Dinner! 2009

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Yesterday's Dinner

Karniyarik (Turkish Stuffed Eggplants)

Did not have the green Turkish peppers, will definitely get them next time!

I've fallen in love with Turkish food.

Edited May 5, 2009 by DeliciouslyLekker (log)

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Tonight's dinner:

Hainanese Chicken Rice

[SobaAddict70]

Linguine with anchovies, breadcrumbs and mint

Asparagus with Parmesan cheese

[Kim Shook]

Ann - those scallops are calling to me and mmmmmmmm Souvlaki!

Robert - that sous vide experiment was fascinating! I wish someone would do that for me. I haven't gotten up the whatever-I-need to try doing it, but I admit I'm interested!

Soba - that may be the loveliest soup I've ever seen.

I just love all the great close-up pictures that some of you are showing - I gotta get that lens for my camera!

I catered an event for Mr. Kim's office Monday. They got lunch as a reward for participating in a Food Bank donation drive. So this is what I cooked on Sunday:

BBQ Chicken sandwiches. This is a DOZEN chickens , picked and shredded and sauced up with a couple of different commercial sauces and a special thin vinegar based NC sauce that I buy by the gallon at Short Sugars in Reidsville NC when I get there. My hands are still sore! We just bought roasted chickens at Costco.

Smoky Beans. This picture was taken before they cooked down for 4 hours. Three different kinds of beans, onions, bacon, those little smoked sausages and a sauce made with ketchup, garlic, brown sugar and English mustard.

Mustard slaw. 5 heads of cabbage, shredded - thank goodness for food processors! The sauce is a basic mayo sauce, thinned with vinegar so that it can be used as a side or on the BBQ, with a touch of mustard.

Brownies. 4 pans. I just used the Ghirardelli mix. I wasn't about to make them from scratch - too much going on last weekend and it is the best mix I've ever found.

I think you can guess what we had for dinner on Monday - can I say how little I was interested in chicken for dinner? Last night was a bucket of popcorn and a Mt. Dew (heaven) at the Springsteen concert in Charlottesville.

[CaliPoutine]

Kim,

Are those Symphony brownies by any chance?

I use coffee for any water called.

[lucylou95816]

Kim,

Are those Symphony brownies by any chance?

I use coffee for any water called.

←

Try using Port Wine, gives them a totally unique flavor.

[Ann_T]

ANN_T,  your food has me salivating. You make me want to cook those dishes

  now.

  Scallops and gin... I have the gin, now being enjoyed with some tonic... how do 

  I use it to make those scallops? That is truely food porn at its best.

  Yesterday we made the braised boneless short ribs from C.I. I am going to try

  and find the C.I. thread and post something there. By the way... it was really

  good!

←

Bella, you can find the recipe for the scallops on this website.

Kim, lucky employees.

Mexican Dinner last night in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Sangria and Pork Chili Verde served over homemade flour tortillas, with simmered black beans, guacamole and homemade salsa.

[Kim Shook]

Kim,

Are those Symphony brownies by any chance?

I use coffee for any water called.

←

They weren't, but the ones I brought in today for Nurse's Week are - I think if I made any other brownies for my office they would throw me out the door!

[SobaAddict70]

Lovely brownies, Kim.

Roast chicken (T. Keller's recipe)

Pan-fried potatoes and watercress

Coffee ice cream for dessert

[kayb]

Tonight's dinner:

Hainanese Chicken Rice

←

And can you share a recipe for that, please?

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Tonight's dinner:

Hainanese Chicken Rice

←

And can you share a recipe for that, please?

←

To be honest, I used a prepackaged mix this time as I do not have a cleaver nor did I have much time! If you can find a Prima Taste chicken rice mix, buy it- it is very authentic(the only thing which is not good is the chilli sauce).

Of course you can choose to make it from scratch.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

[mgaretz]

We went to an Italian-themed potluck, so here's what I made. I called it "Rissoto con Ortaggi Marinara" but it's actually my Chicken Ratatouille recipe sans chicken (it was a vegetarian potluck) and with rice added. I made the name up and I'm not sure if I have the Italian correct. Can anyone name this dish?

Anyway it came out great and got rave reviews.

Rissoto con Ortaggi Marinara

Ingredients

1 14.5 oz Can Stewed Tomatoes

2 medium Zucchini, sliced

1 large Chinese Eggplant (the long thin light purple kind), sliced

1 Green Pepper, cored and sliced into 1×1″ pieces

1 cup Mushrooms, whole or sliced

1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped

2 medium Garlic Cloves, minced

1 tsp Italian Herb blend

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup Sweet Marsala

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 cup uncooked white rice

Start by preparing the vegetables. (There is no need to go through the “salt the eggplant” dance if you use the Chinese eggplant.) Put the oil and onions into a large skillet on medium-high heat and saute until the onions are starting to become translucent. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir well. Next add the green pepper and continue to cook for another few minutes. Add the rest of the veggies, then the stewed tomatoes and stir well. Next add the marsala and the herb blend, garlic, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed.

Let it come to a hard simmer and then reduce the heat to low and cover. After about 10 minutes stir in the rice. Stir every couple of minutes for the next 10 minutes (replacing the cover in between) to make the sure the rice doesn't stick to the pan and then cover and continue to simmer on low for another 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to rest for another 15 minutes. Serve!

I used medium grain rice which gave it a nice starchy "rissoto" feel.

[C. sapidus]

Fish molee (fish in coconut milk), beans porial (stir-fried green beans with grated coconut), bhindi pyaz (okra with chopped onions), and basmati rice. Another highly enjoyable dinner from 50 Great Curries of India. The okra was a small Mother’s Day present to Mrs. C, who has transformed from an okraphobe to an okraphile. After dinner we sat out on the porch swing, sipping wine and wrapped in a blanket for protection against the cool spring evening.

Edit: splenlig

Edited May 11, 2009 by C. sapidus (log)

[Kajikit]

At last a noteworthy dinner...

Slow-braised country spareribs in homemade bbq sauce (sauce based on tomato paste and mustard with various herbs and spices); potato salad with egg, bacon and mustard; cheesy corn pudding (crustless quiche made with fresh sweetcorn and shallots); and green beans with bacon and almonds and lemon juice.

[SobaAddict70]

First time making non-potato gnocchi. Definitely a keeper.

Ricotta gnocchi with asparagus and wild mushrooms

I have some leftover dough in the frigo. I have a feeling M. Hazan's tomato sauce will be on the menu later this week.

Edited May 12, 2009 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[HappyLab]

Asparagus risotto:

[SobaAddict70]

Chicken congee

Toppings include -- crispy chicken skin, shredded leftover roast chicken, shallots and bacon fried in chicken fat, chopped scallions, white pepper, sesame oil and mushroom soy.

And it freezes well, so I've got the makings of dinner a couple weeks from now if I want to.

[dockhl]

HappyLab..............that risotto is a thing of beauty !

Soba............your congee is, too, esp the crispy skin bits! Your ricotta gnocci look lovely and firm. What recipe are you using? Mine always disintegrate !

[SobaAddict70]

HappyLab..............that risotto is a thing of beauty !

Soba............your congee is, too, esp the crispy skin bits! Your ricotta gnocci look lovely and firm. What recipe are you using? Mine always disintegrate !

←

Suzanne Goin's recipe. Click.

I've heard the Zuni Cafe version is good too.

[Heartsurgeon]

Ras el Hanout spiced Lamb pizza

lamb meat picked off the bones simmered for 5 hours making lamb stock (that's for lamb risotto...another meal) meat is heavily spiced with ras el hanout, and reserved.

pizza dough (enough for 2 large pizzas) -

8 hours ahead (before going to work)

1 cup water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp olive oil

dinner time:

prep:

fire up the oven (with pizza stone, 500 degrees)

1 head of garlic, crushed, in 1/4 cup of olive oil

1 cup grated smoked gouda cheese

1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grated mozarella cheese

1/2 cup sliced bermuda onion (hand crushed/rinsed in water/patted dry)

mix the seasoned lamb meat with the onion, salt, pepper, alleppo pepper, and the crushed garlic (reserving the garlicy olive oil)

make a pizza crust, pre-cook until lightly browned, remove from oven.

brush the edges of the pizza crust with the reserved garlicy olive oil (prevents the edges from burning)

dress the crust with seasoned lamg, then layer chees mix on top.

back into the oven for about 15-20 minutes (or until done).

I get lamb bones from the butcher for about $1/pound, that contain random scraps of meat that fall of the bone after making stock. I just couldn't bring myself to throw this meat away, and this recipe came out of that. The pizza itself is out of this world...

[Ann_T]

Spotted Prawn season opened last week here on Canada's west coast. I went down to the dock in Cowichan Bay today and picked up 10 pounds of live prawns, right off the boat. Doesn't get any fresher than that.

We had Garlic Prawns - Spanish Tapas for dinner with homemade french bread to sop up all the wonderful garlic sauce.

[dockhl]

HappyLab..............that risotto is a thing of beauty !

Soba............your congee is, too, esp the crispy skin bits! Your ricotta gnocci look lovely and firm. What recipe are you using? Mine always disintegrate !

←

Suzanne Goin's recipe. Click.

I've heard the Zuni Cafe version is good too.

←

Thank you ! I love Melinda Lee. Is she still on the radio?

[HappyLab]

HappyLab..............that risotto is a thing of beauty !

Soba............your congee is, too, esp the crispy skin bits! Your ricotta gnocci look lovely and firm. What recipe are you using? Mine always disintegrate !

←

Thanks dockhl!

Ramps, mushrooms, and cream over polenta: a super easy dish and not very photogenic, but pretty darn tasty.

[menuinprogress]

Grilled baseball steak, tomato-avocado salad, and hand-cut fries.

[Robert Jueneman]

What is a baseball steak? And how did you cook it?