Dinner! 2004

[hillvalley]

Pulled pork and mashed potatoes

a few hours later I had a squashblossom quesadilla

washed both down the raspberry shrub, lime fuzzy water and vanilla vodka

[Susan in FL]

At home, after going out for happy hour drinks, king crab legs with lots of melted butter and cheap bubbly.

Followed by the new sci-fi season opener.

[Malawry]

A fresh young chicken, with fresh basil butter rubbed under and over the skin, stuffed with more basil and some lemons, roasted in the oven

Broccoli blanched, shocked, and warmed in the juices from above chicken

Chocolate chip mint ice cream

[Susan in FL]

Chilled Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup with Crabmeat

2003 Noble-Rand Riesling, Monterey

Grilled Sea Bass with Miso-Mustard Sauce

Spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic, drizzled with balsamic vinegar

Soba noodles with cucumber and green onions

2003 Leese Riesling, San Luis Obispo

[Anna N]

Pork chops and baby potatoes done on the grill (BBQ) with a salad.

[worm@work]

A modified Kadhai Murgh(Chicken) recipe from the book "Prashad" by Jiggs Kalra , ginger-flavoured potato stuffed parathas (Indian bread), sliced cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper on the side and a traditional south indian style taro root recipe I remember my mom used to make when I was growing up (after all, the vegetarian cook needs to eat too!).

A serving on a plate

The slightly out of focus taro root sabzi!

And a shot glass of sambuka (did I spell that right) for dessert!

-worm@work

[Varmint]

Last minute dinner on Friday with friends.

Bruschetta of yellow squash, shiitake, aromatics with soft cheese blend melted on top! Thanks for all the suggestions.

Gazpacho with shrimp and pumpkin seeds. This was inspired by a bowl of gazpacho I recently had at Landmarc.

Seared tuna with funky succotash of corn, butterbeans, crowder peas, shiitake, tomato and orzo, served with a pomegranite vinaigrette. Inspiration came from the Babbo Cookbook.

A friend made a mighty fine peach poundcake with fresh peaches macerated in brown sugar, peach schnappes and Grand Marnier.

[Susan in FL]

Tonight's batch of bruschetta turned out especially good... once again, quality of ingredients...

Then crab cakes inspired by the recipe of -- yes as much as I hate to say it, but I like to give credit where credit is due -- Martha Stewart, from her Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook. I like this recipe when the crab meat is not the finest premium jumbo lump. This crab meat was some "special" that was on sale, and so the multitude of ingredients helped. They are quite tasty, actually.

Main course was grilled quail with a cantaloupe/ thyme/ red onion/ and etc. reduction sauce, steamed potatoes, and sauteed broccoli and cauliflower.

[Anna N]

Susan - looks just fabulous.

Tonight's dinner:

Marinated steak grilled on the BBQ and then served with carmelized onions in home-made pita breads - steak was quite horrid - pita breads were great.

[hillvalley]

The last of my squashblossoms in a squashblossom quesidillas

raspberries and blueberries with cream

raspberry shrub with lime seltzer

[FL Heat]

The friend who took the pictures hadn't photographed food before. . .and, well, she promised to do better next time. Couldn't hardly make out the plates on the table

We had friends over, and we had a cheese tray to start: White Stilton w/ Apricots, Derby w/ Sage, Beemster w/ Mustard Seed, and Mozzarella w/ Prosciutto. There's a few non-adventurous souls, I try to keep things grounded and not too exotic for them. I put white nectarines and apricots with the cheese.

Then a salad, mixed greens with walnuts, blue cheese, red onions, apples, and raspberries with a raspberry vinaigrette.

Dinner was apple-walnut stuffed pork chops with an apple glaze and green beans with garlic & a hit of pear vinegar at the very end of cooking.

And dessert was a raspberry mousse with whipped cream :)

Nothing terribly exciting, but it's always fun to have people over and get them interested in new things and taste how good things CAN be when made from scratch and with love We're a young crowd, and some of our friends are just learning how to cook.

Diana

[CheGuevara]

i've jsut moved within walking distance of a great market. the complications arose when after two weeks of constant oversupply, my fridge and pantry are overflowing into my countertops and even the oven - trust me, roast pork stays perfectly fresh for lenghty periods inside any conventional oven. thus last night's cooking attempted to salvage some produce on the border of becoming artwork.

pollo alla diavola - very simple and provides much needed inner-warmth here in the london summer. i cooked it for a good 90 minutes. i served it with steamed white rice with cumin and clove. oh, and i had some of the sauce with these great portuguese croissants leftover from breakfast, yellowish and slightly sweet.

guess what's for dinner tonight...

-che

[Toliver]

Last night: Rare Rib Eye steak with bone-in, a slice of onion tart (bought at the Farmer's Market) and a tasty tomato salad with diced cucumber (tomatoes and cucumber were from my mom's garden), kalamata olives and a chiffonade of basil with evoo, basalmic vinegar, fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt.

Heaven.

[hathor]

Friday evening we spent with some dear friends who are currently living in our house, while they remodel a medieval tower, and some new friends. Dinner was on our rooftop in Montone, Italy.

Antipasti: crunchy, salty fried zucchini flowers, and 2 kinds of salami from our neighborhood butcher Guido. Served with icey cold Proseco.

Primi/Secondi all rolled into one as we wanted to go to the Piazza to catch some of the film that was showing in the Film Festival (BBC'S Pride and Prejudice...really think you need to be British to fully appreciate this...)

Zolfini Beans with a little rosemary. These beans were a new discovery for me and they are amazingly flavorful. I'm a committed addict.

Roast quail in a fresh and dried prune sauce. The dried prunes had been marinated in some brandy first.

Contorni plate: aspargus with melted parmigano, roast peppers, semi dried spiced tomatoes, thin slices of pan fired zucchini

Dolce was some watermelon and some pecorino served with a savory tomato mostarde and a sweet mystery fruit mostarde. No one could figure out the fruit...

--------

Saturday night was a mini-farewell dinner as we had to return to New York, and we were leaving our friends in our house. We had to eat inside as the wind had really kicked up, and the temperature had dropped.

Antipasto: some really small shrimp quickly boiled with spices and bay, served with a spicy/chili soy dipping sauce.

Primi: A neighbor had given our friends some of her divine homemade pasta. We made a quick fresh sauce of fresh tomato, zucchini, olives, capers, basil and parsley. Then we covered it in this powdery, freshly grated parmiganio. Its amazing the difference when the cheese is just powder...it seeps into the pasta itself.

Secondi: Orata roasted in the oven. I put some sprigs of rosemary and basil and a slice of orange inside the fish before roasting, and then served it with an orange beurre blanc sauce. Very delicate flavors. And a little side of leeks with a walnut dressing.

Posted because....I'm back in NY, and wanted to relive dinner with our friends.

[Dana]

Susan in FL - your meals and photos are awesome. I look forward to your posts.

We'e getting ready to go on vacation, so to clean out the fridge, we're having

chicken soup and garlic toasts.

[tastykimmie]

I had a craving for smoked turkey necks. Cooked those up with a side of roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. YUM!!

[sassybat]

saturday night i was hosting a birthday party for a friend, so the theme was generally some of her favorite foods:

strawberries and champagne grapes (love costco!) to snack on

bruschetta on ciabatta bread

steamed clams

roasted halibut with lemon

green beans sauteed in olive oil with lemon

chinese-style strawberry cake for dessert/birthday cake

yesterday my SO and i went out to the Top of the Market restaurant in downtown san diego:

lemon drop martini

tagliarini with fresh shellfish (a HUGE platter of some pasta and more shellfish than i could possibly eat in one night)

creme brulee

[Susan in FL]

Susan in FL - your meals and photos are awesome. I look forward to your posts.

We'e getting ready to go on vacation, so to clean out the fridge, we're having

chicken soup and garlic toasts.

Thank you, Dana! I really enjoy reading and posting on this thread.

Is your vacation centered around food or dinners at certain restaurants?

[Susan in FL]

Tonight was Soy-Kaffir Lime Chicken with Glazed Cauliflower. I would like to have found boneless chicken breasts with skin on, but I had only boneless and skinless. Still, it was a good meal. With it we had baked beets, baked potato-style -- no photo of that... it wasn't much to look at, but it tasted good.

[spaghetttti]

Tonight was Soy-Kaffir Lime Chicken with Glazed Cauliflower. I would like to have found boneless chicken breasts with skin on, but I had only boneless and skinless.  Still, it was a good meal.  With it we had baked beets, baked potato-style -- no photo of that... it wasn't much to look at, but it tasted good.

Susan, that looks absolutely exquisite! Beautiful plating.

I love your dinners and photos!

Yetty

Edited July 13, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[Susan in FL]

Thanks so much, Yetty. eG has helped me with plating and presentation!

[CheGuevara]

after two nights of leftover chicken i had just about enough - so with some inspiration i endulged in culinary meditation: crafting dough. this was the result much enjoyed with a great malbec from back home.

-che

[hillvalley]

Last night was sauteed tomato and garlic with lots and lots of fresh basil and Parmesean over perciatelli. I will probably eat this about once a week from now until the end of Septemeber.

Tonight I had umeboshi, two kinds of furikake soy sauce and wasabi over rice. Completely eG inspired.

[NeroW]

On my night off Monday I made roast chicken (lemon inside, butter outside, you know the drill), mushroom risotto, and green beans. I thought it would be too hot in my kitchen to cook/have the oven on, but what do you know . . . it wasn't.

[hathor]

Last night was a mini-family reunion, the immediate family hasn't been in the same place for a few weeks. So, it was time to eat together!

Primi: roast vegetable ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce and mozerella

Secondi: tagliata....really nice Angus strip steak over a bed of mache with some festival colored heirloom tomatoes

Salad: fennel, orange, and red onion. and a big hunk of parmigiano just in case you felt like it

Dolce: sweet, sweet watermelon, blueberries and gooseberries.

A fine time was had by all, even Rusty the cat!