Dinner 2016 (Part 9)

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

Clockwise from upper left: assorted olives with pits (Castelvetrano, oil-cured, picholine, Kalamata); assorted pitted olives (Castelvetrano, Kalamata, oil-cured); 1 cup pinot gris; 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar; 7 garlic cloves, crushed; 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes; 2 tsp. kosher salt; 1 tbsp. rosemary needles.

 

 

3 lbs. boneless leg of lamb.

 

 

Trim the meat into chunks. Get rid of any fat or cartilage. Season with 1 tsp. salt. Massage the salt into the meat and set aside.

 

 

 

Warm 1/4 cup olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

 

 

 

Add the lamb. Season with 1 tsp. salt, then cover and cook for 10 minutes while the lamb begins to brown and caramelize. Once the 10 minutes are up, uncover, pour off most of the fat, turn the lamb pieces over and cover. Cook for 10 more minutes. Uncover the pan at that point, turn the pieces again, cover and cook for 10 more minutes.

 

 

 

At the end of the long process of browning, the lamb should look like this.

 

 

 

Uncover the pan, then add the wine, the wine vinegar and the olives. Bring the liquid to a boil, then adjust heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, then uncover, raise heat and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Stir occasionally, making sure to coat the lamb and the olives with the sauce.

 

 

Agnello 'ncip-'nciap ("lamb with olives").

 

I added some chopped parsley towards the end and a tablespoon or two of salsa verde -- the Italian version, not the Spanish version.

 

Adapted from "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy", pages 180-181.

 

We also had:

 

 

Piraciacaba broccoli with garlic.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, rarerollingobject said:

Korean bul ssamgyeopsal, or fire pork.

 

With cheese and ramyun noodles, which is a very common variation and the breakfast of champions, if you ask me.

You make a sauce of Korean chili paste, chili flakes, Korean hot curry powder (which I keep in that old MSG tin), garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, honey and soju and sauté the pork belly (leftover, marinated in ginseng) in it with some cabbage, carrot, onion and perilla leaf, add blanched ramen and their flavoring packets (more chilli), chopped fresh Korean green chillis, sprinkle with toasted sesame seaweed and then pour over a blanket of melted cheese.

 

See cheese in action hither: 

 

 

Fire pork.

 

 

 

I have no standard of reference what this might be like.  It sure is pretty though.

 

Here dinner was roast potatoes and 30 second green beans, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Blessed with a bottle of Ghost Pines zinfandel.

 

[rarerollingobject]

Ooh, I accidentally posted this in the dinner thread..it was breakfast. But never mind.

[HungryChris]

Steak night

HC

[Dejah]

10 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

Korean bul ssamgyeopsal, or fire pork.

This looks amazing!

Is the Korean curry powder really different from others? I'll have to scout it out next time in an Asian grocery.

 

 

 

 

[Dejah]

Went to the farm house yesterday to check out the arborist's handi-work in clearing dead-fall. After paying him, he gave us some purple potatoes, some pink ones, and a bag full of beets.I like that kind of business deals
Took our time on the return trip just enjoying the fall colours and got home after dark.

Threw together burgers for the BBQ along with some of the purple potatoes in butter and foil. Very nice and I liked that they kept the purple colour! Apparently these taters are lower in starch.

Hubby had the carrots and peas and I had grilled pattypan squash.

[Tere]

This was one of the best meals I have had in the 6 years I have been back in the UK and anyone in the UK should run, not walk there before it gets its second star. Wonderful display of fun, innovation, and great cooking - reminiscent of L'enclume and Story but with strong Japanese influences and a big kitchen garden full of interesting stuff. Plus foraging <3

 

I need to write this up properly so bully me mercilessly please. I also need to actually book Sat Bains. I debated chef's table this time and didn't. Next time I would. They change their menu every quarter and I can see this being a regular haunt. It's an hour and 20 away from us but I said I'd happily be designated driver, it's that good - the wine flight was fantastic as well!

 

http://www.ynyshirhall.co.uk/dining/?gclid=CNbUqNHrvM8CFRM6Gwod0fAB-Q

 

 

(No food pics as hubby was embarrassed and it was his birthday present so I behaved  )

 

I have the recipe for the pickled elderberries

Edited October 2, 2016 by Tere (log)

[sartoric]

I butterflied a chook and marinated it with lemon zest and juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, sumac and cayenne. Halved cherry tomatoes were added half way through.

Served with roasted potatoes, carrots and shallots, plus wilted garlic greens. 

A sauce was made with pan juices, mashed tomatoes, the greens cooking water and a spoon of yogurt.

 

[Norm Matthews]

I have not used the smoker much this year but today I smoked a slab of whole spare ribs, ie not trimmed St. Louis style.  Last night I was getting the smoker ready for today, and made a couple loaves of sourdough French bread to go with the ribs.  With them we had store bought slaw, beans and potato salad

[Tere]

3 hours ago, Tere said:

This was one of the best meals I have had in the 6 years I have been back in the UK and anyone in the UK should run, not walk there before it gets its second star. Wonderful display of fun, innovation, and great cooking - reminiscent of L'enclume and Story but with strong Japanese influences and a big kitchen garden full of interesting stuff. Plus foraging <3

 

I need to write this up properly so bully me mercilessly please. I also need to actually book Sat Bains. I debated chef's table this time and didn't. Next time I would. They change their menu every quarter and I can see this being a regular haunt. It's an hour and 20 away from us but I said I'd happily be designated driver, it's that good - the wine flight was fantastic as well!

 

http://www.ynyshirhall.co.uk/dining/?gclid=CNbUqNHrvM8CFRM6Gwod0fAB-Q

 

 

(No food pics as hubby was embarrassed and it was his birthday present so I behaved

 

I have the recipe for the pickled elderberries

 

More info - actually it was £85 for us a head since we had a B and B deal (the very generous pours of the wine flight were £65 and I think a very good deal). The chef's table is £130 a head, unclear as to what deal you can get with an overnight stay. Tonight I would have said 5 of the 8 rooms were booked - 4 couples were eating in and I saw another couple at breakfast. No chef's table (unless they were the other couple - there's a back route to some of the rooms from the kitchen I think).

 

Rooms themselves were very plush. Great mattresses. We stayed in Vermeer which was pre warned as might be noisy as it's right over the kitchen - kitchen staff were super professional though and actually quite quiet given that - the odd thump and bump but otherwise good. View was crap. Would probably ask for another room to try out the next time but it was nice.

 

Living room area was lovely and comfy and had a lot of serious cookbooks to browse - original Fat Duck, El Bulli, Noma, Sat Bains, several modern pickling books. Could have turned up early and hung out there for hours.

 

Now to the food. I'll try to describe as much as I can.

 

1. Not french onion soup - lightly cooked onion in a dashi - can't remember much more but very tasty - start of flight rose Moet.

 

2. Bread - a standout course - they prove their sourdough for 7 days then char in a hot oven. I need to know more - the bread was great. Served with homemade butter whipped with white miso and a cube of the "wagyu" beef dripping. The "wagyu" beef referenced comes from http://www.iforswelshwagyu.co.uk/contact.html who we'd encountered at a foodie event at Glansevern hall - judging by the taste while not real wagyu he is worth his money. The dripping was amazing - one of the nicest things I've eaten in ages. The miso butter was outstanding too. Nice to see a humble side showcased like that. Loved it.

 

3. We all I guess know mackerel with gooseberry. This was a slice of very lightly cooked mackerel, with a sour bramble compote, very light, and a scratching of the hard wagyu backfat. With good sake. Great.

 

4. The pork belly was cooked for 3 days (waterbath I have to assume) then blowtorched. With a quite acidic Riesling and large cherries, lightly pickled. The referenced bacon was on top I think. Very good but not the standout dish. Great crunch though.

 

5. Pollock was doused in ash and cooked quickly. Served on tongs. The pollock was so good I have forgotten what else was there. I know it was also good. Riesling matched this well.

 

6. I think at this point we got some classic Chardonnay from Burgundy. The rib was salted but had been cooked for a long time. Decent crunch. The shiitake was partly in crunchy chips but also in a shiitake soy glaze. It worked well, better than I thought.

 

7.Caesar was one of the stand out dishes for me. Lettuce puree, sliced lettuce, crumb of bacon and anchovy, buttermilk cream. 2 week old sugar and salt cured egg grated on top with excellent quality parmesan. I want to learn how to cure egg that well, it was like @rarerollingobject's but completely solid. Worked well with the Burgundy. Amazing.

 

8. Grouse was another stand out dish. Served with a hardcore Barolo (1997) and the age really helped. Grouse was waterbathed then seared, then served with elderberries 3 ways - elderberry compote, raw pickled elderberries (which were good enough I demanded the recipe) and pickled elderflower. Finished with 100% chocolate. Amazing.

 

9. Welsh lamb came 2 ways, with a jammier wine that was good but I have forgotten. First up, short rib waterbath, seared with shiso (perilla) until crunch. Ate greedily. Second course, pan fried but with discs of mint kombucha and preserved onion on top. I thought the accompaniments overwhelmed the lamb. A dish of two parts.

 

10. Bread no 2 was caramelised onions, gravy and some of the excellent sourdough with some more of the amazing wagyu fat. Nothing there to not like. I think this was the point we got served a Trappist ale.

 

11. We diverted for cheese, and were surprised to be served an aged Auslese, but the aged Tunworth had been very lightly whipped and served with some herbs and a pickled cherry tomato or two. The tomato and the overall flavour profile was really ideal for the Auslese. It looked weird enough I actually called the sommelier back and queried him, but it really worked well. The best pairing of the night and I told him so. He was a definite addition to the meal - worked out we were serious wine geeks and very happy to geek with us

 

12. Lager and lime isn't my favourite flavour and I kind of zoned out here. I know they drizzled lager and there was a lime puree  but sorry, it was not for me.

 

13. Fruit and nut was more my style. It was served with an amazing ice cider from Devon and I nerded at them for a bit (I make applejack). It's a spoiler recipe so I probably shouldn't but I will just say I enjoyed it, one of the best dishes for me. I have a really savoury tooth and appreciated that the sweet dishes were either not overly sweet and / or were not too big. Overall I was very happy with the size of the plating and thought it was very well judged.

 

14. Tiramisu was deconstructed and very good. I think at this point we had got to the Tokajii and it was excellent. I would have actually put this as the finale if it were me as the blueberry/yogurt/syrup desert I thought lovely but my hubby thought too tart. Great match with the syrup though.

 

The extra was going through to the kitchen and getting lemon and eucalyptus foam from liquid nitrogen. Loved the showing off of the kitchen and the technique - eucalyptus was a bit overpowering for me. Loved the ambition though.

 

Overall, loved the Japanese touches, loved the food in general - at least 95% I thought was great. Some really good thoughtful service - for example, I am left handed and it's the kind of table service where they give you one implement at a time. It took two dishes for the server to realise I was left handed and present the dish accordingly. That's good. But what blew me away was they had remembered it and I got my yogurt presented the next day the same way too. That is attention to detail.

 

I'll be back. I'll take pictures next time

 

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by Tere (log)

[Tere]

The other nice thing about it was the line chefs came out, described their dishes and finished them at the table. I really enjoyed that. I am looking forward to booking the chef's table, taking a notebook and really putting these guys through their paces

[ElsieD]

5 minutes ago, Tere said:

The other nice thing about it was the line chefs came out, described their dishes and finished them at the table. I really enjoyed that. I am looking forward to booking the chef's table, taking a notebook and really putting these guys through their paces

 

What an amazing meal.  Pictures next time, for sure!

[Tere]

4 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

What an amazing meal.  Pictures next time, for sure!

 

For sure. If you look at the website you will get an idea. It was all plated beautifully, and, which is a tricky thing, plated meanly enough that a 13 course menu will leave you full but not satiated. It's a really difficult line.

 

I honestly want to schedule in a visit a quarter, it was that good, but will be back for the end of March for my birthday for sure!

[HungryChris]

Korean BBQ chicken is one of Deb's absolute favorites, so it is a regular on the HC menu.

I usually get my chickens from Aldi and take the two pieces of fat on either side of the body cavity, flatten them out between my fingers and stuff them up into the breasts like implants.

 

 

I have flattened them out so you can barely see the implants here, after I trussed the bird.

 

 

Then I trim the string and wing tips. In this pic, you can see the Korean BBQ marinade which consists of grated ginger and garlic, a big glug of soy, a big helping of gochujang, dry sherry, chopped chives, some sugar, rice wine vinegar,  some sesame oil and a bunch of cut chives.

 

The marinade is poured into a plastic bag with the trussed chicken, massaged to distribute,  and marinated, in the fridge for no more than three hours. Longer time will cause the skin to burst as it cooks.

This goes on the rotisserie / grill for 2 hours  at 350 F (for a small bird) and is basted every half hour.

Because the skin is the best part, cutting it up requires a very sharp knife to keep the skin where it belongs.

HC

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[Dejah]

It was garden day, so roast beef, baked pink taters, etc was on the menu. These taters, like the purple ones up-thread, also kept their colour after baking.

Made mushroom gravy thickened with xanthan gum. My meals are kinda governed by low-carb and the responsibility of providing such a meal also for my boss who is also watching his carbs. This was hubby's plate. The boss and I had mashed cauliflower.

 

[mgaretz]

Tonight I made beef stew.  The beef was chuck and the stew included potato, carrot, parsnip, peas, celery, onion and barley.  Made the in Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker.  The beef came out super tender.

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

Chicken legs braised with onion, black garlic, capers, anchovies, green chilli. Finished with coriander leaf/cilantro. Served with rice.

 

[shain]

Yesterday was Jewish new year's eve. I wasn't hosting, my contributions to the meal where:

 

 

Salad of whole bulgur wheat, cucumbers, tomatoes, scallion, onion, mint, pomegranate. Sauced with tahini, lemon juice, date syrup, sumac, anise and fennel seeds, chili and fennel seeds A few roasted almonds.

 

 

Tart Tatin; challah bread - Details in sweets & breads threads (respectively).

 

[ElainaA]

I've been distracted by visiting family for the last week - it's amazing the beautiful meals that showed up in that time. 

The family house guests have departed and things are getting back to normal. I do love these people but I also love normal - which means my husband and me and our four legged family.

Saturday (the first guest-less day ): Grilled lamb shoulder chops that had been marinated in Julia Child's mustard marinade for lamb,yellow tomatoes stuffed with red bell pepper, garlic, basil and breadcrumbs drizzeled with olive oil, pink fingerling potatoes roasted in my still new seeming CSO - these had a really nice texture and taste but at first glance looked just like kielbasa to me - and steamed green beans - the last from my third planting. So far my one issue with the CSO is size - it would not hold both the potatoes and the tomatoes. For efficiency i should have done both in the stove oven but I'm still experimenting with the CSO so the potatoes went there.

 

Last night Barney cooked. Sautéed chicken breast with tomatoes and porcini. Pasta with garlic and olive oil. Salad.

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

Cipolle in agrodolce alla romana.

 

 

Bucatini all'amatriciana.

 

 

Roasted figs with honey and red wine.

 

I also made a batch of slow-roasted cherry tomatoes for later in the week.

 

[sartoric]

Comfort food - herby pork sausages with onion gravy. Served with potato & horseradish mash, plus my homemade sauerkraut sautéed with speck, garlic and dill.

 

[Tri2Cook]

Apologies for my laziness, Not bothering with a picture because the burgers we're having tonight don't look any different than any other basic burger. These are 200 grams of beef each, seasoned with just salt and pepper. Tossed them in the smoker at 250 F, gave them pecan wood for the first hour, brought them almost to temp and tossed some aged cheddar on top to melt while they finished. Took about 1-3/4 hours total. Smoky, juicy, beefy burgers. This was my first time doing burgers in a smoker... it will not be the last.

[robirdstx]

 

Almost forgot to take a photo!  Cold-water Lobster Tail with Garlic Butter

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2016 by robirdstx (log)

[Anna N]

@robirdstx

 

What an amazing photograph. 

[robirdstx]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

@robirdstx

 

What an amazing photograph. 

 

Thank you. Cell phone in right hand while holding fork in my left.