Dinner! 2002

[CathyL]

oh my god that sounds wonderful.  i've been wanting to make an onion tart.  any good recipes?

On the PBS website there's a video of Soltner making the tart and a transcript of him talking through the recipe. Click here.

Watching him made me nostalgic for the days when TV food programming featured real chefs cooking real food...

[lesley]

I just bought a barbecue and decided to maximize grill space. I made a marinade of Spanish paprika, cumin seed, mustard and olive oil and marinated chicken and then threw onto the grill some potatoes, corn, portabello mushrooms. The next night my son suggested we grill fruit so we did plums and nectarines and then drizzled them with a sauce he made from maple syrup, lemons and brown sugar. he is seven years old. the sauce was exquisite on the warm fruit, like a cobbler minus the crumbles.

lesley

[Ron Johnson]

I seem to recall a similar dish he made while at Lutece, although it wasn't listed on the menu, and that he would only make it for people who specifically requested it

basically a round of puff pastry with a filling of onions, bacon, potatoes, eggs, creme fraiche.  Everything was layered with the eggs being in the middle and the onions as a base.

It was the first time I had seen potatoes in what was essentially a savory pie.

SA

I saw him make this on one the Great Chef's episodes. Eveything was the same except he used regular pastry and two crusts, top and bottom.

[SobaAddict70]

Your standard workout dinner yesterday evening: broiled chicken breasts and couscous, steamed veggies.

However, broiled the chicken breasts with a T. of olive oil and some Patak's eggplant chutney on top; slowly caramelized some onions in a bit of EVOO and a generous pinch of Hungarian paprika, then combined the onions with minced cilantro, chopped golden sultanas, and chopped blanched almonds with the couscous. And there was much rejoicing. =)

Steamed zucchini with a splash of ginger vinegar. Evian. Orange sorbet.

SA

[bushey]

Nina -- I've made an onion tart from The French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Loomis and it came out wonderful. Served it as part of a light French meal to complement our book club gathering for "Chocolat". Got lots of recipe requests. It's basically a yeast dough covered with slow cooked carmelized onions and creme fraiche. Definitely not as rich as the Tarte Flambe sounds, but it's delicious.

[Miss J]

Your standard workout dinner yesterday evening:  broiled chicken breasts and couscous, steamed veggies.

Soba, I SO knew you weren't just going to leave it at that.

Miss J

[researchgal]

Tried Tommy's grilled tomato idea last night and also gave the same treatment to radicchio--sooo delicious, the tomatoes, but especially the radicchio. Drizzled the both of them with a bit of balsamic after grilling, served with grilled halibut steak (halibut was good, too, but sounds like the side dish the way I've described here!).

[researchgal]

Steamed zucchini with a splash of ginger vinegar.  

Soba--what's ginger vinegar--something you infused yourself or pre-bottled?

[Ron Johnson]

Tried Tommy's grilled tomato idea last night and also gave the same treatment to radicchio--sooo delicious, the tomatoes, but especially the radicchio. Drizzled the both of them with a bit of balsamic after grilling, served with grilled halibut steak (halibut was good, too, but sounds like the side dish the way I've described here!).

How did you grill your raddichio? Did you halve the heads and place cut side down? Thats is what I did after drizzling with EVOO, but it didn't warm them all the way through before the cut side was charred.

[researchgal]

Halved the heads and started with cut side down and then turned them over half way through, probably cooked them a total of 5 minutes--the inner leaves were not thoroughly cooked, but warm and flavorful. The heads were on the small side, that might have helped. Also grilled with lid on the WEber, maybe that helped deliver some of the heat to the center of the heads.

[Jinmyo]

Salad of chopped lo mein with a sambal-mango-lime vinaigrette with crushed peanuts and chopped bannana blossoms to be spooned into iceberg lettuce cups; sesame tuiles with salmon tartare on the top third with a coriander leaf; demitasse of chilled pea soup made from a stock of parsley, coriander, and Chinese celery stalks with galangal etc.; large roasted white mushrooms marinated in a light hoisin/oyster sauce/seame oil marinade then stuffed with prawn and crab force, put under salamander. slivered scallion and red pepper thread garnish; bulgogi strip steak sliced sashimi thin; green tea granita.

It was hot.

[SobaAddict70]

Soba, I SO knew you weren't just going to leave it at that.  

Miss J

I'm predictable, aren't I? hehe

Researchgal -- its a commercial product -- ginger/honey vinegar. (no, Liza, its not as bad as Mrs. Dash....not by a long shot. hehe)

SA

[Miss J]

Because it was hot last night (and because unlike Jinmyo and SobaAddict, I am a lazy git), I made a simple bowl of pho.

Beef stock simmered with star anise, cinnamon, shallot & ginger whilst the rice noodles softened

Nuoc Mam

Thinly sliced raw sirloin steak

A few beansprouts

Chili

Mint

Thai basil

Coriander

Lime

Sat in garden, watching immature Bramleys drop off my tree as the cat preformed acobatics in the top branches.

Nice.

Miss J

[polly]

Last night i made chicken tikka masala... 

from a jar? that's not an insult, but i'm just thinking that i often use jarred stuff, and can't imagine making it from scratch. if you do, please share!

Yeah, I made the whole thing.

I had a bit of time that day so I made tandoori chicken and then used that to make the curry.

That said, I often use jars of stuff that I add nice things to, to spice them up a bit.

The recipe I used was from Suvir, posted recently in the Indian thread.

He's posted a lot of nice recipes recently, worth having a look at.

Pol

[tommy]

Because it was hot last night (and because unlike Jinmyo and SobaAddict, I am a lazy git), I made a simple bowl of pho.

it's amazing how easy it is to make a really good pho. honestly, i've never actually put the proper soup together, but i've used it as a broth with fish quite often. it's really wonderful, especially with the fresh herbs. set the fish atop the noodles on a bowl with the broth and other goodies, and you've got a complete dish.

great. now i want pho, and it's 9 am.

[Andy Lynes]

Andy:  Very nice menu.  Was each element of the salad fried.  Which size capers.

Thanks!

Just the capers were fried, which were the tiny ones. Does work better with the slightly larger variety which open out into flowers when deep fried.

Deep fried parsley works, but I haven't tried chives which I guess wouldn't.

[bushey]

Grilled boneless, center cut pork chops, black beans and rice.

Marinated the pork in a mixture of orange juice, dijon mustard, honey and curry powder. While they were grilling, I reduced the marinade into a glaze and brushed it on.

Black beans are a family favorite. Saute in a little canola oil chopped onion, garlic, diced multi color peppers and carrots until slightly softened. Sometimes I add celery if I have it. Season the vegetables with chili powder (when I'm not lazy I season with individual herbs/spices)

and add drained, rinsed canned black beans. Stir and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. It's easy to double or triple this recipe.

The pho sounds great. Miss J, does the steak stay raw or does it cook a little in the broth?

[Robert Schonfeld]

Fresh cranberry beans from the greenmarket, boiled with garlic, sage, bay leaf, drizzled with evoo.

Baked halved Cornish hens; deglazed the pan with white wine, spritz of lemon juice.

Shredded cabbage salad, lemon juice and olive oil.

[FoodMan]

We (my wife and I) had a very special dinner last night. I bought the best sashimi quality Tuna I could find at the market. I served a couple of slices raw marinated in some Soy, lemon zest and a touch of lemon juice. It was incredibly fresh and tasty.

For the main course I coated one side of the tuna steaks with instant potatoe flakes and pan seared them on both sides until the potatoe side became crispy and the inside was still rare for me and medium for my wife's steak. This was served on a bed of Shiitake mushrooms sauteed with Cinzano sweet garlic, red onions, radischio, arugula, and blood orange segments. Needless to say it was divine, the tuna just melted in the mouth and the contrast between the crispy crust and the rare inside was really sexy.

FM

P.S. No this is not my recipe, it is from Mario Batali's latest cookbook "Babbo".

[Jinmyo]

Welcome, FoodMan. Did you have an accompanying starch?

[yvonne johnson]

A couple of nights ago I made a very simple pasta dish.

For 2

Soak around 8-10 sun-dried toms in enough hot water to cover them. Let sit to 20 mins or so

Sautee 2 cloves finely chopped garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil

Cut tomatoes in thin strips and add, along with their water, to garlic. Some parsley can be added too.

Meanwhile cook spaghetti

Mix the lot together, season, adding a little more olive oil if needed, and top with generous amt grated parmesan. Surprisingly tasty.

[bushey]

Yvonne -- Sounds yummy. I love simple dishes like this because you can always play around with variations on the theme, adding pine nuts or some spinach for example. Another favorite of mine is to saute strips of portabella mushrooms in EVOO and garlic and toss with spaghetti.

[yvonne johnson]

I agree Bushey. Simpler the better--I like spaghetti with just olive oil and garlic. I like to taste the spaghetti. It does have a taste afterall, and often rich sauces overpower.

[FoodMan]

Welcome, FoodMan. Did you have an accompanying starch?

Thanks Jimmyo. No I decided against any accompanying starch because the mushroom/greens mixture comprised a very generous portion. Tonight I'll probably have a very simple yogurt cheese (Labne), olive, fresh mint, and tomato "sandwich" in Pita bread- one of my all time favorite childhood foods.

FM

[bushey]

Last night I made steamed fish for the first time and was really pleased with the results. I downloaded a recipe from foodtv.com -- I think it was a Sara Moulton recipe -- for Steamed Halibut Fillets, Chinese style.

The best part was stopping by the fish market. When I asked if they had any halibut fillets (they had steaks in the case), they brought out a big halibut tale from the walk-in and proceeded to fillet it for me. Talk about fresh

The recipe calls for a marinade of sliced scallions, mince garlic/salt paste, a couple of tablespoons each of veg. oil, rice vinegar and sugar, 1/4 C. soy sauce, one tablespoon sesame oil and some slivers of ginger. Steam the fish in the marinade for about 12-15 minutes, depending on thickness of fish. It was delicious. The only thing I would change would be to strain the juices after steaming and garnish the plated fillets with strained juices and fresh sliced scallions -- the steamed scallions had turned a dark green that wasn't very attractive.

Served with fried rice made from leftover steamed white rice, stir fried with some wok-scrambled eggs, dice red pepper and peanuts, and steamed snow peas.

Does anyone have suggestions for a good steaming set-up? I had to improvise because I don't have a pot wide enough in diameter to accomodate a plate large enough to hold the fish.