Dinner! 2004

[eunny jang]

Anytime you need someone to shoot dinner and finish your leftovers, let me know

Considering the quality of your photos (which are really lovely), that trade would be most unfair to you!

Last night we ate:

Little belly-bomb-esque burgers on grilled potato rolls, assembled as desired with guacamole, jack, bacon, tomato, onion and all the other usual suspects. I ate two; my boyfriend ate four.

Red skinned potatoes boiled till tender, bathed in olive oil and salt, cut into slabs and grilled to make thick, crunchy "chips"

The best baked beans ever, with bourbon and molasses and chipotles and BACON.

[Placebo]

Take-out Kimchee Chige (in this case a soup of kimchee, beef andthick glass noodles) with varuious little side dishes and fresh local organic currants

[Behemoth]

Those currants are really pretty...great photo, too. Do you eat them plain? The ones I've had are pretty sour, I use them like I would cranberries...

In the runup to my month o' travel starting next Friday, I am trying to clean out my fridge. I also had houseguests this week, so there is a lot in there.

While they were here, we grilled lamb koftas, hummus, lebanese-style greens with carmelized onions, and a tomato & spiced feta salad, olives...with arak and some good & inexpensive (Perrin Reserve) CdR.

Tonight I have a friend coming over. I am making chili with some leftover ground beef and a summer squash souffle typa thing from Diana Kennedy's cookbook. I would like to have some greens, too, but I don't want to buy anything. He would probably be willing to eat the rest of the ice cream though, which is what is so wonderful about him as a friend. (The other being that he likes the same movies & books I do).

Then I will still have a bunch of white asparagus which I wil probably bake with gruyere for myself tomorrow, and I will try to eat a lot of french toast this week to get rid of the whole grain bread, milk and the rest of the eggs. I had some leftover pasta with morels and prosciutto which I wanted to make into a frittata, hopefully I will still get around to that, would make a good lunch to take to work...and oh I have some potatoes...gnocchi maybe? Ugh, I also have parsely, carrots, onions and celery. What do I do with those? Maybe make a giant vat of stock, to freeze.

I should start a "clean out my fridge" challenge thread...

[Jason Perlow]

Greek/Mediterranean-Style picnic spread for 4th of July Festivities tonight

Turkish/Iranian Egglplant Salad and Baba Ghanouj.

Mexican Corn Salad (okay, maybe its not entirely a Mediterranean meal) with roasted corn, sundried tomato, fresh chopped tomato, roasted red pepper, red onion, parsley, cilantro, lime juice and chopped up dried chipotle pepper.

Pork Chops Seasoned Greek Style, which will be cut apart and put into pita bread sandwiches with the Tzadziki.

Pork Chop meat cut apart and trimmed, with cut up roasted mushrooms

Tzadziki Sauce

[eunny jang]

Then I will still have a bunch of white asparagus which I wil probably bake with gruyere for myself tomorrow, and I will try to eat a lot of french toast this week to get rid of the whole grain bread, milk and the rest of the eggs. I had some leftover pasta with morels and prosciutto which I wanted to make into a frittata, hopefully I will still get around to that, would make a good lunch to take to work...and oh I have some potatoes...gnocchi maybe? Ugh, I also have parsely, carrots, onions and celery. What do I do with those? Maybe make a giant vat of stock, to freeze.

I should start a "clean out my fridge" challenge thread...

I wish I had your fridge!

Everything you're planning on making sounds delicious.

Edit: ahhh, FORward slash.

Edited July 3, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[Anna N]

Have to show off the first shots from my new digital camera!

Friday dinner:

Grilled shrimp and bruschetta with herbed cheese and roasted peppers

Grilled game hen with a caesar salad in a parmesan "bowl". The hen looks much more charred in the photo than in reality.

First tart I have ever made successfully! Marzipan with brandy-soaked prunes and a brandy and apricot jam glaze.

[mags]

I. Want. the. Tart.

Also the salad. But first, the tart.

[Anna N]

I. Want. the. Tart.

Also the salad.  But first, the tart.

The tart was good - really good BUT as I was eating it... I am thinking... bet this would be even better with dried cherries! I think the tartness of the cherries would play so well against the sweetness of the marzipan. This is what eGullet has done to me - no longer satisfied with a successful tart now I want it even better.

[bleachboy]

Anna,

What lovely pictures! The tart, especially, looks fantastic -- mine always look awful, taste great. One day I'll get the "looks great" part.

The parmesan bowl is a very cool idea -- did you just melt the parmesan over an inverted bowl?

[Placebo]

I ate the currants plain - so nummy. In fact, demolished would be a better term than atre. I had planned to mainly use them in cooking, as you said, like cranbverries. Took a few out to nibble on and before I knew it they were gone. Must get more on Wednesday.

[Anna N]

...

The parmesan bowl is a very cool idea -- did you just melt the parmesan over an inverted bowl?

Grated the parmesan, drew circles on some parchment paper with pencil, turned parchment paper over (don't fancy graphite in my parmesan!) spread the grated parmesan relatively evenly over the circles, put in pre-heated 400F oven for 8 minutes, pulled out the parchment paper and put it on a tile surface to cool for a few seconds and then used a spatula to transfer the circles of melted parmesan over an upturned cereal bowl. Shaped them quickly with another piece of clean parchment (I have almost asbestos fingers - sometimes.)

I believe they have a name ?frico? or something similar and I have also made them by melting the cheese in a non-stick pan on the stove top. They are easy - the tricky part is to get them just as they are cool enough to stay together but not yet cool enough to be brittle. Don't let them brown very much or they get very bitter - just melted and maybe starting to turn colour.

[Jinmyo]

Yes, frico.

Great photographs, Anna.

[suzilightning]

give me the shrimp, anna....

tonight was that oxymoron - jumbo shrimp - with a crab stuffing; summer squash and carrots with lemon couscous.

made a key lime chiffon pie for dessert which john is about to try

[Susan G]

Appetizer of guacamole with corn chips, dinner of steamed corn and several pounds of steamed clams. Desert: A blueberry pie. Happy Fourth of July!

[Dana]

Grilled Alaskan Salman with honey mustard from Bobby Flay "Boy Gets Grill" - very good

Sauted new potatoes with onion and garlic

Creamed Petit Peas

Bogle Merlot

[NulloModo]

Smoked Beef Loin

Smoked Pork Butt with N. Carolina style vinegar/pepper sauce

Hebrew National Hot Dogs

Johnsonville Bratwursts

Grilled Portobella Mushroom Caps

Grilled 'Veggie Packets' consisting of Zuchinni, Asparagus, and Onion w/Garlic

Green and White Asparagus sauteed in olive oil and garlic

Southern Style Collard Greens

Potato Salad

Herbal Bacon Cole Slaw

Gravy made from the smoked drippings of the beef loin and some chardonnay

Salad of exotic greens in a Tequila/Lime/Mint vinagrette

Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries in cream

Jello cake with whipped cream and strawberries and blueberries arranged to look like an American Flag

Strawberry Shortcake

Coffee, Corona, and Fresh Squeezed Lemonade (not all together)

[Stigand]

Those currants are really pretty...great photo, too. Do you eat them plain? The ones I've had are pretty sour, I use them like I would cranberries...

Redcurrants totally rock. They seem to be a lot more common here in the UK than in the US, although our season hasn't started yet so so far we can only get the very expensive imported Dutch ones.

Number one way to eat them: mashed up in a bowl with milk. The sourness of the berries curdles the milk; the curds mitigate the sweetness of the berries and the milk dilutes the sourness (doesn't work with cream). Looks weird but tastes divine. Don't wear a white shirt.

Also the best fruit to add to porridge or muesli.

[Anna N]

WOW, NulloModo, that's an ambitious undertaking!

Last night's dessert:

Saffron-poached pear with rum-orange sauce.

[curlywurlyfi]

Saffron-poached pear with rum-orange sauce.

Anna, that looks absolutely stunning. Would you be able to let me have the recipe?

[NulloModo]

WOW, NulloModo, that's an ambitious undertaking!

Well, I wasn't the only one cooking. My parents decided to hold a 1 day late 4th of July get-together with various friends of the family, and seeing as I wanted to try out my dad's smoker, I went over and volunteered to help. Between the three of us everything got churned out.

[FoodMan]

ok, this was dinner a few days ago but I never got to downloading the picture:

Stuffed duck neck, cooked just like duck confit, then seared, crisped and sliced. Served with sauteed potatoes and peppers. So so good, it is worth all the work.

Leftovers made a wonderful lunch cold with crusty homemade bread and Dijon mustard.

Yesterday:

Trying out my new Char-griller charcaol grill for the first time.

-Shish Tawook. Marinated Lebanese chicken kebabs on the grill

-Grilled chicken legs and thighs marinated with Adobo

-Grilled eggplant salad with mushrooms and fresh basil

-Hummus

-Dessert: Grilled nectarines with caramelized turbinado sugar and vanilla ice cream.

(the stupid camera was out of batteries so no pics.)

Elie

[SiseFromm]

4th of July grill party:

Melted, Caramelized Maui Onion Dip with Kettle Chips

-

Spice-Rubbed Rocky’s Chicken with Grainy Mustard Sauce

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Grilled Corn with Chipotle Butter

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Grilled, Herbed Flat Bread

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House-Made “Bomb Pops” with Watermelon, Lemon, and Blueberry Ices

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Minted Raspberry Vodka Lemonade

[RSincere]

Today's lunch was Curried Coconut Chicken, based on a recipe I found on the Internet. It was the first curry I made that I liked! It was also very rich because of the coconut milk. I bought Uncle Ben's rice thinking it was just plain rice, had no idea what "converted rice" even meant. But I cooked that in vegetable stock to go with the curry. It's the weirdest rice I've ever had. I'm used to my rice being somewhat starchy, sticking together. With this rice, each grain just slid off the other one. It didn't stick together at all. I think I prefer it sticky! I feel like it holds the sauce better. Now I have 12 lbs of the converted to use up.

[sassybat]

last night's dinner was:

ice cream.

i went to a potluck/barbecue for lunch and was just too full for dinner. but somehow i found room for ice cream.

[Anna N]

Anna, that looks absolutely stunning. Would you be able to let me have the recipe?

Yes, I just need a bit of time but I promise to PM it to you.