Dinner 2015 (Part 6)

liuzhou · October 31, 2015

Duck ragu with rice. I started the ragu at noon and left it to simmer away until 4 pm. I originally intended to serve it with pasta, as you do, but the temperature fell from about 30ºC at 10 am to about 18ºC by 5 pm. I don't know what it is, but I don't enjoy pasta when it's chilly*.

I added the basil after plating to allow it to wilt in the residual heat. I always do so. Cooking destroys it.

*I know many people are thinking 18ºC isn't chilly, but the sudden drop feels so and remember few homes and even fewer offices or shops have heating. We just put on more clothes. The temperature is due to climb up by the beginning of the week. It's one of those passing tropical storm effects we get regularly.

Edited October 31, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

kayb · October 31, 2015

Very much so. Normally you would stir in some sort of red currant jam to accentuate the sweet/fruity notes, so putting Kriek in it serves as well the sweet flavor so as it does add a really nice acidity.

Then I shall try kreik the next time I make it. Thanks for the tip.

liuzhou · October 31, 2015

Very much so. Normally you would stir in some sort of red currant jam to accentuate the sweet/fruity notes, so putting Kriek in it serves as well the sweet flavor so as it does add a really nice acidity.

I've used Kriek in casseroles and stews with mixed results. I thought it went well with duck, less so with beef and overpowered chicken.

With beef I would go for a stout (preferably Guinness) every time.

mgaretz · October 31, 2015

I haven't. Never thought the fruit would go well. It does?

Absolutely! I ate a lot of different restaurant's versions of this when I was in Europe a few years ago and the best were made with the fruit lambics. The best were kriek, but second best was framboise (raspberry).

Duvel · October 31, 2015

I've used Kriek in casseroles and stews with mixed results. I thought it went well with duck, less so with beef and overpowered chicken.
With beef I would go for a stout (preferably Guinness) every time.

It depends a little bit what you aim for. For most occasions I'd go with a stout or a darker ale as well, giving me a more British islands-type of stew which I love. The classic carbonnade flandres however does have pronounced sweet-sour overtones and benefits from a fruity-sour beer. Another option would be the "Alexander" from Rodenbach. I lived in Waterloo (near Brussels) for a while and one restaurant made an excellent variety of the carbonnade flandres with "Alexander" ...

ninagluck · October 31, 2015

I did a short culinary tour in slovenia, who ever comes around, go for it! On my way back, shopping in Italy: Cima di Rapa, cream and with anchovis and capers. some fish cheeks and pickeled mustard seeds.

Edited October 31, 2015 by ninagluck (log)

ElainaA · November 1, 2015

Compared to the meals above this is super simple. But it was what we needed after a day of hard physical labor. (Yesterday our wood for this winter's heat, 12 face cords, was delivered as was the topsoil for the bed of my new greenhouse. Today we stacked wood into the bins then raked and leveled dirt. I'm exhausted.)

Grilled strip steak, grilled asparagus, baked potato and mushroom sautéed in butter and sherry.

I learned the mushroom technique in the restaurant where I waitressed while in graduate school (Carburs in Burlington, Vt - I wonder if it is still there 40 years later?) They would have mushrooms cooking for hours and hours, adding more sherry whenever the pan cooked dry. I could eat a whole bowlful just on their own.

sartoric · November 1, 2015

Beef pot roast.

Served with sweet potato mash, kale sautéed with bacon and garlic, a sauce made from the pot roast liquid and crusty bread to dunk.

I have fresh silverside, seasoned with pepper, browned on all sides in olive oil, then rested. I sauté sliced onions until very soft, then add sliced carrots and celery. I make a bouquet garni from herbs including parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage and bay leaves. I make a space in the veggie pan and add the beef, the bg, and enough beef stock to come part way up the meat. I cover, and simmer slowly for two hours, turning every 30 minutes.

For the mash I boil sweet potato (2/3) and regular potato (1/3) in salted water until tender, mash with milk, butter and horseradish cream.

The kale gets de stalked and finely shredded. I crush garlic, dice bacon, and fry them in butter for about a minute, then add the kale. Toss and stir, add some white wine, season with salt and pepper, cover, then simmer until kale is done.

When I suspect the beef is meltingly tender, I remove it to a plate and cover with foil.

I fetch the bouquet garni out, reduce the juice over high heat, then use a stick blender to make a smooth sauce. Here is a chance to play with the flavour, I add Dijon mustard and salt reduced tamari.

Slice the beef, serve with the veggies in shallow bowls, lots of sauce and bread for dipping. Hot English mustard goes with this well, a piece of beef, a touch of mustard, a smear of mash, a bit of green stuff....yum.

Eat.

ElainaA · November 1, 2015

kale sautéed with bacon and garlic,

This summer, several times my daughter's CSA basket contained 2-3 varieties of kale (often along with chard and possibly other greens). I asked her what she did with it all. Her response was - "if you add bacon ANYTHING tastes good."

sartoric · November 1, 2015

This summer, several weeks in a row, my daughter's CSA basket contained 2 - varieties of kale (along with chard and other greens). I asked her what she did with it all. Her answer was "If you add bacon ANYTHING tastes good."

Yep, the addition of bacon helps with so many green veggies, Brussels sprouts come to mind !

patrickamory · November 1, 2015

Catching up here...

Grass-fed strips, grilled over wood coals and served with local (Boston) acorn squash and spinach:

Chicken thighs marinated in a citrus-garlic-herb-olive oil mixture and cooked at 450F on a rack in a half sheet, with rice and greens:

Couple of ribeyes from Hudson & Charles in the West Village, broiled:

Those came with rice and green beans, as well as boule-miche from Orwasher's, which did double duty to make steak sandwiches with the leftovers the next day. Not shown: pork chops cut from the loin also from Hudson & Charles, rubbed in Julia Child's spice marinade and sauted in cast iron (still have one of those in the fridge).

Finally a non-meat moment... the last of the heirloom tomatoes from Hepworth Farms - simple salad with parsley, and cannellini beans soaked overnight and cooked Tuscan style with a tomato, aromatics and a lot of time. Plus rice of course. Really a recipe for yellow-eye beans but they worked with the more subtle cannellini flavor... I'd bought guanciale as the base but to be frank I was a bit meated out (rare for me!)

Norm Matthews · November 1, 2015

We had company after trick or treating, and I didn't take any pictures, but I put a chuck roast in the slow cooker this morning with potatoes, carrots, and an onion along with seasonings, and made a pot roast. We finished off the the sour dough bread too.

Anna N · November 1, 2015

Patrick,

Your meals look spectacular.

Caesar salad (purchased but dressing home made) and a ribeye steak which I managed to overcook. Back to sous vide for my next piece of incredibly expensive beef!

liuzhou · November 1, 2015

The temperature picked up a bit since yesterday, so in order to encourage it, I threw off my highly temporary pasta aversion.

Penne with chicken livers and shiitake mushrooms in a spicy, creamy, basil-y sauce.

Couldn't decide which photo to use, so you get both.

Edited November 1, 2015 by liuzhou (log)

huiray · November 1, 2015

Watercress in chicken broth.

Cod fillets steamed w/ salted plums, Shaohsing wine, hon-mirin, sea salt, ginger, garlic, scallions, white & black pepper.

Leftover white rice.

liamsaunt · November 1, 2015

chicken stew

rotuts · November 1, 2015

liamsaunt

are those dumplings or biscuits or chicken 'burgers' on the top of the stew ?

Id sure like to hear more about them

liamsaunt · November 1, 2015

liamsaunt
are those dumplings or biscuits or chicken 'burgers' on the top of the stew ?

Id sure like to hear more about them

They are biscuits with parsley in them. The chicken was in the stew under the biscuits.

btbyrd · November 1, 2015

Italian ramen.

Parmesan dashi, smoked pork belly, lardo Iberico de bellbota, peas and carrots, 62C egg yolk.

Paul Bacino · November 1, 2015

And NOW.. for some completely DIFFERENT

Mussel Broth Ramen

huiray · November 2, 2015

Fish congee with stuff.

Water, jasmine rice (starting ratio 10:1) (more water added later), sliced ginger, a bit of rice bran oil, sea salt, simmer. Sliced aburaage. Sliced cod fillets added at the end just before being ladled out into the serving bowl. (Cod marinated in good Shaohsing wine, sea salt, julienned ginger before slicing) Topped w/ deep-fried shallots & ground white pepper. Accompaniments and toppings: L-R: sliced scallions, chopped coriander leaves, "pickled cabbage" (雪菜大王) (this one - top left in photo) zapped in the microwave for 30-40 sec, finely julienned ginger, Tung Choy (Tianjin preserved vegetable; 天津冬菜).

Almost done eating the bowl of congee with stuff added while going along.

Edited November 2, 2015 by huiray (log)

scubadoo97 · November 2, 2015

I had some short ribs in the freezer and wanted to use them.

In the sous vide bath @ 150 for about 18 hrs. Finished in the smoker for about 3 hrs at around the same temp. The bones pulled out clean and it cut like tender steak. Sauced with the bag juices that was cleaned up of albumin and herbs then reduced with a few squirts of Baby Rays BBQ sauce and Coke. Served with oven roasted butternut squash, roasted broccoli and salad

JoNorvelleWalker · November 2, 2015

A repeat of chicken marsala with the Lopez-Alt sauce left over from the other night. Half a small chicken baked 500 deg F for thirty minutes. Pan drippings deglazed with more marsala and added to the previous sauce. Then thickened further with a little Wondra, brightened with the juice of half a lemon, and emulsified with a butter swirl.

One of the prettiest dishes I have ever plated, along with some fresh parsley. As good as this was I could happily have made dinner from just the bread, butter, and coarse salt

https://www.finlandiacheese.com/deli-cheeses-and-butter/butter/

...had only I baked a second baguette. (At least I scored the loaf this time.)

As it was the half chicken and one baguette left me all but wanting. I crunched the bones, I sucked the juice.* When I ran out of methode rotuts I switched to zinfandel.

*Credit of course to Coleridge.

Arey · November 2, 2015

Sunday dinner. Carbonade Flammande on buttered egg noodles (Penna Dutch brand), green salad, a slice of what I've always called "hearth bread" but the KA Flour recipe I use calls "the perfect rustic loaf", a glass of Willamette Vallley Vineyards "whole cluster" Pinot Noir, and the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle. Growing up, we always had what was considered a proper Sunday dinner usually served between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, although I have mine around 6. Going into the kitchen after the Sunday dinner was cleaned up for any reason other than to feed the dog would usually make my mother shout"Don't make a mess out there and clean up after yourself because I'm not going to clean up after you!"

Despite being a septuagenarian arthritic bachelor I still want a proper Sunday dinner.
I made the carbonade using Chimay blue label ale., The recipe called for three large onions but I used three very big onions because lots of onions are a very good thing.I made it Saturday morning so it would sit in the fridge overnight,an essential step for stews, and short ribs I've always felt. Then I portioned it Sunday morning. Three portions in the freezer and the 4th for dinner. And, the mess from making a proper Sunday dinner entree, all cleaned up and put away hours before sitting down to dinner.