Dinner! 2002

[Adam Balic]

Wild Scottish Salmon baked with wine, butter, thyme and dried limes. Butter sauce with Barberries.

Steamed pink-fir-apple potatoes, green beans

Damson Clafoutis

[Miss J]

Damson Clafoutis

Ooh - I have some damsons at home. How did you make your clafoutis, Adam?

[LaNiña]

I know you asked Adam, but here's the basic clafouti recipe I use a lot...I switch fruits depending on mood and season:

http://www.saveur.com/SAV_Main/1,3136,18-1...fromBookReview=

[Adam Balic]

Damson Clafoutis

Ooh - I have some damsons at home. How did you make your clafoutis, Adam?

Similar to Nina's recipe, but more eggs. Basic batter from Anne Willan's "French Regional Cooking" (one of the best French cookbooks), except I cut th sugar a little and added cream and lemon zest. Damsons poached in a light sugar syrup for five minutes (soften fruit and realeases colour). Buttered a Spanish earthware cazuela added fruit and then poured in batter. Cook slowly (important as to fast and you get grainy custard/ scrambled eggs) until done. Reduced poaching liquid slightly, added a few drops of rosewater (brings out damson flavours), served this with clafoutis. If I was being fancy-smancy I would have put it into individual Catalan creme pots. I like cooking clafoutis in earthenware as it flavours the custard nicely and it looks cool.

[Miss J]

Cheers for the recipe & tips. I found Adam's rosewater-as-damson-enhancer suggestion intriguing...I've a bottle of rosewater that I think to use for baked figs, but I've never used it with plums before. Nina, when you do plum clafloutis do you usually stick to the brandy suggested in the recipe, or have you found a more appropriate flavour match? I have a bottle of armegnac, but I usually just drink it rather than cook with it.

[Adam Balic]

Easy on the rosewater, you don't want to taste it, just alter the flavour of the damsons.

[Adam Balic]

Oh, I forgot. I found one garfish (needlefish) in the local fishmonger. They had no idea what it was, as it came in a box of sardines from Portugal. Lucky for me I did and as it is my wifes favourite fish, I made her a treat of garfish pan fried , took out the bones (which are really pretty as they are a blue/green metalic colour),added S&P, lemon and New Olive oil and made her some crostini to go with it.

[LaNiña]

When I use plums, I frequently use a plum brandy. Eau de vie de mirabelle, or even slivovitz - but I use less than the recipe calls for, because their flavors are really strong.

[Jinmyo]

Ttokbokgi (Korean rice cakes fried with chile bean-paste and Shanghai bok choy); grilled striploin, sliced sashimi thin with slivered scallion and daikon salad; wakame broth with one grilled sea scallop per bowl; gohan (Japanese white rice) with goamsio (toasted sesame salt).

[SobaAddict70]

Your standard workout dinner: broiled chicken tenders, veggies, rice pilaf.

Broiled the chicken with white pepper and a t. of EVOO. Topped with zucchini and red pepper slices, also a little more EVOO. (Hey, no one said that workout dinners needed to be boring. I don't even like egg whites. hehe) Rice pilaf -- caramelized onions with a smidge of unsalted butter and a couple of t. of garam masala; chicken stock; finished with a bit of chopped Italian parsley. Evian. Apricots.

SA

[awbrig]

Making Maine Day Boat Lobster tails over Yukon Gold Potato Puree with Lemon Garlic Butter sauce.

Followed with Rhubarb Crisp tarts.

[CathyL]

Chicken marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and cracked black pepper, then grilled (Marcella's 'alla diavola'). Salad of Greenmarket mesclun, baby arugula, romaine, baby spinach, sweet onion and raw mushrooms with a garlicky balsamic vinaigrette. (Husband's on a no-starch diet...I've lost several pounds. )

[pjs]

Cathy, that chicken recipe is one of my favorites. It's so simple--fresh lemon juice, just-smashed peppercorns (very coarse and lots of them), and EVOO. I do mine under the broiler. I'd bet it's even better on the grill.

PJ

[awbrig]

Making marinara sauce for the first time...

San marzano tomatoes

fresh garlic

EVOO

vidalia onion

renedered bacon fat

a little chianti poured in

fresh basil

fresh oregano

salt, pepper

simmering right now, we'll see how it goes...

[SobaAddict70]

Tonight for my roommate and a couple of friends:

Lamb vindaloo; basmati rice with shredded carrots, golden raisins and coconut; sak (buttery spinach cooked with spices, currants and cashews); tomato raita; spicy date chutney; fresh fruit.

SA

[CathyL]

Cathy, that chicken recipe is one of my favorites. It's so simple--fresh lemon juice, just-smashed peppercorns (very coarse and lots of them), and EVOO. I do mine under the broiler. I'd bet it's even better on the grill.

PJ

PJ, if you use smashed peppercorns a lot, it's worth investing in a Unicorn pepper mill (about $40, I think - available through PCS and other catalogs). Variable grinds, and lots of power behind each twist, so you can get a big pile of cracked pepper in no time. One of my favorite kitchen toys.

The chicken is lovely on the grill, but takes care to avoid flare-ups and burning. On the typical charcoal grill (e.g., a Weber) it helps to bank the coals on one side so you have the other side available for indirect cooking.

[Elizabeth Ann]

Made pulled pork with vinegar and mustard sauce on warm rolls, buttermilk coleslaw, tomato basil salad, baked beans, vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries.

[CathyL]

Elizabeth Ann, pulled pork fixed how? What else in your sauce besides vinegar (what kind) and mustard (ditto)? How do you make your buttermilk slaw? Does it go on the sammiches or on the side?

Talk to me, girl.

[Malawry]

Cornichons, stuffed olives, home-marinated cherry-sized balls of mozz

Salade nicoise using farm market greens, Italian canned tuna, and anchovies from Kalustyan's

Toasted baguettes with Italian butter

Homemade shortbread cookies, lemon and blackberry sorbets

Cluizel chocolates

[Elizabeth Ann]

I made the pulled pork as follows: Dry rub- 2T black pepper, 2T paprika, 1T salt, 1t dry mustard, 1/2t cayenne. Roasted pork butt at 250 for about 7 hrs. Finnished with a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar, a little sugar, dijon mustard. Just enough to moisten a little. It was very good.

Buttermilk coleslaw was from the Aug 2002 issue of Cooks Illustrated and served on the side - very easy to make.

[CathyL]

Thanks, Elizabeth Ann. I've come to prefer sugarless rubs for pork butts, and I'll check out the slaw recipe.

Smoked trout spread with pumpernickel toast and cucumber slices. Grilled butterflied leg of lamb (mustard, garlic, rosemary, soy, olive oil) served with Suvir's yellow tomato chutney; a platter of heirloom tomatoes with basil, EVOO and fleur de sel; baby green beans with lemon and EVOO; and a luscious rich oozy potato gratin contributed by our guest. Strawberries and brownies for dessert.

[Liza]

Oozy potato gratin...

Chicken from Knoll Crest, with tomatoes, honey, cinnamon, saffron, and whatever else Davy put in while I wasn't looking. Supposed to be accompanied by roasted potatoes but we lost the potatoes. Can't find them anywhere.

[nervousnelli]

Dinner tonight - had some leftover sticky rice in the frig that I warmed up to steaming hot. Added a little soy sauce, a few drops of hot chili oil and then broke a raw egg over top. It was easy and tasted brilliant.

[SobaAddict70]

Dinner party tonight with a group of e-gulleteers: myself, Toby, g.johnson, yvonne johnson, Sandra Levine and Mr. Sandra, at Toby's place. Toby and I did the shopping and cooked everything. I was worried that there would be a shortage of food, but everything turned out fine in the end.

Wines in no particular order (perhaps Toby or someone else will respond with the proper order, but I can't remember):

Walter Filiputti Pinot Grigio 2000

Domaine Miguel vin de pays d'oc Syrah 2001

Ridge California Coast Range 1999

Allende Red Rioja Wine 1998

Josmeyer Vin d'Alsace Pinot Blanc 1999

Chateau St. John Fume Blanc 2000

Quince cordial in cognac (served with dessert; I did sample the cordial)

Lurisia spring water (for me, since I don't drink)

Antipasti:

Socca (pancake made with chickpea flour), served with fresh ricotta cheese and blanched arugula;

Tomato salad (red currant tomatoes, Verna Orange tomatoes, Hughes tomatoes, German Green tomatoes, Marisol tomatoes, EVOO and basil.);

Roasted sweet peppers, stewed with garlic, EVOO and herbs;

Roasted beets, finished with EVOO, sea salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and a tiny pinch of sugar.

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Primi:

Spaghetti, with a sauce of red currant tomatoes, garlic, EVOO and basil

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Secondi:

Oven-roasted chicken stuffed with lemon and rosemary. (Sandra took care of part of the prep -- rubbed olive oil on the skin, stuffed lemon quarters and herbs in the cavity, etc.)

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Contorni:

Gateau de pommes de terre L'ami Louis (L'ami Louis's potato cake -- essentially potatoes sliced thinly using a mandoline, sauteed in unsalted butter, salt and pepper, then baked in the oven -- mixture of finely chopped parsley and garlic scattered on top; the potato cake didn't come out as a "cake" per se, but turned out all right for our purposes)

Beet greens and Swiss chard, stewed in EVOO, along with caramelized onions, sea salt, a couple of dried red chilies, lemon juice, and a couple of anchovy fillets.

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Dolci:

Tarte au sucre (brioche, topped with butter and brown sugar; Toby opted for this option as opposed to creating whipped cream from scratch since it was running so late)

Vanilla ice cream, served with roasted white peaches and peach sauce (chopped some roasted white peaches, and whisked them with a couple of T. of Toby's homemade peach preserves, bits of unsalted butter, lemon juice, peach liqueur, then pureed with a hand blender; added half and half and reduced volume by half, stirring constantly; a miniscule amount of black pepper/white pepper added in at the last minute.)

Note: We had started late around 3:45 pm and despite running slightly late, managed to get everyone out the door by 11:30 pm. Next time, we'll do better re timing, I'm sure.

Edit: added minor details and note.

SA

[Miss J]

Soba, do you take reservations?

I made an altogether simpler meal last night. We both came in late from work, so I threw together a wok of ants-climbing-a-tree. The mung bean noodles were fantastically slippery, and looked great in their red-chili-flecked gold sauce with spring onions. Followed with chilled melon cubes and LOTS of water, as I am still trying to rehydrate in the wake of Saturday's e-gullet outing...