Dinner 2016 (Part 4)

[HungryChris]

Linguini with white clam sauce and garlic bread. I used to make nice salads to go along, but have learned that they almost always get put away for the next day, so I no longer bother.

HC

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[sartoric]

17 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

Sv'd chicken thighs (from freezer), oven-baked fries and greens grown indoors (with much help from eG gardeners) dressed lightly with a limoncello vinaigrette. 

I'd like to know about the limoncello vinaigrette....

[Anna N]

@sartoric

 

it's a Batali recipe

 

1/4 cup limoncello

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp salt (I used less)

1/2 tsp dijon

1/2 cup  extra-virgin olive oil 

 

I added a glug of maple syrup because I found it on the bitter side. I think it will depend very much on your limoncello  and you will have to make adjustments accordingly. 

[Paul Bacino]

VEG --  No meat Thursday!!

 Caponata on Egg Omelet with my left over Nettles Pesto

 

Caponata --this was eggplant ,Onion, garlic, carrot, cauliflower, Mirin, Bok Choy, red wine vinegar, green olives, capers, red pepper with a touch of Sunday sauce

 

 

 

[scubadoo97]

@Paul Bacino  nice, and I'm wishing I had an eggplant.  Looks so delicious

[sartoric]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

@sartoric

 

it's a Batali recipe

 

1/4 cup limoncello

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp salt (I used less)

1/2 tsp dijon

1/2 cup  extra-virgin olive oil 

 

I added a glug of maple syrup because I found it on the bitter side. I think it will depend very much on your limoncello  and you will have to make adjustments accordingly. 

Thanks ! 

I have some homemade limoncello so will be keen to try this when I get home

[scubadoo97]

Smash burgers tonight with pan fried potatoes.  I used a carrot top pesto on the potatoes  while they browned.  Worked well

 

[kayb]

Fried rice and ahi tuna poke with pineapple. No photos.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I made eggplant parm for dinner tonight. I had some delivered a few weeks ago from a local pizza joint that I really liked and wanted to get close to it. Theirs was sliced thin lengthwise and breaded, but not greasy. I went through all my recipes for eggplant parm, and decided to try the one from Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh. They opened in 1975 and put out a cookbook in 1994 as a fundraiser after a fire destroyed their kitchen. They also have meat and seafood, but their real specialty is vegetarian dishes.

 

The recipe has you lightly salt and leave the eggplant to drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes and then coat with mayonaise and dredge in cornmeal, flour, parmesan cheese and lots of dried basil. Then you bake it at 450 F for about 20 minutes. I sliced it so thin it took two large cookie sheets to spread out a 1-1/3 pound eggplant.

 

This came out really well, and close to the texture I was shooting for. I thought about it, and it made sense that a restaurant would bake off the eggplant instead of more labor intensive frying. I might try it with olive oil instead of mayo next time, because it was just weird putting that into eggplant parm. I don't know though, since the chef probably tested olive oil when he developed the recipe, and it was a light coating that did not seem to penetrate like oil does with eggplant.

 

I liked the eggplant as is so well that I served it naked alongside thin spaghetti topped with the sauce and melted mozzarella. My husband really liked it too that way, and was excited that there was enough for his lunch tomorrow. I guess it was more oven-fried eggplant with a spaghetti marina side with cheese, but this was a winner.

[liuzhou]

 

Chicken and mushroom curry, rice and cucumber raita.

 

The yoghurt in the raita is home made and has been draining its whey for three days, so it is wonderfully thick.

[ElainaA]

Beautiful meals from everyone as always! It has been really busy here this week and I haven't posted much but I did take pictures.

 

Grilled pork chop with grilled pineapple and red onion and black beans and rice. That was the last of my coco noir beans from last summer's garden.   Since I've been growing them I just cannot use commercial black beans any more.

 

 

Bruschetta on home made bread with Trader Joe's red pepper spread, seasoned ricotta, fried, chopped artichokes and roasted red pepper. With pasta with a quick tomato and pancetta sauce topped with more of the ricotta and some of the artichokes.

 

 

A really easy one: grilled chicken with tomato chutney, roasted broccoli, and roasted potatoes and garlic.

 

 

And last night: kielbasa, potato and pepper hash. With a salad.

 

[Shelby]

SV chicken cordon blue with homemade pasta and more garden asparagus

 

[Okanagancook]

Great looking feasts Elaina.  I have a question about the beans.  Did you just plant some beans that you had purchased for eating?  I would like to try that.  

Shelby, you are the SV Queen of stuffed chicken breasts.  Looks nice and most with perfect accompaniments too.

[Okanagancook]

Last night was those oven baked frites in duck fat (again), roasted asparagus (which got over done waiting on the frites to be done) and stove top grilled lamb loin chops just with salt and pepper.  Ketchup for the frites.  

 

It always amazing me how long the frites take to cook.  I have a Codco convection oven which really blasts out the hot air and even so I had to raise the temperature to 570 F convection to finish them off before my asparagus turned to stone sticks.  The potatoes were soft and cooked after 15 minutes at 425F convection, turned the oven up to 475F for 8 minutes then cranked it to 570F for 10 more minutes, then finally they started to dry out.  I think next time I will partially cook them at 475F before the meal then finish them off at 570F.  I will try that next time.  I would like to serve them to guests but not with the uncertainty of the cooking times.

[suzilightning]

Back from the roadtrip and John will be off today for the weekend.  I really missed my kitchen so for dinner Wednesday roasted chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, gravy and olive oil roasted green beans.  Last night cheddar bacon bison burgers in pita pockets, a mixed green salad and macaroni salad made with red, orange and yellow peppers, green onions and a dressing made with Cain's mayo and some Italian seasonings.  Sending him off with some smooch and leftover chicken and potatoes for dinners up in Po-town.

 

Dinner tonight for me will be salad and some leftover tomato rice soup I pulled from the freezer.

Edited April 22, 2016 by suzilightning (log)

[ElsieD]

8 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Last night was those oven baked frites in duck fat (again), roasted asparagus (which got over done waiting on the frites to be done) and stove top grilled lamb loin chops just with salt and pepper.  Ketchup for the frites.  

 

It always amazing me how long the frites take to cook.  I have a Codco convection oven which really blasts out the hot air and even so I had to raise the temperature to 570 F convection to finish them off before my asparagus turned to stone sticks.  The potatoes were soft and cooked after 15 minutes at 425F convection, turned the oven up to 475F for 8 minutes then cranked it to 570F for 10 more minutes, then finally they started to dry out.  I think next time I will partially cook them at 475F before the meal then finish them off at 570F.  I will try that next time.  I would like to serve them to guests but not with the uncertainty of the cooking times.

 

They sure look good, though.

[Okanagancook]

They were pretty well perfect and not greasy but you could taste the duck fat.  Another thing that amazes me is how much they shrink.  I made three very large russets for the two of us and we had no problems finishing them off.

[ElainaA]

26 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Great looking feasts Elaina.  I have a question about the beans.  Did you just plant some beans that you had purchased for eating?  I would like to try that.  

 

I purchase bean seed especially for planting. The coco noir came from PineTree Gardens. It would probably be a bit cheaper to try beans sold for cooking (This packet of coco noir seed cost $1.75 and contains more than I have room for.) but I don't think I would trust the age of the seed.This way I know they were packed for this year's germination. 

Edited April 22, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[Okanagancook]

Ok, I shall look at our local garden stores but I doubt they have anything interesting.  Maybe I'll just throw a few seeds that I got from the bulk barn in the ground and see what happens.  Thanks.

[kayb]

On 4/22/2016 at 9:09 PM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I liked the eggplant as is so well that I served it naked alongside thin spaghetti topped with the sauce and melted mozzarella. My husband really liked it too that way, and was excited that there was enough for his lunch tomorrow. I guess it was more oven-fried eggplant with a spaghetti marina side with cheese, but this was a winner.

 

I think my favorite eggplant treatment is to cube it, toss it in a mixture of honey and miso, and roast it.

[rarerollingobject]

A single woman's dinner: morcilla with fried egg and potato crisps. It's a legitimate tapas dish, I tell myself, as I open a bag of salted kettle chips..

 

And a glass of sherry, from my grandmother's cut crystal Champagne coupes, because I'm fancy.

 

(I'm not fancy.)

 

 

[Anna N]

@rarerollingobject

 

Briiliant. Lends itself to many, many interpretations with or without Champagne coupes. 

[rarerollingobject]

And then I had this plum cheesecake for dessert. Too pretty not to share.

 

[Anna N]

 

Sauteed zucchini planks, sliced chicken breast and TJ's bottled Bruschetta. 

[liuzhou]

Kebabs. Pork marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic and chilli flakes; cherry tomatoes; red onion; green and yellow sweet peppers. Served with herbed rice.

 

 

I did eat more than three sticks.