Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

So it's been a while, right?  Let's try this again.

Too long - welcome back, Trelayne.

[TrelayneNYC]

6 hours ago, Pat said:

It has been. Good to see you back .

I had macaroni and cheese for dinner last night, baked, with a lot of colby and extra sharp cheddar in the sauce and breadcrumbs on top.  Now I want meatballs...

Too long - welcome back, Trelayne.

ty!

[DaveO]

8 hours ago, Pat said:

It has been. Good to see you back .

I had macaroni and cheese for dinner last night, baked, with a lot of colby and extra sharp cheddar in the sauce and breadcrumbs on top.  Now I want meatballs...

I'm making meatballs also. Thanks TreLayne

[TrelayneNYC]

Tonight was white-cut chicken (bái qie ji) which -- considering that I am in fact of Chinese descent -- is more traditional than the version presented in 

Christopher Kimball's new venture.  

Here's CK's version if you're curious.

BTW I found his magazine to be underwhelming.  But enough about that.

Ideally I should have started this last night or earlier this morning but I was a little busy.

Take a 4-5 lb. chicken, rinse and pat dry, then massage 1 1/2 tsp. salt all over and inside the cavity.  Set on a rack to drain.

Next, fill a large stockpot with 3-4 quarts cold water, 1 thumb sized piece of peeled ginger root cut in half, 4-5 crushed garlic cloves and 2 tbsp. salt.  Bring to a boil.

Add the chicken.

Return to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes and skim off any scum that rises to the surface.  Cover and remove from heat.  Let chicken sit in the broth for 20-25 minutes.  After the 25 minutes are up, uncover, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.  It should look like this after all is said and done:

Remove chicken from the stockpot and carefully transfer to a colander.  Stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh; it should read 170 F.  If it doesn't, return chicken back to the stockpot and simmer for a few more minutes or until the internal temp. reaches 170 F.

If the chicken is done, ladle some ice water over, then set aside and cool.  Once cool enough to handle, massage 1 tbsp. sesame oil all over the bird, then hack into serving pieces with a sharp knife or Chinese cleaver.

Serve with ginger-scallion sauce (recipe below).  Reserve the Chinese chicken stock (basically the liquid the chicken poached in) for another use.

Ginger-scallion sauce

3 scallions, minced
2 tbsp. shredded ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. vegetable oil

Combine first three ingredients in a heat-proof bowl.  Warm vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat until just short of smoking.  Carefully pour oil over ginger-scallion mixture; the oil may sputter and spit.  Use as desired.

We served that with leftover steamed broccoli, and a large green salad with shallot vinaigrette.

[ktmoomau]

Last night was leftover El Pollo Rico chicken shredded into homemade egg noodles my amish nanny made and sent me with just a tad bit of leftover peas and spinach from other meals I made.

[TrelayneNYC]

Yesterday we had involtini, better known as stuffed beef rolls braised in tomato sauce.  It was the first night I managed to have any interest in cooking after the surprising events of last week which I won't go into here.

Clockwise from lower left:  kosher salt, cracked black pepper; 1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks; 1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes; 1 bottle of sauvignon blanc; 2 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into match sticks.  Not shown are 6 1/8" thick slices of beef rump (or you can also use beef chuck, or sandwich steak slices) and 1/2 lb. prosciutto crudo.

Take each slice of beef, season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Lay a slice of prosciutto on one side, then add some carrot and celery.  Roll up the beef and secure with 1 toothpick.

Eventually you'll end up with something like these.

Warm 2-3 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet and add the beef rolls to the pan.

Brown on all sides on medium heat, about six minutes.  Add 1/2 cup white wine and let the wine reduce for a bit.

Crush the tomatoes by hand, then add 2/3 of the can to the pan.  Bring the liquid in the pan to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and partly cover.  Braise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, checking every so often to turn the beef rolls and stir.  If the liquid gets too low, add some water, stock or reserved tomatoes.

Involtini al sugo.

[TrelayneNYC]

Tonight we had pasta con acciughe e bottarga di mugine (pasta with anchovy and mullet bottarga).

It's something I threw together in 15 minutes and is something that might be common in either Sicily or Sardinia.  I cook Italian about 60% of the time and farm-to-table for the remainder.  I also work late during the week most nights so that's why you usually see posts from me on or around the weekends, or occasionally on Monday.

Clockwise from upper left: 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 3 anchovy fillets; 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley and mint; reserved mint for garnish; red pepper flakes; mullet bottarga.

 

Warm 3-4 tbsp. olive oil in a pan along with the garlic on medium heat. Add red pepper flakes.

If you add the garlic to the oil while it's cold, the oil will be infused with more garlic flavor and aroma as it warms than if you added the garlic to already heated oil.

 

Fry garlic until it turns color, the add anchovy and bottarga. Anchovy and bottarga will disintegrate after about 1-2 minutes.

 

Add parsley and mint. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add 1 ladleful pasta cooking water. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce.

When pasta is done, drain, then add to the pan. Toss to ensure strands are evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and correct for salt, sprinkle with reserved mint leaves, then serve immediately.

Pasta con acciughe e bottarga.

I used bucatini because that's what we had on hand, but it could also go with spaghetti.

[Pat]

Last night was the first actual meal I've cooked in a while. Things have been rather hectic.

Patty melts
Steamed broccoli with hot pepper sesame oil
Mashed potaties

 

[Pat]

Patty melts again, this time with a salad of romaine, breakfast radishes, cucumber, hard-boiled egg, Roquefort, and Bolthouse Farms blue cheese dressing.

[dcandohio]

Marinated chicken thighs grilled with a doctored up, bottled barbecue sauce 

Roasted sweet potatoes with a bit of lemon curry powder 

A simple salad with a white wine vinaigrette   

[Pat]

Penne alla vodka with shrimp

[Pat]

Last night was leftover shrimp, pork, and chicken gumbo over mashed potatoes.

[dcandohio]

Home at Mom's!

Last night was shrimp and crab gumbo and "BBQ" shrimp Manale's style with hot Italian bread. 

[TrelayneNYC]

I thought I'd post some more pix of what we're having for Thanksgiving dinner.

Fagiulini spilusieddi ("green beans with onion, mint and breadcrumbs")

Scarola con aglio e olio ("escarole with garlic and oil" -- this version has pine nuts and raisins)

Ciambellone di ricotta e limone ("ricotta cheese and Meyer lemon bundt cake")

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

What would Rod Carew do when the score was 1-1, with none out in the bottom of the 9th, a runner on 1st, and Harmon Killebrew on deck and Tony Oliva in the hole?

Okay, okay, I snuck this one in for Brooksie - guilty.

[TrelayneNYC]

LOL, thanks Don.

It's a wonderfully delicious cake.  Not too sweet, easy to prepare and it occurs to me that it would be perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Clockwise from foreground right: Meyer lemons, ricotta cheese, 4 eggs, sugar, AP flour, baking powder, salt, one floured and greased bundt pan.  Grease the bundt pan with either olive oil or butter, then generously flour it with AP flour.  AP flour = all-purpose flour.  I tend to abbreviate a lot.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, mix: 2 cups AP flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt.

1 cup ricotta cheese. We bought some from Cowgirl Creamery, although you can probably also use regular ricotta from your local supermarket.

 

In the bowl with the ricotta cheese, mix in: 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 4 eggs. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk into the mixture.

 

Eventually you'll end up with something like this.

 

Transfer the ricotta-oil mixture to the flour-sugar mixture. Whisk until you obtain a thick batter. Add: the zest of two lemons. I also added the juice of one Meyer lemon. Stir a few times.

 

Transfer to the bundt pan, taking care to ensure that the batter doesn't rise up more than 2/3 of the way up.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack before removing from the pan.  When I removed the cake from the pan, it slid right out.

Ricotta and lemon bundt cake.

 

Incidentally, this was our place setting:

 

We gave away a ton of pasta and dessert, and we still have leftovers.  I call that a triumph.

We're planning our Christmas dinner menu in case anyone would like to fly to San Francisco and join in.

[Pat]

Thanksgiving Dinner was

Green Salad 
Roast Turkey
Slow Cooker Sausage-Herb Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Butternut Squash
Gratin of Baby Kale and Rainbow Chard
 

[DaveO]

23 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

I thought I'd post some more pix of what we're having for Thanksgiving dinner.

Fagiulini spilusieddi ("green beans with onion, mint and breadcrumbs")

Thanks for the reminder.  Didn't you post this earlier?  I'd made this before but had forgotten about it.  It was a much tastier and more interesting contribution to thanksgiving dinner than green bean casserole.      (I can't for the life of me remember how to pronounce this correctly.  After struggling a bit, I ended up describing it as green beans, mint, onion, parsley, and bread crumbs/Italian green beans)  (happily it looked about as good as yours and was applauded, though I think we had about 8 winner dishes as good or probably better)

[TrelayneNYC]

I may have but that was a while ago.  

[Pat]

Mini crab cakes
Leftover penne alla vodka
Leftover turkey and gravy
Steamed green beans with butter and toasted sliced almonds
 

[Xochitl10]

Second Thanksgiving yesterday, prior to which I discovered that we'd depleted our stash of red chile sauce.

Roasted turkey breast, dry-brined w/rub of salt, black pepper, garlic, and thyme
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Bread stuffing (old-school Betty Crocker recipe)
Pear-ginger cranberry sauce
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Michael Ruhlman's buttermilk dinner rolls
Pumpkin bread pudding

[TrelayneNYC]

Chicken bouillabaisse, from the "Zuni Cafe Cookbook", pages 348-349.

[Pat]

Turkey broth with noodles and parsley for my husband, who is sick
Pan-fried pork loin chop for me, who is tired

 

[DaveO]

1 hour ago, Pat said:

Turkey broth with noodles and parsley for my husband, who is sick
Pan-fried pork loin chop for me, who is tired

 

Awwww. Get well and energized

[TrelayneNYC]

Zuppa di cozze ("Mussel soup") from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, pages 123-124.  It's REALLY simple:  garlic, flat leaf parsley, mussels, crushed San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes.

Cavolfiore in salsa di acciughe ("cauliflower with anchovy sauce") -- my own recipe and similarly simple:  a battuto of onion, garlic and parsley cooked in olive oil to which was added some anchovy.  Mashed the anchovy into the sauce, cauliflower that was simmered in lightly salted water for 5 minutes.  Drizzle of olive oil for garnish before service.

[ktmoomau]

This all looks great.  I have mandated that since Thursday we eat one leftovers meal per day we have had: hot turkey open faced sandwiches with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy.  Turkey noodle soup with homemade egg noodles.

[Sundae in the Park]

We went full Thanksgiving last week for 2.5 people, which has resulted in a LOT of (planned) leftovers. Still working on Tday re-creation plates since we only finished the first dishes (green beans, cranberry sauce, and gravy) last night, but tonight we'll actually transform some turkey into a couple of pot pies. Oh, also, fried eggs over sausage dressing is pretty much an ideal breakfast. 

[TrelayneNYC]

Having never made beef stew before, I'd say tonight was a victory.

You have to understand that up until a year and a half ago, I was a semi-vegetarian (while I did eat meat on occasion, about 75% of my diet was as a lacto-ovo vegetarian).

 

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4735-old-fashioned-beef-stew for reference, except we subbed 3 1/2 cups of veal stock for the beef stock because that's what we had on hand, and added some chopped parsley at the end.

[Pat]

Spaghetti with tomato meat sauce

[ktmoomau]

Last night was pizza with two types of salami, some chopped ham, chopped olives, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella and aged provolone cheese.  I ate mine with some pepperocini peppers. 

[Pat]

Grilled marinated tofu and brown rice plus California rolls from Yes.

[Sundae in the Park]

From batch cooking on Sunday:

• White pizza with mushrooms
• Red pizza with salami
• Chicken and wild rice soup

Should hold us another day or so.

[dcandohio]

Grilled cheese on asiago bread.

A salad of radicchio, Romaine, celery, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries.

[Pat]

Costco rotisserie chicken leg qusrters*
Take-out bar fries
Cucumber slices and blue cheese dressing

*I found these at the Fort Lincoln Costco. For the same price as a rotisserie chicken ($4.99), they had refrigerated packs of these (8 count, 2 3/4 lbs worth).  They reheated really well.  I like this option over the whole rotisserie chicken.

I know that when the chickens have sat under the heat lamp the max amount of time they pull them back to put in other things (e.g., breast meat into prepared chicken salad). I guess this is one of the other uses. I hadn't noticed it before but will look for these again, presuming they do this on some kind of regular basis.

[Pat]

Improvised chicken cacciatore with more of the Costco chicken and leftover spaghetti in meat sauce

[Xochitl10]

Salt-grilled salmon
Steamed rice mixed with spinach, sesame oil, and black sesame seeds
Miso soup with potato and shiitake
Moorenko ginger ice cream

[TrelayneNYC]

Clockwise from upper right: 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion; 3 tbsp. Hungarian paprika; 1/3 cup sour cream; 3 tbsp. finely chopped garlic; 3 tbsp. finely chopped dill; salt; 4 tbsp. flour; 1 cup chicken stock; heavy cream; lard.

Pork chops from Andronico's.

Salt the chops generously on both sides, then season with black pepper.

Dip in flour, then shake off the excess.

Melt 3 tbsp lard in a Dutch oven.

Brown the chops in the melted lard. Fry for 3-4 minutes per side.

 

If you don't brown them enough, the color will wash out once the chops begin to braise.

 

Transfer to a plate.

 

The key to many Hungarian dishes is onion and garlic browned in lard, to which you've added some sweet paprika. Fry the onions and garlic in the lard over medium-low heat until the vegetables start to turn golden brown, about 12 minutes.

 

Take the pot off heat, then stir in the paprika until onions are coated.

 

Return to heat, then add chicken stock. Scrape up any browned bits.

 

Bring to a boil.

 

Add chops. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for one hour.

 

Whisk together 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup heavy cream and 2 tbsp. flour.

 

Once pork chops are done, transfer to a plate.

 

Whisk the sour cream mixture into the pot of sauce. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Taste for salt and pepper, then stir in the dill. Ladle sauce over chops, then serve immediately.

Braised pork chops with paprika and dill, from The Cooking of Vienna's Empire by Joseph Wechsberg and the Editors of Time-Life Books (1968), page 114.

[ktmoomau]

Friday night was Spaghetti Al Bianco with ground veal- this is a favorite dish of ours, it might be my husband's favorite dish that I make.  Saturday we had leftover chicken briyani from Raaga, so I made some curried cauliflower and peas to go with it.

[Pat]

Leftover takeout mushroom-cheese pizza topped with extra Parmesan and 2 fried eggs. That was very good.

[dcandohio]

Snowbirding in Ft. Lauderdale.  My kitchen is finally complete enough that I can host dinners. Last night:

Spanish cheeses and crackers

Salad of Sekel pears, blue cheese, and spinach with a honey/lemon dressing. 

Roasted tiny zucchini.

Tilapia baked  with olive oil, breadcrumbs, Italian seasonings, and lemon. 

[Pat]

Weird fusion: tacos made from leftover porchetta (from Garrison), avocado, shredded romaine, and chopped tomatoes.

[Xochitl10]

Grazing all afternoon as we decorated our tree: posole, calabacitas (zucchini and corn), fresh homemade tortillas, biscochitos. And birthday cupcakes brought by a friend.

[Pat]

Big vat of mac and cheese

[TrelayneNYC]

Saturday night: pasta e ceci

Tonight:  Taiwanese three-cup chicken, served with steamed jasmine rice

[Pat]

Another weird meal out of a desire to use up stuff:  soft flour tacos stuffed with leftover roasted smashed potatoes with cheese and bacon, plus avocado, and scrambled eggs.  The porchetta taco experiment was more successful, but this was decent.

[Pat]

Last night:
Pumpkin fritters with balsamic
Beer-Braised Pork and Carrot Stew [WaPo recipe; leftovers of]
Fideo noodles in chipotle-tomato sauce [leftovers of]

 

[Xochitl10]

Mabo doufu. It's not a traditional Japanese New Year's food, but Azami and I are fighting off colds and red (tobanjan) and white (tofu, rice) are auspicious colors, so why not?

[Pat]

New Year's Eve Dinner was pretty simple. We started with chilled Riesling, Butterkäse cheese, and rye bread. I impulse bought the cheese when I saw it at Costco--it will make good grilled cheese sandwiches for today's lunch--and the label said it pairs well with Riesling. So I walked over to the wine aisle and bought a bottle of Moselland Ars Vitis Riesling to go with the cheese.  Costco...

The rest of the meal was a pasta dish I improvised, largely out of things I had to use up.  Lesson: a 29 oz. can of pumpkin puree goes a long, long way. This one produced a loaf of quick bread, about a dozen fritters, and a pasta sauce.  We will call last night's creation "Pappardelle with Creamy, Spicy Pumpkin Sauce, Toasted Almonds, and Parmesan."  

[captcourt]

In December 1999, my +1 and I decided to spend New Year's in a then-remote area in West Virginia in case the end of the world was at hand and chaos reigned in DC.  But, of course, we had to eat well.  That year, the Washington Post Food section for NYE was about Dishes for the New Millennium, collected from DC-area chefs (a veritable Who's Who* then as well as in retrospect).  So, with our modest talents and grand aspirations, we brought with us the recipes and all the ingredients for a pre-/post-apocalypse pair of feasts: for NYE, a bouillabaise with rockfish, bay scallops and soft-shell crabs from Todd Gray, and for NYD, an endive, walnut and blue cheese salad with port vinaigrette from Ris Lacoste to start and beef tenderloin with stilton, pastry and madeira sauce from Susan McCreight Lindeborg as the main.

It took forever then - getting the shellfish ready was painful, reading the directions was complicated, and we were in a condo rental with an unfamiliar kitchen, plus our skills and equipment then weren't what they are now.  But damn, those two meals were a-mazing.  We loved the bouillabaise, but the prep work involved outweighed our love for it, so we only made it one more time after that.  The beef, though - the beef! - is sublime, even though we cut a corner and refused to futz with puff pastry (the dish is basically a deconstructed Beef Wellington), and the bitter greens salad (in addition to the endive, there's radicchio and frisee, as well) with the port vinaigrette and creamy, salty blue cheese makes us swoon at a starter.  For some reason, the work for those two is just easier.  So, in each of the 17 subsequent years, we've continued to make those two dishes every NYE or NYD.  Last night, we pulled it off again and it felt like one of the years when everything hits exactly the right note.

Happy New Year, everyone!

* The roster of chefs providing recipes for that Post Food section: Germaine Swanson, Jose Andres and Wayne Combs, Ris Lacoste, Bob Kinkead, Jeff Tunks, Todd Gray, Frederic Lange, Michel Richard, Brian McBride, Peter Pastan, Susan McCreight Lindeborg, K.N. Vinod, and Patrick O'Connell.

** ETA: the title of that issue of the Food section is actually "The No-Reservations New Year's Eve."  The recipe for the beef also includes one of my favorite typos/editing errors of all time - one of the ingredients is supposed to be "2 pounds baby spinach" but unfortunately, the word "spinach" was left out. Making this only once a year, and still using the actual, yellowed old printed newspaper section for cooking, we still get a laugh every time at reading the ingredient of "2 pounds baby" in our dinner.  The online archive version - which only recently popped up!  I hadn't been able to find it before! - includes the "we regret the error" notification, which is kind of too bad.

*** Another ETA: if anyone happens to be in touch with Susan McCreight Lindeborg, who I understand moved away from the area after her stint at The Majestic Cafe, I would love it if you could pass along my heartfelt thanks for her contribution of the beef recipe.  

[Pat]

New Year's Night Dinner:

Marinated Black-eyed Pea Salad
Oyster Pie With Leeks, Bacon and Mashed Potatoes
Spinach and Prosciutto Frittata

The salad is my own version of one I had at the Dixie Cafe chain more than a decade ago when I was on an extended trip to Memphis.  I was on a diet and it seemed like everything on their menu was deep-fried. So when I spotted that salad on the menu, I ordered it and have craved it off and on ever since (though I've never been back to a Dixie Cafe).  I usually just use well-rinsed canned beans for the salad, but I was completely out of them and grabbed dry beans when I was out shopping.  The flavor is definitely better starting from dried beans than canned, but for some idiotic reason, I soaked and cooked an entire pound of them when I only needed a relatively small amount for the salad, so I see a lot of black-eyed peas in future meals. 

The Oyster Pie recipe was from David Tanis in the NY Times back in October.  It came out well, a bit rich for a regular meal but a great holiday indulgence.  Maybe I'll make that again next year.