Dinner! 2005

[Behemoth]

I have a picture of the cheese plate but it won't upload. I hate it when that happens. I keep getting this error message "The image upload failed, please contact the eG Forums team". I don't know why the first will load and then not another. Guess I'm a techno-peasant.

could the picture be too big?

percyn

I vaguely remember trying it with water too and having about the same amount of luck (losing a third of the final product).

Anybody else have any bright ideas on making your wontons burst proof?

I've done fine just using water to seal. The one thing is to make sure you squeeze the air bubbles out otherwise they poof out and potentially explode. For some reason freezing them before steaming also seems to do the trick. Maybe because the filling doesn't start streaming until the wrapper is already mostly cooked & therefore more resilient? To be honest I never actually thought about it before this: usually I freeze my wontons and I'd never had a problem, then once I tried steaming them fresh and they poofed out and nearly exploded, after which I learned to press the air bubbles out.

[rabidscottsman]

Dinner last night was a recipe for sweet shrimp that i found off the internet.

I took a pound and a half of shrimp and marinated it in olive oil, a chopped onion, sugar, cayenne pepper, salt, oregano, garlic powder and maple syurp.

The recipe gives you the option of taking bacon and wrapping the shrimp and grilling them but i took the shrimp out of the fridge after 5 hours and dumped everything into a dutch oven and sauteed the mixture until the shrimp turned pink (roughly 5-6 minutes). I then took the shrimp mixture and served it over white rice.

[hjshorter]

I have a gratin in the oven of leftover roast lamb, thinly sliced potato & tomato, thyme, and gruyere - to be served with a green salad and crusty bread. My goodness it smells delicious. Cotes du Rhone to drink.

[Behemoth]

My second attempt at ribs and my first BBQ of the season:

I need to thank snowangel and ronnie suburban. This was the first time I had a chance to use the "probe thermometer in cork through the vent" trick, and it worked like a charm. Controlled heat in my cheap little weber at 225 degrees for 3 hours, not overdone, not underdone, I can't stop eating them. You guys rock.

Did we need side dishes? Well, baked beans (with tomato chutney instead of ketchup) and mustard green sauteed in mustard oil with mustard seeds and red chilies. Corona, and coffee ice cream. Very glad I got to run today. Whew.

[kayswv]

Chef Metcalf, computer access word for Food and Wine this month is Value. You should be able to access the website and pick up the recipe for the wonton ravioli recipe for yourself. One of the things we learned on our trip to China last year, was that when you are making something like this, it is important to seal around the filling as well as around the edges. Push down hard on the two wrappers all around the filling (and don't overfill). This is as important as making sure that the edges are sealed well. Hope this helps. Another great use for wonton wrappers is filled with smoked salmon to make salmon ravioli. Kay

[SuzySushi]

Another Russian dinner:

Pork Chops cooked over Kasha with Bacon and Mushrooms, served with a "winter salad"

of Sauerkraut, Scallions, Red Grapes, Cranberries, Red-Skin Apple, and Dill dressed with EVOO.

Delicious!

[Adam Balic]

Pomfret with three flavours sauce, streamed rice, braised veg and prawn crackers.

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Adam, where are you located that you were able to find Pomfret?

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percyn - I am located in Edinburgh, Scotland of all places. There is one great fishmonger that imports Austral-Asian fish. Eddie's Edinburgh

[hjshorter]

Ham, gratin dauphinoise, asparagus, and Cotes du Rhone rose. Expected family cancelled so we will have mountains of ham leftover.

Almond buttercream cake for dessert.

[Mooshmouse]

A somewhat grey spring day called for some comfort food, which is exactly what was on the table for dinner last night with fellow eGulleter VancouverLee and his family.

Mezethes

Courtesy of Minerva's, an excellent local Greek deli. Mini spanakopita and cheese pie with tzatziki atop tabbouleh. Paired with a 2003 Ironstone Symphony Obsession.

Mediterranean Stew

Tomato-based stew with cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, pitted kalamata olives, garlic-stuffed green olives and sundried-tomato-stuffed green olives. Served with two loaves of ciabatta bread: one garlic and one artichoke. Paired with a 2002 Quail's Gate Merlot; second bottle of red was a 2002 Masi Valpolicella.

Cheese Course

Clockwise from the top, basil chevre from Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, Saint Martin brie and bleu d'auvergne. Served with sesame crackers and rosemary-raisin-pecan Raincoast Crisps.

Dessert, courtesy of VancouverLee, was a wonderfully rich gingerbread cake dusted with icing sugar and served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. I'll leave it to him to post a photo of his tasty treat.

Edited March 28, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[Susan in FL]

Our dinner tonight was unconventional and the courses were out of order from the usual, because we waited until 4 PM on Easter Sunday to decide what to eat and go to the store for the makings. It all centered around wanting to use a lobster stock I had in the freezer for pasta cooking liquid, so we made a lobster pasta as the main course. Then we thought about Easter, and realized we wanted to have lamb involved somehow. Since we went that far with tradition, we felt compelled to work eggs in there somewhere, in lieu of Easter eggs. The result...

Appetizer: A Taste of Clams on the Half Shell

First Course was Lamb Chops!

The Main Course of Lobster Pasta

Salad Course

Spinach, Prosciutto, Edible Flower Leaves, and a Fried Egg with White Truffle Vinaigrette

Edited March 28, 2005 by Susan in FL (log)

[Vancouver Lee]

A somewhat grey spring day called for some comfort food, which is exactly what was on the table for dinner last night with fellow eGulleter VancouverLee and his family.

<snip>

Dessert, courtesy of VancouverLee, was a wonderfully rich gingerbread cake dusted with icing sugar and served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis.  I'll leave it to him to post a photo of his tasty treat.

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Here is dessert: Gingerbread with Creme Anglais and Raspberry Coulis

Edited March 28, 2005 by Vancouver Lee (log)

[Vancouver Lee]

Our Easter dinner tonight was Rack of Lamb prepared with a marinade and rub as described in Ron Shewchuk's book "Barbecue Secrets". Awesome. The lamb was accompanied by roasted beets, a green salad. Hot brownies with chocolate ice cream for dessert.

[Chufi]

Our Easter dinner yesterday started with homemade beetroot ravioli with chive butter and parmesan. It looked spectacular but the taste was a little bit too sweet and bland. I think it needs a more assertive sauce, maybe bits of bacon.. ah well I have some left in the freezer so I might try that next time!

Main: chicken roast with potatoes, lemons, and whole heads of young garlic. Served with artichoke bottoms stuffed with ham, breadcrumbs and parsley, asparagus & vine tomato salad. Delicious! And we each ate a whole head of garlic, it was so sweet and juicy.

Dessert: Rhubarb cheesecake pie, which I took a photo of earlier in the day when it just came out of the oven,

Edited March 28, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[lexy]

oooh, rhubarb cheesecake pie - this is like all my favourite desserts rolled together

is it cheesecake poured into a pie crust and topped with rhubarb?

[Chufi]

oooh, rhubarb cheesecake pie - this is like all my favourite desserts rolled together

is it cheesecake poured into a pie crust and topped with rhubarb?

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yes, it's a mixture of creamcheese, orangezest, sugar and egg spread on a raw circle of pastry dough. Topped with rhubarb that was lightly cooked with sugar and orange juice and then drained. The pastry is crumpled together around the fruit which gives it a sort of rustic look as you can see

The drained juice of the cooked rhubarb was cooked down to a glaze with some more sugar. This was later poured over the pie (after I took the picture).

[sadistick]

Saturday had some seared veal scalopini in a red wine/tomato garlic sauce with asian style asparagus.

Sunday had seared duck breast with a red wine/targaon reduction and ginger/garlic/caramalized leek mashed potatoes. Finished with a chipotle/asian salad.

[Tete Carre]

Since Saturday's dinner was roast lamb Sunday's dinner had to be Lamb Pizza with red Chili and Mint. The topping is a spread that has a variety of items including roasted sweat red and anaheim peppers, cilantro, chilli sage, etc. Once this is spread out over the pizza dough add strips of rare leftover lamb. Sprinkle lavishly with frozen corn kernels (It's March okay!) and pop in the oven. Open the red wine and add plenty of fresh mint leaves as you serve it. Accompanied by a chef's salad of escarole, radicchio, cheese, ham, etc. we didn't need dessert. The fact that we watched the DVD of Troy might have had something to do with this unusual loss of appetite.

The Appetizer was Tuna sashimi (the rest of the tuna is for tonight with a killer wasabi sauce).

Friday's dinner, just back from camping, was a huge pot of our current favourite pasta. Really simple: equal parts of pasta (orrchietto) , spicy italian sausage(or in our case merguez) and rapini(or brocoli rabe) plus some garlic, chili flakes and some of the water the rapinin was parboiled in.

Didn't take pictures which is too bad as both meals were very colourful.

[suzilightning]

sunday brought us pork not lamb. the pork in guiness from the Les Halles cookbook to be exact. what a wonderful smell for the two hours it took to cook. served it with sauteed red chard and dinosaur kale and mashed potatoes. no need for dessert.

[hjshorter]

I did the only sensible thing one can do when one has a giant, meaty hambone left over. I made red beans and rice with the very last of my Camellia Red Beans. The house smelled incredible all day. I'd post a picture but they smell and taste much better than they look.

Edited March 28, 2005 by hjshorter (log)

[M. Lucia]

Rain, rain, rain and the Monday evening off meant I made Ribollita (from Lidia Bastianich).

I love this soup when in Tuscany but this is the first time I've made it myself. Cooked beans, onion, celery, garlic, tomatoes, grated carrot, kale, collards, potatoes, stale bread, etc. Topped with the essential drizzle of very good evoo on serving. A surprising amount of of prep for what is known as a soup of leftovers.

However, the big comforting bowl was worth it, took my right back to my trips to Italy.

[Larry 1749]

Turducken!

After much debate about what to cook we decided on a Turducken for Easter Dinner. Although somewhat untraditional we wanted to give it a try and ordered one for our local meat shop.

We served this with orange ginger glazed carrots, sweet potatoes toped with brown sugar and pecans, mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives, and a maple squash purée toped with marshmallows. By the way the Truducken is something you should try its great moist and tender with lots of flavor. I cant wait to make a hot turducken sandwich with the leftovers.

[bilrus]

So I'm back after a ten day hiatus from posting while my camera software was screwed up,

Tonight was Rick Bayless' Shrimp Ceviche Cocktail. It's not a true ceviche, in that you cook the shrimp beforehand, but the lime marinade stll give the shrimp that "ceviche-like" texture without being mushy.

A few pics from previous dinners -

Last night's egg salad sandwiches with Niman Ranch bacon on croissants. For some reason egg salad is what I associate with Easter more than any other food (aside from Cadbury eggs):

Pasta from last Friday - linguine with tomatoes, rock shrimp, and prosciutto:

Pizza from early last week with Italian Sausage from Arthur Ave.:

[hjshorter]

Bill, that pizza makes me want to jump right in the screen.

[Susan in FL]

Tonight, a pot of clam chowder I made with a dozen great big chowder clams. Mmm-mm good, but not Campbell's!

[Ninjai Fanatic]

we had pancit and kare kare for lunch. :)