Dinner! 2002

[Akiko]

Miss J,

I love the sound of your dinners..... mmmm

Sunday night is turning into "good cuts of very fresh fish" night for us. I was able to get some lovely salmon and just as wonderful yellowfin tuna from applebee's at Borough Market. So we had poke (pronounced pokie)

Three kinds of poke:

Yellowfin tuna cubed, with seaweed salad, sesame oil, chopped thai bird chilies, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, a little bit of rice vinegar, and green onions all tossed together.

Yellowfin tuna cubed, with seaweed salad, roasted peanuts, peanut butter, soy sauce, chili paste, sesame oil, green onions all tossed together

Salmon thinly sliced, with seaweed salad, furikake, soy sauce, sesame oil.

Baked scallop gratin in the shell layered on top of enoki mushrooms and slathered with chili garlic mayonnaise. (I've never bought live scallops before... I thought they would stop being so alive after I put them in the refrigerator for a day but one clamped itself down on my finger... at which point I made my husband break them all open... I still had to clean the buggers though) - a nobu recipe simplified

Some rice and cukes with sweet miso (white miso sauce made with sake, mirin, and sugar.

yummy.

the leftover fish was cooked, minced, and then mixed with the leftover chili mayonnaise and eaten with rice for Monday night's dinner.

[Akiko]

HELP!

I suddenly find myself making dinner out of leftovers for more than just my husband and I... his best friend and sister have invited themselves over....

I plan to make a very odd dinner of...

leftover roast chicken sandwiches... We roasted a chicken last night, brined, spatchcocked, slathered in goose fat, lemon, thyme, sage, and garlic.... and then painted with honey and mustard... we roasted veggies in the drippings (mmm goose fat) and I had made lemony gravy out of what was left in the pan. There was also some orangey cranberry sauce on the side.

My husband is picking up ciabatta from villendry and I will paint one side of the sandwich with gravy and chicken and the other side with cranberry sauce and roasted veggies...

To supplement that... because there isn't going to be enough to satisfy everyone... I'm going to stretch what was supposed to be dinner for two into dinner for four... sweet miso marinated cod, rice, and salad with ginger carrot dressing.

NOW, should I serve one of those things as a first course and the other as a second? And does anyone have a recommendation or what I could do as an easy dish to add on to the menu????? I know, its a very odd, eclectic dinner but.... I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE COMING AND THE STUFF THAT IS ALREADY IN THE FRIDGE NEEDS TO BE EATEN!

Help me...

[Jinmyo]

Hm. I'd ditch the rice. Unless you can make onigiri out of it.

[Suzanne F]

Sounds yummy to me. Cod and salad first course, so they won't notice that it's 1/2 size portions (I agree with Jin about no rice.) Then the sandwiches. Lots of bread, little filling. The chix/vegs are probably really delicious, from the way you cooked them, so the flavors will come through. Besides, think of French tartines or Italian panini, which don't have as much filling in relation to the bread as American sandwiches do.

As for anything else -- what's in the fridge??

[mhadam]

Got home too late to cook so we had a cheese/meat plate that was leftover from saturday's picnic.

cheddar, gouda, grapes, granny smith apples quartered, smokey beef salami, very hot and spicy pepperoni, multi grain crackers, and half a jar of green olives

beverage: berry weiss

dessert: homemade walnut chocolate chip cookies and milk

not too filling, not too heavy but yummy.

[Akiko]

OOOOH, Jin you genius.

What do you think about mochi rice (glutinous) made into triangle onigiri and then lightly pan fried (I love crunchy).... then I could plate the salad with an onigiri and the cod on top and have a nice fish-rice-salad first course...

I still think that chicken sandwich course needs a lil somethin on the side of it.... and to answer you question Suzanne... nothing else is in the fridge (I don't think... although I always find something that I've managed to forget about )

it would have to be something I can pick up at my sainsbury local or tell my husband to pick up at villendry.

[CathyL]

Akiko, it sounds like a very nice dinner as is. How about lightly pickled onions or sliced cukes or something else tangy alongside the sandwich? And some fruit & cheese for dessert.

[Jinmyo]

Akiko, the fried onigiri sound nice. You could Westernize them slightly to go with the chicken sandwiches by putting a bit of tarragon and lemon in the centre.

To go with the sandwiches, how about a tiny bowl of a tomato consomme or some such?

[SobaAddict70]

Vegetable minestrone, lots of OJ and lots of rest.

I hate colds...

SA

[col klink]

Last night I smoked a leg of lamb with bacon/garlic/bluecheese twice-baked potatos and kale saute'd in bacon fat.

The lamb was marinated in a mustard and mango chutney vinaigrette also with some soy, seasoned rice vinegar, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, cilantro and scallions. Oh yeah and a tablespoon of curry powder. Whilst the leg smoked, I reduced the remaining marinade by half (keeping the olive oil), strained it and added about two cups of heavy cream and reduced again. One of my better sauces.

For hors d'oeuvres, albacore sashimi served two ways, one plate with a garlic/ginger sauce and one plate with a ponzu sauce, both garnished with green onions. Closer to dinner, a half dozen fresh Puget Sound oysters.

Desert was a creme brulee.

[Priscilla]

Wow Colonel Klink, sounds good. Lamb, smoked, + heavy cream-enriched intensely flavored sauce...sounds good. Do you sear the outside of your albacore as for tataki?

Last evening late pickup dinner for two I made a cheese souffle with the end of a piece of soft blue and some Parmagiano Reggiano. Also Trader Joe's little French green beans with a last few Roma tomatoes, diced, and a peeled garlic clove and butter and s & p, cooked through and through. Baguette from the Vietnamese bakery.

[col klink]

Actually I forgot to sear it. I had my culinary torch at the table and did a last second sear on one of the pieces but I didn't like it; tasted too much like the fuel. Deep fried for a second though, that's damn good and really adds to the presentation.

[FoodMan]

last night we had home made Chilli. I prepred the ingeredients the night before, browned the beef, sauteed the vegetables and made the sauce. In the morning everything went into the crock pot on low.

by the time we were back from work, the chilli was perfectly cooked not too spicy so my wife can eat too . I served it with chopped onions, cheddar cheese , sliced french bread and crackers.

For dessert, Pistachio cake (from the "middle eastern dessert" thread)

FM

[Priscilla]

liza told us about her mousse rubbed roasted chicken.  so i had no choice but to order mrs. tommy to prepare this meal for me.  which she dutifully did (wouldn't you?).

roasted chicken with mousse under da skin.  baby spinach with garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice.  potatoes roasted under the bird.

[

Ohmygoodness, the Belle Rouge chicken is really terrific. (Available Wednesdays at Union Square - Priscilla, shall I send you one?)

Rubbed all over with foie gras mousse and butter and thyme. Roasted. With potatoes and  onions.

Yeah yeah yeah, in the immortal words of David Johansen.

Chicken with FWAgrah mousse. Can I get a witness? Is the essential mousse procurable? A D'Artagnan product, e.g., or summat?

[tommy]

Chicken with FWAgrah mousse.  Can I get a witness?  Is the essential mousse procurable?  A D'Artagnan product, e.g., or summat?

d'artagnan all the way.

actually, this particular product was from another producer.

[Simon Majumdar]

Asked Steve Hatt to fillet a large Brill for me and then to cut the two fillets in half lengthwise so that both of us had a piece from the white skinned and dark skinned side.

Pan fried all the fish in olive oil and butter after seasoning until the skin was crispy and the fish still a little translucent. Served the dark skinned fish on a bed of warm onion, ginger and grated apple jam and the white skinned fillet on a bed of creme fraiche and dill.

Drank a not very pleasant Gewurtz.

S

[Andy Lynes]

Spiced Cabbage and Lentil Soup with curried leek scones

Soup - sweated one onion, added garlic, cumin and smoked chill then half a cabbage shredded. Let it cook down for a bit, covered with water and added a cubed potato and the lentils. Cooked until lentils and potatos were tender. Blitzed and passed the soup through a sieve. Reheated, seasoned well and added creme fraiche. Served with the scones, made without the necessary self raising flour, and didn't have baking powder either.

The result was virtually inedible (scones were ok but I had added an extra white to help them rise, which just made them more eggy). What did I do wrong do you think?

[Simon Majumdar]

What did I do wrong do you think?

I think the words "Curried Leek Scones" tells you all you need to know

S

[Andy Lynes]

They're made from a John Tovey recipe in "Great British Chefs" and are usually really nice, needed that self raising flour but I just couldn't be arsed to pop down the shops.

[Liza]

Leftover lamb stew whizzed about in a blender and used as a braising liquid for chicken thighs. (If only I'd thrown in some bacon I could have hit the meat trifecta).

Priscilla - the foie mousse is indeed D'artagnan. Took the little container of it and sliced the mousse into one inch thick pats which I froze individually. Defrost for an hour or so and they're ready for rubbing all over the bird of your choice.

[Wilfrid]

Leftover "Sloppy Joe" ground beef; yellow plantains garnished with onion cooked in vinegar and strips of red and yellow pepper. Baby food. Two helpings.

[tommy]

Leftover "Sloppy Joe" ground beef; yellow plantains garnished with onion cooked in vinegar and strips of red and yellow pepper.  Baby food.  Two helpings.

wilfrid,

i'd appreciate your input on your sloppy joe experience. please consider describing your first go-around with joe.

[mhadam]

Homemade eggrolls (cabbage, shrimp, italian sausage, fennell, cilantro, lemon grass, ginger, carrot) with baby bok choy that was steamed for several minutes and then sauteed with garlic and pearl onions in butter.

Drink: mint/peach spritzers (mint, peaches pulverized in a blender with club soda and leftover mondavi champagne)

[Wilfrid]

Leftover "Sloppy Joe" ground beef; yellow plantains garnished with onion cooked in vinegar and strips of red and yellow pepper.  Baby food.  Two helpings.

wilfrid,

i'd appreciate your input on your sloppy joe experience. please consider describing your first go-around with joe.

I would say it was a good-minus experience. I used Hunt's Manwich, in the interest of taking in a classic American version of the dish rather than introducing my own creativity into the process. It gave the ground beef a mild tomato flavor, with very mild spiciness. I served the beef on a fairly soft supermarket roll. Subjectively, I did not like the combination of sloppy meat and soft bread, although I understand the dish is meant to be that way. I felt an urge to add some chopped lettuce or sliced cucumber or pickle -something to give it some crunch.

However, the leftover meat froze well and contributed to last night's impromptu supper.

Thank you for your enquiry.

[Priscilla]

Thank you for the mousse information, mousse users. Will be availing self at earliest opportunity.

Last evening another go-round with the Italianate boiled Arborio Helena Sarin's always on about, and, as I again hasten to add, with good reason.

This time seafood, because for some reason there appeared at my local supermarket fish counter lovely little black mussels, and the guy was so nice, didn't whinge at all, in fact, about going through the ENTIRE PILE and picking only the decent ones for me, and so I also bought a little bit of shrimp, and a little bit of snow crab.

Small bulb of fennel, finely diced, same with onion, also garlic, flat-leaf parsley, bay leaf, pinch of red pepper flakes, s & p, slug of Sauvignon Blanc and olive oil and a little Lurpak. Seafood removed, a little heavy cream reduced in the accumulation, the whole lot (mussels and their pesky shells added back later) folded with the aforementioned Arborio.

Nice foccacia with Pecorino Romano baked on top. Salad of Hass avocado (hybridized but a stone's throw--or an avocado's throw, they make a chucking weapon like no stone God ever created--from where I grew up) and OK-this-time-I'm-serious thinly sliced end-of-the-line Brandywine tomato. I mean, I'm DARING the remaining green ones to ripen, DOUBLE daring. Slices of tomato and avocado alternated, sort of a reassembled avocado half face-down, see, and dressed with a little red-wine vinegar and olive oil and s & p.

Remembered collaterally, as happens, that I am out of Pernod, 51, anise liqueur whatever, so it was very lucky I picked up the little fennel bulb. Did miss the hit of 51 in the mussels. Must remedy this little, ah, problem. Can it be that I spent the whole summer without ever once looking for a nice tall skinny glass of viscous opalescent evocative 51 and water? Must get back on track.