Dinner! 2009

[Kim Shook]

Well, this was somewhat better:

The ham was still bland, but it was improved by crusty, toasted English muffins, over-medium eggs (it was almost 10, I couldn’t be bothered poaching) and rich hollandaise. The potatoes, however, were NOT good. My father (ordinarily a good cook) recommended them – they are frozen roasted potatoes. He and my step-mom love them. Us? Not so much.

My step-dad (Ted Fairhead) has been in the hospital, so I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon to go to NC to visit him and my mother. If I cook, I’ll post when I get home. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

[C. sapidus]

Crazy dinner, planned for five but thirteen showed up...

Your reputation precedes you. If I knew you were cooking, I'd be tempted to crash the party myself.

Donna, thank you very much. Trust me, the cooking was a mere sideshow.

Is the recipe around somewhere, on the web or in a cookbook?

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Flattery may not get you everywhere, but it will get you a recipe for Kolhapuri chicken (clicky). I hope you enjoy it, but you may wish to reduce the amount of chile powder. We did, and it was still pretty potent.

[Alinka]

Friday night, so it's grilling steaks and vegetables in the backyard, then lingering over the meal outside..

Yeah, and let's not go overboard with those vegetables and focus on the steak .

[percyn]

Flattery may not get you everywhere, but it will get you a recipe for Kolhapuri chicken (clicky). I hope you enjoy it, but you may wish to reduce the amount of chile powder. We did, and it was still pretty potent.

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And don't feel bad about taming the spices a bit, even people in India are a little careful with Kholapuri cuisine. You can also make this dish with fish...just adjust protein cooking time.

[percyn]

Friday night, so it's grilling steaks and vegetables in the backyard, then lingering over the meal outside..

Yeah, and let's not go overboard with those vegetables and focus on the steak .

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Nice pic Alinka. Is that a 50mm lens?

[Alinka]

Thanks! Yes, it's the 50 mm lens that I originally bought to photograph the kids, but it seems to work for food very well, too.

[nickrey]

Haven't posted here for a while.

Thought I'd share tonight's dinner.

Fillet steak stuffed with pate and wrapped in spinach. Served with smashed roast potato and roast beetroot with home-made horseradish cream.

Tasted wonderful.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Since I got a Thermo Whip a couple of days ago, it's pretty much guaranteed that every dinner is going to involve a foam for the next few weeks. Last night I indoor-grilled a big porterhouse with a soy-sesame marinade, boiled corn on the cob, and tried a potato foam. I sort of like lumpy mashed potatoes made with a fork, and potato foam is the opposite extreme (with whipped potatoes made with a stand mixer somewhere in the middle), but I can see the attractions of the foam, where I might want the flavor of potatoes without filling up on potatoes, or if there's a potato famine, I'll be able to feed a family of twelve with one potato.

Edited July 20, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Lindsey]

Good evening Everyone frae Bonnie Scotland, today I made Lamb and Honey Tagine, not one of my favourites in the past, maybe my fault for not getting the balance right. However I have discovered a wonderful Ras El Hanout just bursting with rose petals and all things perfumed and exotic with quite a kick to boot!!! Served it with a sultana(soaked in Earl Grey tea) and fresh herb cous cous finished with toasted almonds and pomegranite seeds. Our beautiful local Raspberries with cream to finish.

[kayswv]

Good evening Everyone frae Bonnie Scotland, today I made Lamb and Honey Tagine, not one of my favourites in the past, maybe my fault for not getting the balance right. However I have discovered a wonderful Ras El Hanout just bursting with rose petals and all things perfumed and exotic with quite a kick to boot!!!   Served it with a sultana(soaked in Earl Grey tea) and fresh herb cous cous finished with toasted almonds and pomegranite seeds.  Our beautiful local Raspberries with cream to finish.

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Lindsey,

Do you have a recipe reference for the Lamb and Honey Tagine? We brought back two tagines from our recent trip and that sounds like something we would enjoy. Used them last night for a chicken tagine with green olives and lemons.

Thanks, Kay

[percyn]

Dinner tonight was a salad

and an impromptu open-faced patty melt with sauteed onions, mushrooms, Birchrun Hills Fat Cat cheese and fried egg on top

money shot

[David A. Goldfarb]

Had an unplanned guest, so I only had time for one photo, but tonight's dinner was--

Cold cucumber soup with cold potato foam (i.e., last night's leftover hot potato foam). This was simple and very effective. The soup was just a whole English cucumber, about 3/4 cup frozen chicken consommé, and the juice of one lemon, pureed in a blender, a mound of potato foam on top, garnished with thin strips of lemon zest made with a zester.

Poulet au riz basquais from Elizabeth David's French Country Cooking

This was a very quick photograph, so I didn't have a chance to arrange it so that you can see the rice, but it's a dish that photographs very nicely and tastes great, so I'll have to have another go at it. I was able to find piment d'Espelette for this at O & Co at Grand Central Terminal and chorizo imported from Spain at Murray's Cheese Shop.

Strawberries and fresh whipped cream for dessert. Since the Thermo Whip was otherwise occupied with potatoes, I whipped the cream the old fashioned way with a whisk.

Edited July 21, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Pille]

I'm happy to see Alinka back as well

As we've got a small baby at home, the food has become less tricky, with more focus on light and quick dishes. Last night it was root vegetable soup with mustardy meatballs, followed by a slice of Tarte aux Myrtilles (or French Bilberry Tart)

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[Dr. J]

This one was a rice experiment. I wanted to replicate this basmati rice I ate with pistachios and orange at an afgan/persian restaurant. I didn't have basmati available and I think that would have made a difference but I think I got pretty close to the recipe from the restaurant I ate at. I think I will have it right in a couple of more tries, but great combo, a bit sweet but good. Made an avocado and tomato salad as well as salmon with a tomato based sauce. Great combination.

[Shelby]

Such lovely dinners, everyone! I don't post as much as I'd like to---really busy this summer--but always know that I'm here drooling over your pictures!

I've been canning canning canning tomatoes I love it, but, phew, it's a lot of work especially when you work at your job all day lol.

So, we've been having a lot of these

This is a ham steak with new 'taters and green beans. Ugly picture. Good food.

Note to self: When you've already planted 45 tomato plants, there is probably no need to plant two cherry tomato plants I've got them coming out of my ears, so I've started slicing them, drizzling hazelnut oil and sea salt and pepper on top and putting them in the oven that has been pre heated to 450. Then, I turn the oven off and let them sit in there all night. They turn wonderfully sweet and are yummy. I use them in place of sundried tomatoes.

Ribs, cheese stuffed roasted peppers and scalloped 'taters

I think of Bruce a lot lately because we have been having eternal cucumbers and onions

These are all over my kitchen waiting to be taken downstairs in the basement for storage

Now, I've graduated to using a bushel basket to pick each night, but this was one of our first picks

[Prawncrackers]

Here are some very different chicken dinners from the past week.

First off was some smoked chicken on the Weber kettle. There was a standard pepper/paprika rub on it, just had it with some sweetcorn and coleslaw. Never tried cooking chicken this way before, it was so delicious we wolfed it down!

Next i got my hands on a lovely French Label Rouge chicken so did the classic Chicken with 30 Cloves of garlic fricassee, served it with peas and over some freshly made tagliatelle:

Tonight was some Gong Bo Chicken:

[Alinka]

percyn

Ooh yeah, that money shot! Per-fect!

Pille

Hi Pille! Congratulations on your baby. The tart looks nice, no cushion, just sweet crust and the BERRIES.

Shelby

Just look at these tomatoes. How nice it is to eat tomatoes from your own garden. It's so hard to buy a good tomato without paying through the nose. And when they are good, they barely need anything to go with them: a little oil, salt, good bread - and you're in heaven .

Prawncrackers

Very, very nice, tasty looking. Especially that chicken!

[Alinka]

One of our recent lunches, salad: lettuce, avocado, chicken breast, tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, fresh herbs and some marinated beans from the supermarket's deli section. Dressed with olive oil + lemon juice.

I got a little greedy and piled the bowl high .

And the cake, of course!

[Alinka]

Oh, and another dinner: roasted beef and potatoes (some rosemary on the potatoes). The beef is cooked more than I like because it was also eaten by two toddlers.

[menuinprogress]

I am continually amazed by the versatility of pulled pork as an ingredient. This is a good thing, since when we smoke a big pork butt we always have a bunch of leftovers.

Pulled Pork Taquitos:

[Pierogi]

I am continually amazed by the versatility of pulled pork as an ingredient. This is a good thing, since when we smoke a big pork butt we always have a bunch of leftovers.

Pulled Pork Taquitos:

HOW timely ! I have a dinner plate full of pulled pork (not smoked, just slow roasted, but still really good) in the fridge, and I was wanting to make something Mexican with some of them. Is that cheese I spy in your taquitos? What else did you throw in, any kind of sauce? They look fabulous, and I'm full from dinner, but I'd still eat one (or two.......or three.........) TIA !

[doctortim]

Crazy dinner, planned for five but thirteen showed up (including several 6-foot plus teenage boys). We made Kholkapuri chicken, a ton of rice, and whatever else we could throw together in desperation.

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That's quite a feat! By the way I'm salivating at the look of that Kholkpuri chicken, it reminds me of exactly the sort of thing I used to make but haven't in ages. Time to break out the spices, I think.

[percyn]

Very nice, menu in progress.

Friday's dinner was Roasted Chicken

Herb roasted fingerling potatoes and shallots

Plated along with Edamame Salad

[Shelby]

One of our recent lunches, salad: lettuce, avocado, chicken breast, tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, fresh herbs and some marinated beans from the supermarket's deli section. Dressed with olive oil + lemon juice.

I got a little greedy and piled the bowl high .

And the cake, of course!

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This looks so refreshing!

[C. sapidus]

Shelby: aww, thanks! Fourty-five plants must produce a staggering amount of tomatoes, because nine plants used to keep our family of five well-supplied. I particularly liked the look of your meal with ribs and stuffed peppers. Mmmm . . .

DoctorTim: Thank you! I hope you do break out the spices, and I look forward to seeing your inviting Indian meals again.

PercyN: Kohlapuri fish sounds delicious, thanks for the tip.

We returned from a week at the Outer Banks (where we did a fair amount of cooking), and immediately started tearing up our house (again). The kitchen is mostly intact, but kitchen stuff is boxed up, walls are missing, and large chunks of the house are without water or electricity. Not sure when I will be rejoining Dinner!, but in the meantime I am definitely enjoying all of the gorgeous meals that everyone is posting. I am also delighted to see some to see some very talented cooks and photographers posting again.