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Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


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Zora, I am a little torn on my daughter's turn back to a vegetable-focused diet, especially since she really doesn't like a lot of veggies. But I experimented a lot w/ my diet when I was younger (now I eat almost everything), & my mom said she was a picky eater, & when people tried to force her to eat things, it just backfired. So now, I'm just going with it...

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^it's all you can do. she may restrict her diet even more, especially if her best friends don't eat seafood, or are heaven forbid, vegans. but eventually, it works out. my daughter (now 21 years old) is no longer a vegetarian. she's even started cooking meat dishes for herself and her boyfriend.

dinner tonight:

beef and beer stew with carrots, leeks, celery, rutabaga

pan-roasted brussels sprouts

Quail Creek Bakery pugliese

2008 Cosentino pinot noir

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- butternut squash soup with leek (no dairy)

- roast leg of farmers-market lamb seasoned simply with lots of fresh rosemary from herb garden (go global warming! :) ), garlic, s&p

- tossed greens and red onion with sherry vinegar, shallot and german mustard vinaigrette

2008 LaGarde Primeras Vinas malbec*

* one of the nicer malbecs we've had in awhile with remarkable balance of acidity and flavors; thanks to the good people at Planet

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Last night:

Butter lettuce salad with avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, nicoise olives, and croutons; vinaigrette

Green pancakes with lime butter

Escarole and Roasted Shallots

Caramelized fennel with goat cheese

The pancakes and fennel were both recipes from Plenty, and the escarole (which I've made a number of times now) is from The Babbo Cookbook. The pancakes were small enough that it wasn't too much food overall. The leftover pancakes should reheat okay, I think.

Saturday night:

Baked chicken legs

Steamed broccoli

Baked spicy cheese fries

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Sunday, leftover lamb penang curry, pork jerky with jeaw, som tom Thai (green papaya, garlic, fresh chillies, palm sugar, peanuts, green beans, lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, tomatoes), raw vegetables, and brown jasmine rice.

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Yesterday, Khai Jiao and freshly made som tom Thai with Thai red rice. Very simple, but very satisfying.

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"Sauce charcutiere"? Do tell. And thanks!

It's a pan reduction sauce. In this case, I browned the pork chops and removed them from the pan, poured off some of the oil and then sauteed some chopped shallot, deglazed the pan with chicken stock and white wine, and put the chops back in the pan and covered it. Once the chops were cooked, I removed them from the pan, reduced the stock, added some creme fraiche, whole grain mustard, chopped up cornichons and capers, and chopped fresh parsley, thyme and rosemary (I would've used chives if I'd had some), and spooned the sauce over the chops.
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last night, dinner for relatives:

cheese and charcuterie platter, and Pedro Pan's wild yeast-poolish crusty bread

bourbon manhattan or Cocchi Americano-prosecco spritzer

spinach, kale and homemade ricotta pancakes with cilantro lime butter*

NV Gasparini prosecco

charcoal grilled eco-friendly boneless leg of lamb, marinated for five days in yogurt, mint and aromatics

roasted asparagus

elephant beans in fennel-scented tomato sauce

roasted spiced sweet potato wedges with creamy lemon grass-ginger dipping sauce*

2003 Clos de Sixte lirac

2010 Grand Veneur cotes du rhone

meyer lemon cheesecake with lemon curd topping

Peet's espresso

*adapted from recipes in Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

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On Thursday I did a cooking class with some international students. We made Kao Soi (aka Chiang Mai curry noodles), the Northern Thai version of a Burmese dish, Ohn no khauk sway. It is a coconut milk based chicken curry served over egg noodles with various garnishes/accompaniments. The students get to do most of the prep work.

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We even made our own curry paste. Here is the curry in the pot.

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Accompaniments include garlic/chilli oil that we made, pickled mustard greens, sliced shallots, limes, cilantro, and deep fried noodles. Everybody enjoyed it.

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The Thai student found it mild to medium spicy, while the Russian student was crying from the heat (oops). It was declared delicious.

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We didn't deep fry our own noodles, though.

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Fishinnards has indicated a preference for a small group this time out. He and porcupine are going to need to put their heads together and come up with a date. Once we know the date, and we know who is available, we'll figure out a way to see who gets to come...

Even though I was one of the first few in, I think a lottery for spaces once the date is announced is the best way.

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Grilled salmon in cedar papers--via Gena Knox--surrounded by fresh zucchini spears, thinly sliced kalamata olives, finely chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and lots of minced garlic. I would be happy to provide the recipe and cooking times.

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Word! Eric, perhaps you will consider doing a Thai cooking class for us, sometime! I'm sure a number of DR folks would be interested, and would contribute to the cost of materials. Whadday say?

Even though I was one of the first few in, I think a lottery for spaces once the date is announced is the best way.

I would be VERY interested, and would like to be included in the lottery, or future class(es)! I drool every time I see your posts, Fishinnards!

I did try my hand at Kao Soi this weekend, using the recipe 22209 provided from a picnic a couple years ago. It was quite tasty and pretty easy, but I didn't go so far as making my own curry sauce!

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This is a modified recipe for two. 1/3 cup of one inch long zucchini spears, 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, 2 tablespoons of sliced and pitted kalamata olives, 3 tablespoons of sundried tomatoes in olive oil, six cloves of finely minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, with a touch of lemon pepper. Grill at 500 degrees for 5 minutes with the vegetables facing the grill, then turn and grill for four minutes. The salmon should be grilled in Gina Knox cedar papers. Happy eating!

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So far, porcupine has volunteered to host,

You mean, "zora has volunteered porcupine to host." :P But I'm happy to do it, and have several ideas for including more people. Will get details out once fishinnards and I have them. Meantime my only request is that everyone chip in to cover the cost of ingredients and beer for the chef.

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Dan dan noodles. Shanghai cabbage on the side. The sauce is on the bottom of the bowl, and I mixed mine by the recipe and Mr. lperry's with 1/4 the suggested spice oil. My mouth was numb and my nose was running, but I wasn't crying, so I'd say the spiciness is just right. :)

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I changed the recipe in two ways. First, that's minced, pressed tofu instead of pork, and second, those are rice noodles to keep it gluten-free for Mr. lperry. Next time I'll try to find some that are thicker, I think.

A huge thank you to Goodeats for helping me with the zha cai! :)

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You mean, "zora has volunteered porcupine to host." :P But I'm happy to do it, and have several ideas for including more people. Will get details out once fishinnards and I have them. Meantime my only request is that everyone chip in to cover the cost of ingredients and beer for the chef.

:rolleyes: porcupine was very generous (and also interested enough in Thai cooking) to respond positively when I asked if it were possible...
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Zora, I am a little torn on my daughter's turn back to a vegetable-focused diet, especially since she really doesn't like a lot of veggies. But I experimented a lot w/ my diet when I was younger (now I eat almost everything), & my mom said she was a picky eater, & when people tried to force her to eat things, it just backfired. So now, I'm just going with it...

I have a 16 year old who has been a pescetarian for 3 years now. She fortunately likes most vegetables, but she has become quite fond of many healthy greens that were not as regular a part of our diet a few years ago. I use spinach, kale and bok choy quite a bit, and she really likes these in sauteed or in soups (I made a 15 minute Rachel Ray shrimp and bok choy soup last night that was quite good (which I hate to admit because I am not a fan of hers), and added soba noodles instead of spaghetti, to up slightly the protein content). We also make a quick tofu, mushroom and spinach soup and superload the spinach. That your daughter eats seafood hopefully steers her away from the carbo loading diets many teen vegetarians rely on. We do eat a lot of fish, but really mix up the preparations, including fish tacos, fish in parchment and many grilled efforts. Also, try options such as the morning star brand black bean burger, by far our favorite veggie-friendly burger, which you can grill while making regular burgers for the rest of the family. I have found that more often than not, I am not making two completely different meals. I actually have also taken much inspiration and many ideas from Zora's postings from when her daughter was a vegetarian.
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At the store I saw dried yam noodles that are thicker, but not sure I'd they're gf. Will check if I go this wknd.

Thanks! I have a few packs of Vietnamese and Thai rice noodles, although they are dried. It's easier than I thought it would be, but we are lucky to live where we have so many resources.

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You mean, "zora has volunteered porcupine to host." :P But I'm happy to do it, and have several ideas for including more people. Will get details out once fishinnards and I have them. Meantime my only request is that everyone chip in to cover the cost of ingredients and beer for the chef.

I would LOVE to do this*, and I'd be more than happy to host**, but I'm traveling soon and won't be available until April.

*I dream at night of being adopted by Fishinnards and zoramargolis. I imagine it to be a pretty blissed out life.

**My kitchen has a large island that could fit 6-8 people around it and I have a 6-8 person dining table, but the stove would be a little difficult for more than 2-3 close observers. I would also pay for so, so much beer and produce to make this happen. (But my knives suck.)

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- Cold Country King Salmon baked en papillote with a toasted fennel seed/coriander seed rub*

- jasmine rice cooked in broth with lemon essence and chopped fresh cilantro

- tossed greens with the best fish-sauce vinaigrette recipe I've yet discovered after trying Momofuku's and too many others

2007 J.K. Carriere Pinot Noir

*inspired by kirite (thank you!), made possible by Traveler at Cold Country and with help from Tyler Florence

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Thanks so much. Will definitely try it. Tonight's star was a vegetarian side. Heat pan with olive oil. Add 2 large shallots, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped zucchini, and 8 cloves of sliced garlic. Slow cook for about 8 minutes and garnish with minced fresh basil.

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Continuing to try to cook authentic Chinese dishes,

Pan fried radish cake with a sweet chili dipping sauce

Sichuan dry fried string beans

Bitter melon, thinly sliced and dressed in a sugar/chili mixture

I like the beans, but I think from now on I'm going to cheat and steam them then add the seasonings. Too much oil. The bitter melon was an attempt to recreate a dish I had in Beijing, and I was semi-successful with no recipe and the opinions of all the diniers who were with me. I'll try it again.

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Garlic toast

Leftover cayettes with Swiss chard

Leftover crunchy pappardelle

The two leftovers last night were both from newly acquired cookbooks. The pappardelle from Plenty had broccolini, mushrooms and panko (hence the "crunchy") in a cream sauce. I liked this a little less than the first two recipes I made from the book, but it was still pretty good. I didn't measure the panko real precisely, and I don't think this was as crunchy as it was supposed to be. It was also a little dry. I added some of the reserved cooking liquid but apparently not enough.

The cayettes--pork, beef, and chicken liver patties--were from The Essential Pepin. I loved these. The chicken livers take these above and beyond. There are also greens mixed into the patties. It was supposed to be spinach or spinach combined with chard, kale, or similar greens, but I misread when I made my shopping list and thought it was supposed to be any one of those greens, so I only bought Swiss chard. Having not had these before, I don't know if it made a difference, but I doubt it. One of the best dishes I've made thus far in 2012.

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