Dinner 2014 (Part 5)

[FauxPas]

Chestnut risotto

 

That chestnut risotto made me salivate, not sure why. It looks so lovely but I wonder what kind of chestnuts, is it difficult to source the materials or can I make something similar? You are always so generous with info when asked and your meals and photos are so spectacular.

 

You know, I was quite relieved when you made a (slightly) simpler dinner with the broccoli soup and cheese, etc the other night. You were becoming a bit scary with all those complex beautiful meals. I do love seeing them, but I want to believe you are human! 

[mm84321]

That chestnut risotto made me salivate, not sure why. It looks so lovely but I wonder what kind of chestnuts, is it difficult to source the materials or can I make something similar? You are always so generous with info when asked and your meals and photos are so spectacular.

 

You know, I was quite relieved when you made a (slightly) simpler dinner with the broccoli soup and cheese, etc the other night. You were becoming a bit scary with all those complex beautiful meals. I do love seeing them, but I want to believe you are human! 

 

Thanks for the kind words. The chestnuts I get from here: 

http://www.earthy.com/Fresh-Chestnuts-from-Earthy-Delights.aspx

They really are the best that I have had. Sweet and much more tender than the European ones. The risotto is made by coloring about 10 chopped chestnuts in olive oil and butter, then adding onion and continuing like you would for any risotto. Some more whole chestnuts get cooked in chicken stock with dried fennel and black pepper, then glazed in chicken jus and placed on top with a slice of pancetta. I thought the texture of the chestnuts alongside the risotto was very nice. You should definitely try making it!

[mm84321]

Cauliflower soup

Black bass in a bread crust

[basquecook]

Dinner for Miss K and I. 

 

The set up:

 

Onions getting cooked, oil getting onioned. 

 

 

cheesesteak

 

 

press it on the grill for a sec

 

 

she wanted hers a little more pristine. 

 

Edited October 24, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[Mmmpomps]

Taco Night, I don't do this very often, but I should. Mixed up my own taco spice mix, extra spicy!

 

 

I like mine over salad:

Edited October 24, 2014 by Mmmpomps (log)

[c oliver]

Taco Night, I don't do this very often, but I should. Mixed up my own taco spice mix, extra spicy!

 

 

I like mine over salad:

1962008_10152348588992703_8440425138148595464_o.jpg

Did you eat it as a salad or a taco?  We fix 'tacos' regularly.  I put that in quotes cause we add rice and/or beans so not really a taco.  We frequently grill chicken for this. Or any leftover meat.

[c oliver]

Taco Night, I don't do this very often, but I should. Mixed up my own taco spice mix, extra spicy!

 

 

I like mine over salad:

1962008_10152348588992703_8440425138148595464_o.jpg

Oops, missed your salad comment.

[Kim Shook]

Shelby – I love the clam chowder.  I am so impressed with what you manage out there in the middle of the country!!! 

 

Prawn – your Canelé are gorgeous.  What a lovely shiny crust and perfect texture inside.  I am deeply impressed!

 

Paula – your soup looks and sounds delicious!

 

mm – sardines in grape leaves is a genius idea!

 

Paul – I’d love to make scallops like that.  How did that work – getting the breading to stick to just the top? 

 

I finally cooked!  My BIL was in town from Arizona and he and my MIL and Jessica came for dinner.  Herb roasted pork tenderloin with fig jam and sherry vinegar sauce.  Without the sauce:

 

With:

This was incredibly simple and so good.  The tenderloin is roasted in the oven and the sauce made in the same pan.  The recipe called for 1 cup each of jam and water – but that was a little too watery for me, so I doubled the amount of jam.  I used sherry vinegar and it was the perfect pairing – it cut the sweetness slightly.

 

Haricot vert – steamed and sautéed:

 

Caramelized pancetta and fennel salad:

 

I also had slow cooker polenta with Parmesan cheese and a local sourdough bread.

 

Dessert was Ginger Mascarpone Icebox Cake w/ sautéed pears:

 

Well, I cooked last night, but met family in Fredericksburg VA for a late lunch today, so I’m sitting here at 9pm eating a fried bologna sandwich (no picture!!!).  I have no idea if Mr. Kim ate – he’s sound asleep in front of the football game already!

[Mmmpomps]

Did you eat it as a salad or a taco?  We fix 'tacos' regularly.  I put that in quotes cause we add rice and/or beans so not really a taco.  We frequently grill chicken for this. Or any leftover meat.

 

I had one soft taco that I ate over the salad, then ate the salad. So the answer is both Chicken would be great.

[huiray]

• Beef short ribs slow-braised (stove top) w/ lots of smashed garlic, shiro miso, some light soy sauce; water; bamboo shoots (winter-type), cut up; fresh daikon, skinned & cut up; and a few dashes of this and that.

• "Pull mustard" (雪裡紅) flash stir-fried w/ garlic.

• White rice.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

 Kim,

 

The pork looks perfectly cooked to me for lean pork like you have there. I like fattier pork cuts cooked pretty close to well done to render and crisp the fat.

 

Where do you get haricot verts? They look cooked from fresh, which I can never get around here unless I were to grow green beans and pick them young. (Too much shade, but I can grow impatiens like crazy.) We do have access to Trader Joe's who sell a quite good frozen version of haricot verts imported from France for pretty cheap.

 

Is that mascarpone cake with ginger and pears on your blog somewhere? If not, would you be kind enough to share the recipe? I love all these ingredients, and I'm on a mission to get to S-Mart to buy masses of ginger for stem ginger biscuits anyway.

 

I'm so glad to see you in good enough health to be cooking up this storm!

 

ETA: more pedant stuff, sorry. Why in blazes don't I see the first time?

Edited October 24, 2014 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Paula Wolfert's chicken with apricots and pine nuts.  Accompanied by a recipe of flatbread.  This is rather spicy chicken tagine in an apricot/orange glaze.  A dish I've made several (many?) times before.  Most memorably about two years ago as hurricane Sandy hit.  On which occasion I enjoyed the tagine in the cold, in the dark, over several nights -- and was very glad to have it -- while reading Jorge Luis Borges by flashlight.

 

But it is a Paula Wolfert recipe, so it takes a minimum of three and a half times longer than one thinks it will.  In this case five hours to prepare and one and one half hours to eat.  Even with wine ad libitum I could not quite wash down all the bread.

 

I might have finished before four am but earlier I was doing the prep work for another Paula Wolfert tagine that is cooking now.

[Morkai]

 

here is a shot of the chicken hours after it was fried.. it stays crunchy for the most part, in the fridge the last couple times.  good picnic chicken i would say..

 

If i had to over analyze.  that would piece of chicken, the drumstick in the front of the photo. The top meaty area was actually the side it was resting on in the fridge.. that's why it looks more flat and less textured.  But, yeh, not important.

 

 

 

 

That's the texture I have been searching for in my fried chicken. Do you mind sharing your process? I have been continually let down by recipes that sound promising only to end up with soggy texture after a few minutes, brittle hard crusts, or too-dark skin. 

[basquecook]

A few things go into the process. Firstly, I brine in solution for a day and then buttermilk for another day, ideally. I think the most important thing for flavor is the water brine. If I have only one day to make chicken, I brine long and soak buttermilk just more so for the coating. Take the chicken from the buttermilk and toss in flour. I add tumeric to my flour for color. Among various spices. The flour itself should taste like something. Salt, sugar, cumin, chile powder, garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, pepper black,

Pepper white, pepper pink, whatever else. And important part of breading is letting the chicken sit coated in flour on a tray in the fridge for sat least an hour. It will get tacky and become like a glue that sticks to the chicken. I also when coating the chicken, will slightly dip my finger back into the buttermilk and slightly touch spots on the bird and retoss around a little to almost make little areas where it's double

Coated. But subtle little areas.

For frying, I use a very steady temp. I also cook at a low temp. 320 to 300. I do 6 pcs at a time and depending on the size of the bird it's take 8.5 to 10 minutes to get to 167 internal temp. I use a sharp stabby BBQ fork to twirl the chicken every so often in the oil.

When I comes out of the oil. I put on a wire rack. You also have to watch it On the rack. Make sure it's not getting to moist or wet on one side. Once it stops putting out heat, you can leave it alone but,

If you aren't eating immediately I would rotate every few minutes. I sent 5 pieces of that chicken in a brown bag to my friend down in Philly and she said it was still crunchy. It's a true picnic chicken

Edited October 24, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[Toliver]

Is that mascarpone cake with ginger and pears on your blog somewhere? If not, would you be kind enough to share the recipe? I love all these ingredients, and I'm on a mission to get to S-Mart to buy masses of ginger for stem ginger biscuits anyway.

 

I'm not Kim but I found the recipe on her web site here (click). Enjoy!

[c oliver]

Pork ribs (found in the freezer, dated 11/11, FoodSavered, and no a hint of freezer burn), artichoke and spicy roasted cauliflower.

 

PS:  Once again, my photo was too big.  I never have this problem on any other site.  Oh well.

Edited October 24, 2014 by c oliver (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Kim Shook

 

" Paul – I’d love to make scallops like that.  How did that work – getting the breading to stick to just the top?  "

 

For the scallops  --  standard breading  --dip in flour  -into egg wash  -into potato flake --allow to set and dry a bit more in frig about 1hr.

 

Before frying  

 

  I think i did a 50 /50 butter olive oil  --it doesn't need to be smoking hot your just tring to cook the flake.. then finish in a 425 oven

 

Cheers  Paul

[Okanagancook]

 

Keller's duck breast from Ad Hoc with blackberry risotto.

[Crouton]

With the cost of beef skyrocketing lately I went with a Flat-Iron steak and roasted bone marrow. 

 

[Okanagancook]

Stuffed chicken legs in pastry with Andouille cream from Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking and Cauliflower Casserole from Paul Prudhomme's Fiery Foods that I love.  Total caloric load:  out of this world.  However, the chicken leg was excellent.  Next time I would use less pastry or perhaps roll it out thinner. And for the cauliflower, we used much less oil than called for.

[Okanagancook]

Stir Fried Chilli Pork with Cashews from Charmaine Solomon's Thai Cookbook.  My all time favourite recipe from that book.

 

[Crouton]

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage... servered with a pair of pork chops.

 

[Okanagancook]

Crouton, pray tell, how did you make those...sweet potato season is here.

[rotuts]

As Usual. everybody eats tastier than me .....

 

I'll have to charge up the PureFizz for some Methode Rotuts to ease the Pain ~

 

 

Crouton

 

Wow.  Soo good Sooooo beefy

 

Ive never made Marrow.

 

talk about being a Dump Ass ........

 

Im going to have to look into it based on Your Plate.

 

please dont pass this stunning failing around ....

[Crouton]

I followed this recipe loosely but omitted the ricotta and winged the proportions until I had a smooth dough. We've got close to 50lbs of sweet potatoes from our garden this year so I'm grasping for new stuff to do with them. I'm hoping to try a sweet potato ravioli this weekend.... perhaps a pie.  

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sweet-Potato-Gnocchi-with-Brown-Butter-and-Sage-233379