Dinner! 2005

[EdS]

Rao's Penne Rigate with a tomato sauce of onion and butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Roasted chicken thighs with EVOO and cracked black pepper

It's my first foray into a "premium" dried pasta and I have to say that there is an improvement in flavor, texture, and how the sauce adheres to the pasta compared to the cheap stuff. On the other hand, I used some Italian San Marzano canned whole tomatoes and I can't say that I could tell the difference between that and Trader Joe's canned organic tomatoes. They're both great. Perhaps I need to make a side-by-side comparison. I drained the tomatoes and ran them through my recently-acquired food mill. Get thee a food mill. So useful. I used a white onion instead of yellow. It worked just fine. Here's the sauce simmering. If it looks familiar it's because I got the idea out of Sam's Thanksgiving Week Diary and wondered if such a simple pasta sauce could be good. Yes! Oh yeah, I blame him for the fancy copper pan too.

I would have added lemon to the chicken but when I realized I was out of lemons it was too late.

I usually don't care for sweets so no dessert.

(NOTE FROM MANAGEMENT: This topic is a continuation of Dinner! 2004)

Edited September 8, 2012 by Chris Hennes
Added management note. (log)

[redfox]

We had a few people over for NYE dinner, and having a brand-new copy of Indian Home Cooking, a mini-banquet seemed like just the thing. Some was from the book, some not, all was delicious. We had stir-fried carrots with cumin and lime (at room temperature), stir-fried green beans with coconut, saffron rice with cardamom, dal, a simple raita, achar, and mint chutney. The recipes from Suvir's book (the first two dishes) were great -- they really fit in well with my own habits of home cooking Indian food but also broadened my horizons. I look forward to cooking from this book quite a bit.

[percyn]

We spent new years eve with some friends and neighbors (at neighbors house, thus no photos). We made fondue (cheese and later for dessert), grilled some steaks, made crabcakes, baked potato, etc for dinner.

Emptied about 4 bottles of champagne and 10 bottles of wine, vodka (martinis), rum, etc.

Happy New Year everyone !!

Jason, did you have to special order that 6.5 pounder?

[Jason Perlow]

Jason, did you have to special order that 6.5 pounder?

←

Nope. They just happened to have rather large lobsters that day at Shop Rite. Twice a year they have a big lobster sale, these were $5.99 a pound.

[Rachel Perlow]

Jason, did you have to special order that 6.5 pounder?

←

Nope. They just happened to have rather large lobsters that day at Shop Rite. Twice a year they have a big lobster sale, these were $5.99 a pound.

←

For more details about the lobster click here.

[SeaGal]

Had a buffet New Year's eve party for 19 close friends. I only had 3 days to plan, shop, cook and clean (DH helped with cleaning, but was suffering from a cold, so had limited energy), so I decided to order out some things and do others from scratch. Here's what we had (I've indicated where I ordered out):

Apps:

Goat cheese spread with pistachios and chives

Large tiger prawns, poached, spiced and served cold w/ remoulade and cocktail sauces

Mixed mushroom dip/spread, flavored with cumin, corianer, thyme and savory

BBQ pork (from Chinese BBQ place) served with hot! chinese mustard and sesame seeds

Feta spinach dip w/ lemon zest

giant green and black Italian olives

smoked salmon spread (purchased locally)

For dipping/spreading

Platter of crudite

homemade crostini

bagel chips and rosemary potato chips (from Costco)

Mains:

Soy Sauce Chicken (purchased and hacked by Chinese BBQ place served with accompanying sauce)

Swedish-type meatballs in brown sauce

Asian-style noodle salad with peanut-sesame sauce

Brocolli salad with pine nuts and meyer lemon vinagrette

Winter salad of frisee, radicchio, fennel, pear, and spice pecans with balsamic vinagrette

Seeded baguette with Plugra

Desserts:

Platter of cut up pineapple, cherries and grapes

Brownies, with and without nuts (from Great Harvest bakery)

Lemon tart

Apricot tart (both tarts from Le Panier bakery in Pike Place market)

Served with an assortment of wines, sparklers, beer and NA sparklers.

Good time had by all. Lots of fun, but I'm not cooking much the next few days!

Jan

*edit to remove silly mistake

Edited January 1, 2005 by SeaGal (log)

[hillvalley]

Duck pate with chunks of foie gras on a baguette (inhalled before I remembered the camera)

microgreens tossed with evoo and balsamic topped with parmesean

Lobster bisque made from New Year's leftovers

[M. Lucia]

Friday:

Pork and Beef Tamales (!)

Spinach Salad with Mustard Vinagrette

Chocolate Fleur du Sel Tarts (I love that chocolate-salt combo)

Saturday:

Hoppin John

(Carolina rice, black eyed peas simmered with bacon, tomatoes, parsley)

Individual Spinach Souffles

Ice Cream

Sunday:

Lamb Chops done under the Broiler

Green Beans, Sauteed Creminis, Hazelnuts with hazelnut vinagrette

Homemade Chocolate Macarons (with chocolate ganache filling)

I switched the traditional collards for a spinach souffle (basically pureed spinach and eggs) that was tasty and light. It was my first time making macarons and they came out beautifully, too bad the camera was MIA. Can't say the tamales were my own (ordered from Berryhill in Houston) but steamed them up and they were filling and delicious. Green bean salad was inspired by The Paris Cookbook, a Christmas gift.

[binkyboots]

cinnamon graham cereal, creamy milk. I still have flu and only cereal appeals.

everyone else had french toast, bacon, maple syrup and sausage.

[lovebenton0]

Beautiful lobster bisque, hillvalley.

We did the Southern New Year's thing, with a TX twist.

Blackeye peas made with ham, onions, and slices of our hot jalapeno peppers with a couple of the baby carrots I canned with them. Just enough to know you're awake to greet the NY.

Cornbread sticks

Salad of Romaine with Asian pears, dried red flame grapes and crumbled bleu (should have been slaw for the cabbage, but DH forgot the cabbage, and who could complain, he went to the store NY's morning. )

Half shank picnic we smoked with pecan all day long. Then glazed: dried apricots, honey, candied ginger, allspice, hot oriental powdered mustard in OJ as a base. The extra glaze with drippings made a damn tasty table sauce for the ham.

Today, dinner has been ongoing since about 4PM with football, ham sandwiches on homemade french bread, olives, pickles, homemade white and sweet 'tater chips, and finger fruits of Clementines, slices of pummelo and Asian pears.

[percyn]

Still too full from a huge Brunch to have dinner, but wife wanted me to make Molten Chocolate cake (as she skipped dessert during brunch...poor gal).

Mixture of Semi-sweet chocolate, butter, cream, egg yolks and sugar.

In they went for 11 min and came out nice and gooey on the inside. The wife got the larger ramekin

[little ms foodie]

mmm I love molten chocolate cake, and Dayne loves it even more...would you care to PM me your specifics?

Dinner tonight...ginger-ini's, then Larb served with an Erath Gwertz

[FoodMan]

New Year's eve:

Had a quiet evening at home with the family and my sister in law requested a simple Italian menu. all these except the bruscetta are from Marcella Hazan,

Bruschetta on homemade sourdough topped with chickpeas, garlic, olive oil,lemon juice and parsley

Homemade fettucine with cream and butter sauce (AlFredo)

Chicken Fricasse with rosemary, garlic and Meyer lemon sauce. Served it with blanched, sauteed green beans and carrots.

Walnut cake, whipped cream and a cup of black coffee

Sunday:

Fired up the smoker and cooked up some brisket and spare ribs. Served with cabbage and cucumber salad, and home made bbq sauce.

dessert: shortcakes with ice cream and berry sauce.

...feels like summer already .

Happy new year,

Elie

[reesek]

made my first pulled pork yesterday. 3 lb pork butt marinated overnight in orange & lime juice, garlic, oregano, homemade guajillo and chipotle chili powder, cumin, & s&p. roasted with a sliced onion in my big le crueset for 6 hours. shredded the pork with a fork, spooned off the fat and fried up some of the pork for carnitas. served with cabbage slaw and red grapes. it was so good!

strawberry ice cream for dessert.

[percyn]

First Course - Tandoori Chicken .

This dish is so easy to make - simply marinate the chicken in some lemon or lime juice, yogurt and tandoori paste for an hour. Bake or grill the chicken till done.

Second Course - Braised short ribs on a bed of creamy polenta

I had made the short ribs a few days ago. I think they got even more tender in the fridge and I fortified the original stock with some demi glace and took a hand blender to it.

[little ms foodie]

So while I was at the gym my honey made the most awesome pizza's! Gaucho pizza from Food & Wine mag- lamb, goat cheese, onion confit (our personal touch), arugula and a drizzle of Spanish EVOO. Served with a nice Malbec.

heaven, really! a nice crispy crust- a bit of salt tang, oh I was in heaven!

Edited January 4, 2005 by little ms foodie (log)

[Misa]

Tonight's dinner had to be quick... DH didn't get up until 9:30pm and he leaves for work at 11pm. So I made steamed veggies with lemon, served over parmesan couscous and black beans.

[lovebenton0]

Had a nice little NY strip hanging around so I split it and did it two ways.

Beef larb served with lots of Romaine heart leaves (so I could count this a real salad )

Seared broccoli (butter/EVOO, s&p) for a little simple green relief between the hot and spicy beefs.

Panang beef coconut curry served with rice. Stepped out of the traditional and added a lot of meaty-solid white mushrooms to this, cooked down in the coconut curry with less beef. Not as though I needed a lot more beef after the larb. Not classic but very tasty.

Edited January 4, 2005 by lovebenton0 (log)

[EdS]

I flirted with going veggie as a New Years' resolution. I even read Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone from cover to cover. It didn't work.

Hamburger, cooked medium rare, made with ground chuck (20% fat)

crap supermarket sesame seed hamburger bun, good to 2006? (sorry Judy, it ain't a burger if it's on focaccia)

Straus 85% butterfat butter, by the fistful, to toast bun and cook meat

Fleur de Sel (plain sea salt isn't good enough for this return to reality)

cracked Tellicherry black pepper

Edmond Fallot Seed Style Dijon Mustard (Just Like French Laundry)

I was mildly amused with using this stuff on a burger.

The mustard counts as a veggie, yes?

REPEAT

Yes, I had two of them. I finished nearly a whole pound of beef.

Each washed down with a beer...straight out of a can.

I want to see some more broken New Years' resolutions here. It's already January 4. You must be dropping like flies by now. Confess.

Edited January 4, 2005 by esvoboda (log)

[legourmet]

Every 1st of january the family meets around the table at our's to have lunch together. The menu contained

Amuse Bouche: Cream puff filled with Foie gras ; Bonito tartar

Entrance: Rabbit terrine on lambs lettuce with pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette

Soup: Saffron cream soup with cinnamon croutons

First course: Roasted quail breast and drumstick on celeriac-pear mash

Sorbet: Lychee sorbet

Second course: Loup de mer in potato crust on curry sauce with roasted cauliflowers and freshwater crayfish

Third course: Deer sirloin in walnut crèpe on pommegranat sauce

Dessert : Chocolate cake with pumpkin mousse and cinnamon semifreddo

[FoodMan]

legourmet, this was awsome. Especially the Terrine.

Elie

[Jinmyo]

Very nice, legourmet.

Roasted tomato bisque with parmesan tuiles on the side.

Then in a single course:

Baked potatoes (very crisp jackets), scooped and mixed with salt cod into a brandade, then stuffed with a soft poached quail egg and chives.

Polpotonne (Italian meatloaf) of pork and lamb with chiles, cumin seed, oregano, garlic, duxelle, sauteed onion and celery, eggs, panko, topped with panko and grated parm reg.

Very green beans with Mediterranean yogurt and salmon roe.

Then:

Cheese course with in-house petit pain. (Mostly varities of chevre with absurd names like Peter, Madelaine etc from a single guy operation in Quebec.)

[suzilightning]

oh my goodness beautiful food, y'all

johnnybird just had a blue tasting : maytag,saint agur, and colton bassett stilton with a wee glass of luxe a sparkling wine from domaine ste. michelle

dinner is in my new dutch oven :

beef stew using leftover beef, potatoes, mushroom sauce, beef stock, and beans paired with fresh garlic, onion, a bottle of porter, carrots and parsnip with a bundle of tarragon and rosemary from my indoor pot plants. will serve with some salad and some rolls.

munch on...

[Malawry]

Ground pork, stir-fried with lots of scallions and chile oil, wrapped in lettuce and drizzled with hoisin sauce

Stir-fried teeny tiny clams with broccoli, shiitake, and red peppers

Grapefruit for dessert

[tanabutler]

More delicious than photogenic was last night's dinner of fresh linguine with Dungeness crab, shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, saffron, clam juice and parsley. So no pictures: let your imaginations run wild!