Dinner! 2005

[newbie]

Last night's dinner was Lasagna, Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread. Started making the homemade sauce earlier in the afternoon (ground beef, garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, oregano, basil) which I let simmer on the oven for an hour or so. Lasagna was made with the sauce, noodles, cottage cheese, parm cheese and topped off with lots of mozzarella cheese. The dressing I made for the Caesar is my new favourite....quick, easy and tasty. Invited the in-laws over for dinner, my lasagna is one of their favourite meals. Thankfully there was still leftovers to be enjoyed during the week.

I love the weekends....what with working full time and the kids busy schedules, I don't get to spend the time cooking in the kitchen as I would like. All of your meals are truly inspiring, can't imagine cooking like that during the weekdays!

[santo_grace]

This weekend was one of those where we actually got to cook quite a bit. Saturday we had duck breast ala orange with the wild mushroom soup posted on the soup thread and a salad, accompanied by some pinot noir. We finished it off with some Lindt's chocolate witih pistachios.

Sunday we put a boneless leg of lamb on the rotisserie for the first time. It was a little too rare, but we were starving so we ate the ends and we will finish it up in the oven tonight. I made one of our favorite potato dishes with goat cheese and lots of cream. We washed all this down with some cabernet. Dessert...Halloween Candy.

I also carmelized some onions to create a tart tonight with some gruyere. We had to buy a whole duck for the breasts (everyone was out of fresh breasts), so I cooked the leg and thigh by using a Julia Child recipe from the Way to Cook. Nothing like pulling a duck leg out of the refrigerator and noshing on it.

Edited October 31, 2005 by santo_grace (log)

[Chufi]

first we had this:

vegetablesoup with meatballs

and then we had this:

leftover chili, folded into flour tortilla's together with sour cream, topped with cheese and baked. Served with cucumber/avocado/coriander salad.

[Shalmanese]

We had some left over kelp & cabbage soup broth and I love doing fusion style risottos so I made a risotto with beef, leek spring onions & nori:

A dash of mirin and sugar to give it a japanse twist.

It was very good.

[M. Lucia]

Wow, those new cameras really show what a difference a nice camera can make. I'm glad you all are enjoying them.

Yesterday I made a simple tomato/chickpea stew topped with parsley. Snuck some candy after dinner (peanut butter cups and smores bars).

Tonight, acorn squash risotto with fried sage leaves (which my boyfriend arranged to look like a pumpkin face). I hadn't even realized that dinner was orange colored until then.

Obligatory Halloween sugar overdose later.

[Allura]

We made chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, yeah, I know...) sprinkled with some oregano, s&p, then laid some sliced onions on top, then slices of granny smith apple. Drizzled a bit of honey mixed with water on top, dotted with butter, and baked. Not bad. I'm starting to get the hang of this fruit-with-meat concept. It was slightly sweet, but not dessert sweet. Oh, and "cheesy potatoes"...from a box...I let DH pick....

[purplewiz]

Tonight: beef stroganoff over zucchini "noodles", roasted broccoli, tossed salad. I made the stroganoff very thick, and it was wonderful - intense and mushroomy.

Marcia.

[Jason Perlow]

Chicken Enchiladas Mole Poblano

[little ms foodie]

we started with a snack of gorgonzola, pepperoni and some marinated olives with cocktails....

then made chicken with fennel and potatoes seasoned with rosemary and mint out of Oct. F&W

served with a 2001 Bethel Heights Syrah, Del Rio vineyard

[Jake]

Chicken Enchiladas Mole Poblano

←

That is truly heaven on a plate!! Recipe??? Pretty please...

[Daniel]

Happy Halloween.. After the trick or treaters came and went, it was time to start cooking.. Please feel free to add your advice as to what I should do with the pumpkins.

Started with Fresh Sardines deboned and fried in olive oil..

Next we had homemade egg and unbleached flour noodles with a razor clam sauce.. The sauce had cream, parsley,a shot of worshchestire sauce, white wine,parm. garlic and a pound of razor clams.. Really good..

At this point the girl was finished eating so we decided to split a chop, which still leaves me with an extra one...

Salt, Pepper, and Olive Oil..

Served with a curly parsley salad with sherry vinegraette, anchovies, capers, and shallots.. 6 minutes on each side.. Perfect.

Slice

Bite

Some left over Bourbon Brownie Chocolate Ice Cream for dessert..

Edited November 1, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Pan]

Daniel, you sure have been doing a lot of cooking!

What kind of chop, pork?

[Daniel]

Yeh.. I have been inspired by a couple of good books lately.. I just received the Inn at Little Washington and cant wait to start trying those recipes..

The chop was a veal chop.. Being a new comer to eating Pork, I have never tasted or cooked a pork chop.. Actually, I have eaten a fried pork chop sandwich or two one day on a road trip, but I will be making them soon...

Edited November 1, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

Daniel, that veal chop is exquisite. I'm cooking veal (osso buco) tonight but I have no hope that it will look like that.

[Megan Blocker]

Daniel, that meal looks excellent! I also had pasta with clams last night, though it was linguine, and I definitely didn't cook it myself.

That photo of the "bite" is awesome.

[racheld]

These Halloween menus and pictures are AWESOME! And I love the new voices in the crowd. The mole---the quesadillas--the chop---the chicken---not to mention that Gucci risotto---Wow. Just wow. And it's so wonderfully refreshing amongst all our confits and grillings and garnishings, just to hear of a duck leg munched at midnight, by the light of the little fridge glow. As it was meant to be.

And the pictures!!! I've just gotta remember to get the camera out BEFORE dishing up dinner.

The Halloween door! Priceless. We did not carve our pumpkins this year, as it promises to be a no-freeze-til-Thanksgiving season. Perhaps they'll just stand on the porch in their pristine orange glory, ushering in the holidays as the leaves fade. I DO see great ranks of pumpkin bread going into Christmas bags and baskets.

We spent a couple of hours handing out candy bags to pirates and fairies and ballerinas, several football players, enough SCREAM goblins to populate Elm Street, and many assorted Whatzits, with a memorable barely-walking Raggedy Ann, a wee pink-faced green dragon, and one half-red/half-white winged creature with shiny horns beneath her halo. I took it as a hopeful omen that there was not a recognizable Brittney in the mix, and no one this year seemed to have sent away for her Baby Slut Starter Kit; just nice kids enjoying a silly evening with good neighbors and pleasant weather. Lovely evening on the porch, whilst dinner finished up in the oven.

One surprise guest at table, as a friend called for tech support whilst we were outside, accepted the invitation, and paraded downstairs to dinner with the rest of us. We had a nice Autumn-y meal of Chicken Divan, Southern cooked-low-with-ham snap beans with tiny potatoes on top, a romaine salad with tart vinaigrette, mandarins and sunflower seeds; thick-sliced tomatoes with basil and crumbled queso fresca, baked sweet potato slices glazed with butter, sugar and a glug of Buttershot, and good ole homemade biscuits. Dessert was whatever piece of candy struck your fancy amongst all the bits scattered down the table. You hafta eat Halloween candy for dessert---it's the LAW!!!

I finished the late evening washing dishes and putting the kitchen to rights, as I listened to another chapter of my latest Patricia Cornwell on CD.

Today I sit with my latte, in a peaceful room with leaf-printed cloths, a big white pumpkin on a pedestal, and a compote of hedge-oranges perfuming the air. Plenty of leftovers, a cloudy day with wind rustling the fallen leaves, and a new November to come. As my dear great-Grandma, who spent every moment of her life with a Garrett can in her apron pocket and a little brush-stick poised inside her lower lip, used to say, "Gooder'n snuff and Better'n taters."

[Basilgirl]

We had Take 5's and caramel Kisses

We dried some more chiles in the dehydrator - MUST REMEMBER TO WEAR GLOVES WHEN PULLING OFF THE STEMS - caused much embarassment later

The funniest little trick or treater pulled a Dum-Dum out of her bag and put it in my handing-out-candy basket. Guess she's picky.

[Mooshmouse]

Another instalment of Serious Foodie Class. First up: Dungeness crab salad.

While my groupmates diligently took the meat out of our half crab, I set to work on the pineapple salsa.

Here's a closeup of me plating the crab salad, photo courtesy of classmate and fellow eGulleter fud.

And the finished product.

Dungeness Crab Salad with Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Asian Remoulade, finished with Lobster Oil

Wine Pairing: Gazela Vinho Verde

Risotto was part of our main course; here it is towards the end of the cooking process with one more ladle of stock to go.

Put it all together and this is what you get.

Squash/Pumpkin-Seed Risotto with Roast and Confit Quail

Wine Pairing: Casillero del Diablo 2004 Merlot

Dessert was a dish that Chef had demonstrated for us at the beginning of class: Star Anise Crème Brûlée with Ganâche.

[Chufi]

bacon, leek & mushroom frittata

warm salad of roast cauliflower, chickpeas and parsley, with a lemon/walnut oil dressing, and lots of homemade very large crunchy garlic croutons

[santo_grace]

I was all prepared to cook dinner but then realized it would be impossible with the trick or treaters. We also ended up taking one of our cats to the vet for a limp that has been going on since Saturday. Of course, they couldn't find anything.

So, dinner was a pizza and salad. The pizza was takeout from a place that does the best impersonation of New York style pizza that we have found in Chicago. For those not familiar with Chicago pizza - the thin crust pizza is vastly different from NY style. Most people think it is similar to a cracker texture, instead of the delicious, grease dripping, fold in half crusts found in NY. Also, they cut the round pizza in a grid fashion for whole pizzas, which results in small pieces (about 4 bites) and no crust for the middle pieces. I've had many discussions with people about how it is a pizza pie and should be treated as such.

[Jake]

Dinner last night was after all the little ghosts and goblins had gone, and after the boys had finished work. The basement is currently under renovation so we had a late, quick dinner of spaghetti carbonara and salad. No photos as the guys dug in as soon as I had the plates on the table!!

The plan for tonight is big thick pork chops marinated in a maple/mustard/horseradish combo, sweet potato in some form and brussel sprouts, by request. (Ugh....the one vegetable I really don't love!)

[Susan in FL]

Mmmm, pork chops in a maple (syrup, I presume ), mustard, and horseradish marinade sounds really good! Is that a new idea or a tried & true? Looking forward to hearing how it turns out...

[Jason Perlow]

A simple Spahgetti Squash gratin, made with butter and Parmigiano.

Served with Barber Foods* stuffed chicken breasts and baked potatoes.

* So shoot me, I like pre-prepared frozen convenience products.

Edited November 2, 2005 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Susan in FL]

Dinner on TV trays two nights in a row... No porch, it's been either raining like tonight or it's cooled off too much after dark. Last night was the eG Chili Cook-Off in our house, and tonight was Thai: Waterfall Beef, Sticky Rice, and Cucumber Salad.

[Ktepi]

I've been trying to clean out the freezer, partly to prevent any mishaps of the "I left this in the back of the freezer for three years" sort and partly to make room for a large ham in case I get ahold of it before I'm ready to make the Corned Ham talked about elsethread.

So this morning, I filled a pot with goat brisket, smoked ham hocks, pigs tails, a sliced cayenne pepper, bay leaves, and garlic, meaning to make feijoada ... only to discover we had gone through the black beans already, faster than I'd realized. Well, I told myself, potatoes and milk are both mostly water -- it's the rest of what's in there that counts. So I dumped in the last of my coconut vinegar, some wine vinegar, some honey, a lot of soy sauce, and some water, and the feijoada became adobo.

I was cleaning up just now, separating some of the bones from the meat and straining the sauce so I can freeze it to add to some other adobo, and fooooooshp, two little tubes of sauce-soaked goat marrow slid right out of the goat bones. Goat marrow! I've never knowingly had goat marrow before. Hello, breakfast.