Dinner! 2002

[Priscilla]

Visitors from Hawaii. Tostadas, either or both flour & corn fried tortillas. Dressed as desired. Carnitas (which I've been working on). Refried beans. Chopped tomato-jalapeno-onion-cilantro, an approximation of what my fave taqueria calls salsa Mexicana. Also Victoria's Green Sauce, a pureed tomatillo-based salsa. Finely shredded cabbage. Guacamole. Cheese, sour cream. Jicama dusted with ground pasilla, sprinkled with lime juice.

[SobaAddict70]

hey, if Tommy is strange, then I'm the crazy old man in the padded cell.

Saturday:

a menage a trois of sandwiches (I was at a friend's place and didn't feel like cooking):

hummus sandwich: toasted whole wheat bread, hummus, horseradish, jalapeno pepper jelly.

peach sandwich: toasted whole wheat bread, melted shredded cheese (mozzarella, jack, provolone, asiago), peach preserves

deli sandwich: toasted onion bagel, sliced roast turkey, sliced salami, provolone cheese, miracle whip, horseradish, roasted peppers, EXTRA GARLIC Mrs. Dash.

Grapefruit juice. Sparkling water.

--------

tonight:

broiled skinless chicken breasts (seasoned with a t. of EVOO and topped with onions and sliced peppers, salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash)

roasted turnips and potatoes (seasoned with EVOO, kosher salt, pepper and rosemary)

steamed broccoli (topped with ghee and toasted black mustard seeds)

Ginger-clove tea. Evian.

SA

Edit: added day and also tonight's (Sunday's) menu.

[Nick]

roasted turnips and potatoes (seasoned with EVOO, kosher salt, pepper and rosemary)

This is probably a stupid question, but did you parboil the potatoes and turnips? If you did, for how long and did you do them together? I'm still trying to figure this out. In his Q&A, Heston boiled them until almost done, but others have said a short parboil followed by a long roast. Tried Heston's way twice, but am thinking the other way might be better.

Thanks, Nick

[mixmaster b]

roasted turnips and potatoes (seasoned with EVOO, kosher salt, pepper and rosemary)

This is probably a stupid question, but did you parboil the potatoes and turnips? If you did, for how long and did you do them together? I'm still trying to figure this out. In his Q&A, Heston boiled them until almost done, but others have said a short parboil followed by a long roast. Tried Heston's way twice, but am thinking the other way might be better.

Thanks, Nick

nickn-

I can't be bothered to parboil veggies for roasting and they always come out delish.. Into the oven at about 400 degrees with evoo, s&P, garlic, and maybe some rosemary, roast till tender--maybe 40 minutes, depending on size. Carrots, parsnips, rutabega, brussel sprouts, and small onions are also good like this, not the mention Jim Dixon's divine cauliflower. Thanks, Jim!

[SobaAddict70]

I never parboil veggies when roasting them.

Why bother, since that defeats the purpose of roasting? You want the flavor to be concentrated, not diluted.

mixmaster's recipe is about right. I prefer it at 375 though.

SA

[torakris]

Sardines are truely wonderful fish, we eat them every way imaginable.

...stuffed with pine nuts, herbs, cheese, tomatoes and baked...

Waiting for the lamb chili to finish. Back to sardines. Torakris, how the hell do you stuff a sardine with all that? Are they bigger than what we have here?

You actually open the fish up.

Cut off the head, slide out the innards, open it up like a book, flattening it down and then pull out the backbone.

Then you spread a little of the stuffing on the flesh and then roll it up jelly roll fashion, I secure it with a toothpick.

Another wonderful recipe from Jamie Oliver.

In Japan sardines (iwashi) are often flavored with curry powder, usually mixed with the panko before sauteeing. I still have yet to try this combo yet though, I really like them with tomatoes and lemons.

Last night's dinner was potluck Halloween Party with about 30 friends. My contributions were a taboulleh (Best Recipe version where they soak the bulgur in lemon juice instead of water, fantastic!) and a flourless chocolate and vanilla marble cake (courtesy of Fine Cookings new holiday baking issue). This cake was the hit of the party and today I am going to be busy faxing the recipe to everyone who was there!

I did make a dud though. I tried sauteeing almonds in butter and olive oil and then mixing them with sea salt and cayenne, but I got distracted and they were slightly burned. Then I was completely out of sea salt, so I decided to use Kosher salt, unfortunately that was almost gone too and it was just powdery no different than regular salt. They ended up tasting like oversalted burned popcorn, so I left them at home.

[Jinmyo]

Kristin, have you tried almonds with shoyu, mirin, and togarashi? Just heat a medium temp so that the shoyu forms a glaze. Some gomasio is nice as well.

[awbrig]

togarashi Jin? I have been searching hi and lo for it...where do I find this stuff?

[torakris]

Kristin, have you tried almonds with shoyu, mirin, and togarashi? Just heat a medium temp so that the shoyu forms a glaze. Some gomasio is nice as well.

Sounds great!

I will give that a try today. I still have a monster bag of almonds we bought at Costco a while back that I am trying to use up.

Great addition to our BBQ today, my husband bought a smoker yesterday so we are going to try smoking oysters and ankimo (monkfish liver). regular BBQ will be chicken wings with a hoison based sauce for the kids, buffalo wing style sauce for the adults, a huge salad with the remaining veggies from the garden and what ever food my MIL thows together, probably yakiniku and yakisoba the only 2 foods she ever makes for BBQ's.

[torakris]

togarashi Jin?  I have been searching hi and lo for it...where do I find this stuff?

I can't imagine an Asian store not stocking it!

[Jinmyo]

Brig, any Japanese grocery will carry it. Korean as well, and some general Asian grocers. Failing that, I'm sure you can order it through the web.

[Liza]

I'm kvelling from Jean-Georges' Beet Tartare. And anticipating lamb shoulder with curry leaves, cinnamon, quince, and yet again, whatever the hell else Davy puts into it. But the beet tartare? Brilliant.

[tommy]

filet mignon over wild mushrooms. with "french fries."

every time i go back to filet, i think "why didn't i cook ribeye?"

[Blondie]

Lobster risotto with black truffle oil. Braised kale. Cheese (Majorero, Manchego Madara and Prince de Claverolle) with Forelle pears and guava paste.

[Adam Balic]

Visitor from Australia. Cooked for ten people.

Pasta 'Cittarra' with pesto

Hugh joint of pork (loin on the bone), seasoneds with fennel seeds, garlic and rosemary.

Gratin of potato, porchini and chestnut mushrooms.

slow cooked white beans (some rare, tiny Chiantian ones I picked up in Siena) with olive oil, garlic and sage.

green beans with Alpine Italian butter and almonds.

Spinach with pinenuts and sultanas

Celery braised in milk.

Apple pie using 10 diffrent types of British heirloom apples and three quinces, soaked in Croatian apple brandy, drained cooked, custard made with cream, eggs and marination liquor, almonds scattered on top.

[Jinmyo]

Very nice, Adam. Even with the bloody raisins. The gratin sounds wonderful.

[Adam Balic]

Very nice, Adam. Even with the bloody raisins. The gratin sounds wonderful.

Not raisins, "sultanas". I don't much like them either, but they give sweetness to the dish. The gratin was stolen from a Charlie Trotter book, it was v. good, but very rich.

[Jinmyo]

I imagine it was. Was there an acidic element to the meal? Perhaps the pesto?

[Miss J]

The weather was grim yesterday, so to cheer myself up I made:

pork vindaloo

plain steamed basmati rice

sag aloo

a relish of tomatoes, fresh coriander and red onion

raita

[Adam Balic]

I imagine it was. Was there an acidic element to the meal? Perhaps the pesto?

Not really, I was in a rush and so didn't plan it very well. I had been to a wine/whisky tasting for the previous five hours and had cleverly spat the wine for the first four hours, but then drank 12 single malts in the last hour. I had planned a salad of bitter herbs, but I forgot at the last moment. Meal was rather heavy, so the only solution was to drink loads of wine and finish with more whisky. Feel a little poorly today.

Also cut my thumb again on the mandolin - I must stop using that thing when I am drunk.

[CathyL]

I can't be bothered to parboil veggies for roasting and they always come out delish..  Into the oven at about 400 degrees with evoo, s&P, garlic, and maybe some rosemary, roast till tender--maybe 40 minutes, depending on size.  Carrots, parsnips, rutabega, brussel sprouts, and small onions are also good like this, not the mention Jim Dixon's divine cauliflower.  Thanks, Jim!

Mix, celeriac is also lovely roasted. So are Jerusalem artichokes, but they turn mushy if overcooked so they need to be watched.

[gknl]

Sauteed boneless, skinless chicken breasts with pine nut-apricot mole from Rick Bayless' One Plate at a Time. Had a pot-luck with some people who chose Mexican for the theme. One of them's a professional cook, so it's always nerve-wracking, but despite my serious attempt to murder the dish, it tasted pretty good. Good enough that it makes me think of how much better it will be if I do it right next time.

[Jinmyo]

Disclaimer: professional kitchen, staff of three. Still, please try this at home.

Bone-in loin pork chops, rubbed with white pepper, marinated in Chinese mushroom soy with garlic, wasabi, and chiles, grilled.

Very thin scallion congee with toasted pine nuts.

Deep-fried cremeni mushrooms.

Asparagus and ginger gyoza (fried dumplings) with a lemon dipping sauce.

Hiyayako (chilled silken tofu) atop a blood orange reduction with caramelized zest and crunchy red Hawaiian salt.

[Miss J]

Jin, what was the main appeal of using the red Hawaiian salt over other types? Was it the colour, texture or flavour? (Or all three?)

I have never heard of red Hawaiian salt, and as a girl with five different types of salt in her cupboard this disturbs me greatly. Something must be done.

Edit: oh yeah, last night's dinner...vodka. You heard.

[Jinmyo]

The colour (derived from coral) against the white glow of the silken tofu, Miss J.