Dinner! 2005

[Eden]

chanterelle soup tonight, with madeira, cognac, heavy cream & good stock: autumny velvety goodness!

we started with a caprese-oid salad made with a last heirloom tomato from the farmers market, fresh mozzarella & then a pesto drizzle because I hadn't planned this so there was no basil in the house...

dessert was homemade pumpkin ice-cream (I have the best husband!) with dillettante's Ephemera chocolate sauce.

[Daniel]

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner.. We chose the majority of dishes from the Inn at Little Washington Cookbook.. These were the first things I tried from the book, but I was not nervous.. The recipes are gorgeous...

We started with endive salad, with lemon cream dressing and pomegranates..

The dressing was awesome.. The bitterness of the endive with the creamy dressing and the bite of the pomegranate..

Next we had wild mushroom napoleons with frisee... The Philo dough was brushed with olive oil, parm, and thyme in between layers.. Served with cream white button mushroom puree.. Fantastic!!! One of the best things I have made..

Cool shot:

Here you can see the cream sauce..

Next Course:

Spinach Malfatti.. Malfatti is a dumpling made with egg, ricotta, spinach, and a little flour. Rolled, then boiled for 7 minutes. Served on top of my tomato sauce..

Main:

Beef Filet served with a veal demi glace with mushrooms and bits of country ham..Country Ham and fontina stuffed raviolis: This was another dish that surprised me how good it was.. In the running for being my best dish...

For dessert: We had a bitter sweet panna cotta.. Served with a shot of a cold chocolate drink.. This could also be poured into the dish..

The final dessert was really good too.. Puff pastry with bannana custard.. Served with sliced bannana brulee on top.. Served along side homemade coconut ice cream.. Another great dish..

We were were surprised to have my sister and her man come stop by.. It was a great night.. Love the cookbook..

Edited November 6, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Oh. My. God. Daniel, that looks like an amazing meal - your family is lucky to have you! I've got to get my brother cooking...

[spaghetttti]

Man oh man, I SO want to hop on the next flight to NYC! Daniel & Megan can I come and hang out with you?

[Pan]

Daniel, I'm really impressed!!!!

[Susan in FL]

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner...

I wish you were my son.

[Daniel]

Thank you everyone.. You are all very nice.. I am pretty proud of the job we did tonight.. A couple of dishes were pretty challenging but we handled them well. The place was clean, the courses came out whenever I wanted them to. Its no longer stressfull to have people over.

Edited November 6, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[the g-man]

^ Daniel, you are on fire!

Here is what we cooked up tonight:

Scallop ceviche with arugula and grapefruit salad:

Duck with chanterelles + fig sauce and jicama slaw:

Washed down with a bottle of 2000 Tommasi Amarone. Very nice.

[racheld]

Thank you so much, Daniel.  Well, you know racheld likes the details 

←

Yummy details. Colorful and beautiful and tongue-aching and WOW details.

The sambal (until eG I thought Sambal was The stuff, like Worcestershire, like French's mustard---I had no idea it was a generic, which is too tame and too common a term for the sublime combination of heat and tart and dense and downright DELICIOUS that all the permutations of SAMBAL can be) was just gorgeous, and I can think of forty-eleven things in my pantry, freezers and fridge that would be mightily improved and greatly elevated by just SITTING beside that sambal.

The one which first got my taste attention is Sambal Oelek, a little plastic jar of the freshest-pepper taste, the best of all peppers distilled into one bright red sauce, with a lovely bite in the mouth, then a WHACK to the tonsils and sinuses as it clears the way for more of that good stuff. I mentioned to one of our favorite waiters at our Chinese restaurant that I liked it, and he seemed impressed that I even knew the word. He's from Malaysia, and told me of many lovely combinations which they make at home.

But I wanna know about YOURS....please. The combo in the molcajete (sorry I know only the Mexican term for that wonderful mortar/pestle kitchen tool which has such a long and glorious history) looked scrumptious---was it a seasoning, a sauce---what? And the green sambal. Words aren't enough now. Though I rattle off more than most. Don't have any more.

But we did have "beer can" chicken minus the beer---Chris found a pretty chrome-looking two chicken rack today, with two can-holders; it's a heavy little dude, and we sat two plump chickens on it for a sojourn through the Weber...the sauce DID slide right down off the skin in several places. Gravity just ain't the same when you're lying down as it is when you're standing up. It was VERY tasty and tender, with a kidney bean/Vidalia salad and some delish bread made by DD this a.m. He lifted off the grill lid, and there sat those two nice browny-maroon chickens, upright and back to back, like they were having a tiff, or even about to take twenty paces and fire at will. Next time, we'll let 'em face each other and maybe chat to pass the time.

The pretty silvery rack turned a dingy brown from all the smoke, though. I put it into a white garbage baggie with a cup of water so it will scrub clean easily tomorrow. We're lazy on Saturdays.

DANIEL, Son, you never cease to amaze. I gotta get another look and look and look at those pictures...can't take it all in. More tomorrow. And now I AM speechless.

[percyn]

Yesterday my wife somewhat surprised me by saying she wanted to cook dinner...after giving it some thought, I agreed

Dinner consisted of:

Salad - Lettuce, carrots, spring onions, tomatoes and topped with jalsberg cheese and thousand island

Shitake Chicken on Basmati Rice - Not bad...considering she cooks a few meals a year.

Dessert - Grand Marnier marinated Rasberries and Strawberries with Hershey ice cream

Cheers

Percy

[little ms foodie]

Daniel it all looks great but the mushroom napoleons would definately be my favorite, wow!!

g-man, that wine sounds delish!!! how is the 2000 drinking??

not really dinner but we were invited to a party with a Northwest theme, we made the hot pepper wings with cilantro sour cream (not shown) from Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen book

[*Deborah*]

Daniel...how many times will you make my jaw just drop? Beautiful.

g-man, I love the presentation with the scallops, I've been craving scallops these days, and that's also just beautiful. What was in your ceviche?

[Chufi]

We were were surprised to have my sister and her man come stop by..  It was a great night.. Love the cookbook..

←

If I was your sister, I would show up at your place unannounced too.. often.. hoping there would be some of that gorgeous food left over for me.. begging even maybe

[monavano]

Spaghettti, gorgeous curry dish. Your pics look great. And Daniel, when are you going to open a restaurant.? Holy moly. I thought I was looking over a Studio Kitchen degustation menu.

Props to all.

Edited November 6, 2005 by monavano (log)

[monavano]

On a gorgeous fall day (ok....in Va I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt) your mind turns to the smell of chicken soup wafting in the home for hours.

With the stock I made Italian Wedding Soup. Small meatballs, shredded chicken, pasta (ditalini today, normally I use those little stars), and escarole.I add a parmasean rind to the stock. It just adds the slightest piquant hint of cheese.

[Daniel]

Beautiful, Monavano.. I have been wanting to make meatballs in chicken soup for a couple of weeks now.. Looks really good..

[monavano]

Daniel, I used a mellon baller for uniform, if not very round!, meatballs. With your skills, it should be a good Italian Wedding Soup.

Also, some add an egg/parm mix. I love this, but my husband prefers the soup without it.

It's a keeper.

I even make this with shortcuts. I've made it with store bought chicken stock and leftovr meatballs (from a spaghetti dinner). Yeah, oh yeah. Just chop those big suckers up, add small pasta and the egg/parm mix and in under a half hour you've got wedding soup.

[the g-man]

g-man, I love the presentation with the scallops, I've been craving scallops these days, and that's also just beautiful. What was in your ceviche?

←

thanks! the ceviche vinaigrette had different citrus juices, a little jalopeno, some diced red pepper, and a bit of XVO.

g-man, that wine sounds delish!!! how is the 2000 drinking??

This bottle was a gift that I accidentally cracked open on Friday night at about 1 a.m. before I realized what a nice bottle of wine it is... whoops. After a glass I realized that this wine could have been saved for a better occasion than watching Star Wars after stumbling home from the bar in the middle of the night. So the cork went back in and we cooked a feast a little more worthy of the Amarone the next night. I am no wine expert, but this was a beautiful, truffley, chocolately Italian red.

[Daniel]

We had my girls parents over tonight for "Sunday Sauce".. We made the lobster in brandy sauce from the Inn at Little Washington.. I was so shocked to see her handle a live lobster.. A champ, A champ this girl is.. She grabbed the lobster and ripped the claws off.. She then, unflinchingly seperated the tail with a, Twist..

Here is Lobster Pan Cooked with Brandy Sauce...Also carrots and what nots..

Next course..

I have been wanting to make this for some time now.. And I knew. my girls father would appreciate this dish almost more then me.. Tripes boiled in milk, onions and mace.. Then cooked in a buttery ruex and topped with panko, then served in individual gratins that I broiled for 15 minutes.. This dish was oustanding... Thank you Fergus Henderson for the recipe...

I had left overs from this course so i made them again to serve with the oxtail.. Forget it was tripes and pretend I prepared shoelaces in this sauce, you would still love it..

I feel bad there are no bite shots of this.. You cant really see whats going on under the crust of buttery boiling panko.. Its honeycombed pieces of cow calamari.. Chewy, long pieces of buttery goodness.. So happy I have another pound of tripes in the fridge..

Last Course:

I had oxtails soaking in Red Wine since Thursday.. Browned on each side, took them out, shweated vegetable,s leeks, onions, carrots, celery... Put the tails back in added Red Wine and bake at 350 for 1:45..

I joked, this was Babe the Blue Ox...

Here it is plated.. We have so much left over oxtail.. We plated four dishes..

Rough draft..

Needs one last wipe..

We were going to make raviolis but we figured the big square pastas would get torn apart amongst the oxtails.. Eating oxtails is free for all.. So you dont need to worry about smushing raviolis during the "tornado of fingernails and fangs"...

Step one:

Take shallots, fontina cheese, balsamic vinegar,cream ,and parm,, Cook and then cool the mixture for a few hours.. Then dice a little maple ham, follow the photos..

Step two :

Close

Step Three :

Close a little better like

Dessert:

Coconut Custard from last night..

Pierre Hermes Apple Sabayon.. .. It was obnoxious..

Edited November 7, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[FoodMan]

I just posted the recipe, you can find it here: Sausage, Ricotta and Spinach Clazones

andrea another lovely calzone filling is lefotver eggplant caponata with smoked mozzarella.

I will post the ricotta recipe I use shortly.

←

Click here for the ricotta recipe.

[FoodMan]

Daniel-

That dinner looks awsome, luscious and rich! Can I have more detail about the apple sabayon? Looks like a lovely fall pudding.

Saturday:

Pork larb

Sticky rice

Steamed eggs (why oh why did I ever cook hard cooked eggs any other way?)

Thai Chile jam

Sunday's mostly Sicilian dinner:

Potato, roasted garlic and rosemary focaccia

Spaghetti with Almonds and bread crumbs

Sicilian Shrimp with Marsala sauce

The ultimate bannana split, with homemade chocolate ice cream, fresh whipped cream, chocolate sauce and Pierre Herme chocolate meringue kisses

[Daniel]

Daniel-

That dinner looks awsome, luscious and rich! Can I have more detail about the apple sabayon? Looks like a lovely fall pudding.

←

Great dinner.. Foodman... The amount of bread I would have dunked into your Sicilian Shrimp would have been epic... To go into further detail i would say.. The sabayon is like a regular sabayon, but when it comes time to add wine, add apple cider instead.. I poured sabayon over a ginger bread, apple,vanilla, sliced almond, sugar pudding.. It was great..

I see you added almonds to the spaghetti.. That really interesting.. I have these macadamia nuts and was wondering what to do with it.. I was thinking either pasta or with tripe.. A sage and butter sauce with a ravioli stuffed with macadamia and some white fish puree might be great..

Edit to talk about Your shrimp

Edited November 7, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[FoodMan]

Daniel-

That dinner looks awsome, luscious and rich! Can I have more detail about the apple sabayon? Looks like a lovely fall pudding.

←

Great dinner.. Foodman... To go into further detail i would say.. The sabayon is like a regular sabayon, but when it comes time to add wine, add apple cider instead.. I poured sabayon over a ginger bread, apple,vanilla, sliced almond, sugar pudding.. It was great..

I see you added almonds to the spaghetti.. That really interesting.. I have these macadamia nuts and was wondering what to do with it.. I was thinking either pasta or with tripe.. But a buttery ravioli stuffed with macadamia and some white fish puree might be great..

←

Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering what that gooey pudding thing was.

[FoodMan]

Daniel-

That dinner looks awsome, luscious and rich! Can I have more detail about the apple sabayon? Looks like a lovely fall pudding.

←

I see you added almonds to the spaghetti.. That really interesting.. I have these macadamia nuts and was wondering what to do with it.. I was thinking either pasta or with tripe.. A sage and butter sauce with a ravioli stuffed with macadamia and some white fish puree might be great..

Edit to talk about Your shrimp

←

or macadamia brittle, macadamia crusted fish, chcolate chip macadamia cookies.....but I do like the ravioli idea

[Pan]

Elie, you've been doing some good cooking, from the looks of it!

I'm not sure whether I've had steamed eggs before. How are they superior to boiled eggs?