Dinner! 2010

[Rico]

A pile of fried chicken.

Because if you're going to eat fried chicken, you should eat a pile of it.

I had a baked potato with it, but didn't post the photo. You don't make friends with potatoes.

[Jmahl]

Moroccan patties with goat cheese polenta and grilled asparagus - washed down with Lamadrid Reserva Bonarda 2008 from Argentina.

[jnash85]

From the French Laundry Cookbook.

Pacific Moi with Fresh Soybeans, Scallion and Radish Salad, and Soy-Orange Glaze

This was good when you got the perfect bite. I had to sub frozen soybeans for fresh, and Mahi-Mahi for the Moi.

[emmalish]

Cold, windy and rainy in Vancouver (again!?), so comfort food is called for. I made a mushroom-spinach lasagna that should keep me happy over the long weekend.

Edited April 3, 2010 by emmalish (log)

[Darienne]

Cold, windy and rainy in Vancouver (again!?), so comfort food is called for. I made a mushroom-spinach lasagna that should keep me happy over the long weekend.

I have mushrooms...I have spinach...I would be happy with your recipe. Your photos look lovely.

[Pam Brunning]

That lasagne looks great. Cold and wet Easter in the UK so decided on comfort food too. Roast pork - it was delicious with lot of yummy gravy. We finished the pork today for lunch on crusty bread.

[emmalish]

I have mushrooms...I have spinach...I would be happy with your recipe. Your photos look lovely.

Thanks! I don't really have a recipe – I was just winging it. But I can tell you what I did...

Sautéed 1 large onion, a few cloves of garlic and an orange pepper until soft. Added a huge pile of mushrooms (mix of portobello and brown crimini). When those were done, I added a large can of diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, some red pepper flakes, and a package of fresh baby spinach and left it to reduce down. That was my sauce.

For the cheese layers I mixed 2 cups of ricotta with a couple eggs, a pile of grated mozzarella and some grated parmesan.

Then I put a bit of sauce in the pan, then a layer of noodles, a layer of cheese, a layer of sauce, a layer of noodles, etc., topped with a final layer of sauce and a ton of mozzarella and some more parmesan (yes, WW is out the window this weekend). I had bought a zucchini planning to thinly slice it and make a layer of that too, but I forgot. Wish I hadn't – I think another layer of noodles and something would have been nice.

[Darienne]

Sounds good. I think I might do it substituting eggplant and perhaps cabbage. Thanks. Emmalish.

[robirdstx]

Pork Baby Back Ribs, Corn, and Pasta Salad. A small piece of the pork stuck to the grill when I was turning it; and I ate it.

[Blether]

Roast pork - it was delicious with lot of yummy gravy.

Yes, that gravy looks great - just the way i like it. The crackling looks good, too - how did you go about it ?

[percyn]

Nice steak Prawn.

Nice Moi jnash85.

Great looking lasagna emmalish.

Pam - that roast pork looks outrageous.

How did you roast it? Was the skin scored? It looks super crunchy and delicious.

[Pam Brunning]

You have to have a really sharp knife with a good point - it is hard work with tough skin. My husband has talked for years of inventing an electric scorer with blades set at just the right depth but has never got round to it. If you score too deep it lets the juices out and they sog the crackling. All the pork joints in the supermarkets in the UK are just slashed and not properly scored. I just rub the rind with a little oil to keep it moist until the fat starts to melt. I slice some carrot and onion into a dark coloured pan and lay the pork on top, put some water in the pan enough to cover the veg and cook at 200C for about 2 hrs. Keep an eye on the water when it dries up and the veg starts to brown add more water. Rest the meat for about 20 min while you pour off the pan juices, skim the fat then use a spoonfull of fat to make a roux in the pan with a bit of flour, pour the juices back in the pan and boil up scraping all the crusty bits from around the pan. If I need more gravy I add some stock but this time I didn,t need to.

[kayb]

Pork Baby Back Ribs, Corn, and Pasta Salad. A small piece of the pork stuck to the grill when I was turning it; and I ate it.

I believe that is the cook's privilege!

[kayb]

Roast chicken marinated in a miso-mirin mix, and roasted in what I thought was a clever manner, for someone who doesn't have a formal chicken roaster. A conventional tube pan would work better than a bundt, but I didn't have one. Skin at the neck opening was almost charred, but that was because I failed to lower the oven rack enough. Great way to roast a bird, though!

That's a mashed potato gratin with gruyere and caramelized onions in the back.

[menuinprogress]

Veal Sweetbreads with Marsala Shallot Sauce. Chard with Bacon. Roast Potato Wedges.

[mgaretz]

Last night (Saturday) we made ham - but note that we're Jewish and since all Jewish holidays start the night before, we called it "Erev Easter Ham"... Anyway it was done in the slow cooker with a brown sugar and orange glaze. Served with carrots cooked in the slow cooker with the ham, baked yams and steamed cauliflower.

Tonight we had the left-over ham with my braised potatoes and onions dish.

Sorry no pictures as I cut the ham too soon and it wasn't pretty!

[Honkman]

Spaghetti Carbonara with homemade bacon

[Kim Shook]

Rico – that is some beautiful fried chicken!

Pam – I was drooling over that roast pork and the cracklings, too!

We had 16 guests for Easter dinner.

Nibbles:

Olives, Liptauer cheese, crackers

Dinner:

Mr. Kim’s wonderful smoked lamb and yogurt/garlic sauce (which he talks about here), Russian deli pickles

My friend, Lisa, made the beautiful ham – really moist! Better than mine EVER is!

Rachel’s incomparable chicken salad! (She also sent me the lovely serving dish). My favorite chicken salad.

Ina Garten shrimp salad. I managed to find wild NC shrimp and it was worth the extra cost. Deviled eggs.

Croissant and bread to go with.

Mr. Kim’s best friend made his family’s famous potato salad.

Salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette and herbed goat cheese.

Fruit salad – I just got what looked good at the store and threw it all together.

Dessert buffet:

Carrot Cake Cooky Bars, Pink Meringue Cupcakes - all meringue – and gluten free (for my niece who is gluten intolerant). I served them with macerated strawberries and whipped cream. Very good and very popular! Coconut cake.

And sugar cookies:

It was a lovely day - the first guest arrived at 3pm and the last left after 10:30! The mark of a good party, I think!

[emmalish]

Kim, as always, I'm amazed. You always go all out!

[crowdingthepan]

I love banh mi, but assembling all of those ingredients can be a hassle. So, I stuffed a sausage casing with pork shoulder, pork belly, a little chicken liver, pickled carrots, pickled cukes, pickled daikon, Sriracha, and cilantro. I froze most of it uncooked. I pull a sausage out of the freezer when I get a banh mi hankering, and put it in a sliced and toasted baguette with spiced up mayonnaise, more cilantro, and another squirt of Sriracha.

[Rico]

Kim, I will be going to Costco today and buying a leg of lamb. Then apple chips. Holy goodness that lamb looks delicious. I mean, the entire meal looks delicious, but that lamb ... wow.

In other not-so-breaking news, the GF and I made gulf shrimp quesadillas and pineapple salsa for an Easter appetizer.

I need a better camera. I choose to blame the photos on the equipment rather than the user. No point in hurting my own feelings, right ...?

[judiu]

Crowdingthepan, that's brilliant! How do you cook your "instant banh mi"? The heat from the cooking doesn't mess with the texture of the veggies? Looks great!

[crowdingthepan]

Thanks, Judiu! I've got kind of a funny technique for cooking sausages. I set my oven to 180 degrees and throw them in for an hour and a half or two hours. The sausages cook through, but because it's below boiling temperature, they don't rupture and let all the moisture out. Then, I give them a VERY quick browning in a pan. The Veggies in the banh mi sausage do retain their slight crunchiness.

[jnash85]

@Rico - What exactly is in your pineapple salsa? It looks great.

[emmalish]

Rico, those quesadillas look and sound fantastic.