Hatch green chile, roasted garlic, and Gruyere quiche in whole-wheat crust.

Last night:
Pan roasted duck breast with fig-plum chutney
Puree of roasted kuri squash
Yellow wax beans
Tomato-cucumber-avocado salad
2004 Castle Rock Carneros Pinot Noir

Tonight:
Salmon croquettes made with leftover wild coho en papillotte, remoulade sauce
Baked potato
Steamed broccoli
2004 Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina

Chili cheese dogs (chicken sausages with basil and sun-dried tomatoes, with sliced cheddar and banana peppers on whole wheat hot dog buns, topped with Turkey Chili with Beans)
Fresh green beans

Lamb korma, carrots and peas with ginger and cilantro, and rice; from An Invitation to Indian Cooking.

It's been ages since I've cooked Indian food, and I've re-discovered what I love and hate about it. The love was from making my own garam masala fresh from whole spices. What an incredible aroma! The hate comes from cleaning up. What a freakin' mess. Leftovers will make a good lunch, though.

Boeuf Bourgignon gets better after a couple of days in the fridge.

Tri Tip steaks with bulgogi marinade I got off the web. Pretty good, but I wouldn't mind a better bulgogi recipe if anyone has one out there.

Bombay and Rangpur "martinis"

Olives, marcona almonds, cornichons
Duck rillettes
Gougeres
Radishes with bread and butter

Asparagus and cauliflower, aioli
Boeuf Bourguinon
Polenta
Potato gratin with goat cheese and thyme

Green salad with heirloom tomatoes
Cheeses, including Epoisses
Chocolate fleur de sel cake, creme anglaise, raspberries
Port

Fifteen people. Waaaaaaay too much wine. Few leftovers.

Hosted a small contingent of Azami's Japanese model railroading club for an "invent a drink for the name" party. Apps for the tasting: smoked salmon pate, mixed olives, iburigakko, crackers/toasts, and cheeses (Pont L'Eveque, aged Irish cheddar, Maytag blue, Comte). Dinner was short ribs braised in stout, polenta, and zucchini sauteed with garlic.

Green curry w/ coconut milk and shrimp served over basmati rice. I can't figure out what makes the dish sooo good--the coconut milk or curry. It doesn't matter; it's all good.

Pot roast with lotsa root veggies. Gruyere and mushroom polenta.

This is one of the rare occasions I'm happy about eating leftovers.

Smoked pork chop...since I couldn't make it to the picnic.

Made in one of these smoker bages that go into the oven. First time trying the bag and it wasn't bad. I finished the chops off on the cast iron grill pan. Doesn't replace a regular smoker, but a good pinch hit.

Served with roasted green beans and whole wheat orzo.

Equal parts Pho and Nyquil.

Phoquil!

This one's going to be huge...

Busted out Rick Bayless's tomatillo braised pork loin again. Perfect for a chilly night in central VA.

tomato salad
braised long eggplant stuffed with garlic
rice
erbaluce de caluso, la rustia, orsolani

deborah madison's recipe (from "local flavors") calls for eight to 12 small, thin eggplants, around 8 inches in length, fresh from the farmer's market, although any eggplant will work. i prefer this approach to broiling: cut several slits in the eggplants and insert slices of garlic. two fat cloves of garlic are called for, i used three. warm two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan (i used three), add the eggplants and some salt and saute for about five minutes until they are beginning to color. add one cup of water, cover and cook until soft, about 20 to 30 minutes, adding water if it's needed. i used high medium heat and turned it down towards the end. when the eggplant is soft, remove the lid and saute until they are golden. at this point, you have to turn them gently. add pepper, chopped parsley and a few drops of aged vinegar.

all around, this was the best-tasting eggplant we have had all summer.

I made eggplant last night too, but the garlic didn't didn't occur to me. That's a great idea. I roasted two eggplants of this size, then cut/broke each into a few pieces in a small au gratin dish and made (essentially) mini eggplant Parmesan sans Parmesan (using homemade oven-dried tomatoes, sliced buffalo mozzarella, and Dubliner cheese). I also made up 2 au gratin dishes with a roughly smashed mashed potato mixture with buttermilk and more Dubliner cheese. I baked all of the dishes long enough to get everything really hot and browned. In addition to this, my husband had leftover turkey chili .

i have always been on the lookout for eggplant dishes in ethnic restaurants, but never got around to cooking them much until this summer, thinking they were more trouble than they were worth. preparing them does entail a little work, but they really are good. i always feel like skipping the first step of salting them and letting them drip, but relying on the supply from the farmer's market for the past few months, i've only encountered one batch that was bitter.

I've stopped salting eggplant and have not had any problems with bitterness.

Last night was
short ribs braised in pinot noir with porcini and button mushrooms
rice
green beans

Tonight was
baked chicken legs
roasted fingerling potatoes
baked apple slices (w/cinnamon, sugar, flour, golden raisins, pistachios, honey, and butter)

I'm not real fond of sweet stuff, but those baked apples were great.

Dry-aged bone-in rib steak from WF, spice rubbed and charcoal grilled
(Grilled, spice rubbed portobello mushroom for Veggie-teen)
Broccoli with Meyer lemon olive oil and roasted garlic
Potato-celery root mash with whole grain mustard

Italian plum crisp with vanilla ice cream

2004 Rosenblum Petite Sirah, SF Bay Heritage Clones

Zora, eating at your house would bring my appetite back. I love reading your menus.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be at Comet Ping-Pong, but this is Emma's weekend to have a temp of 103 so we are cooking at home. Tonight's menu:

fried catfish with homemade tartar sauce
buttermilk mashed potatoes
collard greens with bacon and onions
sliced raw salad turnips with vinaigrette
ice cream sundaes

I grew up thinking I hated tartar sauce, but what I actually hated was the bottled stuff. There's no comparison between it and homemade.

Braised lamb shanks with carrots, turnips, and barley
Olive-rosemary bread
Lime-cardamom tart

Dinner with the family:
chicken pot pies with vermouth-spiked cream gravy (treasure from Mom's freezer)
garlic mashed potatoes
peas and corn with butter and herbs
chocolate cake with brown sugar buttercream
Happy Birthday, Mums.

Coq au vin with sunchoke puree (happened to find some sunchokes at the Adams-Morgan farmer's market)

My first home-cooked meal as a married man:

Baguette from Firehook
Lamb & wild mushroom stew with chanterelle ravioli
2004 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel

For the stew I used lamb shoulder and (just for flavor) a veal bone from our dinner at RTC two weeks ago (yes, I saved it - so sue me). I also used the rosemary that was in my wedding boutineer, which I'd dried. The broth was flavored with some good 'ol button mushrooms, then at the end after the mirepoix et al were removed, I softened some dried lobster mushrooms and served them whole in the bowl.

Been too busy doing other things to cook, eh?

Dinner a couple of Wednesdays (my night to cook) ago was comfort food...Roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, collard greens, and mac n cheese.





Sunday's dinner was stuffed pork chops and roasted root vegetables.



Dessert was lady fingers and a fancy fruit mousse dessert that cjsadler made in pastry class.

Last night's dinner was italian-style chicken with sausage, peppers, and onions and mashed potatoes. The recipe was a Cook's Illustrated recipe that we were testing.

Marinated fresh borlotti beans (from Eli's stand at Dupont Market)
fennel slaw
roasted balsamic-glazed cippolini onions
roasted asparagus
mixed olives
roasted beef meatballs
pizza made with Rustic Crust* sourdough bread base, fresh tomato marinara, mozzarella di bufala, mushrooms, basil and fresh chiles

2002 Di Majo Norante Ramitello

*bought at WF, first time I've used this. Consensus was this was better than french bread pizza and a zillion times better than Boboli.

Rustic Crust - is it in the freezer section?

-Avocado & tomato salad w/ parika, lemon & garlic vinagrette
-Pan-fried chicken stuffed with mushrooms, Scarborough Fair herbs, garlic, madeira & balsamic vinegar
-More Firehook baguette

It was defintely the best cooked chicken I've ever made. After stuffing it and sealing with toothpicks, I rolled the breasts in a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and liberal amounts of paprika. I filled my cast iron skillet about a quarter inch with EVOO and pressed the chicken down with a weighted frying pan. Then I stuck the whole thing in the oven for finishing.

It came out a BEAUTIFUL golden color with a crispy outside and a moist interior. A real crowd pleaser.

I stuck some vitamin C in with the avocados... hopefully they'll stay green in time for lunch tomorrow!

Tonight is kale soup with country ham and cannellini beans, plus an antipasto plate of cheeses, olives, peppers, and proscuitto di parma with flatbread. The other course is cauliflower with proscuitto and toasted walnuts in a balsamic-walnut oil vinagrette.

No--with the pita breads and such.

Tonight's pre-Nosferatu dinner will be:
Roasted eggplant caponata with rosemary crostini
Mixed green salad with maple pear vinaigrette and toasted walnuts
Mushroom stroganoff over cardamom scented basmati rice
Pumpkin mousse with gingerbread and maple butter cookies
Pinot Evil Pinot Noir (unknown quanitity on this one. Who can resist evil wine with scary monkeys for Halloween dinner?)

What, no garlic-centered dishes?

It's your blood...

Tonight I will be feasting on:

Candy corn (Brachs, by the handful)
Beer (40oz, Miller High Life aka The Champagne of Beers, Milwaukee - 2006 Vintage)
Maybe a neck or two...

Tonight, if my energy levels stay up, will be James Beard's Coq au Riesling and a salad of arugula, radishes, avocado, and strawberry-balsamic vinagrette.

Don't be mislead... there was about a head of garlic in last night's dinner all told!

Last night:

Jack Roses: Laird's applejack, grenadine, and lime juice

Pot roast, gravy enhanced with reduced Old Overholt (sauces made with rye -- my new obsession)
Steamed rice
Mixed vegetables
Flaky biscuits

Tonight will be butternut squash soup, Shirley Corriher's Rice Bread, and mixed greens with pear, blue cheese, cranberries, and balsamic viniagrette.

Can I make a suggestion to make this delicious salad even better? Toasted pecans, almonds or pine nuts. A little nutty crunch is da bomb!

Leftover lasagnette from Dino. Yum.

Lakota squash soup. Topped with hickory smoked bacon crumbles, chives, pink salt, and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Had the neighbours over last night to make them the targets of a few experiments:

Simple green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, toasted pine nuts, and shaved parmagiano-reggiano
Smoked double thick pork chops (smoked/grilled with apple, alder, and cherry wood)
Apple chutney
Collard greens (using Scott's recipe from the picnic!)
Mashed yukon potatoes with cheddar and Hawaiian red lava salt
Chai ice cream
Cabernet icewine (yes, a red icewine, from Henry of Pelham vineyard in S. Ont)

Everything was homemade, including chutney and ice cream. All went well until a glass went down our garbage disposal unknowst to us. The plumber is coming tomorrow

Oh man. That sucks. Your dinner sounds delicious though, especially the ice cream.

I was all proud of my chai ice cream because I came up with the idea and recipe all on my own. I thought I might actually have something unique. Then I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay on Sunday (it was either that or football) and he had an ice cream throwdown with some guy in St Paul. One of the flavours in their ice cream store was "Norwegian Chai". So much for my originality.

For those that might want to try it...here's what I used:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 inch cinammon stick
10 fresh cardammon pods (lightly crushed so as to open the shells but not let the seeds spill out)
1 inch fresh ginger, cut into 3 or 4 slices
1 tea bag (I used Red Rose)

After bringing the cream and milk to a boil, I let it simmer for about 20-30 mins with the tea bag, cinammon, ginger and cardammon pods in it. Then it's the usual process of mixing eggs/sugar, tempering and adding to custard, cooling, spinning, freezing, eating.

EDIT: So much for originality. Someone far more imaginative than I already posted this recipe.

Last night was pork ragu over butternut squash gnocchi topped with La Quercia Pancetta*. The ragu was made with pork sirloin braised in homemade pork stock and some other goodness, at 170 degrees for 8 hours. After resting overnight, the meat was shredded, the cooking liquid was strained. The liquid was brought to a boil and reduced a bit, the meat was added back in along with carrots, fennel, and shallots that had been sweated in the pancetta fat. The ragu was finished with a touch of cream.
The gnocchi were not feather light, but they were made with Yukon gold potatoes and a butternut squash. The flour was kept to a minimum to ensure lightness. After they were cooked I quickly pan fried them in brown butter.
Both the ragu and the gnocchi tasted fabulous, unfortunately, they didn't quite work together. I am going to make more of the gnocchi tomorrow night and serve it with a savory cheese sauce.

*This was sourced at the Old Town Whole Foods, and is worth every penny. I was not as salty as most brands, and had a delightful gamey flavor. This was a fabulous way to finish off this dish.

Did you get this at the deli counter or was it prepackaged?

It was at the deli section, they don't have it in the case, but just ask them for pancetta. It is fattier than most pancetta, but I find that to be a plus. Also, it is not rolled.

Mmm, almonds. I wish I'd read this before dinner last night -- I saw it while eating the leftovers at lunch and spent the rest of the time thinking "I bet it would be good with toasted almonds."

Tonight, I repurposed Saturday night's leftover pot roast into shredded beef, green chile, and cheese burritos, served alongside pinto beans.

Tonight: Chicken Pot Pie followed by pumpkin carving.