Dinner! 2010

[percyn]

Blether, I think it is illeagal in the US to harvest sea urchin without a license. The best ones come from Santa Barbara, CA. There are some that come from the East coast, but are not as tasty.

[Jmahl]

This St. Valentine’s Day we celibrated with friends with the following menu

First Course

Home make pasta with unfiltered Sicilian olive oil, walnuts, capers, black olives and Grana Padano cheese

Main Course

Lamb osso buco with goat cheese polenta

Dessert

Crème Brulee

Wine

LeCasere ProSecco DOC Italy

Ross Estate 2005 Australia

Meinert 2003 Devon Crest S. Africa

Mineral water

Mixican soda

Home baked rustic bread

Coffee – espresso

French brandy

Sadly there was no time for more photos but a great time was had by all.

[robirdstx]

I made this bread this morning and we used half of it to go with dinner tonight.

Meatballs with Marinara Sauce on Fresh Pasta with Parmesan Garlic Toast

[Porthos]

Brown butter, asparagus and cheddar frittata (got to clean the stove tomorrow):

[Gail CDM]

I made brats cooked in cheap beer with one big onion. Simmer that for 2 hours, then cook the brats on the grill. I served them with sauerkraut baked in the oven in my wonderful sauce. And home-made baked beans... Going to be a "windy" night tonight...

[powerplantop]

Fettuccine Alfredo

I cooked Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 pound Fettuccine

1 stick butter (browned)

1/2 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup Parmigianino Reggiano

Pinch of Nutmeg

[kayb]

Lamb shanks braised in red wine with herbes de Provence; carrots; polenta. And a slice of slightly toasted Sally Lunn bread.

[C. sapidus]

Wow, gorgeous food everyone! Fettucine Alfredo is one of my major weaknesses.

South Indian tamarind fish curry: Tangy tamarind and tomato sauce, seasoned with onions, garlic, curry leaves, fenugreek, turmeric, and cayenne. Served with plain basmati rice. Recipe from Curry Cuisine, of which I am becoming quite fond.

Peas and carrots with cumin: This was the highlight of the meal for me, and the boys couldn’t get enough. Onions fried slooooowly until nut brown. Added chopped garlic, ginger, and chiles, and then sloooowly fried the sauce with cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Recipe from Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries of India, another source of much pleasure.

[robirdstx]

Black Bean Soup. Declared as really good by my other half.

Edited February 18, 2010 by robirdstx (log)

[emmalish]

I think this is the first time I've thought to photograph my dinner for this thread!

During the week, my meals are quick & dirty. Tonight I just scrambled a couple eggs with some leftover stirfry. This is one of my favourite ways to use up leftovers and give them some new life.

[kayb]

Robirds, that soup looks fantastic! Recipe?

[robirdstx]

Robirds, that soup looks fantastic! Recipe?

Thanks kayb! Below is my basic recipe (made up from parts and pieces of several different online recipes) - this time I used fresh roma tomatoes instead of canned and threw in some frozen corn kernels near the end:

Black Bean Soup

5 slices smoked bacon, finely chopped

1 1/4 cups onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

3/4 cup canned chopped tomatoes with juice

1 Tbs ketchup

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

1/2 Tbs chili powder

2 cans black beans, drained but not rinsed

Kosher salt, to taste

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 bunch cilantro

juice of 1/4 lime

1 Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the celery and carrots and cook, stirring, until they have started to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2 Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. Cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice.

[rooftop1000]

A few days ago while digging through the freezer I tossed a package of puff pastry on the table...and forgot till much later so I refrigerated it. Yesterday I took some nearly spoiled milk and made about 3/4 cup of cheese, and refrigerated it.

Today I mixed the cheese with pesto and topped the puff with the cheese, carmelized balsamic onions, and home pickled aparagus in little triangles.

They looked beautiful.....tasted like crap but looked really nice

Dinner was grilled filet mignon with steak fries and corn in butter sauce

I should have topped the cheese with fruit cocktail and made dessert instead

tracey

Edited February 19, 2010 by rooftop1000 (log)

[tug]

I made linguini with shrimp, zucchini and tomatoes in a creamy parmesan brandy sauce

[mgaretz]

Tonight's dinner was good old beef stew made in the slow cooker - chuck, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and barley.

[Blether]

Wine-braised steak, reheated in the bowl it was served in, hence the splatter, and served with breadmaker white:

3.5lb of (middle ?) rump, 2 onions, 3 or 4 oz of cooking fat (lard and a little butter), ~11 grams salt, pepper, a tablespoon or two of flour, half bottle of white wine. The beef fat chopped and rendered; the meat sliced into steaks, salted overnight, browned and set on the sliced onion in a baking dish, along with the cracklings; flour stirred in to the browning pan then the wine added all at once, gravy style, to thicken and to deglaze at the same time. Braised at 170C (325F ?) for 2 hours covered, then 30 minutes open. A really good browned beef flavour in the sauce.

Mgaretz, nice stew and I wish it was easier to get chuck around here

Gingernuts made do as dessert and as an almost-abstract composition:

[robirdstx]

Hong Kong Style Chicken and Vegetable Curry was dinner last night and the leftovers will be dinner tonight.

[David Ross]

Seared Sea Scallop and Grilled Lobster with Gnocchi-

Sorry, I would have shown a broader photo of the plate but this is the only photo I got. The battery died after the first shot! I par-boiled the lobster for about 3-4 minutes and then split the tail and brushed it with butter and grilled it on the stove-top in a cast iron grill pan. I seasoned the scallops with salt and pepper and seared them in olive oil and butter.

The gnocchi was just so-so. I'm not a big fan of gnocchi so don't know why I keep pushing myself to eat them. Maybe it's because they are so popular right now. I tossed the gnocchi in homemade hollandaise and got a bit heavy-handed with the chives. I could have left the gnocchi in the kitchen but the sea scallop was delicious.

[percyn]

Aged Porterhouse Steak, Mushrooms & Garlic Fries (Dont worry, it was shared by 2 and we had leftovers).

Enjoyed with a 1999 St Francis Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Leftovers were enjoyed for breakfast

[kayb]

Robirds, that soup looks fantastic! Recipe?

Thanks kayb! Below is my basic recipe (made up from parts and pieces of several different online recipes) - this time I used fresh roma tomatoes instead of canned and threw in some frozen corn kernels near the end:

Thanks! Trying that one while it's still cold weather....

[deensiebat]

Cauliflower curry with braised tomatoes, adapted from Lord Krishna's Cuisine. Nice and tangy, suiting the unseasonably springlike weather we've been having.

[emmalish]

Mmm, that curry looks so good I had to just order a copy of Lord Krishna's Cuisine for myself. (and this is why I've been spending so much time in the how many cookbooks do we have thread)

[kayb]

Comfort food. Hamburger steak cooked in onion gravy, home fries, purple hulled peas with tomato relish.

[Honkman]

South African Bobotie (lamb) with saffron rice, green beans and some chutney

Edited February 22, 2010 by Honkman (log)

[emmalish]

Tonight I made a vegetable tagine with cous cous (from One Dish Vegetarian Meals)...

This is the first dish I've tried from this book, and I'll definitely be making it again. Can't wait to try some others.