Dinner! 2007

[Live It Up]

Delicious looking food going on here as usual!

I bought this last week because I had never seen anything like it before:

It's a red avocado. Actually, it was redder when I bought it, but it was also under ripe. I just bought it because it was interesting, but it was terrible. It was actually yellow inside, rather than green like a regular avocado and the taste was mealy and insipid. I wound up throwing it away.

On to the real food. I finally made Ann_T's greek ribs that caught my eye many pages back (recipe in recipe gullet).

I cooked them in the oven because I don't have a grill. I was worried they would be too chewy, but they were perfect. My husband declared them the best ribs he's ever had. I also made oven fries, salad, and purple beans (they turn green when you cook them) stewed with tomato and cinnamon. Thanks Ann!

[purplewiz]

An unexpected result of participating in this thread is that I'm more inclined to cook a proper dinner to show off here! 

←

There's nothing like sharing food to make us want to cook properly...or just show off a little bit

I didn't take a picture of dinner tonight, but it was a fritter/pancake thing with the rest of the broccoslaw (julienned broccoli stems with some carrots and red cabbage sold in a bag which has been on sale lately and I'm very fond of it), sauteed zucchini with tomato, white wine, garlic, and butter, and tuna salad sandwiches. We are in the middle of Real Estate Hell which will last another month or so, so I do the best I can with respect to meals, and try not to beat myself up if we eat out a little more than I might like.

But I look at all the lovely meals here and drool. And dream of the day when I can take my time and cook a proper meal again. You're all my inspiration!

Marcia.

[Marlene]

Bacon cheeseburger

[eskay]

Oh man, that burger looks fantastic...I have a patty in the freezer from when I made some last, but none of the fixings....this burger craving you've set off is going to need to wait a few days.

Marcia, hope your 'real estate hell' gets sorted out soon.

I being the queen of recycling that I am, marinated shrimp in the yogurt/mint/garlic sauce from sunday, and then broiled them and made tabbouleh, which is another first for me even though I really like the taste of parsley (on a related note, I now have a ton of parsley to use up...ideas?). Carrots have cardamom on them. And a little maple syrup

[little ms foodie]

Burgers here too! We ground our own chuck and put on some Tillamook Cheddar and smokey bacon. I made a little quick french potato salad to go with and we had a nice merlot in the glass.

[jumanggy]

Bruce: I LOVE Tilapia. That curry looks amazing.

I prepared a Roasted Pork Loin for my mom's party (where I had to be nowhere in sight). She only gave me 24 hours of preparation and cooking time (I was doing other entrees and a dessert too), so the crust was pretty flavorful but the middle was pretty (er) purely porky (the roast was 8.25lbs/3.75kg). I would show some pictures of the slices but my mom did not do a good job carving it (thus magnifying the porkiness of the center). Maybe I should have stuck around to carve the monster around her guests.

[dockhl]

Oh man, that burger looks fantastic...I have a patty in the freezer from when I made some last, but none of the fixings....this burger craving you've set off is going to need to wait a few days.

Marcia, hope your 'real estate hell' gets sorted out soon.

I being the queen of recycling that I am, marinated shrimp in the yogurt/mint/garlic sauce from sunday, and then broiled them and made tabbouleh, which is another first for me even though I really like the taste of parsley (on a related note, I now have a ton of parsley to use up...ideas?).  Carrots have cardamom on them.  And a little maple syrup 

←

Yum. I have some lovely parsley salad recipes including Fergus Henderson's fab Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad, if you'd like them. PM me.

[doctortim]

Tonight, meat and potatoes. A sirloin steak, roasted potatoes, and a red wine and thyme jus. Not the greatest photo since I was in such a hurry to eat this!

The other night, bucatini all'amatriciana.

[nonblonde007]

My first try at Pork Belly tonight. It was sinfully delicious!

Now, I am off to work off some of that fat I just gleefully ingested!

[blixt]

Nice backlighting, Brenda!

Tonight I had meatballs. Seemed fitting; when in Sweden and all that. Not included: the traditional yet bizarre* Swedish accompaniment of lingonberry jam. My mashed potatoes were watery though. I find potatoes one of the most difficult things to prepare. Emulsion sauces are no problem, but potatoes ...

* Is that redundant?

[nonblonde007]

Nice backlighting, Brenda!

Tonight I had meatballs. Seemed fitting; when in Sweden and all that. Not included: the traditional yet bizarre* Swedish accompaniment of lingonberry jam. My mashed potatoes were watery though. I find potatoes one of the most difficult things to prepare. Emulsion sauces are no problem, but potatoes ...

* Is that redundant?

←

Blixt, Thank you! I am glad to know that I am not the only person that has difficulty making great mashed potatoes.....

[C. sapidus]

Mark/jumanggy: Thank you very much, tilapia is one of my favorite fish, too. I pulled up your Flickr pics, and the crust on your pork loin looks divine.

Brenda: Beautiful pork belly - how did you prepare it?

Thirty-five cloves of garlic contributed to tonight’s Thai dinner. That has to be some sort of record for our family, and we will probably be social outcasts tomorrow. Anyway, we made sweet and fragrant pork with garlic and crushed black pepper; a very spicy green mango salad, Chiang May style; cukes; and basmati rice. More on Thai Cooking at Home.

[nonblonde007]

Bruce, I am blushing....but very pleased with myself! *smug look* I followed guidlines I found on a thread here...scalded, rubbed with 5-spice, crushed chillis, star anise, minced ginger, salt and pepper, rested for 6 hours, hot blast in oven, long lower heat, another hot blast and rested again! It was my first (but definately not my last) taste of pork belly, I am hooked!

BTW I LOVE garlic..........that looks amazing!

Edited July 26, 2007 by nonblonde007 (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

hot spicy tangy wonderful Tamarind/Passion fruit

ribs and chicken ...

smiling at a yard full of happy sauce covered faces now

[Shelby]

Last night:

Green bean basil salad

Smoked pork ribs and corn on the cob from our field:

[David Ross]

Hi everyone. Ahh, homemade mashed potatoes.

Like bread or chili, there are literally hundreds of recipes for mashed potatoes. So while I can't tell you that my mashed potato recipe is 'the best' or 'the only one' out there, it sure is my favorite recipe for creamy, smooth mashed potatoes.

The trick with my recipe is to use Russet potatoes-not Yukon Golds, Baby Red's or Fingerlings. I like the starch and the strong potato flavor of the Russet.

The second important thing to consider is that in order to get creamy mashed potatoes without lumps, if you don't want lumps, is to use an old-fashioned potato ricer. I posted a photo of a ricer for you to see if you aren't familiar with what it looks like.

Using a ricer allows you to force the chunks of cooked potatoes through tiny holes in the ricer. The bits of potato end up looking like 'rice' and it breaks down the starch and creates a creamy potato texture. You can find a potato ricer in the kitchen tool section of large variety stores or kitchen shops. I think I spent about $15 on the one I use.

Here's the recipe. You can vary the amount of milk and butter to suit your own tastes.

2 russet potatoes, left whole and unpeeled

3 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped

1/4 cup whole milk

Salt Fresh ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a heavy saucepan. Add enough water to cover. Heat water to a gentle boil and cook potatoes until tender, about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft. Drain the potatoes from the water and let them cool slightly. Gently peel the skins off the potatoes and cut the potatoes in large chunks. (Note: I boil the potatoes with the skins on so that the water doesn't soak into the potato meat. If you peel the potatoes and then boil them, the potato will soak up water and the finished mashed potatoes will have a watered-down taste).

Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Let the butter melt in the milk. (It's important to use melted butter and warm milk in the mashed potatoes. Cold butter and cold milk will 'shock' the potatoes and the finished mashed potatoes won't be as creamy if you use cold butter and milk).

Using a potato ricer, push the chunks of potato through the ricer into a large bowl.

Add the melted butter and milk mixture, chopped thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the potatoes using a spatula. Add additional melted butter and milk to desired consistency.

You can make the mashed potatoes ahead of time. Before serving, just place the bowl of mashed potatoes over boiling water and stir to reheat.

[nonblonde007]

David, thank you! I was doing Everything wrong, no wonder my potatoes tasted so weak and watery.

[Shelby]

Hi everyone.  Ahh, homemade mashed potatoes. 

Like bread or chili, there are literally hundreds of recipes for mashed potatoes.  So while I can't tell you that my mashed potato recipe is 'the best' or 'the only one' out there, it sure is my favorite recipe for creamy, smooth mashed potatoes.

The trick with my recipe is to use Russet potatoes-not Yukon Golds, Baby Red's or Fingerlings.  I like the starch and the strong potato flavor of the Russet.

The second important thing to consider is that in order to get creamy mashed potatoes without lumps, if you don't want lumps, is to use an old-fashioned potato ricer.  I posted a photo of a ricer for you to see if you aren't familiar with what it looks like. 

Using a ricer allows you to force the chunks of cooked potatoes through tiny holes in the ricer.  The bits of potato end up looking like 'rice' and it breaks down the starch and creates a creamy potato texture.  You can find a potato ricer in the kitchen tool section of large variety stores or kitchen shops.  I think I spent about $15 on the one I use.

Here's the recipe.  You can vary the amount of milk and butter to suit your own tastes.

2 russet potatoes, left whole and unpeeled

3 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped 

1/4 cup whole milk

Salt  Fresh ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a heavy saucepan. Add enough water to cover. Heat water to a gentle boil and cook potatoes until tender, about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft.  Drain the potatoes from the water and let them cool slightly.  Gently peel the skins off the potatoes and cut the potatoes in large chunks.  (Note: I boil the potatoes with the skins on so that the water doesn't soak into the potato meat.  If you peel the potatoes and then boil them, the potato will soak up water and the finished mashed potatoes will have a watered-down taste).

Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Let the butter melt in the milk.  (It's important to use melted butter and warm milk in the mashed potatoes.  Cold butter and cold milk will 'shock' the potatoes and the finished mashed potatoes won't be as creamy if you use cold butter and milk).

Using a potato ricer, push the chunks of potato through the ricer into a large bowl.

Add the melted butter and milk mixture, chopped thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the potatoes using a spatula. Add additional melted butter and milk to desired consistency.

You can make the mashed potatoes ahead of time.  Before serving, just place the bowl of mashed potatoes over boiling water and stir to reheat.

←

I'm now craving a huge bowl of buttery mashed goodness!

[little ms foodie]

Last night we had grilled lamb kabobs that I had coated with cumin, garlic, olive oil, s&p. served with grilled pita and a cucumber yogurt salad. aussie shiraz in the glass

[Toliver]

Regarding mashed potatoes, or potatoes in general, there's an eGCI (eGullet Culinary Institute) course that may be of help:

The Potato Primer

[eynkiora]

(Disclaimer: I've never posted pictures before. ...I hope this works.)

My fiance the polarbear had off work yesterday, dinner for the two of us was supposed to be tacos but the tortillas we had were...well, older than we thought they were. So it turned into taco salad, which is good too. No pictures of individual plates, unfortunately, but I got one of everything all set out:

Chicken braised in beer and lime and ancho chili powder with lots of onion, assorted veggies for salad purposes, cheese for him and sour cream for me. And a mason jar pretending to be a water glass.

My um, dessert. Half an avocado with some lime juice and chopped tomato and lots of salt and a spoon. I ate the other half of the avocado too. And most of the avocado we cut up for the salad...

Also, a dinner that was for just me:

Slightly blurry chicken and mushroom potstickers. Some of the least malformed potstickers I've ever managed to make!

[nonblonde007]

Fired up the grill, 2' cut sirloin, (a little more done than I like it) shrimp, veggies and mac n cheese.

Eynkiora, that avacado looks possitively mouth watering! As do the green beans Shelby! *drooling*

[Shelby]

Fired up the grill, 2' cut sirloin, (a little more done than I like it) shrimp, veggies and mac n cheese. 

Eynkiora, that avacado looks possitively mouth watering!  As do the green beans Shelby!  *drooling*

←

Oh wow thank you!

I have to say, I LOVE pasta and a good steak. Your yummy macaroni and cheese, sirloin and shrimp. YUM.

I take it you like your steaks bloody like mine?? I always hesitate to order a steak in a restaurant because they really don't understand what I mean by "I WANT IT RARE" . Once in a while I get the perfect steak, but none are better than the ones I grill myself!

[judiu]

Fired up the grill, 2' cut sirloin, (a little more done than I like it) shrimp, veggies and mac n cheese.

OH. My. GAWD!

Please share that mac & cheese recipe!

ETA: Begging

Edited July 27, 2007 by judiu (log)

[nonblonde007]

Thank you very much! I am a little embaresed about the mac n cheese tho............I made kraft, melted the milk, cream, loads of butter and the package of cheese stuff. Added a handfull each of sharp chedder, mozzerella, med. chedder, and grated parm, dijon mustard, tarragon, basil and pepper. Mixed stale garlic and parm italian bread, with a huge amount of butter for the topping, and baked. I drizzled it afterwards with truffle oil. It tasted way better than is sounds. I hope I am not the only one that cheats with mac n cheese. *sheepish grin*

and yes, Shelby, just run out back to the cow and whack a hunk off of his butt for me please!

Edited July 27, 2007 by nonblonde007 (log)