Dinner! 2005

[Milt]

For last night, I made a pot of feijoada. It wasn't as good as previous versions and we speculate that I tried to make it too healthy. I used turkey bratwurst and turkey pastrami. Tonight, I added some ham stock, liquid smoke and hot sauce. I think it was noticeably improved. My wife couldn't tell any difference. As Emeril says, "pork fat rules".

[bilrus]

Tonight I made a recipe that I never really liked but my wife did. It is another Cooking Light recipe - Glass-Noodle Salad with Chicken and Shrimp. In thinking back about the recipe I had the same complaint that I had with so many Americanized Thai type recipes or restaurant dishes. Too sweet!!! Even from Cooking Light the recipe had 1/2 cup white sugar and 3 tbs brown sugar.

I dropped it down to 3 tbs white and 2 tbs brown and added an extra chopped serrano and some red pepper flakes - it made a world of difference.

[suzilightning]

what time is dinner,bilrus? i'm with your wife!!

john was off today and i made the mistake of asking him what he wanted to eat for dinner . he wanted pasta so, instead of our usual meatless friday, he got

penne with bologonese sauce

mixed greens with grape tomatoes and red onions and a vinagrette

have beef, brats, cheap cheddar cheese and chicken defrosting for meals to take us through this weekend and tuesday lunch.(actually the chicken is for my 18 year old dying cat - her one thing that she loves is her roasted meat. probably since that is the one sense she hasn't lost yet to her cancer)

Edited February 5, 2005 by suzilightning (log)

[Behemoth]

Les Halles boef bourguignon. It was good for a get-home-tired, late weeknight kind of thing, but if I want to do it proper I want the lardons & tomato paste back. We drank a cheap pinot noir with it -- rex somethingorother. It was pretty good, for the price.

We watched a weird Billy Wilder movie I got on DVD for my birthday -- "One Two three" -- anyone know it? My in-laws thought it would be, erm, culturally instructive (Yes, they have a sense of humor.)

suzy, poor cat

Edited February 5, 2005 by Behemoth (log)

[little ms foodie]

Jin, thanks! I'm a bit in awe as it seems so creative, time consuming and exact all at the same time. Good thing we have you to give us ideas!

Tonight dinner for the in laws before leaving for a week vacation:

Tuscan Style spare ribs with aged balsamic glaze

Mashed potatoes

sauteed/balsamic glazed carrots and parsnips

rosemary cornbread

served with Dolcetto

see you all in a week!

[percyn]

Entrecote Bordelaise - my way

Started out with a well marbled, dry aged prime ribeye steak.

Made the sauce with some shallots, bordeaux, demi glace and marrow bones.

Also sliced some new (baby) potatoes and sauteed them. They made the base while plating.

Served with poached marrow.

[Jinmyo]

Beautiful.

[bilrus]

Entrecote Bordelaise - my way

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Some of these dishes make my cooking seem very lowbrow and plain.

[Jinmyo]

Crostini with a fried shallot paste and lemon zest, and deep-fried sage leaves.

Chickpea bisque with a few drops of balsamico trad and some sev (crunchy dried Indian chickpea noodles) on top.

Pappardelle with butter, creamy scrambled eggs, and shredded proscuitto and shavings of pecorino and much pepper. Not Really Carbonara.

Braised lamb shanks (taken from the bone, packed into molds) topped with a bit of mint pesto on risotto with roasted whole cremini mushrooms.

Suppli (deep-fried then baked risotto balls) containing different fillings: buffalo mozz, gruyere, quail egg, shredded beef, ham, duxelle.

blirus, "plain" is not lowbrow if it is good. I love perfectly cooked rice with a perfectly fried molten egg and a splash of memmi and a sprinkle of togarashi. One of my favourite things to eat.

From what I've seen you post, it looks and sounds good to me.

edit:

Percy's photos, though, are particularly fine.

I wish I was more adept at photography but I can't do it during service, it takes me a great many shots to get anything of even one course that is recognizable, and then I have to spend hours in Photoshop too.

I think my best photo was a of a meat loaf sandwich.

This isn't a competition. Hopefully it's a useful resource for ideas and inspirations.

Edited February 5, 2005 by Jinmyo (log)

[percyn]

Some of these dishes make my cooking seem very lowbrow and plain.

←

Bilrus, there is no such thing. In fact, the simplest dishes are often the best.

Superbowl Sunday..finger food while watching the EAGLES win

[Swisskaese]

Crostini with a fried shallot paste and lemon zest, and deep-fried sage leaves.

Chickpea bisque with a few drops of balsamico trad and some sev (crunchy dried Indian chickpea noodles) on top.

Braised lamb shanks (taken from the bone, packed into molds) topped with a bit of mint pesto on risotto with roasted whole cremini mushrooms.

←

These sound amazing!! I wish I could have the recipes for all three.

Jinmyo you are really a food artist.

[M. Lucia]

I was served a chickpea soup/bisque once and I remember it was marvelous. Like a smooth creamy sippable hummus.

Yesterday I caramelized a bunch of onions. Then last night after the show, I made buckwheat crepes and filled them with the onions in their sauce with some coach farms goat cheese. Really good.

[Milt]

Entrecote Bordelaise - my way

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Some of these dishes make my cooking seem very lowbrow and plain.

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MOST of these dishes make my cooking seem very lowbrow and plain.

[bilrus]

It's just interesting to see the variety of ways people cook and eat on a day-to-day basis - even among a self-selected group of people who love food.

That's why I'm glad I've started following and posting in this thread after two years on eGullet.

[CindyG111]

I've been dying to post to this thread. Now I feel worthy!!! LOL

I had most of today to myself as the son was at his girlfriend's and my husband had to work. What a great day to create!

I decided to make Seafood Gumbo out of the "The New Low Country Cooking" by Marvin Woods. I LOVE this cookbook. I got it for Christmas (among others) chosen from egullet Cookbook threads.

First I made the Vegetable Stock:

Next I needed to make the Creole Sauce. I had looked for Thai Chili paste at the grocery store but they didn't have any. I knew they had ancho peppers, so here is my homemade chili paste:

I had to dig up some kind of glass container to put it into. I think this is a bud vase.

Here's a picture looking into the paste - nice bits of hot peppers - yum!

I also had to make a brown roux. I've never done this before and it wasn't hard! Is it supposed to be browner???

I then made the Creole Sauce. I made a big mess because my okra was frozen and I couldn't chop it up so I put it in the blender. It was okay. I should have taken a picture of the mess.

I forgot to take a picture of the Creole Sauce.

Once I got the Creole Sauce made the rest was easy. Fry up the Trinity. Add corn. Didn't add more okra - my husband hates okra. Add the Seafood. Add the Creole Sauce!

Voila!! here is the Seafood Gumbo!!!

It was awesome!! Very flavorful! Spicy but not too hot. My husband is not a big fan of hot food. Here is the skillet cornbread I made too:

Finally - here is the seafood gumbo served:

My husband loved it!!! But he said he could taste the okra. I think he's full of bologna, don't you?

[Ling]

Chinese New Year dinner:

-about 5 lbs. of Chinese roast pork (mmm....cracklings!)

-bbq pork

-Buddhist feast (vegetarian dish that contains different types of mushrooms, red fermented tofu, black sea moss, and other ingredients)

-a dish that's called "Fried Gluten" in English--pieces of fried, chewy dough that's covered in different sauces. My favourite is the curry one; there were 5 different types in all.

-a type of free-range chicken with very yellow skin (Long Gong Gai) served with minced scallion, ginger, hot oil, salt

-braised shiitake, 2 kinds of vegetable

-scrambled, the fried egg circles (each about 3" in diameter) filled with seasoned meat (they're like mini omelettes)

-rice

-this type of Shanghainese soup with beancurd sheets wrapped around meat

-"Smiling Mouth" cookies (siew hao jo) balls of dough that are fried and then rolled in sesame seeds

I think that's it.

[lovebenton0]

Dinners over the past two days.

Last night

Mexcan-style Angus beef bottom round roast. Seared with bp/garlic/cumin, deglazed with cider vinegar (well, no beer on hand, but this worked very well). Braised with tomatoes, onions, roasted poblanos and a roasted jalapeno. Served with rice. Lots of sauce and meltaway tender.

the night before

Three cheese mac 'n cheese, salad with sliced pickled beets and a beet vinaigrette, hard boiled eggs sprinkled with Cajun seasoning, and I baked the second sourdough rye/cornmeal boule.

[calimero]

Spaghetti allla chitarra with wild duck sauce

oxtails madaillons with orange vinaigrette

i also made a strudel with apple, raisins, pinenuts and cinnamon

Edited February 6, 2005 by calimero (log)

[spaghetttti]

Fabulous looking dinners everyone! Judith, your roast has mesmerized me! Lovely that.

CindyG111, welcome to the Dinner! thread, Your dinner looks awesome.

Ciao, calimero - outstanding was always!

I sorta had a breakfast/dinner:

Sunny-side up egg sprinkled with Soul Food seasoning, sage-y chicken sausage (so good) and rice.

[naguere]

First attempt at using a pan with ridges, it was a pleasure to use....... edited to say the one at the back is from the butcher....

one steak was straight supermarket and the other from a local butcher and had been hung for three weeks. the latter won hands down.

Edited February 6, 2005 by naguere (log)

[percyn]

oxtails madaillons with orange vinaigrette

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Calimero, was this an intact cross-section of oxtail or did you pick the meat off and plate it via a ring mold? Care to share the recipe?

[percyn]

First attempt at using a pan with ridges, it was a pleasure to use.

one steak was straight supermarket and the other from a local butcher and had been hung for three weeks. the latter won hands down.

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Are we supposed to guess which steak is the one from the butcher? If so, my guess is the one in the back.

[spaghetttti]

Lord have mercy, Percy -- upthread, your steak is to die for! And now these from naguere, I want all those steaks!

[CindyG111]

Yum - the Mexican Pot Roast looks fantastic!!!

[calimero]

oxtails madaillons with orange vinaigrette

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Calimero, was this an intact cross-section of oxtail or did you pick the meat off and plate it via a ring mold? Care to share the recipe?

←

Ingredients: Beef and veal tail, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, pinenuts, 2 oranges, beef stock, red wine,tomatoes passata.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/9818/cod5.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>Stir fry the chopped garlic, celery, onion and carrots.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/6659/cod6.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>Add the tail and sear on all sides.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/4112/cod7.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>Add the red wine and make it evaporate.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/7126/cod8.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>Add the tomatoes passata, stir and cover.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/9332/cod9.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>When the gravy begins to shrink add the beef stock little by little.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/39/cod10.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>Cover and continue to cook at least for three hours with low fire. At the end add pinenuts.</p>

<p> <img border="0" src="http://img111.exs.cx/img111/6760/cod11.jpg" alt=""/> </p>

<p>When the tail is ready using a fork remove the meat from the bones and prepare the "burgers". Serve with orange and an orange-extravirgin olive oil vinaigrette.</p>