Dinner! 2014 (Part 1)

[lesliec]

Raw goat? Ah ... cheese!

[huiray]

Early dinner last night:

 

• Deep-fried firm tofu chunky slices, sort-of an atsu-age., a.k.a. 炸豆腐 (Yale Cantonese: ja3 dou6 fu6) using Chinese terminology.  The tofu was pressed for a bit to get more water out of it before slicing and frying.  Eaten with sliced scallions, grated raw daikon and a sweet chilli dipping sauce [Lingham's] mixed with fresh lime juice.

• Soba noodles (with yam); dressed with finely chopped Romaine lettuce heart leaves, katsuobushi, chopped scallions, grated daikon, and soba shoyu [Assi] mixed with a little Izu oroshi-wasabi paste.

 

 

[Franci]

Basquecook, are those figs look very good! Dry, soaked?

When duck and foie gras were abundant I use to make this dish of foie gras/duck/figs that I loved so much. 

 

Franci, incredible. I forgot about your vintage stove! How are you finding actually working with it? It's a thing of beauty.

 

Thanks, Patrick. I know the stove looks charming but after 6 months of using it, I'm not such a huge fan anymore. If I could, I would like a mix of induction and gas. There were some functions I just loved on induction and I miss (timer on each burner and low simmer, rapid boil, more consistent cooking with my pressure cooker).

The oven is just a pain! Even at lowest setting once it's warm doesn't go below 130 Celsius! So forget slow brasing, You need to turn on and off to keep it low. It's just gas, no other functions, of course and it's no self cleaning. I HUGE pain for me. I hate this oven.

The broiler rocks. Wonderful, For the pork I was able to move the pan around and use it almost like a torch, something you cannot do with a regular broiler

[basquecook]

Basquecook, are those figs look very good! Dry, soaked?

When duck and foie gras were abundant I use to make this dish of foie gras/duck/figs that I loved so much. 

 

 

 

 

Yes, yes.. Dried figs..  Served the sliced duck over the risotto and then topped with the fig sauce.    I serve a similar duck dish at catering events.  I make a cherry demi glace sauce with a chunk of foie and sliced duck and add a bruleed pineapple ring.. Your fig dish sounds similar and really exciting.   Can you describe it more, I will have to give it a go during some event.  

[Ranz]

Early dinner last night:

 

• Deep-fried firm tofu chunky slices, sort-of an atsu-age., a.k.a. 炸豆腐 (Yale Cantonese: ja3 dou6 fu6) using Chinese terminology.  The tofu was pressed for a bit to get more water out of it before slicing and frying.  Eaten with sliced scallions, grated raw daikon and a sweet chilli dipping sauce [Lingham's] mixed with fresh lime juice.

• Soba noodles (with yam); dressed with finely chopped Romaine lettuce heart leaves, katsuobushi, chopped scallions, grated daikon, and soba shoyu [Assi] mixed with a little Izu oroshi-wasabi paste.

 

DSCN0723a_800.jpg

DSCN0725a_800.jpg

 

That is beautiful.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Ranz (log)

[Franci]

Yes, yes.. Dried figs..  Served the sliced duck over the risotto and then topped with the fig sauce.    I serve a similar duck dish at catering events.  I make a cherry demi glace sauce with a chunk of foie and sliced duck and add a bruleed pineapple ring.. Your fig dish sounds similar and really exciting.   Can you describe it more, I will have to give it a go during some event.  

 

I got the idea from a Gordon Ramsay's recipe for calf's liver. It's very simple but I like it.

 

Basically you mash some fig pulp and combine with a vinagrette (with a touch of lemon, vinegar of your choice). Caramelized some figs in duck fat (or foie fat). Cook duck breast and fresh foie. After I remove most of the fat I just scape the pan with my fig dressing and plate.

[Paul_C]

We went out last night for a modernist take on Indian cuisine...

Onion bhaji

Sourdough naan bread

Scallop tartare, pomegranate, gunpowder seasoning and a scallop samosa

Mixed vegetables

Butter chicken and tori

Chukkandar gosht (Beetroot and Lamb) with tarka daal

Rhubarb and tea

Ananas crumble (pineapple & black pepper) with white chocolate powder & sauce

[FrogPrincesse]

Simple but satisfying dinner last night. Delmonico steak (cast iron skillet method) (not shown - the bone which is my favorite part after the cap of course), red carrots (cooked in foil with cumin and dry vermouth), My Bloody Valentine red ale from AleSmith, ciabatta bun from Bread & Cie.

 

 

[mm84321]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This almost certainly could have benefited from a longer rest. I like to let duck breasts, and most meat for that matter, rest for a long time after I cook it, then I quickly reheat at a high temp, say around 500F, or as high as your oven gets, for 1 or 2 mins. The meat will be warm, and the juice will be inside, rather than on the cutting board. I picked up the technique after watching a few dinner services at Daniel, where it is the norm. 

[FrogPrincesse]

How long of a rest would you recommend?

[basquecook]

I totally, agree.. 4 people drank 5 bottles of wine. This was the last course and we sat around the island in the kitchen while I was grilling the two breasts.  But yeh, when I am cooking for customers or cooking on a normal night, I am very aware of resting meat.  Also, because of the photo accent the camera used causing a high red balance , it looks like there is a lot more juice then there was..  It may seem like it is pools but, that was not the case. 

Edited March 4, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[mm84321]

How long of a rest would you recommend?

 

At least as long as it took to cook. This also applies to some fish, such as when you cook turbot on the bone. One exception would be proteins that are cooked, slowly, at a low temp, such as a piece of beef fillet in a 300F oven, which can rest for 10 minutes, then be eaten straight away, or something like a sweetbread which retains heat very well, and is perfect after a 10 minute rest. 

[FrogPrincesse]

At least as long as it took to cook. This also applies to some fish, such as when you cook turbot on the bone.

Thanks. Usually I rest for half as long as the cooking time, but I noticed that duck breasts need longer. Good tip on reheating afterwards.

[C. sapidus]

Garlic-black bean pan-fried fish – Partly fry fish fillets (haddock) and remove. Stir-fry a chopped head of garlic, knob of ginger, salted fermented black beans, and cilantro stems. Add dark soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, black pepper, and cayenne, and reduce. Remove half of the black bean mixture, return fish to the wok, cover with the remaining mixture, and cook until done. Garnish with cilantro.

 

Had a heck of a time keeping the haddock from flaking to pieces. Need to use a sturdier fish next time. Served with jasmine rice and salad.

 

[Franci]

Tonight we had some lemon,onion roasted potatoes, mackerel and cime di rapa

[dcarch]

Not trying to be authentic Mardi Gras. Just trying to use whatever I had in the refrigerator and the pantry.

 

dcarch

( Can't seem to get my pictures smaller! )

 

Mardi Gras Surf & Turf, New Orleans Shrimps and Blackened (sous vided, Actually) Beef Tenderloin

 

 

Dirty Rice

 

[Anna N]

Miso marinated flank steak with toasted cheese bread.

[Shelby]

Franci--Beautiful fish and taters!

 

Dcarch--A fellow Mardi Gras celebrator  Lovely surf and turf.

 

 

I love drawing on my chalkboard and changing it for the different seasons/holidays

 

 

We started with some fried pheasant livers, gizzards and hearts

 

 

Then, this was going to be crawfish étouffée, but the crawfish tails that I thawed out were YUCKY.  So, I got out some andouille sausage (that really didn't have the taste that andouille sausage should--this stuff was more like just plain sausage) and went with that.  So, andouille sausage étouffée???  It ended up being pretty good.

 

 

Finished with some Mardi Gras cinnamon rolls

 

 

 

[Ann_T]

Shelby  I've never had fried pheasant livers, but if they are anything like chicken livers I know that I would love them.

 

 

Spanish Tapa - Gambas al Ajillo - Garlic Shrimp as a main course.  With homemade bread for sopping up the wonderful garlic sauce.

[mgaretz]

A while back I posted my pastrami.  I ended up freezing a lot of it and used some to make pastrami hash:

 

[Franci]

We had cod with some vegetables and forbidden rice

[scubadoo97]

Tonight I made a roast chicken Zuni style with fava beans and artichoke heart bottoms. The favas/ful still have their jackets on but I like the texture.

[Shelby]

We had cod with some vegetables and forbidden rice

image.jpg

Franci, tell me about forbidden rice.  I always like doing things that are forbidden

[Norm Matthews]

For dinner tonight we had Tacos de Carnitas and Chile Rellenos.  Cassie made the guacamole. 

 

[robirdstx]

Leftover chili and beans in my version of

Chili Five-way (pasta, chili, beans, cheese and onions)