Dinner! 2013 (Part 1)

[patrickamory]

nice chili scubadoo.

Soba, that scrambled egg open-faced sandwich with lumpfish roe looks yummy. Were you thinking smørrebrod?

[Jason Perlow]

Jason, the brisket looks good. The Egg does a nice job and that's a really nice smoke ring. How was the brisket? Flats can be dry if they don't have enough fat. The last one I did from Costco was pretty dry.

The Costco one was fairly dry. The larger Penn Dutch one had a bit more fat in it so it was juicier. The butcher in charge of the meat department at Penn Dutch told me I could get a larger, whole brisket with deckle if I wanted, more in the 10lb-12lb range, but I have to give them advance notice. I think that is what I will do next time.

One of the ways I was able to keep both of these briskets from completely drying out was by doing a foil wrap on them midway through the cooking process and pouring beef broth in for it to braise. Worked better for the bigger piece than the smaller piece.

But then again BBQ sauce will cover up a multitude of sins, and dry brisket when thrown into a chili or soup recipe is never wasted

Edited February 11, 2013 by Jason Perlow (log)

[patrickamory]

Malabar shrimp curry:

[ScottyBoy]

Oh goodness I could use some of that right now.

[rotuts]

patrickamory

please share your Rx for Malabar shrimp curry. if you can. it looks just right. that's a green been slice on the top not a god forbid slice of green bell pepper

[patrickamory]

Hi rotuts - that's a long green chile on top! The medium-hot Indian kind.

The recipe is from Camellia Panjabi, you can find it online here:

http://www.frontiercoop.com/store.php?Screen=recipe&recipe=1623

A couple of notes... the 3 cloves garlic need to be minced of course. The heat at the start of the recipe should be medium-high, going down to medium when the dry spices are added. I used 1 tsp grated fresh turmeric in place of the 1/2 tsp dry, and added it with the ginger rather than the dry spices. Finally, frozen grated coconut will yield a better result than canned. Tomatoes are bad this time of year in the Northeast, so I added a good squeeze of good tomato paste. For fat, I used vegetable oil, but did the tadka with ghee.

[TheCulinaryLibrary]

That photo of the Malabar shrimp curry looks great! Makes me want to get a big spoon and dip it in.

[Jason Perlow]

BBQ brisket was served tonight reheated in some jus mixed with BBQ sauce, accompanied by collards and sweet potatoes cooked in the Actifry.

[munchymom]

Mr Holloway, your doctor gave you that?! Mine just keeps telling me that I need to lose twenty-five pounds.

[C. sapidus]

Patrick, I thought your Malabar shrimp looked familiar – that Camellia Panjabi recipe is a good one, and yours looks fantastic.

Steamed fish fillets with sautéed garlic and ginger – with red chiles, fish sauce, soy sauce, and a little sugar.

Stir-fried Napa cabbage with garlic, fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, cooked in the oil from sautéing the garlic and ginger.

Coconut rice and eternal cucumbers

[SobaAddict70]

Soba, that scrambled egg open-faced sandwich with lumpfish roe looks yummy. Were you thinking smørrebrod?

nope, but now that you mention it, that's something that maybe I should blog about. it fits the "simple" theme which my blog revolves around, in addition to the "seasonality" theme. I'm sure a case can be made for seasonal smørrebrod with limited ingredients.

I've always loved the concept of pairing eggs with caviar. I've been thinking about it lately. I may do a version of spaghetti carbonara, but one with caviar instead of the required pancetta/guanciale.

last night:

Fennel and arugula salad, with cremini mushrooms and fried farm egg

The egg was fried in olive oil, which I don't do enough of.

There was a slideshow recently in the NYT re José Andrés' method of cooking an egg in olive oil that results in a perfectly fried egg -- http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/09/12/dining/20120912-SPANISH.html

It's something I need to explore more often. *puts it on my list of things to do* but in order to pull that off, I will have to get a much smaller skillet than the one I currently have.

Stufato di verdure, rosemary sourdough bread

As I explained to a friend on Facebook, it's not "zuppa di verdure" because the vegetables were stewed in their own juices for the better part of an hour. I added some water towards the end in order to prevent scorching.

Contains onion, carrot, celery, celery leaves, turnips, parsnip, green beans, garlic, escarole, crushed tomatoes and tomato juice, Italian parsley, fresh thyme, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese.

There will be a recipe posted to the blog tonight for this winter version. If you do a search, there is a recipe from June 2012 for a summer version, with slightly different vegetables (peppers and zucchini play a big part), and basil.

I have a spring version in mind, without tomato though, that uses ramps and fava beans.

ETA -- forgot to add that there's also fennel in the mix. Sometimes, when the list of ingredients gets so long, I tend to omit one or two things. LOL.

Edited February 13, 2013 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Dejah]

HA! The eternal cucumber is back, eh...C.sapidus!

Everything looks SO good in these posts. sigh...........

Had a small rack of lamb left over from a weekend meal, so I cut it up and marinated it in kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, and THai red curry paste (Mae Ploy). It was in the fridge for 2 days, then got cooked for supper tonight.

The chops were browned in the coconut milk / fat, and the marinade made a nice crust on these.

Eaten with green beans, cardamon carrots, Thai basil, and fresh green peppercorns!

[C. sapidus]

Dejah - Your lamb looks absolutely delicious, and I remain jealous that you can get fresh green peppercorns!

[rotuts]

JP:

looks deliious:

Id like to hear more about the sweet potatoes cooked in the Actifry.

thanks!

[rotuts]

PS googled it. got the idea. how do you like it? in the past I started a topic on this item maybe that version

http://www.amazon.com/FZ700050-ActiFry-Low-Fat-Dishwasher-Multi-Cooker/dp/B002S4MVEE

and it didnt even get honorable mention here. like to hear your ideas. I dont fry any more. but could live on fried calamari!

[Ericpo]

Jerusalem artichoke veloute, scallop and black truffle

Crispy eggs with black truffle

Foie gras aspic with celery and black truffle

This is all so far beyond me I can't even fathom. At the risk of treading deep waters, I have to ask...How did you make the crispy eggs? They look at least semi approachable as a project lol.

[Mr Holloway]

Mr Holloway, your doctor gave you that?! Mine just keeps telling me that I need to lose twenty-five pounds.

:laugh:

Yes, we always talk BBQ/cooking.

I did my first pig roast last year, and he wanted me to try the Chinese version

What I will have to ask him is about, is all the glorious MSG, I taste in there

Shane

[Jason Perlow]

PS googled it. got the idea. how do you like it? in the past I started a topic on this item maybe that version

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B002S4MVEE

and it didnt even get honorable mention here. like to hear your ideas. I dont fry any more. but could live on fried calamari!

The Actifry is a nice addition to our kitchen. The key in using it is to cut your potatoes as thin as possible in order to get them crispy because obviously you are not using much oil at all. We've used french fry potato cutters as well as mandolines to make chips. Both work well. If they are cut to like McDonalds french fry thickness and you arent using a lot of oil, you might want to use a toaster oven after cooking them in the Actifry to give them extra crispness for about 5-10 minutes depending on how you like them. I would not go thicker than a McDonalds/fast food french fry thickness.

[scubadoo97]

The Actifry reminds me of my coffee roasting set up. A turbo oven on top of a stircrazy popcorn maker

[mm84321]

This is all so far beyond me I can't even fathom. At the risk of treading deep waters, I have to ask...How did you make the crispy eggs? They look at least semi approachable as a project lol.

Place eggs in boiling water for exactly 4 minutes. Shock in ice. Carefully remove the shell under cold running water (very delicate operation). Dry on paper towels, then coat in flour, egg wash (one egg beaten with a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of olive oil), and breadcrumbs (again, very delicate). Fry at 320F for 2 minutes. Season.

[patrickamory]

Dejah aaggghhh fresh green peppercorns! So jealous. You're in Canada right? You can source them there in midwinter?

[dcarch]

Happy St. Valentine everyone!

dcarch

Sous vide rosemary leg of lamb

Sous vide chicken breasts, Meyer lemon mushroom sauce

[C. sapidus]

dcarch – Gorgeous!

Tacos of creamy braised chard, potatoes, and poblanos (tacos de acelgas guisadas con crema), with white onion, Mexican oregano, thyme, chicken broth, and crème fraiche, topped with queso and Tapatio salsa

Steamed corn tortillas and cowboy beans to accompany

[patrickamory]

dcarch - you made the hearts as planned!

Bruce - oh man those tacos look gorgeous - and fairly straightforward as well. Is that Diana Kennedy? Do you make your own tortillas?

[Dejah]

Patrick and Bruce: I am amazed myself that we can get fresh green peppercorns here on the Canadian prairies. Not sure where they are from, but they are available at only one of the Asian supermarkets in Winnipeg. And the supermarkets are not on the same scale as T & T or other big supermarkets I've seen posted on egullet. When I first found them, they were at least 5 times the price they are now.

They are so addictive. I eat them fresh with everything, and tonight, I threw in a couple of "branches" in a pot of beef and vegetable soup. Added a nice flavour and bit when eaten