Dinner! 2008

[Kim Shook]

Prawn – those are just lovely, gorgeous meals! Thanks for sharing them with us!

Dinner tonight:

London broil sandwiches w/ caramelized onions and cheese on foccacia rolls and butter beans.

[pam claughton]

Prawncrackers,

That quiche looks amazing and the combination of cheeses and carmelized onions sounds wonderful. I may try this.

Bruce,

Your curry looks gorgeous, made my mouth water. I love curry.

[Ce'nedra]

Prawncrackers: Mmm that tart looks scrumptious and is that pork crackling I see teasingly displayed for all to drool over?

Kim Shook: Caramelised onions are things from heaven!

I had re-heated leftovers tonight (ate out last night with a dear friend) since we over-ordered yet again. 'Twas still good though!

Not sure why I always suffer from the 'I think I'm king sh*t and can eat everything under the sun' syndrome.

Marinara Penne Pasta -I'm glad I picked out the mussels while eating yesterday. Wouldn't have been bothered today.

3 slices of Garlic & Chilli Prawn gourmet pizza -these were most excellent. Love the buttery garlic taste.

Edited November 15, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[adey73]

Remade ribeye with confit tomato.

Carrot cake, coffee oil and tonka bean ice cream.

All tasted a lot better than it looks. (honestly.)

Edited November 15, 2008 by adey73 (log)

[percyn]

From a few days ago...

Chicken Cordon Blue w/Risotto and Steamed Vegetables

From the oven...crusty cheese..yummm

Steak Frites

[David Ross]

Wonderful Chicken Cordon Bleu Percyn. I'm going to put that on my 'to do' list.

A couple of weekends ago when the weather turned very cold, I did a slow-braised beef served over polenta. I had a craving for polenta ever since I got back from Las Vegas-due to being served a side dish of cold, tasteless, polenta at an Italian restaurant.

I use this basic recipe for all my braised beef dishes. Next time I'll share some prep photos.

I start with basic chuck roast and dust it with flour and brown it in oil. Then I saute carrots, onions, celery and garlic. I'll sprinkle in some flour to thicken the braising sauce. Then deglaze with red wine and beef stock. Believe it or not, I've found that your basic Campbell's Condensed Beef Stock gives the best flavor and isn't too salty.

I add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, along with these spices-juniper berries, black peppercorns, bay leaf, allspice and orange peel. That combination gives the beef a subtle aromatic flavor.

I put the beef and the vegetable mixture in a heavy casserole dish and braise it in the oven at 300 for about 6 hours. Then I'll strain out the vegetables and return the beef and strained sauce back to the casserole. I usually make the dish a day in advance and let the beef chill in the sauce overnight before reheating it about an hour before serving with the polenta.

I usually make my polenta with chicken stock rather than plain water because it gives a bit of a flavor boost. Usually I'll add a small amount of cheese to the polenta, but this time I just served it plain since the beef sauce adds so much flavor to the polenta on the plate. And it sure was nice having a hot dish of polenta!

[tkassum]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on eGullet.

Hopefully I'm not breaking etiquette by posting what I made for brunch, but here's a snap of duck leg confit with scrambled eggs aux fines herbes. Yes, that is a chive tip on top of the eggs.

Duck legs were cooked as per Keller instructions in Bouchon and Under Pressure.

Tonight: cooking "Yabba Dabba Do" from The French Laundry cookbook. Looking forward to posting pics of that.

[David Ross]

Last night dinner was "Casarecce" Carbonara with Applewood Smoked Bacon and Fresh Oregon Chanterelles. Lots of Parmesano-Reggiano, Eggs and a touch of cream. I will easily forsake meat for dinner if I can have a big bowl of this pasta.

[Prawncrackers]

Welcome tkassum, great first post and honesty - someone's brunch is another's Dinner somewhere in the world!

Thanks all the nice comments about my post earlier in the week, you're all too kind. Couple of meals to round the week off. First is a Sichuan Style Chilli Chicken - it was basically an excuse to purge the fridge of chillies, it definitely hit the hot spot for me:

And yesterday was Roasted Monkfish rolled in Cep Powder with Wild Mushroom Risotto. The monkfish was excellent, sadly the risotto wasn't great as I used dried chanterelles... how i would've loved some of David Ross's fresh ones:

[percyn]

Wonderful Chicken Cordon Bleu Percyn.  I'm going to put that on my 'to do' list.

Thanks David and that braised beef looks awesome.

tkassum, welcome to eGullet. Great first post and look forward to seeing you cook other Keller recipes. Feel free to post your breakfast or brunch posts on the Breakfast forum as well.

[Dr. J]

Great food tkassum and adey.

That pizza looks awsome ce'nedra.

[Graphix]

Made pizza tonight...basically followed FatGuy's thread HERE. It came out awesome, everyone loved it. Sauteed spinach, caramelized onions, sweet sausage, mushrooms, fontina, mozzarella, and plum tomatoes.

[gfron1]

Beautiful run of meals! I'm coveting David's polenta dish (good comfort food on a cold Fall night) and Prawncrackers stirfry! Wow. And, yes - welcome tkassum - keep 'em coming!

[Kim Shook]

Ce'nedra – love the prawn pizza! I do a white pizza with shrimp and horseradish and ricotta, but I like the idea of all the juiciness of the garlic butter!

Percyn – the crust on that chicken cordon bleu is amazing!

David – your beef and polenta is gorgeous! Thanks so much for posting the directions, too! I’ll be trying that this winter!

tkassum – welcome! Lovely brunch!

Dinner tonight:

Mr. Kim made some Tonton ginger Japanese dressing and marinade marinated chicken breasts the other night. I used the leftovers tonight to make a stir fry with some snow peas. Really good. I also did some “A Taste of Thai” microwave peanut noodles – they were ok, not great.

[gfron1]

I was sent a review copy of Menu del Dia, a cookbook of everyday, working class Spanish cooking. So, now I'm cooking my way through it on my blog. Last night I made three dishes:

Potatoes cooked with chorizo & nora peppers [Patatas con Chorizo (p. 47)]

Spinach with piñon and raisins [Espinacas a la Catalana (p. 51)]

Braised oxtails [Rabo de Toro (p. 92)]

All were very good, and this was my de-flowering to the world of oxtails. The work to payout ratio may make me abstinent in the future

[Margo]

Not sure if this was the issue with oxtails, but in my experience they need a *lot* of cooking to get fall-off-the-bone tender (and they do retain that gelatinous quality even so). The first time I made them was from a Silver Palate recipe, and following the recommended time I cooked them for something under an hour (?). Whatever it was, they were tough and stringy and had to be gnawed at. With longer cooking, they became palatable (heh). Actually downright delicious, in my view. I love 'em.

[gfron1]

I went just over 3 hours and they were very tender and fall off the bone, but I still had to dig my teeth into some peculiar knooks and crannies.

[Parmhero]

Turned some seafood...

And veggies....including Nature's Hidden Treasure....

Into tempura...

Edited November 19, 2008 by Parmhero (log)

[Prawncrackers]

All were very good, and this was my de-flowering to the world of oxtails. The work to payout ratio may make me abstinent in the future

I would persevere, the oxtail you had looked like the skinny end. The fatter end can be quite meaty. Even then it would probably take a couple to feed a hungry a man.

[C. sapidus]

Indian last night, served with crusty bread:

Gingery cauliflower soup: Sauteed onion, ginger, and garlic, seasoned with aromatic spices, simmered with cauliflower florets, cubed potatoes, and homemade chicken stock, pureed with a stick blender, and then finished with a little heavy cream. We will make this again and again.

”Delicious chicken bits”: Marinated chunks of chicken breast with ajwan seeds, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, turmeric, salt, and a little oil. Stir-fried to sear and then baked until done. I took the picture at breakfast – this looked better the night before.

[C. sapidus]

Hmm, an international culinary forum and I’m the only one having dinner.

From My Bombay Kitchen: grilled steak with pomegranate molasses and Parsi garam masala; okra sauteed in ghee with onion, chiles, and cilantro; cucumber raita with shallots, chiles, and mint; and tomato rice.

The beef marinade added a fragrant, spicy tang, but I should have pulled the steaks a bit earlier. I would like to try this marinade with lamb tenderloins, but none were available today.

[Shelby]

ROFL Bruce! Your meal looks wonderful! I haven't been taking pictures lately....guess I'm in a food rut lol.

[Parmhero]

Nice Asian dinners as always C. sapidus...

Action is indeed slow on the Dinner thread...downturn like the economy...

I'll pony up...

Bought some beef tenderloin steaks... tournedos....

Sauteed in butter...medium rare...

With a red wine & mushroom sauce...served on pan-grilled baguette with steamed asparagus and baked potatoes...

[percyn]

Hmm, an international culinary forum and I’m the only one having dinner.

It just means your dinner was worth posting about

Here's my contribution from the past week...

Coq Au Vin over Orzo

Fresh Arugula, Duck Confit, Caramelized Pearl Onions and Poached Egg over Brioche Toast Topped with Green Godess Dressing

While I did not make this myself, it was so delicious I suspect I will be trying to imitate it soon and thought I would share the experience...virtually

[heidih]

Action is indeed slow on the Dinner thread...downturn like the economy...

Nice dinner Permhero. Actually I think the slow up in posting is pretty consistent from year to year and relates to holiday prep work and holiday related activity. Keep posting and inspire us