Dinner! 2003

[Gavin Jones]

Tonight: picked up a portion of cold roast duck in Chinatown (my new favourite takeaway)

Which one?

I spent yesterday evening subcutaneously massaging a chicken with a yogurt/lemon juice/mix of 3 vaguely indian spices in the hope of imparting some interest to an undistinguished chicken.

This evening roasted it - too much turmeric. Actually the left over marinade worked better with a partridge I had last night.

(However the vialone nano I managed to turn mushy.)

[Miss J]

Tonight: picked up a portion of cold roast duck in Chinatown (my new favourite takeaway)

Which one?

Er - embarrassingly, I haven't noticed its name. I was taken there by a Cantonese-speaking friend before her company sent her back to Toronto, and she told me that if I ever wanted takeaway roast or BBQ meats I should do it from there. It's on the same side of Gerrard Street as ECapital, it has a white facade, a slightly sunken dining room floor and a counter right by the door over which a large sign proclaims that takeaway cold meats are cash-only.

I can point it out.

[FoodMan]

Dinner last night was based in part on a restaurant review by Rene Mack in the Bergen (NJ) Record.

Beets, sliced in 1/2 inch circles, wrapped in aluminum foil, with a bit of butter and a splash of amber ale. Roasted on the grill's 400F section for 30 minutes. 

Carrots, also wrapped in aluminum foil, with a splash of orange juice, on the grill.

Two Bosc pears, unwrapped, but halved, longitudinally.

Salmon, skin on, topped with bread crumbs and spice blend, on the grill for a few minutes. I unwrapped the beets and carrots for the last few minutes of cooking.

Remove beets, slice into julienne. Same for carrots and pears. Serve over a bed of baby aragula. Place salmon on warmed  cous-cous (same plate) drizzle with EVOO and jalapeno powder.

Very colorful with the green arugula on an earthenware plate, topped with the maroon of the beets, the orange of the carrots and the crisp of the salmon fillet. Very crunchy

edited to add "pears"

Sounds like a real lovely salad. I love these roasted salads, never tried to mix beets with pears. Did you have any kind of dressing or was it just the vegetable roasting juice and some EVOO? A picture would've been nice.

this sounds like a good salad for wednesday dinner.

Last night We had a roasted quartered chicken marinated with green oinion/cumin/lime/honey paste. Served it with savory bread pudding.

For after dinner coffee we had homemade Pannetone (sp?) rolls from "the bread baker's apprentice" bread book. It was my first time experimenting with this type of bread and the recipe was great (uses a sourdough starter and commercial yeast) not to mention how fantastic the whole apartment smelled.

FM

[torakris]

It was clean out the refrigerator night:

takkalbi (not sure of the correct spelling of this Korean dish since I am translating it from Japanese)

--a one pot dish into which I put: chicken thighs, napa cabbage, onion, Japanese leeks, carrots, garlic chives

--seasoning consists of: kojuchang, garlic, grated onion, soy, sesame, etc

--tossed some tteok (Korean style rice cakes ) in at the end

green bean and (slightly under) hard boiled egg salad dressed with EVOO, rice vinegar, red onion, S and P

dessert was marron (chestnut) charlotte that a friend had brought over.

there was only enough for one person, so I hid in the kitchen and devoured it by myself!

[tommy]

brought home sashimi quality tuna for spicy tuna sashimi, but didn't have scallions. so i chopped it up with some capers, olives, olive oil, s/p, fresh parsely, and was very pleased with the improv.

and bulgogi, sans any fruit in the marinade. still sweet and salty enough with just onion (red), garlic, and soy (and sugar of course).

[Rhea_S]

Clean out the fridge night still (I'm pretty much down to nuts and bananas in the freezer, yay!!!):

Chorizo and Potatoes with Spinach and Soft-Boiled Egg

Sharon persimmon

Two clementines

Two mini York Peppermint Patties

[Jinmyo]

Pork chop sandwiches (butterflied pork loins rubbed with ancho, cumin, ginger, tomato and garlic paste atop cole slaw in fresh kaiser rolls).

Fresh potato crisps/chips (mandoline, double-fried) with fresh jalapeno mayonaisse.

Roasted asparagus with balsamico and pamesan shavings.

Braised lupini beans and chickpeas with rosemary and double-smoked lardons.

[nerissa]

Last night:

Pork stew made from the shoulder, tomato base, Middle eastern spices + some indian spices, okra. Served over Middle Eastern couscous

Haagen Daaz for dessert.

[torakris]

Still cleaning out the fridge, I refuse to buy anymore food until Sunday!

white fish (that what the label actually said: white fish) panko-ed and deep fried

stirfried garlic stems with dried shrimp and sake

noodle salad with shredded carrots, slice red onion, nira (garlic chives) dressed with nampla. lime, sugar and sriracha

dessert was chocolate ice cream

[Rail Paul]

dessert was chocolate ice cream

torakris -

does Japanese ice cream differ from American ice cream in any noticeable way, such as butterfat content, flavors, sweeteness, etc?

thanks

Paul

[torakris]

dessert was chocolate ice cream

torakris -

does Japanese ice cream differ from American ice cream in any noticeable way, such as butterfat content, flavors, sweeteness, etc?

thanks

Paul

Actually most of the "Japanese" ice cream is actually called icemilk, and it is just that, iced milk and most of it is not very not.

The Japanese also only have 4 basic flavors, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and green tea.

They do have Haagen Daaz here and it is leaps and bounds better than the Japanese stuff.

The thing I really hate is that the containers are so small, most ice cream is sold in 250 ml (about 1 cup) containers for individual servings, although some sell in 500ml and very occasionaly larger.

They do make some decent bars/popsicle type ice creams, last night we had chocolate bars filled with chunks of nama choco (literal translation is raw chocolate) anyone familiar with melty kiss might know what I am talking about.

They were quite good.

[skybluewater]

stirfried garlic stems with dried shrimp and sake

That's something I've never heard of. Does it taste intensely of garlic, or is it more subtle?

[torakris]

stirfried garlic stems with dried shrimp and sake

That's something I've never heard of. Does it taste intensely of garlic, or is it more subtle?

These are absolutely wonderful and they are quite popular in Asia, I am not sure why they haven't caught on in the West yet.

They are solid, green stems from a type a garlic about a foot in length.

They taste of garlic but with slight vegetal tones and in no way pungent and overpowering rather a smooth flavor that I am sure even those not very fond of garlic would enjoy.

They are quite strong if eaten raw (I have never seen them prepared this way) and are normally stirfried.

[Jinmyo]

They're commonly available in Chinese and South-East Asian grocers.

[Miss J]

Garlic stems are wonderful - I always think that "vegetal tone" you describe is quite sweet in an asparagus-y way. I often dry-fry them (Sichuan style) and this increases their resemblence to garlicky oven-roasted asparagus immensely.

Last night I made wontons with pork, ginger, spring onion, shaoxing wine, white pepper, soy, sesame oil and a little water. I cooked them in simmering water and served them in a fragrant broth of simmering stock (pork/chicken/duck/ham, which I made in the build-up to CNY) with more spring onions, Tiajin (sp?) preserved vegetable, light soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper.

FROZEN lychees for dessert. (Didn't get round to cooking with any.)

[nerissa]

I made a cheese soufflee last night. While it was baking, I tiptoed around the kitchen and made an argula salad with toasted pine nuts, a citrus vinagrette, and parmagiano. Had this wonderful light Portugese white wine.

[Liza]

There's a local farmer who sells very tender, tiny greens. Dressed ever so carefully with olive oil and sherry vinegar. Gently folded with roasted portobello mushrooms, bocconcini, pear and scallions.

[Jinmyo]

Garlic, lemongrass, and bay broth with brunoise of celery,

hard-cooked eggs,

and ancho seasoned croutons.

Shaved rutabaga slaw.

Roasted asparagus atop slivers of red bell and poblano peppers with balsamico.

Chopped liver (veal, rabbit, chicken) and pistachio pate with crusty pain de Pepin.

[Jim Dixon]

frittata with onions, anchovies, and oil-cured olives

tuna (good canned Spanish) with chopped arugula, flat leaf parsley, shallot, preserved lemon, sherry vinegar, and olive oil served on green salad

Jim

[Rhea_S]

Cravings induced by the Chinese sausage thread lead to my dinner of, what else but Chinese sausages and rice. I also stirfried some cabbage with dried shrimp. Dessert was a couple of clementines and homemade rugelach.

[torakris]

Thursday Night;

Osso buco (Thanks to everyone for their help!)

--Great recipe from Marcella Hazan, will definetly be repeating it

polenta

tomato/mozarella/basil salad

small antipasto plate of olives, mortadella, prosciutto, cheeses

[Jinmyo]

Kristin, how easy is it to procure good Italian deli items in Japan? What city are you in?

[torakris]

Kristin, how easy is it to procure good Italian deli items in Japan? What city are you in?

I am in a Yokohama "suburb" on the Tokyo border. I can get "downtown" to either city in less the 30 minutes.

I just recently discovered a grocery called Nissin World Market (near Azabu juban station, Tokyo) it used to be an import meat market and has expanded to groceries. The deli is pretty much solely Italian style meats with various types of each.

This store is were I picked up the veal for my osso buco (already pre cut in 1 inch pieces) I also picked up some cornish hens, duck legs (and a jar of goose fat), and some Italian sausages. All of these meats are impossible to find almost anywhere else.

The store clientel is about 80% foreign as it is located in the area where a lot of the embassies are and also where most of the ex-pat community lives.

[Nockerl]

Grilled, Lime-Garlic Marinated Chicken Breast Quesadilla with roasted poblano pepper, cilantro, sliced avocado and sharp cheddar cheese.

Mesclun Greens with Walnut Oil and Aged Sherry Vinegar

[scamhi]

Thursday night:

Marinated grilled (charcoal) cubes of tenderloin of pork

Mar. w/ grated onion, thai bird chilis and nampla

Served with cellophane noodle salad with bean sprouts, snow peas, red pepper julienne (all lightly blanched) scallions mint, cilantro. With a sauce of nampla, lime, sugar, garlic and ginger and sesame oil.