Dinner! 2002

[Liza]

Leek, potato and collard green soup.

Rye toast.

Mini-Hershey bars (individually wrapped) for dessert. Slight inhalation of cat hair.

[Stone]

I made fried rice last night. It's been a while.

Hot oil in the wok, cracked in two eggs. My wok is well-seasoned, so no sticking, no burning. Added some cut up prawns that I bought on the way home. Then chopped carrot and left-over rice. Pretty simple. when the rice heated through I added about a teaspoon on soy (I don't like it too dark) some salt, chopped onion, garlic, lots of sliced scallion, cilantro, a few small chillis and a hand-full of frozen peas at the end. Alas, I had no fish sauce -- a few squirts would have helped.

The prawns were good, but not enough to flavor the whole batch. Should have picked up some chorizo (I'm in the Spanish market part of town, no Chinese sausage available) or ham.

[Priscilla]

Lamb shanks, cut osso bucco-fashion, braised with onion, garlic, carrot, bay, rosemary...and, um, red wine. Red-skinned potatoes cut in wedges and bunged carefully (if indeed something bunged can be said to have been so carefully) into the big oval black matte-finish enameled-cast-iron Cousances toward the end. Nice red-leaf salad. Sourdough bread.

[torakris]

Morrocan chicken with honey and tomatoes. Recipe from Claudia Roden's middle eatsern cook book. Basically the chicken is braised with a sauce of tomatoes, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, and onion. When the chicken is cooked the sauce is reduced and honey is added. I served it sprinkled with toasted almonds with plain basmati rice.

FM

That is gorgeous!

Claudia Roden's book has been on my wish list for long time and this picture has just pushed it to the top!

[Jinmyo]

Broke out the tabletop grills:

Slices of lamb loin marinated in sake, crushed mint, much minced garlic, grapeseed oil, s&p.

Thick slices of white mushrooms about as big as my fist, marinated in shoyu and dashi.

Trimmed scallions.

Baby bok choy halves.

Slices of monkfish marinated in dashi and mirin and minced lemongrass.

Tsukemono: Mustard green pickles, takuan, cabbage kimchee, daikon kimchee.

Stacks of scallion pancakes.

Hiyayako (cold silken tofu) with flyingfish roe on top.

[Adam Balic]

Pasta with a sauce of Brocoli, fresh tomato, anchovies, chilli, garlic and olive oil. Would have added pinenuts and sultanas if I had them, but I didn't, so I didn't. If that makes sense?

[Stone]

One more batch of bad homemade pasta.

[torakris]

It has been a boring week, foodwise that is.

Monday:

ground beef and tofu patties, Korean style

various side salads (namuls)

clam and mistuba soup

Japanese rice

Tuesday:

Pork and garlic stem stirfry with oyster sauce

roasted kabocha

tomato salad

Japanese rice

Weds:

Cream (white) stew not really sure what this is called in English anymore

used the leftover Kabocha as a base turning it a gorgeous orange color, added

carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and salmon

cucumber and red onion salad

Japanese rice (fro husband and kids)

baguette (for me)

looking very forward to making Suvir's Korma curry tonight!

[mixmaster b]

Monday night:

Trout stuffed with chopped olives, garlic, parsley. Started on the stove w/lots of evoo, finished in the oven.

Orzo done risotto style with sauteed radicchio

Baked tomatoes topped w/ breadcrumbs and parmesan

Too lazy to make salad.

Tuesday night:

Pork tenderloin wrapped in pancetta

Roasted portobellos

Pan sauce made with pork and mushroom drippings, white wine, a hunk of frozen chicken demi-glace from an ambitious stock-making weekend, and a hunk of butter.

Leftover orzo and baked tomatoes. (I love leftovers!)

Still too lazy to make salad!! (Very bad--arugula is getting limp!)

[SobaAddict70]

tonight (Thursday):

Braised pumpkin with coconut milk (pumpkin, sweet potatoes and Chinese black mushrooms, braised in coconut milk and spices, and finished with chopped roasted peanuts);

Sauteed spinach with yellow bean sauce (spinach, garlic, scallions, and a sauce composed of yellow bean paste, spices, peanuts, coconut milk and lemongrass);

Stir-fried rice (leftover rice from takeout, minced garlic, Chinese sausage, five-spice powder, mushroom soy, minced scallions, minced ginger, beaten egg yolk).

Evian. Fresh fruit.

SA

[FoodMan]

WARNING: LOTS O' DRIVEL BUT I HAD TO GET OUT OF MY SYSTEM!!! SO IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO, DO IT NOW INSTEAD OF READING MY POST.

My experiment with Kabocha Squash:

SO I was browsing throught he produce department at Central Market this past weekend and they had quiet a nice selection of great looking winter squashes. I normally buy either butternut or Acorn, however being the adventurous type that I am I go for a pretty looking "Organic Kabocha Squash" thinking to myself "So what if I've never tried this type before? How different could it be?"...

3 days later...

Teusday night dinner:

The wife was out shopping so I decide to cook half of my Kabocha. I was planning on homemade raviolis with some sage butter but since I got home sort of late I decide to do Mario Batali's "BUTTERNUT squash with Penne Rigate"-- the keyword is apparently BUTTERNUT SQUASH. As soon as I cut into the damn thing I think to myself "This could be bad" since it was pretty hard but I keep going on with the recipe which basically asks the cook to saute the squash. The Kabocha was the driest most starchy squash I've ever encountered even though it tastes pretty sweet and nutty. Needless to say the Teusday night dinner was HORRIBLE the squash was so dry it was almost non-swallowable. Thanks God my wife did not tatse it. Moral of the story: Bake the Kabocha or stew it.

Thursday night dinner:

With half of the squash in my fridge and two Chicken breasts defrosted I decide to make a fall type dinner worthy of my starchy but sweet Kabocha. So I pound the chicken and roll it jelly roll like with a stuffing of dried apricots , raisins, butter and ground cardamom. They are then browned and finished in the oven. As for the squash, I baked it until very soft and pureed it with rosemary, cream and a little sourcream. When the chicken was cooked I made a pan sauce with some Gin (no real junipers on hand ), shallots, stock and mounted with butter. The chicken was cut into rounds and served around the squash puree and topped with the sauce. What a difference!! the squash tasted superb, creamy and bold. It was perfect with the cardamom flavored chicken.

But will I buy a Kabocha again???? probably not. I still prefer my butternut.

FM

[torakris]

I have never had a dry kabocha similar to what Foodman has described.

I often stirfry it usaully with lots of garlic or with cubed chicken thighs and a sauce made with soy, sugar and tonbanjian.

It is at its best when braised or pureed.

I did have a very dry acorn squash a couple of weeks ago, this may have been due to the fact that I bought it at a florist shop along with a butternut they were selling as decorations. The butternut was wonderful but I wonder how old that acorn squash was.

Last night I was planning on making Suvir's Murgh kurma, but I neglected to read the recipe thoroughly and missed the part at the end where you are supposed to let it sit for at least an hour to let the flavors infuse the sauce. I didn't have enough time, so i made tonjiru, a miso soup with pork (ton) and anything else you have in the house, Japanese rice with umeboshi and nori, and mekabu with a ponzu sauce.

Suvir's Kurma is infusing as I type this and I should probably go and get my basmati rice started.

[Kim WB]

First, I would like to thank all of the regular posters on this thread for their inspiration. Reading these posts encourages me to try new recipes, and also that the extra time it takes to make "real food" is worth it.

I made a wonderful sweet potato and mushroom gratin last night, which is almost "post-worthy." The initial recipe was from Cooking Light, and it had some interesting adaptations to lighten up this traditional gratin...but perhaps it went a bit too far. So, I am going to fiddle with this until I get it right, and them share it with you all. One small step for the Cooking thread, one giant leap for KimWB!

Also, can you replace Sweet potato with Butternut Squash in a baked casserole kind of dish ?

[Suzanne F]

Inspired by the "Chicken Soup" thread, last (Thursday) night we had posole. I started it Wednesday, cooking whole chicken legs and pork "country ribs" in chicken stock and water with cinnamon, clove, Mexican oregano, New Mexico Red chile, shallot, garlic, and a dry Provençal bouquet garni of bay leave and thyme. I forgot the black peppercorns. When the meats were cooked, I took them out, boned them, and cooked the broth down more with the bones. Strained and chilled it. Tonight I skimmed off the fat, added back the meats and a can of posole, and reheated.

Served it with arepas (made with feta, parmesan, and romano in the dough), guacamole, sliced jalapeño, cilantro sprigs, lime wedges, and a mixed salad with creamy garlic dressing. Bass Ale.

Mixmaster b: if you store the arugula like a bouquet with the root ends in water, and covered loosely, it keeps longer without wilting.

[Jinmyo]

KimWB, you can in most cases use sweet potato rather than squash and the other way round. It depends upon the starchiness desired.

[Priscilla]

Like Torakris I have never encountered a superdry kabocha, but I am glad you made it work, Foodman...I think its flavor and texture is unparalleled in the World of Winter Squashes. Sometimes I poke some holes and roast it whole, if I want to end up with puree--nice roasty flavor development.

Roast dinner last evening:

Roast chicken, Jim Dixon's Italo-PNW Roasted Cauliflower (to whose pan I added some broccoli spears, experimentally...not bad but of course not as suited to this treatment as cauli), roast sweet potatoes. Heart-shaped sage biscuits. Honey and butter and cherry tomato preserves.

[torakris]

Well we ate Suvir's Kurma last night and it was wonderful!

All 3 kids loved it and my husband who rarely comments on food, must have said "this is pefect" about 5 or 6 times.

I served it with a yogurt sauce

and quick braise of the only veggies I had in the house (carrots, shishito, Japanese mildly hot peppers, and tomatoes) with cumin seeds, s and p and a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

dessert were chocolate filled coconut cups, actually I made these the day before, put them in the freezer to harden them at forgot about them until last night.

I must be really busy if I forget about dessert!

[Liza]

Yet another Friday night trout-fest, this time though....slow-roasted. The trout guy has rather fatty trout so I thought it just might work to use the slow-roasted technique usually applied to salmon. And it worked. Very luscious, with just a light sprinkling of Fleur de Sel and cracked pepper, drizzle of olive oil. Got the trout flavor in full effect.

Quick mashed tatties with parmagianno-reggiano and buttah.

[Jinmyo]

Mmmm. Troutfat.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Saturday lunch, actually. Dungenous crab season started a week ago, so we decided it was time for a crab orgy: 2 people, 2 crab, loaf of ciabatta, cube of sweet butter, sliced heirloom tomato and mache from the garden served with just salt, pepper and lemon infused olive oil. Choice of mustard-mayo or lemon-horseradish cocktail sauce for the crab. NZ sauvignon blanc. Soulfood. (Stuffed!)

[wingding]

I scored some capon from Four Story Hill farms,and made coq au vin,Italian style,with some porcinis,pancetta,and an Eyetalian red wine.This guys' poultry is the tops![served it with polenta..]winterfood

[Jinmyo]

Scallion and soinach congee with mussels (three) atop.

Chinese bacon (cured pork belly, steamed, then fried) and sea scallops. (Scallops sliced in half, square of bacon in between.)

Dai gai choy soup with mustard.

Tong choy (crysanthemum greens) with Chinese duck liver sausage cut into one inch pieces on the bias.

Spring rolls filled with shrimp and shitake mushrooms.

Chilled silken tofu on reduced pomegranite juice sauce, topped with minced chiles.

ediot: "silken".

Edited November 23, 2002 by Jinmyo (log)

[Liza]

Wingding, if you don't mind my asking, where'dja get that capon? I've seen capon on order at The French Butcher and recently "Capon!" has been advertised at Whole Foods, but I've never seen a named farm before, and naturally my curiosity is peaked.

Dinner tonight:

Corrupted Mario's perfectly lovely bolognese to appease the tomato lover in residence, and added crushed tomato. It tastes like the best sloppy joe (Sloppy Joe?) that you've ever had, with the addition of a few crushed red peppers and Spanish paprika.

As we've got some lamb kebobs from the lamb guy at the farmer's market, I picked up some fresh curry leaves and coconut milk so I we can anticipate stinking up the place mighty good tomorrow.

[Suzanne F]

Last night (Friday) the 2 of us (!) finished the venison chop I brought home from Diwan -- sliced, room temp since I didn't want to overcook it in reheating. My own version of the spiced potatoes: sautéed onion, garlic, grated ginger, yellow mustard seeds, coriander seeds, black cardamom seeds (the last 2 lightly crushed), sliced jalapeños, cubed Yukon Gold potatoes, then added coconut milk and water to cook until done. Garnished with chopped cilantro/mint. Also steamed sliced zucchini with a little clarified butter (in lieu of ghee). Mixed salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Seghesio Zinfandel (Sonoma County, 2000).

[La Niña]

Very traditional cheese fondue, green salad with traditional vinaigrette, bottle of Alsatian riesling...and now we're doing a test run of Toby's pear tarte tatin...