Dinner! 2004

[ms. victoria]

Tuesday

Lentil soup that was kind of boring on Monday ratcheted up a bit with kielbasa, lots of cracked black pepper, a can of Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes and a can of garbanzo beans. Tonight we are making shepherd's pie for St. Patty's.

[Jinmyo]

Salad, Soup, Sandwiches

Butter seared sea scallops (cast iron pans, three minutes on one side, about forty seconds on the other), deglazed with champagne vinegar and cream, scallops tossed with watercress, sauced.

Leek and roasted tomato (chicken) broth.

Chicken livers with shallots and duxelle on (in-house) rye toast squares. (Liverstuff in a small black bowl on a square white plate, platters of toast at table). Make your own d@mned sandwiches.

Camembert and lox with (in-house) petit pain and Normandy cultured butter. Make your own d@mned sandwiches.

[sassybat]

monday night:

baked cabrilla fish with butter and lemon

sauteed snow pea greens

roasted cauliflower

blanched bok choy leaves with garlic/vinegar dressing

bok choy soup

last night:

lemon pepper shrimp - shrimp broiled with LOTS of butter, lemon, and pepper

warm sourdough to mop up all the yummy lemon pepper shrimp sauce

reheated leftovers from monday night

[torakris]

Weds dinner:

another dinner in a rush...

grilled semi-dried hokke (sorry have no idea of an English name of this fish)

atsuage (blocks of deep fried tofu), carrot and chrysanthemum leaf tamago-toji -- the tofu and vegetables are sauteed then seasoned with dashi-soy-mirin-sugar, then well stirred eggs are poured into the pan and left until softly set

leftover kabocha from the day before

takuan (daikon pickles)

shibazuke (cucumber and eggplant pickles)

Japanese rice

[snowangel]

Make your own d@mned sandwiches.

Sort of reminds me of the "Get Your Own D@amned Coffee Cafe" in northern MN.

[bloviatrix]

Wed. dinner:

Talapia filets w/s&p, baked

Cherry tomatoes, tossed with chopped garlic, thyme, evoo and s&p slow roasted served over fusilli

[dankphishin]

Jinmyo,

Are these daily (incredible) descriptions of dishes your regular at-home fare? If so, WOW! That rocks!

[Jason Perlow]

Chili

Bacon Cornbread with Cilantro

[redfox]

Konnyaku noodles simmered in broth, with scallions and slivered carrots. I liked them, but something was missing from my preparation, somehow. I think maybe I would like them better with a higher broth-to-noodle ratio, and with the noodles cut into shorter pieces.

Crispy tofu with sambal olek, green beans, ginger, and sesame. Good, and the freshness of the tofu was noticable.

Pieces of dark chocolate studded with citrus peel for dessert. This was purchased in a moment of severe weakness, at an Aveda salon, of all places. It contains essential oils of various things and the pieces of citrus peel are wonderfully chewy. It promises to provide me with "intelligent nutrition deliciously delivered through organic chocolate" and instructs me to "enjoy entire bar for personal inner calmness." The chocolate itself is good though not fantastic, and the combination of flavors and textures is definitely a success. They charge a steep premium for the inner peace, though, so I am feeling compelled to consume it in very small portions over several days. I am like Charlie of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame, only without the grandparents and with micronutrient aromatherapy.

[dumpling]

Wednesday-St. Patrick's Day(Day Off)

For lunch, made Irish Cheddar Cheese Scones, split them and stuffed them with Black Forest Ham, a little Irish Bacon, some Bibb lettuce and spread on some cranberry mustard. Umm, good. Scone was not dry at all and nice combo of flavors.

Dinner- Irish(with a little Chinese thrown in)

A Beer Battered Jumbo Shrimp plated on a little honey mustard lime sauce, decorated with a lamb's ear masquerading as a shamrock.

Then entree, plated - first wilted spinach with a little chicken broth and garlic

(lamb's ear for the one who can't take spinach)

next, topped with a mound of Colcannon with scallions,

Irish bacon, a little bacon fat, butter and milk(skipped

the cabbage)

then, Salmon which was first pan seared, then

drizzled with a lime, brown sugar, crushed red

pepper and soy sauce, and roasted.

More sauce drizzled on and around the entree and

lamb's ear on top.

For dessert, Chocolate Irish Whiskey Souffle Tart, topped with whipped cream and a sprig of mint. Some lemon custard sauce on the side.

Lot of cooking. Taking day off from cooking tomorrow to do something easy like work. And rest up for St. Joseph's Day on Friday-all Italian!

Some week- Pi Day, Ides of March, St Pat's and St Joseph's.

Edited March 18, 2004 by dumpling (log)

[Suzanne F]

Long-cooked collards in smoked turkey stock with onion, garlic, and bird chilies (and the meat added back at the end).

Black-eyed peas in some sort of slightly tomatoed sauce (from the freezer; wish I could remember how I made them because they were GOOD).

Very plain cornbread.

Mixed lettuces and bell peppers with olive oil and Texas tarragon vinegar.

Yuengling black-and-tan.

[balmagowry]

Shouldn't have been cooking at all, tonight - should have been much too tired from playing frantic catch-up in the garden and planting peas. St. Patrick's day, after all. But starting yesterday we've been getting walloped by winter's last gasp, several inches of snow, north wind, and no way was I planting anything. Still managed to be tired, though, and still managed to be distracted until beyond the last minute... so it was quick and simple. 10 PM: beef stroganoff, over noodles. Broccoli, very lightly killed. And an awfully nice Haut-Medoc which crept out of hiding at exactly the right moment. Some fruit. In my craving for grapes this year I have overcome most of my scruples about eating fruit out of season - all winter they've tasted right and been priced right and why bite off my nose when I just WANTED them?

Despite this wallop I am convinced that spring is imminent; not only because of the Usual Spectacle of crocuses and snowdrops and tulip leaves poking through the snow, but because the gulls' fishing has begun to prosper noticeably: walking my dog along the bulkhead tonight, passed most of the carcass of a quite-respectable-sized blue-claw crab. This bodes well for the season - and its dinners...

[s'kat]

After being consumed by thoughts of my love's First (and hopefully not last!) meal..., I begged my husband to please please please put aside all thoughts of boiled beef and mounds of starch, and re-make his 'greek' chicken with pasta. So he did.

[pcarpen]

wednesday: bun ga. vietnamese cellophane noodles with shredded chicken, greens,

cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, mint, peanuts, and

fish sauce

[Rachel Perlow]

I just have to emphasize the significance of the chili I made that Jason pictured above. I asked him to buy canned beans because he wanted chili and that would be the fastest way to make it. Well, he heard my "do not by dried beans, buy canned" as "buy dried beans." So, what to do? I went on eGullet/google to get instructions for using my pressure cooker (not been used in quite a while) to get the beans going. Instead, I found even better advice in this thread about dried beans. According to Russ Parsons, dried beans do not have to be soaked and they're done in just over an hour when cooked in a covered vessel inside the oven. And you know what? It worked. Check it out people! This is as revelatory as roasted cauliflower!!!!!!

PS - Jason took some pics of the chili artfully spooned over a slice of cornbread, but they didn't come out as well -- that's why you got the ugly after dinner's over leftovers in the pot.

[eunny jang]

zero-balance checking account dinner:

Thin-sliced onions cooked long and dry (I'd call it onion confit, but there was no lipid in the pot until the onions were already brown and limp and caramel-y). Generous amounts of olive oil added when the onions stopped giving up liquid. Lots of Parmigiano, cracked black pepper more olive oil and some salt. Bucatini. As Mark Bittman promised, the onions were almost overly sweet - needed lots and lots of cheese and pepper to keep it from being overwhelming. Delicious, though.

[Suzanne F]

eunny jang, I hope sometime in the future you will do a food blog here. It's great to read what you are making under straitened circumstances -- really proves that good food does not have to be expensive.

[Susan in FL]

Tuesday after minor surgery, I took full advantage of my husband's offer to cook and -- more importantly because we both love to cook -- clean up afterwards!

First up, appropriately... chicken soup. This was no ordinary chicken soup, mind you. He did a bit of adaption to this recipe for Chicken and Sweet Potato Chowder.

That was followed by Pork Chops with Mustard-Cornichon Sauce. I wasn't suppose to have it, but we drank Riesling with the soup and Pinot Noir with the chops. Great dinner!

Last night he fixed us plain and simple and tasty... steak, baked potato, roasted vegetables, and a good French red table wine.

I'm recovering just enough to take part in the cooking tonight, but I'm not yet well enough to clean up.

[Rachel Perlow]

pcarpen -- that Vietnamese salad looks good. I make something similar, but while it tastes good, it never looks so pretty.

[Akiko]

Susan, that Pork Chop looks incredible. Thanks for the link, I'm going to have to try that recipe some time.

[pcarpen]

pcarpen -- that Vietnamese salad looks good. I make something similar, but while it tastes good, it never looks so pretty.

thanks rachel. you know, things always taste better when they're pretty

and what's really funny is that my wife is even plating things all nicely so that they'll look good for the camera. luckily, we pretend to be normal when other people are around.

[Susan in FL]

and what's really funny is that my wife is even plating things all nicely so that they'll look good for the camera. luckily, we pretend to be normal when other people are around.

I had to laugh because that's how it is in our home now (although, my photos aren't as good as yours)... my husband being the one who now is even thinking of arrangement and garnishes, etc. when he plates.

Seriously, your photos are great. I was surprised when you posted that your camera was 2MP. Mine is 5.25! Any advice? How close to the food are you holding the camera? Lighting, flash, etc.? If you would be more comfortable to PM, please feel free.

[pcarpen]

and what's really funny is that my wife is even plating things all nicely so that they'll look good for the camera. luckily, we pretend to be normal when other people are around.

I had to laugh because that's how it is in our home now (although, my photos aren't as good as yours)... my husband being the one who now is even thinking of arrangement and garnishes, etc. when he plates.

Seriously, your photos are great. I was surprised when you posted that your camera was 2MP. Mine is 5.25! Any advice? How close to the food are you holding the camera? Lighting, flash, etc.? If you would be more comfortable to PM, please feel free.

you know, i keep wanting to buy a new higher resolution camera, but i keep getting good shots with the old one, so i just can't justify yet. I use a Canon S200 Digital Elph.

i wish i could tell you that i have some great techniques, but i really don't. we cook, plate up the food, sit down to eat, and then i jump up to grab the camera and just take a picture of it right at our table. the kitchen doesn't have great lighting, and i use the regular flash setting with macro mode turned on (which allows the good sharp close-up shots) without any zoom. i'll take a couple of shots to get a good one sometimes and from different angles or different depths. the pics got better as i started caring less about getting the whole plate or bowl in the shot, and just started concentrating on the food itself.

i then upload the photos, resize them to 640x480, and that's it.

[Jinmyo]

Jinmyo,

Are these daily (incredible) descriptions of dishes your regular at-home fare? If so, WOW! That rocks!

Thank you but since this is a professional kitchen it's not so impressive.

Spinach and root vegetable bisque with buttermilk and parmesan.

Steamed kale with roasted chorizo sausage pieces.

Roasted cremini mushroom halves, and tomatoes with chipotle-adobo.

Racks of lamb.

Country French bread if desired.

[Toliver]

Jinmyo,

Are these daily (incredible) descriptions of dishes your regular at-home fare? If so, WOW! That rocks!

Thank you but since this is a professional kitchen it's not so impressive.

Balderdash!

You are an artist and you inspire with your creations.

You are quite impressive, Jinmyo.

Edited to add: Last night's dinner was, in honor of the holiday, corned beef (cooked in a slow cooker all day) with horseradish, boiled red potatoes & baby carrots with sauteed cabbage topped with a splash of cider vinegar.

Edited March 18, 2004 by Toliver (log)