Dinner! 2009

[Kim Shook]

MexChef – that is some first post! Everything looks amazing! I am especially jealous of those big, thick cookies. I am a cooky freak and yours are exactly what I want mine to look like, but almost never do! Welcome!

MiFi – what a gorgeous pizza!

Dinner tonight was country ribs with Marlene’s BBQ sauce, Marlene’s Crispy, Cheesy potatoes, slaw, corn on the cob and corn muffins:

The sauce and the potatoes are wonderful and the recipes can be found at her website.

[Kim Shook]

Wow - I follow myself on the dinner thread again !

Dinner last night was skirt steak, slaw, roasted asparagus, leftovers of Marlene's potatoes and some mini croissants from Whole Foods:

[SaladFingers]

I'll follow you this time then

Thought I'd try duck, which I've not cooked myself before. Always have duck if it's on a menu mind.

My companions like theirs medium, so that's what I did.

Duck in plumb sauce, mustard mash potato and lemon glazed carrots

I was pleased as it all tasted delicious. Not something I can do too often though because the duck was very expensive.

Edited February 9, 2009 by SaladFingers (log)

[iainpb]

griddled lamb with rosemary butter, asparagus tossed in cumin seed and black pepper, truffled mash.

[no photo - i remembered only after i had started eating and no-one wants to see my partially eaten lamb ]

[Ce'nedra]

I'll follow you this time then 

Thought I'd try duck, which I've not cooked myself before. Always have duck if it's on a menu mind.

My companions like theirs medium, so that's what I did.

Duck in plumb sauce, mustard mash potato and lemon glazed carrots

I was pleased as it all tasted delicious. Not something I can do too often though because the duck was very expensive.

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Recipe pleaseeeeeeeee. Do you think chicken could be used in place of the duck?

[percyn]

Valentine Day's dinner of Sous Vide Rack of Lamb and Lobster with Bordelaise Sauce and Marrow

Alternate Plating

Rack of lamb being basted in butter

Also made a chef's snack out of some extra marrow and a slow cooked egg

Marrow was lightly torched for an extra dimension to the flavor and topped with fluer de sel

Edited February 15, 2009 by percyn (log)

[Shelby]

Oh

Yum

[Saraaa]

Wow wow wow! Percyn, that definitely looks like an extremely delicious and fabulous valentine dinner!

[percyn]

Thank Shelby and Saraa...and welcome to eGullet.

[whatsaMcGee]

Pan-roasted pork tenderloin (to medium) with potatoes confit, braised shallots, and a white wine/mustard/cream sauce. Finished with a drizzle of the reduced shallot braising liquid (apple cider vinegar, simple syrup, merlot).

[Ktepi]

Somehow it isn't surprising that eGullet's resident master of egg porn is just as much a master of marrow porn. That looks fantastic, percyn.

I swear I did not realize that I was making dressed-up pork and beans until plating:

The pork belly was roasted on a rack over white beans and sauteed onions in a sauce of mostly stock, sherry vinegar, and brown butter solids (this was a "using up what's in the fridge" dinner), with the pork's spice rub (red chile -- not much, this isn't a noticeably spicy dish -- thyme, allspice, and dry mustard) used to season the sauce as well. After roasting, the pork was braised with the onions and beans while I cooked the buttermilk biscuit.

This is one of those meals that makes me really wish I weren't out of cigars.

[Marlene]

Somehow it isn't surprising that eGullet's resident master of egg porn is just as much a master of marrow porn.  That looks fantastic, percyn.

I swear I did not realize that I was making dressed-up pork and beans until plating:

The pork belly was roasted on a rack over white beans and sauteed onions in a sauce of mostly stock, sherry vinegar, and brown butter solids (this was a "using up what's in the fridge" dinner), with the pork's spice rub (red chile -- not much, this isn't a noticeably spicy dish -- thyme, allspice, and dry mustard) used to season the sauce as well.  After roasting, the pork was braised with the onions and beans while I cooked the buttermilk biscuit.

This is one of those meals that makes me really wish I weren't out of cigars.

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I want that! That looks amazing.

[David Ross]

Tonight I did a Roasted Salmon with my version of a Parsley Sauce, served with a Salt Cod Mashed Potato.

I seared the salmon in my trusted cast iron skillet with a drizzle of preserved lemon olive oil. I sear the fish for about 3 minutes per side, then put it in a 400 oven and roast it for another 3 minutes per side. Total cooking time was about 12 minutes. I don't serve my salmon medium-rare in the middle, more on the medium side but still tender and juicy throughout.

My parsley sauce is kind of a combination of a French parsley sauce and an Argentinian chimmichurri sauce. I use flat leaf parsley, cilantro, garlic, chili flakes, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil and some finely diced preserved lemon.

My only foible tonight was the mashed potato with salt cod. The potato and cod was wonderful, but I messed up on the bread crumb topping. I had some nice, fresh bread on the counter waiting to be made into fresh bread crumbs tossed in butter. At the last minute I decided to go the easy route and I used dried bread crumbs out of a can. Awful. And why I ever bought those nasty bits I don't know. Luscious potatoes and cod-gritty breadcrumbs.

[percyn]

Somehow it isn't surprising that eGullet's resident master of egg porn is just as much a master of marrow porn.  That looks fantastic, percyn.

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Thanks Bill, I always wanted to be a (food) porn king . That porkbelly is looking mighty fine...if you were closer I would trade you some stogies for pork.

David, great looking Salmon.

Edited February 16, 2009 by percyn (log)

[Jamon.Iberico]

Best. Sandwich. Ever.

Fresh baguette, organic butter, Iberico bellota, charred artichoke hearts.

[percyn]

Nice sounding sandwich. Did the bread allow you to appreciate the subtle flavors of the Iberico bellota? I am guessing you bought the ham outside the USA?

[Jamon.Iberico]

Nice sounding sandwich. Did the bread allow you to appreciate the subtle flavors of the Iberico bellota? I am guessing you bought the ham outside the USA?

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Thank you!

Indeed, the bread allowed for the flavour to shine. I actually purchased it in Ontario, but why? It's still available all over the place in the US, is it not? I know they've doubled the price and now require the black hoofs of the bellota legs being imported are removed, but I hadn't heard of any import implications.

[Kim Shook]

SaladFingers – gorgeous duck and amazing sauce! Wow!

Percyn – Oh, my! Your Valentine’s dinner is everything – perfectly beautiful, delicious sounding and that glisteny, loveliness!

Ktepi – that is my kind of meal. I like the low version of pork and beans and I can’t imagine a more deluxe, lovely version than your upscale one!

Jamon.Iberico – I want that sandwich! How did you do your artichoke hearts?

Friday night was Mr. Kim’s poker party. I did grilled chicken sandwiches with Marlene’s phenomenal BBQ sauce, slaw, and twice cooked spicy fries:

Dessert was Dream Cookies:

and No Bake Peanut Butter Tarts w/ chocolate sauce:

These cookies represent my oldest cooking – I have been making them for near 40 years. Since I was about 8 or 9 years old. The recipe is from one of those series that grocery stores used to sell – a different one every week. These were a Woman’s Day series and I remember looking at that particular volume because it had both Cookies and Christmas and I wanted to make everything in it. Momma and I made these wonderful shortbread-type cookies and they have never failed me since. You can tart them up with cinnamon sugar topping, or add toffee bits or citrus or just serve them perfectly plain. They are our favorite family cookies still.

[CDRFloppingham]

On Valentine's Day, we ate the 7-course tasting menu at Cafe Atlantico, one of the Jose Andres restaurants and home of the minibar. They mixed a little of the minibar MG stuff with normal Cafe Atlantico nuevo latino cooking.

The main course was a deconstructed Cuban stew. Very interesting dish. Here's how I recreated it and we ate it last night.

It was served in a large bowl and consisted of a piece of braised beef in the center. I think the cut was short rib although it had been boned and the extra fat and periosteum was excised. That was easy enough to recreate. Some broth was poured in the bowl at the time of service.

Around the perimeter of the bowl were

1. Toasted corn kernels - easy peasy

2. Brunoise yuca (I substituted Yukon Golds)

3. Brunoise squash - easy peasy

4. Corn foam. I half-assedly recreated this by cooking frozen corn with a little potato in heavy cream, pureeing, then putting through a chinois. It lacked the aeration of the foam that, I suspect, was put through an ISI whipper but the taste was darned good.

5. Spherified sun-dried tomato. I was running out of time so I finely chopped some sun-dried tomato and seasoned it a little. This was the furthest (and most inferior) imitation of Chef Andres' dish.

6. Salsa air This was undoubtedly some salsa that had been juiced, mixed with soy lecithin, then blitzed. It was nice. I took some onion, tomato, cilantro, red chile flakes, cumin, lime juice, and salt and pureed it. I then put it through a chinoise. I just served the juice in shot glasses. Man, that was good. Has anyone ever made salsa juice?

Sorry, no pics but that was dinner last night.

Edited February 17, 2009 by CDRFloppingham (log)

[tupac17616]

Alas, no pictures, but my side dish last night was really good. Baked some fat beets in a salt crust for a while. Peeled, cut into thick slices. Made a vinaigrette with sour orange juice, chestnut honey, and Sicilian olive oil. When I poured the cold dressing on the warm beets, aroma explosion. Really tasty sort of bitter-sweet-sour-fruity-peppery-earthy thing going on.

[Shelby]

I made French onion soup the other day. I loosely used the Cook's Illustrated recipe. It is sooooooooo good.

Caramelized onions

A yummy bite

[Kim Shook]

OOOOHHH, Shelby! That looks amazingly gooey and good! I love French onion soup and love to play around with different methods/onions etc. I'll have to make it before it gets too warm!

[Ce'nedra]

Shelby: Stop teasing! Did you serve it with crusty bread?

[Shelby]

Shelby: Stop teasing! Did you serve it with crusty bread?

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There's actually a nice, homemade, oversized crouton under that cheese somewhere.

[SobaAddict70]

Leftover risotto (recipe on the blog)

Pan-seared tilapia with brown butter, lemon and capers

Coffee ice cream for dessert

no pic unfortunately