Dinner! 2002

[Wilfrid]

I have never poured brandy on a sandwich before - new frontiers open up. Yvonne - any particular kind of ham?

Soba's meatloaf sounds good too. I used to incorporate pickles into meatloaf, to give it some surprising crunches and spots of sharpness, and I have also cooked whole eggs in there, but Soba 's seems to go beyond that.

[SobaAddict70]

yes that's definitely it

I go to Chinatown to get choy sum, but if anyone can point me to a more convenient location (I live in east midtown) that would be great...

Wilfrid, I think there is a Spanish version of the meatloaf, but have to do some basic food research here. Remember, the Philippines were a Spanish colony for 500+ years, and also briefly occupied by the United States and also Japan, so there are those culinary influences as well -- I say "briefly" because their periods of occupation were relatively short, compared to Spanish rule.

I would say that the Japanese negimaki (the rolled beef dish that's sliced into rounds, with a center stuffing of spinach and other veggies) comes to a close approximation.

SA

[Rhea_S]

SobaAddict's meatloaf sounds like "embutido." There's also a rolled beef dish (very much like negamaki) that's called "morcon." The difference between embutido and morcon is that the former uses ground meat while the latter uses flattened slices of beef. I prefer morcon because I used to hate raisins in savoury dishes plus morcon is a little more "dressy."

[rich]

Will try a blackened pork tendeloin tonight (medium) with a mango/lavender salsa and a green salad with creamy chipotle dressing.

[yvonne johnson]

I have never poured brandy on a sandwich before - new frontiers open up.  Yvonne - any particular kind of ham?

You're giving the impression I grill my sandwiches doused in alcohol. Only 1/4 teaspoon, not a pint! On the ham--Black forest, nothing special, from Jefferson Mkt, cut very thinly.

[SobaAddict70]

Liza, my problem is that I routinely get off from work around 6 pm or later, not to mention travel time is involved, so farmer's markets at those locations are definitely out, unless the US Greenmarket is still open around 7 pm on a Friday....I think not. Weekends are the way to go for me.

Rhea, embutido sounds just about right. Filipino food frequently uses raisins and other fruit in dishes. For example, my mom also makes menudo -- no relation to the Mexican dish of the same name. Menudo in my family is basically a ground beef stew equivalent of embutido, but with slightly different ingredients -- ground beef, onions, potatoes, carrots, chickpeas, raisins, tomato paste and bay leaves being the key players. As for embutido, your imagination is the limit as far as what you can put inside the meatloaf.

[mhadam]

Greetings...

I just read through all of the dinner posts and am completely fascinated by not only your cooking skills but your creative...i feel at home

Dinner last night consisted of home made: breaded chicken tenderloins, hush puppies (for my husband -- i think he married me for my culinary skills), a wonderful honey mustard dipping sauce that i spiked with wasabi powder, bbq sauce, two yummy milkshakes and for dessert chocolates (i had one, he had 8 (one of each flavor))

[Rhea_S]

My mom also makes menudo, but no raisins. She has a serious raisin bias except in raisin bread. Mom never made embutido because she thought it was too common and not that interesting. I've only ever tasted it at other Filipino homes.

Cooking projects for this weekend: Chicken, Shiitake Mushroom and Garlic Scapes Steamed Buns. Strawberry and Rhubarb Tarts. Pain à L'Ancienne. A recipe to use up some poppy seeds (probably more bread). I don't cook proper meals because I usually get invited to other people's homes for most of my meals ("Oh the poor single girl").

[SobaAddict70]

Wow, that's interesting. Embutido in our family was usually for special occasions. I just made it last night because I've had a hankering for it for some time. Also, I had meatloaf at America* recently, so maybe that also provided the impetus for it.

*This is a super diner, sort of like Florent on major steroids -- its located around 19th or 20th Streets and Broadway, near Union Square Cafe. They even have peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and banana sandwiches on the menu!

[tommy]

it was too bloody hot and i was too tired to do anything notable. however, this hamburger came out quite good.

the local supermarket, Kings, had rolls that looked like huge white castle rolls. they were quite good. i'm hoping the stock those all of the time, as i'd buy 'em by the sack.

edit: ooooo, i like the way links are no underlined (just like they are on the *rest* of the internet! :p)

[Orik]

This afternoon we had some Tunisian sandwiches, known in Israel as Fricassee (I have no idea why, they are by no means related to any fricassee I've ever seen). Tunisian sandwiches were the favorite street food of my childhood, acquired from a suspicious looking man on a street cart/tricycle who would keep them in what I would now think of as horrific sanitary conditions (think sliced eggs kept without refrigeration all day), still they never killed anyone to the best of my knowledge and tasted better than most falafel or shawarma you could find in my home town.

Fricassee is prepared using deep fried rolls (5 minutes out of the oil and still very warm), stuffed with a cooked pumpkin (or acorn squash) spread known as tirshi, mixed with harissa, lemon juice and caraway, some pitted black olives, preserved lemons, hard boiled egg, boiled potato slices and tuna cooked in oil (and no, the tasteless, dry, white stuff in cans doesn't cut it). Some extra harissa is added if you're brave enough. You only realize one is enough after you've had two...

[Liza]

The first chicken from Flying Rabbit Farms, rubbed up good with foie gras terrine sluiced with thyme and tarragon. Leftover mango sauce turned miraculously into mango flan - with turkey eggs!

[Miss J]

Very simple last night - green pea soup. Loads of peas simmered in a light chicken stock, then whizzed in the blender with fresh basil and a little roasted garlic. Topped with croutons cut from a stale baguette and brushed with olive oil.

Upliftingly green.

Miss J

[AdamLawrence]

Saturday: Imam bayeldi with saffron rice. First time I've cooked this dish, from Claudia Roden's recipe, and it was good, although not entirely satisfactory. I wanted it to be a bit more luxuriant, suspect I should have used more olive oil. I'd have made tabbouleh rather than rice but I didn't have enough parsley.

[Priscilla]

Wow fresh pea soup sounds good, Miss J.

Saturday hot-weather dinner with some guests. Steaks rubbed with sage and rosemary, cracked black pepper, salt, olive oil, grilled, landed atop what Rene Shepherd's seed packet called "rustic arugula," skinny and especially piquant, dressed beforehand. Saffron risotto, for which I used Carnoroli rice for the first time and I think I do prefer it to Arborio--beautiful individual large grains. Bread.

Priscilla

[Ron Johnson]

Morels, asparagus, and baby artichokes "braised" in beurre fondue and then garnished with tomato concasse and chiffonade of basil and italian flat leaf parsely.

Served with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled country ribs.

[Liza]

Thanks to Jinmyo, we had a lovely mussel dinner last night. D. got three pounds from our fisherman, and with Jin's suggestion, we got down with mango, lemongrass, ginger, and miso.

First, a mango chutney with most of the above, and garlic.

Then, sauteed more of the same, added leftover miso soup (!), chopped mango and steamed the mussels in that. Drained the broth and reduced further, with garlic shunts, more ginger, shiso leaves and black pepper and fleur de sel (Thanks, Sir Plotnicki).

[Wilfrid]

I haven't cooked for days, because no time to shop. I scoured the cupboards last night and made something dead simple. Spaghetti, al dente; when it's drained stir in a knob of butter and an egg yolk per person. The egg shouldn't cook - it's just enough to coat the pasta. Mixed in some fresh grated pecorino, then sprinkled some on top as the dish was served. Plain but soothing.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Dinner last night was mache with sliced tomatoes and dollops of aged triple-cream goat cheese with EV olive oil and sea salt, pork marsala and noodles, and sliced oranges. A sufficiency, no?

However, when it was time for my husband to say good-night, he said "I'm hungry". "Something like apple pie a-la-mode." Almost in jest I countered with "French toast with applesauce and ice cream?" Sold.

It was amazingly good: French toast rounds made with egg yolk, heavy cream, calvados and brown sugar; chunky homemade applesauce; vanilla ice cream; a splash of calvados. And he was actually able to sleep after this.

(In the words of the old nursery rhyme, "To bed, to bed said Sleephead; tarry a while said Slow. Put on the pot said Greedygut. We'll sup before we go.")

[Priscilla]

Margarent, the initial meal sounds beautiful, and the bedtime treat just exactly what life should be made of.

Hot weather simple dinner indicated. Tostadas. Flour tortillas, fried crisp, homemade refried pinto beans, usual-suspect toppings, grated cheese, diced tomato, crema, chiffonade of escarole (what was in the garden; normally it'd be finely-shredded cabbage, but I do like escarole's pleasant gentle bitterness), and chipotle salsa.

Priscilla

[Lady T]

Plain dumb quesadillas last night. At my place, these are: flour tortillas with good hot jalapeno relish spread on 'em to taste; last night's version got chopped tomato, sliced mushrooms, a little chiffonade of basil (again, to taste), ending with shredded jack cheese and a bit of chopped parsley as the top layer. All of the above got baked around 20 minutes or until the aroma was irresistible. Fresh grapes and good strong cider (not the sweet stuff) went along with it all just fine. I expect Rick Bayless (runs Frontera Grill and Topolobampo here in Chicago) would likely disapprove of my totally inauthentic approach -- but it tasted great, and I didn't have to keep the oven going long on a hot humid day!

(Then again: Bayless never has turned his nose up at anything that tasted good, not in my presence anyway. Maybe he wouldn't disapprove after all.)

[Wilfrid]

I wonder if it shocks purists on the Board that I sometimes cook with commercial veal demi-glace? I suppose I should spend my weekends laboring over a stockpot, but life just isn't like that.

I seared a shell steak last night, and made a very easy portobello mushroom sauce: fried some minced onions, then the sliced portobellos until they started to colour and wilt down. About a glass and a bit of red wine, reduced by half, and while reducing stirred in about a third of a teaspoon of concentrated veal demi-glace. You have to work at it to make sure it dissolves. Seasoning required. A silky, fancy-looking sauce in less than ten minutes.

[g.johnson]

I wonder if it shocks purists on the Board that I sometimes cook with commercial veal demi-glace?

I have used the stuff but in it's concentrated state it's too reminiscent of Bovril for me to be entirely comfortable with it.

[Wilfrid]

I have tried several, and find two to be sufficiently un-Bovrilly: Demi Glace Gold (Dean and Deluca and elsewhere: can't remember the manufacture's name) and D'Artagnan's (cheaper, not quite as flavorful).

But what is the alternative? I know Steven Shaw's view, and it takes forty eight hours (or do I exaggerate?).

[Robert Schonfeld]

A question for Miss J about roast garlic with your pea puree: is that a good match?

I ask because last night I pureed peas (and food-milled the shells), olive oil, cooking water, lemon juice, mint and s&p, and added to this bias-cut sugar snaps, then used the whole thing to dress some fusilli. It was perfectly good, but I felt it could have used maybe some scallion in the puree, or maybe garlic in one form or another. Opinions?