Dinner! 2002

[Jinmyo]

i prefer it roasted for hours and hours.

Me too, Tommy, at the risk of the dread me-too post.

But I do remain open to counterexamples proving whatever it is they prove.  (Not that your dish, Wilfrid, didn't sound fantastic, especially with all those Clues to History making themselves apparent.)

Priscilla

Priscilla, me too. Except for duck breast.

And your other comments re Wilfrid's dish? Yeah, me too.

[nyfirepatrolchef X]

Most recent thing of interest to me was Pecan Crusted Tilapia.  I seasoned with Kosher Salt, fresh Black Pepper, Granulated Garlic, lil Cayenne Powder.  Dredged in Rye Flour, eggwash, dredged in pulse chopped Pecans.  Into the Olive Oil they went.

On the side...grilled tomato, dressed with Oil and Balsamic.  And grilled Corn.

I did that as a late lunch at work though, about 2PM.  When I have a 5-8PM Housewatch Tour, I eat the BIG meakl of the day second, a light meal at about 830.

[cakewalk]

I'm overwhelmed. Overawed. Amazed. You're not making this stuff up, are you? You cook these things? By yourselves? All the time? Don't you ever eat veggie burgers?

Okay, stop laughing. Obviously I'm new at this. But this site is eye-opening, enlightening, wonderfully enjoyable.

Question: someone, somewhere on this thread mentioned making a mint-garlic sauce. Do you care to share a recipe?

A while ago I was strolling around with a friend of mine. We were starving and just happened into this little Italian restaurant and bought sandwiches (grilled eggplant and zucchini, I think, but I may be wrong) on some nice bread. But it was the sauce on the bread that did it. I never tasted anything like it, and near as I could tell it was mint and garlic that made it do its magic. Any recipe pointers?

I just love this site!

[Wilfrid]

Cakewalk, if I was making it up, I'd be cooking much more difficult stuff!  Glad you enjoyed the thread so far.  If you'd like to learn how fallible we are, I recommend the "Stiving [sic] for imperfection" thread too.

[tommy]

nyfirechef...how do you grill your corn?  i've been soaking and leaving it in the husk.  effective but not terribly exciting.  out of the husk is problematic as far as drying goes.  any thoughts?

[tommy]

Question: someone, somewhere on this thread mentioned making a mint-garlic sauce. Do you care to share a recipe?

that was jinmyo...

Ziti with mint and garlic sauce with peas and pea greens; wild mushroom ragout (lobster, honey, morel, cremini) with red and green bell peppers, ancho, paprika, fenugreek leaves; roasted red and orange plum tomatoes with parmesan and caciocavallo cheeses, topped with rough bread crumbs; roasted jalapeno stuffed with parmesan and fruilano cheeses

i'd take a stab at it, but i'm not sure what kind of sauce it is!

jinmyo?

[nyfirepatrolchef X]

Tommy~

re:corn

Pell back but do not remove the husk...DO remove the silk...replace the husk to original position...a task something close akin to beating rubiks cube if youre in a hurry...immerse in water for about (I think it was) half an hour.  Toss it on the grill.  I had a medium lowish flame.  I let it go about 10 minutes with it mentally divided into thirds..each third getting about 10.  But check it and play it by ear.

The sucker kicked ass...tasted like popcorn.  Like nothin gId ever had before.

[Priscilla]

Grilled corn discussants:  I no longer semi-husk de-silk repackage and soak ears of corn for the grill.  Used to, have done, but the silk, I feel, contributes a LOT of flavor, AND plus, and PLUS, slips off magically with the husks after cooking.

High heat and attendant burning is the thing to watch, in my experience.  The flavor development when corn is grilled is just incredible, isn't it?

Priscilla

[Jinmyo]

A while ago I was strolling around with a friend of mine. We were starving and just happened into this little Italian restaurant and bought sandwiches (grilled eggplant and zucchini, I think, but I may be wrong) on some nice bread. But it was the sauce on the bread that did it. I never tasted anything like it, and near as I could tell it was mint and garlic that made it do its magic. Any recipe pointers?

tommy, thanks for catching that.

cakewalk, no recipes but pointers. It will depend upon what one wants the sauce for, of course.

For something like you're talking about I would put extra virgin olive oil on low and steep unpeeled garlic cloves and mint stems for however long but at least 40 minutes. I'd strain the oil and use some of it to grill the eggplant. To the rest, I would add some finely torn mint leaves (the ones from the stems) and perhaps season it a bit. And then drizzle a bit on the bread before adding the other components and add perhaps a few raw mint leaves.

[tommy]

re: corn.  i grill exactly as suggested here, sometimes with silk sometimes without (when i forget).  perhaps it hasn't beent terribly exciting because NJ corn isn't in season yet.  certainly better than boiling though.  yuck!

[Jinmyo]

Unless I can serve the corn within a few hours after being picked, I don't really care much about corn on the cob. Frozen corn will be far fresher. I'll sometimes buy cobs at a supermarket if I want to use the cobs to make a stock and will slice off the kernels and simmer the cobs until the stock is white with the "milk".

Roasted fresh cobs are truly great. And even old supermarket cobs just thrown into the microwave for a few minutes then peeled can be fun too.

It depends on what you want them for. Just for fun, I suggest trying microwaving them and munching on them instead of popcorn while watching a videotape of Bobby Flaw beating Morimoto in the rematch while the Japanese judges comment on how exotic corn is. (And of course it's on every pizza they order, but it helps the Japanese/American contrast drama.)

[Jaymes]

Grilled corn discussants:  I no longer semi-husk de-silk repackage and soak ears of corn for the grill.  Used to, have done, but the silk, I feel, contributes a LOT of flavor, AND plus, and PLUS, slips off magically with the husks after cooking.

High heat and attendant burning is the thing to watch, in my experience.  The flavor development when corn is grilled is just incredible, isn't it?

Priscilla

Boy, me too about struggling with the silk before you cook it.  After you cook it, no matter how you do it, it just comes right off with one swipe of a paper towel.  Amazing.

[Sandra Levine]

Salade Nicoise, plus ou moins -- romaine, olive-oil packed tuna, hard-boiled eggs, black olives, asparagus, small boiled potatoes, anchovies, grape tomatoes, scallion.  An Australian sauvignon blanc, Heathfield Ridge, 2000 was perfect with it and with the blue cheese remaining from the NY potluck on walnut bread.  That is, the cheese was on the walnut bread, not the potluck.

[cakewalk]

Many thanks Tommy and Jinmyo for the mint-garlic assists!

[Robert Schonfeld]

Will be trying this pasta dish as soon as I see English peas in the market (tomorrow, maybe?):

Cook enough peas so that some can be pureed as part of a dressing, and some can be reserved to mix in whole.

Puree some of the peas with some good olive oil, some mint and a little garlic if you like. Add all to a pan.

Cook the pasta - orechiette would be good - drain it and add it to the pan. Mix in the whole peas. Drizzle with a little more best-quality olive oil.

Note: sugar snaps can be added for variety; the pea pods can also be cooked and run through a food mill for more puree - it's a shame to waste them.

Faith Willinger does a similar thing with asparagus and lemon zest that is excellent.

[Liza]

Sugar snaps are in the market now, BTW.

Last night: Lobel's filet, seared to perfection by the person who does the cooking; served with red wine reduction sauce and potatoes mashed with Lancashire cheddar. Piro (or is it Pino?) Dolcetto d'Alba from Italian Wine Merchants on 16th - oof, the nose on it! A Gerard Depardieu!

Tonight: fresh trout, baked with thyme and a drizzle of olive oil; salad of market greens.

[Jim Dixon]

Judith loves chicken, so for her birthday this week I made it three ways...

Big roaster (7 lbs) with sprigs of fresh thyme, oregano, and young garlic pushed under the skin, pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika) on the outside...roasted and smoked on the weber over mix of hardwood charcoal, fruit wood, and blueberry/grape trimmings for smoke.

Wings brined in simple salt and brown sugar brine, few shakes of mesquite salt (great stuff, from Santa Cruz Spice in Tumacacori, AZ 520-398-2591), grilled over the same fire.

Liver pate using recipe adapted from Del Conte's Gastronomy of Italy (saute onions in olive oil and butter, add livers and cook, add a bit wine...I used Marsala instead of dry white...process with anchovy, capers, more butter, and a little fresh sage).

Also made a fava bean spread for variety...fresh favas, mint, shallot, preserved lemon, and olive oil...didn't have quite enough favas, so thickened to spreading consistency with bread crumbs...okay, but I liked the version I made last year better (about the same, but without the lemon).

Served with cavalo nero, borlotti beans, and simple green salad.

Jim

[helenas]

Big roaster (7 lbs) with sprigs of fresh thyme, oregano, and young garlic pushed under the skin, pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika) on the outside...roasted and smoked on the weber over mix of hardwood charcoal, fruit wood, and blueberry/grape trimmings for smoke.

Jim,

how long did it take to roast that big a bird,  and what kind/size of weber are you using?

thanks, helena

[Wilfrid]

Will be trying this pasta dish as soon as I see English peas in the market (tomorrow, maybe?):

I like peas.  (Yes, peas.)

Can someone explain what English peas are?  If we had them in England, we must have called them something else.

Thanks.

[MsRamsey]

Sandra Levine said:

Salade Nicoise, plus ou moins -- romaine, olive-oil packed tuna, hard-boiled eggs, black olives, asparagus, small boiled potatoes, anchovies, grape tomatoes, scallion.

Yum.  I'm glad you brought this up.  I just got the new Cook's Illustrated in the mail; they have what looks like a great recipe for Salade Nicoise this month.  It's on my short list for the weekend.

Kathy

[Priscilla]

What a particularly excellent-sounding run of meals, these last many posts.

Jim:  The chicken menu sounds fantastic.  Why haven't I been brining chicken wings all my life?

Liza:  I am so glad Trout Odyssey is not at an end.  I was just thinking about this the other day, buying fish, and wondering.

Robert:  Do you ever make that Venetian rice and peas?  I love that dish.  Years ago where I used to live the farmer's market included a beautiful old lady selling a small selection of backyard-grown veg, among which were peas she grew, picked that a.m., and shelled.  Practically convenience food, it was, if you like peas.  I'm trying to grow peas in my garden this year expressly to make this dish.  On my second round of sproutlings, Garden Unmentionables ate the first ones.

And:  Sugar snap peas, I must miss the point, thus far.  Raw, not bad, but cooked I dunno.  Would like to be convinced.  Open to suggestions.  Don't mind snow peas, deployed appropriately, and I adore shelling peas.

(Which I believe is what English peas are, Wilfrid, shelling peas, as opposed to mange-tout types, I submit parenthetically and ingenuously, in case you weren't joking.)

Last night simplicity suggested itself through time and heat considerations.  Grilled boneless chicken legs which had marinated in Mario Batali-style infused extra-virgin chile oil, surprisingly good farmer's market tomatoes sliced, mayonnaise.  Bread.

Priscilla

[MsRamsey]

Wilfrid said:

Can someone explain what English peas are?  If we had them in England, we must have called them something else.

As far as I can tell, these are the basic peas that one can usually only get canned or frozen, but what is being referred to as "English peas" is the fresh version of these peas (different from sugar snap peas).  Can anyone confirm or deny?

Tangent:  My sister used to throw her peas behind the stove when no one was looking.  She knew she'd be found out if she just wrapped them in her napkin and threw them in the trash.

Kathy

[researchgal]

yes, that's what I've found as well.  English peas are also called garden peas, as in fresh from the garden, I suppose.

[Robert Schonfeld]

Yes, Priscilla, I love risi/bisi. Marcella Hazan points out that it should have a slightly soupy consistency, as distinct from risotto.

Re sugar snaps: raw, definitely. If cooked, just a dunk in boiling water and then shock 'em. I agree, they're no fun if you cook them too long.

[Wilfrid]

Thanks, but then I am puzzled by the comment about them being in the market at the weekend.  I buy them from stores like Garden of Eden all the time. Or am I buying something else which I stupidly believe are garden peas?