Dinner! 2009

[percyn]

Made some burgers from irradiated beef so that I could keep it a bit on the rare side.

Also grilled some lobster and wife made a goat cheese and heirloom tomato salad

With the lobster body and claws knuckles, I made a lobster custard with royal trumpet mushrooms and truffle oil

[menuinprogress]

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 !

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Yep, a bit of cheese. Can't remember what kind, though - some leftover bits from the cheese drawer. We didn't add any sauce - just some finely chopped cilantro and onion inside (and on top).

[Shelby]

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.

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You're right. This has been a banner year for tomatoes. Since I moved to this house 6 years ago, we haven't had a very good garden due to soil conditions, weather etc. This year, after improving the soil, the tomato Gods smiled on us lol. We're picking over a bushel a night! So far I've canned 60 quarts of tomatoes and 7 quarts of salsa.....I'm canning as I type this lol.

Can't wait to see your new kitchen!!! I feel your pain. Renovations suck.

Back on topic, last night we had a roasted chicken with rice...along with tomatoes

[heidih]

With the lobster body and claws knuckles, I made a lobster custard with royal trumpet mushrooms and truffle oil

Everything looks great, but I am most intrigued by your lobster custard with the royal trumpets. They usually have a chewier texture. How did that work with the smooth custard? Also it looks like you used the egg carton to hold the eggs in the water bath. It held up? If so, brilliant idea.

[Pierogi]

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 !

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Yep, a bit of cheese. Can't remember what kind, though - some leftover bits from the cheese drawer. We didn't add any sauce - just some finely chopped cilantro and onion inside (and on top).

Cool, thanks so much. On the agenda for tomorrow night.

[monavano]

Recently-

Thai Mussels and Shrimp in a Coconut Lime sauce. I got the recipe from the Washington Post-very aromatic with lemongrass and orange peel.

Corn veloute-the essence of summer! That's a Virginia country ham croquette in the middle. Garnished with chives

Edited July 27, 2009 by monavano (log)

[Alinka]

percyn

Those burgers look good! Me, on the other hand... I only have time to cook something super quick, having two little children and a job. So usually it's a protein + starch + veggie. Boring, but at least healthy for a weeknight dinner . So tonight it was salmon with broccoli (seasoned with very flavorful blood orange oil and lemon zest) and millet.

[David A. Goldfarb]

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Nice light!

[percyn]

With the lobster body and claws knuckles, I made a lobster custard with royal trumpet mushrooms and truffle oil

Everything looks great, but I am most intrigued by your lobster custard with the royal trumpets. They usually have a chewier texture. How did that work with the smooth custard? Also it looks like you used the egg carton to hold the eggs in the water bath. It held up? If so, brilliant idea.

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Thanks Heidi. Ideally, I would add small bits of Maitake which would lend a more earthy flavor. However, I did not have any handy, so improvised with the Royal Trumpets. I had a small dice for the egg shells so texture was not much of an issue. Haven't tried the ramekins yet.

As for the egg carton, I borrowed that idea from Carol's French Laundy blog.

Alinka, I will gladly swap a burger for your salmon. I love fish, but since my wife is allergic to fish I rarely make it at home.

Edited July 28, 2009 by percyn (log)

[deensiebat]

Cauliflower sale + vegan appetizer request + fond memories of a SoHo Italian bakery = pizza cavolfiore. Pizza bianca dough (partly whole wheat) topped with caramelized cauliflower, olive oil, coarse salt, and fresh rosemary. Best budget/vegan eating I've had in a while.

[percyn]

Deena, that looks like good eats...period.

And that Peach Sangria you posted in the Drinks forum looks awesome.

[deensiebat]

Aw thanks. I drool over your dinner (and breakfast) pictures all the time. I just got a digital camera, which has naturally led to (re-)launching my food blog. Sadly I don't have any pictures from our best pizza experiment, a few months back: simple Neapolitan dough topped with asparagus, goat cheese, chili-flake anchovies, and, post-oven, lemon zest and pepper. Until next spring, I suppose...

Edited July 30, 2009 by deensiebat (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Corn veloute-the essence of summer! That's a Virginia country ham croquette in the middle. Garnished with chives

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#%$@ that looks tasty!

[Alinka]

David A. Goldfarb

Thanks! It's summer, so it's still light when we eat dinner.

percyn

Sorry to hear about you wife's allergy.

I actually had time to make something A LITTLE more complicated than throwing a piece of meat on the skillet... Crabmeat stuffed avocado.

Not very attractive, but tasted good.

[judiu]

David A. Goldfarb

Thanks! It's summer, so it's still light when we eat dinner.

percyn

Sorry to hear about you wife's allergy.

I actually had time to make something A LITTLE more complicated than throwing a piece of meat on the skillet... Crabmeat stuffed avocado.

Not very attractive, but tasted good.

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Not attractive to whom? Looks good enough to eat to me; avocado, crab and tomatos, what could be better? (OTOH, maybe bacon... )

[fmed]

David A. Goldfarb

Thanks! It's summer, so it's still light when we eat dinner.

percyn

Sorry to hear about you wife's allergy.

I actually had time to make something A LITTLE more complicated than throwing a piece of meat on the skillet... Crabmeat stuffed avocado.

Not very attractive, but tasted good.

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Not attractive to whom? Looks good enough to eat to me; avocado, crab and tomatos, what could be better? (OTOH, maybe bacon... )

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Looks great....and inspires me to try to make a deconstructed California Roll. Sushi Rice, Crabmeat, slivers of Nori, wasabi and some Kewpie mayo.

[djyee100]

I've started following this thread recently. What great food here, and I love the variety of styles.

Here's my contribution, a light summer meal of Persian food: Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup with Mint, Walnuts, and Rose Petals, and a sandwich with a Persian "Frittata" of eggs, eggplant, tomatoes, turmeric, cinnamon and saffron. Both dishes are my take on recipes from an Iranian chef I once met named Ariana Bundy.

To make the Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup: Combine 4 cups yogurt; 1 cucumber, seeded if you like, and diced; 1 clove minced garlic; and 3 chopped scallions. Season with salt and a few pinches of sugar. Chill for at least one hour. If necessary, add a little ice water to thin it. Serve in chilled bowls with a variety of toppings. I like to set out these toppings and let people sprinkle on their own: 1 TB freshly chopped dill, 1 TB freshly chopped mint, 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts, 1/4 cup coarsely chopped golden raisins, 2 TB crumbled organic dried rose petals (no pesticides!).

I posted the recipe for the Persian "Frittata" elsewhere on EGullet. Here (Post # 3): http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=124765&hl=

[Alinka]

judiu

Hee hee, thanks! Normally I'd be the first one to admit that bacon cannot possibly be out of place anywhere, but in this particular case the overall flavor was light and tart (with lemon zest and vinaigrette) so I am not sure it would have worked .

fmed

Sounds good!

We are having some friends over for smoked ribs, so while the rest of the food is still cooking, I snapped a couple of photos of the dessert. Because the main dish is heavy, I figured people will want something light for dessert. A fruit tart seems to fit the bill.

Then, as I baked the tart, I started freaking out that the kids (of which there will be 5) will be disappointed... So here's my little army of vanilla cupcakes for them -

Now, of course, I am worried that they will not like the buttercream which I used instead of the standard icing .

Edited August 1, 2009 by Alinka (log)

[CDRFloppingham]

First course: Thomas Keller's gazpacho (chinoised) and a jumbo lump crabmeat salad

Second course: Tenderloin with chimichuri, sautee of zucchini and parmesan, orzo salad

Dessert: Berry shortcakes

[nikkib]

judiu

Hee hee, thanks! Normally I'd be the first one to admit that bacon cannot possibly be out of place anywhere, but in this particular case the overall flavor was light and tart (with lemon zest and vinaigrette) so I am not sure it would have worked .

fmed

Sounds good!

We are having some friends over for smoked ribs, so while the rest of the food is still cooking, I snapped a couple of photos of the dessert. Because the main dish is heavy, I figured people will want something light for dessert. A fruit tart seems to fit the bill.

Then, as I baked the tart, I started freaking out that the kids (of which there will be 5) will be disappointed... So here's my little army of vanilla cupcakes for them -

Now, of course, I am worried that they will not like the buttercream which I used instead of the standard icing .

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what an amazing looking fruit tart!

[percyn]

Beautiful tart Alinka.

Is that strawberry jam over the blueberries?

[percyn]

Last night's dinner was a smorgasbord of appetizers with some neighbor friends which included:

Crab Salad

Grilled Shrimp

Cheese

Beef Satay

Gougère, chips, dip, etc and of-course beer and wine.

[monavano]

Started with a retro salad of iceburg, olives, tomatoes, feta and pickles...smothered with homemade Catalina dressing.

Ended with Key Lime bars from Cook's Illustrated. They rock!

Edited August 2, 2009 by heidih (log)

[lesliec]

Saturday was our slightly-belated midwinter Christmas (yep, we Southern Hemisphereans sometimes feel the need to indulge in such things - 'real' Christmas is in summer for us).

I started with a collection from A Day at El Bulli - OK, nothing to do with Christmas but I like to play with my food. First was Pinenut Marshmallow; not difficult to do, once I'd got past accidentally making 'pinenut butter' from my first batch of nuts. All I wanted was crumbs ... anyway, the marshmallow is just gelatin, milk and pinenut oil, whisked comprehensively and, just before serving, rolled in toasted pinenut crumbs. It's quite a light, toasty taste and the recipe makes plenty. One guest decided it was a nice palate refresher and wanted some more before dessert.

Second, Pumpkin Oil Caramels. In principal, very simple; melt Isomalt, pick some up in a small pastry cutter or similar (as if you were going to blow a soap bubble with it) then drop a teaspooonful of oil in, forming a lovely shiny parcel. The successes were beautiful and delicious; the failures were many - they're very delicate. Maybe more practice needed.

Third, spherified olives. If you've seen anything about El Bulli you will have heard of these. They're great fun and the most intense 'oliveness' you're ever likely to taste. I did a mix of black and green. Why? Why not?

About the same time, I served Unbloody Mary (from Playing with Fire and Water). Not totally successful - I didn't get as much clarified base out of the gelatin matrix as I expected and when I added a touch of Xanthan to thicken it the mixture went cloudy. I did notice later the small amount remaining had settled into layers; maybe the answer would be to skim the surface. Never mind; it tasted fine, with some spheres made from the un-clarified base floating in it.

Main course was roast turkey, of course. I tried Heston Blumenthal's roast chicken technique from In Search of Perfection; soaked in brine, rinsed well, blasted with boiling water then cooked eight hours or so at 60 degrees (Celsius) until the internal temperature also reached 60. I finished it off in a very hot oven for a few minutes to brown it (Heston uses a frying pan, but I think my way's less stressful!). Not quite as tender and juicy as I'd hoped, but still a pretty nice bit of turkey. My roast potatoes were the best I've ever done, I think (thank you, duck fat) and silver beet (Swiss chard, for you foreign types) with Bechamel and baby carrots and beans completed the plate.

To finish off, traditional Christmas Plum Pudding. I've been making mine for years from a recipe I discovered in New Zealand Home and Garden. It has pretty much everything you might imagine in it (except plums, interestingly) and it's never failed. It's actually much lighter than it has any right to be, given the quantity of fruit and stuff in it - I don't have an electronic copy of the recipe, but if you ask nicely I'll create one and either post in EG or send it to you. It's fabulous!

With a nice NZ methode traditionelle to start with and a juicy Yalumba Shiraz with the main (and a glass of Marsala with the pud), a very congenial time was had by all.

Now I'm hungry ...

[Justin james]

Yesterday I made Mahi Mahi encrusted in Coconut Panko and fresh sauted vegetables. Tonight my girlfriend made me a homemade rhubarb and strawberry by that was delicious!