Dinner! 2009

[judiu]

Lasagna al Forno w/hashed Brussels sprouts

Ginger Carrot soup and grilled Gruyere cheese sandwich

MiFi, that's one of my all-time favorite sandwiches! I've found that adding a judicious amount of bacon makes it even better! (That IS rye bread, isn't it?)

[mgaretz]

Mark – that chicken is gorgeous. Your roasting apparatus is different from mine. Is there room under there for a can of beer? We really loved the beer can chicken, but my vertical roasting rack wouldn’t accommodate a can and the can alone isn’t steady enough and it fell over during roasting.

Kim,

The roaster is from Norpro (here) - it has a built-in "flavor infuser". I have to say that we've tried beer (a few different kinds), water with herbs and red wine in it. Nothing seems to make any difference in the flavor of the chicken, except when I used Guinness you could detect a very, very slight hint of it on the meat that was exposed to the inside.

The roaster holds the chicken well but the three downsides are that it's hard to get the chicken off the thing, it's not that stable (but way better than a beer can) and the drippings are all contained in it's base instead of flavoring the veggies as they cook. But we enjoy the chicken so much that I am thinking that this weekend I'll pick up one of those All-Clad chicken roasters from Williams-Sonoma. I'm hoping it will solve the aforementioned, and provide two extra benefits: give me a nice, petite roasting pan and allow me to carve the chicken while on the roaster, keeping the skin out of the juices while carving.

[Blether]

Blether – what a wonderful piece of photo journalism! I love liver, but haven’t ever tasted fish liver – how does it compare with quadruped liver?

Thank-you, Kim. The liver was closer to the winged kind than the four-legged. "Redolent of the sea" yet rich and distinctly liver-flavoured, it really was delicious. In Japan the liver of the angler fish (anko) is commonly eaten and is considered a delicacy. I have to admit that the idea of eating katsuo liver was a new one on me, even after 18 years here.

I could have helped you out with that lovely HAM. And the quiche, and the pie...

[percyn]

Great food all!!

Kim, was that a Benton's Ham?

For dinner yesterday, I sous vide and quickly seared strip steak with demi glace and wild mushroom (chanterelle, porcini, crimini) risotto.

Steaks resting before being sliced

Fancy Plate

Simple Plate

[eldereno]

I would eat either of those plates with extreme pleasure!!!!!

[Kim Shook]

Mark – thanks! I thought this one looked kind of interesting – very no frills, you could just put it in any pan and with the bottom, it looks pretty sturdy.

percyn – unfortunately, NOT a Benton’s. But we’re ordering one for Xmas eve and a couple of pounds of bacon for a discerning friend as his Xmas gift! BTW – perfectly cooked steak!!!

[mgaretz]

Mark – thanks! I thought this one looked kind of interesting – very no frills, you could just put it in any pan and with the bottom, it looks pretty sturdy.

The one I got is very sturdy and it too sits in any pan (see my pic, it's in a pan with veggies) but the chicken is still very top heavy and the apparatus (whichever) slides around on the pan bottom, so you have to very careful and steady. Also the one I got really holds the chicken up out of the juices, CI mentioned that it was the only one to do so when they tested them (it got their top rating). The one you found doesn't look tall enough to me.

[kayb]

I've been traveling much of this week, but I did have a couple of nights at home and put them to use with an old-fashioned country dinner of white beans and fried cornbread:

And one day last week, it was a chicken quesadilla with sweet potato chile grits, sour cream, salsa and guacamole.

[tkassum]

Just got David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. Started with one of our faves - steamed buns with pork belly. See the cookbook thread for a discussion of the technical issues that accompanied this recipe. Still tasty though!

[tug]

Tonght we made penne with chicken and broccoli

[LaCookrasha]

Hello! I love all of your pics guys, everyone's food looks DELICIOUS!!!

I cooked Tilapia Al Mojo Isleño(Carribean style)we ate it with white rice and tostones!

[percyn]

Nice buns tkassum

The cool weather means the red meat saga continues...this time it was

Buffalo Hanger Steak Frites w/24hr Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms - Buffalo hanger is more flavorful yet more tender than Beef hanger.

[deensiebat]

Rediscovered some simple charms with porrusalda - Basque potato-leek soup.

It was the first course of a full-on Basque spread including Bacalao a la Vizcaina and custard-filled Basque tart for dessert. Sadly no photos of those.

[Kim Shook]

kay – I love the beans and corncakes. I’ll be making that meal soon!

percyn – the buffalo is gorgeous – juicy looking and perfectly cooked!

Sunday football snacks – ham, cheeses, crackers:

Dinner – was supposed to be a wonderful change from HAM, but it turned out to be tasteless and boring:

It was a slow cooker chicken dish; with chicken, black beans, corn, salsa and cream cheese. It is a family favorite from one of the ladies at another website that I participate in . I served it in taco shells with tortilla chips and local peach salsa. We ate a LOT of chips and salsa. It was watery and bland and utterly unfixable. We just tossed it out.

[LaCookrasha]

I made this white pizza a few days ago with ricotta, fontina, asiago, parmesano, provolone and mozarella, extras: pork sausage, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and parsley.

[Aloha Steve]

I made this white pizza a few days ago with ricotta, fontina, asiago, parmesano, provolone and mozarella, extras: pork sausage, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and parsley.

My mouth watered when reading and seeing, it looks and sounds wonderful.

[Will87]

Made a NY Strip and some french fries.

[Kim Shook]

Still trying to work down the freezer food. Last night’s dinner was more HAM :

Biscuits w/ ham and Swiss. <sigh>

And some vegetable/alphabet soup:

Why, no, I’m not embarrassed to be showcasing Campbell’s soup, why do you ask ? Actually, I am not a big fan of canned soup, but I don’t hate it and Mr. Kim and Jessica actually eat it a lot. And this variety is one that I actually do like. I am trying to get ready to go out of town Friday mid-day and need to bake a pie to use up the apples we picked 2 weekends ago and do some cooking to take to my grandmother, so cooking for us just wasn’t a priority. Tonight I met Mr. Kim at one of our favorite local places, Melito's. I had a lovely fresh salad and an egg salad sandwich. It was wonderful and not a speck of freezer burn on anything !

[PopsicleToze]

I didn't cook either -- was out of town and had work to do so I couldn't even go out to eat. So, on the way to hotel, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few things to graze on.

In addition to what's shown, a couple of satsumas and a little chocolate mousse for dessert. Oh, and a golden pineapple for this morning's breakfast.

What I forgot to buy was sopressata salami. That and a little dijon mustard... The soft cheese was a nice goat cheese and the hard cheese was something called Marco Polo -- cheddar with peppercorns.

Rhonda

[LaCookrasha]

Thanks Aloha Steve!

I cooked some rice with pieces of chicken,smoked ham,and chorizo. I also made a lovely Greek Salad!

[mgaretz]

Roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery.

I did end up buying the new All-Clad chicken roaster - an exclusive with Williams-Sonoma. Here's my quick review: The chicken came out great. The roasted veggies were perfect. The roasting pan is a great size for 2-4 meals worth of veggies. The chicken drippings in the veggies made the veggies taste great - much better than the vertical roaster. Those are the good things.

Earlier in this thread I said that I had hoped to be able to carve the chicken while on the arm of the roaster. Nope. When I first looked at this in the store some months ago, the arm was a very tight fit. The one I got was very loose - any movement of the chicken and the arm wanted to come off. I will see if mine is just not made right this weekend.

It also took me quite a while to figure out how to truss the chicken to the arm - and that has to be done lest the chicken drag in the veggies. I could not make it work breast side down, but the chicken cooked just fine breast side up. I can tell you there was a lot of cursing!

I'm still undecided if I will keep it. I will make another chicken and check out the arm fit before deciding.

[eldereno]

That salad looks like really something tasty to eat!

[mmille24]

Oh my. That rice and greek salad looks absolutely amazing.

[Aloha Steve]

Roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery.

I did end up buying the new All-Clad chicken roaster - an exclusive with Williams-Sonoma.

I'm still undecided if I will keep it. I will make another chicken and check out the arm fit before deciding.

Please post your decision. I am interested in this pan also.

The chicken looks like it came out well.

Edited November 6, 2009 by Aloha Steve (log)

[PopsicleToze]

Rediscovered some simple charms with porrusalda - Basque potato-leek soup.

Deensiebat -- your Basque potato-leek soup is cookbook photo worthy! I'll bet it tasted as good as it looks.

Rhonda