Dinner! 2013 (Part 3)

[SobaAddict70]

Pasta e ceci

This is one dish I never tire of.

Remember those chickpeas from last week's eG Foodblog? Make a battuto (2 celery stalks + leaves, 1 onion, 1 carrot), then once it has browned and become a soffritto, add the chickpea cooking liquid and 1 cup water. Simmer over medium-low heat or until the liquid has reduced by half. Stir in pasta, with a little pasta cooking liquid. Taste for salt and pepper, stir in some minced scallions, then serve at once.

[Ann_T]

Kim, Sorry, I guess I had pulled pork on my mind. Brisket would be even better. I like how you post a number of your wonderful meals in one post. I'd be happy with all of them, but especially the lamb shank over polenta. Perfectly cooked steaks.

Franci, I just mentioned to my husband on Saturday that we hadn't had pasta and clams recently. After seeing yours, I know they will be on the menu this week.

MM84321, I love how you plate. I would love that lobster tart.

Ashen, that is a grill lovers feast.

Escargot in Mushroom Caps

Portuguese Style Grilled Chicken on a bun with a Piri Piri sauce.

[Franci]

Tonight we had focaccia al pomodoro and con pomodorini and a salad nicoise

[basquecook]

That looks so good Franci.

Ann T beautiful, that looks like it was a photo shoot for some restaurant specializing in Chicken Sandwiches. As someone who eats Portuguese Food weekly and often grilled chicken sandwiches, what makes your sandwiches Specifically Portuguese, the bread?

Edited June 3, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[Ann_T]

Basquecook, When we lived in Toronto we would go to the St. Lawrence Market every Saturday. There were a number of take out places to grab something eat as we shopped the Farmer's Market. The little Portuguese place offered chicken sandwiches topped with a spicy sauce. Piri Piri sauce mixed with Mayonnaise. My 'loosely based' recreation of that sandwich.

Franci, Great photos.

~Ann

[basquecook]

Looks great. i have been contemplating making a fried chicken sandwich at home for a few weeks now. It's been a slow few weeks

[Plantes Vertes]

It's all so beautiful! *discreetly wipes tear from eye*

[rotuts]

salad nicoise

looks terrific, with perfect eggs!

[C. sapidus]

Ann_T and Franci – gorgeous meals!

Marinated two thick ribeyes with garlic, black pepper, soy sauce, and fish sauce while heating up the charcoal grill. Grilled one ribeye to medium for the boys to split. Grilled the other rare, sliced thinly, briefly simmered the slices with chicken stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and roasted rice powder, and then tossed with bird chiles, shallots, scallions, Thai basil, and mint. Served over salad with coconut rice.

Mrs. C grilled pineapple slices with brown sugar and ginger. Great accompaniment to the salad, and also served as dessert!

I could eat grilled meat salads and grilled fruit all summer. Enjoyed a lime-heavy margarita while tending the fire.

[mm84321]

Franci, your food looks great. Tonight I had snails with potatoes, and for dessert, baba au rhum.

[pastameshugana]

Marinated two thick ribeyes with garlic, black pepper, soy sauce, and fish sauce while heating up the charcoal grill. Grilled one ribeye to medium for the boys to split. Grilled the other rare, sliced thinly, briefly simmered the slices with chicken stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and roasted rice powder, and then tossed with bird chiles, shallots, scallions, Thai basil, and mint. Served over salad with coconut rice.

That sounds incredible!

[Baselerd]

Cured hamachi sashimi, edamame-horseradish puree, pea shoots, and furikake. From the Momofuku cookbook.

[rotuts]

BTW that ziti looks grand. would put the Sopranos to shame!

[Kim Shook]

_{Franci – your pasta with clams is just beautiful. The clams look so perfectly cooked and tender.}

_{Elise – that is mimolette – a favorite of ours. Apparently the ‘ban’ was overstated and I’ve been able to find it with no problems.}

_{Bruce – the steak was seasoning with a sprinkling of brown sugar and Montreal steak seasoning. I always use the same thing. I got the sugar idea years ago from (I THINK) David Rosengarten – it’s supposed to help develop a crust like high-end steak houses get with their screaming hot grills. Love the grilled corn! Our grill rusted through and we haven’t replaced it yet. I hope it happens soon, or we’ll really miss grilled corn this summer, I know! The grilled pineapple is making me hungry, too. I love that – try them with pork sometime.}

_{Ann – ooooh – escargot! Maybe my favorite food in the world. When I was a little girl, my mother would take me to a French restaurant in Washington DC and I would get a double order of escargot. That and a basket of crusty bread was my idea of heaven. The owner of the restaurant thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen and always remembered me – even through high school! Yours are gorgeous.}

_{Dinner last night was fried chicken. I found a nice little three pound chicken that was perfect for frying:}

_{This is still my favorite recipe – Shelby’s fried chicken with the unlikely addition of Sazon and unsweetened lemon Kool Aid in the seasoning. This time, I did a 24 hour buttermilk soak. Served with mashed potatoes and butter beans:}

_{And cinnamon rolls (whomp biscuit-style):}

_{This odd, but wonderful combination is one that was always served at a restaurant that we used to frequent. The specialty of the house was ribs and fried chicken and they first thing set down on the table was a bucket of tiny sweet rolls. They went amazingly well together.}

Edited June 4, 2013 by Kim Shook (log)

[Ranz]

Seafood Paella from Lola's at Long Street, Cape Town.

[Keith_W]

I spent two evenings making roast pork buns. The roast pork in this case is a Cantonese classic called "long yok", also known as "yok kon" or "ba kua" (depending on which Chinese dialect you speak). It is a type of pork jerky, made by mixing minced pork with flavourings, then rolling out in sheets and drying them. After drying them, they are grilled over a charcoal grille.

The result wasn't as pretty as I would have liked (should have used sugar in the glaze for the buns!) but it certainly tasted really good!!

[rotuts]

amazing roast pork buns are one of my favorites and I always bring back several dozen when ever Im in Chinatown. they do not last long.

was there any 'sauce' added to your filling prior to forming the buns? what the inner goodness crunchy?

[Pilori]

Keith - that looks delicious! Mind sharing the recipe you used for the pork?

[weinoo]

I have a place that makes that style of "roast pork," as well as beef and chicken I believe, right across the street from me.

[mm84321]

Salmon belly with garbanzo beans

[Keith_W]

Thank you! rotuts, no sauce. The filling was not crunchy because it was steamed by the bread. To be honest I am not sure if anybody ever bakes long yok in buns - at least I have never seen it. They normally use char siu. If char siu is used, then it goes in with fried onions and some thickened char siu sauce. Long yok is normally eaten by itself or in a sandwich. Why did I do this? To irritate huiray, liuzhou, and others

weinoo, you can easily buy this in shops but over here at least it is very expensive - $20/100gm. That works out to approximately $4-5 per slice. I bought the minced pork for $7/kg. Very cheap if you don't take the effort and the mess into consideration.

Pilori, thank you! Here is the recipe:

- 1kg minced pork, 20% fat

- 250gm sugar

- 1.5 tbsp fish sauce

- 4 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp five spice powder

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder *

- 1/2 tsp licorice powder (kam cho) *

- 1/2 tsp white pepper

- 1 tsp MSG

- 2 tbsp rice wine

- 40gm Nam Yue (red fermented tofu)

- Salt, about 1 tbsp

- 1/2 tsp red food colouring

* optional

1. Mix everything together and leave in the fridge overnight to marinade. Don't skip this step - the overnight marinade extracts protein from the mince and helps hold the jerky together.

2. Spread the minced pork over baking paper to a thickness of 1-2mm. This is by far the most difficult step. I simply grab a handful of mixture then spread it out by hand. You could also try rolling it out between two pieces of baking paper.

3. Dehydrate in an oven, fan forced, at 100C for at least an hour, or until the mixture feels like rubber. If you are using multiple racks like me, rotate the racks every 20 minutes. Alternatively (if you live in a warm area) - dry the mixture in the sun. Do not be tempted to terminate the drying process early - if you do, your jerky will crumble back into mince!

4. Cut into squares then roast over a charcoal grille. Alternatively, lay the pieces in a single layer on a rack and bake in a 180C oven for 10 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Keith_W (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

Salmon belly with garbanzo beans

Mm84321, your garbanzos look a lot greener than the ones I am used to seeing - is that what they look like fresh?

[dcarch]

Keith – Bao Wow! Thanks for the pictorial and recipe. Also thanks for the tip regarding the salmon white coating.

Mm84321 – a very elegant composition of a salmon dish.

Kim – I need to have your fried chicken right away!

Cookalong – fine looking risotto and sous vided salmon.

Weinoo – Perfect scallops with vegetables fricassée .

Huiray – I will kill for those morels.

Franci – Oh My Goodness! What a gorgeous white asparagus risotto dish!

Ashen – Very good first Weber creation.

Sapidus – I like the way you season your food. Black bean seasoned yard long beans. I know that is very tasty.

SobaAddict – You continue to amaze me with your veggie magic.

Ann-t – Very dramatic picture of Escargot in Mushroom Caps.

Baselerd – Nice plating.

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Couple of dishes from my kitchen:

dcarch

Ground turkey on Home made pasta

Wild rice stuffed boneless cornish hen

[Ann_T]

Keith, those pork buns look delicious.

MM84321, The lighting on your salmon is incredible.

Dcarch, interesting coloured pasta.

Greek on the menu tonight. I still have most of a local free range lamb in the freezer.

Lamb riblets, with

Greek potatoes

and salad.

[furzzy]

Cured salmon with potatoes, dill, other things

Would you tell me what other things? Apparently the potato is puréed. Little garnish of shallot (?) & dill. And is the white a soft cheese w/dill? Kind of bread?

I'm having a dinner party in couple of weeks & this looks/sounds like a perfect app, instead of the same old tartare I'd been hoping to replace with something more festive. Or this might even make a great amuse!

Thanks for anything you're willing to share.