Dinner! 2004

[cheeseandchocolate]

FoodMan, that eggplant-lentil stew sounds delicious! Do you know if the recipe is on the Food and Wine website?

[FoodMan]

FoodMan, that eggplant-lentil stew sounds delicious!  Do you know if the recipe is on the Food and Wine website?

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It is, however you need top be a subscriber or have bought an issue to be able to access their recipes now. I will PM you the recipe if you like though.

Elie

[spaghetttti]

Something's definitely in the air. Feeling really frazzled and I haven't really cooked all week, so last night I made opor tahu (tofu curry), salted fish and sambal.

Dessert was B&J's Everything but the Twist ice cream & some fantastic Kalosi coffee, strong & black.

[Swisskaese]

dessert: Alton Brown's apple crumble. Hollow the apples and stuff with honey and crumble mixture. Served with vanilla ice cream. I love this because it is quick to prepare, tasty, looks fantastic, and there are hardly any dishes to wash.

Elie

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Foodman would you mind sending the recipe for the apple crumble? It sounds delicious.

[memesuze]

He did it this week: Baker, baker

[Susan in FL]

Count me among those who were seeking comfort in food during the past week. The night before the night before last, we had three starchy things in our dinner. Dinner was my husband's crispy chicken thighs, which I love so much I could eat it once a week, and baked potatoes AND CORN on the cob with it. And, as a first course, yum this was so good... pureed cannellini beans with truffle oil.

The night before last we had a long time favorite pasta dish, linguine and brie and tomatoes and basil from one of the original Silver Palate cookbooks. It's an uncooked sauce, and it surely hit the spot, too. With it was a summer corn salad, using left over cooked corn cut off the cob.

I said I would report back about using frozen/thawed foie gras. We did that last night, and it was fine. More than fine, actually... it was as wonderful as any we've ever cooked. I love the taste of this stuff. Speaking of comforting food, add some tasty fat to all these tasty carbs. This was pan-seared, with toast, figs and Port wine sauce.

Tonight before dinner, we have already snacked on innards and skin from the duck we are fixing. The duck is coming up soon.

Ooops... edited to add: The foie gras was the first course. Dinner was steaks with a panko and Maytag Blue Cheese crust, and a side dish of zucchini and shallots. And I've misplaced some food pics. Oh well.

Edited September 11, 2004 by Susan in FL (log)

[Malawry]

Onion soup, in duck stock with duck confit. Quack.

Chicken leg quarters, seared in bacon fat then roasted.

A big green leaf salad.

[Marlene]

Maytag Blue Cheese crust,

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Oooohh. Please elaborate on this!

[Susan in FL]

Marlene, gladly... but first I must say that soup and chicken and salad sounds luscious. For the chicken, did you do just that... sear it in bacon fat and then roast it?

The crusted steak was actually a recipe which I actually followed. Here it is. Maytag was perfect for it.

[Mayhaw Man]

I have a demolished kitchen and 5, count em, 5, 14 year old boys and 2-11 year olds here tonight as all of their parents are at an art opening with my wife tonight (I avoid those things like the plague-7 boys is the preferable choice everytime ) . It had to be easy and it had to be made in 2 pots and a grill. so:

Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Tomato/Basil Redsauce an fresh sweet italian sausage

Fruit salad with poppyseed dressing (apples, plums, red grapes, bananas, and pears w/toasted pecans).

Homemade bread sticks (Silver Palate Basic Pizza dough (with dried italian spices from Penzey's because I like em) rolled into sticks and thrown onto a griddle-it actually works great!)

Grocery Store Brand Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert

Can you say wipe out? It looked like locusts passed through the back of the house. There was nothing left a couple of hunks of banana in the bottom of the salad bowl.

Happy boys all round and not much to clean up as it was all served on fabulous paper plates with mardi gras cup crystal.

Now if they would all just go outside and leave me alone I could listen to the game in peace.

[Marlene]

Thanks Susan!

[Susan in FL]

Brooks, I love reading your posts about having "boyz" over and cooking for them... it reminds me so much of when mine were younger.

I picked the menu tonight and Russ cooked it. Can't beat that! We love duck and we have it in some form about once every two or three weeks. Today we acknowledged it and put it into words... Duck has replaced beef as our favorite meat. We had Grilled Lemon Duck tonight (using our out-of-control lemongrass growing in the back yard), rice timbales, and roasted asparagus, both with sesame seeds.

The asparagus in progress...

The duck in progress...

and dinner is served...

[Dana]

Simple grilled strip steaks with Penzey's Northwoods Fire Seasoning

Sauteed new potatoes

grilled asparagus

Mayhaw Man - I love Penzey's Italian Seasoning, too. I use it a lot with sauteed mixed veg - red bells, zucchs, yellow squashes, onion, etc.

Susan in FL- you pics (and meals) are just inspiring.

[alejita]

I made a chicken dish out of a Claudia Roden book (her latest mediterranean one with the blue cover) that sounded perfect: a sauce of saffron, almonds and honey. The result was a very flavorful chicken, but WAY too much broth that never made it to sauce. So, tomorrow, glorious chicken soup.

Does any one want to comment on why cookbooks don't provide precise instructions? Not to berate Roden, but "cover chicken with water and simmer" can lead to trouble. How about a hint re how much water?

[tanabutler]

Our seven-month-old grandson made his way into the kitchen (doing the breaststroke) because (I swear to God this is true) he could smell Grown-Up Dinner. I made a homemade tomato sauce from the garden, with a little garlic and basil. I am not making this up: the kid came in three times and looked at me and looked up at the stove (while on his belly).

I let him taste. Well, that turned into a tomato marathon. The kid loved it.

I think he's going to be some kind of Jethro Bodine but with brains. Right now, he's walking around the house holding his Poppy's fingers and I mean, TRAVELING. Yes, I know, it's too early to encourage walking. You tell him no. He's a toothless grinning fool.

So: dinner is shrimp with that sauce and angelhair pasta.

And the hugest little baby you ever saw. Yes, I've gobbled him so many times his skin is chafed.

[NeroW]

I haven't cooked dinner in a hundred years, damn it.

[Susan in FL]

Our seven-month-old grandson made his way into the kitchen (doing the breaststroke) because (I swear to God this is true) he could smell Grown-Up Dinner. I made a homemade tomato sauce from the garden, with a little garlic and basil. I am not making this up: the kid came in three times and looked at me and looked up at the stove (while on his belly).

I let him taste. Well, that turned into a tomato marathon. The kid loved it.

I think he's going to be some kind of Jethro Bodine but with brains. Right now, he's walking around the house holding his Poppy's fingers and I mean, TRAVELING. Yes, I know, it's too early to encourage walking. You tell him no. He's a toothless grinning fool.

So: dinner is shrimp with that sauce and angelhair pasta.

And the hugest little baby you ever saw. Yes, I've gobbled him so many times his skin is chafed.

Sweet! You are influencing your grandson's taste in food!

So far I have only step-grandchildren and we hardly ever see them. I do have a new grandpuppy, though, and she loves to eat. When I visit her in Pensacola, and bring a present, it's food-related... like new bowls with a matching placemat or something.

[paul o' vendange]

I made a chicken dish out of a Claudia Roden book (her latest mediterranean one with the blue cover) that sounded perfect: a sauce of saffron, almonds and honey. The result was a very flavorful chicken, but WAY too much broth that never made it to sauce. So, tomorrow, glorious chicken soup.

Does any one want to comment on why cookbooks don't provide precise instructions? Not to berate Roden, but "cover chicken with water and simmer" can lead to trouble. How about a hint re how much water?

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Dunno, and don't know the recipe, but one rule of thumb might be that whenever going with something like you describe (I'm guessing), e.g., a whole bird, roast, etc., a fairly tight fit in terms of saucepan/pot diameter, might apply. Then, when you "cover," and you have a bird of a given size, the bird-water ratio would always be within a certain range of play. Just a thought.

Paul

[alejita]

Dunno, and don't know the recipe, but one rule of thumb might be that whenever going with something like you describe (I'm guessing), e.g., a whole bird, roast, etc., a fairly tight fit in terms of saucepan/pot diameter, might apply.  Then, when you "cover," and you have a bird of a given size, the bird-water ratio would always be within a certain range of play.  Just a thought.

Paul

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I did that: chicken in quarters tightly into a saute pan. Still way too much water, so maybe the problem with the recipe was not telling us what to expect at the end. I think I'll ask this question in a separate thread! Still the chicken broth was OMG, so I'm not really complaining.

[SiseFromm]

In a few hours:

Melted Leek Salad with Leek Vinaigrette

Crispy Chicken Breasts with Creamy Risotto

Banana Tarte Tatin

[SiseFromm]

Does any one want to comment on why cookbooks don't provide precise instructions? Not to berate Roden, but "cover chicken with water and simmer" can lead to trouble. How about a hint re how much water?

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I'm sure each chef will have his or her own take on it, but I've found a good rule that I've stuck with. In culinary arts school one of my chefs told me the ratio for stocks, by weight, is:

75% Water

50% Bones

10% Mirepoix

Basically, 4 lbs. bones for 3/4 gallon water.

Edited September 12, 2004 by SiseFromm (log)

[petite tête de chou]

Raiders and the Steelers!

Shredded chicken nachos with home-made salsa, sour cream, lettuce and red onions. Beers and wine! CRAP!! Raiders lost!!

[malarkey]

chile verde, loaded with roasted anaheims & jalepenos, tortilla chips, melted cheddar & jack, zucchini blossoms stuffed with queso fresco and fried.. dessert: grand marnier soufflé.

I might need to get a digital camera so I can join this thread in earnest!

[Susan in FL]

Easy was important tonight. Today we more earnestly jumped into clean-up from hurricanes Charley and Frances, since now it appears that east central Florida will not be slammed by Ivan...

Thick spaghetti with left-over-from-the-freezer Ragu Bolognese sauce

Salad of tomato, avocado, onion, and Maytag blue cheese

[FoodMan]

QUOTE(FoodMan @ Sep 10 2004, 03:55 PM)

dessert: Alton Brown's apple crumble. Hollow the apples and stuff with honey and crumble mixture. Served with vanilla ice cream. I love this because it is quick to prepare, tasty, looks fantastic, and there are hardly any dishes to wash.

Elie

Foodman would you mind sending the recipe for the apple crumble? It sounds delicious.

He did it this week: Baker, baker

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Yeap, he calls it baker, baker...not sure why. It is great though.

Elie