Dinner! 2005

[little ms foodie]

Daniel those potato cakes looks scrumpdillyishist! yum!!

Back in town after 5 days in NY on business (excellent food but I didn't cook it!)

Last night hubby picked up some gorgeously HUGE king crab legs served with a salad and fries.

Tonight he made spicy orange chicken stir fry with rice and salad with oranges.

I have pictures but am having trouble with image gullet, will try to upload them later......

edited to add pictures after hosting my images somewhere else

Edited October 22, 2005 by little ms foodie (log)

[jennahan]

From Chocolate Obsession I made the rocky road brownies.. Really good.. Marshmallow and walnut placed in the batter..

Close up

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Argh!!! I'm supposed to be starting a diet today. Now I'm going to be fixated on these brownies until I have one! Recipie please!

[Megan Blocker]

Happy happy anniversary, Happy happy anniversary, to you, to you, to you... What a great bunch of meals you had with family, and what a fun year it was knowing you..  I actually was planning on eating eggs with ham steak for breakfast tomorrow.. But didnt pick up the steak..  Where are your photos, I thought we were getting pictures from the new camera????

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My question exactly, Miss Rachel! Happy Anniversary, and let's see the food!

Amazing dinner, Daniel - potato pancakes with caviar and creme fraiche are one of my favorite appetizers/hors d'oeuvres...I'm drooling all the way over here in chilly Minnesota (family wedding).

Edited October 22, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Susan in FL]

Brad! Glad to see you here. The fish sounds good. Does your daughter not like fish or does she have an allergy?

Welcome to you and other recent first time Dinner thread posters!

Daniel..... You've left me speechless on that last one.

Friday night Happy Hour(s) was moved to our house, because there are 100,000 bikers in town for Biketoberfest, and the local news is saying they are averaging an ambulance run for an accident once every 90 minutes. We made nachos, with taco-flavored hamburger, the cheese, chopped onions, olives, tomatoes, etc. -- the usual. And, we had stone crab claws again! The icy cold, clean taste of the stone crabs was real good after the warm, spicy plate of nachos. ...Beer with the first and bubbly with the latter for Russ, and bubbly with both for me.

[percyn]

OK, I did not make this, but it is gooood nonetheless

Spicy Sichuan Chicken Salad

Ja Ja Mein (sp? Noodles with spicy pork topping)

[suzilightning]

two hours at the hawkwatch and not a single bird

stopped at my local apple tree for veg and saw my favorite butcher - picked up two porkchops, center cut and boneless about 1"-1 1/2" thick each. slit a pocket into the side then stuffed with a dressing of pumpernickel bread, onion, thyme and apples.

johnnybird couldn't wait for dinner when he got home so made some prosciutto and provolone toasts for him and served with garlic stuffed green olives.

cooked the chops, made a pan sauce with shallots, white wine and veg stock.

served with whole wheat noodles, peas and applesauce.

dessert was a stout spice cake with lemon glaze though i added some more applesauce to mine.

tonight we're having a friend over and i'm planning a roast chicken stuffed with garlic and lemon, roasted cauliflower, potatoes au gratin and green beans and carrots. more stout cake for dessert - probably with some poached pears and some whipped cream.

[racheld]

Dammit, Daniel!!! Don't just KEEP on keepin' on!!!

I did ok, just a small ladylike salivation til I got to that chocolate whatzit---could be death AND decadence, take your pick. You do beat all.

Tonight is little what-would-be racks of lamb, but they came without the fancy bones...just the little chops, still boned together like they grew.

Big baked potatoes in the oven, with sour cream, minced chives and grated Colby-jack awaiting. "Blue" slaw---paper-thin-shredded purple cabbage, minced three-color peppers in a sweet-sour vinaigrette. And "the" jar of plain old mint jelly, bought a couple of years ago, and resurrected from the depths of the fridge when Chris brings home lamb--at least HE likes it. It's like eating barbecued toothpaste.

And you say the camera? THE camera?---try about four dozen, none of which I can man responsibly. They range from 1940's accordion types to digitals, with all kinds in between, including a big ole 1910 breadbox-sized black one on a stand, complete with the black flappy headcovering thing. But F-stop Fitzgerald out manning the grill will happily snap pics of any and all dishes I put before him.

[rooftop1000]

Lambykins here too, ran to teh store for steak but always looking for a deal I found 3 packages of lamb chops for 3.99# mixed in with the 9.99# ones Unlike the day I found steaks for .79# I made it out of the store. So we had steaks pan seared with 2 little garlic rubbed lamb chops each served with sauteed onions, baked potato rubbed with sea salt, and salad. Pulled a layer of cake out of the freezer for dessert.

T

[little ms foodie]

leftover crab leg turned into crab, artichoke and parm dip

then a bit of twice baked butternut squash and clams stuffed with pepperoni and sausage

[Daniel]

Gorgeous pictures miss foodie, those clams look outrageous.. ..

No pictures came out clear.. I think i got steam on the lense from shooting chocolate in the double boiler.. Tonight we had homemade pizza 00 flour, with parsley pesto and serrano ham.. Next we had stuffed clams.. For main we had pampano in parchment paper on top of onions fried in butter, lemon slices, and topped with parsley and chives.. Boiled red potatoes.. Very good.. Had some brownies from last night, adding the rest to a burboun chocolate ice cream for tomorrows dessert..

Edited October 23, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[eJulia]

Hmmmm... comfort food! Lasagna

Wish I'd have cleaned off the plate first! I am new to food photography, so please be kind!

[Susan in FL]

Saturday night dinner on the Burgess's porch was veal chops with a sauce using one of the portions of my homemade demi-glace that we froze; white truffle risotto (sans shavings of fresh truffle, unfortunately -- but I did make a veal stock to use); a "token" portion/garnish of fresh Brussels sprouts; salad of Mâche, Belgian endive, and pear, with a blue cheese (Gorgonzola Dolce) soufflé alongside; Estancia Merlot; and World Series Game I. I loved the outcome of everything.

[little ms foodie]

Daniel, how funny that you had stuffed clams too!! I used a recipe out of F&W called 'Dick's amazing stuffed clams'. Tell me about yours!

[Susan in FL]

Wendy, I had that recipe printed out and hanging by a magnet on the side of our fridge for days (until just a couple days ago when Russ got tired of it falling off so many times that he took it down for good) waiting for us to get some chowder clams for making them, since we prefer chowder clams for that sort of thing. How did they taste? I've probably never used a recipe for stuffed clams before. I usually make them the way my mom did, which she called deviled clams. Her "recipe" has quite a bit of mustard in it.

[racheld]

Susan---Please elaborate on that exquisite souffle---though its lack of elaboration was part of its charm...the simplicity of that golden cake, caught at the moment of risen perfection---oh, my. And served on MY pink plate, as well.

Small change in our projected Saturday dinner...I opted for another serving of the pasta rustica from our lunch---fresh tomatoes, snipped basil--almost the last of both crops, brought in amidst decidedly chilly breezes and showers, the soggy leaves forbearing to crackle underfoot, but making their way into the house upon damp feet.

Chris ate both little lamb racks, with a generous spoonful of an eerie-green mint jelly, the bottom third of the little jar; it emerged from the very cold back of the fridge with a crisp inch of pale-green sugar paste on top. A quick scrape of that into the garbage, and removal of errant sugarcrumbs. I STILL cannot grasp putting a Wrigley's taste onto smoked meat, but our differences just make life ever more interesting.

He also made a detour past the simmering pot of pear preserves on his way back to the den, piling the warm little slivers atop his slice of buttery poundcake.

[*Deborah*]

I had a few eGullet friends over for dinner last night. I was a bit OCD about it, since I haven't been entertaining (on that scale) in a while.

The table, prepped early:

The first bottle of wine, a sparkling Shiraz. This stuff was really different, and not light like Champagne, but delicious, and works really well with food (thanks, Liberty wine boy!):

The mushroom tart (Simply Bishop's cookbook) (Chanterelles and Oysters, green peppercorns, garlic, shallots, thyme), plated with sliced roasted yellow and red beets. I apologize that I only got a pic of mine, with the worst pastry, the others were prettier. It was really good though! I was surprised! and I should have taken a pic with the sauce in the pan, too...(deglazed the pan with sherry and chicken stock, reduced, added a little cream) oh well.

The smoked salmon crème fraîche cheesecake, plated with baby greens and this rather delicious dressing I made with S&P, dill (only dry as I had no fresh), juice of one orange, about a TBSP of lime juice, and nice fruity olive oil. Because of my egg gaffe (double the eggs required; oh, the perils of halving a recipe and not marking every single item), they were a bit more dense than they should have been but it was still tasty, and that dressing really worked *pats self on back*:

After this we had some lemon sorbet to take a breath. It wasn't particularly photogenic!

Then I brought out the Burrowing Owl 2003 Syrah, what a lovely lovely wine.

The butter-roasted Bosc pears and Maui sweet onions, drizzled with a bit of dressing (lemon juice, honey, salt) and kept in the oven at 225 for an extra couple of hours. Those pears were phenomenal.

My nice purple duck legs (8 duck legs, braised in two bottles of red wine, an Epicurious recipe. They had been "soaking in it" for two days, which was a good thing), ready to serve:

A plate. Mashed potatoes with sautéed leeks, one of those roasted pears, a roasted onion quarter, and the duck resting on the mirepoix in the reduced and thickened wine sauce:

A prettier plate:

And dessert, Mario Batali's Chocolate Pudding with Valpolicella reduction, from the Babbo cookbook. I actually used a Chilean shiraz-cab sauv blend instead of Valpolicella, in keeping with the Shiraz theme. The day before, I joked my dining room would sound like a bordello, and it did. Holy crap, that is some goooood stuff. With extra-vertical cream:

And after that (nobody could finish their pudding, the portions were very large) we couldn't eat any of the cheese Mooshmouse had brought, we were too full! so we slowly finished up the wine and talked some more.

I think it was a success! but now I have to clean my kitchen yet again

Edited October 23, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[little ms foodie]

Susan it is really hard to find large cherrystone or quahogs on the west coast so we made do with the largest steamers my fish monger could pick out.

The stuffing was delish! very meaty and spicy with the chorizo and pepperoni. It would be a great first course or appetizer I think. And they were very easy.

Tell russ to be patient! haha!

[little ms foodie]

Deborah your dinner party looks amazing!!!! Lucky friends

[*Deborah*]

Deborah your dinner party looks amazing!!!! Lucky friends

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Thanks! it worked out pretty well! I just wish I had a bigger dining room (and dining room table, and more than 4 chairs ) so I could have had more people over.

[Mooshmouse]

Deborah your dinner party looks amazing!!!! Lucky friends

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I can certainly attest to the fabulousity of both the hostess and the dinner itself. Much love and care went into prepping this dinner and both really came through in the food. Standouts for me were the mushrooms, the duck which was remarkably tender and flavourful, and the Bosc pear which was, to be quite frank, akin to sex in your mouth.

Outstanding Deborah. We are lucky friends indeed.

[canucklehead]

Deborah your dinner party looks amazing!!!! Lucky friends

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As a lucky recpient of the dinnner - I have to say it was spectacular. I cannot pick of a favorite - the parade of courses brought tears to my eyes. Soooo good.

What are not in the pictures are the young nubile servers that Deborah brought in to serve the food and fan us. It was a meal that the ancient Romans would have been jealous of.

All kidding aside - Deborah spent a number of days prepping the food - and it showed. The duck was meaty and succulent but not fatty or over-rich. I agree the pears were mind blowing - I may not have had sex in my mouth yet (we will defer to Mooshmouse for that... um... knowledge) - but it was pretty spectacular. All of it.

Thanks indeed

[Daniel]

Wow.. What lucky guests.. I am in the middle of having seven people over for dinner tonight and its getting down to crunch time.. Oy veh.. That duck looks fantastic!!

[*Deborah*]

Wow.. What lucky guests.. I am in the middle of having seven people over for dinner tonight and its getting down to crunch time..  Oy veh.. That duck looks fantastic!!

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Good luck! yesterday was a 19-hour marathon for me, with only four to feed, I bow to you!

The duck, yes, thanks, I picked a good recipe (where would I be without Epicurious ), and I think letting it wait for two days in the fridge added a lot.

Best part is I doubled the recipe, and I get to have leftovers for dinner tonight!

[petite tête de chou]

Hi Deborah, I adore your gold charger plates. They make everything look extra especially delicious- not that you needed any help!

[Susan in FL]

Wendy, thanks. I'm determined to find some chowder clams and do those stuffed clams. I think it's interesting to hear the size classifications given to clams. Apparently it's a regional thing. On the east coast, when we lived on the mid-Atlantic and down here, it is from small to large: little necks, top necks, cherrystones, and chowder clams. Either top necks or small cherrystones are our favorite for raw or steamed. Chowder clams taste just as good, but are so cheap, especially in Delaware. Even now when Russ makes his trips up there, he brings back 100 of those huge things and it costs like ten or twelve dollars. We freeze them live, and when we're ready to cook something with them, we set a few out to thaw, and as they thaw they open, and I cut up the meat with scissors. That's cool because the great big ones are killers to open even when they have had a chance to relax. I had never heard of "quahogs" until maybe ten years ago when I got to know some people from Rhode Island. Anyway, thank you. I'm glad to know that it's a good recipe.

*Deborah* *WOW* Awesome dinner for guests... awesome dinner for anybody, but I am always particularly impressed when someone can pull off that kind of meal when there is company.

Thank you for the link to Epicurious for the duck recipe. I've printed it out. I use Epicurious recipes a lot (however, as much as I like to support breast cancer research, I'm getting sick of their clever pop-ups), including.......

Rachel, this is the recipe I roughly follow for blue cheese souffles. I had used both Cabrales and Maytag blue before, and then these were successful, too. This goes down in my records for a well tested recipe!

Do you have those pink depression glass plates?!

And.....

Small change in our projected Saturday dinner...I opted for another serving of the pasta rustica from our lunch---fresh tomatoes, snipped basil--almost the last of both crops, brought in amidst decidedly chilly breezes and showers, the soggy leaves forbearing to crackle underfoot, but making their way into the house upon damp feet.

Chris ate both little lamb racks, with a generous spoonful of an eerie-green mint jelly, the bottom third of the little jar; it emerged from the very cold back of the fridge with a crisp inch of pale-green sugar paste on top. A quick scrape of that into the garbage, and removal of errant sugarcrumbs. I STILL cannot grasp putting a Wrigley's taste onto smoked meat, but our differences just make life ever more interesting.

He also made a detour past the simmering pot of pear preserves on his way back to the den, piling the warm little slivers atop his slice of buttery poundcake.

GREAT post!