Dinner! 2003

[laurel]

Dinner for five from the CSA basket:

Salad with Shropshire Cheese and Spiced Pecans:

Cucumber Sunomono:

Steamed Fresh Edamame:

Potato-Leek Fritatta

Lemongrass Steamed Striped Bass:

Corn:

Apples, raspberries, nectarines, and plums for dessert.

[FoodMan]

Dosa stuffed with potatoes and eggplant. The first time ever making these tasty crepes at home and they came out great ( I only ruined the first one). Served with tomato chutney and coriander chutney.

FM

[torakris]

Weds dinner:

lazy night!

mapodofu

tomato and avocado salad

eggplant "pickles" (shoyu-zuke), bought

Japanese rice

[Priscilla]

Last evening, fried chicken thighs. I'm think I'm well and truly through with the double-dipping idea -- a single pass through seasoned flour is what makes a just-right skin/crust synthesis. I think. So, fried chicken thighs, plenty of black pepper and a hit of cayenne in the flour, sufficient salt, too, of course. Mashed potatoes with cream gravy. The rest of the beeyootiful spinach from the Japanese lady at the farmer's market, with a little Niman Ranch uncured bacon and chopped onion.

[Suzanne F]

Chicken-filled tortellini (bought) in brodo (homemade chix stock)

Braised Belgian endive wrapped in ham and gratinee with crumbs and cheese

Red Boston and romain with olive oil and herb vinegar (I forget which one of the 5 I used)

Paumanok Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay

[hjshorter]

Even lazier than Kristin: Leftovers!

Chili (from The Best Recipe) with cilantro and sour cream - made on Sunday

Corn tortillas

Steamed broccoli (requested by my daughter)

Fudge covered Oreos for dessert

[cheeseandchocolate]

Clearing-out-the-fridge meal, before Mom and I hop an early-morning flight to D.C. for the grand opening of my brother's third restaurant, Ceiba (also owns DC Coast and Ten Penh, if anyone has been there):

Culatello and garlicky Salumi salami (the last of the stash I brought from Seattle)

La Brea French baguette

Warm steamed cauliflower with sherry vinaigrette

Warm roasted red bell peppers with argan oil

Leftover Italian prune-plum clafouti

[Toliver]

Not too hungry...just a grilled Velveeta (sorry...no real cheese in the house) sandwich, using whole wheat bread slathered with Plugra that had been mixed with minced garlic & hot pepper flakes. Thinly sliced sour dills inserted after grilling.

Trader Joe's Salt & Vinegar potato chips on the side along with a Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock.

[NeroW]

Last evening, fried chicken thighs.  I'm think I'm well and truly through with the double-dipping idea -- a single pass through seasoned flour is what makes a just-right skin/crust synthesis.  I think.

I think so, too.

I find that refrigerating for a half-hour or so after dipping promotes adherence.

I'm in a Poultry class right now, and I need a lot of practice efficiently taking apart/boning chickens before the Practicals start. So I've been making a lot of chicken at home.

Last night--

Boned that slippery little shitter after much second-guessing of myself and cursing of the chicken, pounded out half of it, stuffed it with maple-pork sausage (stolen--er, liberated --from school), rolled and tied it, lots of coarse salt, black pepper, a little oil. Used some of the skin from the other half to sort of "lard" the rolled piece where I'd hacked it up a bit on the outside.

Roasted it to about 150 F.

Hacked up the carcass with my neighbor's rockin' cleaver, threw it into a saucepan with the wings, etc, browned them up reeeeeal brown, a handful of mirepoix, garlic, tomato paste/flour, then deglazed with sherry vinegar, wine and banged in some chicken stock, sprigs of thyme, and bay leaf. Strained, finished with butter and a little more vinegar.

Served around some bacon-braised red lentils.

Water.

[Priscilla]

Last evening, fried chicken thighs.  I'm think I'm well and truly through with the double-dipping idea -- a single pass through seasoned flour is what makes a just-right skin/crust synthesis.  I think.

I think so, too.

I find that refrigerating for a half-hour or so after dipping promotes adherence.

Wow NeroW boned chickens open up so many fantastic possibilities in one's mind.

Yes and as for the fried, it's a hard-won acceptance, the single dipping, because it seems so likely a more-is-more situation. But it's not!

Last evening, tostadas. Tortillas from the place that still makes 'em with lard, refried beans, crispified carnitas. Usual-suspect toppings, diced tomato, Tillamook Colby-Jack, finely shredded cabbage, sour cream, salsa verde I learned from Victoria that we call Victoria's Green Sauce. The Consort always sprinkles on a little vinegar, but the 11-year 11-month old and I consider that Just Plain Wrong.

[Toliver]

Boned that slippery little shitter after much second-guessing of myself and cursing of the chicken, pounded out half of it, stuffed it with maple-pork sausage (stolen--er, liberated --from school), rolled and tied it, lots of coarse salt, black pepper, a little oil.  Used some of the skin from the other half to sort of "lard" the rolled piece where I'd hacked it up a bit on the outside.

Roasted it to about 150 F.

Hacked up the carcass with my neighbor's rockin' cleaver, threw it into a saucepan with the wings, etc, browned them up reeeeeal brown, a handful of mirepoix, garlic, tomato paste/flour, then deglazed with sherry vinegar, wine and banged in some chicken stock, sprigs of thyme, and bay leaf.  Strained, finished with butter and a little more vinegar.

Served around some bacon-braised red lentils.

That rocks! Whatta symphony!

This thread is better than any freakin' art museum.

[torakris]

Thursday dinner

my family plus 2 more kids

flounder marinated in miso and then grilled

simmered kabocha

avocado and tomato salad (again!)

pickled eggplants

Japanese rice

popsicles for dessert

[bloviatrix]

Had some eggplants that needed to be used. So I made a pasta sauce with chopped onion, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, and fresh mozzerella. Had it with fettuccini.

[Suzanne F]

Oven-Roasted Rabbit with Herbs, out of D'Artagnan's Glorious Game Cookbook, with Greenmarket bunny and herbs

Grits

Salad of Red Oak Leaf, Arugula, Tomato, Cucumber, and Red Pepper (all Greenmarket) with White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Rancho Zabaco 2001 Zinfandel

[Jason Perlow]

Mixed Summer Veggies -- Saute of Paddypan Squash, Onion, Corn, Bell Pepper

Boneless Porkchops marinated in Sour Orange Mojo

Red, White and Blue Potato Medley

[laurel]

No pictures at tonight's CSA basket consumption, but:

Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella salad

Improvised baked thing with roasted eggplant, caramelized onions, tomatoes, and Parmesan

mamster's Baked Broccoli

Roasted orange and yellow peppers with anchovies and garlic (from A New Way to Cook)

Oven roasted corn

Pan-seared salmon with "wild mushroom essence" (ie. pulverized dried wild mushrooms, also from A New Way to Cook)

Finished off the apples, nectarines, raspberries, and plums, with some Ten Ren #913 tea.

Edited September 12, 2003 by laurel (log)

[Toliver]

avocado and tomato salad (again!)

Just the thought of that combo makes me smile. Interesting visually and texturally. Any dressing on it? Or are they summer tomatoes so who needs it?

Of course, you could always improve it with a little bacon. Mmmm...bacon.

Boneless Porkchops marinated in Sour Orange Mojo

It should be illegal to see something so beautiful this early in the morning.

Howcha Magowcha!

[Busboy]

Still trying to master the art of crisping fish skin, so we had pan-roasted halibut filets resting atop some leftover summer ratatouille. A little lemon buerre blanc, in case the meal was too healthy, and haricots blanched and then warmed with butter and shallot. The whole thing took 20 minutes and turned into a fab little cafe meal.

Still haven't got the skin right, but we're getting closer.

[Chad]

Last night: grilled pork chops with tomato/basil vinegrette relish, wild rice and broccoli with cheese.

Wednesday night: Sesame-soy chicken (sauted with sesame oil & garlic) on salad. Dressing made from sesame oil, soy sauce, ground mustard, red wine vinegar, etc. A big hit with the kids surprisingly enough. My daughter has asked for the leftovers for her school lunch for the last two days .

Tonight: Chicken, mushroom & riccota ravioli -- or something approximating ravioli, depending on how well I'm able to form them. I may try Keller's anglotti shape. It looks a little easier.

Chad

[torakris]

avocado and tomato salad (again!)

Just the thought of that combo makes me smile. Interesting visually and texturally. Any dressing on it? Or are they summer tomatoes so who needs it?

Of course, you could always improve it with a little bacon. Mmmm...bacon.

they were dressed with a little lime and a drizzle of EVOO with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.

This is my new "thing" I could eat it all day long..........

Last night my husband had a dinner meeting so the kids I pulled out the boxes of Mac and cheese

It was mommy's day off!

[SethG]

I've been on vacation in South Carolina, on an island, with my in-laws for a week.

I brought a bunch of cookbooks and spices with me, but as I should have predicted, hardly used any of them. I did try to cook a bit, but it was a large crowd (8 adults and two toddlers) so I kept it pretty simple. Mostly we ate meat. And when we grilled, someone else did the grilling. I don't know the first thing about grilling.

One night we grilled burgers and hot dogs. I forget what we had with it.

One night we grilled steaks, which we marinated against my better judgment in a supermarket powder package product. It was not good. We had a salad (walnuts, blue cheese and oil and basalmic vinegar) and baked potatoes with it.

One night I roasted three chickens. I slid garlic and fresh tarragon (which I was shocked to find at the local Piggly Wiggly) under the skin, squeezed a lemon half over and threw a lemon half inside each bird, and just roasted 'em. And I made broccoli, corn on the cob, and my default tomato salad, which is just wedges peeled and seeded with EVOO, vinegar and a fistful of basil leaves.

Another night I made chili, from the most recent Gourmet magazine (the one with the Bourdain article in it). I made it and let it mellow two days in the fridge before we ate it, and I thought it was very good. (I would definitely let it sit a couple days. I tasted it the first day and thought the spices were harsh and that the chili had no depth. That all changed with time.) Everyone else seemed to like it too. It calls for brisket instead of ground beef, which may make some people cringe, but I love brisket in just about any context so it pleased me. I also made some cornbread and fried some green tomatoes. (I was told by the fella at the farmers' market that these were actually "breaker" tomatoes, i.e., they were starting to turn red. He said he preferred breakers for frying so I bought them. I'm no expert when it comes to fried tomatos but I thought they were yummy-- and a little sinful. How can you bread and fry something as nutritious as a tomato?)

We went out the rest of the nights (and it was all fish when we went out; it wasn't red meat all the time!).

So that was my week of cooking. We just got home, put the baby to bed and ordered Thai food.

Edited September 14, 2003 by SethG (log)

[mixmaster b]

My sweetie has been sick so we have been eating lots of soup:

Thursday was white bean, tomato, broccoli raab, with leftover pork loin added in.

Last night chicken tortilla with lots of lime.

Tonight he is up for solid food, and I have been on a bean kick, so I think dinner will be along these lines:

Marrow beans

Sauteed shrimp

Sauteed treviso with pancetta

Some peach item for dessert, if I feel inspired.

[KateW]

Hey, now that I'm at school I can post the interesting things they serve us in the dining room! :) At 5:45, half our class goes to the student-run dining room to eat the food from the classes that day. Depending where you sit you either get International cuisine (the class I am in now) or French.

Thursday: first time (and only time so far) I've eaten in the dining room. Four of us sat at a table in the French section. The waitress, a Korean native, came over and painstakingly pronounced the whole menu in French, and then realized it was a set menu. First, we got a cream of asparagus soup. Very good, but not totally pureed and had some small bits of asparagus in it still. I prefer my cream soups totally smooth. Next was an endive and mixed greens salad with what seemed to be a yogurt dressing, not too flavorful. "It tastes like pool water" someone at my table commented and I could see their point.

Next, what seemed to be little potato pancakes, they looked like scallops at first but were not. Also very bland. This came with a sauce that seemed like a buerre blanc with a hint of lemon.

Next, sweetbreads. I'm pretty sure I've had them before but couldn't remember what they were like. They weren't bad...had a sort of chicken texture to begin with and then gave way to a mushier mouthfeel. I know what they are, thought about what they are while I ate them, and it didn't bother me.

We also got an ounce of white wine (that is how much they are allowed to serve) which I believe was Sauvignon Blanc. It was quite acidic. We don't get very good white wines at the school, in my experience.

It took the dining room too long to serve dinner, because they do some tableside cooking, so we did not get dessert.

I prefer eating in our own kitchen classroom because we get so much more variety and we also get to taste what we cooked! But it's a lot of fun to sit down and relax in the dining room, too.

[mikeycook]

Tonight I made my first potato omelet. I made some shrimp with garlic as well and my wife and I had a little tapas meal.

One unfortunate side effect... I managed to give myself a nice deep cut in my middle finger while slicing the onion for the omelet and (after eating, of course) had to make a quick trip to the emergency room. Luckily, no stitches, just a tetanus shot (hadn't had one in a long time.) Also, they apparently have this yellow gauze (called Xeroform gauze) that helps stop the bleeding (beats a Bounty paper towel and scotch tape.) Don't think it's available over the counter, but it would be a nice thing to have on hand just in case.

[dumpling]

Made one of my summer favorites to finish up the summer

Yesterday(Friday) made my cherry cola glazed pork spareribs, mashed potatoes with milk, butter and garlic,buttered corn and a Ceaser salad.

Today:

tom yum goong

glazed carrots

french cut green beans in cream of chicken soup with carmelized onions on the top

roast chicken(rubbed with spices and wine)

pilaf

warm chocolate torte in graham cracker pie crust, topped with warm cranberry sauce.

Hey mikey-here's wishing quick healing to your finger. You got a recipe for the potato omelet-minus the blood?