Dinner 2020

[lindag]

1 hour ago, Dante said:

Chicken piccata with baby carrots and broccoli

 

Your chicken looks amazing.  What is your recipe, if you don’t mind.

[Shelby]

@Duvel I don't think I'd ever be able to leave that cheese shop or the butcher place.  I've never seen a prettier meat display.  

 

Eggrolls and broccoli beef

 

And for Valentine's salad, prime rib, brussel sprouts and strawberry poundcake trifle

 

[robirdstx]

 

Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Sautéed Zucchini and Yellow Squash with Fresh Oregano

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Yellow peppers, EVOO

 

Onion soup

[kayb]

Unfortunately,  you can't eat rabbit hunted around here, as the constant use of pesticides and herbicides on row crops tends to infest them with tumors.  I fondly remember dinners of rabbit and dressing, and rabbit and dumplings. 

 

I also fondly remember the Beatles, Butch and Bobo, rabbit hunters par excellence. 

[heidih]

18 minutes ago, kayb said:

Unfortunately,  you can't eat rabbit hunted around here, as the constant use of pesticides and herbicides on row crops tends to infest them with tumors.  I fondly remember dinners of rabbit and dressing, and rabbit and dumplings. 

 

I also fondly remember the Beatles, Butch and Bobo, rabbit hunters par excellence. 

 

Oh the time they are a changin

[Duvel]

I am happy that there is so much interest in rabbits recently ... maybe we chould consider this as a topic for one of the next cook-offs, @David Ross 😉 ?

[Dante]

16 hours ago, lindag said:

Your chicken looks amazing.  What is your recipe, if you don’t mind.

 

Thank you!

 

It's pretty standard piccata. I forgot to mention that I served mine over orzo.

 

Slice two chicken breasts into small pieces and pound them out with a tenderizer, then dredge them in flour with some black pepper mixed in.

 

Heat pan with two tbsp butter and two tbsp oil in it, add chicken when the butter stops sizzling, keep chicken moving until surface is seared, then reduce heat and just toss occasionally until all sides are browned.

 

While chicken is cooking, steam broccoli and carrots

 

When chicken is thoroughly cooked, deglaze pan with a splash of white wine, then ass 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup chicken stock,  1/4 cup capers, and 2 tbsp parsley.  

Add cooked broccoli and carrots.  Reduce heat and simmer about five minutes. If sauce looks a bit thin, add a tablespoon or two of cold butter and stir until butter is integrated.

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Garlic-herb butter pull apart bread

 

 

Creamy corn bucatini with sautéed cherry tomatoes, homemade ricotta, and frico

 

[Shelby]

I used the stove top smoker and did some salmon last night .  Added it to  a little alfredo sauce over ravioli and spinach.

 

[David Ross]

9 hours ago, Duvel said:

I am happy that there is so much interest in rabbits recently ... maybe we chould consider this as a topic for one of the next cook-offs, @David Ross 😉 ?

Yes that's a great idea!  I have a Cook-Off right now that is ready to go either today or tommorrow and then we'll put Rabbit on the docket.  Thanks!

[Duvel]

After aquiring my pizza steel I had to reformulate my dough recipe. I found that 65% hydration works better with my flour at the higher temperatures. I lowered the olive oil amount to 2% and with that formula I am satisfied.
What I am very happy about is that finally using fresh mozzarella di bufala does not lead to a soggy pizza anymore. My to go mix now is 25% Parmigiano directly on the sauce, and 75% Mozzarella on top of the cooked ingredients (if using). 
My biggest PITA was the transfer from the peel onto the pizza steel. After trying several methods with limited success (and messed up æsthetics) I found an intermediate solution until I master the transfer better. Now, I build the pizza on a trimmed piece of baking paper, load that directly on the steel and remove it after about 45 seconds, when the base has firmed up. A bit cumbersome, yes, but it is reproducible and leads to æstetically pleasing round pizza without compromising on the bottom spotting. My whole pizza cooks now at 4:30 minutes, with the steel just hitting 300 oC before loading.

Flavor, texture and presentation are now - at least for me - spot on. I am content 🤗

 

Mushroom & Salami ...

 

Crumb shot ...

 

Bottom spotting ...

 

[rotuts]

@Duvel 

 

so delicious looking 

[TdeV]

@Duvel,  may I introduce you to Super Peel (now at Amazon); it makes the job of getting the pizza onto the stone very simple. I've used this peel for more than 10 years, maybe 20. I believe the fellow once worked in a commercial bakery where to-be-baked goods are placed on a cloth conveying system; he has reproduced the idea for pizzas. The peel itself is either cherry or maple. I place the empty pizza shell on top of the cloth sleeve and fill it there directly (not a problem if you move briskly), then open the oven and slide the pizza onto the hot stone (caution on whole olives or cherry tomatoes–which roll!)

 

If you'd like to know more about the device, let me know and I will take lots of pictures next time I make pizza.

Edited February 16, 2020 by TdeV
Punctuation (log)

[Anna N]

I grew up on poached rabbit!  Not the cooking term but the other meaning. One of my uncles was a gameskeeper for a large estate in Lincolnshire. Frequently of an evening he would bring one of these home to my aunt. Whether the rabbits were actually poached or perhaps a perk of his job, I’m not entirely sure. I was a romantic then and quite familiar with the British traditional song the Lincolnshire Poacher.  I may have connected these things in my childhood mind. But I have no doubt how much I loved the rabbit pie that my aunt made from these rabbits.  The myxomatosis plague in the 50s took rabbit off the menu. I have made rabbit a few times but not very successfully. Now it is an expensive meat. I think the last time I checked it was between 25 and $30 for one rabbit. I will enjoy watching what others do with it. 

[rotuts]

yes.

 

quite expensive.

 

I made it a few times for my father in CA when visiting

 

from a very good and high end butcher.

 

w some mustard and Hunter-is French style

 

it was very good.

 

" tastes just like Chicken "

 

but a really full flavored Chicken.

 

One animal , can't recall the size

 

no head in the US BTW

 

was just enough for Two.

 

but very tasty.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

To me, rabbit is the "cleanest" tasting meat.     I love it just mooshed in salt, pepper and olive oil then grilled until barely done.     Juicy and delicious.    Wish I had someone to eat rabbit with!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 minutes ago, TdeV said:

@Duvel,  may I introduce you to Super Peel (now at Amazon); it makes the job of getting the pizza onto the stone very simple. I've used this peel for more than 10 years, maybe 20. I believe the fellow once worked in a commercial bakery where to-be-baked goods are placed on a cloth conveying system; he has reproduced the idea for pizzas. The peel itself is either cherry or maple. I place the empty pizza shell on top of the cloth sleeve and fill it there directly (not a problem if you move briskly), then open the oven and slide the pizza onto the hot stone (caution on whole olives or cherry tomatoes–which roll!)

 

If you'd like to know more about the device, let me know and I will take lots of pictures next time I make pizza.

 

 

I'll second this!  I have three EXO Super Peels.  Thing is once I acquired my pizza aluminum I could not get close enough to the oven to load the pie with the standard Super Peel.  The solution was the EXO Long Handled Super Peel:

 

http://amzn.com/B00H1JKHWO

 

 

In addition I have a prototype EXO peel for loading boules onto the small (10x10x0.5 inch) steel I use when baking in the CSO.  I'm worried though because when I go to the EXO website I get a message "Account Suspended".  EXO is a great company and the owner has been very helpful.  I hope they are not in trouble.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

@Dejah – thank you so much.  Would you use soy to season and moisten, or something else?  The dish that I’m remembering had a very thin light sauce that LOOKED like soy sauce, but tasted sweeter maybe?

 

@Shelby – I believe that prime rib gave me a relapse into a coma.  And where in the world are you getting such lovely strawberries?  I’ve just been bitching about out of season rubbish strawberries on the Valentine’s thread!  LOL

 

@Duvel– gorgeous crust.  I pass on the fungus, but I’d pick those off and devour that slice!!

 

@TdeV – that peel is the one recommended by ATK, I think.  I saw it in action on an episode and it looks fantastic. 

 

A couple of Saturdays ago, we road tripped 2 hours up to MD for a dim sum brunch (eG folks are the only ones I know who don’t find that fact bizarre – our local friends think we’re insane).  We then went to the National zoo and stopped on the way home at one of our favorites in Ashland VA, the Trackside Grill.  Jessica started with a Caesar:

 

We shared the baked crab dip and I had a cup of chili:

 

Mr. Kim had nachos and Jess had potato skins:

 

 

One of our very favorite restaurants in Richmond, Acacia closed this month.  It is one of our top 2 or 3 places to eat in the area.  We take out of town guests there and recommend it to folks coming into Richmond ( @Steve R. went after my recommendation and very much enjoyed it).  We were so sad to hear the news and as soon as we did, we made reservations.  Ended up getting a table during the very last week.  They could be excused for being low on supplies and not really up to par with employees going on to new jobs, but that was NOT the case.  Every single bite was delicious and up to their standards.  I started with oysters:

Fried with slaw and spicy mayo.  As usual, absolutely the best fried oysters I’ve ever tasted.

 

Mr. Kim had the white anchovies:

With grilled romaine and radicchio, fourme d’ambert (an ancient French bleu cheese), pine nuts and garlic dressing.  While everything we had was fantastic, this was the dish of the night.  Just outstanding.  People who don’t think they like anchovies should try the white ones. 

 

My main was crab cakes:

With grits, Brussels sprouts and their remoulade.  Mr. Kim had the pork schnitzel:

With mac and cheese, broccolini and mustard sauce (under the pork). This looks so plain – it was anything but.  Perfect crust on the pork and swoony mac and cheese. 

 

Dessert was an apple cobbler bar:

With dulce de leche and caramel ice cream.

 

Acacia is just a stellar restaurant.  The chef/owner was voted one of the best new chefs of 1999 by Food & Wine Magazine and since then he’s gotten 4 Beard nominations.  They insist that they will be opening another restaurant and we really hope that is true. 

 

Another day and another one of my “I’m sick, but hungry” meals – before dinner nibbles:

Sourdough, bleu cheese, dipping olive oil, and Alp Blossom Austrian cheese. 

 

Shrimp Alfredo on linguine:

The sauce was refrigerated, but I did cook the shrimp.  Salad:

 

Last night’s dinner consisted of all the leftovers from Valentine’s day (shrimp, crabmeat stuffed soft pretzel, CSO bake/steam broccoli and coconut cake) plus a few things.  I set out a few cheeses:

 

Some crab (snow and king) claws that my cousin and his wife sent us for Christmas:

 

Salad:

 

 

[Shelby]

30 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

And where in the world are you getting such lovely strawberries

Oh they might have looked good, but they were merely red with a hint of something strawberry-ish.  You can continue bitching.

 

🤣

[haresfur]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

I grew up on poached rabbit!  Not the cooking term but the other meaning. One of my uncles was a gameskeeper for a large estate in Lincolnshire. Frequently of an evening he would bring one of these home to my aunt. Whether the rabbits were actually poached or perhaps a perk of his job, I’m not entirely sure. I was a romantic then and quite familiar with the British traditional song the Lincolnshire Poacher.  I may have connected these things in my childhood mind. But I have no doubt how much I loved the rabbit pie that my aunt made from these rabbits.  The myxomatosis plague in the 50s took rabbit off the menu. I have made rabbit a few times but not very successfully. Now it is an expensive meat. I think the last time I checked it was between 25 and $30 for one rabbit. I will enjoy watching what others do with it. 

 

When I was working one autumn in Nova Scotia, the poached salmon was the best. And all the locals said that the conservation officer got his job a) because he could hold his own when he got into scraps at the Saturday dances with people he had caught, and b) because giving him the job got rid of the worst poacher in the area.

[Okanagancook]

My rabbit story happened when I was 15 and on an exchange with my brother to a family living in rural Quebec...lots of hunting for food to put on the table.  One lunch we had rabbit soup.  The son of the family had the head in his bowl...he opened up the jaws and ate the little tongue.🤢  Grossed me right out.

[robirdstx]

 

Pan Seared Pork Loin Chops, Sautéed Onions & Mushrooms, Cabbage Casserole, & Lemon-Dill Green Beans

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Excellent combo of food items.  Attention to detail like the finely diced shallot/red onion with the beans.  And, some meats just have to be fried...like a pork chop.😃

[robirdstx]

 

@Kim Shook Perfection!