Dinner! 2007

[Ling]

So many beautiful meals here, but oh that sauce--

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--I want to drink it!

[D90]

wow everything looks great on here, I havent been on here much latey I must remeber to do so.

This was my first homemade meal of the new year, quick and simple..

Seared Kobe Beef (I know it looks over done but it really was not ) with just abit of sauce, boiled peeled and pan fried prawns with a side of steamed rice and baby bok choy drizzled with sesame seed oil.

I bought a few packs of Kobe Yakiniku which was a good deal at 20% off, too bad they were sold out of the premium cut. I also forgot my credit cards at home on the last day of their sale, 45min befor closing and it was the 31st so no steaks for me which were 30% off but of course they would of been alot more $$$.

Edited January 3, 2007 by D90 (log)

[Shaya]

Thanks for the welcome back, it's always nice to know you're loved .

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

I know, Chris. I had never seen such beauties either. With my family the priorities are that the food be clean, not greasy and not fatty. Somehow we grew up without so much as butter on the table, let alone on the pan. So my sweetie de-fatted the shanks before we tied them up.

I pretty much used Marcella's version with a few modifications in technique: mirepoix, herbs, zest, stock, wine, gremolata at the end. I also braised in the oven with some parchment pressed against the meat, tucked under the lid. When they were cooked, I strained and defatted the braising liquid, added some more wine and stock and reduced to a nice sauce.

[hathor]

I'm flattered, Judith!

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

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Some dried chili peppers and a habenero (sp?) pepper. I'm also currently 'in love' with smoked Spanish paprika, not spicy but it seems to lift the chili pepper flavor.

[hathor]

I pretty much used Marcella's version with a few modifications in technique:  mirepoix, herbs, zest, stock, wine, gremolata at the end.  I also braised in the oven with some parchment pressed against the meat, tucked under the lid.  When they were cooked, I strained and defatted the braising liquid, added some more wine and stock and reduced to a nice sauce.

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Oh, Shaya, trust me...we all look forward to your meals! I love osso bucco, when our son was little he would beg me to make 'that soft meat'.

I have a question: what does the paper under the lid do? I used that technique for the first time making octopus over the holidays. I just followed the recipe, but I didn't understand why I was doing it.

[MiFi]

X-Mass Dinner: Prime Grade Angus Rib Roast for Two

...with Gryeure-Creme Fraiche Gratin

leftovers were devine

Small Plates for New Year's Eve

French Onion Gratin Soup for New Year's Day

[Megan Blocker]

...with Gryeure-Creme Fraiche Gratin

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MiFi, it looks like you have mastered the art of the gratin...any chance you could post your tips/tricks/how-to's to the Au Gratin Challenged topic?

[BRM]

Right before christmas my wife and I had dinner at Splendido's in Toronto. We had a venison and foie gras terrine there that was fabulous. I tried my own version for New year's eve. I was pretty happy with how this turned out. Our waiter told us that, at the restaurant, their nickname for this dish is mosaic. So that's what I called mine.

Lamb and foie gras 'mosaic'

[racheld]

Bread and Butter Pudding with a caramel sauce for dessert.

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Official First DIVE of 2007, tied by a luscious lounge atop Bryan's creme caramel. WELL DONE, All.

[Ann_T]

Thanks Rachel.

Right before christmas my wife and I had dinner at Splendido's in Toronto.  We had a venison and foie gras terrine there that was fabulous.  I tried my own version for New year's eve.  I was pretty happy with how this turned out.  Our waiter told us that, at the restaurant, their nickname for this dish is mosaic.  So that's what I called mine.

Lamb and foie gras 'mosaic'

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Wow! Not only is that beautiful but it sounds delicious too. I love your plates.

It has been years since we ate at Splendido's.

Ann

Edited January 4, 2007 by Ann_T (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Made pork tenderloin tonight (more info on this topic), and ate it with some leftover gratin dauphinois and some peas tossed with brown butter, sage, and parmesan.

Got a new camera for Christmas, and am still waiting for the manual to arrive in the box o' presents I shipped back (the camera itself, I brought in my bag with me), so I haven't quite mastered it yet.

[Sentiamo]

I'm flattered, Judith!

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

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Some dried chili peppers and a habenero (sp?) pepper. I'm also currently 'in love' with smoked Spanish paprika, not spicy but it seems to lift the chili pepper flavor.

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Hah!! Another smoked paprika fan. Gotta get more people using this beautiful flavour.

I had pork with some tiny potatos, spinach and bacon all cooked off in a lovely broth flavoured with sweet smoked paprika a couple of days ago.

I have some gorgeous La Chinata S/P but the one I used this time was created by a lovely young man who uses my commercial kitchen to produce all manner of flavours in our off hours. It was worthy. And he has a great future.

[sadistick]

Great looking dinners everyone...

Mifi great lookin tuna dish, was there any lime involved?

BRM, glad you liked Splendido, one of my fav's. Lamb dish looks great.

[Ann_T]

Dinner was grilled rack of lamb with Parisienne potatoes, zucchini and golden turnips.

[Domestic Goddess]

Shaya - I was intrigued with your Sambousak Mal Tawa. Can you share the recipe please?

[Chufi]

Mmm, pork tenderloin. Haven't had that in a looong time!

One of our Christmas dinners was a roast leg of venison. After the guests had left, I scraped every little bit of meat from the bone, and turned that (together with some roast butternut squash and caramelized onions) into pastastuffing. Put the little things in the freezer and tonight, that was dinner:

I also made some braised endive (curly and belgian) with roasted ellow pepper, onions and garlic, pinenuts and raisins. Unexpectedly good!

[Pontormo]

I pretty much used Marcella's version with a few modifications in technique:..I also braised in the oven with some parchment pressed against the meat, tucked under the lid...

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...I have a question: what does the paper under the lid do? I used that technique for the first time making octopus over the holidays. I just followed the recipe, but I didn't understand why I was doing it.

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Not Shaya, but it's my understanding that 1) you're creating a stronger seal than you'll achieve with the lid alone; 2) especially with parchment paper vs. a paper bag, you'll find vapor collecting upon the inner surface, gradually building into globs of moisture that become so heavy they're destined to fall back into the braise. This kind of moistening circulation is behind the design of the cast iron lids on Staub whose stubby little stalactites do the same work for you, only for a lot of money.

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Klary, I see you made Shaya-shaped tortellini. I hope you have a good cut-out form to speed up the process.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[GTO]

Chufi - Your pasta looks amazing, kind of like pasta oysters, lol.

[BRM]

that (together with some roast butternut squash and caramelized onions) into pastastuffing. Put the little things in the freezer and tonight, that was dinner:

That pasta filling really does sound good. I wish venison was easier to come by in the US.

One question...I've had trouble putting stuffed pasta in the freezer. When I cook it a lot of them crack on the rounded side and the filling leaks into the water. When I freeze I put the pasta onto a sheet pan until just firm (a couple of hours) and then into sealed plastic bags. Do you anything differently?

[Chufi]

One question...I've had trouble putting stuffed pasta in the freezer.  When I cook it a lot of them crack on the rounded side and the filling leaks into the water.  When I freeze I put the pasta onto a sheet pan until just firm (a couple of hours) and then into sealed plastic bags.  Do you anything differently?

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I freeze mine the same way. I've had the cracking problem sometimes, when I've used pasta rolled out on the thinnest setting, together with a very wet filling.

Now, when I make pasta for freezing (instead of eating right away) I only roll out to the second thinnest setting.

[Shaya]

I pretty much used Marcella's version with a few modifications in technique:  mirepoix, herbs, zest, stock, wine, gremolata at the end.  I also braised in the oven with some parchment pressed against the meat, tucked under the lid.  When they were cooked, I strained and defatted the braising liquid, added some more wine and stock and reduced to a nice sauce.

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Oh, Shaya, trust me...we all look forward to your meals! I love osso bucco, when our son was little he would beg me to make 'that soft meat'.

I have a question: what does the paper under the lid do? I used that technique for the first time making octopus over the holidays. I just followed the recipe, but I didn't understand why I was doing it.

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I know exactly what you mean about "soft meat". The first time my little guy asked for meat was when I made some veal involtini that were slow-braised; that night he asked for meat, and then more and more meat. I think it's really easy for them to chew and handle at a young age.

I put the parchment under the lid for a few reasons: I had a lot of meat to fit, 9 pieces inside my huge le Creuset, so I wanted to keep the steam and liquid inside the pot and really as close to the meat as possible so it would be sure to cook it all. I had really browned the meat well at first, so I wasn't concerned with getting color at that point, only cooking it all well through, and this turned out to be a really efficient way to accomplish this.

[Shaya]

Ann, gorgeous lamb, wow.

Megan, I want those potatoes. You are getting me geared up to make my gratin dauphinois, I can feel it...

Chufi the tortellini look amazing. I agree with regards to cracking; I roll out to the third-last setting on my kitchenaid and I've never had a problem with cracking.

Domestic Goddess, I am working on writing out proportions for the sambousaks and will pm you when I've got them!

Edited January 4, 2007 by Shaya (log)

[The Hersch]

I also made some braised endive (curly and belgian)

I've often wondered what "Belgian" endive is called in Belgium (and the Netherlands, and just about anywhere where English isn't the local language). Is it called the local equivalent of "Belgian"?

[Shaya]

Ann, I forgot to mention that your lobster dinners look fantastic. I love grilled lobster.

And Hathor, your butter-poached lobster looks amazing. We had lobster prepared that way at the French Laundry, and even though my husband is 7th generation Nova Scotian, even he agreed he had never TRULY had lobster before.

Dinner tonight, well, it somehow came together thanks to yesterday's dinner. Have you ever almost been defeated by a piece of meat? Yesterday I struggled with this darn piece of beautiful milk-fed veal leg I had. I just could not figure out what I wanted to do with it. I went over a dozen ideas in my head but nothing appealed to me. By mid-day I was really starting to resent the presence of this pricey piece of meat sitting in my refrigerator.

Then at 5:15pm (we eat at 6:00) my sweetie said he was coming home on time for dinner. That was all I needed to get a jump-start. I cut off some nice pieces to make some thin scallopine. Then I made a pasta with grated zucchini, anchovies, green onion, chilis and olives. Worked like a charm, everyone was happy, and my little guy ate anchovies!

Then I took the extra meat bits, cut them up small and braised them slowly with some onions, wine and stock. Figured I'd find something to do it some other time. That's where tonight's dinner comes in:

Salad of Warm and Cool Radicchio with Balsamic Honey Glaze, Pears and Chevre

Slow Braised Veal and Beef over AnnT's Spaetzle

Kiddie Version

At the end of dinner I said to my husband, what a relief to have conquered that piece of meat.

[Nishla]

Happy new year everyone!

I was in Taiwan over the holidays, and have been documenting my trip over here.

You guys have been making such incredible stuff, everything looks SO good!

The first night we got back, there was no food in the fridge, so we had a cheese plate:

From left to right: membrillo, manchego, rosemary marcona almonds from Trader Joe's, gorgonzola dolce, black olives, and goat cheese.

Last night Keith made carbonara with spinach:

Edited to fix link

Edited January 5, 2007 by Nishla (log)