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Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


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Friday was one of our around-the-world mashups:

Avocado-tomatillo salsa verde with homemade tortilla chips

Salad greens with warm goat cheese croutons and white balsamic-honey vinaigrette
Tomatillo and pork stew
Broccoli, tofu, red pepper, and mushroom stir-fry
 
Last night was the follow-up:
Salad of frisee, baby arugula, and radicchio with toasted walnuts, bacon, shaved carrots, and sliced radishes; white balsamic-honey vinaigrette
Avocado-tomatillo salsa verde with homemade tortilla chips
Leftover stir-fry
Wild and brown rice mix
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There is a wonderful website from the Chiang Mai University Library that catalogs recipes from Northern Thailand in English with photos, Lanna Food. I decided to make Uk kai (aka Ook Gai) a Northern Thai chicken curry this weekend using the recipe from this website. It's related to Chin Hum (aka Jin Hoom, a recipe for which is in Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook). It helps to know some Thai when using this website. For instance, the Thai work for Parsley (pak chee farang) is the same as the Thai word for culantro. Pak chee is the Thai word for cilantro, pak chee farang means foreign cilantro. Parsley is not used in Thai cooking, but culantro is very popular especially upcountry (North and Northeast), so when the recipe calls for parsley it means culantro. Incidentally, the Thai word for dill is pak chee Lao. I also substituted fermented black soybeans for shrimp paste (kapi), so as not to kill my wife (shellfish allergy). It's not too "inauthentic", because before fermented shrimp paste, a coastal product, was readily available in Northern Thailand, people used (and still use) a fermented soy product called tua nao which is somewhat similar, in that it is also fermented salty and funky. It's sold in CD sized discs with a hole in the center. I used to have some. The Shan people of Burma use it and I used to have some given to me by some Shan Burmese people. There is even a recipe to make your own in Naomi Duguid's Burma cookbook. Black beans are easier to find and work pretty well, though.

Anyway, this dish came out really well and was easy to do. Curry paste of dry red chillies, galanga, kaffir lime peel, fresh turmeric, lemongrass, toasted coriander seeds, garlic, shallots, and fermented soybeans,

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Paste is fried in oil, chopped chicken (on the bone, Ayershire) is added along with some kaffir lime leaves, galanga slices and lemongrass, covered and simmered for about 45 minutes. Chopped green onion, cilantro and culantro sprinkled on top.

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Eaten with rice, vegetables, omelet, and dried fish on Saturday. Sunday I added a green mango salad and stir fried green beans with chopped chicken, chilles and garlic.

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Lots of pumpkins still available at the Saturday farmer's market I go to, so I bought one with no ideas what I was going to make.

Kaddo Borawni - Afghan Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce.  Really easy to make and it came out great.  I used Mark Bittman's recipe (minus the meat sauce) and added some ground coriander and a little tomato paste (which featured in some other Kaddo Borawni recipes I saw online).

Rice pilaf with cashews and dates

Carrots with cumin, garlic, lemon juice

Salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red pepper, feta, mint, pomegranate, lemon juice, olive oil (which will obviously taste better in the summer)

Flat bread smeared with olive oil and zaatar

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Salad of frisee, baby arugula, and radicchio with toasted walnuts, bacon, shaved carrots, and sliced radishes; white balsamic-honey vinaigrette

Cheese toasts (baguette slices with Jasper Hill Oma, apricot preserves, and toasted sliced almonds)

Chicken soup with barley and kale

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- Grilled skirt steak I'd marinated overnight

- Grilled and charred Chinese greens, Zora style :-)

- Buttered slices of Mark Furstenberg's levain

Had intended to grill everything outside since the storm was serendipitously passing us by tonight. But, just as we were about to open the grill cover, snow started falling....and then stopped as soon as we'd committed to the indoor, cast-iron grill.

The greens were a bok-choy type purchased at the DuPont Farmers Market; forgetting the exact name. "Zora style," of course, refers to the miso-butter approach Zora shared here last week. Lots of recipes online for that but I went with Zora's, incorporating her suggested bit of sesame oil, fresh ginger and soy sauce. Verdict? Pretty fabulous though I might not pre-steam next time or, at least, steam less. Flavors were great and, with the steak, an easy but well-received dinner we'll do again.

Thanks Zora!

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Leftover chicken soup with barley and kale

Chicken tacos on flour tortillas with fennel - cabbage - carrot slaw and avocado-tomatillo salsa
Black beans
 
I just kind of winged it on the slaw and it came out really well:  white balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, glug of buttermilk, serving teaspoonful of prepared mayo, sprinkling of celery seeds, pinch of coarse sea salt, few grinds of black pepper.  It's the type of slaw I usually make for fish tacos, but it was good with chicken too.
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Got an unexpected and free (long story) delivery from Plated, so the last two nights' dinners have been on them -

Last night - roasted spaghetti squash with kale, cheese sauce, and pine nuts

Sunday night - beef pho

I've used Plated before, though not with any regularity (the service is pricey, and I actually like grocery shopping) - I generally find the meals to be tasty, but the portions (especially of the squash dish) seemed small.  Thanks to a gift from a friend, I am trying Blue Apron next week to compare.  Nice to have options when things get hectic.

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Last night I made bone in pork chops, baked potatoes with the filling mixed with parmasean, peas and butter, slaw similar to the kind they have at Zoe's Kitchen which I really like.  I think they use napa cabbage, I didn't have napa, but it still turned out tasty.  

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cassou-lite. which is to say that it didn't rise to the level of a true cassoulet, but had many of its elements: tarbais beans; garlicy sausage; pork belly in the form of bacon; I have some duck confit in the freezer but it felt like too much trouble to thaw it, so added duck broth for a ducky component. Plus a bunch of finely chopped aromatic veg and a bundle of herbs. I started it too late to have it spend many hours in the oven, and since the beans wouldn't have time to partially break down and make it creamy, I added a peeled and diced russet potato to contribute its starch. We started with a bibb lettuce salad and had some baguette slices for sopping.

And drank a 2007 Brunel cotes du Rhone cuvee Sabine from the back of the closet that was delicious--still had plenty of fruit but with a hint of leather that I love.

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Last night was pan roasted chicken breasts with kale sauteed with bacon and lima beans then braised in some vegetable stock. Homemade corn bread with tomato jam.   A nice use of the last of the huge bag of kale I bought.

I bought a ton of groceries a couple weeks ago, and the fridge isn't empty, but between packing lunches and cooking at home we seem to have gone through a lot of food in a few weeks.

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Salad based on an idea from lperry: thinly sliced celeriac, tart apple, and fennel tossed with minced parley, chopped capers, lemon, tarragon vinegar, homemade mayonnaise, s&p.  Needs some refinement but definitely a good idea.  Served with a side of farro cooked in rich fennel broth.

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Leftover salad of red leaf lettuce and frisee, carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, and mushrooms; sesame-shiitake vinaigrette

Chickpea chorizo soup
Cheesy potato casserole with mushrooms, bacon, and potato chips
 
The last cup of whole milk had to be consumed before it turned.  I also had one sad-looking russet potato and some aging button mushrooms, so I concocted a small casserole.  I made a cheese sauce (monterey jack and habanero cheddar) with the milk, cubed the peeled potato and par-boiled it, and sautéed sliced mushrooms in some oil.  I added a few crumbled strips of bacon I'd previously cooked into the mushrooms for a couple of minutes.  Then it all got mixed together into a small Le Creuset casserole and topped with the dregs of a bag of not-quite-stale Utz potato chips.  It was rather good for a dish of scraps.
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Took the bag of saved chicken bones/wing ends from the freezer and added the carcass of the organic grocery store rotisserie chicken and simmered for a couple of hours. Now it's chicken noodle soup. I added carrots, celery, egg noodles and the chopped meat from the rotisserie chicken. Good for this cold night!

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Leftover salad of red leaf lettuce and frisee, carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, and mushrooms; sesame-shiitake vinaigrette

Chickpea chorizo soup

Cheesy potato casserole with mushrooms, bacon, and potato chips

The last cup of whole milk had to be consumed before it turned.  I also had one sad-looking russet potato and some aging button mushrooms, so I concocted a small casserole.  I made a cheese sauce (monterey jack and habanero cheddar) with the milk, cubed the peeled potato and par-boiled it, and sautéed sliced mushrooms in some oil.  I added a few crumbled strips of bacon I'd previously cooked into the mushrooms for a couple of minutes.  Then it all got mixed together into a small Le Creuset casserole and topped with the dregs of a bag of not-quite-stale Utz potato chips.  It was rather good for a dish of scraps.

This is great. It's the kind of ingenuity I should have had in college but then had neither the know-how nor inclination to do.

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melanitzasalata (charred eggplant-roasted pepper-feta-pine nut salad) redipe from the Sunday Post Magazine, with pita chips

charcoal grilled 4-day yogurt, onion, and mint marinated lamb kebabs

saffron rice

2011 Bodegas La Cartuja Priorat

Mmmm. Yogurt-marinated lamb kabobs. On the to-do list. Will report back. Merci.

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Nachos.  Xochitl brand corn chips, cheddar cheese, black beans, slivered jalapeí±os, diced avocado, tomatillo salsa (made and frozen last summer).  I understand there was some sort of sporting event on last night, but every time I looked at the tube, I saw unusually long and complicated advertizing.  We watched a movie instead.  The nachos totally hit the spot.

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Nachos.  Xochitl brand corn chips, cheddar cheese, black beans, slivered jalapeí±os, diced avocado, tomatillo salsa (made and frozen last summer).  I understand there was some sort of sporting event on last night, but every time I looked at the tube, I saw unusually long and complicated advertizing.  We watched a movie instead.  The nachos totally hit the spot.

Great minds think alike, Elizabeth. I made two separate plates of nachos to honor J's devotion to the Stupor Bowl. Good thing we have two tv sets. I ate mine while watching a Mel Brooks special on HBO. I defrosted some homemade chili, opened a can of refried beans, and made pico de gallo and guacamole. Layered the chips with shredded jack and cheddar, refritos, chili and put the salsa and guac on top after they came out of the oven. I really, really, really hate football.

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Another attempt at a seafood stew.  Cod, shrimp, scallops, and mussels along with fennel, celery, carrot, potato, red bell pepper, green olives, and sausage that may have been linguií§a, in a soup base made from strong shrimp/fennel broth, oven-dried tomatoes (frozen last summer), white wine, thyme, saffron, bay leaf, Marash pepper, etc., finished with lemon and a splash of pastis.  This came out hearty with an acidity that kept it from being too rich, but the scallops didn't quite work somehow.

Served with BreadFurst baguette and Hummingbird, a soft cow/ewe cheese from Pennsylvania.

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Baked haddock with zucchini and tomato; herbed panko crumble

Sweet and sour haricots verts

Herbed farro with tomato and mushrooms

These three dishes made a great combination for a meal.  I used some drained diced canned tomatoes in the topping for the fish and then the other bits and the liquid in the farro and mushroom dish.  Herbs involved were parsley, tarragon, and chives.

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Penne with greens, olive oil, and red pepper flakes, topped with a little pecorino Romano cheese

Roasted acorn squash

The squash was from this summer's garden and had been frozen.  I had read that you can roast frozen vegetables, and was surprised that the flavor was just as good as fresh.  The texture was a little different, but not unpleasant.

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Salad of frisee and red leaf lettuce, cucumber, bacon, and hard-boiled egg; miso-ginger vinaigrette

Broiled lamb loin chops with horseradish - tarragon yogurt sauce

Leftover sweet and sour green beans and farro with mushrooms and tomatoes

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