Dinner! 2007

[Doodad]

Shepherd's Pie last night

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Oh man I love Shepherd's Pie. After making grougeres the other night for the first time (hat tip to Ruhlman) I think I may make the crust with that one time just to see what it is like.

[C. sapidus]

Jicama, watercress, and avocado salad with roasted garlic and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Crock pot cochinita pibil, cooked in banana leaves and served with pickled red onions and corn tortillas. More about our "tortilla press" on Making Mexican at home (clicky).

[Ce'nedra]

Gosh C. sapidus! Ok you've just pulled the final string for my hankering of Mexican food (one of my all-time favourite cuisines)! I don't think I can sleep tonight!

Question, that Mexican cookbook you use, are the recipes reasonably simple (what's the name again? Sorry bad memory...)? I'm trying to write my cookbook wish list and you're really enticing me here with the decision making. Also, are the ingredients easy to find or those only-in-Mexico sorts?

Shepherd's Pie last night

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LOVE LOVE LOVE pies (probably the Aussie in me) and your slice right there is looking perfectly scrumptious and mouth-watering. What's the recipe you used?

Edited December 21, 2007 by Ce'nedra (log)

[C. sapidus]

Gosh C. sapidus! Ok you've just pulled the final string for my hankering of Mexican food (one of my all-time favourite cuisines)! I don't think I can sleep tonight!

Aww, thanks Ce’nedra, I love to trigger a hankering.

Question, that Mexican cookbook you use, are the recipes reasonably simple (what's the name again? Sorry bad memory...)? I'm trying to write my cookbook wish list and you're really enticing me here with the decision making.

I have a pile of Mexican cookbooks, but you are probably referring to Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday (clicky), which focuses on quick weeknight dinners. Most recipes are simple and include well-thought-out shortcuts to reduce preparation time without sacrificing flavor. Further discussion of Mexican cookbooks (click).

Also, are the ingredients easy to find or those only-in-Mexico sorts?

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Most Mexican ingredients are readily available here, but I have heard that finding dried ancho, guajillo, and pasilla chiles can be difficult in Australia. I am also not sure whether you have access to epazote, tomatillos, chipotle chiles in adobo, or fresh Poblano chiles. Fortunately, many Mexican dishes (especially those from Veracruz) call for more readily available ingredients like fresh jalapeno or serrano chiles, garlic, olives, capers, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, etc. You do need to have a source of excellent ripe tomatoes or good-quality canned tomatoes.

[takadi]

After last night's extravaganza, I simply pan seared some rib eyes and finished them in the oven, and served them with baked potatoes and homemade bacon bits.  No veg, no salad, just meat and potatoes,baby!

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That is a beautiful steak Marlene. Care to share your own personal steak cooking method?

[Jmahl]

Last night we hosted the annual end of year office party - Started off with pink Jansz bubbly from Tazmania.

The main course was Lasagna with a green salad and homemade bread.

We made the pasta and the sauce was made from canned fire roasted tomatos. Wine was an Australian Bilton Matt Black 2005 blend. Very nice.

Dessert was a lemon cream with pomagranate seeds.

Best wishes to all,

Jmahl

[tlm5150]

My first post, go easy on me... Dinner tonight (well, tonight was the leftovers, this was taken last night):

blanquette d'agneau

I kinda cheated and browned the lamb first because I wanted that crust. Actually used water instead of pre-packaged lamb stock after reading one of Ruhlman's latest rants and I was surprised at how flavorful it turned out.

And I do have to complain... stews are so hard to photograph!

Edited December 23, 2007 by tlm5150 (log)

[purplewiz]

tim5150, you did a great job photographing your blanquette! Looks delicious!

A few pictures from recent suppers to show that there's nothing exciting going on in my kitchen these days:

A pork roast that turned out really nicely.

And a more typical meal: the mushroom soup from the Les Halles Cookbook (with thyme instead of parsley because I like thyme better) and pigs in blankets.

But I did get a little holiday baking done:

Marcia.

[Dianne]

Last night's dinner turned out well. We had:

Fennel, blood orange, olive and pom. seed salad:

And Jamie Oliver's concertina squid:

And crusty bread.

[David Ross]

Prime Rib on Friday night, roast potatoes, horseradish and rather than the normal jus, I made gravy. Marlene's delicious gravy photos have been tempting me for weeks, and then last week I saw Anne Willan appear on a segment on television cooking a huge prime rib with Martha Stewart. Ms. Willan said that the British prefer gravy with their roast so off I went. I deglazed the roasting pan with a good swig of Maker's Mark Bourbon. The roast ended up a bit rare for my tastes, a minor argument. I'll post more photos of the roast, raw and then cooked, over in the Prime Rib discussion:

[Prawncrackers]

Okay so the festive season is definitely upon us now! The in-laws have travelled across the country today so i've splurged out on some live lobsters for Lobster Thermidor. I already had a monkfish tail in the freezer so i roasted that wrapped in prosciutto on a bed of red rice and some roasted veggies. Happy holidays everyone!!

[lesfen]

Okay so the festive season is definitely upon us now!  The in-laws have travelled across the country today so i've splurged out on some live lobsters for Lobster Thermidor.  I already had a monkfish tail in the freezer so i roasted that wrapped in prosciutto on a bed of red rice and some roasted veggies.  Happy holidays everyone!! 

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Oooooo... That monkfish looks friggin' AMAZING!!

[Dr. J]

Very nice prawn, very nice.....i have never seen the proscuitto wrapped in monkfish recipe before....very interesting.

I am also interested in your lighting for your photos because it always seems perfect, it always feels like you take your pictures on a perfect sunday day.

Is it natural light? or artififical?

[Prawncrackers]

Very nice prawn, very nice.....i have never seen the proscuitto wrapped in monkfish recipe before....very interesting.

I am also interested in your lighting for your photos because it always seems perfect, it always feels like you take your pictures on a perfect sunday day.

Is it natural light? or artififical?

I've never seen proscuitto wrapped in monkfish either!!! That would be truly avant-garde

Seriously though i thought Monkfish wrapped in ham is a classic recipe, been doing it for years. It is delicious maybe it's worth putting on the RecipeGullet if it's uncommon?

Ooh i wish it was always perfectly sunny here in Birmingham, even in the summer the light isn't great for photography. I'm always envious of you guys who can get away with using just natural light - it always makes food look more appetising. No even in the summer I use a flashgun on my camera, bounced off the ceiling it gives more even lighting.

[Tri2Cook]

I did classic steakhouse tonight and it seemed to make everybody that was here happy so I'm happy.

Caesar Salad

Steak (tenderloin)

Baked Potato

Mushrooms

Caramelized Onions

Potato Bread

the 250+ year old mushroom ketchup recipe Heston Blumenthal riffed on in his book... they knew what they were doing and he was smart to pick up on it, that stuff rocks with beef

my mom's chocolate pie (I'm sure it wasn't her recipe but she made it frequently when I was young and I got the recipe from her)

[jvalentino]

My first post in the dinner forum!

This was my attempt at the ultimate meatball sandwich. Homemade garlic bread, grandmas famous sauce, homeground chuck and pork for the meatballs, fresh mozz, and smoked provolone. I served it with baked potato wedges, and zinfandell.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11986094..._5534_61356.jpg

And the bread pirate!

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11986094..._5534_23812.jpg

It was tasty!

Jeff

EDIT-

I'm not sure why I posted links instead of actual images. I'll work on that-Thanks!

Edited December 26, 2007 by jvalentino (log)

[tobiias]

Just a simple omelette with some rocket and breasola.

[heidih]

Just a simple omelette with some rocket and breasola.

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Nice first post! That omelette looks pretty buttery. Are those crystals of fleur de sel I see glistening?

[C. sapidus]

If you have a dinner party on Christmas Eve and invite guests from Russia, Trinidad, Scotland, and the U.S. south, what do you serve? Mexican food, of course. Five guests couldn’t make it, but two showed up unexpectedly so it all worked out. Guests brought blini and Russian salads, the boys made sweet potatoes, Mrs. C handled salmon, salad, and logistics, and I cooked the Mexican food.

Appetizers:

Home-made blini and peach preserves (courtesy of our guests). Don’t stand between da boyz and blini.

Soup and sopa secas:

Sopa Tarrasca (tortilla soup)

Arroz verde (green rice)

Arroz blanco (white rice)

Vegetables:

Mrs. C’s Asian salad

Green salad with roasted garlic dressing

Salad Olivier, a.k.a. Russian salad (brought by our guests)

Rajas de chile Poblano and roasted red bell peppers

Mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows (courtesy of the boys)

Salsas:

Chipotle-tomatillo salsa

Guacamole

Mains:

Baked salmon with maple-soy-mustard-ginger glaze

Tinga Poblana (pork and potatoes with chipotle-tomato sauce)

Chicken in mole coloradito Oaxaqueno

Dessert:

Russian chocolates

Coffee and tea

Hits:

Mrs. C’s salmon was amazing. You know how Food Network hosts simulate ecstasy when they take a bite of food? People were doing this for real. “I don’t really like salmon. Oh, maybe a little bit. *eyes roll back, toes curl, shudder* Can I have a cigarette now?”

People enjoyed assembling the tortilla soup – adding queso fresco cubes and fried tortilla strips to the bowl, ladling in the soup, and then topping it with fried chile pasilla crumbles and a squeeze of lime. For the soup stock, we used extra caldo pollo from making the mole (5 pounds of chicken, clove-studded onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorns, allspice, fresh thyme, and dried chile – lotsa flavor in that stock).

Tinga Poblana was very popular even though I forgot the avocado and queso fresco garnish. Chorizo, roasted tomatoes, and Mexican oregano melded into a lovely sauce, followed by a sneaky chipotle kick. The tender chunks of meat were an eye-opener for guests who had never enjoyed slow-cooked pork butt before.

Tinga Poblana

Green rice disappeared quickly, even among the obligate carnivores. This surprised me, since the blended broth included a roasted chile Poblano and whole bunches of cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, and spinach.

The Preethi blender provided two flawless days of yeoman service, grinding up tomatoes, garlic, onions, herbs and vegetables, fried bread and plantains, nuts and seeds, and multiple batches of reconstituted chiles.

Misses:

The salsa, guacamole, and rajas went mostly untouched – probably a matter of too much food and not enough digestive system capacity. Oh, well.

Mole coloradito Oaxaqueno tasted amazing, but the flavors were outside most guest’s comfort zones. This was not a surprise – few people expect to see Mexican chocolate; ancho and guajillo chiles; garlic and onions; oregano, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon; plantains and raisins; almonds, sesame seeds, and French bread together in the same dish. More about preparing mole on Making Mexican at home (click).

Mole coloradito Oaxaqueno

[dockhl]

Christmas Dinner, yum !

Prime rib (slow roasted)

Bobby Flay's baked and then mashed potatoes

Baked sweet potatoes w/ lime, maple syrup and seasoned salt

Brussel sprouts with cream and parmesan

Green beans with almonds

Frozen tangerine souffle for dessert

In the glass:

Chateau St Jean 2006 Chardonnay

Lone Madrone 2004 Barbera

The table:

Out of the oven:

Sliced:

Dessert:

This was SO good !

[Emily_R]

Ok Bruce, after a description like that, can I beg you for that salmon recipe? Though I am drooling from the description of the meal as a whole, as tortilla soup is one of my absolute favorites... Good thing I'll be heading down to mexico for a visit in a week and a half!

[C. sapidus]

dockhl, looks delicious - and with pictures! Do tell about the frozen tangerine souffle, it looks amazing.

Ok Bruce, after a description like that, can I beg you for that salmon recipe? Though I am drooling from the description of the meal as a whole, as tortilla soup is one of my absolute favorites... Good thing I'll be heading down to mexico for a visit in a week and a half!

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Emily_R, thank you, and enjoy your trip!

Mrs. C starts with “maple mustard salmon” from Steven Raichlen’s BBQ USA. I don’t know how much help that will be, though, because Mrs. C is physiologically incapable of following a recipe. And proud of it. I couldn't find the recipe on the web, but I can send it by PM if you wish.

I do know that she boils maple syrup, soy sauce, honey, mustard, and grated fresh ginger until the mixture is reduced to a thick syrup. The recipe calls for honey mustard, but she uses more mustard and less honey to control the sweetness. She brushes part of this syrup over the salmon and saves part to serve at the table. I think she also sprinkles salt and sesame oil on the salmon before baking (although the recipe calls for grilling). She baked the salmon until it was less than done, and then let it rest for 10-15 minutes to complete the cooking.

Beyond those basics, I am quite certain that she makes it differently every time.

Edited to ask about the frozen tangerine souffle.

Edited December 27, 2007 by C. sapidus (log)

[tobiias]

Just a simple omelette with some rocket and breasola.

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Nice first post! That omelette looks pretty buttery. Are those crystals of fleur de sel I see glistening?

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Thanks! It's Maldon sea salt.

[Emily_R]

dockhl, looks delicious - and with pictures! Do tell about the frozen tangerine souffle, it looks amazing.

Ok Bruce, after a description like that, can I beg you for that salmon recipe? Though I am drooling from the description of the meal as a whole, as tortilla soup is one of my absolute favorites... Good thing I'll be heading down to mexico for a visit in a week and a half!

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Emily_R, thank you, and enjoy your trip!

Mrs. C starts with “maple mustard salmon” from Steven Raichlen’s BBQ USA. I don’t know how much help that will be, though, because Mrs. C is physiologically incapable of following a recipe. And proud of it. I couldn't find the recipe on the web, but I can send it by PM if you wish.

I do know that she boils maple syrup, soy sauce, honey, mustard, and grated fresh ginger until the mixture is reduced to a thick syrup. The recipe calls for honey mustard, but she uses more mustard and less honey to control the sweetness. She brushes part of this syrup over the salmon and saves part to serve at the table. I think she also sprinkles salt and sesame oil on the salmon before baking (although the recipe calls for grilling). She baked the salmon until it was less than done, and then let it rest for 10-15 minutes to complete the cooking.

Beyond those basics, I am quite certain that she makes it differently every time.

Edited to ask about the frozen tangerine souffle.

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Thanks Bruce -- your description of the basic ingredients / process should be enough for me to give it a whirl!

[dockhl]

dockhl, looks delicious - and with pictures! Do tell about the frozen tangerine souffle, it looks amazing.

Bruce~ you noticed ! Now you know why I never post pix

The frozen tangerine souffle is recipe from the LA Times a few weeks ago. It was labor intensive but worth it. Tastes like a tangerine creamsicle. The pistachios added just the right crunch.