Dinner! 2007

[C. sapidus]

Szechuan dry-fried chicken (gan bian ji), jasmine rice, and sliced raw cucumbers and turnips. For the chicken, we used leeks rather than celery as the vegetable. Leeks are definitely better. The turnips were very sweet.

[Domestic Goddess]

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

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Shay - I am eargerly awaiting your PM. I have about half a kilo of dried chickpeas that is just perfect for that recipe. Maraming salamat (thank you so much) in advance!

[C. sapidus]

Shaya: Congrats on the double win – conquering the veal and the anti-anchovy faction. Who would have guessed that veal in wine and stock would turn out the same color as chicken in chile bean paste and black soy sauce.

This salad rocks:

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

Happy new year, Nishla! This rocks, too:

Last night Keith made carbonara with spinach:

[judiu]

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. 

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So, what was the difference between the kid's version and the grown-ups one? It's not really clear fom the pictures.

[Chufi]

Bruce, that chicken looks so good. I often think when I see your food : I want to make that! But then I have no clue where to look for the recipe. Is this one online somewhere?

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"?

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Belgian endive is called lof, or witlof, in the netherlands, and loof or witloof in Belgium - wit mening white, and loof is (I suppose) related to the word leaves! It is also sometimes referred to as Brussels lof, because it was 'discovered' near Brussels in the 1830's. Oh and Brussels sprouts are caaled simply sprouts here

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

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what a marvellous idea. So you wilted some leaves and then mixed them with raw ones? I am always in doubt what to do with my radicchio. I love the flavor of the wilted leaves, softer and sweeter, but also like the bitter crunch of the raw ones. Thanks for the idea!

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, that chicken looks so good. I often think when I see your food : I want to make that! But then I have no clue where to look for the recipe. Is this one online somewhere?

Why thank you, Klary! I googled “Fuchsia Dunlop” and “gan bian ji”, and the recipe popped up here (clickety). Scroll down to Monday, September 25, 2006 on the linked site. If that doesn’t work, I will be happy to send a PM.

Otherwise, the recipe is from Fuchsia Dunlop’s wonderful Land of Plenty, which I believe is titled Sichuan Cookery in Europe.

[Shaya]

judiu, you have a keen eye; actually ours was supposed to have a pile of minced parsley on top, but otherwise it's just a matter of presentation.

Klary, yes, I just wilted half of the leaves and left the others raw. I couldn't decide on one way or the other so I decided to mix.

Bruce, that chicken does look amazing, it's now on my short list.

[Domestic Goddess]

Here's some meals I've made for the past few days...

Oyster Po' Boy Sandwiches

We were down with a cold and I made Nilagang Baboy (Boiled Pork with Veggies). This is usually made with meaty beef bones (like neck part or the spine or ribs). To serve it, you ladle meat and veggies (potatoes, carrots & potatoes) into soup bowls and eat it with rice. A dipping sauce is usually served on the side - patis (fish sauce) with a squeeze of calamansi juice (or lemon would do).

[lucylou95816]

Happy New Year Everyone, I sure missed egullet when it was down. Everyone's meals look wonderful Here are a few from the past couple of weeks:

I made a homemade beef stock one day, since I was off work for the holidays. Nothing like a pot of stock simmering for 4 hours. After it was done, I turned it into French Onion soup, very good:

Another night, I made a roast with mashed potatoes (didn't get the pic of that) but here is the leftovers, a french dip sandwich and mashed potato pancake:

Another night, I made a chicken satay with a peanut sauce with cucumber salad:

Last, but certainly not least, I made my famous (ok, not really) mac and cheese, not as good as the recipe that Lorna sent out (which I am making for a cook off, so keep your fingers crossed), but tasty all the same:

Thanks!

[Priscilla]

Night before last, thick porterhouses (of which I claim a filet and let them divide up the rest) and a big Caesar salad. Nice Cabernet recommendation from the guy at the wine store, who is continuing to prove himself very useful.

Last night, after sending chuck roast 2x through the old Kitchen Aid, cheeseburgers. Whole wheat buns, Tillamook medium cheddar. Crinkle frites. Major yum.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Oyster Po' Boy Sandwiches

Oooooooooooo..... *applause*

[Megan Blocker]

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Lucy, that looks fantastic. Is that sour cream on top there? Could you tell us more about the recipe? Maybe you could even share it over here...

[Pam R]

Lucy, that looks fantastic.  Is that sour cream on top there?  Could you tell us more about the recipe?  Maybe you could even share it over here...

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While you're at it Lucy, could you please tell me how you get your mashed potato pancakes to look like that (maybe in the latke topic). Mine always fall apart and never get that golden brown crust on them.

[judiu]

Lucy, that looks fantastic.  Is that sour cream on top there?  Could you tell us more about the recipe?  Maybe you could even share it over here...

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While you're at it Lucy, could you please tell me how you get your mashed potato pancakes to look like that (maybe in the latke topic). Mine always fall apart and never get that golden brown crust on them.

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I'm not Lucy, but mashed potato cakes are one of my favorite foods in the world, and I've found that real butter to fry in and low and slow cooking seem to work best for me. HTH!

[hathor]

Who says home chefs are a dying breed?? Look at what is going on here!!

Chufi, that Shaya shaped pasta looks gorgeous! It needs a name, how about the "Shayallini" big ones would be called "Shayaloni".

I love seeing how people use and re-use what is at hand; that is always inspirational.

Some dinners this week:

Braised bunny with olives and potatoes. I have to say, this is my first time cooking bunny in the States, its a once-a-weeker in Italy, and the bunny here was sooo soft, tender and completely lacking in bunny flavor. How come? The bunniness had been bred out of it, methinks.

This was delicious, but looks really 'regrettable' in the photos! A whole chicken is encased in a salt pastry crust (its like making herb scented PlayDoh...really fun!). The chicken winds up being almost steamed, and the flesh becomes pale white, tender, and delicately flavored. Its my new favorite roast chicken method.

Yesterday's lunch:

Potato leek soup with chorizo 'croutons'

[Pontormo]

Lucy: Beautiful series , thank you for sharing. While you seem to be a master of macaroni & cheese yourself, I hope you'll tweak Ling's recipe a bit to make it your own when you submit it in competition.

* * *

In one of her many novels about courtship between Americans and Parisians and its aftermath, Diane Johnson sets a scene out in the French countryside where the families of the mixed couple meet for the first time. The French go to great trouble, and with pride set upon the table a perfectly roasted, luxuriously priced bird. The American parents are insulted.

"Hmmph!" "What's this? We rate only a chicken?"

Such is the nature of cultural misunderstanding. I wonder if that dinner would make much sense anymore given the fact that a roasted chicken, lovingly prepared at home, has achieved a cult status among people like you, Dear Reader.

Look at the cooking threads. Pork is remains the white meat of choice here, especially when it's red and/or fatty. Foie gras is for status and Rebel Creds. Yet, there is so much on brining, not brining, salting, Judy Rodgers...

Since your chicken, Judith, is a work of art, and since I'm all for the Zuni chicken, but eager to try any approach to making an entire chicken taste as wonderful as yours sounds, please, would you share information so we might aspire to such heights?

[Ling]

Last, but certainly not least, I made my famous (ok, not really) mac and cheese, not as good as the recipe that Lorna sent out (which I am making for a cook off, so keep your fingers crossed), but tasty all the same:

Hey Lucy, I've improved the recipe since I last made it for the cook-off. I use panko instead of brioche now (crispier, and it really doesn't need the extra grease), and only toast it under the broiler until it's golden brown (2 min?) instead of baking it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. The sauce is extra creamy this way.

[enurmi]

Sliced leftover chicken breast from last night added to caramelized onions and cooked until hot over quartered fingerling potatoes boiled for 3-4 minutes then cooked in hot olive oil until crisped and then sprinkled with sea salt, plus a green salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice; it was all delicious! And now for dessert, some 71% Scharffen Berger and avocado-vanilla ice cream (we'll see-- but I LOVE avocado, so I'm looking forward to it!) Sorry, no pics.

Edited January 6, 2007 by enurmi (log)

[Marlene]

Inspired by Ann T's greek ribs.

Greek Ribs, greek salad ( with pecorino romano instead of feta) and greek rice:

[lucylou95816]

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Lucy, that looks fantastic. Is that sour cream on top there? Could you tell us more about the recipe? Maybe you could even share it over here...

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Hi Megan, thanks for the compliment, its much appreciated. Yes, it is sour cream, I love sour cream on top of mac and cheese, it adds something to the hot cheese...although my bf prefers to put *gulp* ketchup, anyway, the recipe is Martha Stewart's I have found that its the best out there. I'll put it up on the link you referenced. Thanks again for the compliment.

[lucylou95816]

Lucy, that looks fantastic.  Is that sour cream on top there?  Could you tell us more about the recipe?  Maybe you could even share it over here...

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While you're at it Lucy, could you please tell me how you get your mashed potato pancakes to look like that (maybe in the latke topic). Mine always fall apart and never get that golden brown crust on them.

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Thanks Pam, I appreciate the compliment. Actually, this was a luck of the draw. I've tried before and had problems keeping them together. I think someone after your reply said butter and low heat, I would totally agree. I used olive oil this time and kept them in the pan for quite a while at a medium/low heat. I think the key is to make them fairly small, not gigantic, mix the potato with an egg (I just made two, the other one fell apart) and then I dredged them in flour, which is what I think helps them get golden brown. I also added a little gruyere cheese, since I had some left over. I hope that helps.

[lucylou95816]

Pontormo, I will take that under advisement . This will be a local competition at the dive bar around the corner. They do these every once in a while, the first was a Gumbo cookoff, that my boyfriend entered, but didn't win, and then a meatloaf, which we couldn't attend. The unfortunate thing is that there is a cook from a local restaurant that participates, and while he is a very nice person, he always wins these things. I can't wait to spring the mac and cheese on him

Lorna, thanks for the panko tip, I may try that, it sounds great!

edited for spelling

Edited January 6, 2007 by lucylou95816 (log)

[Dana]

lucylou, that is one of the most mouthwatering pictures I have ever seen.

[Domestic Goddess]

Hubby cooked dinner tonight. A Kentucky boy, he made Fried Chicken and I made the side dishes (mashed taters and buttered corn).

[lucylou95816]

lucylou, that is one of the most mouthwatering pictures I have ever seen.

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awww, thanks!