Dinner! 2004

[Daniel]

Go go Godzilla!

Chili dogs with Sunday's brisket (I AM SO TIRED OF BEEF!).  Peanuts.  Cheap beer.  Because I'm a classy lady, served on Chinet.

Oh yeah, and the sweet taste of three runs in one inning.

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Oooo i see you got all classy like with the Corona's. What happen to the Nattys?

[eunny jang]

Oooo i see you got all classy like with the Corona's.  What happen to the Nattys?

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My boyfriend went blind from drinking it. I had to give him the play-by-play of the game - he's a Baltimore boy, so I pretended Mussina pitched a perfect game.

[redfox]

Ohhh, Natty Bo.

I have a feeling I'm coming down with a big fat fall cold. In the interests of staving it off, I made a big pot of white bean soup with saffron, spinach, and a bit of madeira. Manhattans beforehand, while the soup flavors mingled, and hot tea afterwards. Possibly a Sam Fuller movie after that, though we'll see if I have it in me. It's Pickup on South Street, not White Dog or anything, so I may be able to pull it off. Am I hardboiled enough? Can my soup give me the vigor I need?

*clunk*

Well, maybe.

[Susan in FL]

My boyfriend went blind from drinking it.  I had to give him the play-by-play of the game - he's a Baltimore boy, so I pretended Mussina pitched a perfect game.

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LOL!

I was a long time die-hard O's fan, when I lived up there. I cheer for the Yankees now (Mike Mussina is one of the reasons), and if my first husband and I had remained married, he would surely be divorcing me now because of that.

Tonight was chilled tomato/roasted red pepper and avocado soup; chicken breast, arugula, blue cheese, tomato, onion, and mayo-Dijon sandwiches; and Victory Hop Devil IPA.

[eunny jang]

LOL!

I was a long time die-hard O's fan, when I lived up there.  I cheer for the Yankees now (Mike Mussina is one of the reasons), and if my first husband and I had remained married, he would surely be divorcing me now because of that.

Tonight was chilled tomato/roasted red pepper and avocado soup; chicken breast, arugula, blue cheese, tomato, onion, and mayo-Dijon sandwiches; and Victory Hop Devil IPA.

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THAT, Susan dear, is a beautiful picture. I keep looking at it over and over...

[jamesaru]

Mmmm...pad thai. My first time trying it and I think it came out pretty well. I used the recipe from the eGCI. I forgot to add the darn peanuts, left them on the counter. doh!

-james

[tupac17616]

Sounds like an incredible feast tupac.  Can you describe the Italian Coconut Cream Cake some more?  It sounds great...

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Sure thing. It is very simple, and quite tasty in my opinion. There are those who complain that its too rich to eat very much at one time. But of course the cake lasts longer that way Anyway, here is the recipe. Enjoy:

ITALIAN CREAM CAKE

For the cake:

½ cup shortening

1 stick margarine

5 eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Small can of coconut (or ~1 cup)

Cream the shortening and the margarine. Add the sugar. Mix well. Add egg yolks. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, and beat well. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites in with the coconut, pecan, and vanilla. Bake in either four 8” or three 9” well-greased and well-floured cake pans, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool.

For the icing:

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese

1 stick margarine

2 tsp. vanilla

2 lb sifted powdered sugar

Cream together the cream cheese and the margarine. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. You may need to add a little milk to get it to proper spreading consistency. Frost each layer generously as you build the layered cake. Sprinkle with nuts if you like. ENJOY!!!!

[little ms foodie]

Last night I was going to try a new appetizer for an upcoming dinner party we are having, puff pastry with caviar. Sounds good hu? Well my grocery told me I could store the caviar jar in the freezer and me not knowing anything about caviar did it. Grrrr!! You are NOT suppose to put caviar in the freezer! But I had already made the pate choux and the egg/parsley mixture so I improvised:

I added some finely chopped red onion to the mix, stuffed it into the profiteroles and dabbed a bit of creme fraiche on top. Served with chilled POP champagne.

Dinner was easy peasy since we were watching the debates. Hand made pumpkin ravioli (but not made by my hand! we buy it at our local farmers market on Saturdays) with brown butter, sage and parm. And a merlot.

Sorry my pictures aren't very good, I'm going to practice and get better! Now my spelling is another story, I wouldn't hold out for anything there!

[Malawry]

Brined, roasted chicken legs and breasts with fresh thyme. (I kept the wings for myself )

Real mashed potatoes.

Steamed broccoli.

Tomatoes stuffed with ricotta/walnut/onion mixture.

Ice cream sundaes.

For 34.

[eunny jang]

The brisket never dies...I'm running out of ideas. After tonight, I'm wrapping this thing up, putting it in the freezer, and swearing off beef for a year.

Enchiladas

Enchiladas with a judicious sprinkling of cojito, one side with a tart tomatillo sauce and the other with a pumpkin/chipotle sauce.

Rare flash of inspiration for the side dish - I thought I'd end up making a jicama slaw, but that didn't seem quite right for this chilly weather. Instead, made a little bit of sweet potato/parsnip hash, cooked crisp and seasoned with rosemary, whole cumin and a squeeze of lime. Perfect.

Dollop of crema. Charred scallions.

Jeff made this while the enchiladas baked, with the extra pumpkin I bought by accident:

While I made this:

[Toliver]

The brisket never dies...I'm running out of ideas.  After tonight, I'm wrapping this thing up, putting it in the freezer, and swearing off beef for a year.

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You could always try making Smoked Brisket Egg Rolls. I'm thinking you could freeze them, too.

[Suzanne F]

It's a good thing I DON'T have a camera, because last night's creation turned into a cremation. It was supposed to be trout roasted on a mix of fennel and celery, but the veg got a bit, um, over-roasted. At least they managed to give up some of their flavor to the fish before they gave up their lives to the oven. It's a little hard to get over, though, because it would have been so good: in addition to the chopped fennel and celery, I bumped up the flavor with crushed fennel seeds and homemade celery salt (dried leaves crushed with sea salt), a thinly sliced shallot, and a splash of Paumanok Festival Chardonnay. Well, anyway, the trout stayed moist and delicious.

And the side dish didn't come out quite as planned: roasted garlic-potato-Brussels sprout spaetzl. The batter was still a bit too soft, so they glommed together after boiling. Tasted great, though. (HWOE said he really like the "spaetzl pudding."

As always, the meal was accompanied by the ubiquitous HWOE-made green salad (only leaves) with olive oil and herb vinegar. This time I asked him to use tarragon, to make up for the loss of the fennel.

[redfox]

As always, the meal was accompanied by the ubiquitous HWOE-made green salad (only leaves)

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In my social circles, we call that "lover's salad" -- lettuce alone!

[peanutgirl]

Larb!!!

[Susan in FL]

This food is less noteworthy than the circumstances.

Last night over a dinner meeting at my house it was pizza delivery, quickly thrown together salad tossed with bottled dressing! and plenty of red wine. When I host these meetings at home, I like to cook and usually do, but I had a long and tiring day, on the day job, and accepted the offer for this quickie meal. It turned out to be fun.

Tonight was happy hour food and drinks at an ocean front bar. The weather is too beautiful this weekend not to do that. It's a "cold front"...crystal clear skies, daytime highs around 80, nighttime lows in the 50's, and very low humidity. Finally it's cooled off enough and dried up enough to open the windows.

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

[Toliver]

Niman Ranch Sweet Italian Sausages (from Trader Joe's ) with spaghetti topped with a red sauce, and a green salad on the side with olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

The sausage was wonderful...great spices in with the meat. I decided to cut them into coins and fry them up for added flavor and then toss them in to the red sauce. I debated about skinning the casings off before cutting them up but decided not to and was kicking myself afterward because the casings were surprisingly chewy. Live and learn!

Had some merlot with dinner...can't remember the brand/name.

[suzilightning]

last night john finally got in from detroit at 7pm just as the food was ready. enough time for him to have a small glass of port then:

flounder stuffed with minced shrimp, garlic and shallot

marinated artichokes

au gratin red bliss potatoes made using up 2 previously opened italian cheese mixtures

bottle of dr. l

[Suzanne F]

In my social circles, we call that "lover's salad" -- lettuce alone!

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Well, I grew up hearing it called "Honeymoon Salad." Great minds, etc. etc.

Last night I made up for the previous night's partial disaster with:

Baked mayo/"Hispanic rub"/panko crusted pork chops (inspired by the Schnitzel thread)

Succotash of chayote, corn, kidney beans, and bottled salsa (extra seasoned with fresh onion, garlic, fresh chile, and sherry vinegar; cooked according to Santa Marcella's principle of layering, and what a difference that made!)

Kitchen sink guacamole: avocado, black and green olives, rehydrated home-dried grape tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, chipotle paste, and lots of lime juice

Salad of mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, and red and green peppers, with creamy garlic dressing

Beer: Saranac Pale Ale for HWOE, Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer for me

[hayasaka.k]

**Warning: whinefest below. Read at own risk.**

Ugh, I've had meals ranging in toothsomeness from kumquat "tea" (mm..flavoured water) to plain congee. Guess I left a little more blood at the donor clinic than my noggin approved of.

I feel starved, but about as hungry as one can be while concurrently queasy. I fear I make no good food or sense of late.

I lay blame on the "mail-order steaks" thread. *Eyes credit card*

Someone feed me!!! No don't. Ack!

[malarkey]

um, can I ask what HWOE stands for? Husband With One Eye? Hunk With Out Erudition? WHAT?!

OB Dinner: tonight its to be lobster flown in from Boston today!

[percyn]

What's usually on my mind on a brisk fall afternoon, once it just begins to drizzle? Why, Guinness Turkey Chili, of-course !!

One could consider this a bit of a preemptive post, as the chili is still in the crock pot, slowly infusing all the dozen or so ingredients, but a quick taste-test seems to hold good promise that it will be a fine, hearty meal with some sourdough bread I picked up from the baker at the farmers market this morning.

However, if plans fall apart, I will report back

Edited October 16, 2004 by percyn (log)

[Jinmyo]

um, can I ask what HWOE stands for? Husband With One Eye? Hunk With Out Erudition? WHAT?!

OB Dinner: tonight its to be lobster flown in from Boston today!

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Suzanne's Tad Friendly. "He Who Only Eats."

(makes salads too, though.)

[peanutgirl]

We had larb... AGAIN!!! Not leftovers... see larb thread for details.

[Susan in FL]

Russ just got over a bad bout of gout, and tonight we celebrated his recovery from it and had SHRIMP!! which is very bad for gout. We had a classic shrimp cocktail made of fresh local jumbo shrimp, and a bottle of bubbly.

Then, it got dark, and the photo of this plate of food is too dark and it is way too busy, but it was delicious tasting. It was grilled swordfish steak; yellow squash sauteed in butter, S&P, and savory; angel hair pasta with tomatoes, garlic, kalamata olives etc. etc. etc.; and my current new favorite food, Brussels sprouts with the layers of the leaves pulled apart and cooked in olive oil, pancetta, onion, S&P, and butter... yum, this is almost as good a vegetable as roasted cauliflower. We drank Pinot Noir with it.

[NulloModo]

Susan -

That looks delicious. I have never thought of doing Brussel Sprouts that way, but I might have to try now.

I am always drooling over your photos. How is it that you have never been enticed to do a foodblog ? ;).