Dinner! 2007

[C. sapidus]

Gruzia: Welcome to the Dinner! thread – your chicken in red curry sauce looks delicious. What do you think of Great Curries of India?

We made grilled chicken (ga nuong), grilled zucchini, and jasmine rice with salt, pepper, and lime dipping sauce (muoi tieu chanh), from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. More information in the

Vietnamese food thread (post #252 - click).

[Shaya]

Great looking food, shengcai. I've never had fried chicken, real or fake. Yours looks great.

Liveitup glad to hear you made the sesame cakes.

Daniel, I love that dinner. The tartar-endive combination is just perfect, and I am a reall sucker for nice-looking frites. I love the bacon and beans idea as well. Pretty pasta too. Great meal!

Wendy, the Indian meal looks great.

[little ms foodie]

welcome Gruzia! I love that big white bowl, I'm sure the dinner was quite tastey too!!!

Shaya, it was very good- I usually eat pretty slow and a small amount but I wolfed it down and dayne said "is that going to be enough for you??" I rarely clean my plate but I just loved those flavors!

[Gruzia]

C. sapidus - I've had Great Curries of India for a while and this is the first dish I've made from it. It was pretty good, but there were mistakes in the recipe concerning the use of one of the ingredients which threw me off a little. I think I have to make a couple more dishes to really get a good feel for the book. i will say, though, i like how she is always asking for meat with bones or bones to put into the dish as it definately adds more flavor.

Wendy - Thank you! I love that bowl, it was a random TJ Maxx purchase and it totally makes me want to make things just to put them into it.

[suzilightning]

O-M-G what wonderful food - now i'm craving bacon burgers.

tonight we sampled some portugese sweet bread then about to finish the main dinner-

green beans with grape tomatoes, shallots and parsley

whole wheat pasta for me

chicken saltimbucca - chicken breast, sage, prosciutto de san danielle and provolone

[C. sapidus]

Fried Rice Friday: eggs, leftovers, and remainders (rice, bacon, Thai basil, chicken, green curry paste, scallions and garlic). Lime wedges, cukes, and Sriracha at the table, and tart, crisp apples on the side. Yum, and an empty fridge.

[wattacetti]

Well, another Groundhog Day has arrived, meaning that my best pal's birthday was also here. In keeping with cooking dinner for her as I did last year, I made:

Duck confit with potatoes (the original plan for dinner) and pied bleu mushrooms

Scallop tiradito

Prawn salad

Chilean sea bass with shimeji mushrooms

Toasted fig with honey

Apart from the scallop tiradito (which went with water), we drank a 2003 Main Divide Pinot Noir (NZ).

I'm actually quite pleased with how things turned out since I've just come back from a week of avoiding calls to have grilled chicken Caesar salad (ah, the fun of meetings in Switzerland) so I didn't have planning or prep time like I did last year. So, there is something to be said of making less convoluted food. We didn't have a real camera handy so photos were shot with a SonyEricsson P990i smartphone.

[little ms foodie]

wattacetti I LOVE the duck potatoe dish- something similar has been in my head as an amuse.... did you just boil the potatoes??

Dayne and I finally both got in the kitchen tonight- very fun

we wrapped a pork tenderloin with thyme and bacon and put that on the grill pan, made a dumpling like spaetzle and sprinkled toasted panko bread crumbs on it and made one of my favorite blogger's winter salad of fennel, pear and blue cheese. 04 Cherry Hill PN in the glass

Edited February 3, 2007 by little ms foodie (log)

[wattacetti]

wattacetti I LOVE the duck potatoe dish- something similar has been in my head as an amuse.... did you just boil the potatoes??

I didn't have the time. The potatoes ("grelots"; new potato) were zapped in a microwave for a couple of minutes before being hollowed out and filled with confit and duck fat. Heated through in a toaster oven before being singed with the torch.

The pork loin you made looks very tasty (all the Swiss pork was grey).

[Shaya]

Wattacetti, that meal looks absolutely gorgeous. Lucky girl.

I'm sick with a flu. Stuffy nose, head and brain. So what does a family of 4 who is accustomed to eating reasonably good food every night do when Mom is under-the-weather? (I got on the couch, in a horizontal position, at 4:30 pm and didn't get off until midnight!). Just before 6pm I asked the kids to go and get themselves something to eat for dinner. From what I could overhear, I think my older guy made them some sandwiches and cut-up fruit, and a cup of milk each.

Then when my sweetie came home I mentioned I had done some prep for a Korean rice dish; he jotted down some notes, got into the kitchen and put a gorgeous bowl of bibimbap in front of me one hour later. It was so tasty, funny how that is when someone else cooks. Made me think I should be sick more often.

[GTO]

I've been getting messy, making blue cheese & lamb burgers, which are now resting on the side. Even after washing, my hands smell of cheese, which I don't really mind to be honest, lol.

[judiu]

Well, another Groundhog Day has arrived, meaning that my best pal's birthday was also here. In keeping with cooking dinner for her as I did last year, I made:

Duck confit with potatoes (the original plan for dinner) and pied bleu mushrooms

Scallop tiradito

Prawn salad

Chilean sea bass with shimeji mushrooms

Toasted fig with honey

Apart from the scallop tiradito (which went with water), we drank a 2003 Main Divide Pinot Noir (NZ).

I'm actually quite pleased with how things turned out since I've just come back from a week of avoiding calls to have grilled chicken Caesar salad (ah, the fun of meetings in Switzerland) so I didn't have planning or prep time like I did last year. So, there is something to be said of making less convoluted food. We didn't have a real camera handy so photos were shot with a SonyEricsson P990i smartphone.

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I WANT that phone! The pictures are great, and the food is beautiful. Please tell, though, what the stalk-y greens are? I though maybe infant asparagus, but not like any I've ever seen. Beautiful, just beautiful!

[Daniel]

Wow so pretty wattacetti..

[little ms foodie]

I WANT that phone! The pictures are great, and the food is beautiful. Please tell, though, what the stalk-y greens are? I though maybe infant asparagus, but not like any I've ever seen. Beautiful, just beautiful!

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Sea beans if I'm not mistaken right? Although I think there are other names for them.

[Irishgirl]

Sea asparagus for sure. I think when it is dried, they call it Hijiki.

[philadining]

Greetings! Long-time listener, first time caller...

About 10 Philadelphia eGulleters got together for a modest pot-luck, and well, I guess we should have predicted that it would get a little out-of-hand! Hopefully some of them will chime-in with details on their dishes. They were all delicious. Well, except one that was, well.. interesting.

Capaneus brought cheese:

mrbigjas made tofu/shrimp/chive/lemongrass...soup:

Katie Loeb made a pear/fennel/cashew riff on a Waldorf salad

I Call the Duck! made Chinese Barbecue ribs:

and Roasted Cauliflower:

Andrew Fenton made Roasted Fennel:

philadining made Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Kimchee Purée:

(idea stolen shamelessly from David Chang at Momofuku)

Diann made Shanghai Braised Pork Shoulder:

and Sticky Rice with Chinese Ham and Sausage:

(and graciously hosted the event!)

Percyn made Akoori:

and a Shrimp and Crab Curry:

and Lamb Dhansak:

(which may not look like much, but might have been the star of the evening!)

and the Dhansak is traditionally paired with Shrimp Kebabs

oh, and he also made these little sweet, spicy things the name of which I've forgotten

(yes, as you might guess, it's an excellent idea to invite Percy to a Pot Luck!)

Andrew Fenton also made a Pecan Pie:

Mummer brought pastries from South Philly's famous Isgro's:

and their legendary cannolis:

and philadining, for reasons nobody in attendance could quite decipher, made Thai Masaman Curry Ice Cream:

which met with, ahem, mixed reviews.

In final analysis: amazing food, great company, big fun had by all. Big thanks to Diann for hosting, and letting us trash her kitchen! We're hoping she'll let us do it again sometime soon...

Edited February 4, 2007 by philadining (log)

[C. sapidus]

Oh. My. Goodness. Wow. Mmm. That looks like an incredible array of food. And yes, I am now curious about what Masaman curry ice cream tastes like. Did you use a base of milk or coconut milk?

[Chufi]

philadining made Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Kimchee Purée:

(idea stolen shamelessly from David Chang at Momofuku)

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looks wonderful! what's in the kimchipuree besides kimchi, and how do you serve it with the roasted sprouts and bacon? hot, cold, as a condiment?

the rest of the dinner also looks amazing! I wish there could be an Amsterdam eGullet potluck one day!

[philadining]

Oh. My. Goodness. Wow. Mmm. That looks like an incredible array of food. And yes, I am now curious about what Masaman curry ice cream tastes like. Did you use a base of milk or coconut milk?

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Both.... it actually started with the curry in coconut milk, but then I cut it with almost an equal amount of milk. I think it's actually got potential, but it was a little intense. I didn't actually measure anything, but I might try again with less curry. A little bit goes a long way, but it was interesting. It might be better as an accent to some other dish.

And for the kimchee purée: I'm not sure how they do it at the restaurant, but all I did was buzz some kimchee with an immersion blender and served it cold. It's a really nice accent. The bright sour spice of the kimchee countered the sweetness that had developed on the dark-roasted sprouts, and the richness of the abundant bacon. I'm totally making this again.

[Andrew Fenton]

Phil's sprouts were indeed fantastic: kimchi and bacon, two long friends, reunited at last!

For my money, Percy's dishes won the night, especially the akoori and the dhansak. But everything was great.

[Daniel]

Looks great guys.. Are those steamed buns I see too.. Looks like a fun night..

[I_call_the_duck]

Yeah--kimchi, bacon, sprouts...a match made in heaven.

Everything was amazing. (I also made some truffles, but they weren't very purty.) I don't know if I could choose a favorite. Maybe another taste test will have to be conducted.

[little ms foodie]

oh my gosh you guys!!! that all sounds amazing...those ribs!! yum!

last night I made grilled mushroom and fontina quesadillas with white truffle oil and a salad with a few wedges of fried avacado- I love to fry stuff!! I wonder if I have some scottish in me

[Chufi]

Fried avocado? How did that taste? I'm with you on the frying though. Anything fried is good!

So, yesterday I bought an oven thermometer. We've lived in this house, and I've had my oven, for 10 years. Today I find out that when my oven tells me it's 150 C (300 F), it is actually 200 C (about 390 F)!! No wonder I've burned so many cakes over the years! And, no wonder I can turn out a pretty good pizza - because my domestic oven will heat to about 310 C! (590 F )! At least if I can trust this oven thermometer...

Anyway, first time baking something while I actually knew what temp I was cooking with.. chicken, leek and mushroom pie. Salad of cooked carrots, celery and cucumber, dressed with verjuice and walnutoil.

[the g-man]

Tuna Tartare:

Crab cake:

Braised Short Ribs: