Dinner! 2007

[Bella S.F.]

I have read this thread avidly for a few years now. I have posted our meals only a couple of times , quite a long time ago, because I don't take pictures (tried to get a picture posted once, it looked great on my computer but never made it to the web-site).

Anyway, I want to try to share some of our recent wonderful meals.

Sunday we made another great and simple but delicious dish from one of the Donna Hay books. It was "Roasted Prosciutto and Bocconcini Salad". Bocconcini "balls" (fresh mozzerella), wrapped in prosciutto placed on thin slices of crusty bread, drizzled with really good olive oil (brought back from Tuscany), and pepper, baked, then plated with tomatoes (I used halved small sugar plum tomatoes, recipe called for regular), and basil leaves, drizzled with good balsamic (also brought back from Tuscany). The recipe also called for arugula but I didn't feel like going to the store, so we just used extra tomatoes and basil. WOW, it was really delicious. We thought that it would be an amazing appie for company, but we would never be able to make as many as people would want to eat.

Followed that up with some wonderful filet mignons, seared in a cast iron griddle pan and finished in the oven to a beautiful medium rare, and roasted asparagus.

Yesterday tried a new recipe "Lamb and Eggplant Gratin with North African Spices". It was yummy. The recipe came from the Leite's Culinaria web-site. I've gotten quite a few wonderful recipes from that site. The recipes tend to come from well known chefs and their books. It is really worth looking at it.

I wanted to make the Strawberry, Rhubarb, Ginger Crisp that Klary had made, but I was too tired. So tonight it is leftovers (the eggplant/lamb gratin is supposed to be better the next day) and hopefully, I will get the crisp made.

Here is a link to the home page of the Leite's Culinaria web-site.

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/

Click on "Recipes", then go to "Cookbooks". Most of the recipes I have tried come from that area, but there are great things in all the other parts of the site also. You can often just find something great to read. And... they are always updating the site and adding new recipes.

I hope that some of you will enjoy.

[Marlene]

I've been away for several weeks, so this is the first meal I've cooked in a while. Ever since Ann T shared how to make these, they've been my husband's favourite ribs.

Greek ribs, with crispy smashed potatoes and green beans:

[kbjesq]

Everyone's meals look so wonderful (and inspiring). This is one of my favorite threads. Chufi, those potato croutons look especially good. Did you bake them or fry them?

Last night I made a salad with the last two tomatoes from my garden. It is so hot here in Florida that my tomato plants are too pooped to bloom anymore. Then, it was on to another recipe from the Art of Braising - Yankee Pot Roast. I know it sounds strange to be making this dish in the heat of summer, but DH will eat pretty much anything, anytime. I don't eat beef, so for myself, I cooked up a pot of Rancho Gordo's beans with some chipotles and jalapenos thrown in. I could live on his beans.

[Live It Up]

I've been away for several weeks, so this is the first meal I've cooked in a while.  Ever since Ann T shared how to make these, they've been my husband's favourite ribs.

Greek ribs, with crispy smashed potatoes and green beans:

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ooh, where is that recipe please? I want to make them too.

[Marlene]

ooh, where is that recipe please? I want to make them too.

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Greek Ribs They really are fabulous!

[LaCookrasha]

The original recipe: "Cowboy Spaghetti with Cheddar Cheese Sauce" but since we had spaghetti last night, I decided to use shell pasta for this recipe.

[dockhl]

My gosh, everything looks so good.

Tritip and baked potatoes for me tonight. Radishes and cucumbers. My tomatoes are just thinking about getitng ripe......I can't wait !

DanielM~

great looking dinner, nice plating ! Tell us about your tomato vinagrette. Is this your first "Dinner" thread post? Welcome!

Kathy

[Domestic Goddess]

What do you do when your day begins with rain and the drizzle won't let up?

You grill hamburgers on your veranda...

Burgers are as simple as it gets in my family. My hubby wants nothing on it but Worcestershire sauce, my kids - ketchup & mayo and me - Worcestershire sauce and thinly sliced onions.

Sigh, my boys want to be in the picture...

Note toself: becoming a real rabid eGulleteer ... actually preferring pics of food rather than pics of my own children! LOL

[Shelby]

I think I've gained 10 lbs by looking at all of your pictures!

Pizza from the other night.

Yeah, I like mozzerella

[Shelby]

We had a hot dog making contest. This one has cheddar cheese and diced up mustard greens and red onions.

[Shelby]

We went to Lake Texoma fishing last weekend. Caught a ton of striped bass (stripers). It's a wonderfully mild, white, flaky fish. I made ceviche out of some of it. YUM!

[lucylou95816]

Shelby, those pictures are great! I love the pizza.

[rwsweet]

Dinner last night was skate in brown butter with steamed asparagus with fleur de sel and lemon. This is definitely one of my favorite meals to make, and it is even better when I don't feel like doing as much work in the kitchen.

Shelby, that hot dog looks so good. I just might have to take a trip down to the the Common today and find a hot dog cart.

[jende]

  Sunday we made another great and simple but delicious dish from one of the Donna Hay books. It was "Roasted Prosciutto and Bocconcini Salad". Bocconcini "balls" (fresh mozzerella), wrapped in prosciutto placed on thin slices of crusty bread, drizzled with really good olive oil (brought back from Tuscany), and pepper,  baked, then plated with tomatoes (I used halved small sugar plum tomatoes, recipe called for regular), and basil leaves, drizzled with good balsamic (also brought back from Tuscany).  The recipe also called for arugula but I didn't feel like going to the store, so we just used extra tomatoes and basil. WOW, it was really delicious. We thought that it would be an amazing appie for company, but we would never be able to make as many as people would want to eat.

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This sounds wonderful -- exactly the kind of food I crave in summer. I've had inconsistent experiences with prosciutto, though, so I'm wondering if someone can recommend some good brands. I've had a lot of proscuitto that was tough, fatty and bad-salty. The good stuff I've encountered (usually in restaurants) is buttery and good-salty. Any advice for how to find the good stuff?

[DanielM.]

dockhl~

Thanks for the kind words! All of my grand-total of 4 posts have been in this thread. As for the tomato vinaigrette, pretty simple. I cooked some pancetta, reserved the drippings. Reduced some sherry vinegar in the same pan with a little honey maybe a splash of white wine too (i forget), then just whisked in the drippings and a little olive oil, s&p and stirred in some diced tomatoes at the end to warm through and break down a little. voilà !

[Peter the eater]

great looking food!

jende: I've had inconsistent experiences with prosciutto as well - I have pretty much switched to Westphalia ham which is always good at my store. I get them to slice it as thin as they can and its half the price of prosciutto.

rwsweet: I have been seeing skate a lot more recently, I think I will get some.

shelby: Those dogs are hot, and I think everything tastes better when served in a martini glass.

I saw some local lamb sweetbreads for sale and decided to take the plunge. I'm generally pretty good about enjoying the organ meats although I have had some so-so experiences, particularly with dodgy steak-and-kidney pie at the pub. I recalled how good the sweetbreads looked in Chufi's eG foodblog several weeks ago and did a little reading. I soaked them for many hours, poached them briefly in salty water, dumped them into icy water, removed anything unpalatable (membranes and vessels) and finally panfried them in a little butter, after flattening and dusting with flour:

I have had sweetbreads before, in France almost 20 years ago, but thats about it. I am pleased with the result today - they were wonderfully delicate and almost creamy inside the slightly crunchy coating. I may not have removed 100% the blood since I could taste a hint of liver, maybe overnight soaking is the answer.

I also picked up these beautiful rib chops, possibly from the same lamb as the sweetbreads. I think they will be grilled for dinner tonight with mint and rosemary.

[little ms foodie]

LaCookrasha that looks soooo oooey and gooey!!! (that's very good in my book!) welcome!

and Shelby your pics are great, wonderful lighting- welcome!

Dinner last night was skate in brown butter with steamed asparagus with fleur de sel and lemon.  This is definitely one of my favorite meals to make, and it is even better when I don't feel like doing as much work in the kitchen.

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this is a favorite of mine to make too and you've just reminded me I need to do it again. Do you take the cartlidge out yourself or have your fish monger do it?

[rwsweet]

little ms foodie, I actually left the cartilage in the wing during cooking. I love cooking meat on the bone, as I think this provides much better results. Once cooked, the skate just slides easily off the cartilage. Give it a try sometime!

Peter the eater, definitely give skate a try. I know some people aren't huge on the texture, but I love it. Your sweetbreads look awesome, they are without a doubt one of my favorite foods of all time. You're lucky to be able to find them in a store, I've always had to order them. Let us know how your skate turns out

[Emily_R]

Hi all --

Some good looking food happening folks -- that skate looks delicious, and Peter, while I've never had sweetbreads, your photo made me want to try them!

Dinner tonight was a good one... My favorite beet green / beets / walnuts / feta salad in a lemon vinagrette, with blackened shark, done on the grill... The blackening spice mix was a nice one... I modified from a few recipes I found online and was happy with the results!

Emily

[purplewiz]

Dinner tonight was grilled chuck eye steaks and a tossed salad...stuff you've all seen before. But I decided to do the Tangy Cauliflower Soup straight out of the new Food and Wine that showed up a couple days ago:

It was fantastic, and the ground coriander seasoning it smelled so good while it was simmering.

But IMHO, it made way more than 4 servings. Which isn't such a bad thing, since I froze the rest for another meal.

Marcia.

[MobyP]

Short horn rib of beef

Edited June 22, 2007 by MobyP (log)

[percyn]

Welcome Shelby and LaCookrasha and what terrific first pics !!

Shelby, that dog and ceviche look amazing. Did you use any particular type of dog (Nimans, Hebrew National, etc)?

[Bella S.F.]

jende,

I don't know what area you live in. Do you have a true Italian deli around? They usually have the best prosciutto. I like buying it at a place that will slice it fresh for you. There is a deli here that carries amazing things from Italy, but has the prosciutto aready sliced and layed out on paper. I have found that often the only really good pieces are those at the top.

Many Whole Foods stores carry a few different types of prosciutto. I buy what looks good. Sometimes it is the Parma and sometimes San Danielle. There are also more and more GOOD American meat companies that are making prosciutto. I have found some of them very good. One thing to do... ask them to slice you a piece before you buy it. That will let you know if you will want to use it.

When I can't get to a deli, I often buy the packages of Prosciutto di Parma from Costco. I do tend to look at a lot of packages till I find one that looks good. Of course, you are still taking a chance that the top stuff is much better than what is underneath. However, I find that when I am cooking with it, (wrapping something in it to bake or using some in a pasta sauce) it doesn't always matter if it is really the perfect stuff that you would like to just pop in your mouth. Baking it in a hot oven sort of melts everything together.

Good luck finding what you want!

[rooftop1000]

Since last nights dinner included pigs blood, intestines and ox tongue I tried to go simple tonight

grilled lamb chops, garlic/chive mashed potatoes and green beans

tracey

[tarelki]

Shrimp, artichoke and cheese - an amazing dish by Marcella, featured in two of her books, and in the words of the latest, Marcella Says, being a perfect example of insaporire, "making tasty" - the artichokes are pan roasted to become very dark and very tasty for about 30mins...

when pulled out of the oven the dish looked so voluptuous, almost obscene

and it tasted quite like so

Edited June 23, 2007 by tarelki (log)