Dinner! 2011

[ScottyBoy]

Ran out and got stuff for fish taco lunch!

[David A. Goldfarb]

Ran out and got stuff for fish taco lunch!

Nice!

[Norm Matthews]

Yesterday while making the clams and mussels, I noticed an unopened stick of pepperoni so decided to make pizza today. I also saw some green and red peppers in the fridge yesterday and was going to use those too but I didn't see them today so left them out.

I used some tomato sauce from a can with some basil from the garden, onion, garlic, sage and fennel for the sauce. Topped that with some parm. cheese, hamburger, pepperoni, Genoa salami, ham and black olives. Used mozzarella and some left over stick cheese on top.

[ScottyBoy]

Looks good, I haven't made pizza in a long time. This thread gives me inspiration on what to cook for myself!

[C. sapidus]

Slipper burgers with ginger, garlic, chiles, onion, black pepper, cayenne, coriander, and cumin, served on potato rolls.

Grilled zucchini salad with a dressing of mint, parsley, garlic, cumin, white peppers, smoked paprika, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Tomato-cucumber raita with cumin, mint, cayenne, and S&P.

[MsDivinaLoca]

The fish could have been better - I was trying to get the skin really crispy, but the fillets weren't very thick, and I didn't want to overcook the fish, so I took it off the heat before the skin got to where I wanted it. But the fish was cooked well. Next time I'll know that to get cripsy skin, I need to get hold of thicker fillets.

Recently I read about starting fish skin side down in a cold pan, to promote a crispier skin without overcooking - which I'm going to try sometime this week. On the other hand, I had the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago with a salmon filet (fish was done before the skin was crispy) and I slipped the skin off after removing the filet to a plate, sliced it skin lengthwise into strips, crisped it in the pan (just takes a couple of minutes) and served the crispy strips on top of the filet. It looked kind of cool and tasted great.

[Emily_R]

Bruce -- those slipper burgers sound fantastic -- do you have a recipe / proportions for the spices?

And Harry -- crispy skin or not, your snapper sounds wonderful. Red snapper is my favorite fish, but it is so expensive here that I haven't had it in a few years...

My dinner tonight was simple but good: shrimp fried rice with sugar snap peas from our garden.

[mgaretz]

When the CSA gives you summer squash, japanese eggplant and sweet peppers.... you make ratatouille!

The colors looked so nice in the pan before I added the tomato, I had to take a shot:

[C. sapidus]

Bruce -- those slipper burgers sound fantastic -- do you have a recipe / proportions for the spices?

Thanks! The recipe is from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible. If you don't have a copy (and you should!), Google "chapli kebab recipe" or click here.

[dcarch]

mgaretz, A vert interesting ratatouille with all those different circles.

C. sapidus, I saw that show on how the slipper burgers were made. Yours is just as good.

Norm Matthews, what a perfect pizza. Looks like you used a compass to make it, and your seafood dinner is quite a feast.

ScottyBoy, is that mongo on your fish tacos? Nice plating on your dishes. I can’t add anymore to what has been said about the pig!

David A. Goldfarb, I wish we have shrimps that fresh here.

harrysnapperorgans, your wife looks happy not because of what you made is tasty. Any wife would be happy if the husband cooks. (Just kidding!)

rarerollingobject, I visit this thread mostly to see what you are up to and I am not disappointed. Wonderful tuna sashimi.

Kayb, bunless burger is a great meal to wash down with a cold ginger mojito.

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I made Chinese roasted pork sous vide then grilled. Very interest eating experience, TENDER and moist char siu!

While I was marinating BBQ chicken wings, a couple of friends called to join the day. I had to go back to the supermarket for two more packs of wings. I was very surprised. Wings bought two weeks ago and two more packs of wings, all had only left wings! Whatever happened to the right wings! Anyway, BBQ wings on grilled pineapple turned out well.

dcarch

[ScottyBoy]

Thanks from the master of artful plating! Yup, mango salsa.

[Kim Shook]

kayb – well, it may be weird, but your potato salad sounds good to me. I’m not a big fan of potato salad usually, but I want to try yours! Thanks for the information! And I want some more, please, ma’am. Please, please tell me what recipe you use for bacon jam??? I gotta have some of this stuff. It’s haunting me.

Jan – that is a delicious looking and beautiful onglet! I’d like to just dive into that sauce!

Scotty – (cue Homer Simpson voice) mmmmm, crispy pig skin. Also lovely dumplings and potstickers! And stuffed fried squash blossoms!

suzi – I gotta ask…what are ‘eggy potatoes’? I’m intrigued.

Emily – leftover Morney …lucky YOU!

Norm – I’m drooling over that smoked salmon! What gorgeous color.

MsDivinaLoca – great, great fish skin idea!

dcarch – I may have to try sous vide after all, just to get that pork. The idea of making moist, tender char sui at home is very, very attractive. Mine tastes good, but is, alas, a tad dry .

We spent this weekend at Ocean City MD. This is the beach that I grew up going to. It is the quintessential ticky-tacky beach town. Junk food, souvenir shops, long boardwalk, rides, pier, etc. Great for people watching and eating. We stopped on the way home at a farmstand. Maryland has so many of these – we passed dozens on the way home and as soon as we crossed the Potomac River into VA, they just stopped. We got some lovely cantaloupe and just-picked blackberries and some corn. We had the corn with dinner last night and we a little disappointed. It tasted good, but was a little mushy. The corn that we had on the boardwalk was fantastic – sweet and with a pop when you bit into it. We had some tomatoes from our local farmstand, so I made BLT’s with cheese:

Corn and marinated cukes:

[Twyst]

48 hour short ribs from the momofuku cookbook. Cooked tham at 140 as directed, think Ill try 135 next time!

Edited July 12, 2011 by Twyst (log)

[kayb]

Kim, here's the bacon jam recipe I use. I can buy Wright's thick-cut, smoked bacon (regional brand, good stuff), a three-pound box of ends and pieces, for way cheap, and that works just as well as the expensive trimmed-and-sliced stuff (about $8.99 per pound vs $5.99 for the ends-and-pieces three-pounder!), so I triple everything else as well and make a big Dutch oven full. I keep mine refrigerated, or frozen, in sealed plastic containers, but I suppose one could can it, if one wished. I've never had a problem with it going bad in the fridge -- y'know, it doesn't tend to stay there that long.

Bourbon Bacon Jam Yield 1 1/2 cups

1 pound thick-cup applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1″ pieces

1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/4″ thick slices

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch fresh grated nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon dry chipotle powder

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup good quality bourbon

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon hot sauce

In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the bacon pieces until they begin to crisp at the edges but are still soft in the center, about 1 – 1 1/2 minutes per side. Set aside to drain. Pour all but one tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan.

Lower the heat to medium-low and add the onion and brown sugar. Cook until the onions are well caramelized, about twenty minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook an additional five minutes.

Add the liquid ingredients and the bacon to the pan. Increase the heat to medium heat bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about two hours. Check the mixture every 30 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry add a few tablespoons of water. You want the final mixture to be moist and very sticky.

Let the mixture cool slightly them put it into the bowl of a food processor, or blender, and pulse about 20 times, or until it reaches your preferred consistency. (I prefer mine slightly chunky so you really notice the bacon)

[mgaretz]

mgaretz, A vert interesting ratatouille with all those different circles.

I made Chinese roasted pork sous vide then grilled. Very interest eating experience, TENDER and moist char siu!

Thanks. I also plan to make char siu sous vide. My plan is to use one of those skinny tenderloins and use the dry packaged char siu mix as a dry rub, letting the juice from the loin and the time in the bath marinate it. (Plan is 4 hours at 130F per a suggestion from Douglas Baldwin.) Then remove, baste with honey and char on the BBQ.

[ScottyBoy]

Cooked tham at 140 as directed, think Ill try 135 next time!

133 is my favorite.

[bmdaniel]

Scallops with asparagus and morels

The final plate is straight out of TFL cookbook - techniques are all different though. Scallops are the twice-cooked scallops from the Ideas in Food book (brined in 5% solution, cooked SV at 122 for 30 minutes, chilled, then seared/basted in butter). Asparagus puree is stems cooked SV in a pot at 185 with butter and salt, then pureed with its cooking liquid in the blendtec (this was amazingly good). Asparagus tips cooked the same ways. Morels are dried (I don't have TKs budget), reconstituted in chicken stock, which was then reduced to a glaze and the chopped mushrooms finished in that and butter (these were surprisingly good for dried).

[Dejah]

Had oven baked chicken and corn on the cob for supper, but I was so happy with the jazzed up brocoslaw - a nice change-up for out-of-the-bag way. I added slivers of fresh ginger, walnuts, cranberries, Thai basil, and bottled mango-chipotle dressing.

So pretty too!

[C. sapidus]

We spent this weekend at Ocean City MD. This is the beach that I grew up going to. It is the quintessential ticky-tacky beach town. Junk food, souvenir shops, long boardwalk, rides, pier, etc. Great for people watching and eating.

Kim, we grew up going to Ocean City, too, and your description is spot-on. I haven't been for years, but rather miss it. Oh, and please do send one of those delectable-looking BLTs my way, if you don't mind.

Dejah, that is gorgeous! (and sounds really good, too)

dcarch thank you, I wish I had seen the show. Your wings are gorgeous but I was a little dismayed to see them, knowing that we had wings scheduled for tonight. Oh well, ours weren't as pretty (or plated like edible art ), but visiting teenagers didn't seem to mind.

Star anise wings, marinated with soy sauce, kejap manis, rice wine, sugar, black pepper, MSG, cinnamon sticks, and (duh) star anise, and then brushed with dark sesame oil while grilling over charcoal. Served with Vietnamese cucumber salad, Mrs. C's fried baby potatoes, and leftover cucumber - tomato raita.

[SobaAddict70]

Part of the setup for tonight's dinner.

I'd like to direct your attention to the serrated steak knife that was used for vegetable prep. Clearly a sign of a "bad cook".

Pasta with sardines, fava beans and tomatoes.

[ScottyBoy]

Pork chops, polenta and garden squash and beans.

On my parent's recent trip to Italy they brought me back some olive oil and this truffled polenta mixture. I was really surprised to actually smell a great deal of truffle and even the flavor. Cooked with milk, pecorino ramano and the squash blossoms from the little squash folded in. All about the polenta, a good family din-din.

[Jan Virtanen]

Liver, shiitake and onions. All the vitamins in their most natural form.

[kayb]

More veggies, centering around fried green tomatos, but including fried okra, fresh corn and a ripe tomato slice. I didn't bother with meat this time!

I always tend to think of fried green tomatos as a Southern "thing." Can those of you in other geographies chime in on that?

[Genkinaonna]

This is actually dinner from three nights ago. I'm trying to feed the family without going to the grocery store this week to clean out the fridge and make a dent in the freezer. We'll see how it goes but so far so good...

This is left over potato salad (recipe here) tossed into a hot pan with some butter until crispy and delicious, and then topped (as all crispy potatoes should be) with some poached eggs. Accompanied by a lovely glass of dry rose...all leftovers should taste this good. Of course, the taste far exceeded my photography skills...

I'd be happy to cut down on shopping by stopping by any of your houses for dinner this week, everything looks amazing!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I've been lax in downloading the camera, so here's dinner for the past little while (the memorable ones, at least).

Baked chicken with fresh asparagus and assorted root veggies.

Tilapia baked in red curry with red potatoes and camote, in a banana leaf with steamed carrots.

Roast turkey breast and carrots with gouda-scalloped potatoes and a nice salad with tomatoes from the garden.

Garden salad with an assortment of home pickles (except the olives) - spicy red cabbage, cumin bell peppers, dilled sweet and sour carrots.