Dinner! 2014 (Part 2)

[robirdstx]

[Moderator note: The original Dinner! 2014 topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Dinner! 2014 (Part 1)]

 

 

Crab Cakes and Asparagus

Edited March 12, 2014 by Mjx
Moderator note added (log)

[Jaded Fork]

Steamed eggs with minced beef, Tianjin vegetables, chicken stock and sesame oil

Edited March 12, 2014 by Jaded Fork (log)

[Ann_T]

Robirdstx, nice plating. That is a dinner that Moe would love.

 

Homemade pasta. 

 

Cappelletti , which I froze.

 

and

 

Tortelloni that I cooked for dinner.

 

  Filled with chicken and spinach. 

[SobaAddict70]

Thanks, Chris.

Ann: J'adore homemade pasta.

==========




Arugula and mesclun salad, with ricotta salata, mandarin orange and hazelnuts

Shallot vinaigrette -- 1 shallot, finely minced, sea salt, black pepper, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons red wine, 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Place shallots in a bowl, sprinkle salt and pepper over them. Add red wine vinegar and red wine. Mix well. Whisk in extra-virgin olive oil in a thin stream. Taste for salt and pepper if necessary, then use as needed.

This vinaigrette is wonderful for all sorts of salads, not just this one. Another variation consists of 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon red wine and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar in addition to the shallots, salt, pepper and oil.

I thought that Fairway had kumquats on sale, but that proved to be a wash, so I decided to get the next best thing instead.

Today was 65 F (!!!) in NYC, but it'll be 27 F on Thursday. Crazy weather. The reason I bring this up is because I was hoping to get to USGM this week. I might go tomorrow morning before I go into the office and pick up a few things. I'm getting tired of being cooped up indoors and relying on supermarket produce; just wish the weather was warmer. It's hard to do the seasonal thing when the next aisle over, I'm looking at sweet peppers trucked in from overseas. The oranges were from California but at least it's not like a tomato from Chile or something.
 
The second course was leftover mussels.  Whenever I cook mussels in this manner (with a tomato sauce), the leftover sauce combined with the mussel juices becomes a broth that's its own sort of reward.  Tonight was no exception.

Edited March 12, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[huiray]

A late dinner last night:

 

• Capellini #9 [Ferrara] – smothered with a sauce made by: sautéing smashed chopped garlic & sliced red onion in olive oil till browning; scrambling ground beef chuck in that followed by generous amounts of grated carrots & finely chopped celery; adding a can of whole peeled tomatoes [Red Gold] and chopping up the tomatoes into quarters w/ the spatula; adding some light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior] & vinegar [Kong Yen "Aged Gourmet Rice Vinegar" (陳年酢)]; some dried bay leaves & dried thyme; then simmering for about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour or so till done and nicely blended w/ oil floating on the top.

• Chicken broth w/ fatty chicken skin & lots of chopped scallions & coriander leaflets.

 

 

p.s. Before the purists complain - nowhere in my post above did I mention the word "Italian".

 

[Max101]

Robirdstx, nice plating. That is a dinner that Moe would love.

 

Homemade pasta. 

 

Cappelletti , which I froze.

 

and

 

Tortelloni that I cooked for dinner.

 

  Filled with chicken and spinach. 

This looks delicious.  I could so eat a huge plate of this right now.

[gfweb]

A late dinner last night:

 

• Capellini #9 [Ferrara] – smothered with a sauce made by: sautéing smashed chopped garlic & sliced red onion in olive oil till browning; scrambling ground beef chuck in that followed by generous amounts of grated carrots & finely chopped celery; adding a can of whole peeled tomatoes [Red Gold] and chopping up the tomatoes into quarters w/ the spatula; adding some light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior] & vinegar [Kong Yen "Aged Gourmet Rice Vinegar" (陳年酢)]; some dried bay leaves & dried thyme; then simmering for about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour or so till done and nicely blended w/ oil floating on the top.

• Chicken broth w/ fatty chicken skin & lots of chopped scallions & coriander leaflets.

 

DSCN0840a_800.jpg

DSCN0841a_800.jpg

 

p.s. Before the purists complain - nowhere in my post above did I mention the word "Italian".

I put soy in my bolognese too.

I've never admitted that before.

Don't tell Batali.

Marco Polo probably did it first.

Edited March 12, 2014 by gfweb (log)

[Anna N]

A brilliant technique courtesy of Pam Anderson for the loner. Fast, tasty and almost no cleanup. Arrange vegetables and a fish filet on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Season, drizzle with olive oil and place in an UNHEATED 400F oven for 15-17 minutes. Drizzle with lemon juice, plate and serve.

[mm84321]

Asparagus crusted with marrow and parmesan, jamon ibérico, beef jus

Alaskan king salmon with marrow, chanterelles stuffed with shallots

Pommes soufflées

[basquecook]

awesome, MM.. Those potatoes remind me of Antoine's Potatoes from NO. 

[robirdstx]

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

[Bill Rothe]

Had some items in the kitchen that wouldn't last too much longer, so I did a clean out the refrigerator night.

 

Took some Japanese kyuri cucumbers, a little mirin, rice vinegar, a little green onion, sugar, soy sauce and some sesame seeds. 

Vac-Pac'ed em gently and put them in the fridge to cool for about 30 minutes...

 

Next, i did some simple grilled shrimp with olive oil and Old Bay......

 

Not too bad taste-wise.  The cucumbers were near perfect.  The vacuum had forced a great deal of the marinade into the cells...

 

The whole dinner came off quick.  That's the way I like an worknight dinner.

 

 

[SobaAddict70]

I'm envious that some folks have asparagus. Sigh.



About 1 tablespoon each of coriander and black cumin seeds, toasted until aromatic.

Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind till powdery.





Clockwise from top left: 1 clove rocambole garlic, minced; enough chopped Italian parsley and cilantro leaves and stems to equal 1/3 cup; 2 scallions, thinly sliced.



I added 1 chipotle chile, crumbled (I'm a wimp), a large pinch of sea salt and some leftover homemade preserved lemon pulp. Pulse until you have a rough-textured purée, then add 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil and stir in the coriander/cumin powder.



Chermoula.

This keeps about a week in the fridge and is best the day you make it; its potency declines over time.

It rarely lasts that long because I'm addicted to it. Making chermoula is just an excuse to buy more parsley and cilantro.  I use it in just about everything that's not a dessert, including as an accompaniment to roast beef sandwiches, banh mi, stirred into scrambled eggs or over roasted vegetables. It's fabulous.





Roasted heirloom carrots, with green lentils and chermoula



Fettucine with Meyer lemon, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and fried sage leaves

Edited March 13, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Anna N]

No reason to be jealous of my asparagus...it's imported. Locally grown anything is still months away.

[Ann_T]

Thanks Max.

 

Anna, your method for cooking fish, is one I will try.  Moe loves Petrale sole.  This would be a very easy and quick meal on a work night.  I've been buying asparagus from Mexico the last couple of weeks and it has been surprising good.

 

MM, those potatoes look wonderful.  

 

Last night's dinner.

 

 

Roasted a turkey breast.

 

[mm84321]

King salmon, warm vegetable salad, apple chutney

 

Sauce choron

Pommes maxims

[Kim Shook]

dcarch – I think that I could taste that crispy pork skin you showed back on 3/2.  Out in the country in the south you can sometimes still find a little café that serves fried hog jowl.  Like bacon on steroids, it is pure fried pork.  If it is deep fried, you get that crackly, hard to bite intensity that I remember from the pork of my childhood.  My English stepdad and I would fight over the crispy cracklins.  THAT is what your pork skin reminded me of.

 

Robirdstx – beans and cornbread!!!  I have a bag of great northerns and a hambone.  I think I know what I’ll be making next week!

 

Franci – everything that I said above to dcarch about his pork skin goes for your delectable belly skin!

 

Shelby – pheasant livers sound so good!  Never had anything but chicken, goose, duck and rabbit.

 

Ann – beautiful gougères!  I’ve only made individual ones.  I’ll have to try the ring for company sometime – it looks really impressive.

 

mm – I admit that I am so jealous of your beautiful, perfect pommes soufflés!  We had them in NOLA and I was determined to reproduce them.  I read everything that I could find on preparing them and completely failed.  Not ONE puffed up!  We ended up having homemade potato chips that night!

 

The last time I posted a dinner was March 1^st.  Apparently, I haven’t cooked a meal in 2 weeks.  That can’t be right, can it?  I guess it depends on what one means by “cooking”.  We’ve certainly eaten.  Our clothes aren’t falling off our bodies.  The refrigerator is disconcertingly full of Styrofoam clamshells.  And there are lots of soup cans in the recycling bin.  I’ve even thawed and heated up (homemade) spaghetti sauce and chili.  But today I actually cooked – sautéed and simmered.  Tasted and added salt and pepper and oregano.  Chopped vegetables and sliced meat into chunks.  And it was very good.  Good to taste and good to DO.  I don’t have my ‘mojo’ back yet, but I think it’s coming.

 

Dinner tonight started with…wait for it - Salad  :

 

Lamb & Lentil stew:

I haven’t made this for years.  But I found some beautiful leg of lamb steaks on sale at Kroger.  They were about 1-inch thick with just one little curl of bone in the center (like a ham steak) and were perfect for cutting up into stew meat.  As good as I remembered!  Served with crusty rolls and a meltingly soft brie:

Nice to be doing some cooking again – even if my vegetable chopping hand is a bit sore tonight  .

[huiray]

• Chicken leg & thighs, cut-up across the bone, plus a cut-up stray chicken breast, tossed w/ {finely cut red onion & some chopped smashed garlic sautéed w/ vegetable oil; curry leaves (கருவேப்பிலை; Murraya koenigii), ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric, hot red chili powder, (green) cardamom pods,some more oil}; sea salt; water to cover plus a bit; simmer; then sliced red Yukon potatoes; then hot green chillies towards the end. Seasoning adjusted to taste during cooking.

• Sliced green cabbage, sautéed/stir-fried w/ browning, in a very hot pan, w/ some Himalayan salt tossed into the almost smoking oil and a good handful of whole white peppercorns.

• White rice (Basmati).

 

Edited March 14, 2014 by huiray (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

One of my favorite dishes for dinner the other night - linguine with clams. Noilly Prat extra dry for the liquid. Little bits of pancetta; a lot of pecorino. I was out of parsley and used leaves from the celeriac root I just got in my CSA. Served with plenty of homemade buckwheat bread.

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2014 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[mm84321]

Marinated salmon with warm potato salad

Salmon with asparagus, sauce arugula

Poularde carbonara

[robirdstx]

BBQ Pulled Pork on a Toasted Onion Roll with Onion, Dill Pickle and Deli Mustard

[Paul Bacino]

Made " Halibut Cakes"  --  This is simple Halibut from my patient in Alaska, Yukon Golden Potatoes, Cayenne , lemon zest, parsley, S and P

Made a crustini  and topped with a 145F/1hr egg

 

 

 

I like them thick, I use no egg, sear on a pan till crispy on the bottom and finish in a 400F oven..dress

 

[Ann_T]

image.jpg

BBQ Pulled Pork on a Toasted Onion Roll with Onion, Dill Pickle and Deli Mustard

I would eat this for breakfast.   That is one of the best pictures of a Pulled Pork Sandwich EVER.

 

Paul, Your halibut cake looks delicious. Nice crust.

 

I stopped on the way home from work yesterday at  Cowichan Bay Seafood to pick up fresh halibut.  The first of the season.  Unfortunately, I hadn't called ahead and they were sold out.  So I picked up some Pacific Dover Sole and handpicked baby shrimp.   Both favourites of Moe's. 

 

Made a salad with the baby shrimp

 

Sole was drizzled with browned butter and lemon.

 

I wanted halibut so I felt deprived. 

[rotuts]

PB:  Im guessing thats a mighty long drill bit you have .....

 

[kayb]

 

 

 

 

Asparagus crusted with marrow and parmesan, jamon ibérico, beef jus

 

Alaskan king salmon with marrow, chanterelles stuffed with shallots

 

 

That may be the most gorgeous looking piece of salmon I ever saw. Would have never thought of marrow with salmon.