Dinner! 2007

[Dr. J]

Kobi, those cheese steaks look sooo tasty.....

Love the colors chufi, food looks great!

Ok, here is my presentation of my craB.

This time i made a crab ravioli. Now i expected for it to taste the same as the other presentations but honestly the cutting of the avocado lenghtwise really did provide a different flavor. I will certainly be trying to do different things with this technique.

I did a stepwise pic by pic on the dish, if anybody is interested i can put that up.

I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of my other dish, i took the pic after i ate.

[Jamie Lee]

I wasn't going to post this, but what the hell!

I've got a fridge and freezer that need some "thinning out"

So.. my fav... veg fried rice!

1 c. jasmine rice cooked in some butter and 2 c. of homemade chix stock.

Then the mise:

Fresh: Carrots, garlic, poblano chilis, green onion, woops, canned --> water chestnuts, and crimini mushrooms...

Frozen: Celery (bought fresh, but chopped and frozen before it went "off"), Red Peppers (same as celery), frozen peas.

Mid way: (Aren't those colors pretty?)

Add seasoning:

And the final. No apps, No 1st course, no main other than this one! Dessert was full-fat Fage yoghurt with an awesome TJ's "desert" (no, not "dessert") honey. Highly recommended.

As a result of "ridding" my fridge of leftovers, I now have two containers of fried rice and about a cup and a half of cooked rice!

Damn, life is good!

Jamie

[foodcyclist]

All those steaks! Yum!

I had some smoked salmon with potato galette...small but filling.

[Domestic Goddess]

Marlene - my DH would say "Now that's a meal!"

I wanted to give a treat to my hubby so I made his favorite: Chicken Adobo.

Edited November 12, 2007 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[nakji]

Mmm - Chicken Adobo. I really want to make this some time. Can it be made without an oven?

Wow! What are the garnishes around the plate? And how did you make the galette?

I worked through the weekend, so I didn't get the chance to do proper grocery shopping - fortunately, I was in the Korean neighborhood, so I picked up some ingredients for one of my husband's favourite meals - ddalk galbi. (Actually, I love it, too.)

After we ate all the "big bits" out, I tipped some plain rice in the pan to "bokkum" it up. I wish I had a tabletop burner to keep it going until the rice is nice and crispy, because my burners are terrible.

I made a side dish of soft tofu to cut the heat.

Tonight was simpler - pasta with sundried tomato, mushroom and cream sauce, with a green salad on the side.

[Domestic Goddess]

Nakji - adobo is made on the stove top, never the oven. Here's my mom's recipe.

Chicken Adobo

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into serving sizes

1/3 cup soy sauce

2/3 cup white vinegar

1 head garlic, minced

1 beef boullion cube or chicken cube (if you don't have this, add a 1/2 tbsp salt)

6 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl or container marinate the chicken with all of the ingredients except the vegetable oil. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for over an hour.

2. In a large wok, add the chicken and marinade and turn up the heat. Let the chicken boil in the marinade for 10 minutes then add 1 cup of water. Turn the the heat and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes.

3. Thoroughly drain the chicken, leave the marinade mixture in the wok.

4. In another pan, add the oil and heat it. Add the drained chicken and fry until the pieces are golden brown. Drain the chicken and add back to the marinade in the wok. *

5. Turn the heat up again and simmer the chicken pieces until the sauce thickens up. Serve over cooked rice or fried garlic rice.

*You can cut up potatoes in wedges or cubes and fry these too. Add the potatoes with the chicken in the wok to simmer it together until the sauce thickens up.

Oh, I like eating adobo with slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. The veggies clean your mouth for the next adobo spoonful.

[foodcyclist]

Wow! What are the garnishes around the plate? And how did you make the galette?

The garnishes consist of capers, caviar, balsamic reduction and a bit of chili oil.

I make the galette by slicing the potato on a mandelin then mincing them in a food processor with fresh dill, grated Parmesean an egg yolk and salt and pepper. I drain some of the liquid and coat in Panko bread crumbs. They're browned in hot peanut oil and finished in the oven. An excellent complement to the salmon. Everything works so well together in this dish.

[Bueno]

Jamie Lee: that jar of chili garlic sauce looks well-utilized! Good girl. Do you use Sambal Olek and Sriracha in your cooking as well? I've got all 3 lined up for old Western-style quick draw gun-slingin' action in a holster I wear over my apron.

[andyb]

roasted beet salad

goat cheese

pickled spaghetti squash

micro greens

honey

lemon olive oil

grey sea salt

[dockhl]

andyb~

looks good! Tell me about the pickled spag squash !

[C. sapidus]

Nakji: It looks like your heat-cutting tofu has been sprinkled with chiles.

Jamie Lee: Gotta love fried rice!

Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking was one of my first cookbooks. I have been searching for Indian food that met the boys’ approval, and tonight’s dinner succeeded wildly. We made chicken smothered in aromatic herbs and almonds (badaami murgh), broccoli smothered in garlic oil (hare gobhi ki sabzi), and basmati rice.

The chicken murgh featured crunchy slivered almonds, rich almond butter, tangy tomatoes, and a potpourri of aromas from brown-fried onions, garlic, ginger, cardamom pods, stick cinnamon, whole cloves, cilantro, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. The broccoli was simply glazed with garlic oil and a touch of earthy turmeric, with whole cloves of golden-fried garlic as a bonus.

[Tim Dolan]

Last night we made homemade cheese steaks.  Have been trying to replicate for two years since leaving Philly.  Starting to get pretty close.

You look like you're on the right track. Next time slather the Whiz directly on the roll then add the steak, not vice-versa. Also, add the fried onions to the steak and let them cook together for the last 2-3 minutes. Finally, the rolls look like they could be better. I'm sure you got them from a good bakery, but seeing them on those short, stubby rolls just doesn't do it justice. Me personally, I'm an American/wit out kinda guy. In that case you'd add the American directly to the steak as it's finishing grilling, then let the cheese melt down to a nice molten-lava texture before flipping everything straight onto the roll. If I were to eat only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be a cheesesteak from Dalessandro's. Mmmmm...

Edited to add that if I were to only eat cheesesteaks for the rest of my life, it probably wouldn't be that long! But, man, would I be happy...

Edited November 13, 2007 by Tim Dolan (log)

[doctortim]

C. sapidus, I plan to check that cookbook out at the library next time I visit, the chicken looks great. Ever since I started eating my indian meals with basmati rice, I can't go back to plain rice. The smell of basmati cooking with some cloves, some cardamon pods, and a little saffron makes the house smell so good.

I hardly ever cook steak, so tonight was a change. A porterhouse steak (I think in the US it's called New York Strip, and what you call porterhouse we call something else) on pan-fried radicchio with what's basically puttanesca (diced garlic, tomato, anchovy, olives, chilli, and parsley). I was amazed with how well the combination worked. The steak was intentionally unseasoned, and the salty puttanesca mixture with the bitter radicchio balanced out to one of the most intensely savory things I've tried, without being too salty.

[nakji]

Nakji: It looks like your heat-cutting tofu has been sprinkled with chiles.

Well, it does need some flavour.

Nikomi Hamburg and roasted eggplant salad with miso dressing. I made some bean sprouts on the side, as well, dressed with sesame oil and soy sauce.

[Prawncrackers]

Yesterday was Siu Yook (roast belly pork - more info on how this was made in this thread):

Then today with the leftovers and little Char Siu we had Egg Fried Rice and some Gau Ji:

[HappyLab]

Chengdu Braised Pork with Daikon Radish, adapted from Molly Stevens's All About Braising. Didn't have time to go to Chinatown for Sichuan peppercorns, so substituted with boatloads of hot sesame oil:

Had it with a 2005 Weingut Johann Peter Reinert Kanzemer Sonnenberg Riesling Spätlese Feinherb (a very delicious mouthful!).

[Jensen]

Oh, I like eating adobo with slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. The veggies clean your mouth for the next adobo spoonful.

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You need to warn people that chicken adobo is like crack. Once you've tasted it, you're hooked...

[tupac17616]

It's been, oh, probably over a year since I've posted to this thread, but no time like the present, I suppose

Pollo al Diavolo from Molto Italiano

[Domestic Goddess]

Oh, I like eating adobo with slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. The veggies clean your mouth for the next adobo spoonful.

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You need to warn people that chicken adobo is like crack. Once you've tasted it, you're hooked...

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I have got to tell my Mom about this. She's gonna die laughing. LOL

[Ce'nedra]

Holy crap!......

I meant to write crab...so sorry guys.

The technique is not too hard.  Here is a stepwise instruction on how to do it.

1.  slice the avocado in quarters.

2.  Pell of the skin.

3.  Place the quarter on the cutting board.

4.  Now, you slice the avocado in AlMOST parallel fashion (like a 5 degree angle) to the board, this technique is used when you see sushi makers make dragon rolls in which the cover the roll lenght wise with avocado.  Use a nice clean knife and the thin cuts should be close to the board.  As you cut you slice the avocado piece forward and cut again.

5. Repeat with another quarter.  I used hass avocado (not my favorite by any means but its whats availale

6. Using the Knife to scoop up the slices, you lay the cut pieces in saran wrap  so as to make a square or round area. 

7.  Place the salmon, crab, QP mayo, Sesame oil mixture in the middle.  (Only add like 3 drops of sesame oil, its strong)

8.  Carefully fold the saran wrap and using your hand mold into a ball.

9.  At first its going to be this weird egg form but you can mold it carefully with your hand as long as you keep the saran wrap tight.

10.  If you have a round cup i am sure you can push it on top and just remove the wrap.  It shoudl work.  I just used my hand.

11.  For the foam, just add a little lecithin and use an immersion blender.

Ce'nedra and nakji please keep posting I love your food. 

Lucy can you post some quick info on that butter prep for the steak.

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Thanks so much! You make it sound easy but I highly doubt mine will turn out like your one!

What about your porkie? How did you make that?

I'm going to save your picture and look at it every once in awhile (I collect delicious looking food) hahaha!

Prawncrackers: Your siu yook looks divine! And oh so crunchy! Mmm...how in the world did you get suck cracking skin?

HappyLab: That looks lovely Which noodles did you use? Rice? Like the ones for pho? Recipe please!

tupac17616: Wow that looks JUST like the cookbook! Gotta love the colours -so vibrant! What did you use to rub the chicken?

Here's my very, very simple Corn & Prawn Fritters with tartare sauce, salad and a squirt of lemon

[Prawncrackers]

Prawncrackers: Your siu yook looks divine! And oh so crunchy! Mmm...how in the world did you get suck cracking skin?

Have a look over at the Chinese forum Ce'ndra, there's an impromptu Siu Yook cook-off (click) developing there - maybe you could be next to post some results!!

[Doodad]

Hey Prawncrackers,

Can you share your dipping sauce recipe for the dumplings? I never get it quite right.

[Prawncrackers]

Doodad the dipping sauce in the pic was just a couple of Thai chillies in some Kikkoman. Sometimes with fried dumplings I like the Worcestershire/Soy dipping sauce but mostly I like a little heat (ok a lot) with my dumplings. What kind of dipping sauce are you having trouble with?

[kbjesq]

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That's very appetizing. And I love the way that you photographed your food next to the picture in the cookbook! Well done!

[monavano]

Bravo on that chicken, Tupac. Really gorgeous.