Dinner! 2004

[Jason Perlow]

Bacon Jalapeno Skillet Cornbread with Texas Green Onions and Monterey Jack Cheese

Chili!

[tanabutler]

Nice work on the soup, lovebenton0! Beautiful. I can almost taste it. And so colorful. What a nice balance. And your avocado salsa verde made me want to lick my monitor. (Which I can't do because I'd erase all the baby handprints where Logan grabs it, trying to get to the movies of himself he sees there.)

[2roost]

My girls are back from Grandma and GrandDad's and I am happy. A bit of divergence from the straight "what we had for dinner" is in order.

GrandDad is a retired engineer who has been a topnotch amateur winemaker for 25 years. About 10 years ago he retired in the Okanagan Valley and I began making the 5 hour trek to help with the crush and have a hand in the winemaking, at that time I was an importer/agent and had some good connections in the Okanagan and Washington State for fruit. The combination of my father in law's technical skills, my access to fruit and our willingness to try out different styles has resulted in some seriously good wine over the years.

In an average year we make about 300 Litres of Red and maybe 100 Litres of White, it is stored at GrandDad's and some goes to friends etc, but each trip up we bring some back for us. When wife and daughter arrived home Monday afternoon they had 4 cases of mixed vintages and varietals in the trunk, now GrandDad drinks much more than 50% of the production but he compensates by making sure I get my fair share of the "creme". Included in the most recent shipment were the last 6 bottles of our first "big success" 1996 Syrah from grapes sourced near Milton Freewater, partially barrel fermented and aged 2 years in American oak, SOOOOOO - I ran out and got:

Rack of Lamb with dijon crust, roast potatos and acorn squash, much too extravagant for Monday night but .......... the wine was tremendous but showing it's age so we will have to drink it fairly soon.

Tuesday - Baked ham, curried cauliflower and couscous - Kim Crawford "pansy" Rose.

[Chufi]

Dinner with friends:

Risotto with caramellized leeks, topped with seared scallops (thanks bleudauvergne for suggesting that combo, it was great)

Wild mushroom tart flavored with marjoram, with a buttery cornmeal crust

salad with roasted wedges of butternut squash, drizzled with pumpkinseed-oil

Individual chocolate souffle's with a cold orange sabayon sauce.

The mushroom tart was the only thing that produced a presentable picture:

[lovebenton0]

Nice work on the soup, lovebenton0! Beautiful. I can almost taste it. And so colorful. What a nice balance. And your avocado salsa verde made me want to lick my monitor. (Which I can't do because I'd erase all the baby handprints where Logan grabs it, trying to get to the movies of himself he sees there.)

←

Aaaaaaw, thanks, tanabutler!

Logan is so cute! (But you're wise not to be licking baby handprints off your monitor -- taste nothing like salsa verde. )

Last night I had remainder of the cauliflower soup with curry oil drizzle from two nights before and toasted rye buttered croutes. Just as good the second time. The soup holds together well, stays velvety and loses none of the subtle flavor. Then later while I was doing sweet potatoes with plantains and pecans for Thursday I had some sweet potato chunks left over so I sliced those, baked with butter and some home blend Cajun seasoning then mashed together. Cup of mocha/cocoa for a late dessert as the cold front rolled in. Cozy.

edit to add: Chufi, meant to tell you that is luscious looking tart there.

Edited November 24, 2004 by lovebenton0 (log)

[little ms foodie]

That tart is really pretty chufi, and I love love love risotto! Will try the carmelized leeks next time, Had that in a restaurant once and they put a nice little bundle of crispy ones right on top...yum!!

Ate out last night.............

[bleachboy]

Bacon Jalapeno Skillet Cornbread with Texas Green Onions and Monterey Jack Cheese

Chili!

←

Jason,

Wow, that looks great! Two great tastes that taste great together.

I'm currently using Thanksgiving as an excuse to try learning to make perfect cornbread without looking at the recipe. Once I get that down, I'm gonna try additions like yours.

[percyn]

Dinner with friends:

Risotto with caramellized leeks, topped with seared scallops (thanks bleudauvergne for suggesting that combo, it was great)

Wild mushroom tart flavored with marjoram, with a buttery cornmeal crust

salad with roasted wedges of butternut squash, drizzled with pumpkinseed-oil

Individual chocolate souffle's with a cold orange sabayon sauce.

The mushroom tart was the only thing that produced a presentable picture:

←

Chufi, that looks and sounds sooo tasty !! I wish you would have shared the other pics too, I am sure they would have looked fine.

[percyn]

My girls are back from Grandma and GrandDad's and I am happy. A bit of divergence from the straight "what we had for dinner" is in order.

GrandDad is a retired engineer who has been a topnotch amateur winemaker for 25 years.  About 10 years ago he retired in the Okanagan Valley and I began making the 5 hour trek to help with the crush and have a hand in the winemaking, at that time I was an importer/agent and had some good connections in the Okanagan and Washington State for fruit.  The combination of my father in law's technical skills, my access to fruit and our willingness to try out different styles has resulted in some seriously good wine over the years. 

In an average year we make about 300 Litres of Red and maybe 100 Litres of White, it is stored at GrandDad's and some goes to friends etc, but each trip up we bring some back for us.  When wife and daughter arrived home Monday afternoon they had 4 cases of mixed vintages and varietals in the trunk, now GrandDad drinks much more than 50% of the production but he compensates by making sure I get my fair share of the "creme".  Included in the most recent shipment were the last 6 bottles of our first "big success" 1996 Syrah from grapes sourced near Milton Freewater, partially barrel fermented and aged 2 years in American oak, SOOOOOO - I ran out and got:

Rack of Lamb with dijon crust, roast potatos and acorn squash, much too extravagant for Monday night but ..........   the wine was tremendous but showing it's age so we will have to drink it fairly soon.

Tuesday - Baked ham, curried cauliflower and couscous - Kim Crawford "pansy" Rose.

←

Wow, that must be great....probably gives the wine another dimension while enjoying it..the memory of making it....any intentions to share the wine with other eGulletites?

I like Kim Crawford (wines) too.

[Chufi]

Chufi, that looks and sounds sooo tasty !! I wish you would have shared the other pics too, I am sure they would have looked fine.

←

no they didn't! I only recently started photographing my cooking and it's not easy! And you can't make your guests wait forever for their dinner, just because you want that perfect picture..

[little ms foodie]

Chufi, that looks and sounds sooo tasty !! I wish you would have shared the other pics too, I am sure they would have looked fine.

←

no they didn't! I only recently started photographing my cooking and it's not easy! And you can't make your guests wait forever for their dinner, just because you want that perfect picture..

←

You can't??? hmm...that explains some things!! LOL!

[Susan in FL]

OYSTERS!

Since our raw oysters on Sunday when Russ got home from his up-north food shopping, which I think I posted upthread somewhere, we've had: Steamed oysters, with melted butter -- that was the first course to a roasted chicken dinner; then last night we had fried oysters before a venison and pasta dinner; and tonight we had an oyster main course. It was a low country -style dish of wild mushroom grits surrounded by an oyster and corn stew, with collard greens on the side.

Tomorrow oysters are going to show up twice on our menu, a first course and in a stuffing/dressing.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to All!

[Suzanne F]

Tonight: fish soup, with almost all the components from the freezer:

• bits of cooked trout and black bass;
  
• the last of the salt cod cooked with peppers, tomatoes, chayote, and plantains;
  
• a cup of spaghetti sauce with fennel, and
  
• a pint of fish/fennel/celery stock from some earlier cooked fish meal.
  

The only non-freezer parts were a can of chickpeas and some freshly crushed fennel seed.

With this, croutons topped with a mixture of butter, roasted garlic puree (from a big batch made almost 2 months ago), and shredded parmesan and romano (a tiny bit left from pasta last week).

The last of the Greenmarket lettuces plus radicchio, endive, and yellow pepper, with homemade thyme vinegar and olive oil.

A bottle of Lamoureaux Landing (Finger Lakes, NY State) Cabernet Franc.

Life is good.

And for T-Day tomorrow, I've made . . . reservations!

Happy Holiday!

[little ms foodie]

Haha! Suzanne...I love making reservations!! nicely done.

please excuse the very blurry photo... tonight was Thomas Keller's herb gnocchi from the new Bouchon cookbook( recipe on CBS early show) and breaded chicken breast pounded thin and rolled with some gruyere inside.

served with Chianti

for dessert one chocolate and one vanilla cannoli, picked up at one of my favorite espresso shops.

Edited November 25, 2004 by little ms foodie (log)

[jackal10]

Commemoration of the Benefactors

"In piam memoriam fundatoris nostri et benefactorum nostrorum"

24th Nov 2004

Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 1998

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Roasted Sesame Seeds

Tokay Pinot Gris Albert Mann 2000

Egg en cocotte with smoked ham, gruyere cheese and cream

Roast Breast of Mallard with parsnip and orange puree, and a truffled jus

Bouquet of vegetables, Chateau potatoes

Ladoix 1er Cru Francois Parent 1997

Warm tangerine and dark chocolate turnover with Grand Marnier icecream and almond Brittle

Rhona Musacadel 1998

Desert (Cheese, fruit) and Petit Four

Quinta de Passadouro 1997

Ch. Lestages Simon 1995

Ch. Loupiac Gaudiet 1990

Another stellar effort by the kitchens to produce food of this quality for the 150 or so Fellows and Scholars of the college

Just turning potatoes for 150 would give me nightmares

Edited November 25, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[Carlovski]

Commemoration of the Benefactors

"In memoriam fundatoris nostri et benefactorum nostrorum"

24th Nov 2004

Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 1998

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Roasted Sesame Seeds

Tokay Pinot Gris Albert Mann 2000

Egg en cocotte with smoked ham, gruyere cheese and cream

Roast Breast of Mallard with parsnip and orange puree, and a truffled jus

Bouquet of vegetables, Chateau potatoes

Ladoix 1er Cru Francois Parent 1997

Warm tangerine and drak chocolate turnover with Grand Marnier icecream and almond Brittle

Rhona Musacadel 1998

Desert (Cheese, fruit) and Petit Four

Quinta de Passadouro 1997

Ch. Lestages Simon 1995

Ch. Loupiac Gaudiet 1990

Another stellar effort by the kitchens to produce food of this quality for the 150 or so Fellows and Scholars of the college

Just turning potatoes for 150 would give me nightmares

←

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I REALLY went to the wrong college!

[percyn]

...

...

Tomorrow oysters are going to show up twice on our menu, a first course and in a stuffing/dressing.

←

Susan,

I plan to make stuffing with oyesters too.

[Jake]

Wednesday night - quick and simple.

Steak tartare topped with a dab of mushroom/truffle creme

Salad of mache, radish and parm with a dijon vinaigrette

accompanied by one of Peter Lehman's reds, although I can't remember which one. Might be the fault of the Grey Goose later in the evening while out.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[suzilightning]

sent johnnybird north to poughkeepsie with portugese sweet bread, banana cake, cinnamon raisin streusel coffeecake, key lime bars, green and yellow bean casserole, turkey two ways(most in gravy and some thin sliced for sandwiches later), leftover butternut squash, pignoli, noodle and arugula and leftover chicken caccatora. that should hold them for today and most of friday and saturday(especially since my bil aka "cookie monster" is there).

i am sitting here enjoying a plate of stuffed shells, a winter greens salad and a glass of chianti classico while typing and listening to the game.

enjoy all and a safe and peaceful holiday to all

[Malawry]

Apple martinis

Some kind of aged rum my dad brought back from a recent cruise

Gravlox

Veggies with five-onion dip

Chopped liver

Assorted cheeses, olives, relish tray treats

Smoked turkey

Braised red cabbage

Roasted asparagus with thyme, EVOO, Kosher salt

Mashed potatoes, loaded with cream and butter, made by my 13 year old cousin (with lots of direct supervision)

Green bean casserole

Stuffing with Italian turkey sausage

An inexpensive vouvray

Coffee

A tiny piece each of chocolate chip cake and apple babka

Oof. Happy Thanksgiving!

[handmc]

Smoked Salmon spread with cream cheese, chopped shallots and dill and a dash of worcestershire sauce, a few dabs of chipotle sauce wrapped around a slices of cucumber.

Pate with chopped eggs and shallots, crisp bread

goat cheese marinated with EVOO, pink peppercorns, black peppercorns, crushed juniper berries, garlic, fresh thyme, fresh bay, fresh tarragon.

Tomatoe tower, sliced with coarse salt, pepper, EVOO with fresh basil between the slices.

Shrimp w/cocktail sauce spiked with old bay.

Roasted carrot soup with honey, lime and seeded pablano chilis blended topped with creme fraiche. Sweet, smokey and a little bite goood stuff!

Turkey

Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce

Green Beans

Gravy made with dark stock (what a difference)

Sweet Potatoes a la brother in law

Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

[Ling]

Too bad Thanksgiving was last month in Canada. I'm craving stuffing now.

Tonight I had a variety of delicacies....

-a pan of tater tots

-some cold Beef Bourguinon (too lazy to heat it up)

-Chinese-style spicy beef jerky

-a diced avocado with salt and lemon juice

-peanut butter and crackers

-stir-fried zuchinni

Last night I made cheese quesadillas.

Edited November 26, 2004 by Ling (log)

[Varmint]

She crab soup

Turkey

Stuffing

Buttermilk mashed potatoes

Gravy

Cranberries

Green beans with olive oil pressed 11 days ago!! -- PUNGENT

Maple syrup-glazed carrots

Acorn Squash

Deviled eggs

Pickled okra

Caramelized pecans

Homemade sourdough bread

Bourbon pecan pie

Pumpkin pie

Dutch apple pie

Caramel cake

Prilosec

[spaghetttti]

Celebrated Thanksgiving last night with 14 family members gathered 'round. We had so much to be thankful for. I was particularly grateful that after 25 years, my first attempt to roast a turkey again came out pretty well. Did the mixed herbed butter under the skin and basted the 22 pound turkey faithfully every half hour, maybe overkill, but I was really anxious ---- the dreaded dry turkey. It came out flavorful, juicy and moist. The pan drippings made excellent gravy!

[Malawry]

What went into the pineapple casserole? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain about it, but that could be because of too many apple martinis yesterday.