Dinner! 2011

[robirdstx]

RobirdTX, your fish looks perfectly cooked. Great picture.

Thank you, Ann_T, we were very pleased with the fish.

Everyone is posting such lovely dishes. Great inspiration!

Tonight we had Flank Steak, Onion, Tomato and Tzatziki on Homemade Pita

[robirdstx]

Menuinprogress, those enchiladas look delicious. What kind of sauce did you use?

Thanks, Bruce! The dish was our take on Tex-Mex (hence the unapologetic liberal use of yellow cheese). The sauce was a Chili Gravy recipe from Robb Walsh's "The Tex-Mex Cookbook". I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but it was very good.

Menuinprogress - glad to hear you liked the gravy as I have the recipe in my to-do folder.

[Kim Shook]

kayb – that bread looks wonderful – what a great crust you got!

menuinprogress – I agree with Bruce – your enchiladas are gorgeous!

Dejah – Mr. Ryan could cook for me anytime! What a fantastic addition to the family! And with all of that wonderful seafood, I’d be tempted to melt a vat of butter and just dip and slurp!

Ann – I have to tell you that the women in my office were absolutely drooling over that garlic bread. One of them said that she was stopping at Whole Foods on the way home for bread and gorgonzola! A question: You and Marlene both feature ‘Greek Ribs’ on occasion. What exactly makes ribs Greek? Is this some kind of Canadian thing? (Funny – after I typed this I Googled ‘Greek Ribs’ and the second listing referenced ‘Canadian Living Magazine’ – the third listing was your blog! ).

Dinner tonight:

A leftover-pantry raid-I forgot to thaw anything dinner! Chicken parm sandwiches made from leftover hot dog buns, chicken, marinara and mozzarella, also leftover slaw and corn custard. The corn was wonderful warmed up with indecent amounts of butter, but everything else was dull, dull, dull!

[David Ross]

I've been doing a lot of fish dishes recently and experimenting with techniques I haven't tried much before. Last weekend I did a whole Striped Bass, poached in a court bouillion and served with "Anchoiade" (anchovy garlic sauce) and Radishes. We've been discussing how to poach whole fish here.

Poached Striped Bass with Anchoiade and Radishes-

[dcarch]

Kim, chicken marinated in Soy Vay, very elegant dish to go with the banana bread.

Kayb, Lasagna and garlic bread are my favorite combination. Yours look wonderful

Blether, One tiny yuzu, size of half of a golf ball is $2.00 here in NYC. That sponge pudding must be incrediblly perfumy.

Menuinprogress, your Smoked turkey enchiladas with chili gravy, rice, beans and salsa fresca is such an amazzzzzing looking dish!.

Dejah, I would be glad to kill any diet plan for those crustaceans.

Robirdstx, Red Snapper and Broccoli, so simple and graceful, and the same with the Flank Steak, Onion, Tomato and Tzatziki on Homemade Pita

Ann, Some can cook well but can’t take pictures well, and some the other way. You have master the art for both.

-------------------------------------------

I tried to make something simple also:

Stuffed tilapia and steamed Chinese broccoli.

Dcarch

[Borgstrom]

Borgstrom, I liked that pork tenderloin with the bourbon-ancho sauce. I'll have to check out the recipe in Flay's cookbook.

Thanks! The bourbon-ancho sauce was really awesome -- a half a bottle of Makers Mark (2 cups) reduced down to 5 tablespoons. The house smelled like bourbon all weekend, but the sauce ended up with an incredible thick oaky/bourbony flavor that paired up well with the background heat of the chiles in the sauce and rub. This is the second recipe I've followed in Flay's cookbook, and I have to say I'm really happy with the flavor of his sauces.

[dcarch]

David ross, I guess I was typing while you were posting. Your Poached Striped Bass with Anchoiade and Radishes- That's is the freshest fish I have seen in a while. Beautifully plated dish and I love the way you use the radishes.

dcarch

[Blether]

...

Blether, One tiny yuzu, size of half of a golf ball is $2.00 here in NYC. That sponge pudding must be incrediblly perfumy.

...

Hi, DC. I expect you have hands-on experience with yuzu. I'm not the world's biggest golfer, but these ones were about golf-ball size, as far as I've any feel for it. That price isn't so crazy - we touched on yuzu prices before - in supermarkets around here, 2 bucks apiece is an early-season price, and by now they're down to around one.

I put two in the sponge and two in the sauce, zest & juice both, so yes, vibrantly-flavoured ! The funny thing is I've been eyeing the sponge recipe for ages and even put down a small batch of lemon curd that I was going to thin for sauce (thinks: actually it would have been a good combination with the yuzu). Now I'll just have to spread what's left on toast. Dang.

I'm still hoping to see your coffee-table book, by the way.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Blether (log)

[Dejah]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments on the ribs and crustaceans. I'll be sure to pass them onto Ryan-Boy.

After the weekend of gluttony, we're trying to "reduce", so last night, it was steamed ground chuck with preserved Sechuan vegetables(jai-choi) and a big plate of bok choi stir-fried with lots of ginger and garlic. Tonight, maybe another steamed dish and vegetables.

Ann_T: Your Greek meatballs are on for the weekend.

I see Ryan has left half a bottle of bourbon here. I wonder if he'd mind my using it for Borgstrom's Bourbon-ancho sauce? I already have the pork tenderloin...

Dcarch: Tilapia and siu choi are two of my favourite foods - nice pairing. What did you stuff the fish with?

[dcarch]

Thanks Blether. Everyone should try to taste yuzu (or yuzu juice). The flavor is heavenly.

Dejah, Thanks. The stuffing is very simple. finely chopped dry mushrooms to soak up all the fish juice, powdered fermented black olives instead of salt (highly recommended complex flavor), garlic powder, chopped ginger, EVOO, pepper, tomato powder, and a small pinch of bacon powder.

dcarch

[Dejah]

dcarch: Siimple stuffing...like your artisitc plating...

Fermented black olives...the Chinese ones called lam see?

Tomato powder is a new one for me. Specialty food shop?

[dcarch]

dcarch: Siimple stuffing...like your artisitc plating...

Fermented black olives...the Chinese ones called lam see?

Tomato powder is a new one for me. Specialty food shop?

Thanks.

Yes. lam see. My discovery :-). Powdered lam see.

You can buy tomato powder. I make my own with tomatoes from my garden. Very strong tomato personality. more than sun dried tomatoes. Imagine 100 tomato flavor all concentrated into 5 tomatoes. (95% water in tomatoes)

dcarch

[Rico]

Kim, your pantry raids turn out a whole lot better-looking than mine do! I'm usually stuck eating some sardines on saltines ...

dcarch, you never fail to impress. Seriously - I don't mean that as a turn of phrase, I mean it quite literally.

And blether, that fish is gorgeous ...

Made an oyster po' boy. And I may be about to show my ignorance, but is it cool to make these with canned raw oysters - like, would I get run out of New Orleans for serving them with canned? I mean, it worked well enough, and you're deep frying them anyway ... I couldn't tell that a whole lot was lost from using canned; I just want to know if it's a respectable enough way to do things.

[kayb]

Menu in Progress, I wanted to lick my screen for those turkey enchiladas.

David Ross, gorgeous, gorgeous striped bass. Ditto dcarch on the stuffed fish with the broccoli. I'm intrigued by the concept of making tomato powder, too; can you elaborate on the technique? RobirdsTX, you make it a gorgeous-fish trifecta; lovely snapper!

AnnT, I'm going to have to try those Greek meatballs. Have some ground chicken in the freezer.

And Rico, I never thought of using canned oysters to fry for a po'boy, but I don't see any good reason why not! Those look excellent!

[Dakki]

Chicken and mushroom tacos. I didn't really notice how often I make tacos until I started posting here.

Rico, deep-fried canned oysters are considered toxic waste and must be disposed of by qualified personnel in an approved facility. Send me that sandwich and I'll get rid of it for you.

[Blether]

Rico' timestamp='1298478808' post='1791490']

...And blether, that fish is gorgeous ...

Dude, I've been slacking at dinner time lately. You have to credit the fish either to robirdstx or to dcarch. The nearest I've been to fish lately is under Breakfast / most important meal of the day.

PS I can offer a better rate for sandwich, err... disposal than Dakki's facility - that looks tasty. Good bread ?

Edited February 24, 2011 by Blether (log)

[C. sapidus]

Gorgeous meals, all. Dakki, that's a particularly beautiful and colorful taco.

Stir-fried beef panang curry, from Thailand the Beautiful. Thinly-sliced sirloin, sliced shallots, red bell peppers, and Poblano chiles with lime leaves, ground roasted peanuts, and a sauce of coconut milk, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Delicious, and super-easy if one is willing to cheat with canned curry paste. Served with jasmine rice.

Mrs. C put together a salad with baby romaine, jicama, kohlrabi, and a pear vinaigrette. Elder son missed out on tonight’s dinner, but younger son approved and Mrs. C licked the plate when she thought we weren’t looking.

[Ce'nedra]

Golly! Everything on this page is so lavish and elegant; I'm going to break things up a tad and bring in something a little more rustic, less refined.

Vietnamese sour fish soup (canh chua ca). This certainly isn't the latest thing I've cooked but thought I'd share anyhow. Slightly sweet, slightly puckery (maybe more than slightly), just the way I like it. Many people use fish fillets but I think fish head (in addition to the fillets) adds a real dimension to the dish, especially if you're the kind of person fascinated by all things textural. Deeper flavour too, I'd say.

[Ann_T]

Bruce, as always your dinner looks amazing.

Tonight I boned and stuffed a whole (double) chicken breast and sides were mashed potatoes,rutabaga and peas.

It snowed all day today so I baked a rhubarb pie so I could pretend it was spring.

[harrysnapperorgans]

Ann_T, your food over the last few pages looks AM-A-ZING, and Robirdstx, I could totally go for your snapper, simple, but perfectly cooked.

I made a chicken pot pie, which is something I've been trying to get right.

I've found in the past that the flavor of the veggies and even the chicken gets lost in the sauce, so this time I tried doing things a little different, and instead of using stock or a cream sauce, I just added water and a tablespoon of tomato paste to my sautéed veg and chicken and simmered it down.

It worked really, really well, the veg and chicken were the stars, and the sauce was more of a texture than a major component.

bad webcam pic:

Earlier in the week, mushroom rissotto with roast chicken legs:

[Blether]

I'm with you, Dakki. If something's good, it's worth repeating. Another gratin:

- this time with cauli, broccoli, macaroni & cod. The Mornay sauce has the last of the mimolette, a load of mature cheddar and parmesan, fresh bay, dijon mustard, 'edible la-yu' / chilli-oil-spice-paste, and S&P.

I'm pleased with this one - after baking, the sauce is still nice & creamy; the cod, cut in chunks this size and added raw, is cooked through but just so, and also juicy; the pasta retains its bite (being intentionally underboiled) the veggies retain theirs, the cheese flavour is strong, and the whole thing is hot right through so's you feel afterwards that you'll never be cold again.

Autofocus wouldn't co-operate - this is the best of two attempts before appetite won out:

Too much dairy this week.

[Blether]

Ann_T, that looks like a great dinner, and an exemplary rhubarb pie, holding its shape so beautifully.

[Dejah]

Everything looks so good, but the rhubarb pies really got me salivating! Doen't feel much like spring here, but the image of Ann_T's pie can help me pretend spring is on its way.

Picked up 12 year old grandson for supper and sleep over, and he loves noodles of all kinds. So, tonight, I made him Cantonese chow mein: beef tenderloin, egg noodles and mixed vegetables. He also had a small grilled tenderloin steak!

[Knaw]

Chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon and saffron couscous. Also had some baked carrots (olive oil, garlic, thyme and a splash of sherry vinegar) on the side that's not pictured.

[Emily_R]

Ann --

I love your rhubarb pie recipe so much... Did you make this one using frozen rhubarb or fresh? I've always struggled with frozen rhubarb, as it seems to let out such a huge amount of water...

Emily