Dinner! 2004

[Malawry]

Pecan-crusted chicken breast

A few sticks of middle eastern cucumber from the farm market

A handful of sweet sweet blueberries

Iced coffee

[redfox]

We're both feeling exhausted and overworked around here today, so all we had was my mother's special egg salad (drier and more finely chopped than ordinary egg salad, something like mushroom caviar extended with plenty of hard-boiled egg and dill) on toasted pita bread. Lots and lots of blood orange and soda. Feeble noises.

[FL Heat]

Had a bachelor friend over for dinner (it seems we feed a lot of my boyfriend's single friends), so we had a cucumber/tomato/feta salad, tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese & capers, and a pork roast that sat in a white wine/lemon juice/fennel/oregano/garlic marinade.

And Fudgesicles for dessert.

Diana

[Jason Perlow]

Oricchette pasta with leeks, bacon and spinach in a tomato/cream vodka sauce, with basil chiffonade and parmesan cheese.

No pics, sorry.

[RSincere]

Seared chicken breast (from the instructions in "How to Cook Without a Book," ironically enough). I seasoned it with Penzey's Ozark Seasoning, but I got a little excited and overseasoned, so it tasted a lot like Banquet's take on extra spicy Southern chicken, only without the grease. Don't ask me how I know what Banquet chicken tastes like!

On the side, I made pasta with a mushroom/lemon/cream sauce, with lemon basil from my patio. The recipe was from Donna Hay's "Off the Shelf," but instead of a fresh red chili I used about 1/2 tsp red chili flakes. I got that book from our library and copied the recipes I wanted to try onto index cards; that's the first one I tried. I thought it was very good, very peppery, but I must have timed it wrong because the cream sauce wasn't thick enough to stick to the spaghetti.

[tastykimmie]

medium well porterhouse, brussel sprouts and roasted taters, coleslaw and the first of my summer tomatoes sprinkled with salt.

[curlywurlyfi]

smoked salmon, sour cream, masses of chopped fresh parsley, black pepper + lemon juice stirred through egg pasta. had the leftovers for lunch too - stickier, but still good.

[Basilgirl]

Marinated filet mignons my boss gave me ($20.00 a pound! good grief) that he didn't have time to cook

Ore-Ida Oven Chips with lots of salt

Edy's Peach Sorbet

[binkyboots]

split pea and potato soup

multi grain bread

rhubarb crumble

(and weetabix )

[RSincere]

Browned country-style ribs in a pan, then simmered in my last hold-out jar of Barilla spaghetti sauce for an hour. I made rice to go with it. It was good at first, but the pork flavor was just kind of off-putting after a while. Kind of nasty. I don't know why. Maybe I just took too big of a piece!

[FoodMan]

Last night I made a Chinese classic dish which I’ve never had before, “Chicken in Master Sauce”. I used my cleaver to cut it up into pieces and re arranged them on a platter to resemble the whole bird, drizzled with the sauce and served it with plain steamed rice. I was so proud when my wife said “wow, it looks just like a chicken from a Chinese restaurant”.

For dessert we had an upside-down peach cake with ice cream. The cake was good but the top/bottom where the fruit is at got a little soggy. Next time I need to cook the fruit a little more.

Elie

[dumpling]

Tonight,

Honey Panko Crusted Tofu fried to a crispy brown served over wilted spinach and sesame seeds, and Bhutanese red rice. Dizzled with a light soy ginger orange sauce.

Accompanied by Sweet and Sour Yellow and Green Summer Squash(made with a sauce of red wine vinegar, sugar, cranberries and pine nuts)

Fruit Salad with a Honey Lime Dressing(Epicurious)

Have Chocolate Panna Cotta chilling up in the bull pen for tomorrow.

This past week:

Turkey Soong served in lettuce cup

Fried Banana with walnut and coconut over French Chocolate ice cream

[mags]

Chinese salt-and-pepper pork made with chicken thighs, served over a romaine-and-tomato salad with a soy-and-mustard dressing. Next time the chicken needs to be in bigger chunks, and I need to not burn the Schechuan peppercorns.

[Susan in FL]

This week I worked two nights, meetings over dinner, out. I did get to cook Wednesday night. It was cold cauliflower soup and grilled Fontina, salami, and roasted red pepper sandwiches. Very good, the photos did not do it justice.

[suzilightning]

friday night was:

the first local fresh bi color corn

local yellow squash steamed then anointed with extra virgin olive oil and garlic powder- sorry if this offends but takes me back to my childhood - and kosher salt

shrimp marinated in olive oil, shallots, light soy and herbs cut from my back stoop - the shrimp were sauteed briefly, the marinade was reduced and napped over the shrimp and the baked lemon sole we also had

leftover became lunch for saturday

tonight was a mish-mosh to use up stuff i had to and start to prep for the new week

johnnybird had soffrito with clams and prosciutto and several pieces of positano's bread(local bakery) that i had to go back for after work since they were too hot to slice in the machine when i stopped on my way to work. the wine the soffrito was cut with to cook the clams was a 2003 silver slate riesling bottled by friedrich, a drier riesling from germany. the leftover soffrito with prosciutto will make a nice lunch/snack with the bread tomorrow.

i grilled up some duck and apple sausages i got in the local stop and shop(really good) and some bratwurst from the local shoprite of wharton(waaaaaay too salty), ate one of each with the leftover yellow squash and some scalloped potatoes.

it is supposed to rain like fury tomorrow afternoon. we have a party for 100 at our clubhouse so i know what i will be eating........since i am doing the sides and desserts - baby greens with toasted pignoli, craisins and blue cheese in a vinaigrette, pans of whole wheat rigatoni with a lusty sun dried tomato sauce, stuffed eggs, mushrooms stuffed with boursin, german potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw with cooked dressing, fudgy bourbon brownies, regular brownies with nuts, black forest mousse pies, winner's circle pies with whipped cream and the ever popular vodka watermelon - as well as fruit salad for the kids. will rely on the kindness of strangers for the mains. should be able to score at least some steak, chicken and ribs.

think i'll stop by the farm stand after the gym tomorrow morning and see if they have any good white corn in. the local tomatoes are just coming in so maybe i'll add a tomato and basil plate.....

[redfox]

Sitting here eating cracker after cracker heaped with the green pepper ajvar from Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Cooking (so delicious, and I wonder why so different from the red ajvar you see in the supermarket, or rather why you never see this version elsewhere) and drinking bourbon and soda. A far cry from the multi-course extravaganzas but just the thing for a sticky evening after a day of housepainting.

[FL Heat]

Cold tabouli, cucumber, red onion, feta, & chickpea salad. With a cherry smoothie. Because it's been raining all day (while still being unseemingly warm) and is incredibly humid. Turning on the oven or stove is just. . .ugh.

Diana

[Susan in FL]

Friday night after going out for happy hour, we decided to come home to satisfy our cravings. Russ wanted carpaccio and I wanted lobsters, so we went to the store and found both steak and live Maine lobsters on sale. That was a nice surprise.

Last night:

Flavored rum drinks

The view of our getting-more-tropical-looking yard from the porch

Avocado and onion Salad

Black beans and rice with mango

Steaks rubbed with garlic, pepper, adobo, and oregano, with fried onions

Corn fritters

Recipes ideas from the Taste of Cuba website

Mexican beer

Australian red wine

Island music

For dessert, we intended to eat sauteed bananas that had been marinated in vanilla rum, as Ed Hamilton described in another post, but we were too full.

For dessert, pour flavored rum over sliced bananas and keep in the refrigerator a few hours. Sautee in butter, then add a little brown sugar to caramelize the bananas.

Tonight we're grilling kobe burgers, Usinger's hot dogs, and clams on the grill.

[Susan in FL]

Slight change in plans... Wings as a first course (Anchor Inn recipe) instead of the grilled clams. I made my Kobe burger into a "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

[NulloModo]

Kobe burgers..... how those make my mouth drool.

Cheeseburger in paradise, heaven on earth with and onion slice...

[Basilgirl]

Three pounds of heads-on shrimp, most steamed with tons of seafood boil seasoning, some fried in beer batter (beheaded and peeled); beer battered Vidalias; hushpuppies; garlicky tomato salad. Sierra Nevadas.

We have leftovers.

[Susan in FL]

Cheeseburger in paradise, heaven on earth with and onion slice...

Yeah, along with the onion slice, I had mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes. I also had a big kosher pickle, but not a cold draft beer. Since no draft, we went for red wine.

I did discover that a bottle of Old Dominion Spring Brew, a lager, goes very very nicely with Buffalo Wings!

[Chef Shogun]

Panang curry with chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and peppers. Turned out pretty well. Used Harris Teeter curry paste, which I think tasted pretty good. Took the instructions in the recipe I was using too literally and ended up burning the first batch of paste in the oil. Not good. Second batch was fine...just had to lower the heat, which was somewhat contrary to what the instructions insinuated.

The curry paste and the resultant sauce were good, but I felt it was missing something. Maybe I just needed to use more paste. Did a double batch and used half or more of the small jar. I forgot to add the chopped green chiles, and I didnt' have any lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves, so maybe that's part of it. As far as I can tell, I have a chemical dependancy on panang curry (and this is the first I've had since I moved, and my first shot at making it myself), so I"m more than open to a little experimentation!

-- C.S.

[Anna N]

Dinner tonight:

Slow roasted chicken with garlic and lemons (Nigella Lawson - Forever Summer)

Ice cream with blueberry sauce

[Susan in FL]

Slow roasted chicken with garlic and lemons (Nigella Lawson - Forever Summer)

Mmmm.... looks good. I have that cookbook! I will check it out.

Tonight I made a clam chowder - like pasta sauce, starting with pancetta, minced onions, garlic, carrots and a little celery, sauteed in olive oil and butter with a tiny bit of lemon zest, ginger, and basil. Then I added a shot of red wine, seeded and sliced tomatoes, and a bit of tomato paste, before adding the clam juice and at the very end the clams. Real good one-dish meal, with Chianti.