Dinner! 2014 (Part 1)

[Dejah]

Made the Betty Crocker recipe for Slow-cooker Coconut Chicken soup while I slept last night. Added the coconut milk, sliced mushrooms, and chopped basil this morning before I went to work.

I used a "mature stewing chicken" instead of just boneless skinless thighs. When I took the breast out before adding the last 3 ingredients, it was really firm! Uh oh...not good eating...I shredded the meat and left it soaking for the day while I was at work.

Came home late and tried a couple spoonfuls as I was starving...Mmmm...mmmmm GOOD! Even the breast meat was good. It'll be even better once it heats up - in time for supper!

[Franci]

Bad picture but I loved dinner. Blue fish under salt was delicious

[gfweb]

"" Kangaroo fillet ""

Im assuming you mean the same muscle as the Beouf has? the psoas muscle ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoas_major_muscle

tender? not much real taste?

so does the 'roo psoas have more taste than beouf's? what does the rest of the 'roo taste like?

say a Chuck 'Roo Burger?

If it is psoas it might be more toothsome than beef since the roo is erect more often than not. I've has this meat and it was indeed venison like, not too tender either.

[rotuts]

Sooooo

'Roo all cuts need to get acquainted with the SV system.

[robirdstx]

Farfalle and Hot Italian Sausage with Roasted Red Peppers

[ChrisTaylor]

Beef short rib. A nicely marbled slab of Cape Grim grass fed. Dry rub mostly comprised of salt and three different kinds of pepper (black, green and the not-really-pepper Sichuan peppercorn) with just a little bit of garlic and chipotle to add some depth to the arrangement. Smoked low and slow with hickory until it hit 80C as per the advice of the credibly-named Meathead. I am very fond of his website. The end result was a slab of meat that was smoky and peppery and juicy--oh man, that marbling in the raw product--and beefy as hell. Early on I was contemplating making a sort of gravy with some pressure cooked mince and bones, thickened with some Ultrasperse, but I reckon that would've detracted from the dish.

[Anna N]

Marcus Samuelsson's Swedish meatballs and quick pickled cucumber from his book Aquavit along with fresh beets in sour cream.

[basquecook]

Really pretty cooking Morkai, the soup looks great Dejah, as does yours Franci, Anna robirdstx, nickrey and Chris.

Been cooking a lot lately and not taking too many photos.. Have been recipe testing different deli meats.

Here is one of the roast beefs. a 10 lb piece tied up.

There were several turkey breasts and a couple legs of lamb thrown in along the way.

For an event, we roasted a goat wrapped in banana leaves, made chicken and cheese tamales with a pineapple atole, pork with mole poblano and a few other things.

These are spoons prepped for the pozole.

With the leftover goat heads and tortilla chips, we made chilaquiles.

Before the snow, I bought a couple of dozen clams. Made a simple boxed linguini with clam sauce. black pepper, a splash of vermouth, a pad of butter, parsley, three quarters worth of slice of bacon and a some pepper flakes. Finished with olive oil. It was great. it's about 5 servings, looking forward to lunch. Served that with garlic bread. roasted garlic rubbed on italian bread.

with the leftover mole, i braised some chickens thighs and will make tacos.

Edited January 22, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[rotuts]

ChrisTaylor

your web ref was exactly right re Bobby Mueller

i was lucky to eat there a couple of time and met him. his 'joint' in Taylor was much smaller than a larger place across the street.

for got its name. a bit touristry the big place, but still excellent. the tourists were from TX after all.

Muellers sausage was some of the best ive ever had. I asked at the counter and wanted to thank the chef.

he came out of the back and we chatted a bit. best sausage in TX I told him as it was true.

he was very pleased to hear it. took 2 lbs cooked back w me to BOS

savored it for a while.

[Ann_T]

Sterling Silver Beef Tenderloin - Green Peppercorn Sauce.

[basquecook]

while the steak looks good enough to eat, those potatoes are calling me.. The other day, I was making a lobster pot pie for an event. I used a melon baller and balled out some potatoes. I boiled them until they were cooked enough that after being in the pot pie and oven for some time , they would be perfect. I was very happy with the results.. Are those just cooked in a skillet or were they peeled, boiled and baked.

Edited January 22, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[Ann_T]

while the steak looks good enough to eat, those potatoes are calling me.. The other day, I was making a lobster pot pie for an event. I used a melon baller and balled out some potatoes. I boiled them until they were cooked enough that after being in the pot pie and oven for some time , they would be perfect. I was very happy with the results.. Are those just cooked in a skillet or were they peeled, boiled and baked.

Peeled, scooped out with a melon baller and then cooked in a skillet in a little olive oil and butter. And I use Russet potatoes.

Great idea to add the balls to a pot pie. I usually just add cubes. I'm stealing your idea. Thank you.

~Ann

[Franci]

Trying my xiaolongbao, not too bad for first time but not memorable. SV octopus.

[Norm Matthews]

I'm not sure what to call dinner tonight. Cassie suggested enchilada salad or Mexican lasagna. It was layers of taco sauce, tortillas, seasoned ground round with onions, cheese topped with green onions, tomatoes,lettuce and sour cream. We also had some okra chips. They are dehydrated, and/or roasted until crispy like potato chips.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Made the Chinese Style Honey Hoisin Sticky Ribs from food 52. Sous vided the ribs over night with a boiled down version of the braising liquid.

[C. sapidus]

Franci – Your xialonbao look great, what made them not memorable?

Dinner from Revolutionary Chinese Cooking

Liuyang black bean chicken: Deboned chicken thighs with skin, deep-fried twice and set aside. Stir-fry ginger coins and a head of garlic until tender, and then add fermented black beans, Shaoxing rice wine, and chile flakes. Stir in the chicken, finish with scallion greens and sesame oil, and serve over jasmine rice. Crispy outside, tender inside, and completely delicious.

Hand-torn cabbage with vinegar: Our boys have always loved cabbage, probably their Russian heritage. Stir-fry green cabbage until crunchy-tender, sizzle dried chiles in oil, and then finish with salt and Chinkiang vinegar.

Southern Tier Choklat Stout for dessert

[dcarch]

What a display of wonderful meals since I last posted !!!.

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In another food forum, someone talked about vegetable dishes. I thought it would be a good idea to do a few meat-less ones.

dcarch

[Morkai]

dcarch, beautiful. The first photo reminds me of my childhood, jumping on Koopa Troopas in Super Mario!

Edited January 23, 2014 by Morkai (log)

[dcarch]

dcarch, beautiful. THe first photo reminds me of my childhood, jumping on Koopa Troopas in Super Mario!

Thanks! Oh yeah, Super Mario. But we need more violence in video games. :-)

dcarch

[Anna N]

dcarch, talk to me about those broccoli stems. You didn't peel them? Are they tender? Did you roast them? Don't mean to be rude with all my questions but as I have admitted: i LOVE broccoli stems.

[dcarch]

dcarch, talk to me about those broccoli stems. You didn't peel them? Are they tender? Did you roast them? Don't mean to be rude with all my questions but as I have admitted: i LOVE broccoli stems.

I think J. Pepin is the only TV chef who suggest everyone to use broccoli stems.

Broccoli stem is never tough. Sometimes the skin can be very tough, sometimes not.

The thing to do is just cut a small part, add water, and microwave to find out. 1/4 of the time the skin is tender, peeling is not necessary.

It makes me mad to see people throw away delicious broccoli stems.

dcarch

[Anna N]

dcarch, talk to me about those broccoli stems. You didn't peel them? Are they tender? Did you roast them? Don't mean to be rude with all my questions but as I have admitted: i LOVE broccoli stems.

I think J. Pepin is the only TV chef who suggest everyone to use broccoli stems.

Broccoli stem is never tough. Sometimes the skin can be very tough, sometimes not.

The thing to do is just cut a small part, add water, and microwave to find out. 1/4 of the time the skin is tender, peeling is not necessary.

It makes me mad to see people throw away delicious broccoli stems.

dcarch

Thanks. Yes it was J. Pepin who showed me how to peel them so I was surprised to see yours unpeeled. The skin on the broccoli I get is almost invariably stringy and sometimes almost woody. If I see any that are promising I will follow your lead. H

[huiray]

Hmm. It is commonplace to use broccoli stems (peeled or unpeeled depending on the toughness of the skin), usually sliced up, in soups, stir-fries, etc in Chinese/E Asian/SE Asian cuisine. Certainly "at home" but also in restaurants. Been done for years and years. Similar situation/corresponding situation to the cases with celtuce and Taiwan A-choy stems, which are grown FOR the stems. Been done for a long while. In all cases if there is "woodiness" one simply slices off the skin down to the succulent core then slice that core up accordingly. I also can't cite any specific example but I suspect there must be at least one TV chef in the E/SE Asian sphere who has shown use of these items in dishes. Maybe even predating Pepin...? (Just speculating)

In a similar manner, what I do with broccoli rabe (if I have the time and am in the mood to spend the effort) is to strip the skin off the stems while trimming every branch (except for the really skinny/thin ones which are just not worth the effort and are tossed) and keeping the (tender) core of these branches to incorporate in whatever dish I am cooking.

ETA: Here's one post where I described stir-fried Taiwan A-choy stems... http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/?view=findpost&p=1933370 (scroll down a bit)

Edited January 23, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Franci]

Franci – Your xialonbao look great, what made them not memorable?

Bruce, I love your meal!

I followed RRO advice on the xialongbao cook-off, so for the skin, I added a very small percentage of lard and cut a bit the flour with potato starch. Maybe I need to make it even thinnier, because it gets translucent only if sits for 8-10 minutes after steaming. I used only pork belly, as per RRO's recipe, but I did find I needed to cut that with some leaner meat and make it more cohesive. Too much ginger, according to my husband. I have enough jelly in the freezer to make some more for CNY next week.

Anna, I even pickled broccoli stems! Peeled.

[basquecook]

So impressive Franci. They look great. Darch, really, super inspiring

Last night made a wedge salad with left over creme fraiche and blue cheese. Then made a rice with leftover chile oil and the leftover Goat we made the other night. The blue cheese was leftover from one event, the goat from another.

Salad

some fresh red, some macerated, some bacon.

goat:

Have an event tomorrow night for 30 something people. I am sure that will be the source of next weeks home dinners.

This is tomorrow's dinner. This is what we have tentatively planned.. Last night I had a dream where I served the lamb with a coffee crust and jelly donut of sorts.. We shall see.

Cauliflower Crema, American Hackleback, Bronzed Cauliflower, Micro Greens
*
Purple Kale, Lemon Creme Fraiche, Pomegranate, Chervil
*
Wild Mushroom Napoleon, Thyme Phyllo, Chantrelle Froth
*
Scallop, Parsnip Purée, Crispy Brussels, Sesame
*
Red Beet Ravioli, Nutty Beurre Mont, Pecorino, Poppy Seeds
*
Cumin Crusted Lamb Loin, Glazed, Carrots, Demi
*
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta, Blood Orange, Campari
*
Bittersweet Mast Brothers Ganache, Caramel Tile Crust, Sea Salt
*

Edited January 24, 2014 by basquecook (log)