Dinner! 2003

[fimbul]

Cooked dinner last night for my sister, who was visiting from out of town. This turned out to be quite the feat since I managed to begin yesterday by accidentally ingesting a sleeping-pill that knocked me flat on my ass (note: must separate bottles ):

Veal chops with pan jus and lemony salsa

Quartered white mushrooms cooked slowly in a covered pan with chopped, rehydrated mushrooms and ancho paste and garlic

Swiss chard sauteed with garlic and shallots

Salad of romaine leaves with red bell pepper-cucumber vinaigrette.

[slkinsey]

FM, St. Mario says he always uses tinned tomatoes when they're out of season. You have not transgressed.

Oh no Jin, I was not talking about the tinned tomatoes . What I meant is that his recipe for Bolognese only uses tomato paste and no whole tomatoes at all (canned or fresh)

Really? He did on Mario Eats Italy.

I think a lot of Americans (and this is likely true of non-Italians around the world) expect most pasta sauces to be tomato-based, and thus want their Ragu Bolognese to have more of a tomato flavor than it should. I've had gallons of the real thing in Italy, and it has always struck me as tasting of meat and not really of tomato at all. When I make it at home I do include some tomato paste, but I find that it ends up giving the ragu a certain richness rather than any definable tomato flavor. Some think pasta sauces should have a strong garlic component as well. I find that people with these expectations are often disappointed or underwhelmed with real traditional Ragu Bolognese and will modify their own "ragu Bolognese" recipe accordingly. At this point, they end up with a tomato-based, garlic-tasting meat sauce that really isn't anything I'd call Ragu Bolognese.

I think one can use either tomato paste or whole tomatoes... but not enough of either one to make the sauce taste tomatoey. I prefer paste, because I don't like tomato seeds in anything I am going to be cooking for a long time.

[Jinmyo]

slkinsey, welcome to eGullet.

Yes, "authentic" Ragu Bolognese tends towards a creamy pink rather than a robust red.

[FoodMan]

slkinsey, welcome to eGullet.

Yes, "authentic" Ragu Bolognese tends towards a creamy pink rather than a robust red.

Exactly.

I don't think I've seen the one where he adds tomatoes to the Bolognese. The recipe I'm talking about in which he uses a little tomato paste is from the "Babbo" book. He also mentioned the same thing -Bolognese being a pink meat sauce- in a FoodTV Q&A.

slkinsey, welcome. What u said is also very true My Bolognese normally never has any tomatoes (some paste only) and I use it for lasagna bolognese as well as tossed in pasta. This time however, Tomatoe-y and slightly saucy is what I wanted

FM

[pastramionrye]

macadamia crusted halibut served with a spicy carrot sauce, glazed baby carrots and a potato and scallion cake...

another bussman's holiday...

the other day i was working on a softshell recipe....cornmeal crusted, cornflake crusted and panko crusted softshells served over a summer slaw(daikon, fennel, cabbage, carrots, pine nuts, oranges, mint, cilantro, rice vinegar, lemon mayo)...softshells didnt turn out as good as i had hoped.

[slkinsey]

slkinsey, welcome. What u said is also very true My Bolognese normally never has any tomatoes (some paste only) and I use it for lasagna bolognese as well as tossed in pasta.

I also like to save up parmigiano rinds in the freezer and simmer them in the sauce when I make Ragu Bolognese, although I can't remember where I got the idea. Does anyone else do this?

[Jinmyo]

Yes. Though I tend to use them more often in soups.

[torakris]

slkinsey, welcome. What u said is also very true My Bolognese normally never has any tomatoes (some paste only) and I use it for lasagna bolognese as well as tossed in pasta.

I also like to save up parmigiano rinds in the freezer and simmer them in the sauce when I make Ragu Bolognese, although I can't remember where I got the idea. Does anyone else do this?

I save my rinds too!

I love to throw them into soups.

[torakris]

homemade red wine  rakkyo

So how did the rakkyo turn out?

They shouldn't be at their peak for a couple more days, but they were really quite good.

[torakris]

Friday dinner:

a large platter of couscous "pilaf" with lots of garlic topped with topped chicken breasts in a balsamic marinade and surrounded by coated with basil pan fried tomatoes. It was acually a combination of two recipes from Donna Hay's Flavors book

focaccia with sauteed red onions

[Malawry]

Tuna salad on baguette: seared, roasted fat-marbled tuna, hard-boiled farm eggs, homemade sharp mayo (extra mustard and lemon), brunoised red onion and celery, plenty of s&p

Deep green salad of haricots verts and broccolini (previously blanched and shocked but quite crispy) with anchovy vinaigrette

[claire797]

Need to catch up.

Wednesday I had a dinner prepared by my close, personal friend, Andrea Immer . Actually, she was teaching a wine pairing class here in Austin. It was great -- she made about 5 different recipes while we sipped wine, watched her cook, and listened to her discuss pairing. What a great class!!

Thursday night I had curried chicken salad wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla with some chips and a Diet Orange Soda while SO ate Buffalo wings and fries. No, I don't mind being a short order cook. Anything that gets me out of eating wings. Yuck.

Friday night we had steak, baked potatoes, Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon and Blue Bell ice cream for dessert.

And last night, my SO was sick so I ate alone on the couch and read Cooking Light magazine. Dinner was Whiskey ginger grilled chicken, baked potato, more Sterling, more ice cream.

[torakris]

Sat dinner:

Greek style pork and bulgur meatballs (it was supposed to be lamb, no ground lamb in my neighborhood!) with parsley dill in a tomato sauce served over orzo.

Greek style lemon-garlic potatoes (from Cook's Illustrated)--very good, my 2 year old ate 1/2 the recipe despite the very large amount of fresh oregano and parsley.

Dessert:

All in the bowl chocolate cake from Regan Daley

Sun Dinner:

My husband and I had a huge lunch out for our anniversay (May 18) so dinner was only for the kids

yakisoba with sausages, cabbage, carrots and garlic stems

dessert:

shortbread (packaged, gift from a friend who just came back from London)

[MatthewB]

Saturday evening:

Grilled lobster w/ toasted garlic, avocodo, grilled scallions, & chipotle chile sauce

Cactus (nopalito) salad

Grilled ripe plantains

Sunday evening:

Grilled littleneck clams

Malaysian grilled lamb satay w/ sweet & hot apriocot relish

Sweet potato salad

Chocolate peanut butter pie (thanks to the SO!)

[bushey]

Last night was my oldest daughter's 17th birthday dinner. Here's the menu she requested:

Ribs -- St. Louie style ribs rubbed with the spice mix from How to Cook Everything and slow grilled over indirect heat

Chicken Wings -- marinated in a teriyaki-style sauce (it was on the sweet side so next time I'll up the soy sauce and cut the brown sugar) and baked on low heat for a couple of hours. They were so good!

Grilled Corn

Cole Slaw

Corn Bread (I confess, a mix)

Key Lime Pie

Edited May 19, 2003 by bushey (log)

[DaveFaris]

Southern deep fried chicken on Friday night. Smothered pork chops on Sunday. Details.

[NeroW]

Tuna salad on baguette: seared, roasted fat-marbled tuna, hard-boiled farm eggs, homemade sharp mayo (extra mustard and lemon), brunoised red onion and celery, plenty of s&p

Deep green salad of haricots verts and broccolini (previously blanched and shocked but quite crispy) with anchovy vinaigrette

Brunoise! Got to love it. Those little bits are so cute.

This sounds like a delicious tuna salad.

Last night a Cordon Bleu recipe for Basque-style chicken. Your basic, good cold-spring-day food.

Browned a whole chicken, sauteed onion (julienne), red and green bell peppers (julienne), some garlic, and about a pound of quartered tomatoes in the chicken fat, white wine, etc. Let the chicken finish cooking in the veggies. Topped with fried proscuitto (batonnet) and its juices.

Roasted taters. Much too much wine.

And the company was fantastic

[Priscilla]

It's beginning to look a lot like sum-mer, ain't it, reading through recent entries.

Saturday, put together about 8,000 pel'meni, Russian meat dumplings, starting with grinding the beef and making the pasta. Some consumed later with guests, with the usual-suspect condiments -- melted Lurpak, sour cream, soy sauce, vinegar -- available for application in any combination, any at all.

Sunday afternoon, nice big old piece of Alaskan halibut on the grill over mesquite, annointed with melted Lurpak upon service, potato salad with chives in there, previously-blanched asparagus with mayonnaise, sourdough bread, big thick slices grilled.

[pixelchef]

Grilled Vidalias (finally here)

Grilled Corn on the cob

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Grilled Maple-glazed Salmon

[FoodMan]

Yes. Though I tend to use them more often in soups.

I've heard of that and had been meaning to try it. Do u toss it in any kind of soup or does it work better in specific ones?? I've used the rinds before to stuff roasted chicken with (also a Mario recipe) but nothing else.

FM

[SobaAddict70]

I've not been cooking for a long time.

Last week was the week from hell -- trapped in the office and with no time for anything else outside of work besides sleep (what little there was) and getting through the day. On the other hand, we made frequent use of catering services in midtown Manhattan and even managed to get takeout from Diwan. (Separate tangent: Diwan DOES deliver, btw, provided that you live within a few blocks radius of the restaurant or work in the area. Just a tip. We placed a substantial order -- of course this being takeout the food quality wasn't as up to par as if we had been at the restaurant, so some decline if any can be attributed to this. The lemon rice and crispy okra weren't hits though. That's ok, more for me.)

Tonight, I'm making a redress with respect to my cooking vacation.

Roasted cauliflower pasta -- I've been aching for this ever since I made some of JD's roasted cauliflower a few weeks ago. Let's see how it does as a "sauce" for farfalle, combined with sauteed onions, anchovies, red pepper flakes and Italian parsley. (I can't wait to get home as I type this.)

Will report later when I've consumed my effort.

Soba

[Dana]

Saturday night:

Baked Cheese Balls

Spinach Salad (from Cook's)

Paella

Strawberries and Mango With Sabayon

[Belmont3]

Monday Night:

Grilled Sea Scallops served with a Boursin Cheese/Sundried Tomato sauce over angel hair pasta.

Cappucino Cheese Cake

[fimbul]

Saturday night I cooked fajitas for my family: flank steak marinated in orange-ancho puree and grilled, rajas poblanos, salsas, cebollitas, guacamole, etc. Nothing fancy.

Monday night I cooked chicken with preserved lemon and olives. I have no idea how it's done traditionally, so I made it up. I browned chicken thighs in a skillet, then moved them to a plate, and caramelized onions in the same pan (deglazing once with a little liquid from my jar of preserved lemons and once with half a ladle of chicken stock to even the caramelization). When the onions were good and brown, I added 4 chopped garlic cloves and a large pinch of raz-al-hanout. Then I turned the heat to low, returned the chicken to the pan, and added another half ladle of stock. I then threw in the diced peel of half a preserved lemon, and covered the pan. After the chicken had simmered a bit, I pre-heated my broiler. Once the broiler came up to heat, I removed the lid from the pan and added a handful of pitted green olives and the peel of yet another quarter of preserved lemon, then broiled the whole thing quickly to get a little color. Topped with chopped cilantro and parsley and served.

I was very pleased.

Served this with asparagus cooked with pan roasted cherry tomatoes and a mint and romaine salad with an orange-yogurt vinaigrette. Should have served iced tea to drink, but drank crappy beer instead. O well.

[Suzanne F]

Fimbul, sounds very good to me.

I had one of those "stone soup" experiences. I was all hyped up to make some asparagus flans. But by the time I had peeled and cleaned the stems I had, there wasn't enough good asparagus left to use. So I added some green peas. While pureeing the veg in the blender, I added the heavy cream and eggs too early, so I started to get butter mixed in with the puree. Since there was already egg in it, I couldn't heat it to melt it back down. So I made a little mashed potatoes, mixed them with the puree, and baked the whole thing as a pudding. Quite a bit heavier than what I initially hoped for, but tasty nonetheless.

Served it with baked breaded pork chops (used a mixture of every flavored flour and crumb I had -- weird but tasty), and salad of Boston, red leaf, cilantro, and cucumber with white wine vinaigrette.