Dinner! 2004

[snowangel]

Another rule of thumb that seems to work is the colder the waters, the better the salmon. The salmon I use here is from Tasmania (south Australia) and is comperable to northern BC or Alaskan.

This is an interesting comment. When we are at our cabin, there are some fish that if we catch in spring or fall (cold water) we will eat, but if we catch in the summer (warm water), we will do catch and release. Crappies come to mind. The texture and taste is just different, and not as desireable when they are caught in warmer water.

One interesting thing about salmon is that, as I recall, wild salmon is "born" in salt water, travels to fresh water to mature, and returns to salt water to breed (perhaps I am wrong). Strikes me that a farm-raised salmond would not have this duel environment.

Further to fish. Is sushi ever made with fresh water fish? Or is fresh water fish best cooked?

Perhaps we need a fish thread.

[phaelon56]

Salad of mixed greens and assorted sprouts with some juice soaked golden raisins (i.e. plumped up) and toasted pine nuts

Salmon filet that I threw in the smoker while a pork shoulderbutt but was being smoked for pulled pork. Served with a side of Israeli cous cous. Interesting stuff - it shows promise but mine came out with too much liquid remaining - also mixed in some sauteed kale and plum tomatoes that needed to be used. I recall using garlic, ginger and balsamic vinegar in this as well. It was edible but not a success story. The pulled pork is another story - my knees buckled when I ate the first bite.

Not as good as sex but damn is this stuff good!

[bleudauvergne]

Smoked magret de canard and Pastis

Slow roasted breast of Poulet de Bresse

Edited April 24, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Swisskaese]

Friday night I went to friends for pot luck dinner. I made chicken stuffed with couscous. I mix the couscous with cinnamon, apricots, pine nuts and a little honey. Then, I stuff the raw chicken and baste it with a sauce of pomegranate syrup, honey and lemon juice and bake in the oven.

Tonight, I had artichokes with homemade sauce. I just mix homemade mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and thyme in a food processor. Stuffed eggplant. I either use ground beef or chicken. Tonight, I used beef and I added cinnamon, pomegranate syrup, onion, pine nuts, rice, sesame oil, worcestershire sauce and mustard with seeds. I served this with steamed broccoli.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures. Our digital camera is broken.

[enrevanche]

I've got a hunk of cold leftover brisket that needs to be used, so tonight, it's comfort food: shepherd's pie .

Couldn't be easier:

Chop the brisket into small pieces. Simmer up a thick, hearty onion gravy, add baby carrots and a small bag of green peas I have in the freezer. Toss the chopped brisket into the simmering brew, pour into casserole dish.

Boil some Idahos, add a little butter and milk and whisk up fluffy mashed potatos for the top layer, then shred a little cheese (I usually use boring old cheddar, perfect in this application) to top that.

Bake at 400 until bubbly.

Serving with a crisp green salad and some lightly steamed zucchini.

Everybody in my house loves shepherd's pie night. My wife just loves the dish, period. I do too, especially since I can usually eke a couple of meals out of it, and just have to reheat for the second night, plus it's a thrifty use of leftovers.

And the dogs and the cat love it because they get to eat the fat bits I trim off of the brisket.

[NulloModo]

After reading the cast iron thread I had a desire to tackle some burgers on mine so dinner tonight was:

Nice big (1/2 lb) burgers given a beautiful golden crust with cast iron and butter, topped with some nearly carmelized onions, grilled portobella caps, and fresh from the Amish bleu cheese crumbles.

Deep fried whole okra pods tossed in some cayenne, salt, and pepper

[hjshorter]

Hangar Steaks on the grill. I love hangar, nice unctuous beefy flavor.

Sauteed wild mushrooms and onions on the side.

Steamed asparagus.

Baguette with cultured, salted butter from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Co. Great butter, it was almost like cheese.

A nice Cote du Rhone for the grownups and milk for the kids.

Blueberry pie with whipped cream.

Edited April 24, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[Jinmyo]

Scooped plum tomatoes filled with taramasalata.

New white potatoes cooked in cream with Polish ham and crumbled blue cheese.

Chipotle and rosemary roast chicken thighs and drum sticks.

Roasted mushrooms, onion, slices of elephant garlic, and asparagus.

Cheese course.

Edited April 24, 2004 by Jinmyo (log)

[Toasted]

A few homemade pizza's:

Plain cheese for the kids

Red onion marmalade and green olives and another one with goat cheese

and roasted peppers for the adults.

Green salads with the usual stuff

and the best fresh pineapple we've had in a long time.

[torakris]

Saturday dinner, trying not to use as much rice as it is unbelievably expensive this year...

yaki udon with kimchi, carrots and onions topped with katsuo-bushi flakes

tofu "steaks" brasied in a soy-sugar-sesame-garlic-chile powder sauce

gobo (burdock root) and cucmber salad

[Majra]

Last night:

Pork tenderloin marinated in a teriaki-ish style, and grilled over a very hot fire

Grilled asparagus

Steamed medium grain Chinese rice

Tonight for dinner we were the happy recipients of an invitation to a backyard crawfish boil. There was a lot of food: 180 lbs of crawfish, 10 gallons of gumbo, 12 jerked chickens, plus accompanying vegetables and accoutrements. The hosts were expecting about 80 guests throughout the course of the evening. It was lots of fun.

[Dana]

Rainy day here, so:

Chicken Sausage Gumbo

Steamed Rice

Garlic bread

hjshorter - I love hangars, too, but are difficult to find here in SE TX. Can you get them easily? We can't even get them in restaurants.

Edited April 25, 2004 by Dana (log)

[sparrowgrass]

Used asparagus from the garden and eggs from the henhouse to make a tasty quiche.

Even the kid, who doesn't like things all mixed together, liked it. And the leftovers will be breakfast.

I have about 10 dozen eggs in the fridge--the girls are providing me with about 18 a day. I usually take them in to work and have them all sold before I get to the office, but I have been sick this week. Anybody who shows up in the driveway will take home a dozen before they leave, even if they are Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.

[hjshorter]

hjshorter - I love hangars, too, but are difficult to find here in SE TX. Can you get them easily? We can't even get them in restaurants.

They are hard to find around here too. The regular markets never have them. Even the specialty places don't have them regularly, and there's no independent butcher near me. Today I stopped by a local "gourmet" market for some ribeyes and bought the hangars just because they were available.

I prefer most steaks seared then finished in the oven, but hangar has enough fat and flavor to stand up to charcoal grilling.

[tanabutler]

I concocted an amazing reduction using the juice/water from some beets I was steaming/roasting in the oven, combined with ruby red grapefruit juice, a splash of white wine, McElvoy EVOO, and some very thick, aged balsamic vinegar. This went with a steelhead trout filet and the beets with their greens. It was insanely flavorful. Best thing I've made in months.

[paul o' vendange]

Potato-crusted Loup de Mer, stuffed with ratatouille. With a red pepper coulis and braised/pan roasted fennel.

Poached anjou pears with arugula and endive and gorgonzola-balsamic vinaigrette.

Paul

[bleudauvergne]

Samosas au lapin et reblochon.

Crudités du marché.

Cervelle des canuts.

Edited April 25, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[bloviatrix]

Friday night was a chicken rubbed with a mixture of cumin, cardamon, turmeric, s & p, browned and then braised in a very garlicy tomato sauce with roasted cauliflower and steamed green beans. Whole wheat challah. Strawberry soup for dessert Chenin Blanc to drink.

Our big meal on saturday is lunch. We started with sauteed mushrooms on a bed of arugala. Then we moved on to poached salmon with a cabbage slaw dressed in homemade lemon mayonaisse. Blovie had roasted asparagus as well. Mini challah rolls on the side. We finished with some more of the strawberry soup. Seltzer for drinks

[torakris]

My husband spent the day moving trees from his parents old house to their new house, te kids spent the day making house out of cardboardboxes, I spent the day weeding through all the sites I had bookmarked on my computer.

I had nothing in te house and didn't feel like shopping or cooking soooo

Okonomiyaki!

[NulloModo]

Pork Tenderloin marinated and grilled in a bourbon, butter, and mustard sauce with onions and mushrooms.

[Jason Perlow]

Sauteed Sea Scallops in a Butter/Lemon Sauce with Roasted Asparagus and Curry Couscous

[Jinmyo]

Heh heh. Scallops, Jason.

Seafood bisque with a dollop of double cream topped with salmon roe.

Seared sea scallops with paprika.

Scalloped potatoes (again).

Remoulade with chopped cornichons.

Cheese course.

[NulloModo]

Jinmyo -

I have to ask, do you run a restaurant? I have searched through the bios here, but as you are not staff I can't find the info ;). What you cook looks absolutely amazing, and if you run a restaurant I feel I simply must have dinner there at some point.

[Jinmyo]

Jinmyo -

I have to ask, do you run a restaurant? I have searched through the bios here, but as you are not staff I can't find the info ;). What you cook looks absolutely amazing, and if you run a restaurant I feel I simply must have dinner there at some point.

Nullo, I have worked in restaurants but this more of a private club than just a restaurant.

That meal was for eighteen people.

[Malawry]

NY strip steak, rubbed with seasoned oil and salt, seared medium-rare and sliced thin

Wedge of iceburg lettuce with thick-sliced crumbled bacon and blue cheese salad dressing