Dinner! 2011

[prasantrin]

Spaghetti a la ligurienne. Basically, spaghetti (or spaghettini in my case) with a freshly made pesto sauce.

What kind of pesto did you make? Looks heavy on the garlic! Yum!

[ChrisTaylor]

Spaghetti a la ligurienne. Basically, spaghetti (or spaghettini in my case) with a freshly made pesto sauce.

What kind of pesto did you make? Looks heavy on the garlic! Yum!

The ratios from Larousse Gastronomique:

• 2 cloves of garlic
  
• 25 grams pine nuts
  
• 40 grams pecorino romano
  
• 2 'sprigs' of basil (I added more than 2 'sprigs')
  

[ChrisTaylor]

Grilled chicken with a marinade of chilli, garlic and ginger

Tomato salad

Both Larousse recipes, of course.

[deadstroke]

Here are some Iron Chef recipes from Battle Cabbage. Hiromi Yamada's Cabbage, Scallop and Foie Gras Risotto.

[ChrisTaylor]

Spaghetti all'amatriciana. I used the first of my home-grown habanero chillies.

[rarerollingobject]

Dinners from the last few evenings:

Tomato, gruyere and mustard tarte

Burrata, rocket (arugula?), mint, proscuitto and peach salad with croutons on the side to pile the burrata onto

Crispy fried polenta with pork and veal meatball ragu and cavolo nero

[Chris Amirault]

Spaghetti all'amatriciana. I used the first of my home-grown habanero chillies.

Amatriciana with habañeros?

[Rico]

Launchpad McQuack's final crash landing: My frying pan.

Made some seared duck breasts with arugula and mushrooms. I had to make it twice because I overcooked it the first time (fortunately I got a couple of extras). On that first batch, I sliced them, they were fine, and then when I put them on the plate they were cooked through. Finicky birds, they are. Fortunately I got the second round right. I'm new at the duck thing.

The success:

The not-so-success. Yeah, that's why I made it smaller. People don't love the dinner thread because of the failures ... at least, I don't think so. I haven't done a straw poll on it - just pure assumption.

[kayb]

Calzone. Ricotta, Parmigiano, parsley, Italian sausage. Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe from How To Cook Everything. Crappy cell phone photo.

[deensiebat]

Kayb I see your lousy cellphone photo, and raise you with one of my own: gluten-free pierogies, for a celiac friend. Let dietary restrictions keep no one from peasant food!

[ChrisTaylor]

Spaghetti all'amatriciana. I used the first of my home-grown habanero chillies.

Amatriciana with habañeros?

Sure. Just a small one. I wasn't trying to make turn it into some kind of chilli con pancetta deal. But that's all I had in the way of chillies unless I wanted to use a generic 'long green chilli' with no particular flavour or heat from the supermarket.

[ScottyBoy]

@ rarerollingobject

Man that all looks killer!

[dcarch]

Truly amazing dishes! Looks like everyone is having fun.

Including the ones captured by cell phone cameras.

Just a simple shrimp and bok choy dish for tonight:

dcarch

[ScottyBoy]

I love how a "simple" dish form you turns out so composed. Beautiful as always.

[Shelby]

I love how a "simple" dish form you turns out so composed. Beautiful as always.

I know, right? It's gorgeous!

[aschall]

Braised Napa Cabbage w/ Fennel Broth

This was an attempt to make kind of a soup with the cabbage and some fennel. The broth is made with shallot, fennel, leek, garlic, white wine, and chicken stock. In the center is some black beans, a little crispy shallot, lemon zest, and then some blanched chayote squash around.

[rarerollingobject]

Following up aschall's beautifully light and healthy dish with my 'coronary on a plate', red-braised pork belly. And cucumber ginger pickles!

[Kim Shook]

David – your tarte is gorgeous. I love the look of the on-the-vine tomatoes – do you just pluck it off before eating? Also love the rustic croutons. They look perfect.

Mr. Kim has had the week off and yesterday made a pot of his good chili. Dinner last night started off with nibbles leftover from New Year’s Eve:

Cheddar shrimp nachos and Marlene’s pizza puffs.

Mr. Kim’s chili:

with cheese, sour cream and fresh jalapenos.

Jessica’s:

with cheese, sour cream, hot sauce and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Mine:

with just penne – we were out of elbow macaroni. What can I say, I’m a chili mac girl from way back!

[ChrisTaylor]

That chilli looks good. Love the flavour of jalapenos. Especially the preserved ones.

[rarerollingobject]

David – your tarte is gorgeous. I love the look of the on-the-vine tomatoes – do you just pluck it off before eating? Also love the rustic croutons. They look perfect.

Unless it's a remarkable coincidence, I think the vine tomato tarte and the torn croutons were mine - and I'm Kate, pleased to meet you! I read somewhere once that tomatoes retain alot more flavour when you cook them with their stalk (Heston Blumenthal, I think) so always try to, and they pop off v. easily once cooked.

Dinner last night was a gigantic concoction of roast carrots, parsnip, butternut squash, shallots, cinnamon and other spices, apricots, cashews, mint, rose petals (to gild the lily) and preserved lemons. Over buttered couscous!

Edited January 8, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Kim Shook]

Kate – how mortifying. I have no idea how in the world I mistook you for David Ross . Nice to meetcha <slinking off>.

Dinner was salad <sigh>:

and pork loin chops w/ Tulocay & Co. Three Chiles Citrus Yucatan Marinade & Dipping sauce. Great sauce – lousy pork. Dry, tasteless and tough. The pork was from Omaha Steaks – a Christmas gift. I served it with red cabbage and fried apples:

[Kim Shook]

Daughter Jessica requested taco night. Burrito before rolling:

Creamy avocado dip, taco meat, black beans and cheese.

Plate:

[C. sapidus]

Dinner last night was a gigantic concoction of roast carrots, parsnip, butternut squash, shallots, cinnamon and other spices, apricots, cashews, mint, rose petals (to gild the lily) and preserved lemons. Over buttered couscous!

That sounds delicious! At our house, the family will be subjected to one of my periodic multi-day Indian cooking binges . . .

Spicy Goan shrimp curry – with a spice paste of garlic, ginger, curry leaves, cumin, chile, mustard seeds, turmeric, garam masala, and vinegar. Cinnamon, bay leaves, fried onions, tomatoes, and cilantro rounded out the flavors. Definitely worth making again!

Cucumber and radish raita, seasoned with chaat masala, chile, black pepper, and paprika. This may make another appearance tomorrow.

Basmati rice with cumin and black pepper, spices fried in ghee. This should also reappear tomorrow in a different guise.

[Shelby]

Played with my pasta maker tonight...I kept wanting to grab my camera to take pics after 7 days of blog.

Dinner tonight:

Linguine with bacon, cheese stuffed venison meatballs, homemade sauce and a salad.

[SobaAddict70]

Pasta with chickpeas, parsley, garlic and lemon.

The powdery pale-white stuff is Parm-Reg cheese.

I'll post the writeup on the blog later. The recipe uses A LOT of parsley, about 1 1/2 bunches worth.