Dinner! 2011

[rarerollingobject]

Flank steak stuffed with bacon, spinach and feta.

It all looks damn good but this looks DELICIOUS.

[robirdstx]

Everyone's dishes are looking so good!

Tonight we had a Pork Tenderloin, Snow Pea, and Mushroom Stir Fry with steamed jasmine rice.

[ChrisTaylor]

Tonight I'm using Adrian Richardson's book again. For those not in the know, Richardson's the chef behind the lovely Melbourne casual bistro, La Luna. The menu--and the book, which isn't directly tied into the restaurant--is pretty much an album of stuff I hold dear. I'm making one of his pie recipes: a lamb and spinach filo pie. Haven't really done much with filo pastry. When I took the stuff out of the packet, I admit I was a bit worried: I envisioned myself making some rough puff and serving the spiced lamb filling as a pot pie or something as the filo looked so delicate. Turns out it's not that bad. Curiously, the filo took a lot longer to brown than he said it would.

Aside from lamb and spinach, the pies also contain feta, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, currants, pine nuts, coriander (both seeds and fresh), cumin and mint. They came out okay. Not the most amazing pie but worth the filo anxiety.

Used another one of his recipes for a side: mushrooms with garlic and sage (the recipe says thyme but I'm all out).

The last was an original. I wanted to make oven chips ... and, somewhere along the line, decided to see if I could make triple-cooked oven chips. This ties into something I was kicking around after reading the roast potato thread, about maybe experimenting to see if I could create a roast potato with a double crust. What I did was cut chips out of waxy potatoes (Desiree potatoes, to be precise), boil them until soft and then gently saute them them with no oil in a fry pan to dry them out a little and rough up the edges. If I had foresight I'd have boiled them this morning and just thrown them in the fridge. I then placed them in a frypan of hot oil in the oven for ... however long I put them in there for (I was busy trying not to ruin the filo pastry). I then took them out, drained them of oil and let them cool down. They then went back into the oven. The experiment worked: the chips came out extra crisp.

[rarerollingobject]

A Thai salad of sliced rare steak, shredded chilli, pickled ginger, mint, greens, raw shallot, pomegranate and crispy shallots and garlic, dressed in a lime/pomegranate juice/molasses sugar and fish sauce dressing. Well, Thai except for the pomegranate and mesclun greens.

[Kim Shook]

Just a quick look in on a crazy busy Saturday morning, but what amazing things I’m seeing! I want to peruse for hours!!

dcarch – your mushroom forest is adorable! And the sauce on that steak is gorgeous!

Shelby – good looking pizza!

Rico – the canneloni looks fantastic and I like that you added a meat sauce on top of the spinach-ricotta filled pasta. I do that – a plain tomato sauce just isn’t strong enough for me!

ScottyBoy – what can I say? What a beautiful photo essay (LOVE the B&W) and it looks like you got the best of that cheeky crab!

nikkib – I want that entire meal! Fantastic!!!

rarerollingobject – beautiful salad. I had a delicious, but atrociously plated salad last night and I wish that I could take your picture in to show the chef just how it should be done!

I don’t know how much cooking I’ll get done this weekend. We have a house full of decorations that still need to be packed up and we are going with Jessica to look at an apartment today. The other night I finally tried something I’ve been wanting to do for a while:

Korean BBQ beef ribs, griddled grits cakes and stir fried snow peas. We really loved the marinade for the Korean ribs.

[suzilightning]

i love the miniature mushroom forest. and now i want those fries...

got a turkey tenderloin at the store that is now brining in some herbs, kosher salt, water and hard cider. will roast it with some stove top stuffing(augmented with some sauteed onion and apples, mash and carrots and peas for dinner tomorrow then the leftovers for sandwiches. john will not eat cold cuts so i have to make sure that i have poached chicken, baked ham and hard cooked eggs or roasted turkey for sandwiches.

big game at 1630 today so i have some ground bison thawing to make sloppy joes along with some red coleslaw with blue cheese that we will eat probably at half time.

[ChrisTaylor]

Been braising stuff the past couple of days

Short ribs:

[rarerollingobject]

Been braising stuff the past couple of days

Short ribs:

These look great. Have been trying to find short ribs in Sydney without much success..must try harder.

Dinner tonight: lamb cutlets marinated in rosemary oil, cavolo nero gratin and zucchini carpaccio with feta, preserved lemons and dill.

[ChrisTaylor]

Wow. Every butcher around here sells them and, too, 'asado' ribs. They're $4-5 per kilogram. Try an area with lots of Asians or, I guess, South Americans.

[dcarch]

Truly dazzling display of cooking flair, presentation, sophistication,------ everyone!

ScottyBoy, thanks for the demonstration of dumpling making.

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OK, I had fun with short ribs also. Sous vide 60 degrees C for 48 hours.

Dcarch

[judiu]

Dcarch, what are those beautiful green 'roses' made of, and how do you cook them? That dish looks like spring on a plate. TIA!

[ScottyBoy]

Perfect doneness on the ribs, I've got some going today for a dinner Wednesday!

[robirdstx]

...Dinner tonight: lamb cutlets marinated in rosemary oil...

We had lamb chops to go with our gratin for dinner last night too!

Grilled Lamb Chops were marinated in olive oil, crushed garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, sea salt and a pinch of cayenne.

Gratin Dauphinois as posted on the gratin cook-off thread.

[dcarch]

Dcarch, what are those beautiful green 'roses' made of, and how do you cook them? That dish looks like spring on a plate. TIA!

Those are simple caramalized bok choy tops(bottoms?)

Perfect doneness on the ribs, I've got some going today for a dinner Wednesday!

I demand to see pictures when they are done!

dcarch

[robirdstx]

I still have turkey in the freezer leftover from Christmas, so I used some of it to make Turkey and Andouille Gumbo for dinner tonight.

[kayb]

Pastitsio. I bought sumac for this, and I'm not sure I can tell it has sumac in it....

And I crumbled feta over the top, as I forgot to stir it in before assembling and baking...

[ChrisTaylor]

In addition to the eggplant and potato gratin for the gratin cook-off I fired up the Weber and barbecued some goat cutlets ...

[rarerollingobject]

Spicy Goan Prawn Curry, which I adapted from '1,000 Indian Recipes, by Neelam Batra' and kindly shared with me by C. Sapidus. And when I say 'adapted', I mean "Operator error - misread recipe entirely and hence did all steps in wrong order". Tasted great though.

Thanks Bruce!

[nickrey]

Salmon, poached in pear cider and then lightly browned. Fairly boring. But more interesting: a side of samphire! Aka 'sea asparagus', or I once saw it sold in San Francisco as 'sea beans', it's a coastal succulent that tastes both, well, succulent and like the ocean. Boiled for a couple of minutes to take down the saltiness somewhat, and topped with a little butter and lemon (post photo).

Where did you get the samphire? I've had my eye out for it but haven't seen it.

[rarerollingobject]

Where did you get the samphire? I've had my eye out for it but haven't seen it.

Harris Farms Broadway, of all places, right next to the loose salad mix..! I do know you can order it for delivery from this website, at $55 a kilo - in the 'Prices at farm gate' section (warning: terrifying website music and design)

[nickrey]

Where did you get the samphire? I've had my eye out for it but haven't seen it.

Harris Farms Broadway, of all places, right next to the loose salad mix..! I do know you can order it for delivery from this website, at $55 a kilo - in the 'Prices at farm gate' section (warning: terrifying website music and design)

Thanks for the info. What were they on when they designed that website <shudder>?

[rarerollingobject]

Where did you get the samphire? I've had my eye out for it but haven't seen it.

Harris Farms Broadway, of all places, right next to the loose salad mix..! I do know you can order it for delivery from this website, at $55 a kilo - in the 'Prices at farm gate' section (warning: terrifying website music and design)

Thanks for the info. What were they on when they designed that website <shudder>?

Yes, I was especially taken aback by the eye-catchingly named links to their other businesses at the bottom of the Samphire page...!

[C. sapidus]

. . . And when I say 'adapted', I mean "Operator error - misread recipe entirely and hence did all steps in wrong order". Tasted great though. . . . Thanks Bruce!

RareRO, you are quite welcome, and I would love to have tried your variation. Anyway, I am glad that the recipe served as a solid basis for improvisation, however inadvertent.

[aschall]

Chicken Piccata...Sauteed chicken, yellow squash, red peppers, red onion, garlic, broccoli, white wine, chicken stock, butter, lemon, capers, basil and some fresh bread with some extra pizza dough I had.

[Shelby]

Homemade chicken and noodles with poblano pepper and cheese cornbread muffins.