Dinner! 2011

[Emily_R]

Paul -- I am drooling over that Braciole!

Dinner here was salad, but good... Arugula, tomato, hardboiled egg, avocado, and feta, with a lemon anchovy dressing. I licked the plate...

[Paul Bacino]

Braciole..

To night:

I had some killer skirt steak.. that I marinated:

I made mix of Fontina, hard boiled egg, homemade bread crumbs, fresh spinach, garlic bindede together with a bit of egg white .. this was all rolled together with La Quercieria ( sp ) prosciutto and the above mixture.. floured and browned.. added to a great Sunday sauce!!

But the steal was the Bacon ramp basta!!

Love and best wishes Paul

[Ann_T]

Here you go Kim.

Would probably photograph better if I coloured the "Yolk", but I have this thing about food colouring so I never bother.

Dcarch, Nice looking seafood salad

[gfweb]

Braciole..

To night:

I had some killer skirt steak.. that I marinated:

I made mix of Fontina, hard boiled egg, homemade bread crumbs, fresh spinach, garlic bindede together with a bit of egg white .. this was all rolled together with La Quercieria ( sp ) prosciutto and the above mixture.. floured and browned.. added to a great Sunday sauce!!

But the steal was the Bacon ramp basta!!

Love and best wishes Paul

It all sounds great. I'm always surprised at how a veg side can outshine the main dish. At restaurants the sides often dictate the order for me.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[mgaretz]

Today I made another batch of char siu. Marinated the pork tenderloin for 36 hours then roasted over a water bath, turning once, then glazed with honey under the broiler on both sides. It will become dinner Tuesday.

Whole.

Sliced.

[ChrisTaylor]

Ayam Kapitan

Used cashews instead of candlenuts. The paste was made from cashews, galagnal, ginger, turmeric, fresh chilli, shallots, lemongrass, shrimp paste and garlic.

[melissafitz]

Looks amazing!

[melissafitz]

Roast veal breast stuffed with breadcrumbs, mushrooms & herbs and simple salad.

I had never made veal breast before -- insanely cheap & quite tasty!

[kayb]

dcarch, I love the way you used the jicama slices in the seafood salad; gorgeous! And I'm astounded at ripe tomatos this early -- local farmer grows them in "hoop houses," under plastic until it gets warm enough, and then open air. I have just joined a CSA that will guarantee me two pounds a week of them year-round!

mgaretz, in what did you marinate that tenderloin? I have one reposing in the freezer I'd love to try that on.

Bruce, those wings and asparagus...oh, my!

[robirdstx]

Dejah, dcarch, and Ann_T - thank you all for the comments on the duck breast. High praise indeed! I think I've finally got it.

[robirdstx]

Dinner tonight was Steelhead Trout with a Creamy Dill Sauce, Sweet Potato Puree and Sauteed Baby Swiss Chard (from my garden) This was the first time we have had this fish. Milder than salmon. The fresh dill in the sauce was also from my garden. DH cleaned his plate!

[mgaretz]

mgaretz, in what did you marinate that tenderloin? I have one reposing in the freezer I'd love to try that on.

I used a commercial char siu packet from NOH Foods of Hawaii. I get them at the local 99 Ranch. My dad's housekeeper turned me on to them.

[Country]

robirdstx - Creamy dill sauce sounds great with fish! Whats the recipe for the sauce? Thanks!

[robirdstx]

robirdstx - Creamy dill sauce sounds great with fish! Whats the recipe for the sauce? Thanks!

Hi Country! The recipe I used for the fish and the sauce is here.

[ChrisTaylor]

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder--half steamed, half roasted it for six hours then finished it off in a hot oven for 20 minutes to crisp up the skin.

[rarerollingobject]

Away for a couple of days and it looks like I've missed some incredible meals here; am feeling particularly swoony towards Blether and ChrisTaylor's roast lambs.

A couple of dinners over the last few days here:

"Carnitas" with tomato/habanero/red onion/lime juice salsa (does that count as pico de gallo?). I say "carnitas" because I've never had proper carnitas, i.e. made by anyone other than me, so I have no idea how close they are to the real thing and are most probably a terrible insult to all Mexico. Yes, I do know you can eat them in cube form, but I prefer the shredded texture. And the kitchen I was cooking it had no grill/broiler, so could only crisp them up in a pan. Maybe these are closer to pulled pork, but I've never had that either! Anyhow, they were tasty.

And paella, with chilli and fennel seed sausages, broad beans, and the last of My Precious (very duckily ducky duck stock).

[Dakki]

BBQd lamb last night. Neglected to take a photo but at least I can show you what I did with the leftovers this morning.

Salsa is a simple guajillo, vinegar and garlic.

[Country]

robirdstx - Creamy dill sauce sounds great with fish! Whats the recipe for the sauce? Thanks!

Hi Country! The recipe I used for the fish and the sauce is here.

Thanks! I'll definitely try it!

[MiFi]

Fondant de Canard

"French Onion" braised chicken

Chevre Salade

Love the CSA greens!

[Shelby]

Brats done on the grill

Easter dinner

appetizers

Ham, creamy mustard sauce, stewed tomatoes, macaroni salad, roasted asparagus and scalloped taters

[Kim Shook]

dcarch – I haven’t had dinner yet tonight and after seeing that beautiful array of seafood, I KNOW I don’t have anything in my house that is going to satisfy me!

Paul - Braciole! Oooooh! I haven’t had that in WAY too long.

Ann – thanks for the peek! I use food coloring a lot for cake decorating and such, but I always feel like I can taste it and I’ve never enjoyed Red Velvet cake for that very reason.

Mark – your char siu is perfect! How long will it take to use up what you’ve made and how do you store it?

Chris – that lamb looks insanely good – like BBQ! I saw that pile of lamby goodness and started thinking “lamb sliders on garlic rolls”!

RRO – I think your carnitas look wonderful. When I finish cooking the pork to the desired point of tenderness, I can never get cubes anyway – it always turns into ‘pulled’!

Dakki – all this lamb makes me want to go shopping!

Shelby – Brats? Where? Are you sure you put them on the bun ? Everything looks great, but I have to go off-topic a bit and say how much I love those plates you served Easter dinner on! They are really special.

Easter was Jessica’s first holiday in her new apartment and so she invited Mr. Kim and me for lunch. HUGE success – everything was delicious! I was amazed and proud. Her timing was a little rough and she could have done a better job getting things prepped ahead of time, but I do that all the time STILL and I’ve been cooking for over 30 years!

Pre-dinner nibbles:

Cream cheese with pepper jelly and fig preserves. And:

Sweet and spice rosemary cashews.

Dinner included a perfectly roasted chicken:

Stuffed with lemons and herbs, roasted heads of garlic and bacon (very English). A prime test of a cook and she really nailed it.

A gorgeous salad:

Romaine, endive, red onion, dried cranberries, candied pecans, pears and a lemon/olive oil/herb dressing.

Asparagus and corn salad w/ feta cheese:

Roast potatoes with pine nuts, bacon and Locatelli:

Pasta with two cheeses and spinach:

I contributed (by request) deviled eggs:

Yes, this was all for THREE people. She also needs to work on amounts (but I cook that way, too – so she comes by it naturally).

We took dessert over to my MIL’s to share.

[robirdstx]

Tonight we went out-of-doors to cook on the gas grill: Yakitori (using thigh meat) and Grilled Vegetables

[mgaretz]

Mark – your char siu is perfect! How long will it take to use up what you’ve made and how do you store it?

Thanks Kim!

I guess in my pictures you don't get a sense of the scale, sorry. It was one of those small tenderloins, about 18 ozs uncooked weight, so there was probably less than a pound when cooked. (Normally I wouldn't buy them because they are outrageously overpriced, but Safeway had a one day sale for $5 each so I snapped up three and foze them.) We ate about 2/3 tonight along with some steamed cauliflower, nothing fancy. Tomorrow I will stir fry the rest with some veggies in a hoisin-based sauce. So two days for two people. I just stored it in the fridge on plate covered with some stretch tight.

[Dakki]

rarerollingobject- It's hard to tell if those carnitas are authentic just from looking at the picture. Send me some and I'll let you know.

Kim Shook - That chicken is gorgeous. I'm very jealous.

robirdstx - Lovely yakitori. I really need to try making that one of these days.

I had some pork strips in a guajillo-based marinade waiting for suppertime, but we hit 45 C (113 F) yesterday afternoon and the power was gone most of the day, so there was no way I was going to turn on the stove. Maybe tonight.

[mgaretz]

Here's the stir-fry with the char siu. Veggies were: celery, carrots, onion, zuchini, red pepper, mushrooms and bean sprouts, Sauce was a soy/hoisin/cream sherry combo.