Dinner 2015 (Part 5)

[Jon Savage]

[Host's note: this topic has been split to avoid an excessive load on our servers.  The discussion continues from here.]

 

 

There's the burger. A double because I can. It was good. Very good. 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2015 by lesliec
Added host's note (log)

[liuzhou]

Host's note: this ever-popular topic is continued from Dinner 2015 (Part 4).




First up isn't pretty, but the intense mushroom smell had my guests reeling and it didn't taste at all bad either. Probably the best mushroom soup I've ever made.

Three mushrooms - matsutake, shiitake and eryngi. The stock was the strained soaking liquid for the dried matsutake. A bit if garlic and some shallots. Blitzed in food processor. I could have done with some cream for a presentation swirl on top, but the cream shop wasn't playing today.



That was followed by pan fried / roasted cauliflower with Xuanwei ham. Finished with a dusting of shichimi togarishi.





No picture of the main due to a camera malfunction.

OK. Photographer malfunction.

Anyway, although tasty, it wasn't anything you haven't seen before.

Fruit to follow. Mangosteens and ginseng fruit.

[Shelby]

Breakfast for dinner last night.  Boudin, fried 'taters, zuke cakes....and a mimosa to go with

 

[liamsaunt]

Raspberry lime rickey

 

 

 

 

Tomato tart in a basil-garlic crust.  There was also sweet corn, grilled striped bass, and grilled steak but I did not have time to get pictures of those things before the starving hordes descended

 

 

[patrickamory]

I recently acquired a Griswold No. 10 and am very focused on cast iron cooking right now. Just tried Kenji's crisp skin chicken and vegetables in one skillet. 

 

I subbed yellow bell pepper and chopped onion for the brussels sprouts and shallots. For the jus, I realized after defrosting that I had bean broth rather than chicken stock and I'd forgotten to get lemons, so I used the bean broth with a pinch of crumbled Knorr, and used a little Banyuls white wine vinegar as the souring agent. It was delicious!

 

(Note: warning that if you follow Kenji's instructions to the letter, your "ripping hot" skillet may shoot great gouts of hot chicken fat at you when you deglaze it - this happened to me twice.)

 

 

[huiray]

Cantonese-style steamed striped bass.

Live fish selected from the tanks at a local Vietnamese grocery, bopped on the head & gutted; cooked shortly after, at home.

Marinated & steamed w/ Shaohsing "Hua Tiao" wine, sea salt, ground white pepper, sliced ginger, trimmed scallions (in belly cavity as well as on top of it). Fish only retrieved (all solids and liquids from the steamed fish/dish discarded), plated, dressed w/ fresh sliced scallions, julienned ginger, chopped coriander leaves and a sauce of {HOT rice bran oil in a small sauce pan quenched with (double-fermented soy sauce + sesame oil + good Shaohsing wine + water + ground white pepper + rock sugar) and brought back to a quick boil/simmer} poured over it.

 

Stir-fried lettuce w/ garlic/peanut oil and a bit of oyster sauce and some sea salt.

 

Several bowls of white rice, of course!

Edited August 30, 2015 by huiray (log)

[BonVivant]

I have intermitten tropical temperatures and today it's again unbearably hot and sticky, after a week of autumnal weather. A no-cook dinner  is the right choice on this hot day, with the AC on full blast.

 

A beautiful eel from one of my regular fishmongers, by a small-scale smokery in his village.

 

 

Sometimes it comes with a string

 

 

What I have in the house for (my version of) Smørrebrød. All the vegs in the photos are also in the salad. The beetroot is super sweet and the radish is bitingly sharp.

 

 

I removed the hook from the eels's jaw

 

 

There's some crème fraîche in this mixture of grey shrimp and roe

 

 

 

 

It's still warm tomorrow but after that it'll revert to being autumnal again so who knows what I'm making for dindin in the coming days.

[Norm Matthews]

A friend sent me this recipe and said it was good. It's called Tomato & Basil Meatballs with Cauliflower Puree.  It is good but I also made some spaghetti in case someone didn't like the puree which is made with cauliflower, parmesan cheese and almond milk.  My son liked the meatballs with the spaghetti and the puree on the side. Cassie isn't home from work yet. 

 

[Paul Bacino]

Paul Bacino

Love working with Garden Produce:

Stuffed Wild Rice Peppers in a Cherokee Tomato sauce:

Wild Rice steeped in herbs: Rosemary, thyme, Pineapple Basil-- then mixed with Mazy White corn, Zucchini, carrots, celery, red pepper, onion , garlic.. cooked in a Cherokee Tomato sauce.. most of this is from my garden!!

 

 

 

[Peggy Garbe]

Made some "Everything" Brioche burger buns - husband decided to grill some steaks, so burgers will have to wait until tomorrow

Edited August 31, 2015 by Peggy Garbe (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner tonight was not an unalloyed success but it may be instructive.  I bought some very inexpensive grass fed club steaks.  I don't recall I've ever bought grass fed steak before.  But the meat looked well marbled, and as I said, it was cheap.

 

I cooked it rare.

 

I've not been blessed by the tooth fairy, (nor by the boob fairy, for that matter).  Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, spit out.  Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, spit out.  Repeat.

 

I think it is called "club steak" because of the intended preparation method.  I know for the second piece I am going to anova it sous vide for about a month.

[rotuts]

if you do simple SV, grass fed beef turns out wonderful, esp the toughest cuts.

[Norm Matthews]

Grocery store meat depts. sometimes get creative with what they name steaks. Even if they don't, the same steak can be called by several different names.  Club steaks are supposed to be from the loin, therefore from one of the most tender parts of the cow.  Sounds like you got something else. I remember once when I visited my son in Seattle, he got some steaks for us that were so tough, I bent my fork while trying to cut it. 

[kayb]

 

Not a great photo, but boy, was it good!

 

Carnitas -- pulled slow-cooked braised pork shoulder roast, which had first been marinated in a dry rub consisting of salt, cocoa powder and spices overnight in the fridge. Cooked on low in the slow cooker for about 9 hours; pulled and the meat refrigerated overnight before being reheated in the oven Sunday. Should have been reheated in a skillet, but for the fact I had most of the stovetop busy.

 

Mexican rice that was the first time I've approximated the taste of restaurant Mexican rice as well as the dry, semi-fluffy texture. Long-grain rice rinsed thoroughly for 2 minutes, then sauteed for at least 10 in vegetable oil, then cooked in the oven in a mixture of pureed tomato/onion/garlic, chicken broth, and spices.

 

Cranberry beans cooked with ham, ancho chile powder, a bit of cumin, oregano and lime juice.

 

Arepas, made with pureed corn, masa precocida, milk and water.

 

I ate WAY too much.

[huiray]

A soupy tomato-meat sauce, with a couple of carbohydrates.

Earlier in the night, with fresh tagliatelle [Nicole-Taylor's]; then later, with Fookchow (Fuzhou) type thin wheat noodles (min6 sin3).

The sauce: EV olive oil, yellow onion (rough brunoise), sliced garlic, chopped celery, chopped carrots, ground pork, sea salt, fresh bay leaves, chopped de-skinned ripe tomatoes, salted capers [Mongetto] (rinsed & soaked), some turbinado sugar, some rice vinegar, dried oregano & dried thyme. No additional water or stock added; the "liquids" came from the tomatoes mostly.

 

Plus simple chicken broth w/ chopped scallions.

 

 

[rotuts]

""  Mexican rice that was the first time I've approximated the taste of restaurant Mexican rice as well as the dry, semi-fluffy texture. Long-grain rice rinsed thoroughly for 2 minutes, then sauteed for at least 10 in vegetable oil, then cooked in the oven in a mixture of pureed tomato/onion/garlic, chicken broth, and spices. ""

 

nice   I know just what you mean.

[Shelby]

Kay, that looks so good.  I'm impressed with your arepas.  I've never tried to make them 'cause they seem daunting.

 

Peggy, those buns are GORGEOUS.

 

Ohhhh Paul, stuffed peppers.  I didn't get a single bell pepper off of my plants this year.  (Rotuts wouldn't mind that lol).  Yours look delicious.

 

We brined a pork roast overnight.  I drug him out, poked some holes that I stuffed garlic slivers in, peppered and a tiny bit of salt.  Then I seared him on all sides and tucked him in the slow cooker on top of some sliced onions.  I wanted to make gravy so I did a cup of water with a bit of soy sauce mixed in and put that in the slow cooker, too. I was worried it might be too salty, but it turned out perfect.  

 

 

Oh and I made biscuits.  And, they turned out good.  Phew.  That's not always the case.  I'm biscuit challenged.

 

 

 

 

Mashed 'taters and 'maters to go with.

 

 

I also had planned on hominy, but I didn't start it soon enough and it wasn't done in time.  

 

Cherry pie for dessert

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2015 by Shelby (log)

[scamhi]

we had grilled chicken, grilled okra, and roasted fingerlings

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

we had grilled chicken, grilled okra, and roasted fingerlings

 

IMG_8977.jpg

 

Do you oil your okra or do anything to prepare it for grilling?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Grocery store meat depts. sometimes get creative with what they name steaks. Even if they don't, the same steak can be called by several different names.  Club steaks are supposed to be from the loin, therefore from one of the most tender parts of the cow.  Sounds like you got something else. I remember once when I visited my son in Seattle, he got some steaks for us that were so tough, I bent my fork while trying to cut it. 

 

I lay awake half the night wondering if I'd actually purchased "chuck" steak.  (My eyes are not so great either.)  But no, by the light of day the label reads:  "BF RIB BNLS CLUB STEAK".

[scamhi]

Do you oil your okra or do anything to prepare it for grilling?

 

JoNorvelleWalker- yes about a tbl of olive oil and some kosher salt

[mgaretz]

Char Siu style Chicken.  I marinated the chicken (boneless, skinless thighs and a breast) for about 4 hours by dry rubbing with packaged char siu mix (NOH brand) and then cooked on my smoker at 400F for 30 minutes, basted with honey for the last 10 and then again when they came off the grill.  Didn't sear them as we were hungry and I was late getting them on - but they really didn't need it.

 

[Paul Bacino]

BonVivant  ---   "I removed the hook from the eels's jaw"  Good idea 

 

Looks wonderful!!

 

Cheers

[robirdstx]

I knew I had not posted in a while, but was surprised to see my last post was way back in January. I won't go all the way back, but will catch up with some of the dinners I made this summer.

[scubadoo97]

Repurposing some red beans and rice from the other day.

Had a few head on Gulf shrimp. Made a shrimp stock then sauce with the head and shells then sautéed the shrimp and served along the red beans and rice which were enhanced with more sautéed finely diced celery, onions and a bit more heat