Dinner 2019

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

Sockeye from Shoprite.  Spice Trekkers' Gaspesian Salmon Rub.  My only complaint:  the asparagus could have used a sauce.

 

[Okanagancook]

12 hours ago, chromedome said:

As it happens, duck and Brussels sprouts were on the menu at my place tonight, too. The duck was a version of the five-hour slow roast that's been going around of late, and the sprouts were tiny ones from my garden (blanched and frozen a few weeks ago after harvest). In my case the sprouts were caramelized slowly in a skillet with onions from my garden. Other sides were roasted potatoes (in duck fat, natch) with roasted carrots and parsnips (the latter also from my garden) and braised cabbage (ditto) with onions and apples.

No photos, alas, as my kitchen is currently a shambles with Christmas baking. Also laziness...

As It happens, again, I made said five hour duck two nights ago....fail.  Maybe it was my duck but the skin never really got crispy (fat was rendered though) and the meat got dried out. 😫

Don't know what I did.  Followed instructions faithfully.  

How did yours turn out?

[chromedome]

Good enough. Lots of crisp skin. The bird of course was well done, because that's how this particular recipe works, but it was tasty enough and still moist.

I bought two while they were on sale, and will probably do something different with the other one, but the results were perfectly acceptable.

[dcarch]

20 hours ago, gfweb said:

Partially decorated tree.

 

Is that due to kitchen renovation over budget? 

 

Wonderful dinner!

 

dcarch

 

[Kim Shook]

@shain – I’ve never had sunchokes and that gratin looks so good.  How would you describe the flavor?

 

@Anna N and @liuzhou – I am quite sure that this anglophile would quite like stovies.

 

@JoNorvelleWalker – no canned tuna shaming from me.  Mr. Kim was mooning over some tuna in the fish case at the store Saturday.  I opined that my favorite tuna was the round kind😄.  And I’ll top you – I like plain old Starkist chunk light packed in water.  (I actually like it packed in oil, but Mr. Kim and Costco insist on water). 

 

@gfweb – jumping on the bandwagon to say how much I love your house.  I’d love to see more of it.  There is nothing I like better than a stone house.  Our very first owned home was an almost 100 year old stone farmhouse.  Very casual and country, but I loved the history. 

 

@chromedome – I believe I will have to try that duck recipe.  I am one of those folks who detests poultry cooked any lower than medium well.  I just can’t make myself swallow it. 

 

I’m not cooking much lately, but we did have a lovely dinner with some dear friends who came back to town for a visit.  We all love Greek, so we met at one of our old favorites,  Demi's.

 

Started with flamed saganaki:

Maybe my favorite food in the entire world.  Also, spanakopita:

Some of the best I ever remember eating.  We ordered something interesting sounding:

 

Dried apricots stuffed with ricotta cheese, Spanish almonds, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.  All five of us agreed that these were very good, but a little bland.  We thought that substituting goat cheese for the ricotta would be good.  I’m going to give it a try with goat cheese, marcona almonds, and saba. 

 

Our entrees - sundried tomato, capers, and artichoke hearts on linguini:

 

Paella – Spanish chorizo, mussels, shrimp, cod and calamari and topped with fried oysters:

 

Spanish chorizo and ham soup with white beans, tomato, onions, garlic, and peppers and the spinach, kale, & arugula salad with apricots, red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, and walnuts in a creamy feta dressing:

 

Chicken souvlaki:

 

One of the specials – monkfish with crabmeat and shrimp:

 

Desserts were baklava:

 

Sweet cheese empanada with vanilla ice cream:

 

And egg nog crème brulee:

 

Everything was absolutely delicious – better than any other time we’ve been.  I was especially impressed with the paella.  So many places where you can go wrong and each element was cooked so well. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Kim Shook (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@Kim Shook my tuna in question was Whole Foods 365.  But packed in oil.  Always oil.  Water packed tuna is gross.

 

[Anna N]

Usually or perhaps I should just say often, lunch is dinner leftovers. But tonight dinner was lunch leftovers. 
 

 

Reheated in the CSO (Cuisinart steam oven) to perfection. 

[robirdstx]

 

Bone-in Pork Loin Chops (Sous Vide for 2 hours at 140F and finished on the Grill) with Baked Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli

 

 

[liuzhou]

Last night. 窝窝头 (wō wō tóu) buns stuffed with beef and Hunan pickled vegetables.

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

A fresh bowl of Momofuku ranch.

 

[CantCookStillTry]

Red Thai Curry on the Bubble. I use the Mae Ploy Red Paste, but have to double the meat because my mens are carnivores and prefer Bites to Broth. 

 

[Nicolai]

Artsy Farsty private dinner.....

 

We had a nice dinner with a modern French styling prepared and served by a private Chef and we ate everything including the kitchen sink.

 

 

 

First the printed menu as it makes things look more posh:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started with a salad or should I say une salade or Premier Plat which makes it even more pompous. The assaisonnement was perfect to work with the watermelon - Goat cheese and Passion fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was followed by a medley of sea food

 

 

 

 

 

 

and cut with a Sorbet of Soursop and Yuzu pearls which was heavenly

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main were a kind of surf and turf which I personally find ridiculous. Filet Mignon and a Josper Prawn are too far away in taste and I do not see the point. They were both nice but there was only a single sauce which was for the Filet Mignon. Two dishes on the same plate. No dice for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and finally the kitchen sink dessert and we had to roll back home....

 

 

 

 

The winners were the salad and the Sorbet.....

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Nicolai (log)

[liamsaunt]

Pot pie with shrimp, scallops, peas, and fennel

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Arrived late in the country -> just get something warm on the table =

.Packaged four cheese tortellini in boxed chicken bone broth

 

And a little wine

[shain]

16 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I’ve never had sunchokes and that gratin looks so good.  How would you describe the flavor?

 

 

You should definitely get some and give them a try. They have a nutty flavor, a bit like sunflowers. they also resemble carrots a little sweet, not starchy. But sunchokes are snappier than carrots.

 

Simply roasted is a good start. Washed well and left skin on.

[Shelby]

Hot wings, blurry fries and salad with some more of that cilantro lime dressing

 

[KennethT]

4 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Hot wings, blurry fries and salad with some more of that cilantro lime dressing

 

What's the recipe for blurry fries?

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, Nicolai said:

Artsy Farsty private dinner.....

 

We had a nice dinner with a modern French styling prepared and served by a private Chef and we ate everything including the kitchen sink.

 

 

 

First the printed menu as it makes things look more posh:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started with a salad or should I say une salade or Premier Plat which makes it even more pompous. The assaisonnement was perfect to work with the watermelon - Goat cheese and Passion fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was followed by a medley of sea food

 

 

 

 

 

 

and cut with a Sorbet of Soursop and Yuzu pearls which was heavenly

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main were a kind of surf and turf which I personally find ridiculous. Filet Mignon and a Josper Prawn are too far away in taste and I do not see the point. They were both nice but there was only a single sauce which was for the Filet Mignon. Two dishes on the same plate. No dice for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and finally the kitchen sink dessert and we had to roll back home....

 

 

 

 

The winners were the salad and the Sorbet.....

 

 

 

 

I agree with the shrimp/filet  discordance.  Its a cruise ship view of fancy food.

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

What's the recipe for blurry fries?

About 20 glasses of wine.

[heidih]

Just now, gfweb said:

I agree with the shrimp/filet  discordance.  Its a cruise ship view of fancy food.

 

My first thought was "hodge podge" - tempura with sauced teak and potato puree.  The BBQ sauce?  Rest looks lovely

[TicTac]

I was kind of curious as to the mysterious thick purple sauce under the steak...

[scubadoo97]

10 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Pot pie with shrimp, scallops, peas, and fennel

 

Looks delicious 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

I was kind of curious as to the mysterious thick purple sauce under the steak...

 

I assumed just a purple potato thin puree based on the menu  https://www.friedas.com/the-ultimate-purple-sweet-potato-guide/

[kayb]

6 hours ago, KennethT said:

What's the recipe for blurry fries?

 

I think we're kin. I was prepared to type those very words.

[robirdstx]

 

On my own tonight. A couple of pork tamales from the freezer, steamed, with salsa verde.