Dinner! 2013 (Part 2)

[liuzhou]

Braised rabbit with borlotti and pappardelle. Amazingly tender, and perfect for the snowy weather we've been having.

Rabbit 2013-03-16 at 22.12.45.png

I was just sitting looking at two rabbit loins and thinking what the heck to do with them. I think I may have an idea now. Thanks. If it works out I may post later.

But mine will be more spring weather like. I won't make you feel jealous by telling you the temperature here in the tropics.

[huiray]

I was clearing some space in my freezer for new stuff and found two old packs - of mini pork & shrimp dumplings (xiaolongbau-type; 小籠湯包) [Prime Food]; and pork, scallop & "shui kow" dumplings (水餃) [Wei Chuan]. Sooo...dumpling night it was. I had the steamed XLB (they leaked, unfortunately) with a dipping sauce thrown together from mixing some "aged soy sauce" [Kimlan], light soy sauce ("sang chau") [Kimlan], Chinkiang vinegar [Jiangsu Hengshun], a bit of veggie oil and finely chopped scallions. I had the "shui kow" (cooked separately in simmering water) in simple chicken broth with trimmed hearts of "Pull Mustard" (see a previous post on them here) briefly simmered in the broth and scallions scattered in after "bowling" it. Heh, not a high-falutin' dinner by any means. :-)

[patrickamory]

Not highfalutin but yummy looking just the same huiray. Are those frozen dumplings (Prime Foods) really good?

[huiray]

Heh.

The frozen dumplings (from Prime Food) aren't as good as what you might make fresh yourself - but, y'know what? I don't have the inclination or energy to always make them myself and these (and others from other manufacturers) are decent in my view and do fit the bill for a decent meal. They do vary in terms of which are "better" as compared with competing brands. For example, the Prime Food wontons I think are not as "silky" as the ones from Wei Chuan, in my view. The "shui kow" from either (or from O'Tasty) are similar to each other, not bad - but again, stuff you make yourself might be better, of course. XLB - certainly the ones made fresh would be better - but these will do in a snap if I don't manage to get to a place for freshly-made ones. Keep in mind the ones I had were definitely "old" ones - even for packaged frozen stuff.

ETA: Whoops, that should have been "pork, scallop & shrimp "shui kow" dumplings" in my initial post...

Edited March 17, 2013 by huiray (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Asparagus Ricotta Gnocchi!!

Happy St Patti's Day

[Paul Bacino]

Sunday Burger!!

[mm84321]

Asparagus soup

Scallop with kumquat

[patrickamory]

Oh, I'm not going to be able to match the recent photography.

But do try out these two Sichuanese vegetable dishes if you have the new Fuchsia Dunlop - they're unbelievably delicious. This is my first time using real Pixian chili bean paste - its taste has way more depth and umami than the standard Lee Kum Kee stuff.

Twice cooked Swiss chard:

"Send the rice down" chopped celery with minced beef:

[SobaAddict70]

Bái qie ji (Chinese white-cut chicken), jasmine rice with chicken liver and red onion, scallion-ginger sauce.

Basically, it's poached chicken, seasoned with ginger, garlic, sea salt and sesame oil. If you master the technique, you end up with an extraordinarily juicy and flavorful chicken, and at least 3 quarts of Chinese chicken stock.

The jasmine rice is just 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice grains that was sautéed in oil with chopped chicken livers and slivered red onion, then cooked in 3 cups water until done.

Recipe here: http://sundaynitedinner.com/chinese-white-cut-chicken/

[huiray]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8567824844_dfe2b47644_z.jpg

Bái qie ji (Chinese white-cut chicken), jasmine rice with chicken liver and red onion, scallion-ginger sauce.

Basically, it's poached chicken, seasoned with ginger, garlic, sea salt and sesame oil. If you master the technique, you end up with an extraordinarily juicy and flavorful chicken, and at least 3 quarts of Chinese chicken stock.

The jasmine rice is just 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice grains that was sautéed in oil with chopped chicken livers and slivered red onion, then cooked in 3 cups water until done.

Recipe here: http://sundaynitedinner.com/chinese-white-cut-chicken/

I made some comments on that blog page back in 2010. :-) [scroll down the page...]

I've never *particularly* liked the "turning the heat off and leaving the chicken to sit in the stock" technique. It can turn out to be quite variable depending on the chicken, how much water you used.how much you needed to cover the chicken/size of pot/width of pot vs width of chicken, how long it takes to bring the stock back up to a boil after the "sitting period", etc. I do use it, but alternate with the constant simmer method as well. The ice-water treatment I also often leave out - for my taste it removes too much gelatin (which I like) from the juices that "puddle" slightly under the chicken when allowed to rest on a plate. The sesame oil rub treatment - that can be iffy - depending on which type or brand of sesame oil you use. The "roasted" type is overpowering and overwhelms everything. I find a simple veggie oil treatment is actually much better (for my taste). I frequently dispense w/ the oiling treatment especially if I had added in extra chicken fat (for the subsequent use of the stock + fat to make the chicken rice for it - in terms of "Hainanese Chicken Rice"). Nowadays I even sometimes dispense with the additional 10-minute simmer or shorten it (when doing the constant simmer alternative) and take the chicken out when the temperature reads about 160-165ºF using one of those pie-face stick-type thermometers. The marrow in the bones may still be pink - that's fine by me.

Edited March 18, 2013 by huiray (log)

[Ashen]

Homemade cheese ravioli with a roasted tom sauce and pieces of roasted chicken

Edited March 18, 2013 by Ashen (log)

[SobaAddict70]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8567824844_dfe2b47644_z.jpg

Bái qie ji (Chinese white-cut chicken), jasmine rice with chicken liver and red onion, scallion-ginger sauce.

Basically, it's poached chicken, seasoned with ginger, garlic, sea salt and sesame oil. If you master the technique, you end up with an extraordinarily juicy and flavorful chicken, and at least 3 quarts of Chinese chicken stock.

The jasmine rice is just 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice grains that was sautéed in oil with chopped chicken livers and slivered red onion, then cooked in 3 cups water until done.

Recipe here: http://sundaynitedinner.com/chinese-white-cut-chicken/

I made some comments on that blog page back in 2010. :-) [scroll down the page...]

I've never *particularly* liked the "turning the heat off and leaving the chicken to sit in the stock" technique. It can turn out to be quite variable depending on the chicken, how much water you used.how much you needed to cover the chicken/size of pot/width of pot vs width of chicken, how long it takes to bring the stock back up to a boil after the "sitting period", etc. I do use it, but alternate with the constant simmer method as well. The ice-water treatment I also often leave out - for my taste it removes too much gelatin (which I like) from the juices that "puddle" slightly under the chicken when allowed to rest on a plate. The sesame oil rub treatment - that can be iffy - depending on which type or brand of sesame oil you use. The "roasted" type is overpowering and overwhelms everything. I find a simple veggie oil treatment is actually much better (for my taste). I frequently dispense w/ the oiling treatment especially if I had added in extra chicken fat (for the subsequent use of the stock + fat to make the chicken rice for it - in terms of "Hainanese Chicken Rice"). Nowadays I even sometimes dispense with the additional 10-minute simmer or shorten it (when doing the constant simmer alternative) and take the chicken out when the temperature reads about 160-165ºF using one of those pie-face stick-type thermometers. The marrow in the bones may still be pink - that's fine by me.

they're all valid criticisms to be sure, but remember that I don't eat very much meat these days.

so when I make something like this, using $20+ chicken from USGM, I'm not going to deviate from the listed recipe too much, particularly if I don't already prepare it all that regularly to begin with.

this is probably the fifth or sixth time I've made the dish, and as written, the recipe works for me. *shrug* your mileage may vary.

[liuzhou]

Rabbit braised in white wine with black garlic; green lentils; mushrooms; rice; and asparagus

[Steve Irby]

Paul those gnocchi look great. Where do you keep your truffle stash? I swear I won't tell anyone. Patrick I'm going to give that twice cooked pork a try before the local swiss chard disappears. Inspired by some the dishes that you have prepared I tried a lentil soup with swiss chard and potato from Sonia Uvezian's Recipes and Remembrances cookbook. It's was quite delicious I also made kibbeh and tabbouleh with fareek and Israeli couscous.

Continuing on the couscous theme we had a dish of shrimp, oil cured olives, capers for dinner.

And fried shrimp and packaged slaw for lunch today.

[FrogPrincesse]

Instead of focusing on my giant backlog on this thread, I thought I should just post my recent meals and take it from there.

Monday's dinner - nothng much left in the house and no energy to go grocery shopping.

Vialone nano risotto with spinach, basil, Meyer lemon and Parma ham + toasted breadcrumbs. I used the pressure cooker.

[FrogPrincesse]

Saturday night was local pink baquetta grouper with vegetable bagna cauda and toasted breadcrumbs (based on a recipe by Suzanne Goin - details here).

[gfweb]

And now for an alternative to the preceding lovely and healthful and restrained dinners.

NY Strip, potatoes augratin, & maple seared Brussels sprouts.

[scubadoo97]

Steve, did you make baked pan kibbeh or the torpedo shaped and fried variety?

[Steve Irby]

Steve, did you make baked pan kibbeh or the torpedo shaped and fried variety?

I used the kibbeh in a tray version. It was my first attempt and I did not know how cohesive the kibbeh mixture would be. It was much more workable than imagined and next time I'll try the torpedo shape.

[Paul Bacino]

Steve

Gourmet Delights....had my stash!!!

Good product.. from France

[judiu]

And now for an alternative to the preceding lovely and healthful and restrained dinners.

NY Strip, potatoes augratin, & maple seared Brussels sprouts.

Gfweb, what are the browned nuggets in with the sprouts, please?

[huiray]

Dinner on Wednesday:

Fried rice - with halved garlic cloves, sliced pork, salt, eggs scrambled in situ, 2-day old rice, shallots, sliced sweet red bell pepper & hot long green chillies, trimmed Thai basil. Added in that order.

[gfweb]

And now for an alternative to the preceding lovely and healthful and restrained dinners.

NY Strip, potatoes augratin, & maple seared Brussels sprouts.

Gfweb, what are the browned nuggets in with the sprouts, please?

They are the halved and browned sprouts. Perhaps a few detached leaves that browned too. Occasionally I will put bacon in this dish but not this time.

[ScottyBoy]

Fed up with the lack of food in Costa Rica with any damn flavor I made tacos for a bunch of locals and they freaked out.

"What is that???"

"....flavor"

Carnitas braised in papaya, mango and spices. Salsa fresca, natilla and kolrabi sprouts from the garden.

[SobaAddict70]

tonight:



Mesclun salad, with salt-and-beet-vinegar Adirondack blue potato chips and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese




Black radish confit, with Swedish lumpfish caviar





"Potato salad" -- roasted heirloom potatoes, celery heart, celery leaves, chicken skin "chips", red onion and dressed with carrot raita (Greek yogurt, milk, cumin, carrots, sea salt, black pepper, black mustard seeds)

I think reinventing the concept of what a "salad" is is especially vital in winter, when greens are in short supply.

FYI, the chicken skin "chips" were baked, not fried. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, then season with sea salt and cayenne pepper.




Ricotta gnocchi with Marcella's tomato sauce

I adore ricotta gnocchi, moreso than potato or chestnut gnocchi. They're very easy -- just ricotta cheese, flour, egg, nutmeg, sea salt, black pepper. I prefer a ratio of ricotta to flour on a 3:1 basis, so the gnocchi end up feathery light.

As for the sauce, it's quite simple -- a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes, one onion sliced in half, 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, sea salt and black pepper.

By the way, this sauce is so delicious that you'll want to skip the gnocchi and eat it straight out of the pot.