Dinner! 2007

[Shelby]

A simple dinner for John last night.  Toast, salmon, poached egg, hollandaise with dill and a few slices of avacado.  Then cut open to let the yolk run over everything.

←

Suzi I am at my desk at work and it's now covered with drool

[tug]

Yoink! I'll be using that recipe, thank you very much! It looks incredible. Did you make the rice from the recipe as well? I might try it with plain rice instead.

nakji, we just serve it with plain white. I've found the cardamon rice to compete with the salmon in this dish.

Please let me know how yours turns out

[Prawncrackers]

Poached a piece of lamb breast yesterday and pressed it overnight ready to cook tonight. I was just going to simply pan fry it but whilst waiting for the wife to come home from her yoga class i remembered a recipe from HF-W's MEAT book - Lamb Ste Menehould. Basically it's breaded lamb breast baked in the oven till crispy. I went a step further and did a Milanese style herb crust. So as well as simply pan-fried i also dug out some lamb sweetbreads from the freezer and crushed some boiled Charlotte potatos & peas. HF-W recommends salsa verde, it went very well indeed:

[tupac17616]

tupac - can you share some more info on the cauliflower pancakes ? They look so good.

Of course, Chufi! The recipe came from Molto Italiano, page 17. But in case you don't have that particular cookbook, the process is very simple:

Saute cauliflower together with some anchovy in olive oil until very soft yet still holding iits shape. Let it cool. Make a batter with eggs, bread crumbs, flour and grated pecorino or parmigiano (I would give amount, but I just did it by feel), and mix in the cauliflower. Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil, drop the batter in by the tablespoon full, cook a couple of minutes on each side until nice and browned. Remove, drain on paper towel, and enjoy! (N.B. The book suggests a grating of ricotta salata to top it all off, which I think would be a nice touch). I think next time I may top them with a raisin-anchovy sauce of some sort. Hmm...

Your braised boar looks amazing, by the way!

[Dr. J]

Ok here is my second shot at replating and remaking yesterdays food with a different presentation and hopeful taste.

All the techniques used came out great. Only the foam wasnt as "fluffy" as I'd like, but the taste was great and I put it on the iSi only when the taste was right not the consistency. Perhaps a little lecithin may have helped....

The steak was prepared korean style as before I made some garlic chips from the french laundry to give them some taste. Here is my take on garlic chips. They are time consuming but good. However they didnt accent specifically korean style marinade of the beef since it is strong. The chips were tasty though and I certain see me using them with other meat preparations or perhaps a subtle fish.

I decided to make a second type of chip, also from the french laundry is the pototao chive bandaid chip. Came out really good and was relatively simple to make.

The foam is i guess a "constructed" foam made of carrot, potato and sweet potato. I wasnt sure what to expect out of it since I just made it up but it was really good. The veggies were prepared from sundays meal.

I was also very unhappy with the plating. A friend of mine saw one of my pics of the ribs and said that the presentation was too cluttered, I had actually thought that it was good, but in her view it was too cluttered. So this time i tried to go with simpler plating but I certainly was not happy with it. Perhaps you guys think differently.

My favorite pic of the plate

[Daniel]

Sunday night dinner.

Vegetables cooked with some brown sugar, butter and dill, on a bed of Creme fraiche cheese sauce.

Korean style marinated steak on a bed of rice, sweet potato.  Garnished with carrot, radish, capers.

Having the same today ill see if i can come up with a completely different presentation.

←

Its fun following your progress Dr. J.. I really enjoy watching your ideas for plating and you definitely are on the verge of creating your own style..

What is a creme fraiche cheese sauce? What kind of cheese?

Also when you say vegetables cooked with brown sugar and dill? how is it cooked.. There doesnt appear to me much carmelization on the vegetables..

Also, you should get a smaller ring mold or mold for the rice.. It looks like a lot of rice and its not bringing to much color or brightness to the plate. What kind of rice is that, looks very short grain? A polenta would certainly brighten the plate up. Also for the radish and capers, though pretty, I dont think it added much a complimentary flavor to the dish.. Maybe a sauce complimenting the korean marinade or dots of a sweet potato puree around the plate would look nice.

I dont mean to be critical, I feel like you are looking for a discussion on your food..

Edited November 20, 2007 by Daniel (log)

[monavano]

Stuffed cabbage (golabki) with mashed potatoes and cucumbers with sour cream dressing (not pictured) which is a staple.

Recipe linked here in the stuffed cabbage cook off thread.

[David Ross]

Sunday night dinner.

Vegetables cooked with some brown sugar, butter and dill, on a bed of Creme fraiche cheese sauce.

Korean style marinated steak on a bed of rice, sweet potato.  Garnished with carrot, radish, capers.

Having the same today ill see if i can come up with a completely different presentation.

←

Its fun following your progress Dr. J.. I really enjoy watching your ideas for plating and you definitely are on the verge of creating your own style..

What is a creme fraiche cheese sauce? What kind of cheese?

Also when you say vegetables cooked with brown sugar and dill? how is it cooked.. There doesnt appear to me much carmelization on the vegetables..

Also, you should get a smaller ring mold or mold for the rice.. It looks like a lot of rice and its not bringing to much color or brightness to the plate. What kind of rice is that, looks very short grain? A polenta would certainly brighten the plate up. Also for the radish and capers, though pretty, I dont think it added much a complimentary flavor to the dish.. Maybe a sauce complimenting the korean marinade or dots of a sweet potato puree around the plate would look nice.

I dont mean to be critical, I feel like you are looking for a discussion on your food..

←

Dr. J. all of your photos have looked really good and it's obvious you have a love of food and cooking, which is a love we all share. And I agree with Daniel's comments about presentation and plating. We'll all be better cooks learning from each other.

I always try to use a garnish that accents a flavor or ingredient in the main dish. For example, if I did a lamb dish with rosemary in the sauce or in the marinade, I'd garnish the finished lamb meat with a sprig of rosemary. I probably wouldn't just put a sprig of rosemary on a lamb chop for color if I didn't use rosemary somewhere else in the dish.

Following on my idea of using garnishes within your dish of Korean style steak (which by the way looks delicious with that nice dark outer crust and perfectly cooked interior), if you didn't use capers in the dish, I would leave them out of the garnish. However, radishes are certainly appropriate as a garnish because they would give that dish a crisp, clean, peppery flavor accent. You might want to take the radishes a step further and try pickling them with some Rice Wine Vinegar and a bit of ginger-sort of like making your own pickled red onions. That would give an Asian flavor to the radishes and act as a cool counterpart to the rich beef which probably has a sweet note in the glaze on the beef.

An idea on your bed of rice would be to add some Korean style vegetables (maybe some kimchi), which would give the rice a bit of color and certainly some more flavor. I agree with Daniel that a ring mold is very helpful when creating a base on the plate. Keep your photos coming.

[Dr. J]

Thank you very much Daniel and David for your information. I agree that only through citizism we learn to get better and can better share our ideas. Thanks a million guys, and keep it comming.

Ok, the creme sauce is basically a sauce that I came up is made the following way.

2 tablespoon of butter and add some starch and disolve. Then add heavy creme, around 1.5 cups. (i do this by eye) and add some sort of cheese.

Depends on what you want to do. This time i went with a Cheddar/Monterrey Jack mixture. Maybe about 1 tablespoon. This makes it subtle and tastes buttery creamy with a hint of the cheese. Its quick easy and adds tons of flavor to veggies.

Another way to present is to do the same sauce but instead add gorgonzola or blue cheese and pair that with Vegetable tempura. Sounds weird, but goes really well.

For the vegetables, I cut the vegetables and put them in a large pot. I added about half a cup of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter. I added a twig a dill just to give it a different dimmension. You can add any veg you like even fish sauce and you will give you veggies a different dimmension everytime you serve them. I covered the veggies in water and boiled until the water went halfway down. I dont cook them down on purpuse because I want to preserve the color and only give them a hint of sweet/flavor to them. Make them very light and tasty. Season with salt and done.

For the ring mold you are 100% right. I have a few different sizes and should have gone smaller but alas my achilles heal is revealed.

I only start cooking when I am hungry and by the time I am finishing up and working on presentation I am freaking starving. It is then I start hurring up and mess things up.

Probably a smaller ring mold and double layer of meat would have worked better? mmm still thinking about it. definately will be using a smaller mold, never realized how big that rice looked until you mentioned it.

The rice is a Japanese premium rice. Very good stuff and the only rice I use. I cook it in my brought from japan rice cooker and normally cook rice Latin style. Rice, Salt, Oil. Very tasty and people never expect its flavor.

The radish and capers were desperate garnishes to add color to the dish, I just kind of threw it out and put it out there. I could not agree more that dots of sweet puree would look awsome. Thanks again for that. I am also working on polenta, the times I have made it I have not been very happy with its flavor.

DRoss thanks for the comments. the pickled radish idea is awsome and something that i WILL do. Very nice and i really see it working with the flavors. Also thanks for the take on ading sprigs to the presentation, have used it in the past but always a great idea.

So David for the rice you suggest half rice/half kimchee and then the beef?

Conceptually I like it.

Thanks again for the imput guys I really do hope that other people tell me what they dont like about my dishes becuase sometimes you kind of get stuck doing the same stuff and its good to learn great new techniques and points of view from other people.

sorry for the long post.

[David Ross]

DRoss thanks for the comments.  the pickled radish idea is awsome and something that i WILL do.  Very nice and i really see it working with the flavors.  Also thanks for the take on ading sprigs to the presentation, have used it in the past but always a great idea.

So David for the rice you suggest half rice/half kimchee and then the beef?

Conceptually I like it. 

←

Since Kim Chee can be very strong, and hot/spicy, I would only add a few tablespoons for each cup of rice. I would keep it a rice dish with mainly rice and only a bit of Kim Chee for added flavor and texture. You will have the rich/sweet beef on top of a base of mild rice studded with spicy, crunchy Kim Chee.

You could also try a Chinese style rice. I like to add diced Chinese sausage and some reconstituted dried Chinese black mushrooms to short grain sticky rice. That would be a take on steamed Chinese sticky rice wrapped in lotus or banana leaf-and your dish would be Korean style Beef on Chinese Sticky Rice.

[Prawncrackers]

Dr J could i be as bold as to comment that i think the presentation of your recent dishes is a little forced? I really hope you don't mind me saying as i genuinely think a little constructive criticism is good thing

I loved the look of your early posts; duck leg, scallop, snails and especially the sea bass. These dishes focused on the main ingredient and looked scrumptious. Overly fussy presentation detracts from the food. I agree with David Ross (love your dishes btw) in that there really was no need for the capers on radish garnish. The Korean beef was perfectly cooked and looked delicious, however the presentation of the plate took away the eye away from that.

Maybe it's just me but i find overgroomed food off-putting. Tonight as an example was simple steamed sea-bream, to my mind i can't think of anything that looks more appetising:

[nakji]

he radish and capers were desperate garnishes to add color to the dish, I just kind of threw it out and put it out there. I could not agree more that dots of sweet puree would look awsome. Thanks again for that. I am also working on polenta, the times I have made it I have not been very happy with its flavor.

Additionally, you could try using Korean pepper sauce (gochujang) thinned with a little sesame oil or rice vinegar for dots and swirls. It would be really simple to make and provide a bright contrast on the plate.

[Marlene]

Just simple beef stroganoff over egg noodles tonight

[rooftop1000]

Marlene you are one saucey woman

tracey

[C. sapidus]

Prawncrackers: You have had a run of particularly beautiful meals, starting with that gorgeous butternut squash soup and crab quiche. Lovely fish tonight!

Tonight’s dinner was from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. First, we had chicken soup with cloud ears and ginger. First time cooking with cloud ear mushrooms (apparently the Burmese name translates as “mouse ears”). The grownups loved the texture, but the boys were unimpressed. Any dish that allows me to hack chicken bones with a cleaver is a winner in my book.

The main course was Liuyang black bean chicken. This is a favorite, but I should have rinsed the fermented black beans more thoroughly. Served with jasmine rice and eternal cucumbers.

[Dr. J]

I appreciate it Prawn....I personally was not very happy with the presentation myself and it certainly did feel forced to me. Love that fish by the way prawn...very nice.

Thanks for the idea nakji...I have not worked korean pepper sauce much but ill certainly look for it when I get to miami this week.

I am trying to do something different but as you mentioned anything to the dish that is not part of the dish should not be there.

I figure I have to keep on practicing until I get it down and become better at it. I used not to work on presentation that much and only do it for special ocasions, however I found that when those occasions came I sometimes got stuck and things didn't come out well. So, I figured I practiced the same way I have done with my cooking until I get experienced with it.

The way I see it is that there are two kinds of presentation. First is the presentation where you see whats on the plate and your mouth just waters, you just have to eat it.

And an artsy presentation which is more concentrated on asthetics and architecture.

I would love to be able to create a mix of those styles. But well see.

[Ce'nedra]

Everyone's plating/food looks simply divine!

Dr. J: As usual, your meals look excellent. Do/did you work at a restaurant by any chance?

C. sapidus: Looking at all your dishes, I think I really am determined to by the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook now. For sure. Adding to my cookbook list right this minute. Was the author Fuschia Dunlop or someone else?

Marlene: I do love alot of sauce so your beef stroganoff certainly struck my attention Looks absolutely delicious!

Did I post this before? I don't remember...

anyway, Fish congee that I made awhile back...

[Prawncrackers]

Prawncrackers: You have had a run of particularly beautiful meals, starting with that gorgeous butternut squash soup and crab quiche. Lovely fish tonight!

Thanks Bruce, i had a feeling you'd like the crab quiche! It's possibly my favourite shellfish and i know it;s one of yours, maybe we should start a "Crab Gallery" topic...

[wattacetti]

It's snowing now, but the temperature was already starting to drop on Saturday so what better time to serve a nice oxtail soup.

[C. sapidus]

C. sapidus: Looking at all your dishes, I think I really am determined to by the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook now. For sure. Adding to my cookbook list right this minute. Was the author Fuschia Dunlop or someone else?

←

Ce’nedra: Yes, Fuchsia Dunlop wrote Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (Hunan) as well as Land of Plenty (Sichuan). Both are excellent. If I had to choose one, I would lean towards her Sichuan book because I love Sichuan peppercorns.

. . . maybe we should start a "Crab Gallery" topic...

←

Prawncrackers: Mmm, crab porn.

[Priscilla]

Last evening, shepherd's pie, with the remains of a Weber rotisseried leg o' lamb w/garlic, rosemary, anchovy from the wknd. and stock made from its bones and trimmings. Excellent yellow potatoes from the potato guy at the farmer's market for the mash on top. In the filling too the most delicious carrot EVER from the carrot lady who also is the broccoli lady. A superfresh high-quality carrot is a fine thing. Nice Romaine salade from the other guy w/honey mustard dressing. Guinness.

[ChefCrash]

Split Lentil soup with Cumin flavored Parmesan crisps.

[Pille]

Some of the recent meals:

Beet Soup with Goat's Cheese (recipe here):

A Sweet Pumpkin Soup with Semolina (recipe here):

A Finnish Beef and Beer Oven Stew "Merimiespata" (recipe here):

Pumpkin Risotto (recipe here):

Pumpkin Arancini (using the leftover risotto):

And for dessert:

Coconut and Apple Crisp (recipe here):

Canneles (recipe here):

And for snacking:

Nigella Lawson's Cheesy Feet (recipe here):

Honey-Espresso Caramels (recipe here):

[Prawncrackers]

Canneles (recipe here):

I'm not much of a pudding man but this looks like perfection to me! Now where can i get the moulds from?

[suzilightning]

pille that beef and beer oven stew just went on my to do list. last night was chowdah night at the Bird Nest.

one of the easiest of all the soups i make - except for opening the quahogs. a few minutes in the freezer and even the most recalcitrent one will relax.