Dinner! 2007

[rarerollingobject]

Something light-ish for a warm New Years' day in Sydney; Nam Khao Tod (Fried Crispy Rice Balls and Pork Salad).

- with pork mince poached in stock as no sour sausage on hand

- with cashew nuts instead of peanuts

- no pork skin

- with shredded makrut leaves, just because I like them

- with chilli added at the table as boyfriend is a chilli wimp (though he DID accidentally chew on one of the long dried ones)

But still good!

(NOTE FROM MANAGEMENT: This topic is a continuation of Dinner! 2006)

Edited September 8, 2012 by Chris Hennes
Added management note. (log)

[Pan]

Padang fish curry (gulai ikan masin): tender tilapia fillets simmered in a bright yellow coconut milk curry, gently seasoned with kaffir lime leaves and Thai chilies.

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"Masin" means salty. Was there salt in the dish?

Braised lemongrass long beans (kacang panjang belacan): the long beans were quickly braised in a spice paste, seasoned with sugar and black soy sauce, and simmered until dry. This dish had more chile heat than I intended - most of the guests mixed the beans with rice.

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More chile than you wanted was probably authentic, but you mention black soy sauce but not belacan (shrimp paste). Was there belacan in the dish? Belacan dishes have lots of belacan in them, and it makes them brown.

Edited January 1, 2007 by Pan (log)

[suzilightning]

last night was our christmas celebration and that included dinner:

roasted rack of venison with a sweet pepper and jalapeno relish

potatoes au gratin

steamed broccoli with garlic and olive oil

leroy-duval champagne

chocolate truffles

then the presents...

[C. sapidus]

"Masin" means salty. Was there salt in the dish?

Yes, there was salt in the dish, although it wasn’t particularly salty. Should it have been?

More chile than you wanted was probably authentic, but you mention black soy sauce but not belacan (shrimp paste). Was there belacan in the dish? Belacan dishes have lots of belacan in them, and it makes them brown.

The sauce was brown from the shrimp paste, but I used Thai (gapi) rather than belacan. Our Asian grocery does carry belacan. I wonder how different kinds of shrimp paste affect the final flavor of the dish.

Percy: Thanks! Enjoy the subtropical sun, return home, cook and take lots of pictures.

Doddie: Thank you! If you are willing to travel from South Korea to Maryland, we would be most ungracious not to make dinner for you.

Marcia: Nice-looking meals!

[Ann_T]

I was going through withdrawal the last few days with Egullet down. Missed reading about and seeing all the beautiful meals.

Bruce As always your food looks delicious.

Marcia Steak Diane and roasted cauliflower sounds great.

Our New Year's tradition has always been to stay in and have Lobster and Champagne for dinner. So last night was no expection. I bought four 1 /14 pound lobsters for the two of us. After they were boiled I split them and then finished them off on the grill.

[Pan]

"Masin" means salty. Was there salt in the dish?

Yes, there was salt in the dish, although it wasn’t particularly salty. Should it have been?[...]

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I really don't know, because I've never before heard of a dish called "gulai masin." Indonesian and Malaysian curries I've had shouldn't be particularly salty, because the salt should never stand out from the aromatic rempah (spicy mixture) profile. If I hadn't seen a recipe, I would have wondered if the curry was meant to be made with salted, dried fish (called "ikan kering" [dried fish], at least in Malaysia).

Edited January 1, 2007 by Pan (log)

[Truc]

I think it would be fittign that my first post be here. Just alittle about me, i used to be in the restaurant industry and im taking a "break" at the moment to go back to school and study some business. Im not sure if I will continue inthe cooking arena but I know I will stay close to the food industry. I came back from working in France and everything was just different when I got back. Anyway I was hankering to make something so i whipped something up the other day andthis is what I got. Its some of my favourite flavour combos.

This is a steak au poivre, with caramelised onion and sauteed pdt, red wine sauce, quenelle of blue cheese whipped cream and wilted arugula (a cause to the heat from beef) on top! Enjoy!

[percyn]

Welcome Truc! Good first post and the picture of your dish certainly conveys your expertise.

[hathor]

Happy New Year!! Hope everyone's holiday was tasty and full of laughter!

I've just emerged from a week long food orgy....too long to post here!!

I belong in the lobster for New Year's camp, as well, so I went with butter poached lobster.

Next year, I'll poach....but without the butter mount...its just toooo...buttery. And we all know that next year is gonna be here in a blink of the eye!

Buon' Anno!!

[percyn]

After a big brunch, I wanted something light, so I made

BLT on left over Brioche

[Megan Blocker]

Hathor, I love the shot of the poaching butter!

I've been traveling a bit the last few weeks...went to Minnesota (my aunt and uncle live in Red Wing) for Christmas, and we had standing rib roast (18 pounds!), popovers, and roast winter veggies for dinner. I was in charge of the popovers and veggies...Aunt Joan did the roast, which was wonderful. We didn't have a pan big enough to cook the whole beast at once, so we cut it in half. Here it is before surgery:

And after...

The veggies (butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, and brussels sprouts, roasted and then glazed with balsamic, topped with some parsley):

Since I've been back, I've made a few meals. The other night, it was roast chicken and gratin dauphinois.

One afternoon a few weeks back, it was carbonara with peas and chicken!

I think I'm all caught up now...

[C. sapidus]

Ann_T: Thank you – that lobster looks delicious!

Megan: Welcome back – it looks like you had some hearty food over the holidays.

Truc: Welcome to eGullet and to Dinner!

Red-braised beef with daikon (hong shao niu rou), stir-fried Swiss chard with garlic, and microwave “Texas mashed potatoes”. More information on Chinese eats at home, post #442 (click).

[Jensen]

I was too hungry to wait for a photo but tonight's dinner was a creamy potato-cauliflower potage. A perfect meal for the post-holiday season...

[BryanZ]

I've been continuing to cook out of the Bouchon cookbook with the rest of the family. Yesterday, we spent a couple hours knocking off a few recipes, today, more time on more recipes. I decided to take pictures for the sake of the Bouchon Cookbook thread but thought I'd post here, too. Again, I'm really unhappy with the image quality because my lighting is all off, but I do what I can.

From foreground to back:

Roasted beet salad, red onions, cara cara oranges

Duck breast, mustard sauce, wilted spinach

Cauliflower gratin

(The asparagus weren't at all from the cookbook)

Then a series of desserts we put together this evening:

Creme caramel

Tarte tatin

My mother strategically placed that apple in the background, not me.

Profiteroles

Everything except for the ice cream was done in-house. For those interested, I'll be posting critical commentary on the recipes and results in the Bouchon Cookbook thread.

[Megan Blocker]

Everything except for the ice cream was done in-house.  For those interested, I'll be posting critical commentary on the recipes and results in the Bouchon Cookbook thread.

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Yes, please! I got the Bouchon cookbook for Christmas, and the cauliflower gratin was one of the first things that struck me. And my little bro just dies for profiteroles, will have to make those at some point...

[Ann_T]

Truc Gorgeous steak.

Judith Your lobster looks amazing. I seriously debated whether to poach ours in butter, but decided to go the easy way. I'd still like to try this method at least once.

Megan Looks like you have been eating well. That Standing Rib roast is a thing of beauty.

Bryan Your dinner looks wonderful. I have that cookbook but haven't cooked anything out of it yet. I guess I need to. Soon.

Dinner last night was Greek seasoned baby back ribs. I pre-salted the ribs on Sunday. Served with a Greek Potato, Green Bean and Zucchini Stew.

Bread and Butter Pudding with a caramel sauce for dessert.

[Shaya]

I've been away awhile, home to Montreal, where I did a lot of cooking and a lot of eating. I got out for two great meals which I shall describe on these two threads: Le Club Chasse et Peche and L'atelier.

I also made some of the meals for the family.

One Night we had:

Spinach Salad with Feta Dressing - my Mom had eaten this at a restaurant recently, and she loved it so much she wanted to reproduce it at home; I happily obliged, and it was great

Two Lasagnas:

Bolognese

Ricotta-Spinach

Alinka's Chocolate Cookies

This was another night's menu:

Risotto with Saffron, Pancetta and Mushrooms

Osso Buco - with some of the most beautiful veal shanks, from the Charlevoix region of Quebec.

Percy's Molten Lava Cakes with Hagen Dazs Vanilla - a HUGE hit; my brother in law went for seconds, and then thirds the following night

Another day I made some of my favorite snacks:

Sambousak Mal Tawa - filled with chickpeas, onions and spices; this is something my Grandmother has always prepared for me to bring back on the airplane, but as she can no longer really cook, I've taken the torch from her, happily.

Edited January 3, 2007 by Shaya (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Shaya, those veal shanks are astonishing -- bulbous, even. I've never seen anything like them. What osso bucco recipe did you use?

Oh, and here's the link to Percy's molten chocolate cakes.

[Marlene]

Dinner last night was Greek seasoned baby back ribs.  I pre-salted the ribs on Sunday.  Served with a Greek Potato, Green Bean and Zucchini Stew.

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Ann, my husband adores greek ribs. How did you season and cook these?

[hathor]

Just gorgeous photos and meals everyone! I'm getting smarter, I'm reading this thread when dinner is just about ready.

Megan, I thought of you on Christmas Eve...there were brussel sprouts!

What's going to happen when pomegranate season is over?? They add such a 'bright' component to a dish. That salad of yours, Shaya, has exactly the right amount of those little jewels.

Last night: Fiery sauted shrimp (7 or 8 alarm fire) with julienned snow peas on saffron rice and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.

[Megan Blocker]

I'm flattered, Judith!

Question - what did you use to give your shrimp the heat?

[shengcai]

Bread and Butter Pudding with a caramel sauce for dessert.

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Ann, I'm absolutely drooling over this bread and butter pudding, as it is one of my favorite desserts. Would you please share this recipe?

[C. sapidus]

Welcome back, Shaya! You and your dinners were missed.

We had another Cradle of Flavor dinner tonight.

Fried potatoes with chile-shallot sambal (kentang balado - Indonesia - front right): deep-fried baby Yukon Gold wedges topped with a fried chile sambal. We will definitely make this again.

Pan-seared flounder (chuan-chuan – Malaysia - middle): The recipe called for mackerel, but when we defrosted the mackerel it was, um, gross, so we used flounder fillets. The topping was delicious: ginger matchsticks sauteed with slices of red onion, garlic, and chilies, and finished with black and regular soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and Chinkiang vinegar.

Stir-fried baby bok choy with garlic and chilies (tumis sayur - back left): Pretty self-explanatory.

[Ann_T]

Shaya, I've missed you and your wonderful meals and photos. I bet your family is sorry that you had to go back home.

Ann, my husband adores greek ribs.  How did you season and cook these?

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Marlene, I posted the basic recipe on Recipe Gullet.

Ann, I'm absolutely drooling over this bread and butter pudding, as it is one of my favorite desserts. Would you please share this recipe?

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Shengcai, My Bread and Butter Pudding recipe is also on Recipe Gullet.

Dinner tonight was Cheese Ravioli,made using wonton skins with some of the sourdough bread I baked today.

Ann

[Marlene]

Excellent Ann, thanks. Must they be grilled or would they work just as well baked in the oven?

edited to add, I made your fried chicken cutlets tonight!

Edited January 3, 2007 by Marlene (log)