Dinner! 2002

[Miss J]

Ah, that would go with the blood orange reduction then. *slaps forehead*

Thanks.

[Jinmyo]

Exactly, Miss J.

Disclaimer: Professional kitchen, staff of three. Still, please try this at home.

Potage of leek and potato. (I found two very large hunks of parmigiano that had gone rock hard so cooked in the soup. White wine, Dijon mustard, chicken stock. Puree.) Dressed with chive oil and porcini oil, a few large garlic croutons.

Liver sausages sliced and tossed with microgreens with a lemon vinaigrette.

Sauteed green cabbage with red bell peppers, cubanelle chiles, and black olives.

Pain de Pepin (French country loaves based on a recipe by St. Jacques).

Camembert, Rouy, Stilton. Green and purple olives.

[Wilfrid]

Liver sausages. Do you mean store-bought liverwurst type stuff? Or are you making these yourself (ves)?

[Jinmyo]

No, these are sausages made from veal liver by a guy at an Italian deli. He only does them occasionally these days as they don't sell as well as the hot Italian, mild and so on standard sausages. So I have him call me when he feels like doing them.

[clb]

Inspired by Adam B on the Fettucine al caviale e ricotta thread, fresh tagliatelle made with my excited and greedy almost-three-year-old. Well, she did a bit of kneading, anyway. With a sort of Alfredo sauce: double cream, butter, snippets of crisp streaky bacon and diced shallots. Very delicious.

Fresh figs.

clb

[Priscilla]

Mushroom risotto made with very large nice Creminis, which I really like the taste of, all by themselves. Like them less as they achieve Portobellaness, although so-called Portobellas have their charms, in the prep department, and I do like that (Nigel Slater?) sandwich with the snail butter. Carnaroli rice, whose grains are so large and chewy and flavorful, it's amazing. Amazes me, anyways.

Yet more so-called London Broil, Certified Angus top sirloin, cooked in a very hot bare 12-inch All-Clad skillet, overhead fan on Warp 6, s & p upon turning, pan deglazed with the red wine on the table and enriched with a bunch of butter. Sliced thinly so as to show off its very red middle.

Salad of unexpectedly nice organic Romaine, which for some reason my local regular supermarket is stocking--hope it continues.

(Still not sure about that spelling...)

[Liza]

I dig ya on the Carneroli - much prefer it to Arborio, but that could be just me.

Scrambled eggs and rye toast last night.

[FoodMan]

Crispy fried coconut shrimp. Served with improvised peanut dipping sauce (PB, mustard, peanut oil, hot sauce, lime juice).

As a side I we had pan fried plantains.

For dessert: homemade sour cream cheescake, from Alton Brown's recipe.

FM

[torakris]

Last night's dinner was dressed up leftovers!

bad, very bad spinach and mozarella ravioli with a cheese and herb sauce (my MIL bought this frozen meal in a bag at Costco, and even my kids wouldn't touch it, so she gave me all the leftovers, I tried to improve it with a homemade tomato sauce but it was still nasty)

spicy coleslaw from Mark Bittman, this is actually quite good, I am just sick of it because my MIL asks me to make it close to once a week!

ritz crackers and dip made from boursin cheese with garlic and herbs, a little mayo, a little sour cream, and a small can of tuna. My children's request after eating this dip at a potluck on Sunday.

staek cut into cubes and sauteed with shiitake and enoki, popped on a bed of watercress and drizzled with ponzu (the only non-leftover)

[Schielke]

Crispy fried coconut shrimp. Served  with improvised peanut dipping sauce (PB, mustard, peanut oil, hot sauce, lime juice).

As a side I we had pan fried plantains.

For dessert: homemade sour cream cheescake, from Alton Brown's recipe.

FM

I did an Alton Brown one last night too,

Baked Mac and Cheese, I changed it up a bit by using half Sharp Cheddar and half Chipotle Cheddar. Tasty, tasty.

[Jinmyo]

I dig ya on the Carneroli - much prefer it to Arborio, but that could be just me.

No, no, honestly--it's just me.

No, it's the carnaroli. Real connaisseurs of risotto only eat carnaroli. Arborio is for tourists.

[FoodMan]

I dig ya on the Carneroli - much prefer it to Arborio, but that could be just me.

No, no, honestly--it's just me.

No, it's the carnaroli. Real connaisseurs of risotto only eat carnaroli. Arborio is for tourists.

Why is that Jin? what's the major difference between Arborio and Carnaroli? taste, starch or looks?

FM

[Jinmyo]

Carnaroli is much richer in starch and flavour. "Carne", as in "meaty", I think.

Wonderful stuff.

[FoodMan]

Carnaroli is much richer in starch and flavour. "Carne", as in "meaty", I think.

Wonderful stuff.

hmmm...

I still have maybe 3 cups worth of Arborio at home. I will try Carneroli next time I buy some risotto rice.

FM

[ivan]

Carnaroli is much richer in starch and flavour. "Carne", as in "meaty", I think.

Wonderful stuff.

No information re: name origin of "Carnaroli" can be found on the web. If it came from carne, it would probably have retained the "e", like other meat-derived Italianate words, such as carnevale.

Maybe it derove instead from carnale.

I did find a lot of people named Carnaroli, however. Risso Carnaroli was developed in the 1930s by crossing other existing varieties. Maybe Carnaroli was the name of the person who did it.

[Jinmyo]

Thanks for that, ivan. It was an idea that just sprang up as I was posting my answer.

[mixmaster b]

Asparagus and ginger gyoza (fried dumplings) with a lemon dipping sauce.

These sound wonderful, Jin! (As do all your dinner posts.)

I have been in a dumpling-making phase and would like to try them. Is the asparagus chopped finely? Are there any binders in the filling?

I assume pan fried, not deep fried? Also, a bit more detail on the dipping sauce would be lovely.

Last night we had a friend from out of town staying with us. Luckily, he is an avid cook, so he did not mind the (extened) cooking and hanging out in the kitchen portion of the evening.

My S.O. saw Mario Batali using the KitchenAid pasta rolling attatchment on TV, and ordered one on the spot. Last night was the first test, and it works beautifully! He made pumpkin ravioli based on a Mario recipe. He added a bunch of carmelized onions to the pumpkin before pureeing it. (The recipe calls for rather a lot of Balsamic, and he was not pleased with the results--the onions were great and helped balance the vinegar.) These were served with sage butter & parmesan.

Then we had lamb chops with sauteed broccoli raab, and several kind of sauce, also based on a Batali recipe. This was okay, but a bit fussy-80's style because of the sauces (eg roasted red pepper jus).

Dessert was thin, french style apple tarts.

Oh, and we started with 2 kinds of crostini: some with mushroom spread and some with tuna tartare.

We had lots of Foghorns (gin, lime jiuce, ginger beer) while cooking and various colors of wine while eating. My keyboard is loud, too...

[Sandra Levine]

Moules mariniere over linguini

Green salad

Rose-saffron poached pears

[Jinmyo]

Sandra, you used rose water?

[Jinmyo]

Asparagus and ginger gyoza (fried dumplings) with a lemon dipping sauce.

These sound wonderful, Jin! (As do all your dinner posts.)

I have been in a dumpling-making phase and would like to try them. Is the asparagus chopped finely? Are there any binders in the filling?

I assume pan fried, not deep fried? Also, a bit more detail on the dipping sauce would be lovely.

Last night we had a friend from out of town staying with us. Luckily, he is an avid cook, so he did not mind the (extened) cooking and hanging out in the kitchen portion of the evening.

My S.O. saw Mario Batali using the KitchenAid pasta rolling attatchment on TV, and ordered one on the spot. Last night was the first test, and it works beautifully! He made pumpkin ravioli based on a Mario recipe. He added a bunch of carmelized onions to the pumpkin before pureeing it. (The recipe calls for rather a lot of Balsamic, and he was not pleased with the results--the onions were great and helped balance the vinegar.) These were served with sage butter & parmesan.

Then we had lamb chops with sauteed broccoli raab, and several kind of sauce, also based on a Batali recipe. This was okay, but a bit fussy-80's style because of the sauces (eg roasted red pepper jus).

Dessert was thin, french style apple tarts.

Oh, and we started with 2 kinds of crostini: some with mushroom spread and some with tuna tartare.

We had lots of Foghorns (gin, lime jiuce, ginger beer) while cooking and various colors of wine while eating. My keyboard is loud, too...

mixmaster, thank you so much.

The asparagus (stems) are buzzed in a robocop, the tips left almost whole. A few eggs help bind. Minced ginger, drizzle of shoyu, white pepper. The lemon dipping sauce was pureed lemon with sake, s&p, and a bit of grapeseed oil.

Your meal sounded great.

Actually, my lemon sauces (I do a range of them) was based on St. Mario's lemon jam which I saw him make on the Molto Mario show: He cut a lemon in half, dropped in a blender, and buzzed it. Full stop. Mine is a bit more time consuming but I'm a plodder, not a saint.

I am an ediot:

I actually said "actually" twice in the same sentence.

ediot:

Urf.

[Sandra Levine]

Sandra, you used rose water?

Yes. I poached the pears in a light syrup glavored with rose water, a few saffron threads and a piece of cinnamon.

[Adam Balic]

Some of my wifes work friends came over for dinner last night, decided on an Autumn theme.

Mussels cooked/steamed open in Pouilly- Fume, shallots. Juicings reduced slightly, creme fraiche added and a splash of Pernod. Served with bread to mop up.

Roast Woodcock, with mushroom risotto (griolle, chantarelle, chestnut) and a mixed saute of Jerusalem artichokes, chestnuts (the nut this time) and smoked streaky bacon lardons.

Apple pie made from heirloom apples.

A very good British Goat's mild soft cheese (made in the style of Brie).

Wine was selected to match each part of the meal.

Woodcock was excellent in flavour (slightly overcooked, but still tender), but the artichoke, chestnut and bacon saute thing. Perfect flavours together and with the game.

Edit: forgot to add: Salad of Venetian endive with asparagus tips, freshly cooked new bolotti beans and grilled red pepper. With PX sherry vinegar and olive oil.

[Miss J]

Great menu, Adam. I notice the geoduck didn't make an appearence, though - did you eat it all before your guests turned up?

We went for a super simple supper last night, and had scrambled eggs with chorizo, sauteed onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander with gently warmed corn tortillas from Cool Chile company.

[Adam Balic]

Great menu, Adam. I notice the geoduck didn't make an appearence, though - did you eat it all before your guests turned up? 

We went for a super simple supper last night, and had scrambled eggs with chorizo, sauteed onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander with gently warmed corn tortillas from Cool Chile company.

Miss J - Thank you. Geoduck (sand-gaper) was a no show at the fishmonger, won't be in until friday . I now have a hugh craving for chirizo and eggs, damn it.

[clb]

scrambled eggs with chorizo, sauteed onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander with gently warmed corn tortillas from Cool Chile company

That sounds good. Where did you get the tortillas?

clb