orange pepper into a pan poured in some coconut milk, added some red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves (from the freezer) and voila Thai curry! I chopped up the romaine lettuce and tossed it with a sesame dressing (purchased).

dessert was some ice cream bars we picked up at a convenience store on the way home

[Placebo]

Eggplant with garlic sauce - my first time making it myself. It turned out surprisingly good. Used the resipe from “Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen,” by Grace Young as shown at http://www.thefoodmaven.com/diary/archives...s/00000021.html (minus the pork as I didn't have any onhand).

Once again I'm reminded how much I love my wok and portable butane burner.

[Jinmyo]

Sauteed chanterelles and baby spinach set in a garlicky chicken broth with scrambled egg.

Roasted tatties 'n neeps (and rutabaga and daikon and carrots).

Sauteed red Swiss chard with a Dijon sauce.

Slices of pot au feu (cross-rib braised yesterday in fresh tomato, celery, onion, carrot, pepper juices and Shiraz) with the sauce.

French country bread (Jacques Pepin's recipe, hereafter known as "pain de Pepin) with Normandy cultured butter (to sop up the sauce).

Smallish red onions stuffed with Stilton and roasted for "dessert".

For 30.