Dinner! 2005

[Jake]

Beef tenderloin with a cremini/shallot/demi reduction, roasted asparagus with thyme and lemon, glazed baby turnips. Accompanied by a Sangiovese...didn't look at the bottle before it was decanted!

[Afterburner]

Tonight, we did the Sandra Lee "semi-homemade" thing. (Yeah yeah, I know. But I just got into this cooking thing, and I still have a lot of ready-made items from the store that I have to work through.)

Two nights ago, rubia (my wife) made a lovely pot roast with carrots, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes. And then she made a pureé sauce out of the juices and veggies in the pan.

Tonight, I decided I was gonna make a pizza outta the leftovers. I told rubia that I needed to get some yeast and stuff to make the pizza dough, but she pointed out that we had a can of Pillsbury pizza dough in the fridge.

It was old and manky, and did not unroll as the can's instructions said it would. So I tried to roll it out with my rolling pin. Unfortunately, I had a severe attack of the stupids, and tried rolling it out on the back of a baking sheet on top of the pre-heated oven.

It went...poorly.

Round 2 featured me cleaning off a huge swath of countertop space and rolling out a can of Pillsbury Grand Biscuits. Wadded 'em into a ball, floured the countertop, floured the biscuit ball, floured my hands, floured the rolling pin, floured my shirt, floured my shorts, floured most of the horizontal surface areas in my kitchen, and floured a few in the living room as well.

But perserverance paid off, and eventually, after a great deal of rolling and resting and rolling some more and resting some more, etc, I got the biscuit dough stretched to the size of the baking sheet.

Baked it for a few minutes, then added rubia's sun-dried tomato/carrot/onion/roast juice pureé as the sauce, then added the leftover roast on top of that, then sprinkled with cheese, then baked some more.

It was pretty good. Not a bad use of leftovers, and I gained a few Experience Points in the Baking skill.

[percyn]

Having cleared about 7 inches of snow, I wanted some hearty, warm food....

Butternut squash soup with Pancetta and Argan Oil:

The brown things are croutons I made out of a multigrain bagel. The oil droplets are Argan oil, which has a deep nutty flavor and the red stuff on top is some pancetta.

Duck Confit on bed of lentils

The inspiration for this dish came from Balthazar cookbook.

Wine was a Guigal 2001 Cotes du Rhone, which had a nice bite to take the edge of the lentils and the duck. Now I am ready for tomorrow's snow

Chufi, Behemoth, do you mind sharing your recipe for the lemon surprise pudding (you can PM me if you prefer).

Thanks

Percy

[Jason Perlow]

Tonight, we cooked up some of those Empire Kosher 1/3 of a Pound dogs, along with some rolls we baked up for the occassion:

Long rolls, made from a Kummelweck Roll recipe, but rolled out like hot dog buns.

Hot Dog with Mustard and Kraut on fresh roll, Tater Tots, Chili.

[Daniel]

Thai Chicken Pizza. Good way to use up leftovers.

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Jason that pizza looks awesome.. can you tell me how to make that dough.

[Jason Perlow]

Yes. Go to a supermarket, and buy the packages labelled "Boboli".

Seriously.

We used this recipe from RecipeZaar:

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=33440

Here's photos of the assemblage:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=821084

[appreciator]

Tonight was kung pao chicken with cashews instead of peanuts (cuz I'm allergic) served atop brown basmati rice. Just to make sure to get my veggies, I also steamed some broccoli and lightly drizzled it with sesame oil and topped it with toasted sesame seeds.

[pattimw]

Chufi - those lemon puddings look awesome!!

We are (literally) snowed in here - big ol' blizzard is slamming Boston right now.

I made some "little dishes" last night.

A visit to whole paycheck resulted in a dozen oysters which we ate with cocktail sauce. They were really fantastic - sweet and briny at the same time. They really tasted like the sea, which may seem like a given, but these were exceptionally flavorful.

We drank a Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs with it.

We followed up with popcorn- wanted something else to go with the sparkling wine.

I made tiny meatballs spiced with cumin, coriander, cayenne, rolled with parsley and garlic. Simple tomato sauce of canned tomatoes, white wine, garlic and onion. These never made it out of the pan they simmered in.

Pizza with sun dried tomato tapenade, roasted eggplant, fontina and mozzarella.

had some leftover Turnbull Syrah 2002, which was way too bold and oaky. I wish we'd had a Chianti or something lighter on hand.

Salad of thinly sliced fennel, radishes, parsley, parmigiano, and prosciutto. Dressing of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

Dessert was from the February issue of Food and wine - the article about Ferran Adria. These Chocolate toasts were unreal. Toasted some baguette slices, then put a square of chocolate in the middle (i picked up some Scharffenberger at WF for this purpose) and under the broiler to melt the chocolate. A few drops of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. It was so simple, but so incredible. The oil gave the chocolate further depth while the salt enhanced the sweetness of the chocolate.

[percyn]

...

Dessert was from the February issue of Food and wine - the article about Ferran Adria. These Chocolate toasts were unreal. Toasted some baguette slices, then put a square of chocolate in the middle (i picked up some Scharffenberger at WF for this purpose) and under the broiler to melt the chocolate. A few drops of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. It was so simple, but so incredible. The oil gave the chocolate further depth while the salt enhanced the sweetness of the chocolate.

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The December issue of Wine Spectator also had a good article on Ferran Adria and El Bulli (I have not seen the Food & Wine article yet). The article is making me think of visiting Spain in spring....

[JennyUptown]

Last night I cooked with butternut squash for the first time. I made Butternut squash and Pancetta Risotto with Spiced Butter .

It tasted great last night, but even better for breakfast.

[little ms foodie]

Chufi - those lemon puddings look awesome!!

We are (literally) snowed in here - big ol' blizzard is slamming Boston right now.

I made some "little dishes" last night.

A visit to whole paycheck resulted in  a dozen oysters which we ate with cocktail sauce. They were really fantastic - sweet and briny at the same time. They really tasted like the sea, which may seem like a given, but these were exceptionally flavorful. 

We drank a Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs with it.

We followed up with popcorn- wanted something else to go with the sparkling wine.

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I think you must be my long lost sister!!! That is my perfect meal! We call it whole paycheck and that is the champagne we keep on hand all the time. And I love pop corn with bubbles!!

Fantastic!

[Rachel Perlow]

Yes. Go to a supermarket, and buy the packages labelled "Boboli".

Seriously.

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Yeah, that's right, we cheat with Boboli! But what you gotta do, to make it even more legitimate, is find a bakery thrift store. I get Boboli at a Friehoffers Day Old store near us, they regularly have them for $1 per package. Same for Thomas' English Muffins. I just can't bring myself to pay full price for them (~$3) when I know I can get them there for $1. (However, you need to use them pretty quickly if you buy them at the thrift store, as they will go stale eventually.)

[spaghetttti]

Indonesian beef stew with rice

[Jinmyo]

Lovely, spaghetttti.

Jason and Rachel, those hot dogs look quite good.

[The Hersch]

Indonesian beef stew with rice

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Oh my that looks good, Spaghetttti. Any chance of a recipe?

[Susan in FL]

It does look good and what a beautiful presentation.

I'll direct you here to read about our Shrimp Etouffee dinner last night. I described it there, after all the help and support I got on that thread.

[spaghetttti]

Lovely, spaghetttti.

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Indonesian beef stew with rice

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Oh my that looks good, Spaghetttti. Any chance of a recipe?

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It does look good and what a beautiful presentation.

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Thank you so much! This is a family favorite and really hit the spot after romping around in the snow.

Indonesian Beef Stew

2 Tbs vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, mashed with 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

1 lb chuck or round steak, cut into chunks (I used chuck top blade steak boneless)

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp each ground cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

3 Tbs dark soy sauce

1 Tbs light brown sugar

2 Tbs lime juice

1 cup hot water

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat and fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook until the onion just starts to turn brown. Add the meat and stir fry just until it has turned color. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered until the meat is tender. Remove the cover after 1 hour and 15 minutes to help reduce the liquid, until the sauce is thick and coats the meat.

[Anna N]

Have not posted for a while but couldn't resist a photo of this. Stuffed pork tenderloin with a port reduction sauce and some caramelized apples wedges. This was sooooooo good.

[Susan in FL]

Anna, that looks great. You cooked the pork to the perfect doneness! We have been disappointed in the flavor of pork tenderloin the past couple of times we've fixed it. Did you get it from a supermarket or a butcher shop?

[Bella S.F.]

Made K.J.'s Pork Roast. Used a 6 pound pork butt. At 4 1/2 hours it is meltingly tender. Yum!

I have a beautiful picture. How do I get it here? Help please.

Thanks.

[M. Lucia]

Strange things happen when you are eating alone:

I have some tomato/roasted garlic soup, what should I have with it? There is this box of cornflakes with bananas and I have no clue where it came from (really, I don't buy this type of stuff). So people have cereal with liquids, and I love crumbing crackers in soup. So why not stir a bunch of cereal into my soup?

Umm, crunchy sweet cereal, tang of garlic, hearty tomatoes.

Not only was this good, it was I'd-do-it-again-really-good.

For dessert I was more civilized, and inspired by Chufi, made chocolate pudding cake.

It's a recipe from Cooking Light baked in a cast iron skillet. Very sweet but good!

[Susan in FL]

We went out for a big brunch today, so we didn't want much dinner. We had leftovers from last night, chopped salad and this smoked fish spread.

[Jensen]

Made K.J.'s Pork Roast. Used a 6 pound pork butt. At 4 1/2 hours it is meltingly tender.  Yum!

I have a beautiful picture. How do I get it here? Help please.

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Bella, there are instructions on using ImageGullet here.

[Anna N]

Anna, that looks great.  You cooked the pork to the perfect doneness!  We have been disappointed in the flavor of pork tenderloin the past couple of times we've fixed it.  Did you get it from a supermarket or a butcher shop?

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Costco! and it was tasty and not a bit dry - better by far then one's I have had from the supermarket.

[Behemoth]

Pan-fried pork filet steaks with potato roesti & sour cream. The filet was liberated from a sirloin roast a few months back (and frozen, obviously). That was my first real "challenge" butchering job -- sirloin roasts have a lot of weirdly-shaped bones. The amount of money you save doing it yourself is unbelievable.

The steaks were flattened slices of the filet, seared in a pan with olive oil, garlic and sage, then added vinegar, sugar and some vermouth and let reduce while the steaks cooked a bit more. Remove steaks, deglaze with a drop more vermouth, a little butter swirled in and voila. Clearly an improvised dish, but came out very nicely. The mandoline makes roesti very quick work. Basically, a nice quick dinner for a busy time of the semester.