Dinner! 2010

[mgaretz]

Last night I made homemade egg pasta (tagliatelle) served with saut­­éd onions, green peas and shrimp (in olive oil with a touch of marsala).

Tonight it was BBQ'd baby back ribs (fall off the bone tender) with sweet potato fries (and I remembered to take a picture!)

[culinaryagent]

wow! all of your guy's food looks delicious! I hope to improve my cooking skills lol

[robirdstx]

I made another loaf of Artisan Bread on Tuesday and I used some of it to make an Onion Soup Gratin. Last night we used the rest of the loaf to accompany Goulash Soup (sorry no photo) from the freezer.

Cooled and ready for slicing.

Hot out of the oven.

[robirdstx]

Tonight was more fun with bread. I had 12 day old olive oil dough that we fashioned into Focaccia and a thin crust Pizza. I forgot to take the photo of the focaccia until after we had already torn into the second half of the loaf. I really liked the way the pizza crust turned out this time. I par-baked it for 2 minutes on the stone before adding the toppings. The crust was really thin and crispy!

Almost didn't get a photo before the second half disappeared!

Out of the oven and ready to slice.

[robirdstx]

Blether - great looking ravioli! I plan to make some on Sunday for Toasted Ravioli, St. Louis Style (breaded meat-filled ravioli that are deep-fried, sprinkled with grated parmesan and served with marinara sauce for dipping). One of my all time favorite appetizers that makes a great main course!

mgaretz - good looking ribs and sweet potato fries!

Dinner tonight was Polish Sausages and Black Pepper and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

[powerplantop]

powerplantop - everything looks wonderful, but I am mesmerized by that perfectly fried egg!

Thank you. Some times it is the simple details that make the plate.

[Blether]

Thanks, robirdstx. I'm enjoying seeing your own dinners - your gratin soup looked particularly good.

Here, cold chicken pie (shown hot, first):

- consisting of three whole chicken legs, pre-salted and browned in a generous amount of butter, then peppered & finished in the oven to 'falling off the bone' point, torn into pieces by hand once cold; a pound of breast fillets, salted, peppered & paprika'ed overnight, cut in 1" pieces then gently sauteed and de-glazed with a little white wine; an onion and a pound-and-a-half of sliced mushrooms, cooked down in some of the fat/butter from the chicken legs; thick veloute from 2 quarts of good-flavoured chicken stock and a glass of wine, boiled down to one quart, a bay leaf, and a roux using the rest of the fat/butter from the roast; and the gravy jelly from the legs. Filling combined and left to cool somewhat.

The pie crust is hot water pastry made with about 2/3 chicken fat lifted from the stock, 1/3 butter. I've decided I like hot water crust for the shell of a wet-filled pie like this: it's robust and nicely crisp, and (no food processor here) easy to prepare. The lid is shortcrust made with chicken fat from the stock, again made up with fresh butter.

Shortcrust trimmings and spare filling gave a nice chicken turnover that baked more quickly, for yesterday night:

Edited February 6, 2010 by Blether (log)

[mgaretz]

mgaretz - good looking ribs and sweet potato fries!

Thanks. Pretty simple rib recipe: I put the ribs in the slow cooker, brushing a healthy anout of BBQ sauce (I use Bullseye) on the top of each piece. If I need to layer the ribs, I stack them rotated 90 degrees so there is space between them. Nothing else in the pot. Cook all day on low to medium. Heat up the grill and set it up for indirect cooking. Gently remove the ribs from the pot and baste the tops with more sauce. Gently put them on the grill and cook on indirect heat for about 12 minutes - you can baste again lightly at about 9 minutes in. Then gently remove and serve. A gentle touch is necessary because the meat will literally be falling off the bones if you're not careful.

[kayb]

Meat loaf (with butterbeans and scalloped potatos), one evening. (And I discovered later in the week that leftover meat loaf, crumbled, works marvelously in beef and barley soup.)

My loaf pans were all either in use or in the dishwasher, so I used a pie dish. Worked wonderfully; more ketchup-glazed surface area, which I love, and more crispy bottom.

[pamela2]

i love the idea of both reading and writing "What I Cooked for Dinner." That's what I tend to ask and tell when I write an email or talk on the phone to a friend. So a hearty Yes to the suggestion.

What I cooked: crostini topped with hour-long roasted tomatoes and garlic--some with goat cheese, some with chopped kalamata olives. served with penne and spinach and ricotta. made 5 people very happy on a cold winter night.

[C. sapidus]

Hi, Pamela2! Beautiful chicken, and welcome to Dinner!

We made a batch of salsa roja (fried New Mexico chiles with roasted tomatillos and garlic), and then baked chicken thighs with the salsa roja and diced nectarines. We removed the chicken when done, defatted the sauce, and then mashed up the nectarines and boiled down the sauce with a little honey. Definitely worth making again.

Served with arroz blanco (pilaf-style rice with white onion, garlic, chicken stock, chopped parsley, and roasted Poblano chile rajas).

Mrs. C tossed raw kohlrabi slices with mirin, honey, salt, and probably other stuff. Delicious, crunchy, and tangy.

Chicken baked with salsa roja and nectarines; arroz blanco; and kohlrabi

[robirdstx]

Grilled Rib Eye, Zucchini, and Artisan Bread

Marinade ingredients for steak:

Steak and zucchini on the grill:

Done resting and ready to slice:

Steak smothered in caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms:

[mgaretz]

Wor Wonton Soup - with homemade wontons (filling and dough - first attempt - came out excellent), char siu (BBQ pork), chicken and shrimp. The wonton filling was ground pork, chopped shrimp, scallions and ginger, with soy and hoisin sauces. In the picture you can see a wonton I cut in half with the filling floating to its lower left. You can also see some wonton dough scraps that became extra noodles.

[robirdstx]

mgaretz - Lovely! Thanks for sharing.

[Aloha Steve]

Wor Wonton Soup - with homemade wontons (filling and dough - first attempt - came out excellent), char siu (BBQ pork), chicken and shrimp. The wonton filling was ground pork, chopped shrimp, scallions and ginger, with soy and hoisin sauces. In the picture you can see a wonton I cut in half with the filling floating to its lower left. You can also see some wonton dough scraps that became extra noodles.

Mark, its almost 1:00 am just got in from a trip, reading your post if I knew of good place open this late, I'd probably have to go and order what I see in your picture. That picture is worth a 1,000 yummy words !

[Kim Shook]

Shelby – Hi! I missed you! Both of those dishes look wonderful. I wish I had access to wild goose (cleaned and all, I mean).

Blether – beautiful ravioli and what an intriguing sounding filling. And the chicken pie is just fantastic looking.

robirdstx – gorgeous pizza! That would be a great meal for today, if I could get out of the house to get tomatoes and cheese!

kayb – what a great idea for the meatloaf! The topping is my favorite part, too. I’ll have to try that.

Mark – that soup is absolutely beautiful and I’m really impressed with the wontons.

Dinner last night:

Quick pickle of cukes and radishes with rice wine vinegar and Splenda

Kielbasa glazed w/ honey mustard and apricot preserves, pierogies w/ caramelized onions and sauerkraut. I made a loaf of wonderful banana bread yesterday, so that was dessert.

[suzilightning]

colds here - the first for john in 3 years, the first in 4 for me. made a pot of chicken noodle soup for our dinner last night. homemade chicken veg stock that i poached chicken tenders in. thin egg noodles cooked in some salted water. carrots and some garlic, ginger and shallots that were minced/grated.

lots of hot tea, gatorade and some sweet and sour meatballs in the oven right now. creamy eggs with toast and some elderberry jam for breakfast.

[C. sapidus]

Shrimp were stir-fried with garlic and black mustard seeds, and then simmered in a sauce of coconut milk, tomato paste, garam masala, cumin, chiles, cayenne, chopped cilantro, and lemon juice. Basmati rice was fried in ghee with onion, peppercorns, and a bay leaf, and then steamed with garlic-ginger enhanced chicken stock.

Stir-fried shrimp in aromatic tomato-cream sauce (ghagari jhinga); pulao; eternal cucumbers

[mgaretz]

Tonight I made meatloaf, sorta from the CI recipe for all-beef meatloaf. I changed it up some (of course) and it was very good.

[Shelby]

Shelby – Hi! I missed you! Both of those dishes look wonderful. I wish I had access to wild goose (cleaned and all, I mean).

Blether – beautiful ravioli and what an intriguing sounding filling. And the chicken pie is just fantastic looking.

robirdstx – gorgeous pizza! That would be a great meal for today, if I could get out of the house to get tomatoes and cheese!

kayb – what a great idea for the meatloaf! The topping is my favorite part, too. I’ll have to try that.

Mark – that soup is absolutely beautiful and I’m really impressed with the wontons.

Dinner last night:

Quick pickle of cukes and radishes with rice wine vinegar and Splenda

Kielbasa glazed w/ honey mustard and apricot preserves, pierogies w/ caramelized onions and sauerkraut. I made a loaf of wonderful banana bread yesterday, so that was dessert.

Thank you, Kim, I missed you too!!! I sure frequent your recipe site a lot.

Pierogies....YUM!!! I need to learn how to make these. I love the way you sliced your kielbasa!

[robirdstx]

Kim - hope you can get out today. I lived in Richmond back in the early 70's and can not believe all the snow you guys got.

Dinner tonight was ham and bean soup (photos not good) from the freezer and fresh cornbread. I found the cornbread recipe (Keri's Blue Ribbon Cornbread) on this site and printed it out at the end of last year. I'm glad I finally tried it!

Edited February 9, 2010 by robirdstx (log)

[Aloha Steve]

Kim - hope you can get out today. I lived in Richmond back in the early 70's and can not believe all the snow you guys got.

Dinner tonight was ham and bean soup (photos not good) from the freezer and fresh cornbread. I found the cornbread recipe (Keri's Blue Ribbon Cornbread) on this site and printed it out at the end of last year. I'm glad I finally tried it!

The meal looks great. May I ask, what kind of pan did you use to make the corn bread ? It does not look like a skillet.

thanks,

steve

[robirdstx]

Steve - Funny you should ask. The cornbread was cooked in an 8" square cast iron skillet. This skillet was sent to me by my mother-in-law ages ago. She had ordered a round skillet but the square one was sent by mistake. Works great!

P.S. This has always been our go to skillet, when camping, for making bacon and eggs.

[Aloha Steve]

Steve - Funny you should ask. The cornbread was cooked in an 8" square cast iron skillet. This skillet was sent to me by my mother-in-law ages ago. She had ordered a round skillet but the square one was sent by mistake. Works great!

P.S. This has always been our go to skillet, when camping, for making bacon and eggs.

OK then, a skillet it is. Ginger has been asking me to make some and I will with the recipe you mentioned in my 12" skillet.

Mahalo for the quick answer.

[robirdstx]

Steve - Aloha! I did make a couple of substitutions when I made the cornbread. I already had bacon fat on hand so just coated the pan real well, about 3 Tbs., without having to cook more bacon. And I used shortening (Crisco) for the vegetable oil. I used the minimum amount of sugar. Be sure to get your skillet really hot in the oven before you add the batter. My cornbread was done, using the toothpick stuck in the middle method, after 25 minutes.

Edited February 9, 2010 by robirdstx (log)