Dinner! 2011

[Blether]

It depends on the size of the porcupine and the size of the meatballs.

Which is also true of a carful of foodies, but only the porcupine gives you pricks on the outside. (ANNOUNCEMENT: self-deprecation is the new black).

For dinner last night I made faggots, of all things (report to follow). If in the meantime you're wondering what faggots are, I advise you to approach internet search engines with caution.

(ETA: robirds, I thought the meatballs looked good, and I'm also intrigued by what they are but haven't yet gotten round to finding out).

Edited March 27, 2011 by Blether (log)

[Dejah]

Cooked duck breasts for the first time and loved them!

Kids brought 2 packaged breasts, and I cut up a duck I got last year( ) from a Hutterite colony. 2 legs are left for another day. I used the carcass for stock, added a chunk of ginger, 2 stalks of celery, one star anise, and kolrabi for a lovely soup - topped with Thai basil (great combo)- light but ducky.

I rendered the fat trimmings and deep-fried the taters:

Ryan made a cream and raisin sauce for the baby carrots:

Did up some simple stir-fried green beans with garlic:

Seared duck breasts with Ming Tsai's Hoisin - lime sauce: incredible!

Jason Santo's recipe called for Hoisin, ketsup, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and fermented black beans. I felt it would have been too many flavours and kill the duck, so I opted for one by Ming Tsai - just Hoisin, lime juice, chopped ginger and garlic. It was a good decision.

[Dejah]

patrickamory:

I used the peppercorns in Thai curries, soups, anything that called for black pepper, and ate them straight off the stems with anything - in sandwiches, soups, everything! I had some left over from a previous batch, so I put them out on a tray to dry, along with some left over Thai chili peppers.

My grandpuppy Lily got a hold of one the chilis and found it was not to her liking! She would definitely like it if cooked in something.

[kayb]

RRO, I've done asparagus wrapped in proscuitto with good results; never thought of wagyu! Brilliance! Must try that when asparagus comes in season.

Kim, I need to know about roasted strawberry cheesecake. Never thought about roasting a strawberry.

RobirdsTX, I feel proud I know what a porcupine meatball is! Though I haven't made any in years....might ought to revisit that!

Tonight, I felt Caribbean. So it was vaca frita, fried plantains, coconut rice and black bean/white corn salad. With Red Stripe beer.

[rarerollingobject]

rarerollingobject – your cauliflower is gorgeous! And I’m adding some citrus and bacon to mine next time – great idea! Is the bacon cooked prior to going in with the cauliflower?

Thanks, Kim Shook! No, the bacon is just diced and tossed with chopped cauliflower, garlic cloves and olive oil. Roasted for 20 mins at 180C/375C and the bacon crisps up nicely. I've used lemon zest on it before too, but added it afterwards as it tends to burn easily.

Seared duck breasts with Ming Tsai's Hoisin - lime sauce: incredible!

Dejah, your duck looks incredible! Good stuff. And kohlrabi is such an underrated vegetable, isn't it? The number of times I've had to tell the checkout chick at the greengrocer what it is, as they look at it blankly..kids these days!

RRO, I've done asparagus wrapped in proscuitto with good results; never thought of wagyu! Brilliance! Must try that when asparagus comes in season.

Thanks, kayb. Also works nicely with green beans, or little leeks/green onions.

dcarch - you even make some strawberries on a plate architecturally beautiful. Amazing as always.

[rooftop1000]

You have no idea how sad I am that my camera is still in NC while I am in NJ....but last nights heaping plates of evil still deserve a write up.

After telling a couple of friends of all the wonders in NC we decided to make a little dinner party...

We started with Pimento Cheese, Deviled Eggs, and the unfortunate Canned Boiled Peanuts.

The main course was Chicken Fried Steak garnished with Chicken Fried Bacon and served with Biscuits, Mashed Potatoes, Mac n Cheese,Cole Slaw and copius amounts of White Pan Gravy. Washed down with White Peach Sangria and assorted Beers.

Once we could move again we finished the evening with Red Velvet Cake.

I think this was a fair tour of the South on a Cold NJ evening...I also think leftover chicken fried steak and eggs are next on the menu LOL

tracey

[Kim Shook]

Robirdstx – I haven’t had porcupine meatballs in forever! They were a staple as a newlywed and I need to make them again – they look really good.

Dejah – So happy to see the duck results. I have 4 breast in the freezer waiting for me to decide what to do with them and your preparation idea sounds and looks fantastic.

Dcarch – I love your regiment of strawberries!

Blether – so funny that you should mention ‘faggots’. We are going to England in May and someone gave us glossary of common British terms. One of the words was ‘faggots’ – for sausages, they say. I know that England and America are "two nations divided by a common language", but I read about food a LOT and have an English stepdad and I’d NEVER heard that word (meaning THAT) before. And now, two days later, I see it again.

Kayb - Here is the recipe for the cheesecake. I want to try the same recipe with blackberries this summer.

Tracey – your NC dinner sounds fantastic! What lucky guests.

For dinner last night Mr. Kim requested shepherd’s pie:

I piped the potatoes – rosettes, which don’t show up very well after adding the cheese. I think that next time I’ll try piping in strips like you do, Marlene, which seem to look better.

We had it with broccoli and yellow squash:

My other project yesterday was making chicken stock. Now that I’ve started doing stock in my slow cooker, I am doing it much more often. I just roast my bones and veg and toss it all in the cooker overnight. In the morning, I let it cool, strain and refrigerate it and defat that evening. It’s very nice having it in the freezer.

I was lucky to find a package of chicken backs at the store:

They also had some feet (wonderfully labeled “chicken paws” – less scary, I suppose), but they kind of squicked out Mr. Kim, so I decided to forgo them.

All ready for the oven with veg, seasoning and a olive oil/tomato paste slurry:

All roasty-good:

[robirdstx]

This is what I did to make my Porcupine Meatballs

No Porcupines or Humans were harmed in the making of this recipe!

Preheat oven to 350F

Ingredients:

2/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice

1 1/2 cup beef broth (divided use)

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 1/2 pound ground beef chuck

1 ½ cup marinara sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Procedure:

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in clean water for 10-15 minutes. Drain the rice and combine with ½ cup of the beef broth, the onion, garlic, thyme, cayenne, salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Add the ground beef and combine well. Form meat mixture into 1 ½ inch diameter meatballs - if the meatballs are too big the rice will not cook thoroughly. Place the meatballs in a shallow baking dish in a single layer. Mix together the remaining cup of beef broth, marinara and Worcestershire sauces and pour over the meatballs. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Yield: 25 meatballs

Edited March 27, 2011 by robirdstx (log)

[rarerollingobject]

They sound tasty, robirdstx. Similar in concept to Chinese lion's head meatballs, also disappointingly lacking in actual lion's head.

For a chilly, rainy day here in Sydney, autumnal flavours seemed the way to go. Also, my friend just gave me a jar of honey from his beehives so I wanted to showcase it in the thankyou dinner I made for him, with ideas from here.

Honey and thyme roasted feta, puy lentils braised with root vegetables, and mushrooms in honey cream. And a lovely Marlborough pinot noir.

[Dejah]

While searching for the duck for last night's supper, I had to re-organize my freezer. At the bottom, beside the duck, I found a 4-rib AAA prime roast. Kids were home, so there was help to eat up the roast. I still have 3 AAA roasts left! I'm a sucker for meat sales.

I roasted the meat at 225F, from noon with the core still a little frozen. I pulled it at 140F but resting took it beyond med-rare. However, it was still juicy and tender. Served it with fresh green peppercon cream sauce (forgot to take a picture of it), pan gravy for the rice, peas, corn, broco-slaw. No Yorkies because of the cholesterol-plus meal with the duck.

6 adults, one slice of meat and 3 bones left...

Dessert was mango pudding from Heart Smart Chinese cookbook. I omitted the 3/4 cup sugar as the canned mango pulp was sweetened. Sprinkled some papaya seeds on top just for contrast. They were not tasty!

Son brought over a bottle of Tamaya Caremere. It was nice - a bit of bite to cut through the fat and richness of the cream sauce.

[robirdstx]

They sound tasty, robirdstx. Similar in concept to Chinese lion's head meatballs, also disappointingly lacking in actual lion's head.

Exactly!

[robirdstx]

While searching for the duck for last night's supper, I had to re-organize my freezer. At the bottom, beside the duck, I found a 4-rib AAA prime roast. Kids were home, so there was help to eat up the roast. I still have 3 AAA roasts left! I'm a sucker for meat sales.

I roasted the meat at 225F, from noon with the core still a little frozen. I pulled it at 140F but resting took it beyond med-rare. However, it was still juicy and tender.

I wish I could find just one of those roasts in my freezer! Just looks delicious!

[kayb]

Dejah, where can I acquire a freezer like yours? I want one that conjures up roasts and such.

Kim, thanks for the recipe. We're not far from strawberry season, when I'll be eating them daily. This will be on the list of "to try."

Tonight, as I'd been baking bread all day and it was a chilly, gray day (the last gasp of winter, I hope), I opted for comfort food:

Meat loaf, mac and cheese, purple hulled peas (frozen from last summer), and sweet potato flaxseed bread. Hit the spot.

[Dejah]

I have a weakness for prime rib roasts when they go on sale at Sobeys: Sterling Silver at $8.99 / lb. AA for 5.99 / lb. My parents always wanted really tender, flavourful roasts, so the grandchildren all grew up with that. It was cheaper when we had the restaurant. Now I just make sure to pick some up whenever there's a sale. Kids can't afford the prime roasts on their budget, so it's a real treat for them when they come out for the weekends.

Sweet potato and flax seed bread...looks so healthy and good. Share your recipe, kayb? It would be a great way to eat more of both.

[patrickamory]

Yellow (Thai-Indian style) curry of chicken tonight, from David Thompson. I'd previously tried Victor Sodsook's recipe and it did not come out right. This was fantastic, though it took a full two days. The chicken had to be marinated in coconut cream, garlic and ginger overnight; the potatoes needed to steep in water for hours; the coconuts had to be cracked, grated and milked; the paste had to be pounded.

Totally worth it. No Madras curry powder or similar pre-packaged ingredients here (as in Sodsook's version, and I think even in Su-mei Yoo's). The "Indian" element comes purely from fresh chopped turmeric, roasted ground coriander seeds (a Thai spice as well), and a little bit of grated nutmeg.

Those are deep-fried shallots on top.

[heidih]

Rarerollingobject- can you give us a little more info on the mushrooms with honey cream, and the honey roasted feta? I am intrigued and have some deeply flavorful honey in the cupboard.

[rarerollingobject]

Rarerollingobject- can you give us a little more info on the mushrooms with honey cream, and the honey roasted feta? I am intrigued and have some deeply flavorful honey in the cupboard.

Howdy. The feta was simply sprinkled with lemon thyme, salt and pepper, doused in olive oil, and baked in a 400F oven for 8 minutes, before being covered in honey and popped under the grill (broiler?) for another 5 mins till toasty and bubbly. The mushrooms I browned in a dry pan until caramelised, slid in a healthy pat of butter and some honey, and then some cream and reduced until syrupy, 5 mins max. Salt and pepper.

The sweetness of the honey really went beautifully with the salty tang of the feta. Might try it with haloumi next time.

I forgot to put the link in my original post, but the idea came from here.

Edited March 28, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Borgstrom]

Beef shank cooked sous-vide for 72 hours at 62C. Bagged shanks with 3 ice cubes. 10 second dunk in boiling water before going into circulator -- no funky smell when de-bagging! Browned with MAPP torch. Served with some polenta, gremolata and jus from the bag. Very good -- fall-apart tender, mid-rare. Marrow was yummy on bread!

[ChrisTaylor]

Got back late from a teaching PD so had a cbfed meal: took leftover roast pork belly from last night, sliced it and added it to a pretty basic broth made from (bought, mind you) chicken consomme, rice wine, dark soy sauce, pak choy, onion, chilli, garlic, celery, star anise, cinnamon, a bit of sugar and soba noodles. Was going to add carrot, too, but the carrot I had in the fridge had frozen rock solid and I really didn't have the energy to do much about it, given it was only the presence of leftover pork in the fridge that stopped me from dropping into the pizza shop.

[rarerollingobject]

It was only after I ate dinner tonight that I realised how much the weather affects my cooking choices..after last night's autumn bounty, the sunny warmth of today felt all springy and so I made:

Buffalo mozzarella, rocket, white peach, proscuitto and chilli salad:

Tri colour quinoa (sorry Bolivia!) with broad beans, preserved lemon, mint and feta:

Sous vide salmon, this is perfect to me but might be considered a little undercooked to others:

And cranachan, a Scottish dessert of toasted oats, whipped cream with whisky and honey folded in, and strawberries (though raspberries are more traditional):

[kayb]

Sweet potato and flax seed bread...looks so healthy and good. Share your recipe, kayb? It would be a great way to eat more of both.

Basic recipe is here: flax seed potato bread

I substituted mashed sweet potato for regular mashed potatos. Apparently they have a greater moisture content, because I then had to add another cup of flour, and the dough was still very, very soft. But it baked up nicely, although I did overproof it on the second rise, so my top collapsed a bit. Lovely, chewy texture, though, and a nice flavor. Good toasted with butter in the mornings!

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Beef Pho

[judiu]

<snip>

My parents were up from NC while we were in the Outer Banks celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary last weekend. They were here hosting a little reunion with some family. Momma and Ted stayed an extra couple of days so that we could have a visit and my in laws came over for dinner on Monday night. To nibble on, I served garlic toasts and cipollini dip:

Dinner was ribs:

Corn casserole:

Chick Fil A slaw:

Peas and caramelized onions:

Plate:

And dessert was a roasted strawberry cheesecake:

Since the dinner was on a weeknight, I needed something easy to get ready quickly. The ribs were in a slow cooker all day and then just crisped up in a hot oven last minute. The casserole goes together and cooks in about an hour. The slaw was purchased (I love Chick Fil A’s slaw), the onions were caramelized Sunday night and microwaved before adding to the peas and I made the cheesecake last week and had it in the freezer. I haven’t cooked a meal since! We ordered food in on Tuesday night, last night Mr. Kim and I grabbed comfort food (cheeseburgers and fried chicken) at a local joint and tonight he’s working so late that think I’ll just pull out some crackers and cheese!

I also love the Chick Fil A slaw, and they used to have a great carrot and raisin salad, too!

Where can I find the recipe for the cipollini dip? I checked your cookbook, but if it was there it was hiding from me.

[toolprincess]

Fighting a respiratory infection this barely counts as cooking:

Repurposed Meatloaf from Harris Teeter (in the deli section-- I love their meatloaf) broken up with peas and corn added tomatoes and served over macaroni.

Quick and comforting.

[Ann_T]

We had fresh halibut for dinner Friday night and Sunday night we had more halibut, this time in the form of Halibut Cheeks.

Served with a butter, lemon and fresh dill.

Started with a shrimp cocktail. Fresh hand picked baby shrimp.