Dinner! 2011

[robirdstx]

Oh, the food you guys post here! I just finished eating and now I'm hungry all over again!

Tonight I did a chicken and vegetable stir-fry with sichuan peppercorns. This was my first attempt to velvet the chicken prior to stir frying and I am so happy with the result. No more clumped chicken! And DH declared the dish a keeper.

[David Ross]

Roasted Game Hen with "Leeks Vinaigrette"-

I marinated the game hen for about 4 hours in a combination of ginger, garlic, balsamic vinegar and honey. Then roasted in a hot oven for about 25 minutes, then broiled for a couple of minutes to finish. I added some molasses to the marinade and then boiled it down to a glaze to brush on the finished game hen.

I make Leeks Vinaigrette often, but this time I changed the garnish and dressing. The vinaigrette was a mixture of sherry vinegar and hazelnut oil. Hazelnut oil is now my favorite oil for making vinaigrette. The garnish was bacon, chives and toasted hazelnuts. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy the bleu cheese that was the final garnish and would have been delicious with the hazelnuts.

[avaserfi]

We had some tacos al pastor tonight with refried beans and an avocado sauce. Inspired by a trip to Fonda San Miguel in Austin a few months back.

Quite a few firsts for me in this meal. This was the first time I made refried beans and corn tortillas, both were a hit! The tortillas are about four inches in diameter to get an idea of the taco size.

[Blether]

That plate looks delicious, avaserfi.

And Ann_T, chicken breast that brown has to have a story behind it...

[Ann_T]

Robirdstk, Great looking stir-fry. Velveting is a favourite technique that I learned here on eGullet.

David, Love the combination of flavours.

Avaserfi, I would love your dinner. Yum - homemade corn tortillas. Once you have made homemade corn tortillas you will never want anything else again.

Blether, Not much of a story. The little cubes of chicken breasts were dipped in a combination of flour and corn starch. And I sauteed them in a cast iron pan.

[pastameshugana]

So, I did what I normally do, and only took pictures the first half of the day and forgot by the end...oh well, I'll share what I've got.

Since I'm in regular ministry (as an occupation), Monday is my 'down' day, so we decided to have some folks over and really do it up.

Menu:

Starters were bacon wrapped asparagus, sauteed in olive oil. Goodness. I think I could make this every day and love it. It's almost a food obscenity, the way you destroy all the healthy motives of the asparagus with that bacon lasciviousness! Lovely!

We also had some fresh bread with olive oil & balsamic to start.

Mains were chicken breast with chili-honey sauce. I used a local prepared chili sauce (just plain red chilies) and clover honey, a touch of salt, cumin, and ground mustard. This was a treat. Spicy and sweet, set off the chicken (baked with salt, pepper, garlic cloves and lemon quarters) perfectly.

Second main was spaghetti with shrimp tossed in butter, roasted garlic, cilantro & lime. I zested & juiced three limes and chopped a handful of cilantro, two whole cloves of fresh roasted garlic and about 100g of fresh grated Parmesan. A little olive oil to lube it up, and it was a dream.

Roasted garlic, ready to smash!

I'm so sad I didn't get pics when it was done, it was lovely!

Oh well, next time!

[Dejah]

Made Musakhan by Paula Wolfert - a dish I made for students from Saudi Arabia acouple of years ago. Chicken marinated in lemon juice, sumac, nutmeg, cinnamon for a day before being baked with simmered onions on top of lavosh. I used flat bread the first time. Tonight, I omitted the bread as we had chickpeas and fava beans. Lots of aroma in the mouth and in the kitchen.

Served chickpeaa and fava beans simmered with chopped tomato, onion, chili powder, cumin, cardamon, cilantro, and lemon juice.

[Kim Shook]

percyn – lovely burgers – nice to see a little ‘egg porn’ over here at Dinner !

Ann – gorgeous chicken! What a beautiful crust.

Avaserfi – bravo on those beautiful tortillas!

Dinner tonight was PopsicleToze’s Steak and Gravy from her fantastic foodblog in March. Also collard greens and Sister Shubert rolls:

This was incredibly simple and so good. I didn’t put in enough onions, though.

[rarerollingobject]

Great meals here..especially roasted garlic, prawns and butter, pastameshugana! Yum. And nice looking tortillas, avaserfi, I'm filled with admiration - homemade corn tortillas are sort of my white whale, esp. because masa is so hard to get in Sydney.

Dinner here was a devastatingly-spicy dish of ground pork cooked in Korean gochujang paste, mirin, ginger, garlic, black pepper, sesame oil and honey. Gochujang (package shown below) is spicy when you use a tablespoon or two, satisfyingly lethal when you use 1/2 cup, as I did here.

Also had some spinach dressed in black sesame paste on the side.

[PopsicleToze]

[Dinner tonight was PopsicleToze’s Steak and Gravy from her fantastic foodblog in March. Also collard greens and Sister Shubert rolls:

This was incredibly simple and so good. I didn’t put in enough onions, though.

It looks fantastic, but your food always does!

[robirdstx]

Thanks Ann_T. I learn something new almost every day here on eG. And this topic justs keeps adding to my must make soon list - now I'm craving tacos al pastor, chickpeas, and steak and gravy!

Dinner last night was Panko Crusted Baked Flounder with Shrimp Stuffing

and a Big Salad, with choice of dressings. DH chose a Balsamic Vinaigrette and I had Dijon Honey Mustard.

[pastameshugana]

RRO - I must say I'm enjoying your heat fetish. Any dish described as 'devastatingly-spicy' is a must-try on my list.

[toolprincess]

Dinner last night was roasted potatoes, corn, pan grilled ribeyes and salad. All intentions to take photos went out of the window at 930 when it was ready as I was starved!

Tonight I plan to take leftover steak and make

Asian Style Beef and Noodle Salad from the Deen brothers Take It Easy Cookbook.

[suzilightning]

over the weekend we were down the shore for our condo meeting. the advantage of being down there is that there is tons of fresh seafood so we had shrimps steamed in beer and sauteed flounder for dinner and lunch each day. granted i didn't do it the way my mom did but it was good just the same.

just finished up sauteing some salmon cakes for john when he gets home. will serve with some orzo i made risotto like with some chicken stock, shallot and saffron. oven roasted grape tomatoes to go with them as well as some zucchini.

also had defrosted some ground turkey so made an asian turkey meatloaf to use for sandwiches.

last night was whole wheat linguine and chicken tenders that had been pounded out. sauteed them then made a pan sauce with some onion, garlic, mixed olives, capers, grape tomatoes and white wine.

tomorrow - leftovers for all!!!

[rarerollingobject]

The flounder looks luscious, robirdstx - can I ask how long you baked it and at what temp?

Dinner here was a pork chop, with a 'sauce' of Sicilian olives and olive oil, simple green salad with balsamic dressing, and roasted cauliflower with rosemary, parsley, lemon zest and cheddar cheese showered over the top to finish.

[robirdstx]

The flounder looks luscious, robirdstx - can I ask how long you baked it and at what temp?

Thank you. This time I baked it for 27 minutes at 450 degrees F in a buttered, shallow baking dish. Half of the fillets lined the bottom (lightly seasoned with salt and pepper) with the shrimp stuffing in the middle. The top portion of fish was sprinkled with panko, paprika, salt and pepper, then drizzled with melted butter. The shrimp stuffing, which was cooked and then cooled, consisted of olive oil, minced onion, minced celery tops and leaves, minced roasted red bell peppers, salt, cayenne pepper, chopped garlic, diced shrimp, chicken stock, panko, and finely chopped parsley.

[SobaAddict70]

Boring protein paired with not-so-boring vegetables.

Clockwise from left: Pan-roasted Arctic char; spinach and ramps sautéed in butter; morels and chanterelle mushrooms, with garlic, lemon and parsley

[Shelby]

Boring protein paired with not-so-boring vegetables.

Clockwise from left: Pan-roasted Arctic char; spinach and ramps sautéed in butter; morels and chanterelle mushrooms, with garlic, lemon and parsley

Sure doesn't look boring to me! I love morels. I can't wait until they start growing here *drooling*.

[rarerollingobject]

A very juicy and tasty Thai salad of: prawns, crispy roast pork, pomelo, mint, cashews, shredded ginger, chilli, and shallot. Dressed in fish sauce and lime juice, topped with crispy fried garlic and shallots, and served with prawn crackers for scooping.

[heidih]

RRO that salad is fantastic. Was the crispy pork from a shop or did you do it- the skin looks like glass that would shatter- possibly could send me into obsession per this topic.

[rarerollingobject]

RRO that salad is fantastic. Was the crispy pork from a shop or did you do it- the skin looks like glass that would shatter- possibly could send me into obsession per this topic.

I can't take credit..a guy at my work made the pork. He's a former chef, who in his previous life worked at any number of fancy restaurants in Hong Kong, is always bringing me stuff he's made (one time he brought me a totally de-boned chicken! Now THAT'S a gift to woo me with!), and therefore is totally my best friend in the workplace.

[C. sapidus]

RRO, I am almost looking forward to heat and humidity so that I can implement one of my life's goals - eating Thai salads all summer (and yours looks wonderfully crunchy and full of flavor).

Shrimp marinara with linguine - with lots of fresh basil, oregano, and garlic, simmered with a split Thai bird chile. Elder son almost didn't miss the meatballs.

Salad with vinaigrette - baby lettuce, tomatoes, jicama, carrots, scallions, and blue cheese in the salad; red wine vinegar, grainy mustard, minced shallots, and a touch of honey in the vinaigrette. Forgot to take a pic, but it was purty.

[toolprincess]

Ah must I persist with no pictures. Apparently I am having issues with that.

Dinner last night (after returning to la casa at 8pm)

Sabretts hotdog with texas pete chili, vidalia onions, yellow mustard, and a dash of ketchup (heinz).

The orange stuff from the blue box supplemented with extra milk and shredded cheddar.

Trader Joe's organic bread and butter pickles.

[robirdstx]

Pan-Seared Duck Breast

with Black Cherry Sauce.

[Dejah]

After seeing the duck breast, I'm happy that we are having duck tomorrow!

Tonight, vegetarian lasagna from Loony Spoons:

Made a throw-together meat version for the carnivores in the family.