Dinner! 2005

[Alinka]

Congratulations, Heinz! Tell us how it goes.

Daniel, that flano-pudding looks so good! That's my kinda food!

[Basilgirl]

Trader Joe's pizza dough

One with lots of garlic puree spread on the crust, sauteed onions, anchovies on the Basilman's half, fontina, provolone, kasseri, a little hot chile

One with doctored up canned diced tomatoes, sauteed onions and red peppers, salami, roasted garlic "Bistro Blend" cheese

Big Mamma's red wine = big hangover this a.m.

[Grub]

Minestrone!

[mhadam]

Late night, so a late dinner: Pepperidge Farm Roast Chicken Pot Pie.

First time I've had it, and it was pretty good.

[avocado]

I wanted something autumnal, so I scrounged around and invented this:

Caramelized onions and mushrooms, simmered in chicken stock with thyme and marjoram. Sour cream stirred in at the end. Served on a baked sweet potato and topped with more sour cream and some chives.

It was tasty!

[doctorandchef]

Sorry about the size of the photo, hope you have high-res setting on your screens!

Pan seared halibut, saffron mussel sauce, with roasted thyme potatoes and spicy "ajat".

Edited September 30, 2005 by doctorandchef (log)

[SuzySushi]

A friend of my daughter's unexpectedly is staying over another night, so tonight I was faced with having to stretch 3/4 pound of ground beef -- originally destined for hamburgers -- to feed 4 people. Browsed through my recipes and came up with one that's been in my files for a long time: Bori-Bori, a Paraguayan dish of ground beef mixed with corn kernels (and egg and bread crumbs and a little spice), formed into patties, and grilled. The corn kernels char slightly during grilling, for a fortuitous flavor combination. I served that with whole wheat tortillas and homemade salsa. It was a big hit with both the kids and us.

Later Googled the recipe and found many recipes for Bori-Bori dumplings made of chicken and cornmeal! No beef. No corn kernels. What gives?

[Vancouver Lee]

A little tardy posting this, but better late than never.

Last Sunday evening, Foodie in Vancouver ("FIV") invited six other local eGulls (and spouses) to her home for a "Best of Our Cellar" dinner. Her idea was pure genius: invite some serious foodies over for dinner and get them to do all the cooking! This is one smart lady....

The plan was this: Each guest was asked to choose either Viognier, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Pinot Noir or Cab Sauv. The hosts would provide one locally produced (read Okanagan Valley, BC) bottle of each variety from their (wonderful) cellar, and each guest would provide a non-BC bottle and we would compare them in a blind tasting. Each couple was also responsible for providing a wine-appropriate dish for all to share. Brilliant.

Everyone was given full use of FIV's exceedingly well designed and stocked kitchen for preparation purposes, and the hosts provided an wonderful Blue Mountain NV Brut and a heaping platter of sushi to nosh on while the first course was cooking.

Before we get to the food, hearty "thank-you's" are due to Mr. and Mrs. Foodie in Vancouver for inviting us into their home and being such gracious hosts despite returning from a trip to Mexico literally hours before we arrived.

VIOGNIER

First up was none other than Daddy-A and his wife "J". No doubt inspired by their experience in the Okanagan just few weeks earlier, they made grilled pear, smoked chicken and brie pizzas.

Daddy-A smoked the chicken himself and the pizza crusts were started on the BBQ prior to assembly. Once complete, the pizzas were returned to the grill to finish.

Wines:

Local: La Frenz 2004 Naramata

Non-Local: Fairview South Africa 2003

PINOT GRIS

Next up was your correspondent. I chose to make a risotto that I first had in Asolo, a little town in Italy north of Venice. It's essentially a vegetable risotto (eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, celery and mushrooms) except for the use of veal stock which makes it a bit heavier.

I chose to use a dark veal stock which in restrospect was the wrong choice. The risotto was way too rich and didn't suit the wine at all. Not sure what I was thinking.... Apologies also for not taking a photo - I was too busy plating!

Wines:

Local: Blue Mountain Stripe Reserve 2000

Non-Local: Trimbach Reserve 2002 Alsace

CHARDONNAY

The third course was compliments of our very own Chef Neil Wyles of Hamilton Street Grille fame.

Neil treated us to a mushroom ravioli with a wonderful cream sauce that included taragon. My memory fails me here, so I'll get Neil to refresh it and edit this post later with the details.

Wines:

Local: Burrowing Owl 2002

Non-Local: Chateau St. Jean 2001 Sonoma County, California

PINOT NOIR

Edible Vancouver, a classically trained french chef himself, was up next.

He prepared an outstanding braised lamb shank served over wild mushrooms and pea shoots with a side of garnet yams, topped with a espresso and ancho chile reduction.

Wines:

Local: Stag’s Hollow Renaissance 2000

Non-Local: Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir 2000 NZ Rapaura series

MERLOT

Canucklehead was up next, and he too chose lamb shank to pair with his wine.

By this point in the evening I was beginning to feel full, tired, and slightly tipsy (not necessarily in that order), so my memory begins to wane here. Canucklehead's lamb is accompanied with baked polenta, but the details of the sauce (other than having some cinnamon in there somewhere) escape me. Lee, kindly let me know what was in there and I'll edit this post.

Wines

Local: Inniskillin Bull Pine Vineyard 2002

Non-local: Capel Vale Howecroft Single Vineyard Western Australia

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Last but most certainly not least was Peppyre, who chose hanger steak.

She cooked the steak to a proper rare on the BBQ, and served it over wonderfully delicate potatoe galetes. Unfortunately I have no photographs of the finished dish, but it was accompanied by a fabulous reduction (that contained blackberries...???). Sorry peppyre, same deal as above. Please refresh my memory and I'll edit this with the details.

Wines

Local: CedarCreek Platinum Reserve 2002 BC

Non-Local: Kestrel 2002 Yakima Valley Washington

For dessert, our hosts provided a fabulous selection of fine cheeses and fruit. I had a babysitter waiting at home so had to leave before sampling each cheese, but the few I had were stellar.

Again, many thanks to our hosts, and also to the other chefs who prepared such wonderful dishes to share with everyone.

Same time, next year, everyone?

[Andrew Morrison]

Spellbound. Looks like a wonderful time was had!

[Ling]

I was talking to canucklehead the other day about what you guys ate, and I couldn't believe there was no dessert ( ??!!!!!) Cheese is nice, but chocolate is where it's at, baby. Everything looks delicious, and what a great idea for a dinner!

Edited September 30, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Daniel]

Wow that looks like a great night..

[Basilgirl]

Lidia's spicy cappelini (Capriccioso?) - so easy, so fast, so GOOD

[Megan Blocker]

Chicken milanese (which I also made a couple weeks ago - there's a pic upthread somewhere ), with spaghetti aglio oglio on the side. For dessert, my friend brought chocolate cupcakes from Cupcake Cafe. In the bottle, a 2002 vintner's blend zinfandel.

[Sartain]

I humbly submit my first post to this thread - please be kind!

Porterhouse with a Madeira cream sauce, and sugar snap peas.

[Pan]

Pan seared halibut, saffron mussel sauce, with roasted thyme potatoes and spicy "ajat".

←

What's ajat?

Vancouver Lee, looks like a really fun get-together!

[monavano]

I humbly submit my first post to this thread - please be kind!

Porterhouse with a Madeira cream sauce, and sugar snap peas.

←

That looks beautiful and tasty. Very attractive plating also. You're off to a great start. More, more , more!!!!

[Malawry]

Tonight:

Coconut-chicken Thai-style soup

Custardy crisp-edged tofu with peanut sauce

Glazed chicken drumsticks

Broccoli

Later, I'll eat yet another honeycrisp apple for dessert. I just can't get enough!

[suzilightning]

to tame our appetites until dinner

triscuits(low fat) with blue stilton and two year grafton

margarita for john, frexinet carta nevada for me

dinner was

brown and wild rice

lemon lager chicken breasts from the current Cooking Light that i started on top of the stove then finished in the oven rather than on the grill

green beans with garlic and shallots

johnnybird then had a Pillsbury cinnamon roll...don't ask.

[James Kessler]

roasted New Zealand Rack of Lamb, marinated in lemon, garlic and rosemary. Basmati rice with parsley, basil and feta cheese. Roasted pearl onions, garlic, tomato, mushrooms red pepper and golden acorn squash

[Alinka]

Vancouver Lee, beautiful! I enjoyed looking at the pictures, reading the story, the whole idea of it. So what was the result of the blind wine tasting?

[Alinka]

monavano's "golabki" last week got me craving golubtsy I grew up on, so I finally found time to make some:

It's made a little different: I rolled cabbage leaves around a mixture of ground beef, partially cooked brown rice, and vegetables (carrots, onions, zucchini, yellow squash). I then sauteed some onions with carrots and tomatoes + tomato puree to make the sauce. Layered cabbage rolls in a Dutch oven with zucchini, squash, carrots, eggplant and bell peppers, added the tomato sauce, and let it stew. Not exactly my mom's golubtsy (she sautees the rolls in fat before stewing them in water, and the only vegetables used are onions and tomatoes) - I'm learning to cook healthier after moving to the States, but I actually like these better. Best eaten with sour cream .

Edited October 2, 2005 by Alinka (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Those are gorgeous, Alinka! Well done!

[Susan in FL]

I haven't been here for a while, first because I was Blogging, and after that because I was enjoying eating and going places without telling anybody and most recently because I've been here in California visiting my son and wineries.

I was catching up on what I missed and as I read through the posts and looked at the great photos, ooohing and aaahing, I was clicking Add Quotes on those I wanted to compliment. I soon realized that I was accumulating a long Reply full of Quotes of almost every post. So, I'll just comment that this has been an awesome, impressive streak on the Dinner! Thread for the past couple of weeks, everyone!

Yesterday as we were visiting wineries my camera died, or so I thought. It has been terminally ill recently, so it didn't come unexpectantly. However, today it has come back to life. Maybe it's in purgatory. I wish it had reincarnated and come back to me as a brand new Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D.

So anyway, therefore, there are no pictures from last night's dinner that I cooked for my son, his girlfriend, his roommate, and myself in my son's kitchen ...using all fresh California ingredients and local specialties. I made guacamole to start, for dipping some good Mission corn "strips" that I don't recall seeing in Florida. On the way home from the wineries yesterday, we stopped at Harris Ranch for a tri tip. We can't find that cut of beef available in Florida, and I've heard so much about it. I marinated it and my son and I grilled it. I steamed baby red potatoes and roasted asparagus to go with it. The salad was mixed baby greens with the most beautiful raspberries I've ever seen, toasted pistachios, and balsamic vinaigrette. The wine was Dover Canyon's 2003 Alto Pomar, Alto Pomar Vineyard. This is one of the lovely wines made by our own Mary Baker, aka "Rebel Rose" and Dan, at their Dover Canyon Winery. One of the other wineries we visited yesterday was Iron Horse, and there they were giving out free heirloom tomatoes. We had a plate of those sliced with dinner, too, which was a nice touch.

California is quickly becoming my second home, my second-to-Florida favorite place to be.

[dockhl]

Susan~

Are you here on the Central Coast? I'd love to get together (I am on Paso Robles).

Give us the gory details of your trip !

Kathy

(edited to provide missing letters )

Edited October 2, 2005 by dockhl (log)

[Susan in FL]

Are you here on the Central Coast? I'd love to get together (I am on Paso Robles).

Give us the gory details of your trip !

Kathy, I'm at my son's house in Lemoore right now, and I'm flying home tomorrow. Damn I wish we had planned in advance. But, I'll be back! I'll PM you. More details to come, on other threads...

California food is great. I've never been sure how to describe my style of cooking, but whatever it is, I can now add "with California influence" to the end of it.