Dinner! 2008

[Dr. J]

Weekend dinner, I stopped by Chinatown and got some good stuff.

Lemmon Pepper linguini on a garlic/butter/basil sauce with razor clams.

Next day it was made the same way except smelt was added and a salad with french dressing, gorgonzola, and walnuts.

[Ce'nedra]

Your siu mai, OTOH, look nice and delicate. How did you like the jicama in your siu mai – did it stay crunchy?

Hmm it still retained a certain texture to it but it certainly wasn't crunchy...although I don't think they're supposed to be crunchy in siu mai...I think...

I didn't realize these "naked pork meatballs" would be called siu mai.  In my experience siu mai is incased in a wrapper but open top.

The jicama would be a substitue for the crunch of waterchestnuts?  Would it add a slightly sweet taste that would be missing in canned waterchestnut?

What kind of sauce did you use? A chili one?

Have you tried to make the beef meatballs - those springy ones served as dim sum?

Dejah, these siu mai are not the Cantonese sort. They're the Vietnamese version, but the Chinese and French influence is heavy (roots are Chinese, the sauce and habbit of eating bread with it is French-based).

The addition of jicama, I feel at least, didn't add a sweet taste...next time I think I'll add some more -it was a bit too meaty (delicious nonetheless).

The sauce was tomato, juice from the pork (mmm!), soy sauce and fish sauce.

And nope, I haven't tried making beef meatballs although I would love to so if you have a reliable recipe, you know who to go to

Some recent dinners:

Lao Curry Chicken (Gang Phet) cooked my wonderful girlfriend:

In the pot:

That looks really good HabbyLab! How does Lao curry taste like? Is it similar to Thai green or red curry?

And please don't tell me you "cooked [your] wonderful girlfriend"

Edited March 17, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[David Ross]

Weekend dinner, I stopped by Chinatown and got some good stuff. 

Lemmon Pepper linguini on a garlic/butter/basil sauce with razor clams.

Next day it was made the same way except smelt was added and a salad with french dressing, gorgonzola, and walnuts.

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Dr. J your food and photos get better and better. Do you buy the razor clams live at an Asian market? We get wonderful razor clams up here in the Pacific Northwest, but sadly they are never sold live in the shells.

[JimH]

Some recent dinners:

Lao Curry Chicken (Gang Phet) cooked my wonderful girlfriend:

In the pot:

On top of a bed of rice:

Spice Roasted Chicken with Potatoes, Penang Style from Cradle of Flavor:

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I have got to stop checking this thread before lunch, my stomach is growling. Mom wanted ribs for her birthday, so no pictures of them plated.

Edited: to make the picture larger.

Edited March 17, 2008 by JimH (log)

[Toliver]

Last night I had an early St. Patrick's Day dinner.

I used my slow cooker to cook the corned beef roast (it was so wide it almost didn't fit in the cooker!). When it was done I used the cooking water to steam some cabbage which was eaten with a splash of cider vinegar. I used the rest of the cooking water to boil red potatoes, onions and carrots.

It was quite an easy meal to fix...and to eat.

One odd thing about the roast was that the grain ran the width of this roast when it usually runs the length of the roast. It was a point cut so I don't if that makes a difference.

Still, it quite a good dinner! Happy St. Paddy's Day to all.

[Dr. J]

Thanks a lot D.Ross. Yes its kind of a guilt story. I went to chinatown in chicago on friday after a meeting in a hospital that went very well. So I went to get some Dim Sum for lunch and decided to stop by the market to see what they had. I only planned to buy some sauces and stuff that I had ran out. The thing was that they did have those live razor clams which I had never seen before and they looked great. My problem was that, that night I was supposed to go and meet some friends for a friends 30th birthday dinner. So the plan was to go and eat dinner with them and go out and have fun. However I had those live clams staring at me and I rarely get to go to chinatown. So I basically got the clams and ate what you saw in the first dish for dinner. I showed up to my friends party to just drink for a bit.

The smelt was also picked up there and was frozen.

[Chris Hennes]

Still breaking in my new sous vide rig, here is Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin, Asian style:

[SanaaSol]

I was in the mood for soup for some reason...

I made a ginger red lentil soup with spinach.

[Ariel Schor]

Don't have a Digital Camera just yet, but I made Pad Thai, salt and lemon roasted chicken wings and the best chicken stock I have made in a while.

[Ann_T]

I was in the mood for soup for some reason...

I made a ginger red lentil soup with spinach.

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SanaaSol Your soup look delicious. Great photo.

Dr. J I agree with David. Your dinners and your photos look amazing.

I grilled a small Prime Rib for dinner. Just big enough for two slices. Fresh grated horseradish on the side.

[Kim Shook]

Tracey - that Sauerbratten meal looks scrumptious! I never make it, but it is one of my favorite dishes!

SanaaSol - those salmon cakes are so beautiful. I know that when I start especially noticing food in people's posts, that means I am craving it and need to make it soon. That is happening the last few weeks with salmon cakes!

Chris - I would like a big bowl of those duck skin triangles to snack on with TV tonight. Wow!

Dr J - how did you cook the smelt - I love them so much and it is so hard to find nice ones here!

This weekend I was in NC visiting my grandmother. On Friday night she took me to Libby Hill Seafood for dinner. A good old greasy fried seafood platter hit the spot . Flounder, shrimp and oysters. On Saturday we went to Short Sugar's BBQ in Reidsville for chopped sandwiches and I bought 3 lbs. of BBQ and a gallon of sauce, all of which will figure in meals to come !

Saturday night when I am there, I try to cook dinner because she refuses to let me pay for anything - she even tucked a $20 dollar bill in my hand when I left on Sunday (I am almost 49 years old ). It is a very limited kitchen complicated by the fact that there are actually 2 kitchens and what you need is inevitably in the other kitchen! Most of her herbs and spices are years old and the spices are hard and crumbly. She is one of those old country cooks that uses almost no utensils other than a meat fork and a serving spoon to cook with. But she has a gorgeous set of 70+ years old cast iron and Club aluminum to cook in . She told me how much she likes the chicken cordon bleu rolls that they sell at The Fresh Market in Greensboro, but that she hasn't been able to get there lately, so I decided to do a version of that. I didn't bother with breading - I just rolled up the chicken with some Swiss cheese and Black Forest ham and browned them in one of those almost non stick cast iron skillets and made a quick gravy to go with it. I also served fresh brussels sprouts and orzo, neither of which she had ever had. She loved all of it and wanted me to tell her exactly what was in each thing and watched me make everything. She entertains pretty often, actually - ladies of the church, garden club, her business women's club. She serves luncheons and is always looking for new things to make. Everything tasted pretty darn good in spite of it all.

Don't you just love that Desert Rose plate? That's been her everyday ware for my whole life!

Dinner last night was a mixed success. I made roasted red pepper and pear soup and pineapple stuffed cornish hens. Mr. Kim and Jessica loved the soup (I don't like peppers - they tasted it and said that the pepper flavor was mild and well balanced with the pears, but all I tasted was pepper). The hens and the basting sauce that went with them were really good, but the stuffing was much too sweet. The ingredients were bread, celery, pineapple and shredded coconut. I don't know what you would need to add to balance the natural sweetness of the pineapple and coconut, but I think that onions would help.

[lucylou95816]

Kim, My grandma just gave me her set of Desert rose. I probably won't use it, but I can't bear to part with it, since all holiday meals were used on those plates.

[percyn]

Some more pork...

Mojito Jerk Pork Shoulder - Marinated overnight in Mojito mix, seasoned with jerk seasoning and baked at 275 F for 9 hrs.

Tender and moist...falls right apart

Plated with some rice

[SanaaSol]

Ann_T, Kim -Thanks so much!

I made roasted red pepper and pear soup and pineapple stuffed cornish hens. 

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Whoa, what interesting combinations!...sounds (and looks) awesome! What was the inspiration for this?

I've had horrible luck with making cornish hens...but I may have to take another crack at them to try this out...those flavors are right up my alley...

[Chris Hennes]

Plated with some rice

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Oh man, that looks good. My next pork order arrives in a couple weeks: just in time for some Spring BBQ action!

[judiu]

Some more pork...

Mojito Jerk Pork Shoulder - Marinated overnight in Mojito mix, seasoned with jerk seasoning and baked at 275 F for 9 hrs.

Percyn, was that a wet mojito mix, or a dry powder? With or without booze? Looks great!

[DaleJ]

I, too, would like some idea of how the smelts were cooked. I have lots frozen but all I can do is deep fry. I'd like to have an alternative.

[monavano]

Brisket with herbed gnocchi and asparagus. I braised the brisket in a mixture of coke, onion soup mix and chii sauce. It was great! Although, I cooked it a tad too long and it kinda fell apart when I sliced it...so it's more like pulled brisket. The herbed gnocchi have dill and Pecorino, and the asparagus is baked with evoo, s&p, Pecorino.

[Dr. J]

Thanks for the compliments.

The smelts were seasoned and cooked in the olive oil/butter/garlic/wine mix before tossing in the linguini. The Razors were cooked in blush wine and xiao xing wine mix to give them different kick.

The next bach will probably be done either tempura or katsu.

Here is yesterdays meal.

Most of the stuff was purchased on the trip to chinatown last week. The only thing I made was the ribs which were made the following way.

Seared with duck fat, and cooked in the oven for 10 minutes.

Then finished with chinese sausage, onions, mirin, blackbean sauce, wine, soy.

Sorry to post this second pic ,I know that its crappy and blurry but somehow I like it. Kind of remind me of stepping stones. Maybe you feel the same way.

[heidih]

Sorry to post this second pic ,I know that its crappy and blurry but somehow I like it.  Kind of remind me of stepping stones.  Maybe you feel the same way.

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I see the path, but no way would I want to squish that plump and lovely bun. Did you re-heat it and if so what method. Also what was in it?

[intraining]

nice photography, wish i could say the same! anyway, this is naan with (absent) crab and chick pea curry aromatic rice

[Domestic Goddess]

My favorite sandwich...

Oyster Po' Boy

[percyn]

Some more pork...

Mojito Jerk Pork Shoulder - Marinated overnight in Mojito mix, seasoned with jerk seasoning and baked at 275 F for 9 hrs.

Percyn, was that a wet mojito mix, or a dry powder? With or without booze? Looks great!

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Thanks Judiu. The recipe was borrowed from Wegmans. It goes as such...

Score both sides of a pork shoulder.

Marinate in liquid Mojito Mix overnight (I did not add booze, but I guess you could add a bit)

Sprinkle liberally with Jerk seasoning (I also used Sasson)

Place in 275F oven for 8-9 hrs.

Enjoy..

[SobaAddict70]

Gnocchi with tomato sauce*

*M. Hazan's version with tomatoes, butter and onion.

[David Ross]

Last night I made Chicken Picatta served with these little Smoked Chicken Pasta Dumplings that I found at the market. I cheated and used a store-bought Alfredo sauce that I dressed up with some fresh spinach.