Dinner! 2008

[tupac17616]

Not the greatest food pictures I've ever taken, that's for sure, but last night's dinner was just so tasty that I had to post it. I recently returned from a trip that took me, among other places, through Tokyo and Bangkok. Last night, I recreated some of the great flavors I found in those two cities.

First was mugitoro, which is grated yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam) served over barley rice

I followed that up with New Zealand green-lipped mussels which I first steamed, then bathed in a condiment consisting of fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar, thai chilies, fresh mint, shallots, garlic, and fresh lime juice. Ah, and I swirled in a little knob of butter for good measure. Never hurts.

[percyn]

percyn - bacon salt     !  Where did you get that? 

Kim, the bacon salt was a hard to find locally, so I got it online. I see that it is available at amazom.com here. I have been topping my eggs with it and love it. It happens to be kosher, vegetarian and has no cholestrol but has the flavor

[Chris Hennes]

Tonight my wife was in town, so we had a pork roast from last month's Fine Cooking: it was pretty good, although we both thought the fennel and apple dressing was too sweet. I should have tasted it before serving, I think it could have been fixed with some cider vinegar and a bit of salt. This was a Niman Ranch Saratoga Roast, which was substantially larger than what the recipe called for, so I also should have tweaked the cooking temperatures, since by the time the center was 145F the pork was overcooked, to my taste. Good thing the NR pork has so much fat!

[C. sapidus]

tupac17616, beautiful (and delicious-sounding) mussels.

Kim Shook, dang, you really did some “out and out” cooking!

Mrs. C and Grandma made white bread, which we snacked on all afternoon and enjoyed with dinner, which was basically appetizers:

Thai-style swordfish satay, from Fish & Shellfish. We marinated swordfish cubes with Thai chiles, garlic, shallots, sugar, lime, and fish sauce. Quickly grilled and served with peanut sauce, this was meltingly tender, juicy, and delicious.

Pork riblets braised in caramel sauce, adapted from All About Braising. The boys intercepted quite a few of the falling-off-the-bone ribs before they reached the table. The sauce needed something, so I reduced it with dark soy sauce and Chinkiang vinegar.

Braised leeks with bacon and thyme, from All About Braising. Not bad, but probably better if I had remembered to add butter.

Edited for clarity.

Edited February 24, 2008 by C. sapidus (log)

[KristiB50]

Here's some random past dinners

Mac and Cheese

Stir Fried Tempeh with Spinach and Thai Basil

Spicy Chicken Salad

West African Peanut Soup

[Shelby]

Pork chops with macaroni and cheese and greens!

The last picture is kinda steamy

[Bella S.F.]

Kim, could you please post the link that you talked about that has the Goat Cheese and Fig Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Marsala Sauce that you made? I make a similar chicken dish which we really like. http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...icken_figs.html

Instead of using fresh figs, I cut up dried Mission figs and put them in port that I warmed up. The port plumps the figs and infuses them. Very nice.

I would like to try the variation that you made. I have been on a real chicken kick lately. I don't know if there is anything else that is as versatile as chicken. There are just scads and scads of things to do with it. I am so often torn between making a favorite or trying something new. Lately, trying something new has won.

By the way, the web site that I linked to above has really wonderful recipes. The section that that recipe came from is the Cookbook Recipes section, but they have 4 other sections as well. I really reccommend looking through it.

[Kim Shook]

Kim, could you please post the link that you talked about that has the Goat Cheese and Fig Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Marsala Sauce that you made? I make a similar chicken dish which we really like.  http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...icken_figs.html

Instead of using fresh figs, I cut up dried Mission figs and put them in port that I warmed up. The port plumps the figs and infuses them. Very nice.

I would like to try the variation  that you made. I have been on a real chicken kick lately. I don't know if there is anything else that is as versatile as chicken. There are just scads and scads of things to do with it. I am so often torn between making a favorite or trying something new. Lately, trying something new has won.

  By the way, the web site that I linked to above has really wonderful recipes. The section that that recipe came from is the Cookbook Recipes section, but they have 4 other sections as well. I really reccommend looking through it.

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Here you go! That will link you directly to the recipe. Its a recipe on my online webpage. The link under my signature here will link you to the table of contents of the webpage. Hope you like it - it was so good and stayed moist through 2 reheatings!

[Chris Hennes]

Shelby those pork chops look great!

I'm working my way through the 7 lbs of leftover pork roast from last night. My wife is back out of town, so I can eat all the mushrooms I want. Tonight, I had the "Chinese Pork & Mushroom Wraps (a.k.a. mu shu pork)" from January 2008's Fine Cooking.

[Shelby]

Shelby those pork chops look great!

I'm working my way through the 7 lbs of leftover pork roast from last night. My wife is back out of town, so I can eat all the mushrooms I want. Tonight, I had the "Chinese Pork & Mushroom Wraps (a.k.a. mu shu pork)" from January 2008's Fine Cooking.

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Thanks, Chris!

I've been hankering for Chinese food. *sigh* I just can't get good veggies right now to do it. Guess I'll just envy you!

[HappyLab]

Some dinners from the past week:

Spaghetti Carbonara:

Adobo Spare Ribs over polenta:

Spaghetti All'amatriciana:

[Chris Hennes]

HappyLab that Spaghetti Carbonara looks great: one of my favorite meals. Do you make it with bacon, or pancetta, or what?

[Ce'nedra]

Shelby those pork chops look great!

I'm working my way through the 7 lbs of leftover pork roast from last night. My wife is back out of town, so I can eat all the mushrooms I want. Tonight, I had the "Chinese Pork & Mushroom Wraps (a.k.a. mu shu pork)" from January 2008's Fine Cooking.

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Mmm that looks good!

What kind of wrap did you use? And how did your flavour your pork & mushroom?

[tupac17616]

Spaghetti Carbonara:

Ah, one of my favorites. I see some bright orange poking through the top layer of grated cheese there. Do you top it with the egg yolk rather than using it to sauce the noodles? I've seen it done that way before, but usually prefer to have the creaminess throughout so I mix it through off the heat.

[Domestic Goddess]

Tonight's dinner was a hearty bowl of Pancit Canton, a traditional Filipino food usually as a snack. Yes, it is of Chinese origins and I fondly remember when my Dad would come home late at night after overtime, bearing a paperbag package of the local restaurant Pancit Canton. The Pancit noodles would be wrapped in banana leaves and the latter would impart a very fragrant scent to the noodles plus the calamansi wedges that is scattered around the noodles. The perfect accompaniment to this would be freshly baked Pan de Sal (Bread of Salt).

Edited February 25, 2008 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[HappyLab]

HappyLab that Spaghetti Carbonara looks great: one of my favorite meals. Do you make it with bacon, or pancetta, or what?

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Thanks, Chris. I had never made Carbonara before, and I was very pleased with how it turned out. I used guanciale.

[HappyLab]

Spaghetti Carbonara:

Ah, one of my favorites. I see some bright orange poking through the top layer of grated cheese there. Do you top it with the egg yolk rather than using it to sauce the noodles? I've seen it done that way before, but usually prefer to have the creaminess throughout so I mix it through off the heat.

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I used a Batali recipe, which called for separating the egg. The white got mixed into the pasta with the rest of the sauce (copious amounts of cheese, guanciale, and a bit of pasta cooking water), and I topped the pasta nest with the yolk. I liked this method-- the sauce was still creamy throughout, and yolk on the top gave the dish some color for a nice presenation.

[Brigid Mary]

Dinner last night:

Peter Reinhart's Lavash Crackers with various topping/fillings. Really yummy!

[Pille]

We were skiing in Austria for a week, where we feasted thoroughly on excellent food, but now it's back to normal home cooking. Last night I made Nigella Lawson's cider and mustart pork chops (from Nigella Express), which was an excellent and tasty dish - the combination of cider, mustard and cream will certainly make an appearance in our kitchen again soon.

Here's what our dinner looked like - a pork chop each, plus some green salad leaves and dark rye bread:

Tonight we'll have buckwheat porridge with mince meat.

[Chris Hennes]

Mmm that looks good!

What kind of wrap did you use? And how did your flavour your pork & mushroom?

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The wrap is just a flour tortilla from the refrigerated section. The principal flavorings are Hoisin and soy sauce, but there is also ginger, garlic and sesame oil. It was a tasty recipe, though I thought serving it with a hoisin dipping sauce was overkill in the sweetness department.

HappyLab where did you get your guanciale? Home-cured? I've been meaning to try that recipe, but I haven't gotten around to it. It looks great.

Brigid Mary is that recipe from his Bread Baker's Apprentice book? It looks a bit like a thin-crust pizza, one of my favorites.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I made this giant ham hock for my husband and he was thrilled I finally got it exactly the way I wanted it to be!...the skin was very crispy .. the inside stayed tender and moist ...I am not a huge fan of this but he is

served it with roasted vegetables and a quick rhubarb chutney

[DanielM.]

Asian poached pork loin, gai lan, pickled veg. 'Master sauce' reduction.

[JimH]

I made this giant ham hock for my husband and he was thrilled I finally got it exactly the way I wanted it to be!...the skin was very crispy .. the inside stayed  tender and moist ...I am not a huge fan of this but he is 

served it with roasted vegetables and a quick rhubarb chutney

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That looks great, he's a lucky guy!

This was last night's dinner just before being pulled, a marinade injected pork butt.

[Kim Shook]

tupac - welcome back and those mussels look and sound amazing!

Bruce - those riblets ! I love sticky porky stuff!!!

Chris - the 'mu shu' looks great. I will have to search out that issue at the library - I'd love a good homemade recipe for that

Brigid Mary - I want some of that lavosh stuff!!! That is amazing looking!

I am decidedly not a leftover fan. Once I've planned, fussed over and tasted something all day, I barely want it once, much less twice ! But these were good:

Leftovers from Friday night's dinner. Lamb, feta salsa and crusty bread panini with couscous and roast green beans. I went and got more bread and roasted red peppers after work today and we are having these again tonight!

[David Ross]

Last night was a Rueben Sandwich. (You can see the details and photos of my attempt at homemade Corned Beef in the "Corned Beef at Home" thread in the Cooking Forum).

I normally don't eat sandwiches for dinner. But this one time for dinner-a sandwich made the day end on a delicious note.