Dinner! 2004

[balmagowry]

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.

Good for you! I lusted after the form factor of the Elph, but finally fell for features, so compromised with the A20 - or no, is it S20? they changed the model numbering a while back just to confuse me, and it's upstairs and I'm downstairs - anyway it's much the same camera, slightly bigger, with a little more optical zoom and 3.2 MP, and it does a fantastic job even when I don't. Color balance is a little odd with the flash - but at least it's easy to compensate for that in software. And after all those months of compulsively documenting the Testing Kitchen and the progress of the garden and so on... wouldn't you think I'd remember now and then to photograph a meal before eating it? Hmph. Nope; every time I actually get a chance to cook something I tuck into it right away, only to swat my forehead afterward, coulda-hada-V8-fashion, and vow to reform. Wish I'd had a shot of those blinchiki last week - they were dangerous good and textbook-pretty. Damn! Guess I'll just have to make some more and keep my wits (and my camera) about me this time. Blinchiki... mmmmmm....

(OK, that does it - I need to go find or make a Drooling smiley.)

[Adam Balic]

Had to get some fish to obtain nematode parasites for my student. Good haul of worms from the Mackeral and Horse Mackeral, only one worm from the Gurnard, so marinated the fillets of this fish in Chinese wine, chilli bean paste and potato flour. Wok fried with ginger, chilli, sichuan peppercorns, yellow beans and veg.

[SobaAddict70]

More Vietnamese:

leftover pho

braised squash in coconut milk (because I couldn't find any pumpkin)

sticky rice with chopped peanuts, crispy shallots, minced scallions, toasted sesame seeds and mint

green tea

halo-halo for dessert. (ok, so its not quite Viet, sue me. )

Soba

[Akiko]

halo-halo for dessert

Soba, what is halo halo?

[Jinmyo]

Balderdash!

You are an artist and you inspire with your creations.

You are quite impressive, Jinmyo.

Thank you, Toliver.

The reason why I post these menus is indeed just to offer inspiration and ideas and I hope that occasionally something is useful for that.

[SobaAddict70]

Halo-halo is a Filipino dessert that's usually composed of shaved ice, adzuki or sweetened red beans, sweetened corn niblets, coconut meat (macapuno), evaporated milk, jackfruit (langka), pounded dried rice (pinipig), sweet yam (ube), sweetened plantain (saba), ice cream and flan (leche flan). The taste is indescribable but someone once described it as a little like a combo of liquid Jello and iced tea, only ten times better. The name of the dessert comes from the Tagalog word "halo", meaning "mix", literally, "mix-mix".

I used black monggo (mung beans) instead of red beans, no jackfruit, pinipig or ube, a little saba, a little coconut milk, lots of evaporated milk, pureed cantaloupe, tapioca balls in syrup and mango ice cream. No flan though, cuz I didn't feel like making it. Adding flan makes it amazing.

Ideally, you should have an inch or more of evaporated milk at the bottom of your glass. Halo-halo is typically served in a tall ice cream soda glass, to be eaten with a spoon and a straw. Alternately, a deep bowl works just fine.

Soba

[BJL]

pcarpen-

That salad looks amazing. Can you give any more specifics/porportions or point me to a recipe? None of my searches have yielded any results.

Dinner last night, in keeping with the spirit of the Holiday was Beef and Beer stew from Tom Valenti's new book and some forkfulls of leftover chocolate cake. Excellent for a cold, snowy NY night.

[Rachel Perlow]

Obviously I can't speak for pcarpen or give his recipe, but I never miss an opportunity to push Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Great, easy to follow, recipes from all over southeast Asia. I've referred to the Thai steak salad recipe so many times that the book opens to that page by default.

[pcarpen]

Obviously I can't speak for pcarpen or give his recipe, but I never miss an opportunity to push Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Great, easy to follow, recipes from all over southeast Asia. I've referred to the Thai steak salad recipe so many times that the book opens to that page by default.

an excellent book indeed. great photos in there. another very thorough and authentic thai cuisine reference is Thai Food by David Thompson.

Thai Food by David Thompson

and since a bunch of people have asked for the recipe, here's my version of Bun Ga:

Vietnamese Bun Ga

Serves 4

1 package rice stick or cellophane noodles

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

handful of sliced scallions

handful of chopped fresh mint

handful of chopped fresh cilantro

handful of peanuts, roughly chopped

4 carrots, finely julienned

2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced

handful of beansprouts

handful of mixed field greens or lettuce

for the Sauce:

2 tsp vietnamese fish sauce

4-5 limes, juiced

4-5 tsp sugar to taste

Prepare noodles according to package. when done, drain in a strainer and rinse in

cold water.

Chicken breasts can be cooked in a number of ways. the traditional way is to grill

them in a terriyaki-type marinade, but in this case we just dropped them in a pot

of salted boiling water and poached them for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked

through. remove from water and shred. since the chicken is hot, this is done with two

pairs of kitchen tongs acting as hands. you could also cook them ahead of time and

let them cool before you shred them, but we rarely have the forsight or time to do

this.

The Sauce is the tricky part. In a small bowl, you want to add 1 tsp of sugar for

every lime that you use. for a batch that serves 4, we use about 5 of each. then

slowly add the fish sauce to taste. the sauce is powerful, so adding too much can

overwhelm everything. it helps to have tasted the sauce in a restaurant to know

what it should taste like, but if not, just add it until you like the taste of the

mixture.

Assembly: put a pile of noodles in the bottom of the bowl, add lettuce, carrots,

cucumbers, sprouts, herbs, and scallions. Add the shredded chicken on top, top with

peanuts, spoon over sauce and add Sriracha hot sauce for a little kick. Mix it all

up and eat up!

[FoodMan]

Thick bone in pork chops marinated in olive oil, thyme and lots of black pepper. Seared in a cast iron pan and finished in the oven. served topped with cream-mustard sauce (reduced stock, cream, whole grain mustard, dijon mustard, white wine and brandy).

Alsatian Cabbage on the side: cabbage, bacon, carraway, and onions.

Dessert:

Corsican ricotta cheesecake with bitter orange marmalade from Wolfert's latest book. Has anyone tried this recipe before? Maybe that is how it is meant to be but I thought it was a little too thin (maybe 1/2 inch) as if the pan needed more batter and the taste was not as... complex as it sounded.

Elie

[torakris]

Thursday dinner:

It was my daughters graduation from kindergarten so we had a big lunch out following the ceremonies, wasn't that hungry for dinner soo....

a large salad with chopped cucumbers, celery, tomatoes and toped with falafel patties cut into squares, then drizzled with a yogurt-tahini sauce and sprinkled with mint

edamame on the side

[balmagowry]

Obviously I can't speak for pcarpen or give his recipe, but I never miss an opportunity to push Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Great, easy to follow, recipes from all over southeast Asia. I've referred to the Thai steak salad recipe so many times that the book opens to that page by default.

Only about my favorite Thai dish of all (if favorites I can be said to have, which is in itself problematical). I'm sold! Thanks for the tip.

[Rachel Perlow]

another very thorough and authentic thai cuisine reference is Thai Food by David Thompson.

Here is a link to that book fixed to give eGullet a commission:

Thai Food

Please help support eGullet, by making your links to Amazon.com eGullet commissioned links. Click here for instructions. Thank you.

[redfox]

I was going to be intensely lazy and make just a simple green salad and some frozen pizza from American Flatbread, but then I read the dried beans thread and was INSPIRED. So instead we are having the same green salad, but accompanied by a lovely bowl of beautiful cranberry beans dressed with chopped scallions, parsley and lemon, and some nice crispy crackers.

The beans are seriously fantastic, creamy and not at all mushy. Also, with the clever method espoused in said thread (and which Rachel has been shouting from the rooftops) it was actually no more work than heating up a pizza. Now that's saying something.

Now I'm really especially eager for my preserved lemons to finish preserving, because I think they will be super great with these beans. Mm.

[Priscilla]

Had to get some fish to obtain nematode parasites for my student. Good haul of worms from the Mackeral and Horse Mackeral, only one worm from the Gurnard, so marinated the fillets of this fish in Chinese wine, chilli bean paste and potato flour. Wok fried with ginger, chilli, sichuan peppercorns, yellow beans and veg.

Adam, is there a critical mass of worm population which makes fish unsafe? Or is it just the unappetizination factor? Do the worms give off anything toxic in the immediately-surrounding flesh, meaning, how wide a swath should one cut around?

I've only run into worms once in fish, and I forget which fish -- coulda been cod, does Alaskan/PNW cod ever harbor worms?

[Suzanne F]

Oh. gosh, I don't really want to follow an inquiry about worms . . . but . . . this was so tasty:

"Pizza" with a base of soft lavash, topped with slices of very rare roast leg of lamb and ratatouille (both from the freezer) mixed with the last of last night's black-eyed peas, topped with herbed feta and mixed pizza cheeses. (In the baking/browning, the lamb stayed nice and rare. Yay!!)

Mixed lettuces with olive oil and rosemary vinegar.

Paringa Shiraz

[s'kat]

I'm getting ready to leave for a trip to deep, dark, scary Tennessee tomorrow morning- er, well, at least to Sevierville/Jacksonville.

Husband and I both arrived home tonight much later than expected, and ordered from the only Chinese-American joint that delivers. He got the General Tso's, I got some sort of 'spicy' shrimp-veg dish... I only eat from this place because my husband seems to enjoy it. But ick. Seriously.

At least I have Tennessee to look forward to. Wish me luck, folks- it's a dry county!

[misstenacity]

"Moroccan" salad, for dinner 3/18/2004:

4 cups mixed greens (like the bulk kind from Wild Oats, etc)

1 tangelo

handful golden & regular raisins

4oz crumbled feta

just a couple of kalamata olives, chopped

handful of toasted walnuts

pinch ground cardamom

glug olive oil

salt

pepper

Put everything in a bowl, except the tangelo.

Peel & section the tangelo over the bowl, then squeeze the rest of the juice over the salad.

Toss, then eat in one gluttonous sitting. Mmmmmm....

Miss Tenacity, in Cedar Crest, NM

[Adam Balic]

Had to get some fish to obtain nematode parasites for my student. Good haul of worms from the Mackeral and Horse Mackeral, only one worm from the Gurnard, so marinated the fillets of this fish in Chinese wine, chilli bean paste and potato flour. Wok fried with ginger, chilli, sichuan peppercorns, yellow beans and veg.

Adam, is there a critical mass of worm population which makes fish unsafe? Or is it just the unappetizination factor? Do the worms give off anything toxic in the immediately-surrounding flesh, meaning, how wide a swath should one cut around?

I've only run into worms once in fish, and I forget which fish -- coulda been cod, does Alaskan/PNW cod ever harbor worms?

Priscilla - most of the fish species I have seen in the UK have some worms. Some have more then others. Mostly they are found around the guts, but they will migrate into the flesh. From the one Mackeral we got about a hundred worms, from the horse mackeral about half this and from the gurnard only one. The are found in cod (hence 'Cod worm'), but will not really harm you unless you eat the fish uncooked. Even then you should be OK. The range from 0.5 to 3.5 cm, if you search through the guts you should see them.

Enjoy.

[Rachel Perlow]

The beans are seriously fantastic, creamy and not at all mushy. Also, with the clever method espoused in said thread (and which Rachel has been shouting from the rooftops) it was actually no more work than heating up a pizza. Now that's saying something.

I have been talking like a born again haven't I? It was just that revelatory a concept that I was totally blown away.

[pcarpen]

thursday: pressed grilled veggie cuban sandwich with grilled eggplant, grilled onions, roasted peppers, swiss cheese, cornichons, and mustard. i posted this a few weeks ago, but i couldn't resists getting some better shots.

before pressing:

after pressing:

Edited March 19, 2004 by pcarpen (log)

[Gale]

Wed: braised beef bottom round (braised until falling apart tender) shredded then served over roasted cumin carrots, sliced capirani tomatoes and scallions.

Thursday: Ming's soy-lime chicken breasts with cauliflower - absolutely delish! This dish is cool because it doesn't take long to make and the results are great. You blanch the cauliflower just a bit, and then after searing the chicken breasts, the cauliflower goes in the pan with the breasts, gets the soy lime treatment, and roasts at 500 until done ( maybe 8 minutes). I was surprised at just how tasty this was.

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/showrecipes...firChicbrst.htm

I must get a camera. It was beautiful, too.

Tonite - going out for some fab sushi at Jos's in Annapolis!

[eunny jang]

pcarpen: all your food is so beautiful and well-conceived, it makes me hungry just to look at the photos.

Last shoestring-budget dinner (although I'm trying to get better about budgeting etc). Visited the little bodega-ish store on 17th Street. Bought a bag of dried split peas and a bony, smoked-till-it-looked-like-jerky ham hock to the tune of $1.97 including tax. Walked two blocks home, pissed off that rather than having soup waiting for me when I got out of the rain, I'd have to spend an hour making it.

Onions, one sad-looking carrot, and the jerky-ham cooked in rendered bacon fat. Peas, water. Ham removed, shredded, returned to pot. Lots and lots of cracked black pepper. Tiny bit of salt.

Dragged my boyfriend out in the cold rain with me for a cigarette run right before we were ready to eat. Came back in, shivering and chilled and wet. Soup was subsequently the best goddamn bowl of soup ever.

[Susan in FL]

Gale, thank you for the link. I just printed out the recipe for the chicken and cauliflower. It does look wonderful.

Last night we were both craving a hamburger, so that's what we had along with homemade french fries and chopped salad.

I forgot to mention and I can't remember when, but we had eG-Style Roasted Cauliflower for the first time recently!! Now I see what that addiction is all about!!

[Gale]

Gale, thank you for the link. I just printed out the recipe for the chicken and cauliflower. It does look wonderful.

Last night we were both craving a hamburger, so that's what we had along with homemade french fries and chopped salad.

I forgot to mention and I can't remember when, but we had eG-Style Roasted Cauliflower for the first time recently!! Now I see what that addiction is all about!!

You're welcome!

Ming's soy-lime syrup is so versatile and easy to make. Goes with just about everything!

For my trip to MA in April, I have reservations at Blue Ginger, of course. :-)

April 17th at 6:30 - if any e-gullet folks are going to be in the Wellesley/Boston area and want to meet for a drink!