Dinner! 2005

[lesfen]

Lesfen, how were those brats? Are you warmed up yet?  I'm nowhere near as brave as you are.  My grill is under the cover on the patio waiting for the warm weather again. 

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Mine is still on my porch, under a cover, and will remain there until after Christmas. We usually have a second Christmas dinner the day after with my step-son and I always grill up some pork tenderloins.

The brats were wonderful! I boiled them off in some beer and water and then threw them on the grill until they were crispy. Nothing fancy. The wind didn't kick up until well after we were in bed, so the actual grilling went off without a hitch. Served them up on some squishy hot dog buns with spicy mustard and tater tots. Oh yes. Tater tots. Unfortunately they were baked, as I didn't want to stink up the house with the deep fryer, but they were still really good. My husband had some coleslaw and I had some cottage cheese on the side. At the end of the day it was all about the comfort food.

[I_call_the_duck]

...Oh yes.  Tater tots...

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I may lose some credibility as a foodie, but I love Tater Tots.

[Toliver]

...Oh yes.  Tater tots...

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I may lose some credibility as a foodie, but I love Tater Tots.

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Join the crowd:

"The Tater Tot Thread, Creative Uses for The Little Buggers"

[liamsaunt]

Last night we had butternut squash lasagna and a spinach salad. Very comforting and good.

[avocado]

As I type, I'm sipping homemade avgolemono soup out of a huge mug. So simple warm and comforting, perfect for a bitter cold night when I'm sure I'm coming down with something.

[christine007]

I reheated my potato gratin and added more cheese and butter... It was even better the second time around.

now, I'm craving a big midwestern brat on an onion roll with a spicy mustard.. so good!

[kaneel]

I am new to this board so i don't how to upload pics yet.

I have been amazed by all of your pics.

America eats good baby...

Last night we had rice with chinese long beans and chinese syle chicken that my husband made.

AShiana

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Hello and welcome!! We love to see photos so please check out this tutorial,<Photo Instructions > it will help you post photos.. I never took the time to learn photoshop and am not the most "technical" person in the room or any room for that matter..But posting pictures here has been rather smooth for me..

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Thank you Daniel

I will definitely work on posting my pics while i admire everyone else's

Your food always look so good that i would definitely wanna be on your guest list

Ashiana

[Shalmanese]

Starter was a Tuna Salad with Cos Lettuce, Avocado, Tomatos and Croutons.

Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine with Polenta

I'm very slowly improving my presentation and, IMHO, this is the first braise I've done that doesn't look like turds.

Dessert was Cherry Frozen Yogurt and Cherry Sorbet (we forgot we had 3lb of cherries in the fridge until it was a bit overripe for eating out of hand).

Edited December 10, 2005 by Shalmanese (log)

[milli]

Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine with Polenta

Shalmanese, that picture is lovely... just wanna grab the lamb and...

[Daniel]

Starter was a Tuna Salad with Cos Lettuce, Avocado, Tomatos and Croutons.

Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine with Polenta

I'm very slowly improving my presentation and, IMHO, this is the first braise I've done that doesn't look like turds.

Dessert was Cherry Frozen Yogurt and Cherry Sorbet (we forgot we had 3lb of cherries in the fridge until it was a bit overripe for eating out of hand).

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That does look really pretty.. I think thats the nicest looking lamb shank I have seen on Egullet.. Its missing the slime that my picture had and most do..

[Shalmanese]

I think the key was that after the braise, I seperated the meat from the veggies from the sauce, degreased the sauce and reduced it down. Because the meat was out in the open, it dried out and there was no slime.

Also, if you have a full service butcher, I highly reccomend you get him to cut the shank above the knuckle if possible (but still give you the knuckle!). I belatedly found out that my shanks were slightly too big to fit into my pot so a few minutes with a hacksaw and the knuckle was off. Because the bone marrow was exposed, the sauce had an incredible rich, marrowy flavour which I loved and I could suck out the marrow after I was finished with the shank.

[Daniel]

I think the key was that after the braise, I seperated the meat from the veggies from the sauce, degreased the sauce and reduced it down. Because the meat was out in the open, it dried out and there was no slime.

Also, if you have a full service butcher, I highly reccomend you get him to cut the shank above the knuckle if possible (but still give you the knuckle!). I belatedly found out that my shanks were slightly too big to fit into my pot so a few minutes with a hacksaw and the knuckle was off. Because the bone marrow was exposed, the sauce had an incredible rich, marrowy flavour which I loved and I could suck out the marrow after I was finished with the shank.

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Degreased the sauce? Did you use a gravy strainer..

[Shalmanese]

I think the key was that after the braise, I seperated the meat from the veggies from the sauce, degreased the sauce and reduced it down. Because the meat was out in the open, it dried out and there was no slime.

Degreased the sauce? Did you use a gravy strainer..

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No, I'm not Thomas Keller like in my dislike of all impurities in sauces. I just periodically skimmed any surface fat off the braise every hour or so, chilled it in the fridge to harden the fat and returned the sauce portion back to the pot. By the end, the sauce was relatively grease free and I just had to spoon out a couple of visible blobs.

[Susan in FL]

Starter was a Tuna Salad with Cos Lettuce, Avocado, Tomatos and Croutons.

Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine with Polenta

I'm very slowly improving my presentation and, IMHO, this is the first braise I've done that doesn't look like turds.

Dessert was Cherry Frozen Yogurt and Cherry Sorbet (we forgot we had 3lb of cherries in the fridge until it was a bit overripe for eating out of hand).

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That looks sensational!

I think thats the nicest looking lamb shank I have seen on  Egullet.

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I agree, and thanks for the additional discussion. Now I want lamb shanks.

[*Deborah*]

I've been absent from this thread too long! haven't been cooking much for the past several weeks.

Here is a Thai green curry I made almost two weeks ago, now...I didn't do it according to Hoyle: I "velveted" the chicken pieces and browned them rather than letting them cook in the sauce. It was not authentic but it was damn tasty and tender. I used a humble Bell pepper for texture and colour, again not authentic. Oh well. It was delicious!

And last night after serious Christmas shopping, I settled down (at around 11:30 ) with some Terra Breads Cranberry and Pistachio bread, some Cranberry & Peppercorn Boursin, and some Pâté au Cognac, and the cutest pear in the history of agriculture. (I promise I got the bread away before *Ziggy Palffy* licked it )

Now I have to go back and look at all the wonderful things you guys have been making!

Edited December 10, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[Alinka]

Finally, finally, finally I got around to making a souffle. The task is particularly difficult because I have never tasted one before, so I have no idea if it was right. My friend, however, and I liked it regardless . Very chocolaty.

So here's what it looked like coming out of the oven:

My bite:

He opted for whipped cream:

Before I could put the dollop of whipped cream on top, it kind of collapsed. That doesn't seem right .

[Megan Blocker]

That looks damn good, Alinka - way to go!

Was it your whipped cream that collapsed, or the souffle?

Edited December 11, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)

[tejon]

Tonight we invited friends over and made tamales. Chips, salsa, guacamole and fresh corn tamales while everyone rolled and tied, sangria to fortify us all while waiting for them to steam, then cabbage and orange slaw with the finished bundles of goodness. Princess cake after we all sat back and let it settle for a while.

Chicken with cilantro and cotija cheese, sweet masa with cajete, and pork with anchos:

Princess cake (birthday cake for Mr. tejon and me):

Edited December 11, 2005 by tejon (log)

[Daniel]

Wow, how pretty Tejon..

[Alinka]

Was it your whipped cream that collapsed, or the souffle?

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The souffle did. The cream simply melted . Thanks, Megan!

[Shalmanese]

Yeah, thats normal. When making a souffle, the diners wait for the dish, not the other way around. Even 10 or 15 minutes after taking out of the oven can mean significant deflation. This presents some tricky logistical challenges if your plan on doing elegant plating.

[hzrt8w]

Kung Pao Chicken - classical Sichuan dish, with diced chicken, red bell pepper, green onions, peanuts, and dry red peppers with Sichuan peppercorns.

For a pictorial recipe, click here.

[Daniel]

hzrt8w,

You really should be commended for what a tireless amazing job you do posting all of these pictorials.. Thank you so much for introducing me and many others to Chinese Cooking.. Your contributioins are priceless..

[percyn]

Nice souffle Alina !!

Kathy, is that cake topped with Marzipan (....hmmm...marzipan)?

I am catching up on my posts for the week. I did not have many opportunities to cook lately and the coming week looks bleek as well (Christmas parties and dining at per se coming up).

So this is what I had sometime this past week...

Moo Shu Pork

Shrimp Pad Thai (minus peanuts...wife did not want them)

Philly Cheesesteak

The Pad Thai is home cooked, the rest is takeout

[Abra]

Tejon, is that cake from the Village Baker's Wife? It's beautiful!

And Swisskaese, thanks for the link to Surfas. I hadn't seen them before, and not only do they have my favorite marzipan, but also the astounding corbezzolo honey, and at a much better price than Zingerman's. Cool site.

Edited December 11, 2005 by Abra (log)