Dinner 2014 (Part 5)

[Shelby]

Sigh.  This is the last of the wonderfully smoked turkey that my husband made.  

 

Cherry tomato salad with 'maters and basil from the garden

 

 

Fixins'

 

 

 

On homemade bread

 

 

 

[CatPoet]

My version of chicken ala king with less cream and more flavour and no  soggy mushrooms.

[Kim Shook]

Patrick - thanks so much for your response.  The idea of long, deep cooking of tomatoes and sausage really appeals to me.  Sounds like a great dinner to welcome cooler weather with (if it ever gets below 90F in VA!).

 

Mmmpomps – great first post!  The eggs are perfect and so is that steak.  Lovely meal!

 

Coliver – it is ‘brined’ for at least 90 minutes and up to 24 hours.  Here are the directions on my webpage: http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/BEEFVEAL/Salt_Brined_Steaks_.html

 

Norm – gosh, your chicken parm looks so crispy and good.  Is there sauce under the chicken, on the pasta?  And is your chicken coated with panko? 

 

Ann – your chimichungas are rolled so beautifully!  Anything I roll has a blowout somewhere.  That’s why I never make egg rolls at home anymore!

 

Shelby – your turkey sandwiches are making me want to get Mr. Kim out in the yard!  Gorgeous tomato salad, too!

 

Cheese and soup for dinner last night.  Creamy Red Pepper soup:

 

 

I tried my hand at that cherry tomato jam:

I had some nice little local tomatoes - very good, but I didn’t have any fresh basil and used dried and WAY overdid it. 

 

From upper left Cheddar, Thomas Hoe Stevenson Stilton (UK), Sartori Reserve Bellavitano (US), and Everona Earthquake w/ peppercorns and vegetable ash (local).  See those nice little apple slices sitting with the dates?  Well:

Sliced the tip of my thumb damn near OFF.   Crap.  We’ve got a big cookout coming up this Sunday at church and I’ve promised a big chocolate cake and hot dog chili.  Hope Mr. Kim doesn’t mind being sous chef while I am executive!

[Smithy]

HI FauxPas,  With the Carnival squash, I cut it in half with a chinese cleaver that I hammer through the squash with a wooden mallet.  After that I scooped out the seeds and followed the recipe that was on the paper sticker that was stuck to one of the squash. It said to boil the squash in water for 15 minutes, meantime cook a couple apples in a skillet with butter then add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. allspice and 1/8 tsp. black pepper and then mix it in with the mashed the squash.

 

That sounds very tasty, Norm.  Have you tried not bothering to boil it, and baking instead?  I generally slice and scoop as you describe, score the interior, stuff with a savory meat/tomato/onion sort of mixture, bake covered until the squash is soft, then finish with grated cheese.  It has to bake longer than when the squash is boiled first, but to me the flavor is more intensely squashy.  I love those Carnivals!

 

Sigh.  This is the last of the wonderfully smoked turkey that my husband made.  

 

 

Well, tell him to smoke more, and pronto!  That meal looks wonderful.  Our tomato season is winding down (first frost tonight, maybe) and the sight of those beautiful tomatoes gives me a pang of mourning.

 

 See those nice little apple slices sitting with the dates?  Well:

*(OUCHOUCHOUCHpictureelidedOUCH)*

Sliced the tip of my thumb damn near OFF.   Crap.  We’ve got a big cookout coming up this Sunday at church and I’ve promised a big chocolate cake and hot dog chili.  Hope Mr. Kim doesn’t mind being sous chef while I am executive!

 

Boy, do I feel your pain.  I did the same thing to a finger tip last month, slicing onions, and spent 3 weeks typing and cooking without that finger.  Maybe you and I need to enroll in a remedial knife skills class. 

[Norm Matthews]

Hi Smithy, Yes I have always baked squash before this time.   I agree that baking would probably be more tasty.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[mm84321]

Lobster studded with lemon verbena, new potatoes, chanterelles and dried apricots

 

[heidih]

mm84321 - My lemon verbena is peaking right now and I thought of using it with seafood but worried about it overpowering with its floral side. How exactly did you treat the lemon verbena in your dish?

Edited September 11, 2014 by heidih (log)

[mm84321]

Mine also, which prompted me to make this dish. It is one of my absolute favorites. The verbena is studded into the lobster tails with a larding needle, and then gently reheated in a sauce made of noilly prat. The verbena perfumes the flesh of the lobster, but does not overpower the flavor by any means. Some other leaves are deep fried, which add a nice textural contrast to the dish, and are delicious by themselves. I would definitely try making this dish if you can, or perhaps using the same technique with another mild white fish. I imagine it could work well with bass, cod, or halibut. If you'd like the full recipe, let me know. 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2014 by mm84321 (log)

[scubadoo97]

Kim, sorry to hear of your your accident. Did that to the tip of my left index finger not long after getting an EdgePro. Had a dinner party and guests were about to arrive. Skipped the medical visit and just stuck the flap back down and bandaged it tightly and kept working. Took over a month to heal. Can't really tell now. All looks and feels normal unless you look really closely for the scar.

[c oliver]

 

Mine also, which prompted me to make this dish. It is one of my absolute favorites. The verbena is studded into the lobster tails with a larding needle, and then gently reheated in a sauce made of noilly prat. The verbena perfumes the flesh of the lobster, but does not overpower the flavor by any means. Some other leaves are deep fried, which add a nice textural contrast to the dish, and are delicious by themselves. I would definitely try making this dish if you can, or perhaps using the same technique with another mild white fish. I imagine it could work well with bass, cod, or halibut. If you'd like the full recipe, let me know. 

 

 

 

What went in your sauce besides the vermouth please?

[mm84321]

2 minced shallots, 150ml of vermouth, reduced to a glaze, add two tablespoons of double cream and emulsify with 120g of butter. 

[Anna N]

Delicata squash stuffed with onions, sausage meat, chopped baby bok choy seasoned with Trader Joe's 21 spice seasoning. Grape tomatoes tossed with salt, a smidge of sugar and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

[c oliver]

2 minced shallots, 150ml of vermouth, reduced to a glaze, add two tablespoons of double cream and emulsify with 120g of butter. 

Thank you.  That sounds just lovely.

[SobaAddict70]

Italian night, which is just about every night at Casa Soba.

Scarola con acciughe e uvetta ("escarole with anchovy and raisins")

Spaghetti con le zucchine ("spaghetti with zucchini")

This is one of those dishes where "less is more". The sauce base consists of a soffritto of garlic and parsley cooked in olive oil, to which is added sliced zucchini; fry the zucchini until they're golden brown, then combine with cooked, drained spaghetti and additional minced parsley.

Edited September 12, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Blether]

I turned this beautiful fresh side of wild autumn salmon

 

 

... into these fishcakes:

 

Edited September 12, 2014 by Blether (log)

[huiray]

• Yong Tau Foo.

Soft tofu blocks, tofu puffs, fresh small "tung koo", bittergourd, zucchini, sweet orange & hot red (jalapeño?) peppers (from the "miscellaneous" bin at the grocery); stuffed w/ fish emulsion [Venus] mixed w/ chopped scallions & coriander leaves, ground white pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil.  Poached in chicken stock.

 

• De-ribbed Tuscan kale in the poaching stock (yum!), water added to make up for volume lost to evaporation.

• Lingham's Hot Sauce.

 

 

 

After stuffing before poaching:

 

ETA: It occurred to me that folks might think of "fish emulsion" as the sort of thing known in the Western World as fish fertilizer, from a liquid-y extract of fish bits and pieces.  That is NOT what is used here nor what is implied by the term in a E/SE Asian context. This is a fish paste, made from fish meat scraped from the whole fish (typically using a spoon).  It's the sort of stuff used for fish balls, and surimi (especially in the proper Chinese/Japanese context) when handled appropriately and perhaps mixed with other nice stuff.

Edited September 12, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Norm Matthews]

My apologies to Kim Shook. I did not see your question until now: "Norm – gosh, your chicken parm looks so crispy and good.  Is there sauce under the chicken, on the pasta?  And is your chicken coated with panko? "

 

The pasta was tossed with Parmesan/ cream sauce until it was absorbed into the pasta, then more sauce was served on the table for anyone who wanted to put more on the pasta or the chicken.  The chicken is coated with a combination of panko and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  The ratio is approximately 2 parts cheese to 3 parts Panko. Flour coat first was salted, then beaten egg, then panko and Parm. Reg.  It was browned in butter/olive oil, then the Mozzarella cheese was placed on top and melted in the oven. I chose not to leave it in until it browned. I didn't want to take a chance it would over bake and be dry.

 

PS sorry about your thumb. I know how painful it can be. I sliced the end of my finger and part of the fingernail completely off a couple years ago.... it grew back. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Ann_T]

Kim, I feel for you.  Hope your thumb heals quickly.

 

 

Roast Chicken dinner.

[rotuts]

Ann_T  that RCD  ( above ) is a thing of Great Beauty  !

 

its that time of the year !

[Shelby]

I made a sort of pork chile verde yesterday in the slow cooker.  I cut the pork roast up into small pieces, put them in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and garlic and then browned them.  After putting them in the cooker, I threw in tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, Hatch chiles and garlic.  I cooked it for hours and hours.  So tender and good.  To go with I made Rancho Gordo hominy, refried beans and cheese enchiladas.

 

Forgot to say I also added in some squash--both yellow and zuke.  Somewhere here I read that is somewhat authentic

 

I realize my plate looks all the same color, but it was still good

 

 

Edited September 12, 2014 by Shelby (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Mixed bean salad (from page 42 of "Jerusalem")

Zucchine alla parmigiana

Think of it as another way you can use up all those triffids. 

Recipe: http://goo.gl/5lSxpx

[Shelby]

Soba, your zuke parm looks delicious!

 

Lasagna night here

 

[huiray]

• Lap cheong ("wine-flavored" and "Cantonese-style") cooked in and with a pot of Basmati rice, dashes of sang chau (a kind of light soy sauce) added towards the end.

• Tong Ho (garland chrysanthemum) flash stir-fried w/ garlic, sea salt & vegetable oil.

 

[c oliver]

I made a sort of pork chile verde yesterday in the slow cooker.  I cut the pork roast up into small pieces, put them in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and garlic and then browned them.  After putting them in the cooker, I threw in tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, Hatch chiles and garlic.  I cooked it for hours and hours.  So tender and good.  To go with I made Rancho Gordo hominy, refried beans and cheese enchiladas.

 

Forgot to say I also added in some squash--both yellow and zuke.  Somewhere here I read that is somewhat authentic

 

I realize my plate looks all the same color, but it was still good

 

 

photo.JPG

Here's a Rick Bayless recipe for pork tinga.  You do it in the slow cooker, cubes of pork shoulder and smaller cubes of potato.  No need to brown first and it is excellent.  I made it last weekend with the grand-toddlers were here so left out the chipotles in adobo (dagnabbit) and they lapped it up.

 

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/pork-tinga-with-potatoes-avocado-and-fresh-cheese/

[ninagluck]

my dinner tonight, kitchen looks like after a bomb attack!