Dinner! 2013 (Part 2)

[SobaAddict70]

so there was an article that appeared recently in the Times, with Michael Pollan and Michael Moss (he's the guy who coined the term 'pink slime') on the decline of cooking in America. you can read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/dining/making-lunch-with-michael-pollan-and-michael-moss.html?hpw&_r=0

mostly leftovers tonight, but there was this to start first:

Ramp and cheese omelette (ramps, unsalted butter, eggs, sea salt, black pepper and 2 tablespoons grated pecorino romano cheese)

I didn't begin cooking until 9:43 pm -- had to wash the dishes in the sink first. Finished at 9:54 pm, so 11 minutes. If you're telling me that you can't wait 11 minutes to make something to eat, you're hopeless as far as being a member of Homo sapiens is concerned, in my opinion.

I don't mean to sound sanctimonious or self-righteous, but it really annoys me when I hear people say "cooking is too difficult, takes too long, or is too complicated, so why bother?" or "it's quicker to do takeout". Well, I do takeout too occasionally, but I don't lean on that as a crutch the majority of the time. That people have been taught to think of cooking as something not worth their effort is worrisome to me. Going to a McDonald's is actually slower than making an omelette, in this specific instance -- it's 3 blocks away from my apartment so getting there would take about 10-15 minutes depending on how fast I'm walking.

Edited May 2, 2013 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Keith_W]

Dinner tonight was turkey breast with potato puree on white chicken jus.

Turkey breast: injected with a brine made from milk and apple juice, then rested for 12 hours. Sous-vide for 2 hours as per Modernist Cuisine at Home.

Potato puree: potato starch retrograded at 72C, then boiled for 20 minutes and passed through a tamis twice on butter and milk.

White chicken jus: equal parts chicken wings and thighs and made in the pressure cooker for 90 minutes. (I cheated - I did not prepare this tonight. I always have some in the freezer).

Carrots: sous-vide for 60 minutes at 85C.

Broccolini: blanched for 4 minutes then refreshed in cold water.

Brussel sprout leaves: blanched for 45 seconds then refreshed in cold water.

[sigma]

Wow Keith, I've never even thought of making a white jus. Very creative. How did you come up with that?

[Keith_W]

sigma, I didn't. The white chicken jus was from MC@Home. I should have attributed it in my post ... sorry!

[patrickamory]

huiray thanks for the info on the book. I'm definitely going to check it out. The dried spice in that bowl is entirely powdered red chile. Cumin and coriander only make an appearance via garam masala. The spice mix is most dominated by deeply toasted powdered white poppy seeds. It was fiery.

[basquecook]

Fried oyster sandwiches last night. Coated the oysters with a little bit of polenta in addition to a fine corn flour. It added a nice crunch, almost like a falafel type fried oyster. It allowed the oyster to really be present among the slaw and bun. I may have added a deep fried Chinese Sausage to mine.

Drink and eating, does not make for fancy plating or good photography!

Neither does hipstamatic.

Made a version of a crawfish boil. A take on the Hot N Juicy Crawfish and Boiling Crabs of the world. Stock used crab boil, cayenne, beer, celery, onion, chives, ginger, soy sauce, butter, a boat load of garlic, white pepper, green pepper, black pepper and bay leaves.. Let that cook for a couple of hours.. Cooked potatoes in the broth and removed, then added these little Chinese Sausages, 3lbs of crawfish, a pound of head on shrimp, green beans and then the cooked potatoes.

It was pretty damn good.

Edited May 2, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[mm84321]

Wow Keith, I've never even thought of making a white jus. Very creative. How did you come up with that?

I'm as intrigued as you!

[basquecook]

Unexpected guests came over last night. What to do, serve them leftovers.

I figured since the crawfish were alive the day before, why not.

We made a salad:

Rye Toast, herbs from the garden, lettuces, radish, egg, blue cheese, pickled pepper. Simple dressing

Served the same thing over rice. Added a different sausage and threw in new beans. Gave the broth a squeeze of sour orange to brighten.

Defrosted a berkshire pork chop and was going to serve with deep fried brussel sprouts in a sriracha honey dressing but, a las, there was too much food. Vacuum sealed the porkchop and put back into the fridge. Served the sprouts.

Edited May 3, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[Keith_W]

I'm as intrigued as you!

I did say in an earlier post that I can not take the credit for the white chicken jus. I stole the idea from MC@H.

Fried oyster sandwiches last night. Coated the oysters with a little bit of polenta in addition to a fine corn flour. It added a nice crunch, almost like a falafel type fried oyster. It allowed the oyster to really be present among the slaw and bun. I may have added a deep fried Chinese Sausage to mine.

Wow, wow, and just wow! I can just imagine the crunch of the crust giving way to the tender oyster inside and served in a soft bun. It sounds so good, I am totally going to try that! Hmm, I might put some Nori flakes through the crust and make a sweet chilli mayo to go with it. I'm feeling hungry dreaming about it already, and I just ate!

[basquecook]

Ha! Nori sounds like a really nice idea. Or maybe like nori strips in the slaw. They were really lovely. Looking forward to reading about your efforts.

[pastameshugana]

Last night was a rare completely free night for us - so it was 'family cooking breakfast for dinner' night.

Oldest son (11) and youngest daughter (3) made pancakes with peanuts, peanut butter and knows what else. They were great.

Myself and 2nd son (9) did bacon and scrambled eggs with garlic-chile sauce.

Mrs Meshugana and Oldest daughter (9) attempted fresh OJ but these wretched oranges only gave up about 8oz of liquid for 6 whole fruit...

Youngest son (17 months) did us all a favor and slept through the whole thing!

Topped off with peppermint hot cocoa and early to bed - hooray for time alone with mom!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I've been on a shrimp kick lately, when I actually bother to make something more substantial than a sandwich, some crackers, or a bowl of ramen noodles, or a reheated bowl of something I found at the back of the fridge (too much work lately, not enough time for cooking for myself!) - those are things I'd rather not show you, because I'm kind of ashamed of them....

Camarones Al Ajillo

Shrimp in Mushroom Cream Sauce, with beef tenderloin in a brandy reduction

Shrimp pizza

[Morkai]

Finally make Prawncracker's miso sesame sauce today! Really delicious, sweet and nutty. Cannot wait for meat tomorrow. So I use some leftover sourdough to make a veggie pizza, using that miso sauce. How can I say that.... I planned to add some cilantro on top. But I cannot wait after it came out from the oven....

mspeg.jpg

I feel so guilty to eat the whole one for dinner......

I would love to make this sauce. Did Prawncrackers post it?

[ChrisTaylor]

Paella w/ prawns and gummy shark. The rice didn't quite absorb all the stock. It wasn't soupy but at the same time it didn't end up with that nice crust you associate w/ paella. Next time I'll use my over enthusiastic gas stove again. I used my portable induction cooktop this time and found that the liquid evaporated in the centre of the pan but not around the edges. I'm also thinking I'll cook the prawns some other way (grill them, sous vide them, whatever seems like a good idea at the time) and add them later on. With such a small pan it's easy for a fairly small quantity of ingredients to crowd the pan.

[Mr Holloway]

After seeing SobaAddict70 Creamed mushroom bruschetta(Thanks for including the recipe), had to give it a try.

It did not disappoint. The Big Green Egg adds a hint of smoke which really worked

The shrooms

Onions cooking

Very tasty

Shane

[Dejah]

Been holidaying with friends in Malaysia since April 4th - enjoying lots of Malaysian home cooking kampong style! Our friends are Muslim, and we've enjoyed lots of fresh fish, shrimp (their home is in northern Kadah state, close to fishing village), chicken, beef, veg, nasi lamak, roti jalal, etc. Great stuff! I'm missing my kitchen but had an opportunity to cook Chinese food for 27 family members just before we left!

Kinda sorry I checked in on this thread as I now really want to get back to cooking.

We are now on a 14-day tour in China until mid-May. Not much planned in terms of food-quests, but we hope the guide will suggest some good eating for us. We are in Beijing until next Wed. Then it's off to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Souzhou, Wuxi, and Xi'an before heading home to Canada.

We did go to an interesting local restaurant in the hutong area yesterday. The atmosphere was colourful and loud, as a Chinese restaurant should be! Most of the patrons were eating noodles, but we had Spicy lamb chops (crispy, fatty, cumin-flavour dominant, and just enough heat), and bitter gourd stir-fried with lily bulb and garlic.

[SobaAddict70]

basque -- nice pix as usual.

keith -- that is a lovely hunk of fish.

c. sapidus -- you have plantains! i'm envious.

patrick -- how was it?

panaderia -- shrimp pizza is new to me. looks great!

chris -- gummy shark?

shane -- glad that you enjoyed it. it's a very rich dish that should ideally be made for more than one person. there is a reason why i don't like cream-sauce based dishes.

dejah -- looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

for tonight, three courses. the first two are vegan, the third is vegetarian. i might cook again later tonight, depending on how peckish i feel.



spring greens salad with yu choi flowers

salad: baby arugula, claytonia (better known as "miner's lettuce" or "winter purslane"), yu choi flowers, chickweed

the dressing: 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons white wine (a dry white wine like a Basque txakoli will work wonders here), 3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, sea salt and black pepper to taste. whisk all liquid ingredients together, then taste for salt and pepper.

salad-making is a lost art that needs to come back.

next:



fava greens with sweet and spicy ramps

fava greens are the leaves from a fava bean plant. they have a delicate texture and a flavor reminiscent of spinach but without the "bite". these were sautéed with ramps, olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, chopped pistachios, crystallized ginger, shallots, dried cranberries and leftover dressing from the salad.

finally:



"asparagus and potatoes" -- homemade sea salt-and-sherry vinegar heirloom potato chips, asparagus, hard-cooked farm egg and winter purslane.

the potato chips sound complicated, but are really nothing more than potatoes that were sliced by hand (skin on), then fried in olive oil, drained and seasoned with sea salt and sherry vinegar.

there's a light dressing of white wine vinegar and olive oil.

[ChrisTaylor]

chris -- gummy shark?

Gummy shark, often sold as 'flake' in the state of Victoria, has the nicest meat of any shark. It's the only shark you'll find easily at a fishmongers. That said, you'll sometimes spot the flesh of other kinds of sharks: school sharks, elephant fish. Typically those are inexpensive compared to gummy shark as they are vastly inferior. Unless you specifically ask for something else, gummy shark is what you'll get when you buy fish and chips in Victoria (in other states I think they use something else). It's a white-fleshed fish with a sweet, mild flavour.

Edited May 5, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[TinaYuan]

Morkai, YES! Below is quoted from Prawncrackers:"

Of course I've been having it with grilled pork chops and beef. I retro-engineered it from one I had in a steak restaurant in Fukuoka. It should be mixed with freshly ground toasted sesame before dipping your meat into it. In the restaurant we each had a small bowl with grooves etched into it called a suribachi. The sesame seeds are ground in this before the sauce is added. The combination of the sweet deeply savoury and deep nuttiness of the sesame is simply sublime:

200ml ichiban dashi made from katsuobushi and kombu
100g brown miso
120g mirin
75g sugar
50g rice wine vinegar
Simmer the above for 15 minutes then add a teaspoon of finely grated ginger and simmer for another 5 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in one tablespoon of yuzu juice (or a mixture of lime and Seville orange). The sauce will keep for a while in the fridge.

"

[TinaYuan]

SobaAddict70, I love all the greens. Your dishes smell like spring! Fava beans are one of my favorites. I found some in farmers' market this weekend but they are too old. The most delicious fava beans I have ever had are from my grandparents' garden. We picked them and cooked immediately, only with some chives and s&p. Oh, I'm homesick now.

[percyn]

Haven't posted in a while, so a few catch-up posts...

Spinach and Feta stuffed steak with sides of miso mirin coated carrots, green beans with trumpet mushrooms and charred brussel sprouts

Five spice Ribs w/Baby Bak Choy

Kheema on Basmati Rice

Kheema on Paratha

[dcarch]

percyn – You have been eating very well.

Plantes Vertes – Nive photos.

Mm84321 – Very sophisticated recipes.

SobaAddict70 – Gourmet leftovers. Very lovely green salad.

Keith – you are doing fantastic with plating.

C. sapidus – delicious Pescado al mojo de ajo.

patrickamory - Chicken Chettinad looks very flavorful.

basquecook – I say the plating is great and the photography ain’t bad!

Panaderia Canadiense – Shrimp pizza! How unfair! It is not easy to get untreated shrimps here.

ChrisTaylor – You have nice shrimps too!

TinaYuan – that sourdough veggie pizza can turn anyone into a vegetarian.

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

I am in a foraging kick.

I posted a couple of dishes using Hostas:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144918-hosta/?hl=%2Bhosta#entry1917155

These two use Daylily stems.

Dcarch

[SobaAddict70]

tina -- thanks! you can also roast them and eat the beans, fuzzy second skin and all. i didn't know that until recently.

dcarch - those look like really FAT leeks. i've never heard of hostas (and i read the thread).

tonight, a riff on spaghetti con vongole:



spaghetti with mussels and ramps.

the mussels were steamed with white wine, then shelled. the cooking liquid was strained, to which was added some saffron.

add olive oil to a skillet, warm over medium heat. add chopped ramp stalks and bulbs once the oil shimmers. when the ramp stalks have browned, add the mussels, chopped ramp leaves, finely minced Italian parsley and oregano, and a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like. stir in mussel cooking liquid. let cook for 2-3 minutes. stir in cooked drained pasta. cook for 1-2 minutes. then stir in (optional) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits. let the butter thicken the sauce. toss once or twice, then remove from heat and serve immediately.

[FeChef]

Dinner for Cinco De Mayo.

[Simon Lewinson]

Tonight's dinner was sous vide duck leg confit with a mushroom and roasted garlic risotto.

This was my first attempt at duck confit, and it was slightly too salty which contrasted with the subtle sweetness of the mushroom and roasted garlic risotto.