Dinner! 2007

[Shaya]

Ann, gorgeous pie.

Wendy, I'm so happy to hear you are back in oven-action!

Moby, I love the look of your lobster meal. Beautiful plating. How did you butter-roast the lobster? I have done a butter-poach, and I have pan-roasted with the shell on, but I'm curious about how you prepared yours.

My sweetie had a hankering for a childhood favorite tonight, pork tenderloin. I wilted some arugula, and my little guy made a sauce with green apple, shallot, stock and cream. What else on the side than...gratin dauphinois (must be subliminal messaging from this thread)! My own version that I've been making for 20 years, similar to Bourdain's except I do not simmer the potatoes first; they go raw into the oven. My husband and I adore these, and the kids were into them too, today. Also roasted orange beets - grownups loved these, but not the kids. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.

Pork Tenderloin with Green Apple and Arugula, Roasted Orange Beets and Gratin Dauphinois

I am not a bit fan of pork. Had a small organic grassfed striploin from the farmer's market instead, which I shared with the kids.

GrassFed Organic Striploin - same veggies as above!

Edited April 15, 2007 by Shaya (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

After all the pics of Marlboro Man's favorite sandwich, I succumbed and made it for dinner tonight... You should have heard the man noises hubby made when he was eating it. 

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Domestic Goddess - looks great! I have visited Marlboro Man many times and love the pictures and blog! However - your sandwhichs look sooo different!?!? Not as saucey perhaps and a diff type of meat it appears (cut and preparation). Did you tweak some of the details in the ingredients and or cooking method?

Just curious if your recipe for this is a lil different than the original. Thanks!

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LindsayAnn - I was fortunate to get really tender steak slices. The only tweaking I made was to cut the beef thickly than the recipe and to double the onions (Hubby and eldest son are sauteed onion freaks). The sauce got soaked up on the underbelly of the sandwich. Oh backed off on the Tabasco too since I'm the only one who likes it in this household.

[meredithla]

Wendy, Your clean oven reminded me to clean mine tonight!

Ann, RHUBARB!!!! I bought some two weeks ago and made a crisp and now can't find it anywhere. Sigh.

Shaya, What a delicious and colorful meal!

Tonight to ward off our Nor'easter and nonstop rain, Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken and Bread Salad with a side of arugula. I used the convection oven to roast the chicken and it was done in under an hour. The chicken is really good but the bread salad is the best part of the meal-vinegar, oil, currants, pine nuts, garlic, scallions and pan drippings.

[Marlene]

Full Sunday roast dinner, and what else would it be, but beef?

Roast potatoes and yorkies

Broccoli and hollandaise

[C. sapidus]

Shaya: I see that you like your steaks still mooing and oh, that gratin!

Marlene: I don’t see any broccoli on your plate to accompany the perfectly-cooked meat and potatoes.

Meredithla: Mmm, crispy chicken skin, and the bread salad sounds delish.

Tonight we dry-braised steelhead trout, adapted from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. The recipe calls for whole fish, but skin-on fillets work nicely. Chile bean paste, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, dark soy, chile flakes, and a cup of chicken broth are reduced to intensely-flavored oil (delicious over rice), and then finished with scallions, Thai basil, and a drizzle of sesame oil. One of younger son’s friends, a “picky eater”, stayed over for dinner and had several helpings of fish.

Mrs. C sliced cucumbers, cooked coconut rice, and made a green salad with pear vinaigrette. She also baked a scrumptious strawberry rhubarb pie with cinnamon and a hint of cayenne. Apparently she has fond memories of eating fresh fruit sprinkled with chiles in Mexico.

[wattacetti]

I had an Air Canada special:

Yet another trip to PHL this year tainted by a weather event (first ice storm, then sleet storm, then heavy rain). Flight got in too late to take advantage of room service when I arrived at the hotel, and I wasn't in the mood for McD's or Wawa.

[MobyP]

Moby, I love the look of your lobster meal.  Beautiful plating.  How did you butter-roast the lobster?  I have done a butter-poach, and I have pan-roasted with the shell on, but I'm curious about how you prepared yours.

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Very simply - as I'm pretty inexperienced with lobsters. I blanched the shell for 2 mins and the claws for 4 mins, then let cool slightly and deshelled. Then a medium hot pan with a load of sizzling butter (and a bit of thyme), basting basting basting until ready. A couple of minutes.

[Chufi]

Ann and Bruce, always good to see other rhubarb-lovers!

Wendy congratulations on your oven!

Shaya, I love yellow beets but I can rarely buy them here. And very creative applesauce!

I cooked from Abruzzoyesterday

Pasta with lamb ragu

Edited April 16, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Marlene]

Marlene: I don’t see any broccoli on your plate to accompany the perfectly-cooked meat and potatoes.

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That was my side bowl of broccoli. I think it must be a holdover from when I was growing up. Veggies for some reason, were always served in a side bowl, never on a plate. I still do it that way today mostly. Rarely will the veggies be on the main plate.

[MobyP]

Last one from me for a while (back to family cooking)

devon red mullet with confit potato, chorizo and italian violet artichokes.

[MiFi]

Grilled Leg of Lamb

Lamb leftovers

Sausage and pepper pizza

[The Blissful Glutton]

Last one from me for a while (back to family cooking)

devon red mullet with confit potato, chorizo and italian violet artichokes.

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Wow. That looks amazing. Nice plating and nice combination of flavors. Did you make that recipe up?

[percyn]

Moby, it looks delicious.

Yesterday I made

Mushroom Polenta w/Bacon and Hot Spring Egg - Used Shitake and Portobello mushrooms sauteed with shallots, Benton's bacon and deglaced with red wine and beef stock.

The creaminess of the polenta went well with the richness of the yolk, the smoke from the bacon and the earthiness of the mushrooms......yuuummmm.

[Emily_R]

Darn it Percyn -- that looks so good I now have to go downstairs and make myself a few pieces of bacon!

Emily

[MobyP]

Wow. That looks amazing. Nice plating and nice combination of flavors. Did you make that recipe up?

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Thanks. The potato idea comes from a flickr pic of an FL meal (probably one of UE's). Otherwise, it was just the stuff i had around, and I felt like fiddling.

[Alinka]

MobyP

How elegant! Do people actually eat like this at home?

MiFi

That meat looks so delicious.

percyn

Eggs. Of course .

[Chufi]

Tian (a Provencal gratin of courgette, tomato, eggplant, and chickpeas, with lots of basil)

Buttermilk oatmeal rolls - I was so proud of these! They were perfect!

Simple burgers on said rolls, with sweet & sour onion gravy

[Emily_R]

Chufi! That looks DIVINE! Man, this thread is just killing me today! I'm stressed with work, so every part of me is already wanting to gorge myself... Sigh...

Emily

[Kobi]

Had an eclectic dinner tonight.

Basic salad for starters (neglected to picture) followed by roasted asparagus with roasted garlic, fettucinni with homemade alfredo sauce and pan seared filet mignon with light herb butter,

Dessert will be homemade chocolate chip cookies from a new recipe,

Lots of rain = lots of time to cook!

KOBI

[Shaya]

Beautiful, Moby! Has the family been away?

Chufi, that all looks fantastic, my kind of dinner. The tian looks great - the chickpeas are quite a surprise! And those rolls, beautiful. I love the elegant pinkish onions swirling down the side of the burger.

[Marlene]

The rolls look lovely Chufi.

Now my son wants fettucine.

Indoor BBQ chicken and crispy smashed potatoes from Fine Cooking:

[dockhl]

crispy smashed potatoes from Fine Cooking:

Marlene

Can you tell me about those lovely potatoes? What makes them crispy?

[Marlene]

I love these. Mini red or yukon golds, boiled until tender but not falling apart. Flatten them with a tea towel while they are warm and transfer to a baking sheet lined with tinfoil and parchment. You can make them up to this point and refrigerate. When you want to bake them heat the oven to either 450 or 400 convection, pour olive oil over them, and season with salt and pepper. Bake, turning once or twice, carefully until they are crispy. Takes about half an hour!

[Emily_R]

Tonight was spaghetti and meatballs, and I will say, I am thrilled, as I have discovered the secret to perfect meatballs... I used to make my meatballs with dry breadcrumbs, but recently I have switched to using soft bread (white or light whole wheat) that has been crumbled and then soaked in milk. The difference this makes in the texture of the meatballs is amazing -- both times I've done them this way they have turned out phenomenally moist, tender, and flavorful. Actually, one other new development in my meatball making has been the addition of a good handful of parsley... On its own I can't stand parsley, but I am finding that it really makes a big difference in the meatballs...

[Kobi]

Chufi that looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!