Dinner! 2002

[pjs]

Mashed potatoes with goat cheese.

Thank you Liza.

PJ

[snowangel]

Sweet corn picked this afternoon, sliced tomatos and fresh basil, fresh green beans and a burger hot off the grill (topped with roasted red peppers. The veggies were so fresh and ripe they required no condiments. Come January, those of us in Minnesota will be dreaming of a meal like this. It was 96 degrees today and we ate on the picnic table, and went for a romp in the sprinkler afterwards!

[Liza]

Tonight: spearing scallops with rosemary, wrapping them in bacon or pancetta and grilling. To be followed by bowing down in praise of rosemary, scallops and bacon.

[Priscilla]

Aaah, the Magic of Bacon. Not to denigrate the contribution of the scallops, I hasten to add. Rosemary can fed for itself, if you know what I mean.

Last evening we had burgers, meat run through the old KitchenAid grinder attachment twice, homemade buns, and the requisite Proper Chips, 3/8" cross-sectionally give or take, run through the old deep-fryer twice. Gorgonzola atop for the grownups, Regulation Medium Cheddar for the under-21 set, well, the under-11 (but only just) set.

Notable among the condiments (for the frites, too, as per Mr. Samuel L. Jackson's memorable Quentin Tarantino examination of food-habit relativism) was orange-top lime-juice Best Foods mayonnaise, made in Canada, for some reason, but marketed to the Latin consumer, at least, the Spanish on the label leads me to this assumption. Previously boosted by me elsewhere, in some mayonnaise-related discussion.... What a good product. Knocked homemade outta its long-held, heretofore uncontested No. 1 slot.

[Steve Martin]

Marlin just seared on a teflon pan. Careful! It's a very easy fish to dry out.

New potatoes bashed with some spinach, rocket and olive oil.

Spring onions pan fried

A variation on sauce vierge - pink peppercorns poached in olive oil. Then, off the heat, tomato concasse, chives and lime juice stirred in.

Plenty of sea salt throughout.

[awbrig]

nice picture...

is that all olive oil in the plate or is there something else in that - seems like it would be too oily if indeed that was all olive oil...

looks really good though

[Liza]

Scallops speared with rosemary bundled with pancetta, indeed. Then leftover (!) wagyu beef wok-ed with creminis, onions, garlic, tossed with spagetti and Suvir's tomato chutney.

[Steve Martin]

is that all olive oil in the plate or is there something else in that - seems like it would be too oily if indeed that was all olive oil...

Sauce Vierge is basically olive oil mixed with lemon juice, tomato concasse and some fresh herb, often basil.

It is a light, versatile sauce.

Try warming olive oil with cracked coriander seeds. Then, off the heat, add lemon juice, tomato concasse and fresh basil.

Salt to taste and garlic is always an option.

[Miss J]

Frantically hanging onto summer last night:

Rubbed a mixture of hot smoky Spanish paprika, sugar, salt, black pepper, dry mustard, celery salt and garlic granules over a rack of baby back ribs and left in my fridge for around 6 hours. Then got the BBQ going and set it up for indirect grilling (one gas burner on, the other off, drip-pan on the bottom) and put my oven thermometer on the top grill rack. Cooked the ribs as slowly as my silly little BBQ would allow (it was pretty difficult to keep the heat down as low as 300F) and brushed them halfway through with a mop-ish sauce of cider vinegar, sliced shallots, dried chile pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. They turned out okay, but a little chewier than I would have liked. Obviously, I need to either get a bigger BBQ or find a better way of controlling the heat in my little one...

I also made a variation of my standby potato salad (new potatoes boiled, sliced into thick coins, tossed with sauteed shallots and red wine vinegar, then finished with a drizzle of olive oil and lots of chopped parsley and thyme), and a sort of cabbage-less coleslaw inspired by a lovely yoghurt-y vegetable dish I had at a Turkish restaurant last week.

Finished the whole thing with a few enormous, ripe black figs baked in a bit of red wine, honey, butter and bay leaf and served with a blob of thick Greek yoghurt. These were definitely the most successful part of the whole meal. (Or maybe I'm just a dessert freak.)

[Wilfrid]

Everyone seems to be finding figs except me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. (Oh, perhaps they don't sell them in butchers).

Last night, fritto misto with a rich demi glace sauce (served on the side so as not to swamp things). The fritters included chunks of salt pork, chicken livers, pig's kidneys, zucchini and yellow beans. The yellow beans worked very well. The other big success was the chicken livers, although they were violent in the hot oil - depsite being dried, then dipped in batter, I think they were leaking cold liquid on contact with the oil, causing minor explosions. I have some moderate burns to my right forearm - par for the course for home deep-frying I would say.

Abadia Retuerta's Rivoli, a tempranillo/cabernet (60:40) blend made for young drinking. Followed by Montgomery's cheddar and a Pont L'Eveque-style cheese calling itself Le Pont Couvert.

I also spatchcocked a brace of partridge and gave them a bath in warm rosemary oil, preparing to grill them tonight. But my Beloved has just announced her new diet, which for some unfathomable reason excludes game birds. All the more for me, then.

[Jinmyo]

Steamed sa ho fun (rice noodle rolls) and Korean cabbage with peanut chile sauce;

chrysanthemum soup (tong ho or shungiku greens) with a seafood broth and Nova Scotia mussels;

yakitofu (grilled tofu);

tsukemono of grilled red, yellow, and orange peppers with baby Shanghai bok choy with sansho pepper.

[SobaAddict70]

Its been ages since I had a chrysanthemum hot pot. Wow.

For the uninitiated, its a version of shabu shabu, except that you add chrysanthemum petals at the end and drink it as a soup.

SA

[Jinmyo]

Very hot so everything was chilled except for the gohan.

Gohan (Japanese white rice) with sheets of nori to make your own maki;

Korean cold shaved cucumber soup (oyinang-guk) with shaved red bell pepper, cubanelles and jalapenos with a chilled shoyu chile broth;

kimchee coleslaw;

salad of white turnip and green daikon noodles (turned on the Benriner green machine) with cubed age tofu and garlic chives;

Siberian ginseng greens with shoyu, wasabi, and clam juice;

scallop carpaccio and grilled then chilled shitake.

[torakris]

kimchee coleslaw;

??Is this colesalw with kimchee added or something completely different?

I also love shungiku (chysanthemum) in anything, my favorite is shungiku rice; peel off the most tender stems and place them in a bowl, toss with some soy sauce and sesame seeds, heat some sesmae oil until smoking and more on top . Mis and then add in in some fresh steamed Japanese rice and mix again.

I made dinner tonite for some very picky Japanese friends (no husbands, just the wives and kids) who wanted to eat something "American". I made meatloaf (with no onions because the one woman can't eat them, I will never do that again!), mashed potatoes, and a tomato salad with EVOO, basalmic, S and P and anice loaf of whole grain bread.

I admit it wasn't bad and everyone loved it but I was dreaming of eating at Jinmyo's!

[Jinmyo]

Re kimchee coleslaw.

Yes, it's just thinly sliced green cabbage, salted and drained for few hours mixed with the punchy dregs of a kimchee barrel.

[Wilfrid]

Crispy grilled partridge, grape and champagne sauce.

I really liked this, so here's how. Removed backbone from partridge and spatchcocked it (butterflied, if you prefer). Gave it a bath in olive oil with kosher salt and fresh rosemary in a very gentle oven for about forty minutes. Marinated in the fridge overnight.

Drained the oil away, re-seasoned the bird, grilled it breast down for about ten minutes, then breast up (with a knob or two of butter for luck). Evenly cooked through with a crispy, golden skin.

The sauce was peeled grapes briefly sauteed in butter, a glass of champagne (reduce to half by bubbling), stir in the pan juices from the grilled partridge. Season. Then, very carefully, add the minimal amount of flour to make it just slightly viscous. Bring it to bubbling again so that the flour is cooked, then pour over the bird.

Served with simply boiled yellow beans.

Cheese plate to follow.

I will be doing the same tonight, but hopefully with a wild mushroom sauce.

[Liza]

Blasted open an old Art Culinaire and had our way with Hans Rockenwagner's Beef Fillet and Lobster sandwich with Hollandaise sauce.

[helenas]

Made my first braciolini ever. As always with my italian cooking, thanks go to Mario and Kyle!

[Liza]

Thank goodness I'm back to clear this up.

For two: take two gorgeous beef fillets and have Davy grill them to perfection. On same grill, throw four lobster tails that you've cunningly speared with...a spear like device to prevent curling, of course of course. (But what would a dead lobster do with all that ice? Ba-dum-bum).

Shred up the lobster tail meat with some grated Fontina, cream cheese, diced jalapeno, S&P. Dribble of lemon juice. Toast little onion rolls and fill with your lobster salad.

Slice a potato really really thin, or as thin as you can with someone telling you "can you cut it any thinner?" behind you. On a baking sheet, place a piece of parchment paper. Paint with melted butter. Take some anchovy fillets and smush them very thin. Sandwich the anchovy fillet between two potato slices and place them on the buttered parchment. Top with more parchment, and weigh down with a heavy pan. Bake til lovely brown crips.

Sauce your beef filet with veal stock sauce (add the lobster shells when you've got the meat out), and a drizzle of hollandaise. Add the lobster sanny and potato crisp.

[Wilfrid]

Those anchovy crisps things sound not only delicious but also like the kind of thing I could make TONIGHT!

[Adam Balic]

Bourride (Fish stew, soup) with Aioli, steamed new potatos and roast baby Zucchini, tomato and peppers.

Fig and walnut tart.

[stellabella]

invited over to the neighbors' last minute last night--three couples dined al fresco, with a view of live oaks, cows and a lurid purple sunset:

grilled rack of lamb, marinated all day in rosemary olive oil, served with homemade rosemary and lemon jelly, along with skewered grilled rosemary squash & zuchini. braised asparagus served cold with olive oil & mustard dressing, topped with chopped hard-cooked egg, roasted red pepper strips and capers.

from my neighbor's son's bakery, jalapeno rolls, challah and sesame bread.

even though i didn't cook this meal, i felt it must be memorialized. it was so unexpected and so FINE.

[Wilfrid]

I did make Liza's potato and anchovy crisps last night. They came out a little bit more brown than I'd planned. I attribute this to the over-broad interpretation of Happy Hour by the staff of one of my local bars. I infer that they do not have shares in the business.

[Priscilla]

Let's see. Nice pork roast, erm, roast pork. Fresh ham, my Mother would call it. Espied it across the proverbial crowded room, my eye drawn by a beeyootiful mantle of crackling-in-potential. Slivers of garlic inserted here and there, here and there, s & p.

Potatoes cut up and bunged in to brown, after awhile.

Green beans from my garden which grow royal purple but end up greeny-green, cut longways soi-disant "French" style, although I imagine only us ignorant Americans who don't know how to pronounce words use this descriptor, sauteed with Lurpak and s & p. Roma tomatoes from the garden peeled, and sliced, and drizzled, with a mustardy vinaigrette. Portuguese-type rolls made by me.

I was disappointed in my reaction to a 1996 Firestone Cabernet Franc, a grape which perhaps doesn't hold up beyond the turning of the new year after harvest. Or something.

Edit: Forgot to say that the cherry tomato preserve I'd made several weeks ago was a good accompaniment to the roast pork.

[Schielke]

I broke in my first cast iron pan by cooking up a lovely Rib Eye steak. I had the steak with a pat of my shallot and bleu cheese butter with some homeade fries. I drank a nice cold Full Sail Amber beer with it.

I had a grand old time with myself.

Ben