Dinner! 2005

[Mooshmouse]

CaliPoutine's visit to the turkey farm in last week's foodblog had me craving turkey burgers on Saturday night.

Minced a few sundried tomatoes and mixed them into the burgers for some flavour.

And Sunday night's dinner was from a restaurant: Pondok Indonesia to be specific.

As with Chinese food, I always prefer having Indonesian food with a larger group of people so that we can sample a greater variety of dishes; however, the rijsttafel is always a good way to go when we're smaller in numbers. Starting at the top, there's Pangsit Goreng (crispy wonton stuffed with minced chicken & shrimp served with sweet and sour sauce), Rendang Sapi (spicy beef prepared with Indonesian herbs and coconut milk), Orak Arik (stirfried cabbage, carrots and either tofu or egg with garlic and herbs) and Ayam Panggang (barbecued chicken marinated with Indonesian style sauce). All menu descriptions are quoted from the restaurant's website. Tiger beer for Ian, mango cider for me and mango juice for Noah.

P.S. Sending get-better-quickly wishes your way Susan!

Edited May 17, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[FoodMan]

Sunday:

A stew of pork-herb meatballs, with tomatoes, collard greens and eggplant. Served it on top of polenta loaded with parmesan.

Last night:

bruschetta with two toppings, tomato-basil-mozz and mushroom-onion-balsamic-smoked mozz.

Dessert: Baked very-gooey chocolate pudding, with vanilla ice cream and toasted hazelnuts.

Elie

[M. Lucia]

Anyway, I made chickpea dumplings in yogurt sauce (a very bastardized version of pakodi kadhi), and it was just wonderful. I boiled the dumplings and then simmered them in the spiced yogurt sauce.

Off to pack and clean out the fridge, out for ice cream later.

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These sound tasty, would you mind sharing what's in the dumplings?

And have fun on your trip, it sounds fantastic!

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Hi Lexy,

Traditionally pakori are dumplings made with chickpea flour (besan), spices and water and then deep fried. Now I didn't have chickpea flour but I did have leftover chickpeas, and I just went from there. I generally make things up as I go when cooking using sight/smell as guidelines, so I don't have measurements.

In a food processor I blitzed a handful of chickpeas with about an equal amount semolina and seasonings. I used cumin, coriander, fresh parsley, salt, etc. The mixture should look like a coarse meal. Add enough water to make a thick paste, maybe a couple tablespoons.

Bring stock or water to a boil. Just before cooking the dumplings add a pinch of baking soda and blitz one more time. You want to encorporate air into the batter so they are nice and light.

Drop them by tablespoons into the stock/water and cook for about 4-5 minutes. The dumplings will be completely irregularly shaped and they should be floating. Remove with a slotted spoon.

You can then simmer the dumplings in a sauce of your choice.

I enjoyed them, and they reminded me of a light type of gnocchi.

I used semolina flour because I figured it was closest to chickpea flour, you could also make your own chickpea flour or use another type of flour. Or make a real kadhi dish like this recipe.

Whew, now off to the airport!

[Matthew Grant]

Saturday: With a little help from Degusto and Moby I tried to recreate the Langoustines with curry and Sesame from L'Ambroisie. No mean feat especially since I've never eaten it :lol: However I have experimented with curry and Langoustines before. The dish was OK, Langoustines superb (Appleby's at Borough market). I thought I had the crisps painfully thin but looking at a photo on the L'Ambroisie thread I notice that you can virtually see through them, pretty confident I could manage that next time. how does he stop them from curling?

Slightly over reduced the sauce which made it a little heavier than I would have liked, curry powder was a little dark, could possibly have done with less Coriander, more turmeric. Aside from that not a bad first effort, will try again. Crappy photo, I was in too much of a rush to get the Langoustines down my neck :D

Main course of Poulet De Bresse with Chicken Jus and Aligot (in celebration of booking Michel Bras for September). I tried teh Poulet De Bresse again, have come to the conclusion that the Label Anglais is as good if not better and a 1/3 of the price. That's not to say the Bresse isn' good as well.

Sunday: 6 week hung Longhorn from the Ginger Pig, finished up the Aligot with it.

[Chufi]

spaghetti with a sauce of caramelized onion and fennel, anchovies, a splash of red wine, and lots of fresh basil. Parmesan to serve.

Desssert: Thick greek joghurt with chestnut honey. Ohh.. that could become my new addiction.

[Ktepi]

After a few disappointments over the weekend -- the margarita pie (Shaker lemon pie with limes instead of lemons, and a shot of tequila) came out too bitter for me; the mole verde is good, but the pork belly I braised in it came out too flabby; I sliced part of my thumb off making a sandwich, which complicated everything -- I've gone back to an old standby for tonight: black bean cassoulet, with Filipino sausages instead of the andouille I usually use.

I am envious of the kitchen of my future self, having just planned a trip to Jungle Jim's -- the mall-sized grocery store -- for Memorial Day weekend.

[Susan in FL]

Desssert: Thick greek joghurt with chestnut honey. Ohh.. that could become my new addiction.

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I'll try that if I get my hands on some good chestnut honey. You sound much like me in my new craze of Manouri Cheese with Thyme Honey.

[Daniel]

Posted this a week late.. Me and my girlfriend as new members of the 24 cult.. While watching season three on dvd we were unable to get up from the living room couch,.. We devised a living room table grill complete with skewered shell on giant shrimp, cubed swordfish, scallops, marinated cumined buffalo, eggplant and that other vegetable. This is a our version of a Manhattan BBQ.

Recognize

Edited May 18, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[helenas]

Daniel, really cool - what grill is this - Krups?

Zuppa di Cozze - mussels soup here. Stumbled on irresistible pic in one of the River Cafe's books (the blue one) and then found different variations on the same subject in almost every other italian cookbook: garlic, tomatoes, herbs - onions or not, bell peppers or not, different amount of garlic, different herbs...

Followed Elizabeth David's version (from a precious book gifted by Priscilla) but added some hot italian sausages - heavily browned cut in thirds to simmer along with a soup base.

Crostini and arugula to serve.

[CaliPoutine]

CaliPoutine's visit to the turkey farm in last week's foodblog had me craving turkey burgers on Saturday night.

Minced a few sundried tomatoes and mixed them into the burgers for some flavour.

And Sunday night's dinner was from a restaurant:  Pondok Indonesia to be specific.

As with Chinese food, I always prefer having Indonesian food with a larger group of people so that we can sample a greater variety of dishes; however, the rijsttafel is always a good way to go when we're smaller in numbers.  Starting at the top, there's Pangsit Goreng (crispy wonton stuffed with minced chicken & shrimp served with sweet and sour sauce), Rendang Sapi (spicy beef prepared with Indonesian herbs and coconut milk), Orak Arik (stirfried cabbage, carrots and either tofu or egg with garlic and herbs) and Ayam Panggang (barbecued chicken marinated with Indonesian style sauce). All menu descriptions are quoted from the restaurant's website. Tiger beer for Ian, mango cider for me and mango juice for Noah.

P.S.  Sending get-better-quickly wishes your way Susan!

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Ok, Im now moving to Vancouver....... with or without Robin.

that Indonesian food looks yummy.

[Daniel]

Daniel, really cool - what grill is this - Krups?

Zuppa di Cozze - mussels soup here. Stumbled on irresistible pic in one of the River Cafe's books (the blue one) and then found different variations on the same subject in almost every other italian cookbook: garlic, tomatoes, herbs -  onions or not, bell peppers or not, different amount of garlic, different herbs...

Followed Elizabeth David's version (from a precious book gifted by Priscilla) but added some hot italian sausages - heavily browned cut in thirds to simmer along with a soup base.

Crostini and arugula to serve.

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ITs a queezin art... Its my favorite new gadget next to the waffle maker. Ahh the power of waffles over a five year old.

the other night we also made fajitas on it.. We had flank steak soaked in lime juice rubbed with cumin.. Roasted jalepenos in a garlic oil sauce, queso fresco, oinion, guacamole, red peppers on the grill.. its so much fun

Edited May 18, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[little ms foodie]

Daniel, I love that you were grillin in front of your TV! Too fun!

Dinner tonight was pork fried rice and chicken stir fry

Basic but yummy

[Jake]

Lazy dinner with wine tonight -- steak tartare, bread, crostini, and cheese (St. Marcellan, cabrales, Ertko (?) basque, and another spanish cows milk cheese whose name escapes me after all the wine) and fresh asparagus spears with goat cheese wrapped in proscuitto and grilled. Yummy nibblies.

[Grub]

Only slightly less known than Cinco de Mayo, there's Syttende Mai -- the Norwegian national day, May 17. And seeing that kjøttkaker (meatcakes) is the unofficial Norwegian national dish, I figured it'd be appropriate.

The kjøttkake has a very gentle touch of spices that can include nutmeg, ginger or even allspice. I dropped the ginger, but added some paprika. It is served with boiled potatoes, veggies (carrots and peas are typical), melted butter with pan scrapings, or a thick brown sauce (again, with pan scrapings) and is typically served with sauerkraut or cranberry sauce -- or both. The dish is both served as a formal Sunday dinner, and a casual weekday meal -- one usually follows the others, as it makes for great leftovers.

The recipe:

1 lb 10 % lean beef

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp Jamaican allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 egg

2 1/2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup cream

And for the sauce: 2 tbsp minced onions, 2 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp flour, 1 tsp paprika, dash Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper for seasoning.

When you mix the beef, add the cream gradually, to get the right consistency -- you don't want it to get too loose. The patties should be about 2-2 1/2 inches across, and slightly less than an inch thick -- think of it as the beautiful lovechild of a meatball and a hamburger patty. Yeah, baby. Uffda.

Oh yeah, the most important thing about this recipe is to make a wild exaggeration about how much is likely to be eaten, and then quadruple it. These babies make awesome sandwich toppings: Drop a couple of lettuce leaves on a nice slice of bread, add half a kjøttkake, and -- if you're doing it warm, top off with the brown sauce, or some caramelized onions -- or if you're doing it cold, add a good mustard of your choice (but nothing too spicy, or it would overwhelm the gentle flavor).

They're typically made in cast-iron pans, but a wok does the job too -- the main thing to avoid is a no-stick pan -- you want them pan drippings fer the sauce (besides, a wok reduces the splattering). If you're making a big batch, you can always pour the drippings off as you go and set it aside, to avoid over-browning it. The cakes were cooked over medium/med-high heat.

The sauce was prepared in a separate saucepan, and pan dripping were occasionally added to it -- but after everything was cooked, I dumped the content into the wok, and finished the sauce there -- which is why the finished sauce is much darker.

Voila, kjøttkaker i brun saus -- meatcakes in brown sauce.

I need to check out the plating course, I know... My excuse is, this is simple food, so that fancy-pants French decorative nonsense has no place here! ::makes Mario Batali impersonation::

Didya know, the nickname for Merseyside Liverpoodlians, "Scouser" comes from Lob Scouce -- or Lapskaus, a stew spread around the world by Norwegian sailors?

[racheld]

Taking advantage of this extended cool weather to have one last Chicken Pot Pie of the season:

Tenders poached in chicken stock from the freezer---stock used to make a standard "white sauce" as my Southern Mom would have said. Tiniest baby carrots simmered separately, baby red potatoes, ditto. A handful of frozen peas, uncooked, along with a tiny snip of fresh chives and a wee curl of last-year's sage from the freezer.

A lattice of yeast-risen top crust, brush of egg white and cream. Delicious smells and enticing ploops of rich sauce between the strips, a tawnier gold than the crust.

Very lovely pie, served with a plebeian "five-cup" salad, my husband's childhood favorite from his own Grandmother's repertoire. Five cups of anything from a fruit can--crushed pineapple, mandarins, gooseberries--as long as one of the cups is tiny marshmallows. Dusting of coconut flakes. He loves this stuff. I make it, and the marshmallows swell in the fruit juice to the size of jumbo olives, little cushy clumps of sweetness, almost too childhood and cloying to swallow. No matter. It's what you serve with chicken pie. And now the season's over.

[Susan in FL]

In accordance with my post-surgical soft diet, last night we roasted cauliflower and made it into a puree, to serve atop cold pea soup. Delicious, and a great combination!

Naturally, since the plan was to puree the roasted cauliflower, it came out of the oven looking better than ever.

Edited to add: ...and ice cream for dessert of course.

[suzilightning]

i was planning on making pasta with meatballs but there was fresh ground lamb at the market yesterday so change of plans...

mini lamb burgers with greek yoghurt

leftover rice transformed with garlic, minced onion, saffron, peas and a bit of stock.

tomato, cucumber and parsley salad

[MobyP]

Organic Salmon with lentils, bearnaise and new season's oil from a tuscan estate.

[Priscilla]

What a run of wonderful dinners. Highly inspirational.

(Helena we had moules recently too, marineres, with a hit of reduced cream.)

Last evening, boneless-skinlesses which had been marinating a day or so in our fave Middle Eastern spice packet mix, with the addition of olive oil, grilled over hardwood charcoal. Nice small zucchini sliced and grilled, dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Served with loads of FoodMan's taratoor sauce (so good -- finally the right one!) and rice with vermicelli. Again, finally the just the right version of this staple dish. (These links are to Recipe Gullet, but I think both dishes appeared in FoodMan's eGCI course on Lebanese cuisine.)

And a flatbread I'd made the other day -- with which the taratoor was also stupendous.

[Chufi]

My husband wasn't feeling well and requested his favorite "when I'm under the weather" dinner: plain white rice, grilled fish, steamed spinach. Now that's defintely not my favorite dinner so I said he could have 2 out of 3 and I ended up making:

panfried fillets of red mullet

plain rice (which I didn't eat)

salad of plum tomatoes, radishes, sweetcorn and mint.

then we had green tea cookies for dessert (thanks to the green tea cookie thread ).

they are so delicious that I actually had some as an appetizer too

[Chocoholic]

Sunday: good old fashioned chili or an interpretation thereof depending on who you ask. I love using chipotle powder and a lovely chimayo style chile powder from the Santa Fe School of Cooking that I visited during a Southwestern road trip. I order from them on-line whenever I run out. I use the chile powders, cumin and oregano for the spice base, then ground beef, onions, red peppers, carrots, ground tomatoes and kidney beans. All simmered for a couple of hours in a heavy pot. Smoky, spicy and hearty goodness in a bowl. I make a small side pot without the chile powders for the little one who inhales the stuff.

Monday: chili leftover, even better after an overnight in the fridge.

Yesterday, change of region. Red Thai curry with chicken, lots of garlic, sliced shallots, green onions and snowpeas. I buy baggies of very tasty curry sauce from a local vendor (Thai Princess in Vancouver) so it is a quick chopping / stir-frying and sauce adding job. Served over broad egg noodles. Warming, spicy (a trend in our household!) and very yummy. The little one gets some noodles with a wee bit of the sauce, he is actually good with eating spicy food already. He tried the snow peas but was very puzzled by the strings (I attempt to remove most of them) and decided not to eat them anymore.

Home made double chocolate chip cookies for dessert

[Basilgirl]

Free-range Australian beef burgers from Trader Joe's on butter-broiled English muffins with mustard, ketchup, pickles. Not sure I liked the burgers. And Thomas' beats Pepperidge Farm hands down in the muffin department.

My mom's cukes and onions

Ore-Ida Vidalia-o's

One glass of chardonnay in between Sierra Nevadas

Tonight: grilled cheddar and bacon on raisin bread. Don't laugh. It's good. Plus I'm tired and lazy.

[Daniel]

Took a couple of home made turkey,yam, cranberry sausages out of the freezer and ate them on a roll with dijion.. This is certainly not going to be enough.. But that was my dinner so far..

[Chocoholic]

Hmmm sausages...I get really good local sausages (Oyama in Granville Island, Vancouver) and regularly have them just by themselves as a snack or a lazy dinner with a good Portugese bun, some sweet pickled peppers and a pint of stout...yum...

[Susan in FL]

More soft food... Polenta with Brie and Parmesan, and some smooth paté. One more night of this, and then I'll just need to be careful until stitches come out on Monday. Unfortunately, I'll have to use what I've learned about creatively cooking soft food again. This was one in a series; I'll be going through this again.

Right now though, all I can think about is... I want meat, and crisp-tender vegetables!!