Dinner! 2007

[C. sapidus]

Ann_T: Beautiful Greek ribs, and grilled Italian sausage is my absolute favorite fair food.

Marcia: It looks like you have become quite proficient with your new grill – nice dinners!

Tonight was a two-wok dinner: one wok for Thai chicken with lemongrass (click); and the other wok for chorizo-garlic fried rice. Cukes, red bell peppers, and lime slices served on the side.

[nikkom]

I've been making pizza at home for years - the pan I use has almost 10 years of pizza making on it, and it makes a difference... The recipe for the dough came from my dad - he has issues making a box of mac and cheese but he can whip out a pizza from scratch blindfolded. This one was a simple one that is kinda the standard at the house - beef, green peppers, red onions, and mushrooms on half...

For the dough...

2 ½ Cups Flour

1 .25oz packet yeast

2 tbl Oil

1 ts Sugar

1 ts Salt

1 Cup Warm water about 110 degrees

Place Flour in a medium sized bowl and make a well in the center. In another small bowl mix the remaining stuff. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes then mix well with a fork. Add the mixture into the well in the flour. Mix well then turn out onto a clean lightly floured surface and lightly kneed. Oil a bowl and place the dough inside turning to coat. Let sit for about an hour or until it has doubled in size. Turn out and roll out. Sauce it, cheese it, top it, bake it, marvil at it, then eat it...

[markk]

Wow- what great food everybody.

I haven't posted here in about 2 months, because I haven't cooked in that long - I had knee surgery and have been milking it for all it's worth (and after 35 years of cooking dinners, it's been a nice break) - but I've gotten good and sick of take-out food (though not so sick of eating out), and I was finally tempted back into the kitchen by these beauties:

I figured it's now or never. And as we've been flirting with summer here in the NYC area, I thought that maybe I could hurry things along.

So I started my first meal with a bit of prosciutto and melon (the melon was actually sweet)

The market had some beautiful looking heirloom tomatoes, which though they weren't great at first, were superb after an hour marinating with some fresh basil and Greek olive oil:

and I thought that some asparagus were in order

Well, I dredged the softshells in some Wondra flour with salt and pepper, and sauteed them away in some olive oil and butter, and the house smelled with a delicious crab fragrance

I plated it all together, and I must say, the crabs plus the oil from the marinated tomatoes were quite good

[doctortim]

I doubt that our diners had any idea of how close things came to disaster last night, but amidst chaos in the kitchen we managed to turn out a very tasty dinner. We made some fresh fettucini and gnocchi, then served them in three courses:

- Fettucini with pesto & sundried tomatoes.

- Gnocchi with tomato & basil sauce.

- Fettucini carbonara.

The first two were good, but the carbonara was the best carbonara I've made and really took it to the next level. For dessert I made a lime & ginger tart, basically improvising it using Thomas Keller's savoury quiche recipe as a rough guide. It turned out surprisingly well!

Thinking back, every part of this meal relied on eggs, but in such different ways. I'll never cease to be amazed by how versatile they are.

[purplewiz]

Marcia, I've been meaning to tell you that I made your Calabacitas recipe you posted a few weeks back over the weekend, with some chicken enchiladas verdes.  It was DYNAMITE !  Thank you so much for sharing that, its a keeper for sure, and I will absolutely be making it again.

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I'm so glad to hear it worked well for you!

Marcia.

[Dianne]

Last night I finally made a dinner worth mentioning.

We started with smoked salmon on grits cakes, garnished with sour cream, capers, sweet onion and chives. This was with a watercress salad.

Then main course of Vietnamese garlicy roasted chicken thighs, with veggie salad of red potato, fava beans, artichokes and asparagus.

And a dessert of warm rhubarb/ strawberry pudding cake with whipped cream.

[percyn]

Dianne, that chicken looks great!! Do you mind sharing the recipe?

Thanks

Percy

[rooftop1000]

Markk...et al

Its amazing how the same ingrediants can have such differnt outcomes

I also started with softshell crabs, asparagus and red ripe tomatoes among other things

first course was seared scallops with snowpeas, asparagus scallions with ginger.

then we moved on to cornmeal crusted crabs on brioch rolls with tomatoes and watercress.

Well hubby found out he doesnt like sofshell crabs, the young-un loved hers, and I somehow in that moment between plating hers and mine had a tummy bug manifest.

So the child and the dogs ate some really nice softshell crab sandwiches.

oh well

spaghetti tonight

tracey

[C. sapidus]

Dianne, that chicken looks great!! Do you mind sharing the recipe?

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PercyN: I’m guessing (Dianne, please speak up if I’m wrong!) that she made Andrea Nguyen’s garlicky oven-roasted chicken (click for recipe). I agree that the chicken looks gorgeous, as does the rhubarb/strawberry cake.

Tracey: I hope the stomach bug has, um, passed, but that is too funny (in a, y’know, sympathetic, laughing-with-you kinda way).

[Bella S.F.]

doctortim,

Could you please share how you made your "best ever" carbonara. I have been trying different recipes since we had some amazing carbonara in Lucca and also in Montecatini Terme. Nothing I have made has come close to what we had. I realize that some of this may be the fact that just about anything tastes better in Italy, but I am sure that I can do better here.

I would appreciate any guidance.

Thanks!

[Dianne]

Dianne, that chicken looks great!! Do you mind sharing the recipe?

Thanks

Percy

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I am not sure that I can. It is a recipe from Into The Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen. If I post it I will violate copyright. But I do recommend the book!!

[Dianne]

Oh good; C. sapidus posted a link. That is exactly the one.

[Nishla]

I've been insanely busy at work, so I think it's been several weeks since I last posted

Everyone's amazing dinners have been providing great inspiration whenever I've been able to cook!

A few weeks ago we had nice weather on the weekend, so we grilled for the first time this year:

Shrimp with salt, pepper, olive oil and tons of garlic:

Grilled chicken (marinated with lemongrass, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and some other stuff I can't remember) and eggplant (just salt, pepper and oil):

Spare ribs (3 hours in a low oven, then finished on the grill for 30 minutes):

(leftovers with bbq sauce and mashed potatoes with peas)

We had leftover spice rub from the ribs, so I marinated some extra chicken thighs with it. The next day, just threw it in the oven topped with some chopped fresh tomatoes....so easy and really tasty:

Edited May 21, 2007 by Nishla (log)

[Nishla]

And a few more dishes from the last couple weeks...

Lamb spring rolls. We used the thin-sliced frozen lamb from the Asian market tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce, and some marinated cabbage. On another night, we made more with shredded cucumber instead of cabbage. Yum!

Baby mustard greens sauteed with garlic and black beans

Spaghetti with bacon, tuna, peas, onions and tomatoes, finished with a bit of cream:

Cauliflower soup (chicken broth, water, cream, nutmeg) topped with bacon, carmelized onions, garlic and scallions:

Toasts with wild smoked salmon, cucumber and goat cheese foam.

[purplewiz]

A very prosaic dinner tonight: sausage zucchini casserole and wilted spinach salad:

Not beautiful, but satisfying.

Marcia.

[Domestic Goddess]

A very prosaic dinner tonight: sausage zucchini casserole and wilted spinach salad:

Not beautiful, but satisfying.

Marcia.

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Sometimes... satisfying is just what you need.

[doctortim]

doctortim,

    Could you please share how you made your "best ever" carbonara. I have been trying different recipes since we had some amazing carbonara in Lucca and also in Montecatini Terme. Nothing I have made has come close to what we had. I realize that some of this may be the fact that just about anything tastes better in Italy, but I am sure that I can do better here.

    I would appreciate any guidance.

    Thanks!

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I'm afraid I may not be much good for a recipe as I didn't pay attention to the amounts I was using. Nevertheless:

Since carbonara is all about eggs, I made sure to use good-quality, fresh, free range eggs in both the pasta itself and the sauce. First I cooked some pancetta slowly in its own fat, and while that was going I combined 3-4 eggs, some salt, and a good helping of freshly cracked pepper. One of my guests thought he would be helpful and add cream. I don't normally use cream and stopped him, but he'd already put in about 1/4 cup. Once the pan with the pancetta had cooled, I poured in the egg mixture. Then I grated a handful of pecorino over the top.

Once the pasta was done (freshly-made pasta, which helped a lot), I scooped it directly out of the pot and onto the egg mixture, then kept stirring that over a very lot heat until it was the consistency I wanted. When you're combining it all you've gotta keep an eye on it. If it looks like its overcooking, lift the pan off the heat and keep stirring to cool it down. Carbonara can be made very quickly, but if it needs additional heat, then the slower you heat it the less likely you are to irreversibly overcook the eggs.

Although the cream was accidental and not authentic, it was only a little and the final product didn't taste like it had cream in it. Some people feel that just eggs can make it over-the-top heavy, but if that's a problem then just thin it out with some of the pasta's cooking water.

I hope that helps. Not to get all wanky, but I see carbonara as more of a technique to practise than a sauce you can learn from a recipe. Start by keeping it simple with just the eggs, cheese, bacon, and pepper. Personally I think if you can get just those to come together it can taste amazing, but if you like other additions (garlic, mushrooms, I've even seen spinach) try them after you've got the basics down.

[dividend]

Cauliflower soup (chicken broth, water, cream, nutmeg) topped with bacon, carmelized onions, garlic and scallions:

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OK, I am in love with your bowls!

A couple of meals worth talking about.

Friday night I had the last part of my roast chicken over greens with goat cheese, radishes, green garlic, almonds, and a strawberry balsamic vinagraitte.

Sides were oven fries and braised leeks.

I had lots of leeks in my CSA share, so last night's dinner was a leek and tomato pasta sauce, side of broccoli raab and a heel of homemade sourdough. The pasta sauce came from a CSA newsletter, and it was amazing. I hope I get more leeks so I can duplicate it.

Edited May 21, 2007 by dividend (log)

[Chufi]

We started with smoked salmon on grits cakes, garnished with sour cream, capers, sweet onion and chives. This was with a watercress salad.

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Dianne, good to see watercress! I love it, and I think it's underrated!

Lamb spring rolls. We used the thin-sliced frozen lamb from the Asian market tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce, and some marinated cabbage. On another night, we made more with shredded cucumber instead of cabbage. Yum!

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Nishla these look so good! were they deepfried?

A very prosaic dinner tonight: sausage zucchini casserole and wilted spinach salad:

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Marcia, I think that casserole looks great. Almost like a frittata!

We've started another healthy week. Lowfat, lowsugar, no alcohol!

First dinner: Chipotle and cornmeal crusted snapper (it looks fried, but was baked in the oven with no oil added, turned out great, with a crispy spicy crust), black beans with coriander yoghurt, avocado/tomato salad and broccoli.

Edited May 21, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[dividend]

First dinner: Chipotle and cornmeal crusted snapper (it looks fried, but was baked in the oven with no oil added, turned out great, with a crispy spicy crust), black beans with coriander yoghurt, avocado/tomato salad and broccoli.

Yum! Mind sharing your recipe for the crust? I've got some cod filets that I think I'd like to try this on.

[Ann_T]

Cauliflower soup (chicken broth, water, cream, nutmeg) topped with bacon, carmelized onions, garlic and scallions:

Nishla your soup looks so creamy and velvety (sp). And I love your bowls.

Friday night I had the last part of my roast chicken over greens with goat cheese, radishes, green garlic, almonds, and a strawberry balsamic vinagraitte.

Dividend Thanks to you I know what I want for dinner tomorrow. I have a craving now for Roast chicken.

It is still prawn season. I had planned to make some sort of pasta last night with prawns, but neither of us was overly hungry so we had garlic prawns again.

I haven't started to cook dinner yet tonight, but here is a preview. I have a Rib Eye roast waiting to go on the grill. Seasoned with three different coloured peppercorns, garlic and fresh rosemary.

[Dana]

Hey, dividend, how about the general recipe for the leek pasta. Sounds great!

[Nishla]

Chufi, the lamb spring rolls were deep fried, but I've shallow-fried them before with reasonable success.

Ann T, the prawns look amazing, and my husband is totally drooling over the rib roast!

Last weekend, I was the lucky recipient of several food items. First, my cousin came over with fresh asparagus and mint from his garden. Then, my best friend showed up at my door with ~20 pounds of insanely fresh squid (her coworker went squid fishing). Yikes!

Asparagus mint soup with pancetta:

Squid ink risotto with some of the bodies. This was the least horrifying photo...the worst one is in the anti-dinner thread

Casserole with squid bodies, peas, toasted pine nuts and tomatoes. Topped with panko crumbs and baked. We just threw this together because we were so overwhelmed by the amount of squid!

Fried. Lightly dredged in flour seasoned with salt and chili powder. This completely destroyed the oil in our deep fryer, but were quite tasty:

Finally, I was inspired by the Sara Lee banana cake thread, and made a version of Wendy's cake, topped with kahlua whipped cream and a layer of banana in the middle:

[Ann_T]

Nishla You make the best soups. Love how you garnish.

I grilled the rib roast. Took it off the grill when it was at 110°F. But I should have taken it off at about 105°F. Because it rose to 126°F while it rested. It was a great piece of meat though. Served grilled potato slices along with some steamed asparagus and Shittake mushrooms.

Dessert was a Chocolate Cream Cheese Loaf cake.

[SeaGal]

So much beautiful food!

Ann_T: That prime rib looks so good, both before and after cooking.

Nishla: Wow, squid 3-ways. The risotto may look scary, but I be it was good. The fried version looks delicious. The banana cake is beautiful.

Catching up with several days of meals:

One night last week (must have been a sunny day):

Dungeness Crab and bay shrimp salad w/ dill, on a bed of red butter lettuce, cucumber and avocado.

Lazy Friday supper:

Antipasto--nothing fancy here, but some damn good Italian cheese from DeLaurenti's which name I can't remember since I threw the wrapping away . This was nibbled with wine while preparing:

Pasta with green garlic and pancetta sprinkled with peccorino romano. My first experience with green garlic and it won't be my last.

Saturday was Nigella night--recipes I've been meaning to try after watching one of her shows:

Pork chops pounded viciously, dipped in dijon egg wash, dredged in pita bread crumbs and fried in a mixture of duck fat and veg oil. These chops were good sized to start with, but they were huge after the pounding. I had to use a frying pan for each as they wouldn't fit in the pan.

And plated with Garlicky Spinach and Tomato Salad (to which I added some arugula). This was a pretty tasty combination and I'd probably try it again, although it was very messy what with the crumbs and frying oil etc.

Nigella's rhubarb crumble awaiting the ice cream.

Plated w/ ice cream

And finally, Sunday night. Our very own rockdoggydog had a plethora of ramps and so I was the lucky recipient of a good sized bag of them. Having never cooked with them before, I decided to do a classic preparation so I sauteed some potatoes in pancetta and duck fat with the ramp heads, then added the ramp greens near the end. So good!

Sauteed potatoes w/ ramps and pancetta, sauteed halibut, salad of fennel, cucumber, tomato w/ lemon dressing.