Dinner! 2002

[SobaAddict70]

Seared scallops in balsamic brown butter, with roasted cauliflower puree.

Roasted carrots, lemon zest, nutmeg, drizzle of Spanish EVOO.

Couscous (cooked in vegetable stock), chopped parsley, handful of currants tossed in for kicks.

Evian.

SA

[mixmaster b]

Sunday night:

Various cocktails made with Campari, inspired by Campari thread, consumed while cooking, to the possible detriment of the final product:

Cream of broccoli soup

Chicken breast pounded flat and rolled around a stuffing of chanterelles, button mushrooms and leeks (inspired by a recipe from Chez Panisse Cooking)

Served with pan sauce (white wine, butter, reduced) and

Isreali couscous with celery, chervil, and a bit of vermouth.

Stanford Sauvignon Blanc (nice.)

Pignoli cookies for dessert

Last night:

Pasta with a sauce of reconstituted porcini, tomatoes, lemon, and cream, from Rogers/Gray Italian Country Cooking. I love this recipe, have used it for several years.

Salad of sliced cukes, orange pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, boconccini, shredded basil, dressing evoo, lemon, s&p.

Uninsiping CA Pinot Noir

Too full to eat cheescake. Maybe tonight...

[Jinmyo]

Potato steaks (Large baked potatoes cooled, peeled, and cut lengthwise into one inch thick pieces. Fried crispy in EVOO and garlic.) with creme fraiche, chives, lumpfish caviar.

Lobster bisque (frozen lobster meat).

Large (U 10) shrimp, grilled with chipotle.

Sauteed baby spinach with much butter.

Salad of tomato and red onion tartare (heh) bound with ricotta and served on wonton wrapper crisps, dot of good balsamico.

[snowangel]

We had a birthday dinner for Diana (12 tomorrow), and at her request, I made:

Tod Man

Tom Yam Kung

Gaeng Gwio Kai (with bamboo shoots and Thai basil)

Stir-fried an odd assortment of greens and veggies I got from my favorite Hmong seller at our farmer's market

Dessert, in lieu of cake, was coffee ice cream with chunks of heath bars

[Rhea_S]

Salad of baby greens, shaved apple and fennel

Dilled potato and salmon cakes

Whole wheat honey cake with yogurt cream

[Adam Balic]

Egg noodles with Bok choi, bean sprouts, black cloud fungus, roast duck and holy basil.

Cooked noodles in liquid used to re-hydrate fungus and simmered with duck bones. Fried off onions and ginger added bok choi tops (while bottoms were steaming), wilted those, added garlic, fungus, bok choi bottoms, sprouts and noodles. Mixed together added ketcep manis to make a sauce along with some of the fungus/duck both. Added duck slices (which had been wrapped in foil and steamed to warm) and holy basil. Mixed tasted and seasoned. Grabbed big bowl collapsed onto sofa with the wog.

[Jim Dixon]

I ate this for breakfast, so technically I'm off-topic...Wilfred's mention of baked figs inspired me to toss a couple of ripe ones off my new tree (planted in April, bore small crop early, second crop now ripening) into the convection oven..I just split them, nothing else added.

Cooked until done (and when they came out they were sort of pulsating and, I must say, rather erotic), ate hot with sprinkled with fluer de sel, grinding of pepper, dab of mascarpone.

Jim

[Gavin Jones]

Had a single gentleman's supper.

Brace of (damnably french, but not bad) partridge roast with

an udder of butter. A few buttons for garnish.

And a slice of Brie to conclude. Washed down with decent

(v. minty) chilean cab.

[Adam Balic]

Peking duck with plum sauce. Wrappers etc followed by Pesto and pasta. I know, I know, but this combination was a request by visting family, so what can you do?

[Miss J]

Took two chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, tasteless), pounded them flat, and rolled them around a stuffing made of stale focaccia soaked in milk, cooked chopped well-drained spinach, parmesan and black pepper. Wrapped in parma ham, drizzled with a bit of EVOO, and threw in the oven to roast.

Ate with these really cool garlic-shoot-things I got at a Chinese market. They smell garlic-y, but when you roast them in a bit of butter or OO they taste mild and slightly sweet, like asparagus.

We also drank water. Not because it was the BEST thing to drink with stuffed chicken breasts in parma ham, but because we were trying to be a little bit healthy.

[mhadam]

Chicken pot pies (no bottom crust) but with a buttery chive/sage flecked top crust.

Salad of romaine, shredded daikon and shredded carrot with a vidalia onion vinagrette.

Caramel Apple coffee from Gloria Jeans.

*happy sigh* don't you just love cold weather.

[Jinmyo]

Miss J, I cannot remember the Chinese name but those usually are labelled as garlic shoots. Wonderful, aren't they? Great in soups.

Broiled kippers atop boiled cabbage mixed with a brunoise of poblano chiles and red Shepeherd's bell peppers and much butter.

Mashers made with Yuokon Golds and much cream.

Salad of grilled mushrooms (cremini, porcini, oyster) with baby spinach and shredded deep-fried leeks.

Raw milk camembert with fresh pain de Pepin.

[SobaAddict70]

Last night -- dinner with friends in Brooklyn: broiled pork chops, Gaeta olive-red onion relish (Gaeta olives, red onion, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, kosher salt, cracked black pepper) and nectarine chatni (OO, yellow onions, nectarines, red bell pepper, jaggery, molasses, raisins, fresh orange juice, vinegar, salt, cracked black pepper, coriander seeds, fresh lemon juice, chopped fresh mint), rice pilaf. Evian. "mochachino" sorbet (coffee/chocolate mix -- not great, but not awful either....)

I'll be in San Francisco from now (Friday) until Wednesday. Dinner at Fifth Floor on Monday -- report to follow...

Take care, everyone and have a good weekend.

Tommy...behave! hehe

SA

[mixmaster b]

Marinated albacore steaks in lemon, garlic, evoo, s&p. Grilled.

Grilled bread

Relish of grilled tomatoes, oil-cured olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, s&p

Haricots verts w/ butter

Nice cheap french rose to drink (Vielle Ferme)

Finally started in on cheesecake

[Jinmyo]

Rice cooked together with shitake and dashi, served in small portions on squares of nori with slived shitake atop.

Chinese celery and chicken soup with silken tofu.

Sake poached salmon on watercress with a yuzu dressing and julienned shiso leaves and deep-fried salmon skin atop.

Baby bok choy with a miso sauce.

Range of tsukemono.

[Adam Balic]

The last time I cooked (sat. night) was for our house warming party. I made:

- 1.5 kilos of nori rolls, loads of different sorts.

- Thai fish cakes.

- Deep fried wontons stuffed with pork, dried shrimp, black cloud fungus, chinese five spice, Holy basil, coriander, water chestnuts.

- grilled beef in mint leaves.

Party started at 9pm threw out the last ten people at 4.30 am. Three garbage bags full of wine and beer bottles (one half bottle left over), crushed glass all over the floor, terrible hangover, great fun.

[Simon Majumdar]

last night, after a few days indulgence in the US, I wanted simple.

So

Red Lentil Dhal with a Tadka of Fried Onions, Onion Seed, Fennel Seed and Patch Phoron

Cauliflower and Eggplant with Turmeric and Nigella Seed and a little sugar

light, nutritious and delicious and a welcome counterpoint to the red meat fest of last week

S

[Miss J]

Came in late last night, and wanted to catch the new series of The Office rather than spend time in the kitchen (for once). So I caramelised some cubes of butternut squash in a bit of butter, added red pepper strips, then stirred in some beaten duck eggs and a handful of rocket until the eggs had set in large, soft curds. Ate with lots of black pepper, whilst peering through my fingers at David Brent's latest antics.

[Akiko]

On Sunday night we had some sushi quality salmon and yellowfin tuna to deal with so we...

marinated half the salmon (very thinly sliced) in one lime with the zest, olive oil, lemongrass, a little light soy sauce (for less than an hour because that lime is very good at cooking the salmon).

marinated the other half of the salmon (again very thinly sliced) in lemon, yuzu juice, cilantro, and chili paste. Added some sea salt just before serving.

Marinated the tuna in soy sauce, sesame oil, rapeseed oil, rice wine, and sesame seeds, with a little galangal grated in. Then, coated the tuna in black pepper some salt and lots of sesame seed. Grilled the tuna just to sear and then sliced it up.

Set out some table salad, avocado, julienned cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, mint, and cilantro.

Put lots of dipping sauces out and then set a hot bowl of water on the table so we could dip our rice paper in, put some veggies and fish inside, roll it up, dip it in some sauce and EAT! Yum.

We had some fish leftover so I cooked it up, chopped it up, and then seasoned with more salt and pepper, added mayo, sprinkled green onions and sesame seeds into it. And we had tuna/salmon salad crostinis for dinner last night with some proseco. Best tuna-salmon salad I've ever had.

[Jinmyo]

Akiko, that sounds just lovely.

[Gavin Jones]

Where did you get your fish?

I roasted a chicken with a lime in. On a clump of watercress.

Some cheese. CdR with.

[Akiko]

Gavin,

I'm embarassed to say that I have no idea what the fishmonger's name is or the name of the shop and did not even chat with him about what was fresh...

I got it at borough market, the salmon was excellent quality, the yellowfin tuna was okay (I think, I'm judging by pretty high standards) quality.

Does anyone know if there are "standard" days that London gets fish deliveries? Any rules of thumb such as, "don't buy fish on the weekend"?

[torakris]

On Sunday night we had some sushi quality salmon and yellowfin tuna to deal with so we...

marinated half the salmon (very thinly sliced) in one lime with the zest, olive oil, lemongrass, a little light soy sauce (for less than an hour because that lime is very good at cooking the salmon).

marinated the other half of the salmon (again very thinly sliced) in lemon, yuzu juice, cilantro, and chili paste. Added some sea salt just before serving.

Marinated the tuna in soy sauce, sesame oil, rapeseed oil, rice wine, and sesame seeds, with a little galangal grated in.  Then, coated the tuna in black pepper some salt and lots of sesame seed.  Grilled the tuna just to sear and then sliced it up.

Set out some table salad, avocado, julienned cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, mint, and cilantro.

Put lots of dipping sauces out and then set a hot bowl of water on the table so we could dip our rice paper in, put some veggies and fish inside, roll it up, dip it in some sauce and EAT!  Yum. 

We had some fish leftover so I cooked it up, chopped it up, and then seasoned with more salt and pepper, added mayo, sprinkled green onions and sesame seeds into it.  And we had tuna/salmon salad crostinis for dinner last night with some proseco.  Best tuna-salmon salad I've ever had.

I guess great cooks think alike!

Today in my cooking class, I taught them how to make fresh spring rolls with various types of sashimi, veggies and lots of herbs. We also made a simple nampla sauce with lime, chile, ginger and a litttle sugar and a wonderful peanut sauce with fresh kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass.

Dessert was tapioca with coconut milk.

For dinner I wanter to use the leftover sauces so I made a gado gado type platter for the peanut sauce.

I steamed chicken thighs with their marinade of sake, soy, ginger, and Jaapnese leeks, then sliced and served with mint, cilantro, slivered Japanese leeks and bibb lettuce. Roll everyhting together in the lettuce an ddip into the nampla sauce. Also had jasmine rice and some homemade kimchi my Korean friend brought over.

[mixmaster b]

...and a wonderful peanut sauce with fresh kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass.

torakris-

Would you share the recipe for your peanut sauce? The ones I have made all seem too sweet and lacking in complexity. Your version sounds great.

Thanks!

[torakris]

...and a wonderful peanut sauce with fresh kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass.

torakris-

Would you share the recipe for your peanut sauce? The ones I have made all seem too sweet and lacking in complexity. Your version sounds great.

Thanks!

ooohhh! love too!

I have worked hard perfecting this and find it to be a great all purpose peaunut sauce, though I am working on a chunkier sauce for satay.

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce (preferably Kikkoman made in Japan)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 to 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves

1 stalk lemongrass, minced

1/4 cup basil

1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1-4 tablespoons of red curry paste (this amount will depend on the brand and the amount of heat you want, I use the Mae Ploy brand and use about 1 1/2 tablespoons for a good but not overpowering heat. Add a little to start and taste as it cooks)

1 cup cilantro, optional (I love cilantro, so actually prefer to put it on the finished product as well. I have found though that a lot of people detest this herb)

Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer, cook gently over low heat being caerful not to let it boil.

When it starts to thicken (about 5 to 10 minutes) adjust to taste and then remove from heat.

Press through a seive and let cool befoere using. It can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!