Dinner! 2008

[tupac17616]

beet risotto

[MiFi]

Salmon toast points

Springfield Farms Heritage Turkey, post-brine and refrigerator dry out

Cooked in less that two hours

Pommes gratinee ready for the oven

Finished pommes gratinee

Apple Pie

Turkey Sandwich with gravy

Pumpkin creme brulee

[Lonnj]

Thanks for all the kind words about my dumplings, folks - you've convinced me to stick around.

Tonight, Carnitas! Yesterday the butcher had nice looking pork shoulders there for super cheap. I can't resist the opportunity to cut up a 7 pound piece of pig (especially at a less than a buck and a half a pound), so I had to buy it.

Cut up (my favorite part) and browned.

Into the dutch oven it went, with the liquid from deglazing skillet I browned it in along with some (whole) coriander, cumin, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, garlic cloves and chili flakes, and then into the 300° oven for two and a half hours.

It ended up having a little too much liquid (I like it to have a little structural integrity left), so I cooked it down on the stove top uncovered for about 20 minutes. Then I took out the meat, removed the bigger chunks of fat (my dog LOVES those) and strained the liquid/fat that was left. Dumped the strained juice back into the pot to cook out most of the rest of the liquid and then crisped/glazed the meat with the remaining fat and small amount of liquid left.

This was the result:

A plate of carnitas with cilantro, lime and fleur de sel. Who needs tortillas??

[judiu]

Thanks for all the kind words about my dumplings, folks - you've convinced me to stick around.

Tonight, Carnitas! Yesterday the butcher had  nice looking pork shoulders there for super cheap. I can't resist the opportunity to cut up a 7 pound piece of pig (especially at a less than a buck and a half a pound), so I had to buy it.

Cut up (my favorite part) and browned.

Into the dutch oven it went, with the liquid from deglazing skillet I browned it in along with some (whole) coriander, cumin, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, garlic cloves and chili flakes, and then into the 300° oven for two and a half hours.

It ended up having a little too much liquid (I like it to have a little structural integrity left), so I cooked it down on the stove top uncovered for about 20 minutes. Then I took out the meat, removed the bigger chunks of fat (my dog LOVES those) and strained the liquid/fat that was left. Dumped the strained juice back into the pot to cook out most of the rest of the liquid and then crisped/glazed the meat with the remaining fat and small amount of liquid left.

This was the result:

A plate of carnitas with cilantro, lime and fleur de sel. Who needs tortillas??

←

OMG!!!!! Those are beautiful! My local Mexican take out joint went out of business, and now I'm jonesing!

[tupac17616]

Moo wan

[Ce'nedra]

Ce'nedra – the Shook house was salivating over those dumplings!  They are beautiful and look so good!  If I had a family friend who could make those, I’d ask for a lesson!

←

I do intend to

tupac17616: My god that looks good! Could I have the recipe please? Did you make the buns too?

[Shoom]

Tupac, that looks incredible. Is that a pork belly cut?

[Dr. J]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Kim that sandwitch looks great.

Great meal percyn.

Lonnj great first post those dumplings look very tasty.

Nice pork belly tupac, I want that recipe for the bread as well.

Nice Rubyred trout on blonde sauce. Very nice and light.

Banana and Walnut breat topped with strawberries, raspberries and Icecream.

[Parmhero]

Nice pork buns tupac17616…

Handsome trout and dessert Dr. j...

I also did some fish filets......but with a sauce on top...

Sole, breaded, sautéed in peanut oil and butter...

....with brandy cream peppercorn sauce....side of whole grain penne tossed in Parmigiano-Reggiano, butter, cracked black pepper.

[Jstern35]

The local market had a some pretty good looking porterhouse for sale so picked up some for dinner. Pan seared and basted with some clarified butter and duck fat, finished the strip side in the oven. Ignore the 20 year old plate

All done

[jfrater]

I finally got around to putting the rabbit photos on the computer. For those interested, this is the saga of my rabbit!

1. The shopping. All of this food was bought at Borough Market in London. It is all fresh from English farms. Yum yum. There is enough here to feed 3 of us for 1 week at £60.

2. The rabbit up close.

3. The rabbit skinned

4. The rabbit cooking

5. Potatoes a la Lyonnaise to go with the rabbit

6. French beans to go with the rabbit

The rabbit was cooked in red wine, and port, with onions, fresh herbs, and pancetta (which you can see in the first photo).

It was yum! I will definitely be doing it again. Oh - and the rabbit only cost £4.

[David Ross]

I finally got around to putting the rabbit photos on the computer.  For those interested, this is the saga of my rabbit!

1. The shopping.  All of this food was bought at Borough Market in London.  It is all fresh from English farms.  Yum yum.  There is enough here to feed 3 of us for 1 week at £60.

2. The rabbit up close.

3. The rabbit skinned

4. The rabbit cooking

5. Potatoes a la Lyonnaise to go with the rabbit

6. French beans to go with the rabbit

The rabbit was cooked in red wine, and port, with onions, fresh herbs, and pancetta (which you can see in the first photo).

It was yum!  I will definitely be doing it again.  Oh - and the rabbit only cost £4.

←

I just have to say "how delicious!" Thanks for sharing. And keep sharing photos of furry little creatures ready for the pot. Wonderful.

[tupac17616]

tupac17616: My god that looks good! Could I have the recipe please? Did you make the buns too?

Tupac, that looks incredible.  Is that a pork belly cut?

Nice pork belly tupac, I want that recipe for the bread as well.

Nice pork buns tupac17616…

Thanks very much, all! Let's see...

Recipe (or rather, loose guidelines) for the pork belly is from Pim HERE.

Wish I could say I made the buns myself. Those came from 99 Ranch Market.

Glad to see such a beautiful bounty from the Borough Market in London. I'm going there next Friday!

[menuinprogress]

Grilled Culotte Steak:

With split chickpea stew (Channa Ni Dar) from My Bombay Kitchen and some sauteed chard.

Edited December 6, 2008 by menuinprogress (log)

[C. sapidus]

menuinprogress, beautiful steak! How did you like the channa ni dar?

jfrater, all-you-can-eat rabbits at our house (self-service, of course ).

Jstern35, nice first post, welcome to Dinner! We have some of those 20-year-old plates, too, same pattern.

While dinner was cooking, the combined aroma of onions, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, coconut, and fennel frying in ghee made a meal in itself.

Ground beef koftae in spicy yogurt sauce. Cumin, coriander, ginger, garam masala, cayenne, cilantro, yogurt, and mustard oil in the koftae, and another paragraph’s worth of spices in the sauce. The sauce was boiled down until the beef browned at the end – reminiscent of a shortcut rendang, albeit with quite different spices.

Stir-fried Savoy cabbage with fennel seeds. We make this frequently, for good reason. I didn’t notice a difference between Savoy cabbage and regular green cabbage in this recipe.

Fresh red chutney, with almonds, red chiles, red bell pepper, garlic, mint, lemon juice, and dill.

Basmati rice with whole spices, including green and black cardamom, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves.

[gfron1]

Banana and Walnut breat topped with strawberries, raspberries and Icecream.

←

Nice job on that - looks great.

[SobaAddict70]

Wow, the pork belly looks amazing.

=========

Fettuccine with chorizo and mussels

[sjemac]

Venison Bibimbap:

Watercress, carrots, Mushrooms, green onions, kimchi, bean sprouts, venison flank marinated in Bulgogi marinade, Ngo Om and korean bean paste.

Put together -- Raw egg yolk hidden under bean paste.

[menuinprogress]

menuinprogress, beautiful steak! How did you like the channa ni dar?

←

We loved it - fantastic, intense flavor. The leftovers, smushed up, made a very tasty spread for sandwiches...

Your dinner looked great - especially that red chutney!

[Prawncrackers]

Prawn....it all looks delicious, especially the Baklava....may I request the recipe?

Hi Percyn,

Sorry haven't responded earlier to your Baklava request, only just spotted it re-reading the thread! The recipe is taken from one of my wife's cookbooks, Rachel Allen's BAKE!, and can actually be found on the UKTV Website here. Love baklava, i've tried a few recipes and this is by far the best yet. Rachel Allen is like an Irish blond Nigella but with skills (a definite improvement imo ) A couple of things, i find a loose bottomed square cake tin lined with baking parchment trapped between the base and sides to be best (to catch the syrup). Less water to start the syrup as it needs to be very thick and plenty of butter at the bottom to make sure it gets crispy.

[percyn]

Thanks Prawncrackers.

A simple dinner from a few nights ago...Oven Roasted Chicken w/mashed Potatoes and Gravy

[MiFi]

Lamb Stew w/Spaghetti squash

[legourmet]

We had for yesterday's Dinner

Soup:

Lemongrass-Cappuccino with shrimps and ginger skewer

First course:

Steamed codfish loin on cucumber noodles with mashed potatoes and two mustard sauces

Second course:

Lamb loin with herbed crust on provencal vegetables with eggplant terrine, dried tomatoes and garlic-lemon sauce

Dessert:

Thai-Mango with Gianduja-creme on coconut cookie with ivoire-praline icecreme and mango-maracuja foam.

[Parmhero]

That’s a gorgeous ensemble, legourmet…elegant and tastefully conceived and executed… very fine details and flourishes…the piping of the mashed potatoes…the black and white dessert motif…..a nice progression…and all four dishes are attractive and tasty looking …I must say though, I had to chuckle at the phrase “Gianduja-creme on coconut cookie with ivoire-praline icecreme and mango-maracuja foam”.…also, the protrusion on the coconut cookie…which seems to suggest a stalagmite or cactus….what is that made of?

[legourmet]

That’s a gorgeous ensemble, legourmet…elegant and tastefully conceived and executed… very fine details and flourishes…the piping of the mashed potatoes…the black and white dessert motif…..a nice progression…and all four dishes are attractive and tasty looking …I must say though, I had to chuckle at the phrase “Gianduja-creme on coconut cookie with ivoire-praline icecreme and mango-maracuja foam”.…also, the protrusion on the coconut cookie…which seems to suggest a stalagmite or cactus….what is that made of?

←

Thank you.

Because of what did you chuckle? Did I made a mistake, or did I use expressions which don't excist in the English Language?

The protrusion is made of white chocolate. I used a palette knife to spread liquid chocolate onto a silicon foil and placed it into a freezer to harden.