Dinner! 2008

[Susan in FL]

New camera! New idea, Buffalo duck wings! With the Buffalo duck wings I had homemade french fries, black beans with onion, mango, & cilantro, and Cabernet.

[prasantrin]

New camera!  New idea, Buffalo duck wings!  With the Buffalo duck wings I had homemade french fries, black beans with onion, mango, & cilantro, and Cabernet.

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Duck wings? Can you get a pack of duck wings like you can get a pack of chicken wings, or was this a special thing?

I love duck. Did it work out well with the buffalo sauce? I can't imagine the flavours together, but it's been so long since I last had duck, I can barely imagine the flavour of duck!

What kind of camera did you end up getting?

[Susan in FL]

I ended up getting a Canon Powershot A590. So far I like it OK, but I haven't even read the book and learned anything about it except for to point and shoot. I sold my digital SLR camera and all the accessories. I like just throwing this little thing into my purse, instead of carrying around a bigger camera and equipment.

I thought the Buffalo duck wings were one of the best things I've ever tasted. I buy whole ducks at the supermarket and sometimes cut them into pieces, so I've been saving the wings and accumulated a collection. I used the recipe that I do for chicken wings: salt and pepper them and deep fry, and then add them to melted butter, Sriracha, and white wine vinegar. I can't wait to have more!

Tonight I fired up my Weber, after cleaning it out and replacing the charcoal grate and cooking grate, and cooked a NY strip steak. It was perfect. I am on a roll.

[Daniel]

Its all about the charcoals, as you know... Looks great, glad to see you are still cooking beautiful meals.

[alanamoana]

oh and i love your votive holder...it is food related as you have dried beans in there, correct? very cute.

[rooftop1000]

pan-roasted duck leg and duck fat fried potatoes with quatre épices

Hey Tupac! I havent seen you in over a year.. Hope all is well.. Really pretty looking dish.. Can you tell me a little about your Quatre épices..

Thanks, Daniel! I had been AWOL from this thread for quite a while. And it's not like I haven't been cooking!

Re: the quatre épices... it was a mixture of black pepper, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Not sure about the proportions since I picked it up on a recent trip to Paris (needed a pinch to re-create the Arpège egg), but judging from the aroma and flavor I'd guess they're roughly equal parts.

Dusted both the potatoes and the duck with it. The potatoes I pan-fried in a cast iron skillet with some rendered duck fat; and I thought they turned out great.

I thought the duck could've used a little extra something, though. I added a touch of sherry vinegar to the pan sauce at the end, but once I tasted the final product, I thought it needed the depth of another seasoning (cumin, for some smokiness, maybe?) much more than it needed the brighter acidity that the vinegar brought.

It's a dish I'll keep playing with, I think. Next time with chicken.

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I have been using sherry vin and cherry preserves to finish off duck lately and it is a beautiful thing

tracey

[purplewiz]

Highlights from some semi-recent dinners:

Steak with a grilled eggplant stack salad on the side. The eggplant is a riff on the Grilled Eggplant Parmesan salad from the current Cuisine At Home: grilled eggplant, grilled tomato slice, mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette. I added a thin smear of pesto and an extra slice of eggplant per stack and it was most acceptable. And I broiled it all because I ran out of propane

Cauliflower gratin because as much as I love roasted cauliflower, I'm a little tired of it.

Proto-taco makings: chile coated pork and onions, grilled.

And the actual tacos: the pork, sliced, the onions, cheese, salsa from Jaymes' recipe, some lettuce, a dollop of sour cream. They were heavenly - the onions were sweet, the pork and salsa spicy, and it all just blended together really well.

Marcia.

[C. sapidus]

Yay, Susan in FL returns with a vengeance!

Marcia, your eggplant sounds more than “most acceptable”, and the tacos look ravishing.

Most of tonight’s dinner was from (or adapted from) My Bombay Kitchen. Fried grouper fillets with a masala of turmeric, cayenne, smoked paprika, and salt. Tomato rice with black pepper, bay leaf, cumin, and a dollop of ghee. Cucumber and ginger salad with lime, and Madhur Jaffrey’s fresh red bell pepper chutney with almonds.

[purplewiz]

Bruce, what all was in the cucumber and ginger salad with lime? We've been getting some very good cucumbers at really good prices lately, so I'm looking for more interesting dishes with them. And since your family are cucumber experts, I figured I'd ask

Marcia.

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, what all was in the cucumber and ginger salad with lime?

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Marcia, the boys still prefer raw, lightly salted cucumbers above all. Anyway, here is the recipe: cucumber and ginger salad (click and scroll down about half-way). Dead simple and quite refreshing with rich, spicy foods. Grating the ginger is easier than mincing.

[prasantrin]

I made the tomato gorgonzola pasta recipe from Pierogi yet again. That makes three times in two weeks. That recipe is addictive!

[Susan in FL]

oh and i love your votive holder...it is food related as you have dried beans in there, correct?  very cute.

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I have been using sherry vin and cherry preserves to finish off duck lately and it is a beautiful thing

tracey

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Sherry, and cherry preserves... mmm, sounds great for duck.

Good to see all of you and your beautiful meals, too. Yeah, they are dried beans that I put in a square vase which was from a floral arrangement. Fun.

I'll probably be away from the computer soon. I'm working long hours for the next few days, and then going to Colorado for the wedding of our son from Denmark and the woman he met in Greenland. Small world, and I wonder what kind of food this union will produce!

[dockhl]

Susan~

nice to "see" you !

Made short ribs last night with a ginger lemon polenta, radish/celery/parsley salad.....and Thomas Keller's Cauliflower gratin. Delicious under most circumstances, but I made it with a purple cauliflower that I bought to try and it was so......BLUE....that I couldn't eat it ! I love the recipe and could eat it if I closed my eyes but savory food that is purple is NOT RIGHT !!

[Daniel]

Last night grilled some food.. Skirt steak marinaded in garlic, parsley, and lime juice.. Served with a red onion, watermelon salad, with ,jalapenos, mint, and champagne vinegar.. Vegan Lasagne, and these beautiful grilled King mushrooms from the Asian Market. Homemade strawberry pie and cupcakes...

Edited May 12, 2008 by Daniel (log)

[Chufi]

Susan and Daniel dinners on the same page, what a treat

here´s something from a while back that was really really good, unexpectedly:

Swiss chard-barley ´risotto´(I think it´s called orzotto when you make it with barley?) topped with panfried chorizo.

And this is from last week. It is the season for white asparagus again and this is the very best way to eat them: asparagus, new potatoes, good ham, eggs, a sprinkling of salt/pepper/numetg/parsley, loads of melted butter:

I had more than 2.. I think I had about 10 for dinner that night

[Shelby]

Chufi, I too am LOVING the fresh asparagus!

Everyone's meals look so inviting.

I miss being able to post pictures!

I have a lasagna in the oven--made with fresh mozz and homemade sauce. Earlier I made two lemonade pies, which are in the fridge awaiting a plate. I am making cream of asparagus soup and garlic bread as we speak. So, Mr Shelby should be pretty darn happy here soon!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

[doctortim]

For Mother's Day lunch here, I tried to use as much seasonal produce as I could (it's Autumn here).

Not pictured, some simple appetisers on toasted sourdough: Pickled wild muchrooms; Goat's cheese, beetroot, dill vinaigrette; Bacon, sweet potato, sage creme fraiche (this one was really good). I also made some carraway seed sourdough to snack on:

For a starter, butternut squash risotto with brown butter and sage (the sage flavour came mostly from some leftover sage creme fraiche I stirred in):

Main course: Mushroom and spinach-stuffed saddle of lamb with a mint and parsley warm potato salad:

And tarte tatin for dessert, with vanilla creme fraiche:

For the tarte I used the Bouchon recipe, and my first attempt was a spectacular failure. The recipe recommends waiting 30 minutes before turning it out, but I found that was far too long. Thankfully the recipe makes 2 pastry portions and calls for what I found to be twice the necessary amoutn of apples, so I had the materials to make a second. This time I turned it out 5 minutes after cooking. Other than that, the recipe is simple and tastes terrific. I'm certainly not above eating from the pile of failed tarte for weekday desserts

[Dr. J]

Very nice dishes Doctim and chufi.

This dish is just a simple steak with potatos and carrots. The only interesting thing were the potatos and carrots which I cooked only using clarified butter. A little sea salt on that done. Steak was seasoned using Adobo. Fast and easy.

Next day a steak sandwich. Onions and mushrooms in the bottom, topped with tomato, olive oil and balsamic.

[Susan in FL]

Susan~

nice to "see" you !

So nice to see you, too! I long to be in Paso Robles. Maybe my Navy son will be stationed in Lemoore again some day and I'll get back there.

Chufi, I am so ready for a ham dinner like that, with the eggs just like you get them.

Doctortim, your food photos are gorgeous.

Tonight I had left-over steak sliced on a salad of lettuce, tomato, onion, and blue cheese. Last night's dinner included this mussels recipe which was awesome. I used smoked paprika and steeped the saffron in heated sherry and otherwise followed the recipe. Easy and good!

[SobaAddict70]

Caldo verde, a baguette

2003 Paul Domaine Blanck riesling

[nakji]

Wow, I saw white asparagus in the store today for the first time (in my life, if you can believe that), and I thought, "Wow, I wonder what's the best way to eat that?"

Now I know!

[Daniel]

Last night was my last meal for a few days.. From now on its tea, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.. But last night we hit up Casa Mono.. 1)Razor clams a la plancha,2) duck egg with truffles, serrano and fried potatoes.. 3)Pork pate with truffles, spreadable sopressata, and boiled ham leg.. We then ate 4)fideos and clams, and a few other things..

The party is over..

[Shelby]

Last night was my last meal for a few days.. From now on its tea, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.. But last night we hit up Casa Mono.. 1)Razor clams a la plancha,2) duck egg with truffles, serrano and fried potatoes.. 3)Pork pate with truffles, spreadable sopressata, and boiled ham leg.. We then ate 4)fideos and clams, and a few other things..

The party is over..

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Why????

[dockhl]

Last night was my last meal for a few days.. From now on its tea, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.. But last night we hit up Casa Mono.. 1)Razor clams a la plancha,2) duck egg with truffles, serrano and fried potatoes.. 3)Pork pate with truffles, spreadable sopressata, and boiled ham leg.. We then ate 4)fideos and clams, and a few other things..

The party is over..

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Daniel~

are you dieting again?

[Daniel]

Yeh, it makes you a better cook.. Starve yourself for a little and then think of things you would die to eat at that very moment.. And then cook it when you are able to.. Its like a food vision quest!