Dinner! 2004

[canadiancook]

Well I finally got a digital camera so here are my first couple of posted pictures.

From a couple nights ago - Mushroom Risotto with White Truffle Oil

This was my fist attempt at a Souffle. This one is chocolate which I did as a trial run this morning using a small batch of the recipe. The texture was good but it could have used more chocolate. I'll be making more for dessert tonight.

[Ling]

eunny jang: My mom was looking over my shoulder as I was browsing this thread and commented on how beautiful all your meals looked. I am especially loving that short rib picture!

[suzilightning]

today only 2 1/2 hours hawkcounting so i could run errands and do some cooking(i'm on vacation throught the 24th).

two new recipes, both of which john added to the keeper pile, citrus herb shrimp( a cold dish) with shrimp in a vinagrette of parsley, lime juice, ginger, oil, sugar, garlic and salt and pepper and saffron rice and red pepper pilaf. the leftover pilaf will be turned into soup since it will be raining tomorrow and i am making stock from the freezer and some into a chicken stir fry.

[Susan in FL]

Tonight starts cooking by request, which I love!  Our Danish son is flying to the States and will be here with us for a week and a half.  Near the top of the list of what he wants is lasagne.  I'm cooking ahead this morning, and this afternoon I'll be working while Russ picks him up at the airport.  I'll be done with work by the time they get home, and then we'll eat, and talk way into the night I'm sure. 

I made the lasagne and last night made Philly-style cheese steaks, two dinners I wouldn't have made if not by request. But I'm not complaining... it's fun. Tonight we ate out, happy hour food after work. I am thrilled: I'll have even more requests now, thanks to the silver lining of the monster cloud, Ivan. My son Michael is fleeing Pensacola and should arrive at about 1 AM. Tomorrow night we will have the all-time favorite of them both and their most requested dinner, steak and "your pasta with creamy sauce, mom." I've been so excited about the visit(s), I have forgotten to photograph.

[cheeseandchocolate]

I haven't posted in a while because my dinners for the past six weeks or so have consisted largely of the following redundant summery things:

heirloom tomato bread salad (roughly based on the Chez Panisse Vegetables recipe)

fingerling potatoes with cider vinegar, EVOO, S & P, dill, mint, and basil

zucchini in a tomato-y sauce with garlic, capers, and mint

blanched green beans

Romano beans (with or without garlicky breadcrumbs)

and for protein: edamame, eggs, sausage, or simply cheese

I have been boring and happy.

But tonight I (a near-vegetarian until a year ago ) roasted my first chicken! It was a lovely little Rocky Jr. 3.5-pounder, and I did it Zuni-style, sans bread salad. It made me ridiculously happy. Had a broccoli-cornmeal cake from Chocolate & Zucchini alongside, which was just okay. And then Chocolove 77% dark chocolate.

The best part about being single and eating alone: leftovers!

[petite tête de chou]

Tuesday and Wednesday:

Tuesday: The Great Indian Experiment

My first foray into Indian cooking.  Made the two most predictable things: vindaloo (with lamb) and saag paneer with some super-quick milk-and-lemon-juice paneer.  They both turned out very well (well, delicious anyway), although I can see it taking me a very long time to properly understand the nuances of different spices singly and in combination.  Also made some whole-wheat chapatis, which miraculously puffed up like hot-air balloons when held over a flame (they've cooled and deflated somewhat in the picture)

A rather chilly, damp night here.  Put to rest a daydream I've been having for ages - short ribs, fastidiously trimmed of fat but not silverskin, braised with the usual suspects in red wine and some stock I had knocking around.  Spooned over mashed Yukon Golds seriously spiked with horseradish.  A little tangle of greens with hazelnut oil.  Glass of non-descript zinfandel.  The paper.  Aaaahh.

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I entertain hopes of a week-long blog from you, m'lady.

[NulloModo]

After a long day of inservice meetings (ugh) and rehearsals, dinner for me last night was two glasses of Evan Williams. Sometimes that is simply the most appropriate dinner...

[suzilightning]

today was rainy and windy and cool. no hawkwatching so it was an orgy of cooking to pop food in the fridge for the week to heat for dinner and take for lunch. meatballs in the freezer, stock made into chicken rice sooup with the leftover saffron rice and red pepper pilaf from last night and some leftover chicken and carrots also frozen in individual servings. then a french crumb coffee cake for johnnybirds breakfast - the crumb part enriched with toast dope of course

dinner was meatloaf that was 2/3 laura's beef and 1/3 ground buffalo seved with a sundried tomato ketchup, baked sweet potato and a tex-mex summer squash casserole that featured grated cheddar and salsa. unfortunately i loved it and johnnybird didn't so that one will have to be discarded or modified - or i only make it when he his away and gorge myself on it.

[Susan in FL]

- the crumb part enriched with toast dope of course

But of course!

...that was 2/3 laura's beef

I bought Laura's beef once and it tasted horrible. Was that an exception rather than the rule? Do you buy it often? How about anybody else's experience with it?

[Susan in FL]

I haven't mentioned this, but I should, because I keep looking at this RED wine photo again and again. I love it!

I don't have it in me to load the pictures from tonight's dinner. (I did remember to take some.) It's so good to have the boys here, but after waiting up for Michael to arrive last night at about 12:30, we talked and then I went to bed at about 1:45. I was on call and about 90 seconds later, my pager went off, and I had to go out. I got home and went to bed at 4 AM. Now I am done for. That's my tonight's dinner story. More later!

[bentherebfor]

Tomato Soup!

[jess mebane]

blackened redfish, caught this morning by either my husband or father, on the occasion of Dear old Dad's 60th birthday. Sauce was a hvy cream number with shrimp, pecans and green onions. Served with dirty rice, naturally, and quantities of cheap red wine.

[Chris Amirault]

Tomato Soup!

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Oh, yes. Exactly right, that would have been here, on this very chilly New England night.

In a similar vein, we had potato and corn chowder. Using Deborah Madison as sort of a spiritual guide, I concoted the following:

sauteed a chopped onion in butter;

then 1c last night's chicken stock with four cubed yukon gold potatoes simmered for about ten minutes;

added another 5-6c of stock with kernels and juice from three ears of corn, salt, and pepper;

while that simmered I grabbed some parsley and thyme from the back yard, and tossed that in with about 1/2c cream to finish it.

Broccoli rabe on the side. It all felt very John Thorne....

[alejita]

Between snack time and appetizer time, I made some guacamole which we had with chips and Mojitos.

Dinner was an Asian style soup, using de-fatted broth leftover from the weekend's duck cooking process

and Walter Kei's Sweet and Sour Spareribs, which was a test recipe for Leite's Culinaria.

Would you share with us what "Leite's Culinaria" is? I'm obviously thinking it's a book, perhaps like other "Culinaria" tomes. What's this one?

And BTW, soup with duck broth!!! YUM.

[alejita]

Is this going to be the never-ending topic?

For my husband's family on the Jewish New Year I made a brisket (two, actually) in a dried mushroom-tomato-carrot sauce that we Argentines are very fond of and call "tuco". Served with lemony green beans and kasha (not to offent anyone, that's buckwheat). Appetizers were tapenade from Costco (very good product), smoky baba ganoush and a yogurt cheese/lemon/garlic dip called lebneh. I went to the trouble of finding a middle-eastern grocery where I found real pita bread that created the most wonderful, THIN, toasts.

Tonight it was rock shrimp with tomato sauce, side of rapini with garlic and red pepper flakes.

[Kapuliperson]

we had spagghetti and foccasia for dinner.

[curlywurlyfi]

Belly pork rubbed with salt + thyme + roasted till crackly. Carrots roasted with chili flakes. Steamed green cabbage. Boiled potatoes. Home-made apple sauce. Incredible pork. Three of us ate a roast that should have served eight people. Mmm - hawg fat...

(actually, this was lunch, but I ate so much that I couldn't even fit in a wine gum in the car as I drove back to London)

[hjshorter]

Sweet corn with butter and a sprinkling of kosher salt

Homegrown tomato, thinly sliced vidalia onions, s& p, evoo, little drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Chicken rubbed with olive oil, s & p and grilled. Homemade pear/sour cherry chutney or onion relish to go with.

Tiny acorn squashes baked with nutmeg and maple syrup

Summer's almost over.

Edited September 20, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[Behemoth]

Would you share with us what "Leite's Culinaria" is? I'm obviously thinking it's a book, perhaps like other "Culinaria" tomes. What's this one?

It is a very nice website.

[eunny jang]

Thanks everyone :wub:

sundried tomato ketchup

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Was the ketchup homemade? If not, is there a source for it? It sounds delicious and intruiging. Tell me more

This weekend, I tried really hard to cook dinners that would bridge the summer-fall gap - we've been dipping into the 40s at night, but the days are still in the 70s. Beautiful sunny, crisp weather.

Friday:

Ravioli with butternut squash, cheese and sage with a little sage cream - my first stab at filled pasta. My pasta dough is starting to get pretty good, and putting it together is starting to become almost intuitive. I am trying to pay attention to how the dough feels by kneading with my eyes closed - seeing if I can judge whether the dough has been kneaded enough just from its springiness and elasticity.

Chicken saltimbocca, sort of, by way of Mamster's pancetta-embossed chicken. Chicken thighs with a sage leaf, shrouded in proscuitto, and roasted skin-side down. Nestled in some roasted tomatoes with a bit of hazelnut picada. I was a little ham-fisted with the parsley - otherwise you could see the sage leaf sealed under the roasted crisp, translucent proscuitto.

Saturday:

Omelet practice

Sunday:

Had the last of the heirlooms and some astonishingly fragrant basil that smelled the way the Venus of Willendorf looks - round and lush and ready to burst and hinting at an extraordinary, mysterious, long and complicated history. tomatoes, roasted long and slow till their juices had burbled down to thick, concentrated, super-tomato-y sludge, arranged on a quick tart crust with pesto (from the aforementioned basil) and some roasted garlic and cheese. A small tangle or red-leaf lettuces with a shallot vinaigrette (with a thin stream of egg yolk added) emulsified almost to the point of being mayonnaise.

Edited September 20, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[Susan in FL]

Summer's almost over. 

Heather, I am sooooo glad I don't have to deal with the Summer's Almost Over Blues. In all seriousness, I think that it got me down almost every one of my 50 years before I came to my senses and made it a priority to move to Florida. We will continue to eat summer-style food almost year round. We usually do hot soups and stews, etc. on rainy days (like today, but today is my husband's birthday and he hasn't yet picked what he wants for dinner!) or during January and the beginning of February.

Would you share with us what "Leite's Culinaria" is?

Leite's Culinaria is David Leite's website, one of the best, and David Leite is one of our very own eG members. He is a wonderfully talented food writer and recipe author. Nobody's recipe for cooking a goose is better! Leite's Culinaria has a group of recipe testers, and you can find out more about that here.

Is this going to be the never-ending topic? 

I hope so!

[Jake]

Sunday night, up at the cottage:

Pepper crusted veal tenderloin with pan sauce

Potato and yam rosti

mixed greens

Served with a wonderful Spanish merlot that I have now forgotten the name of.

[Chris Amirault]

side of rapini with garlic and red pepper flakes.

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Necessary fall dish in our house... yum....

[eunny jang]

Sick as a dog last night. A mysterious head of cabbage in my fridge (origins unknown) that looks almost ready to stage a mutiny.

Chicken noodle soup:

Sherry/ginger marinated chicken breast, poached and arranged with some whole wheat soba, enoki mushrooms, scallions and wilted savoy cabbage. A quick 40-minute stock from the rest of the chicken, simmered with star anise and ginger and garlic and a couple cardamon pods, ladled over just before eating. Drizzle of temari and chili/sesame oil.

[Jake]

Wow, eunny! That sounds delicious, and much more ambitious than I am when I am ill.