Dinner! 2011

[Rory Hart]

Hey,

First post on egullet, been lurking since I got a copy of Modernist Cuisine which mentions this place in the introduction.

So I cooked this two nights ago:

Sticky Soy and Garlic Meatballs.

An original creation of a local Melbourne, Australia blogger 3 Hungry Tummies. There are water chestnuts in the meatballs which add a fantastic crunch. I got a new bottle of Chinese cooking wine for the recipe and it was worth shelling out for the "expensive" stuff (AU$6) as it was a noticeably pungent addition. The sauce was splendid, sweet, salty and so strongly garlicy. The vegies I stir fried with a tiny bit of oil and salt. I did a double batch and we all took it to work for lunch the next day and it was just as tasty!

Will defiantly be doing it again for week night meals and might test out how well the raw balls freeze.

Recipe: http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2011/12/sticky-soy-and-garlic-meatballs.html

Rory

[heidih]

Welcome Rory - those meatballs are calling to me. Fresh water chesnuts are available at my local Chinese market so I will be trying this.

[kayb]

Rory -- welcome! Meatballs formed around water chestnuts....who'd'a thunk it? Must try that. JMahl -- loving the chorizo. Prawn...we should get together and try barbecuing one day!

[Rory Hart]

Rory -- welcome! Meatballs formed around water chestnuts....who'd'a thunk it?

Sorry didn't mean that, they're diced up finely in the mix.

Rory

[rotuts]

Rory: fantastic link. many thanks. love those pics too!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

mmm - beautiful as always. Where do you live that you've got such easy access to so much succulent seafood?

Mgaretz - you're convincing me to try Char Siu...

Prawncrackers - le drool.

ChrisTaylor - now I want a charcoal-rotisserie and a duck! I fear that the former will be easier than the latter.

Rory - welcome aboard! Lovely meatballs.

I've been a horrid horrid absentee from this thread for the past week, as I've been test-kitchening for the Christmas line of cookies, which have been ordered by my embassy as the ambassadorial Christmas gifts. (No pressure or anything!) So, here's what I ate for dinner when I bothered to photo it - I was pretty lazy about both that and the dishes themselves after 10-12 hours of being on my feet with the cookies.

To start with, a tomato and beef curry over noodles.

Then, a stirfry with tuna and chunks of fresh mango (this was really good - I hope to remember what I did)

Oven-roasted turkey with roasted potatoes (here a vehicle for as much butter as I though I could get away with), asparagus, and steamed carrots and beets.

Corviche, because I was completely uninspired and they were in the freezer. The method for these is in my foodblog - they were almost better this time around than when they were fresh; I suspect because the flavours on the shrimp have had more time to meld.

And finally, last night's dinner of roast chicken with all the trimmings.

[Norm Matthews]

Menu yesterday (company) Cuban steak with chimmichuri sauce. Louisiana shrimp with dipping sauces, French bread, corn and bean salad, broiled tomatoes, stuffed mushrooms and fried sweet potatoes. I didn't take pictures last night but here are pictures of the same dished I prepared on earlier dates. Cassie made the rice. Not pictured are some fried sweet potatoes. broiled tomatoes and the broth from the shrimp used for dipping.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Norm Matthews (log)

[nikkib]

Looks delicious norm!

[mm84321]

Cauliflower Roasted with Grapes, Almonds and Curry.

Beef with Bone Marrow Crust, Swiss Chard and Braised Oxtail.

[Norm Matthews]

nikkib thank you.

[kayb]

Calzone, with Marcella Hazen's Tomato Butter Sauce.

The filling was ricotta, pecorino, herbs and Italian sausage.

Marcella sauce over the top of the filling.

The top crust, with a couple of thin spots

And the finished product, after a brush with an egg wash and 30 minutes at 375.

[minas6907]

Yay! First time posting in this thread!

I made a batard tonight! I've been having fun with the recipe from the Bread Bakers Apprentice for "Pain a L'ancienne." After experimenting with it a bunch of times, and trying many different ways of shaping, I think I have this one down to a science. Since its such a wet dough, I shaped it into a baguette while its cold, put it on parchment, slashed it, and let it proof for a short while, and in the oven the thing just sprang up like crazy! I was having a problem with this recipe, the loaves were turning out sort of on the flat side, even though they had a nice crust. But for this one, I kneaded the dough in the mixer more then I would have initially to make sure the gluten was developed, actually shaped into a baguette rather then doing it kind of free form, and it came out great. I had it along with some muscles (thanks Grandma) that I sauteed and made a light shallot and mustard wine broth. Yummy :-)

Edited December 10, 2011 by minas6907 (log)

[paulpegg]

Caramelized Carrot Soup

This is the lat­est ver­sion of the Caramelized Carrot Soup I have made. I got sev­eral com­plaints about the tex­ture of the micro-cubed gin­ger, tar­ragon and ajwain seeds, so I pow­dered the seeds and left out the tar­ragon. I found a recipe in MC that uses tapi­oca pearls to carry oys­ter fla­vor into a dish. I decided to cook some small tapi­oca pearls and soak them in gin­ger juice overnight. It worked like a charm. The pearls were infused with the gin­ger fla­vor with­out the fibrous tex­ture of fresh gin­ger. I made a coconut foam, left out the herbs and added 1% agar and .2% xan­thum gum to thicken it a bit. It all came together very nicely and was the sub­ject of much con­ver­sa­tion among my guests.

I also did the Duck Confit recipe (MC 3-178) but made a Yukon Gold Potato/Celery Root puree and Sauteed Kale to finish the plate. The sauce is a reduction of Momofuku's short ribs marinade that goes great with any red or rich dark meat.

Edited December 10, 2011 by paulpegg (log)

[gfweb]

Venison tenderloin (courtesy of a generous friend) with mushrooms in marsala and lemon braised spinach. Tasted much better than the phone-photo looks http://forums.egullet.org/public/style_emoticons/default/angry.gif

[Rory Hart]

Pan Roasted Quail in thyme and butter.

First time out cooking quail and I was blessed with some beautifully moist birds.

Quick (20 mins in total inc prep!) and simple. I will be cooking quail again for sure.

Edited December 11, 2011 by Rory Hart (log)

[David Ross]

I've been planning on making this soup for about a month. Missed Thanksgiving and then wanted to tweak the garnishes a bit before I serve it around Christmas. It turned out fabulous.

I started with roasting some squash. Added some pureed pumpkin and sauteed onion then pureed the mixture. Added to a saucepot with a bit of olive oil and garlic, then thinned with some cream and chicken stock. The spice was a Ras el Hanout mixture I bought at a local specialty store. To put the soup over the top, I melted some foie gras mousse with black truffle into the soup that I buy every Holiday season from D'Artagnan. The garnishes are a buttered crouton, cranberry-orange relish and toasted almonds. O.K., I'll boast a little and say this is the best soup I've ever made.

[pastameshugana]

Lordie - anything that has foie/truffle mousse 'melted in' as a flavoring gets a hearty vote of approval from me.

That soups sounds fantastic - and thanks for the (inadvertent) D'Artagnan reminder. I'd forgotten all about that place, and am eyeing some foie & truffle goodies for a Christmas feast.

[ChrisTaylor]

Last night was a whole lot of meat--BBQ ribs (beef and pork), roast chicken wings, rabbit confitted in smoked olive oil--as well as the obligatory green stuff and starch. Tonight I'm just having a steak, maybe a couple fried eggs, some spinach, some mushrooms and some roast tomatoes. Simple and plain but nice. I was tempted by the whole duck I saw--I mean, it'd be nice to throw that in the smoker--but I just can't be bothered dealing with that today.

[Blether]

After looking at too much pulled pork on here lately, and because whilst it's getting easier to buy kebabs around here the choice is only ever beef or chicken, I pulled a chunk of lamb shoulder. Pre-salted, of oourse. 6 hours at about 130C:

It made a gravy of the most perfect colour:

and I pulled it apart with forks right enough:

Ridiculously good. As I write this I'm on my third helping.

[Dakki]

Making this for Xmas dinner, thanking you in advance for your advice and support.

[kayb]

Ginger-glazed chuck roast over rice, with a caprese made with tomatos from the Mennonites' greenhouse -- how I do love a fresh tomato in the winter!

I used basil oil instead of fresh basil, which I did not have, my plant having succumbed to frost. It has the most amazing fresh basil-y taste.

Today I'm on the final stage of cassoulet, from Paula Wolfert's classic recipe. I sincerely hope it's as good as the work and expense would indicate; this is not a cheap, nor easy, dish to make! I'll report.

[Anna N]

After looking at too much pulled pork on here lately, and because whilst it's getting easier to buy kebabs around here the choice is only ever beef or chicken, I pulled a chunk of lamb shoulder. Pre-salted, of oourse. 6 hours at about 130C:

.....

Oh lordy - I just can't get into the whole pulled pork thing but pulled lamb.........

[percyn]

Great dinners all!

Welcome to the thread minas6907.

mm84321, beautiful food, more details on the marrow crust please. Also, please tell me you are a professional chef so that I don't feel inferior

While I did not make this at home, it was part of my dinner at Per Se a few nights ago (immediately following a 4 course dinner at Jean Georges).

White Truffle Risotto

Truffles shaved from this humidor

Edited December 11, 2011 by percyn (log)

[paulpegg]

Sous Vide Venison

Here is a simple venison dish. The venison loin was cooked sous vide for 1 hour at 58C and then seared on a hot cast iron skillet for 1 minute on each side. Once again, I used the reduction of Momofuku marinade for the sauce. The venison was perfectly rare, very tender and flavorful. It was a big hit.

[percyn]

Looks fantastic Paul....need to find some Venison now!