Dinner! 2005

[tupac17616]

For dessert - Mini Twix bar sprinkled with fleur de sel. The salt really brings out the flavor and adds another layer of complexity.

Cheers

Percy

Only on eGullet! I love it!

[M. Lucia]

That salt sprinkled twix is hilarious!

I can just picture next time I'm hanging out with friends: excuse me while I sprinkle some salt on my candy bar

I made Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli, it was very quick and easy and of course looks impressive, gotta love those red noodles. I used an inexpensive 2000 Rioja that I also drank with the meal.

I have lemon-poppyseed shortbread and korova cookie doughs in the freezer, so I'll probably bake up some of those for dessert.

[percyn]

That salt sprinkled twix is hilarious!

I can just picture next time I'm hanging out with friends: excuse me while I sprinkle some salt on my candy bar 

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Doesn't everyone carry around some fleur de sel?

[Daniel]

Had guests this evening.. Tonight we had arugula salad w/ truffle oil with h-made candied walnuts and blue cheese..

Pre-dressing..

Bone marrow with a parsley,capers, and shallot salad.. A la Head to Tail Eating Cookbook.. The salad was awesome and a perfect match...

Flank steak marinated in coffee, garlic and a ton of black pepper. With a collard green, bacon, cream, yucon gratin.. Its hard to make it look pretty when you have to pour a sauce over it..

Here is the gratin before serving..

Amaretto chocolate souffles with amaretto cookies..

Edited October 17, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[dockhl]

OOOOOOOOOOZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[Susan in FL]

So many good looking dinners, yum. It's about time for a hamburger fix around here, methinks.

Daniel, what a menu. I love bone marrow, but I haven't been satisfied with any I've cooked at home. Do you buy special bones for fixing that dish? I'm not familiar with the cookbook you mentioned.

I made Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli, it was very quick and easy and of course looks impressive, gotta love those red noodles. I used an inexpensive 2000 Rioja that I also drank with the meal.

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How did the spaghetti taste? Was the flavor a lot different from the wine? When I was reading that issue of Gourmet, I thought about making it.

[Daniel]

I bought veal bones cut about three inches.. Roasted them at 450 for twenty minutes.. Put a little f-salt on them before hand and then also had some at the table for people to use, as directed in the book.. They really dont need anything..

The book is The Whole Beast-Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson.. Sorry I screwed up the book.. Its really a awesome book I cant wait to make more from..

Edited October 17, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[racheld]

Okay, Daniel. You're the youngest of the pack, the adventurous traveler, a terrific photographer, and you found a dead-on recipe for collards that I've never heard of? Too much of a good thing.

PLEASE post the gratin recipe SOMEWHERE. Miss Martha would kill for that gorgeous salad, the marrow course is sublime, the coffee-marinated steak looks divine, but the COLLARDS, Daniel, the Collards!!

By the way, what is the age limit for adoption in your state? If you're interested, that is...Older couple in search of another son---haven't mentioned it to my photographer Hubby, but when he sees that Witches' Brew Garlic Soup pic, he'll be thrilled.

My, My, Young Man. How you do go on.

[Sottise]

I should know better than to read these boards at work - I always come home hungry. 'Bout time I shared something, really.

Last night it was all about making something semi-exciting out of not much at all. So we ended up with an asian-ish dealy: roasted cauliflower (from my own garden, so proud), stir fried noodles, spinach and sweet chili shrimp. Topped off with a few chunks of grilled hoisin-marinated salmon - I could have eaten a lot more of this, so it's probably a good thing it's so expensive.

Quite successful, and much appreciated by cats and humans alike. Now to work on the photography skills!

[Daniel]

Okay, Daniel.  You're the youngest of the pack, the adventurous traveler, a terrific photographer, and you found a dead-on recipe for collards that I've never heard of?    Too much of a good thing.

PLEASE post the gratin recipe SOMEWHERE.  Miss Martha would kill for that gorgeous salad, the marrow course is sublime, the coffee-marinated steak looks divine, but the COLLARDS, Daniel, the Collards!!

By the way, what is the age limit for adoption in your state?  If you're interested, that is...Older couple in search of another son---haven't mentioned it to my photographer Hubby, but when he sees that Witches' Brew Garlic Soup pic, he'll be thrilled.

My, My, Young Man.  How you do go on.

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I dont know about the adoption laws in New York.. But as long as I get an allowance, I am all for it..

In terms of the gratin recipe, there is none.. I cooked double smoked bacon first.. Then in the pan that I used, I threw in two bunches of chopped greens for two minutes... .. Then I took yucon golds and cut them in 8s.. Then i added a layer of yucons, then cooked bacon, then greens, then gruyere and repeated.. Pouring cream over the entire thing at the end.. Baked for 55 minutes and 375.. Flavored with salt, pepper, nutmeg.. I was going to add creme fraiche in between the layers too, but enough is enough I guess.. The only other way I make greens is by blanching then frying with bacon and some vinegar.. I have yet to use the hamhock method..

[Basilgirl]

Friday night: Milena's Take and Bake pepperoni pizza from Safeway. Not bad for $6.00 (Friday price). I doctored it up with S&P, red pepper flakes and oregano.

Saturday: Dead tired from a horrendous plumbing problem. Popeye's fried chicken, 2-piece spicy white meat and a 4-piece combo with red beans and rice and a large order of fries. I love Popeye's. I hate plumbing.

Sunday: New York strips on the grill pan, Montreal steak seasoning. The Basilman sliced thin and piled his on a big sub roll and mine on a toasted English muffin with eed onions sauteed on the grill pan in the steak grease with chipotle Tabasco and Marie's extra chunky blue cheese dressing. Oven baked French fries sprinkled with lots of popcorn salt. Yum.

[Chufi]

roasted cauliflower (from my own garden, so proud), stir fried noodles, spinach and sweet chili shrimp. Topped off with a few chunks of grilled hoisin-marinated salmon

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welcome to the dinner thread Sottise! That salmon looks very good..

Over in Amsterdam, I'm coming down with a cold so I made comfort food..

Sauteed green cabbage with lots of bacon, onions, and fresh chestnuts. Finished with cream. The ultimate comfortfood to go with it: garlic-mustard-olive oil mash.

Big bowl of pecan ice cream for dessert. Large piece of nougat filled dark chocolate as a second dessert.

[Megan Blocker]

Dinner tonight was coq au vin followed by a tossed green salad - the coq au vin photographed a little shiny, probably thanks to the copious amount of bacon fat I cooked it in. Yum. Might be a candidate for the other dinner thread - but it sure tasted good!

Coq au vin:

Salad:

[M. Lucia]

I made Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli, it was very quick and easy and of course looks impressive, gotta love those red noodles. I used an inexpensive 2000 Rioja that I also drank with the meal.

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How did the spaghetti taste? Was the flavor a lot different from the wine? When I was reading that issue of Gourmet, I thought about making it.

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The noodles really absorb the flavor of the wine, so yes it's quite similar, which is why I think the garlic and cheese are good to add another level to the dish.

From what I can see of it, that is a lovely looking coq au vin!

[Daniel]

No, no, that looks great Megan, where is the recipe from?

[Megan Blocker]

From what I can see of it, that is a lovely looking coq au vin!

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Thanks, M. Lucia - it's true, there's almost more mushroom than coq in my coq au vin - I just can't get enough fungi.

Daniel - thank you! I don't really use a recipe (originally I based it on one Nigella Lawson had in the Times a while back), but it's pretty easy to do. Basically, I saute 1-inch pieces of bacon until they begin to release their fat, then add chopped onion and cook the mixture until the onions soften a bit. I remove that from the pan and then brown the chicken on both sides, using the rendered fat left behind from the bacon. Remove the chicken, add the mushrooms and some garlic, cook that until the mushrooms begin to cook down a bit, and then put everything back into the pan along with some wine (dry riesling works well for a lighter stew, a red Burgundy is traditional) and chicken stock, add some thyme, and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through.

I pretty much eyeball the proportions at this point - tonight I cooked four pieces of chicken and used half a large onion, 3 slices of bacon, 8 oz. button mushrooms (quartered), 2 cloves of garlic, about 1/3 bottle of wine, and about 1 cup chicken stock.

It's a quick-cooking version - takes about an hour, start to finish, and it's perfect for a weeknight. I usually make two or three dinners' worth at once and eat it over the course of the next week. It's even better a day or two later.

Edited October 18, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Daniel]

Tonight we cooked the bagels we were letting rest in the fridge.. Boiled then baked..

Fresh onion bagels.. So good and crunchy.. The mixer broke last night so I had to make bagels the way the Pilgrims did when they came over on the Pinta or the Nina Simone or whatever.. I am still a little sore..

Along with bagels we had Sturgeon

Peppered mackeral, onions, and cream cheese..

A couple of chubs..

Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes..

With a tall glass of OJ it was a fun dinner..

Sturgeon, onion, cream cheese..

Chub, pepper, cream cheese..

Edited October 18, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Wow, Daniel - that looks excellent. And how brave of you to tackle baked goods without a mixer. You are officially my hero.

Nina Simone -

[purplewiz]

Those bagels are beautiful and look delicious!

Marcia.

[Mooshmouse]

This evening's dinner was prepared at the Serious Foodie Class that a few Vancouver eGulleters are currently taking at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.

First up, pizza. I quickly volunteered to knead the dough for our group of three, as the kneading therapy went a long way after spending most of my Sunday unpacking and organizing my kitchen.

Before...

...and After

Toppings include freshly made tomato sauce, prosciutto, white asparagus, tomato, cambozola and fontina cheese.

Chicken Saltimbocca with Green Beans in beurre noisette

Last but not least, dessert... which I happen to be having the last bites of as I post these photos.

Lemon Tart

[Basilgirl]

Steak and eggs with Tilamook cheddar melted on top, served on buttery toasted English muffins with Chipotle Tabasco. The Basilman ate five (5)... Then he had some NutterButters with lots of milk.

[avocado]

Turkish eggs- garlicky yogurt topped with fresh spinach leaves, a poached egg and paprika and olive oil. Whole wheat roll for sopping. Very comforting.

[Alinka]

Along with bagels we had Sturgeon

Aaaaa!.. Now my keyboard is sticky from all that salivating over that smoked fish!

Mooshmouse's pizzas are also lovely.

[Chufi]

More comfort food..

pasta bake with kabocha squash and blue cheese, with a crunchy leek & pinenut topping.

Lots and lots of chocolate for dessert.

[vanderb]

Friday night - Turkish kofte (spiced lamb meat balls) grilled on the bbq with an assortment of bbq wok'd vegetables (potato, mushrooms, onion and garlic).

Saturday night - Italian sausage ragu (of course it was homemade), lots of hot peppers both dried and fresh and some of the last of the fresh herbs I'm likely to see out of the garden (err window box) this year.

Monday night - big ass salad, garden tomatoes, spinich, fresh hazel nuts (from a trip west 2 weeks ago), onion, boiled egg, tuna and feta cheese. Homemade EVOO, balsamic, bavarian mustard and habanero sauce dressing to accompany.

That's all for now, back to work.