Dinner 2015 (Part 3)

[huiray]

 

 

Kay--I planted tarragon for the first time ever.  It's just languishing in my garden because I don't know what to do with it lol.  Your chicken dish looks good.....I like the idea of the potato crust.  I'm sorry it didn't taste good.

I love tarragon sauteed or steamed with any fresh green veggies, especially sugar snap peas and green beans. Also good with tomatoes, and corn. But in the event that you also have tarragon-on-steroids, start with a LITTLE BIT and work up!

 

Try chopped tarragon with egg dishes.  Try an omelette with it beaten into the egg mixture, with or without other stuff (diced tomatoes, say...or a fairly neutral protein...chicken...)  Almost any egg dish done in a "Western style" will go well with a dose of tarragon in it -- which is not to say that such dishes need tarragon, of course.

 

Try a tarragon (don't be shy about the amount) & mustard sauce (YUM!!) with sautéed chicken or similar.  Add in sliced button mushrooms if you like.  (p.s. the mustard should be a Dijon-type or similar, do not use something like ballpark yellow mustard)

 

Try tarragon as one of the herbs in a "herb salad" where the majority of the greenery are herbs.  Mustard-vinaigrette dressing.

[mm84321]

Foie gras poached in a morel mushroom and vin jaune bouillon, turnips and fresh herbs

[Kim Shook]

I've been wanting green goddess dressing and have been looking around for recipes.  Could you possibly share yours?

Here you go: http://recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/SALADandDRESSING/Green_Goddess_Chive_Dressing.html

[patrickamory]

Midnight black beans cooked from dry (not soaked but not Russ Parsons either). This incredibly simple serious eats recipe with a halved orange (the acid doesn't seem to retard the rehydration) is more than delicious. It gets better the next day and the day after in the fridge. 

 

In fact it's so good I can just eat it cold with a spoon straight from the fridge. 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

Salad.

[scubadoo97]

Midnight black beans cooked from dry (not soaked but not Russ Parsons either). This incredibly simple serious eats recipe with a halved orange (the acid doesn't seem to retard the rehydration) is more than delicious. It gets better the next day and the day after in the fridge.

In fact it's so good I can just eat it cold with a spoon straight from the fridge.

beans.jpg

I grew up not soaking black beans and after doing the soaking method I have reverted back to a more traditional Cuban, Puerto Rican method. Yeah they take about 2-3 hrs to cook from dried but they gain a lot of flavor from the aromatics in the longer cooking time which just can't be duplicated in a shorted cook.

And Patrick cold from the fridge the next day is like eating fudge. Super rich. It's a red light food

I take some beans out of the finished dish, purée them and add it back. Improves the texture IMO

Edited June 9, 2015 by scubadoo97 (log)

[huiray]

EV olive oil, sliced green garlic, sliced Knackwurst, broccoli florets, trimmed asparagus, fresh tarragon (just for the hell of it) plus chopped summer savory, then penne [Rustichella d'Abruzzo] and toss in the pan.  Season to taste.

 

[FauxPas]

It's been warm and I wanted some summer whimsy. Watermelon cubes stuffed with diced cucumber, feta cheese, a mild vinaigrette with some dill. 

 

 

Sous vide pork tenderloin, quickly seared and then served on top of mixed baby greens with a fresh blueberry-balsamic vinegar sauce and some dried blueberries. This wasn't perfect, and not as photogenic as I thought it would be, but it was still quite tasty. The real thing looked better. I was going to do a different veggie but ran out of planning time and steam (well, not literally) and had a lot of these little tomatoes and they are pretty decent.

 

 

[liuzhou]

Today did not go to plan, I had ideas of setting out early to the seafood market and buying far too much. However, I woke at 5.00 a.m. to the sound of torrential rain - monsoon level. That usually wipes out the whole day (or even week) round here. The joy of the tropics.

 

So, it was search the fridge-freezer time. I had some beef in the freezer which I defrosted then diced and put in a dry marinade of garlic, shallots, ground cumin, chilli flakes and salt. Also, diced some carrots. Browned the meat, added the carrots and some chickpeas which I had already cooked and stored in the fridge for something else. Added some wine and water and waited.

 

Dinner cooking

 

Served with steamed rice. And a beer or three.

 

 

Still raining. There are leftovers for tomorrow if necessary.

Edited June 9, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

Happy Tuesday, ya'll!

 

 

I picked our first peas from the garden yesterday morning!  First ever.  I've never been able to get them to grow, but this spring must have been perfect for them.  I've decided that it's very relaxing sitting down and "shucking" peas.  

 

 

 

My husband went fishing on Sunday and brought a bunch home.  I think they were mostly white bass.  Sooooo, fried fish, mac and cheese and peas.

 

 

[liuzhou]

I inexplicably really enjoy "shucking" peas, too.

[Arey]

Shucking split peas is a basic pleasure. You can sit down, relax, have a cup of tea or coffee, turn on the tv, watch the umpteenth rerun of a Law and Order episode and still have the feeling of accomplishment afterwards, as opposed to sitting down having a cup of tea or coffee, and watch the umpteenth rerun of a Law and Order episode.

[kayb]

Shelby, SOOOOO envious of you for the peas! No one around here grows them; guess if I'm going to have any,I'll have to grow my own. I seriously think this fall, I'm going to put in some raised beds, spend the winter composting them and getting them ready,and planting next spring. I want tomatoes, peas, asparagus, maybe squash, cucumbers, maybe melons. If I had room, I'd plant corn and beans.

Edited June 9, 2015 by kayb (log)

[Shelby]

Shelby, SOOOOO envious of you for the peas! No one around here grows them; guess if I'm going to have any,I'll have to grow my own. I seriously think this fall, I'm going to put in some raised beds, spend the winter composting them and getting them ready,and planting next spring. I want tomatoes, peas, asparagus, maybe squash, cucumbers, maybe melons. If I had room, I'd plant corn and beans.

I can't wait to see your new garden!  I'm surprised with all of your wonderful farmer's markets that no one does peas.  You need to get on those farmers! 

 

I've learned my lesson.  I need to plant the spring plants way earlier than my brain is ready to.  Like March-ish.  It just gets (normally) too hot in the spring for the peas, lettuce etc.

[Anna N]

Celery gratin.

[scamhi]

at the Arlington farmers market there were fresh porcini

 

sliced

 

and served with fresh thyme, shallot a big spoon of creme fraiche and roast chicken

[Dave W]

Fashioned this smoked beef and pork kielbasa last weekend and tonight whipped up a simple pasta dish reminiscent of my cooking in my late 20s when I met my wife. However I was not making sausages yet at that time.

[mm84321]

Beautiful peas, Shelby. 

[mm84321]

Stewed vegetables (artichokes, spring garlic/onion, fava beans, potatoes) in a fava and arugula pesto, chive flowers from the garden. 

[huiray]

A couple meals which had the background of this other thread running in my mind.

 

 

Earlier – Hot dogs [Hebrew National all beef], cooked w/ and topped (in the bowl) with instant ramen [sapporo Ichiban Chicken Flavor] (with the seasoning packet added in of course), trimmed leafy celery, sugar snap peas, halved crimini mushrooms, a couple farm-fresh eggs poached in situ, and the broth of course. (leftover soup w/ bits of chopped kale in it was also added to the pot)

 

 

 

Later – Meat sauce chez huiray, in a style I hadn't made for a little while:  Rice bran oil, diced shallots, chopped garlic, ground chuck (good stuff), chopped de-skinned fresh tomatoes (farmer's market), tomato ketchup [Heinz - "Simply Heinz"], double fermented soy sauce, jaggery sugar, rice vinegar [Marukan], a nice "cinnamon" (cassia) stick, some whole cloves.  Simmer till done, about an hour or so.  Served over spaghetti [Garofalo] and plated w/ chiffonaded Tuscan kale stir-fried w/ garlic.

 

[Anna N]

Tomatoes stuffed with mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and gently baked. Toasted and garlic rubbed baguette slices as accompaniment

[scubadoo97]

Sea scallops on a bed of fresh sweet corn, diced onions and multicolored mini peppers. No pictures but it hit all my buttons Yum!!

[Norm Matthews]

I made the black beans that Pactrickamory mentioned recently and also got some T-bones out of the freezer and made Adobo steak Tacos with Pineapple salsa

 

[scubadoo97]

Maybe it's growing up in Tampa Bay but black beans really do it for me. Cuban, Puerto Rican style with a splash of red wine or sherry vinegar to finish are as rich as dessert to me. Red light food!

[lesliec]

No photo, sorry, but last night I experimented with sous vide polenta per this recipe (approximately).

 

It worked really well, without the risk of the polenta sticking to the bottom of the pot and/or solidifying completely.  And it tasted good, which is also slightly important, as a base for a roast lamb shank.

 

I'll certainly use the technique again.  I like polenta, but it's always been a bit of a pain to deal with.  SV makes it painless.  I used the immersion method to seal a ziplock bag; a chamber would of course seal the mostly-liquid contents better, but for this recipe I don't think the amount of air sucked out of the bag is that critical.