Dinner! 2002

[Jinmyo]

Mashed sweet potato with a brunoise of red bell pepper, butter toasted cumin, ancho, and oregano; chili of mushrooms and black beans with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coriander and multi-coloured Thai bird chiles; warm salad of dandelion greens, artichoke hearts and radish slices with chevré in a white wine dressing.

[col klink]

Last night I made Penne a la Vodka except that I used the rest of my deli bacon instead of pancetta and added carmelized onions and four large cloves of garlic. Next time I'll try it without the vodka to see the difference.

Last Saturday I smoked up some short ribs (my first experience with 'em) and I was pretty surprised. They smoked for 3 1/2 hours but I they could've gone longer. Next time I won't use my Jamaican Jerk sauce marinade as it overpowered any smoke flavor. I think there's plenty of potential since the meat is pretty tender and there's plenty of fat to render.

[Wilfrid]

I was back at the shad roe again last night (it freezes very well, by the way).  This time I tried something new.  I separated the two lobes, sauteed them lightly, then removed the membrane from one of them.  I stirred the eggs into a simple pasta sauce (tomato, onion, garlic, oregano).  It probably would have been fine to skip the sauteeing and just cook the eggs in the sauce from raw.  I thought the resulting sauce would coat pasta very nicely.  As it happens, I was wrong, and the grainy sauce tended to separate from the spaghetti and collect at the bottom of the dish.  Tasted fine, but not a creation of genius on this occasion.  My Beloved ate the other lobe, simply sauteed with a squeeze of lemon, and she had the better dish.

[Adam_Balic]

I made a bastardized version of a Goan fish curry using some Cod (which I have never tasted before in its fresh form). Was quite good, but I made the mistake of serving it with brown basmati rice, which was the wrong taste and texture.

[Priscilla]

Col Klink, short ribs seem ideally suited to smoking.  Course I am thinking this just now because you introduced the concept.  But I already think about short ribs in general, don't I?

Wilfrid, you've mentioned Nero Wolfe, but I can't remember if you investigated his (well, Fritz's) shad roe preparations or not.  Also, I know he's unfashionable, but Craig Claiborne, RIP,  wrote quite a bit about shad roe.  His series  Craig Claiborne's Favorites, collections of his NYT columns, is interesting historically, and just, how you say, chockablock, with useful information.  I like all his books.

Stellabella, that is just what I do, run the sponge thingy and the drain stopper through the dishwasher when they appear to need it.  I think Martha Bitch Genius would support us in this, although in so saying perhaps I am just projecting a craving for validation from an Unattainable Celebrity.

Jinmyo, the flavor profiles of your meals are absolutely mind-blowing--and make perfect sense.  I can think about them all day long.

Priscilla

[Wilfrid]

Priscilla, I use Nero Wolfe's (or Fritz's) shad roe recipes more often than any others.  And Jaybee has started a thread on the new series in the General section.

[Heather]

Thursday 18 April

Stir-fried broccoli, leafy Asian greens, spring onions and tofu, in blackbean sauce (salted black beans, soy, oyster sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic). Mine served with leftover brown rice, my husband's with leftover white rice. Fast, easy, not too much mess to clean up, although choice was mostly dictated by what we had left in the fridge. Saturday being shopping day, supplies tend to be running low by Thursday.

[Jim Dixon]

Stellabella....It is time-consuming, but I also make some things on the weekend or in the evening after that night’s dinner so I’ll have something to work with the next. I also enjoy the craft aspect of cooking, so I don’t see it as a chore to spend an hour or so or doing vegetable prep...and that’s what usually takes the most time, but it’s a big part of making food that tastes good.

A couple of nights this week I just ate toasted bread (Como from Grand Central Bakery) rubbed with garlic and spread with slightly mashed borlotti beans and chopped cavolo nero ( and lots of olive oil, natch)...everything but the bread was already cooked.

I make a batch of beans every week and keep them around for stuff like this or just eating. An article in Saveur last year about fagioli in fiasco, the Tuscan method of cooking beans in a wine flask on the dying embers of the bread-baking fire, inspired my basic bean technique...in a pyrex bowl or other non-metallic baking dish put one part beans to 2.5 parts water (this ratio seems to always work, altho’ if the beans are young it will be soupy, and if they are old they may dry out on top a bit), add a couple garlic cloves, fresh sage if you have it, salt, and a good shot of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake at 150-200 (my old gas oven isn’t too accurate, but I shoot for less than boiling) for a few hours. When you smell the garlic, check the beans, stir if it seems like a good idea...cook until done.

(The non-metallic aspect grew out of a crusty old Italian quoted in the article as saying something like ‘beans cooked in a metal pot aren’t worth eating.’)

Cavolo nero is sold as Lacinato kale and has become my default green. I wash it, cut in chiffonade (stack and cut into thin strips...this means you can leave the stalk on, which in bigger chunks is a little distracting), and add to a sauteed onion (in olive oil). The water still on the leaves is usually enough, but a little more may be necessary. Cover, cook until done.

Bruschetta topped with the beans/greens combo can be enough for dinner if I have Haagen Dasz for later.

Last night I made a pasta sauce out of a few other leftovers. I had a coarse puree of sweet red peppers cooked with a bit of onion and celery and some tomato sauce made from a puree of tomatoes from last year’s garden (defrosted) mixed with canned tomato paste. I reduced the tomato sauce (it was kind of thin) with a cup or so of tempranillo, added a couple of anchovies, a handful of oil-cured olives (these had been lurking in the fridge for a few weeks, twice revived by adding oil and baking a bit...this time I splashed a bit of water in the bowl and microwaved a few seconds to soften up, then squeezed out pits and chopped), hot red pepper, and salt-packed capers. I tossed this with orichiette and ate it with a turkey sausage flavored with black olives.

I like these kind of meals, but have a hard time replicating them. Having those bits of leftovers available does cut down the time it takes to get something on the table, though.

Jim

[Malawry]

Last night, I made some pita sammiches. Whole wheat pita brushed with olive oil and cooked on a griddle till browned, filled with a mixture of chickpeas, pintos and kidneys. The beans were marinating in a homemade vinaigrette in the fridge...we ate all three kinds of beans over the course of the past week, and we chucked all bean leftovers into the marinade at my housemate's excellent suggestion. I picked up some "Wallaby" cheese at the farm market last weekend, so I added a few slices of that to my sammich. Also a smear of Maille mustard, some shredded carrot, diced red pepper, and green leaf lettuce. I ate it with a bunch of olives. Followed it up with lemon sorbet. Good eating for hot weather.

[Jinmyo]

Smallish sirloin roast, done in a cast-iron skillet on stove top and then into the oven. Came out as rare as desired, which is very. Thin slices rolled around a smear of fresh grated horseradish, capers, and roasted garlic. Yorkshire puddings. Mashers with caramelized onion. Sauteed ramps with citron (yuzu, actually).

[Liza]

Baked trout Wednesday and didn't eat it last night, so cold baked trout with arugula flowers and baby spinach, splash o'balsamic and olive oil. Tonight, more trout! With more greens - hopefully some of the magenta Amaranth mixed with the deep green baby spinach. We'll tire of this eventually, but not for awhile.

Tomorrow, though, grilled marinated octopus.

Thanks, Jim, for the beans tip. I'm going to set a pot up on Sunday.

And Jinmyo, how do you store fresh horseradish? I've find it goes...rather limp, rather quickly in the fridge.

[Jinmyo]

I cryovaced some from the autumn, store it in the freezer in small chunks. Not really "fresh" grant you, but I wanted to quickly distinguish it from some kind of bottled creamed horrid glop.

That's a lot of trout.

I've used amaranth in salads and of course in Chinese-style preparations. Wonderful.

[Priscilla]

Last night panko-crusted scallops on way-done, very soft cabbage braised with onion and a little garlic, the scallops brown and crispy, barely done in the middle, plenty of salt and pepper.  

Beautiful giant head of cabbage from one of the organic guys at the farmer's market, big as a Replogle globe, the cabbage, not the guy, couldn't resist it.  I'll make good use of what I didn't braise.

The Magic of Panko.  (Similar to, but much paler in power than, The Magic of Bacon.)

Priscilla

[Wilfrid]

That trout needs to be eaten.  I might go that way again this weekend.  The Beloved has announced a new diet, and I am not sure what is in and what is out.  Baked trout with a squeeze of lemon might be okay.  Of course, I'll smother my portion with butter, cream, bacon, etc, etc.  

[Priscilla]

Liza, I was thinking the same thing about you, and not solely due to your ongoing Derek Smallsian Trout Odyssey, although I am fully in support of that and behave similarly.

When a high-quality ingredient (that we like) is available, I will work with it over and over.  I am used to cooking with what is in season, (as much as possible; I'm not militaristically doctrinaire), and it just seems natural to fully exploit what is fresh and available.

This is also applicable to regular markets.  Surrounding Easter and Passover there is lamb in supermarkets (here in Southern California) that isn't there the rest of the year.  (Of course there are places I can go and and get a rack of lamb when I need one.)  But the pleasure of running into the local supermarket and finding a nice Frenched rack of lamb (on SALE) is immense, and I availed myself (and consequently the Consort and the child and sundry guests) of this pleasure multiple times this spring.

It's funny, too, in a laugh-to-keep-from-crying kinda way, how the "meat cutters," and I use that term loosely, don't know WHAT to do with it.  (The type I like the best is comes from CO pre-Frenched fresh in Cry-O-Vac, lucky for us all.)

Priscilla

[Jinmyo]

Roast beef sandwiches on fresh Pain de Pepin (we call it that because it's based on a recipe for French country bread by Jacques Pepin). With Normandy cultured butter, ricotta dura, Maille Dijon, watercress, cracked pepper. Roasted tomato soup with creme fraiche. Strubb's kosher dills.

[Liza]

Salad of fresh baked trout, smoked trout, arugula flowers and greens, with slices of red onion. Balsamic vinegar and oil. The baked combined with the smoked to complement eachother. ("Why you're a bit of lovely trout, aincha?", "Ditto!")

[knews9]

like stellabella, i'm curious to know more about how people prepare for their weeks cooking, including menu planning (do you do it? do you just wait to see what you pick up at teh market) and shopping (how many stores or markets do folks regularly visit?)  the posts already from soba were great, thanks.

this week i think i only cooked one meal worth reporting--chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes and baked in dried porcini mushroom juice--really not very interesting or unusual and i overcooked the chicken to boot!  served with steamed baby spinach and pasta w/ leftover sauce... so boring!  so busy!

the other night i had riceandbeans, a nice slaw type salad of red and white cabbage, tomatoes, lemon juice and olive oil and sweet plaintains with cheese.  comforting and easy...

there was a time i was making big meals three or four times a week but i can't get it together to do it...any suggestions regarding above would be welcome.

finally, i started a dinner party menu post but only one response so far  :confused: maybe someone here would post???

[Jinmyo]

Oven baked crispy chicken (crusted with home-made large bread crumbs and dried herbs). Frites with fresh wasabi mayonaisse. Celery root slaw with a vinagraitte.

[Miss J]

Ah - we've finished the worst of our latest DIY job, so I'm back to cooking again. (A few more leisurely meal preps and I'll be back to my usual chilled-out self.)

Last night, after a long day puttering around our garden, we had:

BBQ-grilled salmon fillets rubbed with garam masala (my mixture)

Potato masala (South Indian inspired, with curry leaves and a wee bit of urad dal for crunch)

Spinach salad with cucumber, red onion, mango and walnuts

The salmon and potatoes melded very nicely. The salad provided a nice crunch (which is what I was looking for), but I'm still thinking about the best flavours to go with the other two components. I've some leftover potatoes, so maybe I'll play around with them tonight.

Miss J

[Jinmyo]

Miss J, with the spicing given the salmon and potatoes, pickled mango would go nicely. It has quite a crisp crunch to it. You can find it in Asian groceries, particularly Vietnamese.

[Wilfrid]

Weekend ruined by work, so only had time to cook something quick last night.  A thick, dry aged shell steak from the French Butcher.  I put a scrape of butter on the surfaces of the meat, then sprinkled cracked black pepper and lots of kosher salt, and pressed it in with my fingers.  A dry skillet as hot as I could get it.  The steak had a dark, crunchy seasoned crust, but was still bloody inside.  Mashed Yukon golds, with some truffle oil and D'Artagnan's truffle butter whipped in.   A chiffonade of arugula to decorate the plate.  Followed with the last of the stanser roteli cheese from Artisanal.  A bottle of Listrac Medoc, described by Hugh Johnson as stalwart rather than glamorous.  Well, this was a stalwart dinner, and good too.

[Jinmyo]

Rice noodles with sautéed chile-glazed daikon brunoise with minced red bell pepper and chopped asparagus, ngoc mam, mirin, fresh coriander; carrot and coconut milk bisque seasoned with lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, with straw mushrooms; oolong tea-steamed baby bok choy and yu choy with peanuts; pillow tofu and scallions with a shoyu-miso-ponzu sauce.

[SobaAddict70]

Let me say that being stuck at work several late nights in a row sucks...

...and that takeout is only good when the food is decent (Manhattan south of Wall Street is a takeout desert)...

...and that leftover sauerbraten makes for great sandwiches -- w/horseradish and sliced tomatoes on rye

Most of my leftovers end up as sandwich fodder or midnight snacks.  

One thing I do know -- we ordered stone crabs from Florida, so they'll be coming our way tomorrow evening, along with the requisite creamed spinach and Key Lime pie.  We ordered the large ones, on principle that like most things in life, "bigger is not necessarily better"  Joe's Stone Crabs

Can't wait for tomorrow...

Will post later as to tonight now that the fridge has been cleared of leftovers.

[Jim Dixon]

Liza,

I was happy to see that somebody else (you, that is) eats arugula flowers. The stuff grows like a weed here in Portland, so I always have lots of volunteers in the garden. I let it go, and it gets leggy and wild but produces a lot of flowers. I've heard that some people think 'mature' arugula is too bitter, but I like the bite.

Jim