Dinner! 2003

[bloviatrix]

I made a pot of lentil soup, and got to empty out my refrigerator in the process. We also had a rosemary-rubbed chicken.

Edited December 16, 2003 by bloviatrix (log)

[adoxograph]

crepes with asparagus, swiss and mushrooms. mustard cream sauce.

stupid egullet with its stupid subliminal messages. I've been dreaming about crepes all day.

too bad it is not even remotely out of my system. :)

[dumpling]

Hey Soba

Did you bring your dinner in or do you buy it nearby?

Monday

Turkey strudel(made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey)

remaining turkey mixed with leftover carrots, roasted potatoes and some cumin

and turmeric.

Candied yams mixed with butter and brown sugar

Roasted quartered brussel sprouts sprinkled with EVOO, salt and pepper

(See, whoever said it, I did not forget the roasted brussel sprouts in the general falderal(sp?) over the cauliflower)

Edited December 16, 2003 by dumpling (log)

[megaira]

Geez, trying to keep up with you people would be impossible. So I tend to chime in when I'm making something that sounds decent...unless you want to hear ramen stories.

Friday night - had mushrooms that were a day or two away from being in the fridge too long, so I improvised from Jill Prescott's "chicken in white wine sauce with mushrooms" (or something like that) recipe as a guideline... turned out very good, though, a touch rich. Main charectors were sauteed chicken breasts, choppped sauteed mushrooms, shallots and garlic in a reduction sauce of brandy, broth, wine and sour cream (had no "creme fraiche" or heavy cream).

Tonight is madhur jaffrey night:

Paratha - never made them, so turned out a few duds before getting something that resembles what I wanted. I'll have to go back to the north indian breads eCGI for picture reference.

onion chutney

"meat with peas"

and potatos which are an improvisation off of one of her potato recipes:

boiled, then stir fried with toasted coriander and cumin, cayenne, dill, salt and mixed in with yogurt.

Still waiting on the meat but oo, the house smells good.

[Toliver]

Last night I oven roasted some broccoli (a riff off of Jim Dixon's Roasted Cauliflower). It didn't chop up as well as the cauliflower does but still had that sweet carmelization. Unfortunately, I over-salted.

Since I was busy wrapping presents I also popped a Freschetta Brick Oven combination pizza (the square ones) into the oven. It was surprisingly good. The crust turned out soft and chewy and actually tasted like pizza dough instead of the usual cardboard flavor one gets from frozen pizza. It had lots of toppings and the red sauce wasn't too bad, either. Imagine that...I was impressed by a frozen pizza.

[laurel]

Looks like yesterday was a good day for roasted cruciferous vegetables.

I made roasted thinly-sliced kohlrabi. The flavor was very similar to roasted cauliflower (maybe even a little sweeter), but it didn't quite have the visual appeal of a big pile of caramelized white flowers.

We also had miso soup with tofu, oysters, carrots, and baby bok choy; and apples and cheese for dessert.

[SobaAddict70]

Hey Soba

Did you bring your dinner in or do you buy it nearby?

This was provided courtesy of our corporate cafeteria.

I have to say, ever since the upgrade in late August, that things have been better than ever.

That's not to say that our cafeteria provides occasional duds. For example, yesterday at breakfast they had sliced bologna with stewed peppers and fried onions as a side dish. ...although that probably beats neon pink sliced frankfurters in ketchup, peppers and onions.

Soba

[Basilgirl]

Since I was busy wrapping presents I also popped a Freschetta Brick Oven combination pizza (the square ones) into the oven. It was surprisingly good. The crust turned out soft and chewy and actually tasted like pizza dough instead of the usual cardboard flavor one gets from frozen pizza. It had lots of toppings and the red sauce wasn't too bad, either. Imagine that...I was impressed by a frozen pizza.

Toliver: Try the 5-cheese. Not too much cheese, and what's there is quality. It's really really good. A little drizzle of olive oil after it's baked doesn't hurt, either.

[torakris]

Tuesday dinner:

grilled miso marinated flounder

somen noodles stirfried with shiitake, baby bok choy and lots of garlic, ginger and chiles (from Donna Hay)

simmered kabocha

Japanese rice

[SethG]

I missed posting Monday night:

I sauteed some duck breasts, served them sliced over some greens. (I'm really trying to make a go of it with the greens.)

And I pureed some buttercup squash, and made up some mixed long grain/wild rice.

I designed the meal for speed (on the table in less than a half hour), but I thought it was pretty nice for a weeknight, actually eating with our two-year-old daughter instead of after her bedtime. But the wife's verdict was that nothing went with anything else. She still ate it all, though!

Edit: and no quinces.

Edited December 17, 2003 by SethG (log)

[dumpling]

Wednesday

Cherry Cola glaze country style ribs

Shoepeg corn in butter sauce

some stir fry chicken and vegetable concotion that I made for my father

Porcini tortelloni with EVOO

Apple custard pie

[dumpling]

I missed posting Monday night:

I sauteed some duck breasts, served them sliced over some greens. (I'm really trying to make a go of it with the greens.)

And I pureed some buttercup squash, and made up some mixed long grain/wild rice.

I designed the meal for speed (on the table in less than a half hour), but I thought it was pretty nice for a weeknight, actually eating with our two-year-old daughter instead of after her bedtime. But the wife's verdict was that nothing went with anything else. She still ate it all, though!

Edit: and no quinces.

Sounds like it goes together to me. Duck and squash are always nice.

[Jake]

Seared tuna crusted with black sesame seeds

Mixed greens with rice wine vinaigrette

Mango salsa

[Mayhaw Man]

Drop Biscuits

Smothered Porkchops over onion risotto

Turnip Greens cooked with Richard's Pickled Pork, garlic and onion (lightly cooked, not "berled")

Mashed turnips (just like I posted above)

Corn off of the cob (frozen this summer)(sauteed in butter until warm)

Green Salad

Homemade sugar wafers with pomegranate ice

It was a very nice meal. We all enjoyed it

[torakris]

Weds night:

fettucine with a kabocha-cream sauce

spinach frittata

kidney bean and celery salad with red wine vinegar and EVOO

[SethG]

Sounds like it goes together to me. Duck and squash are always nice.

I'm going to tell my Robin you said so!

Tonight (Weds) was Mamster's pancetta embossed chicken, except my supermarket didn't have pancetta, so I made it with prosciutto. Not bad, but it didn't melt in quite like pancetta would have. It was crispier, more like bacon. Did I mention it wasn't bad?

And roasted asparagus, which I'm now officially sick of. It's my own fault.

And a celery root/fennel/apple salad from A New Way to Cook. I'm crazy for celeriac lately but I think I prefer it cooked.

[hjshorter]

Wed night:

Flank steak dumped in the slow cooker with about a cup of low sodium V-8 type juice. I sliced and shredded the meat after cooking so that it made a sort of ragu.

Brown rice pilaf. Brown rice, diced onion and carrot, thyme, chicken broth. Ian gobbled this up.

Sliced roasted zucchini.

Homemade vanilla cupcakes with buttercream and cake glitter. The glitter was Emma's request.

[fresco]

Mussel and monkfish stew with fennel, tomato, potato, white wine and heavy cream.

Spatchcocked, grilled chicken with green beans and potatoes for the fish-averse son and his posse.

[Varmint]

Cream of potato, cauliflower and cheddar soup with country ham cracklin's and chipotle oil.

[Marlene]

I've just started a spagetti sauce simmering for the day. To be served with crusty French bread, which I'll start in the bread maker later.

[Mayhaw Man]

Cream of potato, cauliflower and cheddar soup with country ham cracklin's and chipotle oil.

Ham Cracklin's and chipotle oil?

Talk about Bobby Flay meets Bubba! Woowee!

[Varmint]

The cracklin's added salt and texture. The oil added some piquant. It was quite a successful soup. I probably should have made it more of a pimento cheese soup, right?

[curlywurlyfi]

Carpet picnic! pregnant friend + various others came over and we couldn't be bothered to cook properly so set out on the coffee table:

- smoked salmon, blinis, sour cream, lemon quarters

- Cheese Melts - little crispy biscuits with grated cheese toasted on top (packaged)

- tortilla chips + taramasalata

- marshmallows

- cherries + strawberries

- four different kinds of chocolate

Sat round on the sofas and drank champagne and laughed a lot. Really lovely happy evening.

[Priscilla]

Curlywurly: That really sounds lovely.

Varmint: You remind me that a little bottle of chili-infused oil made according to Mario Batali's instructions is there on the door of the fridge, waiting to enliven this & that. Why o why didn't I drizzle some over my cabbage-potato-cream soup of the other evening? Won't make that mistake again, will I.

Mayhaw Man: We had pomegranate sorbet on Saturday evening -- one of the nicest ices ever.

And lessee, last evening, Vintage Natural Beef NY strips, cooked using the Alain Ducasse medium-heat method in what may be the Most Beeyootiful Pan in the World, a 12-inch Griswold cast iron skillet.

I would like to disclose right up front here that we have no relationship whatsoever with Chef Ducasse beyond having used his medium-heat steak-cooking method, published back when he was The Chef in the NYT series, several times when cooking steak indoors.

Smashed red potatoes with caramelized shallots, cream, butter, s & p.

Beautiful Romaine salad, a little cold weather really benefits lettuces provided they don't freeze, dressed with grapeseed oil-white wine vinegar vinaigrette. Sometimes salad is so good it just vaults itself right up to the top of heap, on a dinner menu.

LBB seedy baguette, salty Plugra.

[laurel]

Dinner for 8:

To distract everyone while I was finishing everything else:

Cheese plate with Nokkelost, smoked gouda, crostini (made from leftover bread that wesza brought to the Mozzarella pulling gathering), and apples.

Smoked salmon with sorrel cream sauce

When we all sat down to eat:

Seared sea scallops with 3 mushrooms (shiitake, lobster, and porcini).

Roasted baby carrots and onions

Roasted sugarloaf squash rings

Bok choy with oyster sauce

Spinach crowns with sesame-vinegar sauce (from Zen Vegetarian Cooking)

Sauteed tuscan kale with white beans (from Mediterranean Grains and Greens)

Spinach and carrot greens sauteed with a touch of tomato paste

And finally, for dessert:

Cardamom semifreddo with mango sauce