Dinner! 2004

[Marlene]

Tonkatsu (again) with saffron rice

And i've just put on my first onion confit of the season to be used as a base for the French Onion Soup I will serve at a dinner party tomorrow night.

[Placebo]

Rasam vada - my first stab at making it even. The rasam is a pepper rasam because it has a lot of coursely-crushed black pepper in it. The vadai are from a mix alas but I was feeling lazy today. I tosse dsome extra chilis into the rasam as I like mine fiery-hot.

[petite tête de chou]

As a result of reading another thread today I made split pea soup. Husband prefers it with cornbread, I prefer whole wheat sourdough. We'll eat the leftovers for either lunch or dinner tomorrow.

[bleudauvergne]

We had hotpot at home. We do it Beijing style, with lots of meat. We never had fish balls or any "balls" of any kind in Beijing, but when we were in L.A. we found things like that and used to use them. The French touch this time were the endives. Our electric plate does manage to keep the stock boiling despite the additions, in fact we had to turn it down to keep it from boiling too rapidly! We also had some fruits de mer (which I had frozen), and the noodles, of course. The best part is the noodles at the end, with the rest of the sauce, which is a mix of mashed fermeted tofu (the hot kind), fresh sesame paste, with just traces of black vinegar & soy, plus the addition of hot pepper garlic paste (which contains some smoked peanuts, ground).

Link to Hotpot Thread in China Forum

[NulloModo]

Is fruits de mer just another term for shellfish/seafood, or does it refer to specific species?

[bleudauvergne]

Is fruits de mer just another term for shellfish/seafood, or does it refer to specific species?

←

It's just shellfish / seafood. We had a mix of little calmari, scallops, mussels, and shrimp.

[percyn]

Braised (Chicken) Hunter's Stew - Onions, shallots, tomato, basil, garlic, chicken thighs (would have preferred free range if I had it), vegetable stock, wine (same as below). Slice of day old sourdough bread.

Wine - SimonSig (South African) Cab/Shiraz (Cabernet Sauvignon 53% Shiraz 47%), which was a perfect match for this slow cooked hearty meal.

Music - Duke Ellington, Digital Duke (Jazz)

Company- My lovely wife.

Cheers

Percy

Edited October 23, 2004 by percyn (log)

[Varmint]

Had a salad of mixed greens, avocado, grapefruit and poppy seed dressing. The entree was pan roasted chicken with braised red cabbage and leeks, and wild rice pilaf, all with a solid pan sauce, of course!

[percyn]

Rasam vada - my first stab at making it even.  The rasam is a pepper rasam because it has a lot of coursely-crushed black pepper in it.  The vadai are from a mix alas but I was feeling lazy today.  I tosse dsome extra chilis into the rasam as I like mine fiery-hot.

←

Placebo,

Did you make the vadas from scratch, buy them or make them from a store bought mix? There is a new Indian restaurant that opened near my house and specializes in South Indian dishes (dosas, idlis, vada, etc) so I might have some vadas for lunch today.

[spaghetttti]

Percyn, the chicken looks fabulous, so vibrant! I love that you posted the music, too.

We had a long, slow simmered chicken stew tonight as well, served with jasmine rice, and some crisp cucumber spears.

Our background music was our neighbor singing karaoke to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and totally killing it.

While I did the dishes I played Stevie Wonder's CD - Songs in the Key of Life.

[Susan in FL]

We had a variation on our Friday night theme. I ate out for two days while I was away and so instead of going out for happy hour(s) food and drinks, we stayed home and had happy hours on the porch. I made food as if it were from upscale bars rather than some of the other types of places we sometimes go to on Friday nights. It turned into an evening-long thing, taking breaks and cleaning up the kitchen in between "courses."

The small local shrimp boats have been visable every time I've been to the beach lately; the shrimp have been delicious, and plentiful in my favorite seafood market. First up was shrimp cocktail, same as recently only with a different presentation. I had a Cosmopolitan and Russ had beer.

At Russ's request, next was carpaccio, and Merlot to drink.

Then we had a salad adapted from Sara Moulton's recipe, fried green tomatoes with her ranch dressing, topped with red and yellow grape tomato salad. The ranch dressing was supposed to be drizzled over the fried tomatoes and under the grape tomatoes, but I forgot to do that before taking the picture. We drank Reisling with it, but it wasn't such a good match.

Last (which wasn't meant to be last, but we were too full to eat the dessert I made... I'll serve it tonight) was slightly warmed brie, with roasted red peppers, basil, and store-bought ciabatta. With this, we finished the bottle of Merlot.

It was a fun night of cooking and eating!

Edited October 23, 2004 by Susan in FL (log)

[Placebo]

Placebo,

          Did you make the vadas from scratch, buy them or make them from a store bought mix? There is a new Indian restaurant that opened near my house and specializes in South Indian dishes (dosas, idlis, vada, etc) so I might have some vadas for lunch today. 

←

I made the vadas from mix (I forget which brand - not MTR - it came in a white pouch) . I have a recipe to make them from scratch but I was feeling lazy.

[Susan in FL]

I think I'm going to take a break from photographing food tonight (unless it turns out so beautiful, I can't resist). I've started the prep, and it's going to be:

Pomegranate glazed duck, rotisserie-cooked on the grill;

Grilled rutabaga slices and whole carrots, parsnips, and white asparagus, with truffle vinaigrette;

Salt-baked potatoes -- I've been wanting these since I saw the idea in the October issue of Gourmet;

Shiraz;

Roasted Bosc Pairs with Pomegranate Glaze, and vanilla ice cream -- the ones on the cover of the October issue of Bon Appetit; and

Barleywine to drink with dessert.

[ruthcooks]

Right, it was the quiche that was crustless, although I did pare off the white part of the rind with a potato peeler. That process removes only the white, and you waste nothing of the cheese as opposed to losing quite a bit if you actually "peel" the cheese.

Roll recipe...first time I tried this one. I only baked a dozen so still have 2/3 o the dough in refrigerator waiting for tomorrow.

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

This one came from the OregonLive.com recipe site. It’s one of my favorites and they keep a 6 month archive of recipes. Here are the substitutions/changes I made to the recipe: powdered milk and water for milk (I was running low on milk, and besides, running hot water from the sink is easier than heating milk!); butter for vegetable shortening; brown sugar for granulated sugar (more flavor); 1 ½ cups King Arthur “white whole wheat” and 2 1/2-3 1/2 cups bread flour to replace an equal amount of AP flour; lowered heat 25 degrees. While I used the muffin pans as directed, I’ll cook the remaining 2 dozen in a large baking pan for softer sides that I prefer. Makes 3 dozen.

1 1/4 cups milk, warmed (or use water and add 1/3 C. dry non-fat milk)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup warm water

2 envelopes (2 sc. Tablespoons) dry yeast

Pinch of granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 cups bread flour (plus up to 1 cup more as needed for kneading)

1 egg

1 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oatmeal (not cooked)

2 cups whole-wheat flour

Melted butter for brushing roll tops

In bowl of mixer, pour warmed milk over butter, sugar, and powdered milk, if using. Stir or beat until butter is dissolved. Soften yeast in1/2 cup warm water to which you have added a pinch of sugar. Let stand until lukewarm, if necessary, then stir in the yeast.

Add the salt, the 2 1/2 cups of bread flour and the egg. Beat with dough hook for two or three minutes. Add oatmeal and whole-wheat flour and mix until dough forms a ball.

Remove to lightly floured board and knead about 10 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary. (Original recipe said “until smooth” but we all know that oatmeal is going to stay bumpy, don’t we?) Form ball, place in buttered or sprayed bowl, butter or spray top and cover well. Refrigerate overnight.

Punch down dough. Shape ball into 36 small balls and place in buttered muffin tins. Brush with melted butter and cover with waxed paper. Let rise until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours in oven with light on for warmth.

Remove rolls and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 15 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned. Remove to racks and serve warm.

[suzilightning]

tonight was baked boneless, skinless chicken thighs with herbs, curried rice pilaf and creamed kale. dessert was a charleston pudding from some food mag that johnnybird loved and i have to figure out how to adapt to include Johnnybird's Famous Outrageous Toast Dope. since the original recipe calls for 1 cup of brown sugar i figure about 1/2 cup toast dope and 1/2 cup of regular brown sugar should work

[Jason Perlow]

In honor of the Japanese people who suffered a tremendous earthquake today, tonight I made a homemade Teriyaki glaze, from Japanese mardaizu soy sauce, sugar, scallion, orange juice, rice wine vinegar and fresh pineapple slices, and served it with grilled chicken breast, fried rice and Horenso Goma Ae (Spinach with Sesame Sauce)

[Susan in FL]

I think I'm going to take a break from photographing food tonight (unless it turns out so beautiful, I can't resist).  I've started the prep, and it's going to be:

Pomegranate glazed duck, rotisserie-cooked on the grill;

Grilled rutabaga slices and whole carrots, parsnips, and white asparagus, with truffle vinaigrette;

Salt-baked potatoes -- I've been wanting these since I saw the idea in the October issue of Gourmet;

Shiraz;

Roasted Bosc Pairs with Pomegranate Glaze, and vanilla ice cream -- the ones on the cover of the October issue of Bon Appetit; and

Barleywine to drink with dessert.

←

I couldn't help myself. I just had to take pictures.

Not only did it look photogenic, it was all really, really good. This idea of pomegranate glazes is a good one, and so is the salt-baked potatoes, and the little truffle vinaigrette I threw together just made the grilled vegetables (besides the most excellent grill person... he had quite a bit to do with it, too). All these are keeper recipes which we will use again.

[tanabutler]

I think I'm going to take a break from photographing food tonight (unless it turns out so beautiful, I can't resist).

←

I couldn't help myself. I just had to take pictures.

Not only did it look photogenic, it was all really, really good. This idea of pomegranate glazes is a good one, and so is the salt-baked potatoes, and the little truffle vinaigrette I threw together just made the grilled vegetables (besides the most excellent grill person... he had quite a bit to do with it, too). All these are keeper recipes which we will use again.

←

I knew you couldn't resist, and thank God. Your photos are so much fun, and everything looks so spirited and inviting.

Well, I had quite the challenge in my kitchen last night. For nine years, I've been cooking with an electric stove/oven. Then we found a good deal on a used gas unit, which Bob said he'd convert to propane and run off a smaller tank outside the house. That turned into a huge deal, so that he spent something like $350 on it. So far: he's not done yet. He's chased down almost all the parts, and finally got the stove working. But just the stove. The oven's a work in progress.

The first thing I did was boil a pot of water for tea, and make a grilled cheese sandwich, which I promptly burned. Dang! So I have to learn to cook all over again: cooking on the electric stove was something I'd just absorbed.

Dinner last night, obviously, was cooked stovetop. I saw elsethread the difficulties in sautéeing boneless/skinless chicken breasts ("there's a thirty-second window between salmonella and chicken dust"). Ah, yes. At any rate, I sautéed chicken breasts in lemon olive oil. I made asparagus à la David Kinch: I have used this technique consistently since I took the cooking class in May (asparagus roasted in butter with pecorino). I served these with some cannellini beans, and it was all good enough but not to photograph.

[LaurieB]

Well, I had to experiment with a couple of dishes I have to make in a couple of weeks for a cooking show.

So, I made Braised Beef Brunello, which is a tasty kind of beef stew. We had this for dinner along with black pepper spaetzle, which I pan fried. While that was going on, I made a Southwestern chicken lasagna, which we'll have tonight for dinner.

[Chufi]

Here's our dinner:

danish Frikadeller (from Anna's foodblog) (delicious!)

roasted cauliflower (a revelation)

a gratin of polenta-gnocchi with butter and Parmesan

As you can see eGullet inspired me.

but.. I misread the recipe for the frikadeller when I went shopping and came home with twice the amount of meat.

I adjusted the recipe and cooked it all.. we have a LOT of meatballs in the house right now!

[Susan in FL]

I knew you couldn't resist, and thank God. Your photos are so much fun, and everything looks so spirited and inviting. 

Thanks much for the vote of confidence!

Well, I had quite the challenge in my kitchen last night. For nine years, I've been cooking with an  electric stove/oven. Then we found a good deal on a used gas unit, which Bob said he'd convert to propane and run off a smaller tank outside the house. That turned into a huge deal, so that he spent something like $350 on it. So far: he's not done yet. He's chased down almost all the parts, and finally got the stove working. But just the stove. The oven's a work in progress.

The first thing I did was boil a pot of water for tea, and make a grilled cheese sandwich, which I promptly burned. Dang! So I have to learn to cook all over again: cooking on the electric stove was something I'd just absorbed.

Dinner last night, obviously, was cooked stovetop. I saw elsethread the difficulties in sautéeing boneless/skinless chicken breasts ("there's a thirty-second window between salmonella and chicken dust"). Ah, yes. At any rate, I sautéed chicken breasts in lemon olive oil. I made asparagus à la David Kinch: I have used this technique consistently since I took the cooking class in May (asparagus roasted in butter with pecorino). I served these with some cannellini beans, and it was all good enough but not to photograph.

Sounds like you met the challenge for your dinner last night!

My mom always drizzled olive oil and grated Pecorino or Locatelli on asparagus after cooking it. It was the only way she ever cooked asparagus! The David Kinch recipe sounds real good. I'll give it a try. Thanks for both links.

And I like your word, "elsethread." Did you make that up? Cool!

Well, I had to experiment with a couple of dishes I have to make in a couple of weeks for a cooking show.

They both sound good. Just curious since they were experiments... How did they turn out? Will you have to play with the recipes for the cooking show? Are you at liberty to give out the recipes? The southwestern chicken lasagne sounds especially interesting.

Here's our dinner:

danish Frikadeller (from Anna's foodblog) (delicious!)

roasted cauliflower (a revelation)

a gratin of polenta-gnocchi with butter and Parmesan

As you can see eGullet inspired me.

but.. I misread the recipe for the frikadeller when I went shopping and came home with twice the amount of meat.

I adjusted the recipe and cooked it all.. we have a LOT of meatballs in the house right now!

Welcome, Chufi! Anna's foodblog is inspirational. With all your extra meatballs, you can make some of those sandwiches like Anna does, yum. Glad to hear you enjoyed the cauliflower, too, one of eG's "signature dishes." Hope you keep posting.

[liamsaunt]

Last night, many people over to watch game one of the World Series (GO SOX!! ). Lots of different tastes in the group, including one person who eats no vegetables except potatoes and butternut squash, one no-red-meat person, one no-pork person, one low-carb person, and one vegetarian. So, antipasto (sort of) served buffet style: a cheese assortment, salumi, arancini, arugula salad, three types of fritatta, white beans, vinegared carrots, roasted peppers, roasted tomatoes, olives four ways, sausages, three types of ravioli, roasted onions, sweet and sour onions, and some other stuff I am forgetting. Chianti, pinot grigio, prosecco for wine, and local brews, Bambino Ale and Fenway Pale Ale from Boston Beer Works for beer. It was all yummy, and we won!

[suzilightning]

last night i baked boneless, skinless chicken thighs, made saffron rice and red pepper pilaf(snuck some green peppers and curry into that) and served garnished with a tomato and cucumber salad. dessert was something called charleston pudding i got from one of my cooking lights. this got the most praise from johnnybird and i'm thinking how i can get the toast dope into this

tonight is spaghetti and meatballs with foccacia.

[spaghetttti]

Last night we broke our fast with family and friends. For the main meal, I cooked and served soto ambon for 35.

[Daddy-A]

Wife went shopping yesterday, so I spent the day cooking ... then grocery shopping ... then cooking ... then grocery shopping for what I forgot. When J returned (with a girlfriend & my sister-in-law), the wine was chilled (Banrock Station Unwooded Chardonnay) and dinner was ready.

Soup, Judias Blancas y Mentas ... Smoked Ham Soup with White Beans & Mint:

Really good! Smokey pork goodness from the ham hocks, and the dogs got to enjoy the bones and skin afterwards!

Main course consisted of Cerkeez Tavugu ... basically poached chicken in a walnut puree (Turkish) ... although since I'm alergic to walnuts I used pecans.

A bit rich for this meal, but good all the same. Next time I'd made a taboule (sp?) salad and serve it with pita.

Also, Patatas Bravas ...

There were green beans too ... quickly sauted with roasted tomatoes and finished with a squeeze of OJ. We were hungry so I missed the picture.

Pictures are a bit dark ... but then I tend to eat dinner in the evening

A.

Edited October 25, 2004 by Daddy-A (log)