Dinner! 2011

[Keith_W]

Last night I had a dinner party! Here were the courses:

I revisited the mushroom omelette recipe from Modernist Cuisine.

... then served a duck l'orange, but with blood orange. The duck leg was cooked sous-vide as per MC. The potato is Thomas Keller's potato pave from Ad Hoc at Home.

dcarch note the pale green stems on the carrots - in contrast to the vivid green of yours! I tried microwaving a carrot but I wasn't sure how I would go with a big batch of carrots so I didn't risk it. I cooked the carrots sous-vide with butter.

... dessert was a simple cream caramel.

Not shown were pictures of the wine consumed nor the inebriated guests who could barely walk to their taxi.

Tonight, I had a couple of friends over. I was still feeling hung over from last night's dinner so the last thing I wanted was anything rich. What better food to make than "steamboat" - also known as Chinese hot pot. An aromatic broth is made from pork bones, chinese cabbage, ginger, and various dried herbs. Raw food is dipped into the boiling broth to cook. The broth gets richer as the evening progresses.

This is normally a simple dinner, but I could not resist the urge to make it look pretty!

Chicken, wontons, tofu, stuffed tofu, bitter gourd, okra, and shaved beef. Yes, that is raw chicken and raw beef. Don't worry it's perfectly safe - everything will be boiled.

Veggies were chrysanthemum leaves, choy sum, and Chinese cabbage.

Dried tofu, fried tofu, and more wontons.

Noodles and eggs.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Keith_W (log)

[Anna N]

...

I was still feeling hung over from last night's dinner so the last thing I wanted was anything rich.

....

You must be kidding! I couldn't make anything look that good no matter how sober and healthy I might be. Marvellous. Thanks for sharing as it made my day.

[Blether]

There are some beauties there, but for me the 'eggs & noodles' photo stands out. Publishing quality.

[ScottyBoy]

Great stuff Keith!

[Dejah]

Keith_W: Beautiful presentation on the hotpot! I am sure the results were delicious too.

MJX:

This all looks fantastic, but the fried fish... would you mind sharing the recipe? I'm a bit of a fried fish junkie, to tell the truth.

I started with Tyler Florence's recipe for English-style Fish and Chips but found it really unsatisfactory. It was too thick for the proportions of 2-cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 egg, and 12-ox can of soda water. Even when I added more soda water, it did not give me the texture and thin crust that I associate with my memory of English batter. It looked great, but did not retain the crispiness by the time we ate - right after I took the picture.

Next time, I will go back to my tried-and-true batter mix from my restaurant days: nearly equal parts flour and cornstarch, baking powder, vinegar, a little splash of oil, salt, and water to mix into a batter.

It's hard for me to give exact measurements as we used to mix up the flour-cornstarch in big barrels - 7 scoops flour to 6 scoops cornstarch. The scoops were those big ones used in bulk sales.

Then when we do a batch of batter, we add BP, vinegar, oil and water accordingly. The batter was light, crispy, even after it was put into the buffet.

I'll have to try my old recipe and see what proportions work the best...

I would appreciate any recipes anyone here would share!

[kayb]

Keith, that omelette may be the most gorgeous looking thing I've ever seen. The hot pot presentation is pretty astounding, too.

[percyn]

Very playful Scotty.

RRO, those wings inspired us to have wings for dinner tonight.

Keith, unbelievable meal. Looks like you perfected the MC omelette.

Last night's dinner was Filet Mignon with Mushroom Marsala Pappardelle.

[percyn]

Low-light pic of eggs poached in a saucy saute of onion, tomato, grated summer squash and basil. Really good and really easy -- if only I had discovered this before the tail end of tomato/squash season...

Deensiebat, there is a Parsi recipe which is similar, except it has some more spice and the summer squash is replaced with fried potato sticks. Try it.

[rarerollingobject]

That looks lovely RRO. Can you describe the wasabi leaf taste? If it's anything like I imagine, I suspect they would be great for rolling ingredients in like san choy bow.

The wasabi leaves were peppery, a little tangy. More like a very piquant rocket-y taste than wasabi, but I don't have a great sense of taste since I have no sense of smell - so someone with a more refined palate might pick up more of the wasabi.

And guess where I got them?! Coles, of all places! Will PM you a pic of the package.

Attn rarerollingobject:

Im very keen on learning how to make that KFC, if you are willing to share!

much thanks!

For the sauce, I followed this recipe. For the wings themselves, I just tossed in flour, laid on a foil-lined tray (sprayed with cooking oil to avoid stickage) and put in the fridge to firm up while the oven pre-heated, and then baked for 40 mins at about 200C/400F, turning the wings over half way through, and turning the the tray 180 degrees in the oven also.

Keith - that is a BEAUTIFUL meal. I love the pic of the hotpot ingredients.

Edited October 16, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Norm Matthews]

Getting ready for dinner tonight and for sandwiches tomorrow. There were two pork tenderloins in one package-as always- so cut one up for sauteing tomorrow for bohn mi sandwiches and tonight will roast the other one with garlic, chilies and lime juice.

[suzilightning]

last night was the beef daube i had made on friday and "aged". served with some egg noodles. the last will go to work with johnnybird tomorrow with a whole grain roll.

tonight i roasted white sweet, yellow sweet, fingerling potatoes and some butternut squash with some sea salt, thyme and olive oil. stuffed a pheasant with sage and apples then draped the breast with bacon and roasted. steamed some broccoli and made a warm broccoli salad with some shallot and a vinaigrette.

[Dejah]

Made 2 lasagna(s) in one 9 x 13 pan: Looney Spoons Vegetarian, and added ground beef on the other half for hubby. Sides were blanched green beans with sesame seed oil and crushed chili flakes, a couple leaves of Romaine lettuce with Kraft mango-chipotle dressing and toasted pecans.

[Norm Matthews]

Here is how dinner came out. The rice was flavored with Sazon Goya con culantro Y achiote and chicken base. Salad dressing was olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lime juice with salt and pepper.

[ScottyBoy]

18 hours at 134. Snake River Farms kobe tri tip. Charred on the grill and dressed with chimichurri.

Very good....

[threestars]

That looks really great ScottyBoy!

[deensiebat]

Deensiebat, there is a Parsi recipe which is similar, except it has some more spice and the summer squash is replaced with fried potato sticks. Try it.

Got a recipe? Fried potatoes sound a bit less healthy than sauteed squash, but probably far more delicious...

[ScottyBoy]

A few new ones for a dinner last night,

My little root veggie salad and a 12 hour kobe sirloin, potatoes, arugula and buerre rouge. Sous vide never fails to impress, you could cut the rare steak with a fork...

Edited October 17, 2011 by ScottyBoy (log)

[Keith_W]

Beautiful looking food there scottyboy ... what filter are you using on your camera? Looks like some kind of soft focus plugin for an iPhone?

[David Ross]

This is a special salmon dish that is the essence of Fall. It's a dish I've made for close to twenty years and comes from the great American Chef Larry Forgione.

Cedar-Plank Roast Salmon with Greens and Toasted Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette-

[mgaretz]

I failed to take a usable picture but tonight we had sous vide sirloin with baked potato and Tuscan kale from our CSA. I sautéed the kale in a little olive oil then simmered in a broth of chicken stock, brown sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

[ScottyBoy]

Keith - I had to use the camera the winemaker had. A very odd soft focus and warm tone...

[Norm Matthews]

Son made bohn mi sandwiches today

[ScottyBoy]

Love me some banh mi!

I've been using so much kobe sirloin cap than I've been grinding it up. Perfect fat content for burgers. The roll is asiago and onion.

[nikkib]

Both the banh mi and the burger look amazing! That has got me thinking I should find out where the good Vietnamese restaurants near me are, I've got Malay, Thai and Indian galore and am currently having lunch in the middle eastern quarter but Vietnamese mmmmmmmmm!

[EatNopales]

Hosted the King of Beans for dinner last night.

Started off with a "Farmer's Market" Salpicon...

To the traditional base of lettuce, citrus macerated red onion & herbs (Hoja Santa, Pepper Mint & Parsley on this occasion), I added Parsnip & Watermelon Radish "croutons" aka diced vegetables roasted way longer than I intended... and instead of leftover shredded meats we have pan fried muscovy duck breast. The dressing is a version of Salsa Endiablada (a standard in Mexico City taquerias that specialize in Lechon & Beef Head Barbacoa tacos)... it is made by roasting Arbol chiles & garlic clovers in plenty of oil over very low heat then pureeing with some roasted tomatillos, salt (and sometimes herbs)... the results are a fully emulsified, smooth salsa that is also used to dress raw vegetables.

Second course was a poached Duck Egg served in Rancho Gordo's midnight black bean caldillo (itself scented with onion, garlic & avocado leaves)

The duck eggs were accompanied by handmade Sopes of slow cooked Watermelon Radish Quelites (Greens), Queso Fresco & dab of the Salsa Endiablada

Dessert not pictured was fresh blackberries and "Bean Nog".... Dulce de Frijol based on a university of Michoacan recipe... a traditional pudding made from an heirloom bean... I used Rancho Gordo Bolita beans (as that they seem similar based on the description on the U-MICH website).. but my version ended up being more of a Nog than a Pudding... it was truly delicious & rich.. although the bean flavor was not obvious.

There are thousands of versions of "Dulce de...." made from almost anything you can think of Pineapple, Peanuts, Pumpkin, Cactus Pears, Nopal Paddles, Tomato, Tomatillo... it is an infinite list... but basically you cook something until its soft, you liquify it with some milk then strain it through cloth.. merge it with a spiced heavy syrup (Piloncillo + Cinnamon as a basic example)... bring it to a gentle boil until it reduces in half... add egg yolks & cook long enough that it will set.

The bulk of produce was from farm's within a mile of our home, herbs from our garden, the Duck Breast (Salmon Creek Farm), Duck Eggs (Triple T) & Cow Milk from within 25 miles. The Queso Fresco was from Dacheva (a cheesemaker from the Highlands of Jalisco now making a wide range of Mexican & European cheeses in Petaluma using local, organic milk... including raw milk aged Chihuahua cheeses)

Edited October 19, 2011 by EatNopales (log)