Dinner! 2011

[Dakki]

WOW, Dakki..that sausage looks incredible! Did you take any in-progress shots, perchance??

Thank you. I had planned to take progress photos but once I was elbow-deep in goat guts it just didn't seem practical.

[C. sapidus]

A clean-out-the-fridge meal for Mrs. C's return resulted in some odd but tasty combinations.

Shrimp curry: Red curry paste, coconut milk, shallots, garlic, ginger, sliced Poblano chiles, turmeric, nutmeg, palm sugar, rice vinegar, and cilantro.

Jasmine rice pilaf: Leftover chicken, fried onion and garlic, and chicken stock.

Peas with tarragon: Sauteed in ghee.

[djyee100]

C. Sapidus, lovely meal with some unusual combinations. Cleaning out the fridge can be fun. Which reminds me...

Machito, a sort of oversized goat offal sausage that's a specialty of my region...

Dakki, what region is that?

[Dakki]

Machito, a sort of oversized goat offal sausage that's a specialty of my region...

Dakki, what region is that?

Northeast Mexico. The traditional cuisine is very different from the rest of the country, and as far as I can tell completely unknown outside of it.

[toolprincess]

Early dinner late lunch. This was too yummy not to post. Meal at farmers market restaurant BBQ chicken, fried okra and crowder peas. Roast beef and gravy, French fries and corn. Biscuits and hushpuppies alongside. Peach cobbler for dessert. Yum! Stuffed!

[Kim Shook]

Well, we are back. The fellow that was we were supposed to meet in a pub in England and offer Mr. Kim a fabulous job never showed up . And we went to a LOT of pubs trying to find him ! So here we are in VA again. We had a fantastic time – I’ll let you all know when we’ve started posting on my blog about the trip. It may be awhile – we have hundreds of pictures to go through and tons of notes to organize.

I could not possibly go back to before I left and comment on all of the fabulous food that you folks have been cooking, but I’m finding it all inspiring!

First meal back from Europe! Mr. Kim was in the mood for steak so we picked up some aged rib eyes from Whole Foods.

Salad (of course):

Steak and sweet potatoes:

On the steak is a compound butter that Mr. Kim made from roasted jalapenos, capers, shallots and sherry vinegar.

We also had corn on the cob and I had a baked potato:

[kitchensqueen]

We did some grilling for the holiday for dinner today -

Balsamic marinated steak kabobs (from Piedmontese beef)

Balsamic marinated crimini mushrooms

Lemon and chili flake marinated shrimp

Green onions

Red and green bell peppers with sea salt

Served with Israeli couscous and plenty of sun tea for me, and beer for my husband.

[Genkinaonna]

Wow everything looks great, guys! I'm recovering from a week of hardcore eating for my blog (Foie gras twice in one day? Just takin' one for the team, you know...) and so this week I'm trying to make most of the meals vegetable-centric. Tonight we had the Spring Vegetable Pot Au Feu from Around My French Table, topped with a poached egg (it's already been broken in the picture) and basil coulis. The pancakes are Farcous, swiss chard pancakes, topped with a sauce made from ricotta, sour cream, a little of the basil coulis from the soup, and some salt and pepper. Light and pretty damn tasty. I made the chicken stock for the soup in the pressure cooker, a first for me, but it turned out wonderfully. I might have to make some at the beginning of the week every week as part of my Sunday night routine...

[djyee100]

Kim, welcome back! I like Mr. Kim's compound butter.

Kitchensqueen, your post reminded me that I should use balsamic vinegar in marinades more often, for that little bit of sweetness.

Genkinaonna, Congrats on finishing a splendid foodblog. I'll have to check out the recipe for the Spring Vegetable Pot Au Feu. Looks great.

C. Sapidus's creative clean-out-the-fridge meal upthread inspired me to look into my own fridge. I did have a bunch of ingredients lying around for recipes I wanted to cook, but hadn't gotten around to yet. So I rolled up my sleeves and started tossing the food out of the fridge and onto the counter.

A springtime fave, Asparagus Bread Pudding, with fontina and parmesan cheeses, thyme & parsley.

On the side, a last taste of the citrus season, Blood Orange Salad with Fennel, Red Onion, and Black Olives.

The recipe for the Asparagus Bread Pudding, from Annie Somerville's Everyday Greens cookbook, is available online.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Everyday-Greens/Annie-Somerville/9780743216258/excerpt/4

The recipe for the Blood Orange Salad came from Rosetta Costantino. It's not Calabrian, though, it's a Sicilian dish, inspired by the food of her Sicilian husband and in-laws. For this version I used only one fennel bulb, and omitted the mint.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/fennel-orange-salad.aspx

[kitchensqueen]

Kitchensqueen, your post reminded me that I should use balsamic vinegar in marinades more often, for that little bit of sweetness.

Yeah, it's surprisingly all purpose. Mixed with that grilled flavor and aroma... yum. I can't wait until strawberries are in season here so I can have balsamic strawberries for dessert!

[dcarch]

djyee100, Thank you for the asparagus bread inspiration.

Genkinaonna, Fascinating food blog. Thank you for taking the time.

Kim, missed your cooking. Nice steak with that fancy topping.

C. sapidus, What a nice combination for your shrimp curry.

rarerollingobject, Chinese-Japanese fusion of chicken breast, Veryimaginative and I know it tasted super. I Have duck liver in my freezer. I thinkl I may try your creation out.

Dakki, WoW! That is one super Machito! (Nice knife, BTW).

kayb, A classic surf and turf is made memorable by that balsamic truffle cream potatos.

SobaAddict70, I always look forward to your wonderful plating skills. I was not disappointed.

David Ross, You are making me angry. My order of morel mushrooms arrived yesterday completely rotten because of the warm weather.

Blether, I am trying to picture how you were able to make those nice tandoori chickens in you kitchen.

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

My Memorial Day meal:

Razor clam beet salad

Kabocha squash, potatoes & mushrooms

Grilled sous vide strip steak with roasted elephant garlic

dcarch

[Blether]

Breathtaking as always, dcarch - and beautiful garlic, well captured. The tandoori chickens went into the oven straight from the fridge, due to time constraints (in the normal run of things I prefer to bring to room temp first). Ordinary electric oven (of a microwave / electric combi) at 200C, but I think I'm going back to 190C, same as I use for plain roast chicken.

The marinade base was 250-300g yoghurt, 1/2 cup oil & juice of 3 lemons, and I like the consistency like this.

The birds are 1.1kg / 2.4lb size and took 1 hour, with a little hot water in the tray from the start to stop the yoghurt drippings burning. Hey, my kitchen's not so bad - in turn I'm trying to picture the grill you used for the steak.

That index finger looks like it must have been painful. What happened ?

Edited June 2, 2011 by Blether (log)

[dcarch]

Thanks Blether. Your kitchen was a mess after the quake.

dcarch

[Blether]

Ha ha ! Giving up the the ceramic bowls for steel & plastic has been quite liberating - and I get many more stacked in the same space.

I'm still wavering over using cyanoacrylate to mend the salt pot. Cyano... cyano... something to do with Bergerac ?

[C. sapidus]

Kim - Welcome back!

djyee100 - Thanks! Your fridge-cleaning was pretty inspirational.

dcarch - Gorgeous meals as always.

Summer has arrived, by thermometer if not calendar, so we had one of our favorite summer meals - grilled beef salad. We marinated sirloin steak in soy sauce, black soy sauce, and lime juice, and then grilled the beef over charcoal. After resting, the beef was sliced thinly and tossed with mint leaves, thinly-sliced lemongrass, cucumbers, and red onion, with a dressing of cilantro, garlic, chiles, palm sugar, white pepper, fish sauce, and lemon juice. We served the salad over lettuce leaves, with jasmine rice.

I should get back in the habit of taking pictures.

[robirdstx]

Great looking food everyone! And welcome back Kim - can't wait to read about your trip.

It is way too hot, way too early down here, so will be mostly cooking on the grill until we get a break in the weather - which looks like maybe sometime in October!

Dinner tonight was Grilled Beef Rib Eye, Steamed Red Potatoes with Thyme, and Sauteed Peppers and Onions.

[Pierogi]

should get back in the habit of taking pictures.

YES, Bruce, you should. I *love* seeing your meals.

[Mjx]

. . . .

I'm still wavering over using cyanoacrylate to mend the salt pot. Cyano... cyano... something to do with Bergerac ?

More like something to do with Prussic acid, aka cyanide

[Blether]

More like something to do with Prussic acid, aka cyanide

The hardware store assistant who sold it to me was adamant I should keep it out of food-related applications.

[nikkib]

Salad with white wine vinaigrette, tomato, bresaola and parmesan. Served with crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic and a couple of glasses of viognier.

[Mr Holloway]

Perfect meal

That is a great pic

[judiu]

(snip)

(/snip)

Please tell; how in the WORLD did you get those gorgeous "grill marks" on that steak? Do you have a branding iron, or did you do it freehand or what? Inquiring minds want to know!

[C. sapidus]

Pierogi, it would be ungentlemanly to turn down such a kind request - thank you!

Roasted mushroom salad with spinach and bacon, tossed with a warm dressing of lime juice, olive oil, and Mexican oregano. According to da boyz, the forces of good (bacon) overcame the forces of evil (spinach).

Creamy corn soup with chicken and Anaheim chiles, flavored with fried white onion, garlic, cilantro, and a crumbling of bacon.

Edited June 3, 2011 by C. sapidus (log)

[Pierogi]

That spinach salad reminds me of the mid-Century "spinach salads" served at "fine dining" restaurants back in the day, only amped way up. I used to love those things, even as a snot-nosed kid (and teen). I really need to make myself one of those classics again.

The soup looks lovely as well.

That's my idea of a meal, bacon in every course !

[dcarch]

"-----Please tell; how in the WORLD did you get those gorgeous "grill marks" on that steak? Do you have a branding iron, or did you do it freehand or what? Inquiring minds want to know! ---"

Judiu, I was able to find a cast iron grill with that design. I can't understand why grills have to be so boring. It is not expensive to make grills different.

dcarch