Dinner! 2005

[beetee]

Lamb in Fenugreek curry. Recipe courtesy of Vikram Vij from Vancouver Cooks.

[gourmande]

Last night we had braised chicken "provençal" (tomatoes, olives, herbes de provence, etc.), potatoes roasted in duck fat, a crusty baguette from the local bakery (needed to sop up the lovely sauce), a mixed leaf salad with simple tarragon vinaigrette, and for dessert, a pear tart and slices of very old cheddar. Our dinner wine was a French rosé, "Côtes de Provence".

[TJHarris]

Yesterday, my wife calls to say that sime friends will be dropping in for dinner. EEEEEE! Only three hours until they arrive. What shall I do?

I look into the fridge, nothing. The pantry, very little. The freezer... a small package of stewing beef bought on sale and socked away. Quick, Speed Thaw!

Now what to do with it? I know, stew. No too boring! I dig into the pantry some more.

Onion

Garlic

Crushed Tomatoes

Some broth from the freezer

Sun dried Tomatoes

Pinenuts

Couscous.

Anyway we had beef braised in a thick tomato broth with lots of onions and garlic, sundried tomatoes served over couscous and topped with toasted pinenuts.

Does anyone have a name for such a concoction?

[Chufi]

Spaghetti with red onions, garlic, rosemary, walnuts and roast cherry tomatoes:

dessert:

ricepudding made from leftover basmatirice, flavored with cardamom & coconut, with pistachio's:

[ejebud]

Mom wanted to have an Oscar party last night so while they were driving home from upstate NY I threw together:

Coconut Shrimp using U-15's served with a Spicy Peanut sauce laced with Fish sauce and Coconut Milk.

then I made Lidia Bastianich's Stuffed Chicken Thighs Braised in Merlot. I'm not too sure if Lidia is known outside of the NY metro area, but her dishes are amazingly simple and delicious. She proclaims never to serve a pasta dish unless it's sings to you (Paraphrased by EJEBUD)

Now it's snowing AGAIN! so into the kitchen I go, Where It winds up nobody knows!!

[hathor]

I'm back in the land of high speed internet...whew! Boy, you don't look at this thread for a few days and its just amazing what it going on!

Great food everywhere.

Behemoth: try using the left over braised meat as a ravioli stuffing.

Last night was a small Oscar party which was far more entertaining than the actual Oscars!

Veal saltimoboco, roast cauliflower, roast fennel and some crispy green beans.

Followed be a green salad and some pecorino with a killer mustardo (sp?). Then some strawberries in balsamic. Yum.

Last week, we were in our weekly local market and the fish man was there. Now in Umbria the fish man is considered exotic and somewhat dangerous. Its the land of meat, what can I say. Anyway, we struck up a conversation, and one thing led to another and we went home with a mountain of little bitty fishes. They cooked up into one of the best tasting mixed fish plate I have ever had. And here's the little guys:

[Chocoholic]

Saturday, braised beef southwestern style in dark beef stock with onions, garlic, carrots, red peppers, poblano peppers, chipotle puree, cumin and a couple of anchos for flavor. Finished off with some beans, reduced the braising liquid to a nice thick sauce and served over papardelle noodles. Enjoyed it with a nice glass of Australian Shiraz. Comfort food all the way.

Last night's dinner was an Italian style zucchini loaf made with onions, garlic, zucchini, eggs, parmesan, fresh herbs and potatoes. I served that topped with a breaded piece of cod fillet and some roasted mushrooms.

I always keep my little one in mind, the stew wasn't too spicy so he enjoyed some of the noodles with a bit of braising liquid, chopped cooked chicken (the braised beef cubes are still too much for him to handle) and veggies. Yesterday's zucchini loaf and cod were a big hit as well.

Tonight: leftover beef braise with leftover zucchini loaf.

[emmalish]

Chocoholic the zucchini loaf sounds really good. Could you post a recipe?

[wine&dine]

Thai Marinated Ahi Tuna grilled and placed on a bed of steamed spinach with beets and crushed red pepper. Tuscan bread that has been brushed with olive oil, fresh garlic and italian herbs placed on the grill and served with brushetta and shaved Reggiano Parmesan cheese. A salad of mixed greens, tomatoes and carrot matchsticks follows with goat cheese crumbled and a balsamic/olive oil dressing.

Edited February 28, 2005 by wine&dine (log)

[Chocoholic]

Chocoholic the zucchini loaf sounds really good. Could you post a recipe?

←

I found it on the web here.

Mine turned out a bit wet, I suggest you drain the zucchini after it has cooked before adding the potatoes. I also finished it off under the broiler for a few minutes for a nice brown top.

It is very good, nice soft texture and zucchini/potato flavor.

[little ms foodie]

Hathor those little fishies remind me of a fantastic lunch we had at Cal Pep in Barcelona last summer!!!

[Toliver]

then I made Lidia Bastianich's Stuffed Chicken Thighs Braised in Merlot.  I'm not too sure if Lidia is known outside of the NY metro area, but her dishes are amazingly simple and delicious.  She proclaims never to serve a pasta dish unless it's sings to you (Paraphrased by EJEBUD)

←

Thanks to PBS, Lidia is well known outside of the NY metro area. Her cooking series was wonderful and inspired me to buy two of her cookbooks. She makes it looks so easy and comes across as very encouraging. She's one of my favorite "celebrity" chefs.

[Susan in FL]

She's one of my favorite "celebrity" chefs.

←

Same here.

Tonight we started with edamame.

Then we had a Leite's Culinaria test recipe, Snapper Fillet with Asparagus Salad and Soy Dressing, by Bill Granger from Bill's Open Kitchen. Here's the salad waiting to be topped with the fish and dressing. The stringy things are "shavings" of cucumber.

For plating I served (store-bought) spring rolls with it, and garnished it with scallions and starfruit.

[bilrus]

Tonight's dinner was light but lots of flavor. I made Tom Yam Kung (Thai Lemongrass soup with shrimp) and summer rolls with shrimp. dipping sauces were store-bought peanut and sweet chili. (Besides I wanted the chance to use my cool little two sided dipping bowls).

I'm not quite a master at rolling with the rice paper and the broth was a little cloudy, but both tasted just right.

[SuzySushi]

As noted the other day, thanks to joining eGullet, I've decided my cooking was in a rut (albeit a tasty one!), and resolved to browse through my cookbook collection and make the recipes I've always been meaning to try.

This is Mediterranean Week, and my first two dishes were:

Afelia, a seductive Cypriot stew of meltingly tender pork and onions seasoned with crushed coriander seeds, simmered in red wine, and

Pide, a Turkish bread with a chewy, crisp crust and a soft interior. The cookbook suggested sprinkling it with nigella seeds, but not having any of those on hand, I used sesame seeds, suggested as an alternative.

I served this with a green salad with Kalamata olives, dotted with goat cheese.

Yummy, yummy!

[jrt]

Pide, a Turkish bread with a chewy, crisp crust and a soft interior. The cookbook suggested sprinkling it with nigella seeds, but not having any of those on hand, I used sesame seeds, suggested as an alternative.

←

Looks great!

You've described pide very well, yet I must say: sesame seeds are no substitute for nigella. Heresy! It's worth it -- not in flavor, not in bouquet, not in presentation, but rather in all three.

[jrt]

Tonight's dinner was light but lots of flavor.  I made Tom Yam Kung (Thai Lemongrass soup with shrimp)

<<snip>>

I'm not quite a master at rolling with the rice paper and the broth was a little cloudy, but both tasted just right.

←

It doesn't look cloudy in the picture... well, it doesn't look clear but seriously there are a lot of freakishly cloudy presentations out there.

The dishes look great. I'd guess a little more oil (chili oil won't kill a diet) and a few more veggies can help keep things to jump to the surface.

edited to fix a post that was full of surprising, interesting insights... yeah, that's it

Edited March 1, 2005 by jrt (log)

[SuzySushi]

You've described pide very well, yet I must say: sesame seeds are no substitute for nigella.  Heresy!    It's worth it -- not in flavor, not in bouquet, not in presentation, but rather in all three.

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I know... but nigella are kinda hard (= maybe impossible) to find where I live. If I get to making these often, I'll mail order some.

[ejebud]

Now it's snowing AGAIN! so into the kitchen I go, Where It winds up nobody knows!!

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Snowy Evening comfort food: Cheesburgers Steam Grilled with Balsamic Shallots, Smoked Gouda and Swiss Cheese, topped with Homemade Sambal(mixture of Chipotle in Adobe, Sundried Tomatoes, and Brown Sugar)

Edited March 1, 2005 by ejebud (log)

[Jason Perlow]

What's on top of those burger buns? Did you emboss those or print them out with a printer or something?

[ejebud]

What's on top of those burger buns? Did you emboss those or print them out with a printer or something?

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Microsoft Picture It!! He He

[loper]

Salad: Fennel, Blood Orange, Parm Reg, EVOO, Balsamic...

Risotto w/ Rock Shrimp, Saffron & Spinach

Anyone know about the environmental/fishery status of these rock shrimp? I'm curious to know how they are caught - all I can find are references to location, species, etc, and just one reference to dragging gear, which doesn't sound good, these being benthic critters and all. Any help appreciated...

[Toliver]

Then we had a Leite's Culinaria test recipe, Snapper Fillet with Asparagus Salad and Soy Dressing, by Bill Granger from Bill's Open Kitchen.  Here's the salad waiting to be topped with the fish and dressing.  The stringy things are "shavings" of cucumber.

←

The salad looks refreshing. It seems like it would be a good way to use leftover asparagus.

Is that parsley I see in it...or cilantro, perhaps? Is there any other green involved?

And how was the dressing? Sweet overtones or savory? The minute I hear "soy dressing" I think of ginger as a natural partner.

[Susan in FL]

Then we had a Leite's Culinaria test recipe, Snapper Fillet with Asparagus Salad and Soy Dressing, by Bill Granger from Bill's Open Kitchen.  Here's the salad waiting to be topped with the fish and dressing.  The stringy things are "shavings" of cucumber.

←

The salad looks refreshing. It seems like it would be a good way to use leftover asparagus.

Is that parsley I see in it...or cilantro, perhaps? Is there any other green involved?

And how was the dressing? Sweet overtones or savory? The minute I hear "soy dressing" I think of ginger as a natural partner.

←

It would be a good way to use leftover asparagus. The herbs were cilantro and mint, and those were the only other green, besides the asparagus and cucumber. Sweet and savory flavors... there was sugar, fish sauce, and sugar along with the soy sauce. If this had not been a test recipe, I probably would have added ginger and probably will next time.

[bakezoid]

Yesterday, my wife calls to say that sime friends will be dropping in for dinner.  EEEEEE!  Only three hours until they arrive.  What shall I do?

I look into the fridge, nothing.  The pantry,  very little.  The freezer... a small package of stewing beef bought on sale and socked away.  Quick, Speed Thaw!

Now what to do with it?  I know, stew. No too boring!  I dig into the pantry some more. 

Onion

Garlic

Crushed Tomatoes

Some broth from the freezer

Sun dried Tomatoes

Pinenuts

Couscous.

Anyway we had beef braised in a thick tomato broth with lots of onions and garlic, sundried tomatoes served over couscous and topped with toasted pinenuts.

Does anyone have a name for such a concoction?

←

"Wonderul"?