Dinner! 2008

[Doodad]

I did very well last night thanks to egullet and the Mexican at home thread for inspiration.

I cooked a pot roast in mole and wine all weekend. Pulled it out last night. I made a jicama pico de gallo and black bean/corn side. Both with all fresh herbs and toasted spices.

I griddled some corn tortillas, topped with the pot roast, queso fresco and the pot sauce. Broiled briefly to melt the cheese and topped with creme fraiche and chopped cilantro. It was good. Sorry no pics, we were starving at that point.

[C. sapidus]

We made a rare foray into Italian food tonight - parmesan-crusted striped bass fillets (a la Milanaise), topped with a quick tomato-basil sauce. I whizzed up pesto for spaghettini, and Mrs. C sauteed peas with prosciutto, both from Marcella Hazan. The boys liked everything except the pesto, so they reverted to topping their pasta with ketchup.

Grandma made cheesecake for dessert. I know what I’m having for breakfast!

[doctortim]

doctortim what kind of olives did you use? My wife is a huge puttanesca fan, but I haven't been interested lately because last time I used Picholine: clearly, a mistake. Too buttery, too sweet. They didn't work well at all. Should never have strayed from the Greek cracked I usually used...

←

Chris, I use kalamata olives. It took me a few tries to find the right place -- I find most of the kalamatas around too bitter.

[Shelby]

I ordered these cute little ramekins and I used them for the first time yesterday!

Creamed corn

Roasted chicken

[Kim Shook]

Shelby - that is one gorgeous bird!!!

We are still eating lamb leftovers . I am very, very tired of it. Tonight I am making lamb pot pie. Whatever we don't finish is done. Gone!!

[christine007]

Shelby  - that is one gorgeous bird!!! 

We are still  eating lamb leftovers .  I am very, very tired of it.  Tonight I am making lamb pot pie.  Whatever we don't finish is done.  Gone!!

←

I have a dog who would like to be your best friend!

No pics, but with the cold, miserable weather, I'm making beef and vegetable stew to be served in yorkshire pudding bowls. Can't wait!

[suzilightning]

wow... great cold weather food all. john was home a little late so i went ahead and ate without him. when he did make it home he had this:

salmon burger with green goddess sauce, fried zucchini and a salad of artichokes, grape tomatoes and olive with a lime vinaigrette.

we're off to my mother-in-laws for the weekend so i made some things to take up to her

dat enut bread using the last of the fresh dates.

[NoNiceTime]

Blackened Swordfish/ Mustard Greens

[Chris Hennes]

Blackened Swordfish/ Mustard Greens

NoNiceTime that swordfish looks great---one of my favorite fish, easily.

Still working my way through the pork roast from last week: tonight's entry, Chinese long beans, pork and oyster mushrooms in a soy-sherry glaze.

[Dr. J]

Not too happy about the picture quality on these. The plan was to thinken the sauce with xantham gum and make a little better presentation, however as usual, i got hungry and impatient and took some quick pics and ate.

Dinner was cornish hen wrapped in bacon, that is served with a redwine reduction/duck reduction with dried apricots, shitake mushrooms and a bit of balsamic.

The second pic is served with a mixed green salad, walnuts, tomatos, and a mustard vinaigrette with honey and cocunut milk.

The second pic is served with a mixed green salad, walnuts, tomatos, and a mustard vinaigrette with honey and cocunut milk.

[C. sapidus]

Shelby – beautiful color on your bird.

Skirt steak salad with wilted spinach, sun-dried tomato, and avocado, from Mexican Everyday. To make the warm dressing, we deglazed the pan with with garlic, canned chipotles, key lime juice, and olive oil. The dressing, meat juices, cubed avocado, and grated pecorino Romano cheese combined into a sublime mixture. Mexican white rice (arroz blanco) completed the meal but failed to sneak into the picture.

Elder son came home hungry from basketball practice and devoured two pan-fried T-bone steaks. And rice. *sigh* I remember being able to eat like that.

[heidih]

Blackened Swordfish/ Mustard Greens

NoNiceTime that swordfish looks great---one of my favorite fish, easily.

Still working my way through the pork roast from last week: tonight's entry, Chinese long beans, pork and oyster mushrooms in a soy-sherry glaze.

←

I like that you cut the pork in the same length and width as the long beans. Did it add to the dish versus small chunks?

[nakji]

That looks amazing. I'd like to try that with garlic scapes. How did you do the glaze?

[Chris Hennes]

I like that you cut the pork in the same length and width as the long beans. Did it add to the dish versus small chunks?

←

Definitely: I do this dish with ground pork a lot, but this had a much clearer pork flavor (there was also a lot of pork in there!). I fried the pork and long beans over high heat for a couple minutes so both got a nice crispy texture, instead of the pork dissolving in with the sauce. Admittedly, I had already pre-sliced the pork on my meat slicer so the dimension in one direction was already set. The matchstick cut is easy and seems to work well in many dishes.

That looks amazing. I'd like to try that with garlic scapes. How did you do the glaze?

←

The glaze is one part dry sherry to two parts soy sauce, with some white pepper, red pepper flakes, and dry mustard powder added. This is based on a recipe in one of the 2007 Cooks Illustrated issues, I think. I saute the beans and pork over high heat for a few minutes, add the mushrooms for a few more minutes, toss in some minced garlic and ginger, saute till I can smell the garlic, then add the glaze. Toss for a few seconds to coat, and serve piping hot over sticky rice.

Edited February 29, 2008 by Chris Hennes (log)

[Chufi]

Skirt steak salad with wilted spinach, sun-dried tomato, and avocado, from Mexican Everyday. To make the warm dressing, we deglazed the pan with with garlic, canned chipotles, key lime juice, and olive oil. The dressing, meat juices, cubed avocado, and grated pecorino Romano cheese combined into a sublime mixture. Mexican white rice (arroz blanco) completed the meal but failed to sneak into the picture.

←

Oh my that looks good!

Is it just the warm dressing that's wilting the spinach, or was the spinach also cooked in the pan with the steak?

[nakji]

The glaze is one part dry sherry to two parts soy sauce, with some white pepper, red pepper flakes, and dry mustard powder added. This is based on a recipe in one of the 2007 Cooks Illustrated issues, I think. I saute the beans and pork over high heat for a few minutes, add the mushrooms for a few more minutes, toss in some minced garlic and ginger, saute till I can smell the garlic, then add the glaze. Toss for a few seconds to coat, and serve piping hot over sticky rice

I might try this with sake and a touch of wasabi in place of the sherry and dry mustard. And garlic scapes instead of the long beans. Hah! I'll keep the pork though. We'll see how it turns out.

[C. sapidus]

Is it just the warm dressing that's wilting the spinach, or was the spinach also cooked in the pan with the steak?

←

Thank you, Klary. The spinach was not cooked in the pan, just tossed with the warm dressing. Of course, the retained heat from a smoking-hot cast iron skillet made the dressing pretty *warm*.

Chris, your stir-fry looks and sounds delicious, and kudos on your relentlessly uniform pork matchsticks (even if you cheated by using a meat slicer ). Uniformly shaped objects do facilitate stir-frying, and I like the texture. Compared with chunks, matchsticks have more surface upon which the glaze can glom.

Nakji, what about combining garlic scapes with long beans (or would garlic scapes give a nice crunchy texture by themselves)?

[Kim Shook]

Bruce - that bass looks so good! Breading stuff is the best !

suzilightning - the salmon burger are so beautiful. I wouldn't have ever thought about Green Goddess and it is a perfect choice. That would be a great summer meal with some sweet corn and ripe tomatoes!

Dr. J - the rice is so pretty. What form did you use to get the little ridges? And in the second picture - that plate is gorgeous! Where'd you get that???

Last night and tonight will finally finish the lamb. We ate the hell out of it, though ! Grilled, panini'd and pot pie:

I totally cheated it! We had theatre tickets and I had to get this on the table in 1 hour - including baking time. I used microwave thawed frozen veg, prepared pie crust, soup and canned gravy . I fixed it up with some with Worcestershire, though . It tasted good. Actually it tasted so good that I want to do it again soon the right way. I served the feta salsa on the side to smear on the bread. And thought of Bruce with my cucumber side !

After tonight the lamb is gone. I cannot wait to eat something else.

[Chris Hennes]

It tasted good.  Actually it tasted so good that I want to do it again soon the right way.

←

Kim, that's what really counts! If it tastes good, we look the other way (even for canned gravy ). I just try not to admit that some of the nights I don't post here it's because I ate at the Olive Garden!!

[nakji]

Nakji, what about combining garlic scapes with long beans (or would garlic scapes give a nice crunchy texture by themselves)?

They probably would mix well, but they're not available in my area. Garlic scapes, however, are 55 yen a bunch right now, which got me thinking. They're pretty crunchy on their own as well.

[purplewiz]

Straight out of the latest Cuisine at Home: Honey Lemon Grilled Chicken (well, pan-browned since I don't have a grill pan and the pounded cutlets would not work so well on my real grill) and Roasted Ratatouille.

The chicken was good, but the star was the ratatouille - it was easy, fast, and delicious. Definitely a keeper.

Marcia.

[nakji]

I had an "izakaya night" at home. Some salt yakitori and sauce yakitori, along with a green salad, and some carrot kinpira. Rice on the side, which isn't really izakaya-like, I guess, but was needed to round it out. I drank all the sake the night before, after a ridiculously frustrating day, so drinks were coke and Mitsuya cider. I guess it was only an izakaya night in my head.

[C. sapidus]

Kim, you must be a good cheater, the pot pie and all the fixings look delicious.

Sichuan dry-fried chicken (gan ban ji), pickled bean sprouts, jasmine rice. Eternal cucumbers disappeared before dinner. The chicken was good (if too spicy for grandma and younger son), but the Sichuan peppercorns were nearly flavorless. I hope to stop by Penzeys for a new batch this weekend.

[Underfoot]

←

I love the cute hearts on your pot pie, perfect symbolism of the love that went into it!

There is, however, another way to show one's love. For me, that's with a yummy risotto:

Happily while making this I remembered some tips I had heard from Mario Batali (on TV of course), making sure to saute the onions until soft, not golden, and to saute the arborio rice until opaque. Unhappily I had no butter to luxuriate with but it turned out tasty nonetheless with a generous helping of parmesan cheese and good quality olive oil. It feels like it's giving my stomach a big happy hug (AKA I'm stuffed!).

PS That bay leaf is a bit ridiculous as a garnish, but I did use it so it can serve as a representation of flavor...

[Shelby]

Salmon cakes, rice pilaf and creamed peas