Brought them back in my carry-on in a care package from home (Baton Rouge). Contents of care package -- two pounds frozen Belle River crawfish tails and fat, three pounds frozen tasso, two pounds frozen andouille sausage.

After much meditation, decided not to bring the jars of Savoie roux. Just could not shake visions of exploding jars of roux in the unpressurized baggage compartment.
Next care package will probably be ordered from one of those online grocers catering to homesick Louisianans.

Or, I could always go to Mardi Gras.

Last night:

Belgian endive salad with toasted walnuts and Roquefort (mine) and feta (husband's); ranch dressing
Brisket with root vegetables


Tonight:

Watercress-leek soup
Spinach and sun-dried tomato strata
Butterflied rolled leg of leg lamb stuffed with olives, pine nuts, feta, and arugula

Oven-braised beef chuck roast
Mushroom barley risotto
Roasted Kabocha squash puree
Fennel slaw with meyer lemon vinaigrette

Seckel pear crisp

2005 Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles GSM

*Chickpea and potato terrine stuffed with pine nuts, spinach, onion and tahini
Chopped cherry tomatoes

Lamb merguez meatballs with minted yogurt sauce
*Squash kibbeh with brown butter and spiced feta {Veggie-teen's main)

Hummous
Olives
Cucumbers and yogurt
Feta
Oven toasted pita with olive oil, sea salt and fresh thyme

2003 Nada Fiorenzo Dolcetto d'Alba

*Recipes from _Spice_ by Ana Sortun-- these both turned out to be outstanding vegetarian dishes, with layers of fascinating flavors. Both contained Middle Eastern Five Spice Powder, a simple recipe in the book which consisted of black pepper, allspice, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. The terrine was layered with a puree of potato and chickpeas on top and bottom and spinach, onion, pine nuts, garlic, tahini, dried apricot and raisins (and five spice powder) in the center. Served at room temp, sliced and topped with chopped tomatoes. Truly wonderful first course.

The squash kibbe was made with roasted, pureed winter squash (I had some leftover kabocha puree that I used) mixed with sauteed onion and green pepper (I used poblano). Sweet paprika and a small amount of dried bulgar wheat is mixed in and it sits for fifteen minutes and then brown butter is added. The puree is spooned into a small baking cup and a ball of spiced feta is buried in the center of the squash and covered over. The feta was mixed with five spice, alleppo pepper, and chopped parsley (I used cilantro and skipped the called-for sumac, which I didn't have). It was then baked for fifteen minutes and turned out onto the plate. Very rich and delicious.

Spicy English parsnip soup
Lamb curry with white rice

Spud in allium (with apologies to Tallis). Okay, so it's just a potato-leek soup.

Cabbage and beet borscht with sour cream and fresh dill

Seeded corn rye bread and butter

Blueberry crisp

2004 Turkey Flat "The Turk" GSM+cab

American hackleback caviar with creme fraiche

Mussels with vermouth, garlic, shallots, roasted peppers and fresh herbs

2004 Mara Reserve Russian River Valley Zinfandel, Dolinsek Ranch (yum!!!)

Leftover blood orange cheesecake

Lentil Soup with bacon and carrots
Chicken Pillard with Escorole (sp)
Churros and Chocolate

roasted chicken stuffed with lemon and rosemary, with its juices alongside
mashed spuds
steamed asparagus tossed with a little butter and lemon zest
homemade chocolate chip cookies

I recently obtained a Michael Chiarello cookbook that I'm really enjoying. Last night pork Bolognese with rosemary and garlic fettucine accompanied by oven warmed rosemary and olive oil focaccia with smoked mozzarella and sundried tomatoes. Tonight chicken breasts alla vendemmia with oven roasted potatoes and spring greens.

Last night was an Armenian meal. I had intended to serve it Sunday, but after 4 long hours in the kitchen, it was still not close to ready. So, we had leftovers Sunday and the Armenian meal last night.

Madzoon (yogurt) soup
Yalanchi (rice stuffed grape leaves)
Topik (chickpea-potato terrine--I looked over a number of recipes but ultimately used the one Zora did, upthread)

Family dance and pizza night. Cranked the oven way up and each pizza took about 4 1/2 minutes, with a beautiful crisp bubbly crust and slightly browned cheese. Mine had fontina, sauteed wild mushrooms & garlic, fresh thyme, a few nicoise olives, and a liberal showering of fresh parsley and red pepper flakes once out of the oven. Carol Greenwood couldn't have done any better.

Plus we were treated to Ian doing his "butt dance" to "Oh Carolina" by Shaggy, and you just can't get that kind of entertainment at Comet.

I can't top that! I need to make pizza again. It's been quite a while.

Tonight we're having...

French toast

Well, not exactly. I'm making a strata from stale poppy seed rolls*, milk/eggs/honey, and dried pineapple and chopped proscuitto.

I'm also reheating some parsnip soup. Tonight is definitely a soup night.

*$1 off at Giant yesterday, which was their sale date. I should have been suspicious when I squeezed (gently!) the other packages and they seemed stale. These seemed ok, until I got home and tried one . They're a nice texture for french toasty-foods, though.

Last minute dinner thrown together because the stupid weather ruined my dinner plans....

Country pate on a baguette
Scrambled eggs topped with truffle oil and truffle salt (almost made up for the stupid weather)
fleur de sel brownie sundae sans ice cream
vodka

I had the leftovers from this kick ass mushroom lasagna that I made the other night.

Perhaps there should be a lasagna thread.

Oven braised beef short ribs
Roasted garlic mash
Brussels sprouts with almonds and meyer lemon

Caramelized comice pears with vanilla ice cream

2004 D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz-Viognier

red-cooked pork belly (from molly steven's art of braising)
prawn crackers
rose brut champagne

Coney dogs, followed by a disproportionately fancy dessert of Greek yogurt topped with oranges in honey-cardamom syrup, sprinkled with chopped pistachios and a touch of lavender salt.

Ethiopian sampler (spellings may vary). Injera platter topped with

Tibs Wat (spicy beef stew)
Doro Wat (spicy chicken stew)
Yegomen Kitfo (collards with spiced cottage cheese)
Yebeg Alicha (mild lamb stew with onions and green peppers)
Yemiser Wat (spicy red lentil stew)
Yetakelt Wat (spicy mixed vegetable stew)

Everything came out well, except the doro wat was a bit overseasoned (despite my scaling back the berbere from the main recipe I used.) The lamb stew was the best overall dish, in my biased opinion. I found lots of descriptions of it online but had trouble finding a specific recipe, so drew on the description and a couple of different recipes. I was quite pleased with that.

The spicy vegetable stew was runner-up. I got that one from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.

We've still got plenty of food and injera left, so we'll be eating Ethiopian food for days. I had wanted to make tekil gomen and had the ingredients but substituted the spicy vegetable stew instead. If we still have injera before finishing the other foods, I'll make up a batch of tekil gomen.

I contemplated making just one or two dishes and focusing on them, but one thing I love about eating at Ethiopian restaurants is getting a platter with a lot of different selections. I still miss The Red Sea . The platter looked impressive, if I do say so myself.

The spiced butter came out really well and despite scaling back on the amounts of butter called for in the various dishes, I've already met my butter quota for the entire month...and then some .

And the next time my husband asks if I really need all those mixing bowls filling the kitchen cabinets, I can truly say yes. I used all but one of them making this meal .

-Wild mushroom* and sausage risotto with Parmesan and truffle oil

*Shiitake, morel, wood ear, chanter- ... ... ... ok ok ok, so I bought one of every dried mushroom Harris Teeter was selling. So sue me. It gave a great, deep mushroom flavor. Go to hell.

A quiet Valentine's dinner in the ice-surrounded empty nest, and without predatory pricing:

Roasted red pepper soup with shallots and shrimp
Ducktrap Smoked Trout
Fruit tart—Balducci’s
NV Krug
Music by Miles Davis
Lipitor by Pfizer

Pair of lasagnas, both made with LaPasta fresh pasta sheets: bolognese (made from leftover shortribs), and mushroom (portobello and porcini)
Salad with roasted beets, homemade chevre, mache-frisee-butter lettuce and Meyer lemon vinaigrette
An adaptation of "Katherine Hepburn's Brownies" from the Gourmet Cookbook (3 oz. 70% chocolate vs. 2 oz. unsweetened; 1/2 the sugar; small amount of chocolate-covered cocoa nibs vs. a cup of walnuts; 10 minutes less baking time). They turned out delicious!

2005 Borgo Nuovo Nero d'Avola--a superb bargain (less than $10) from Paul's.

We've been eating leftover Ethiopian food for dinner every night. Last night I decided to go for a little variety to start out the meal, so I made a batch of very out-of season cream of roasted tomato-basil soup, and gougeres from a Jacques Pepin recipe. The gougeres were wonderful floated on top of the soup and also just eaten straight from the bread basket .

Turned the risotto into cheese-less suppli with a dijon-madeira herb crust, served with sun dried tomato and balsamic puree

For the new lunar year, found a whole black bass and with a nod to both the Summer Challenge and the Year of the Pig, made

Huo Tui Dong Gu Zheng Yu
Steamed broccoli w Meyer lemon juice
White rice (medium grain)

• After scoring, the cleaned fish first marinates in rice wine infused with bruised gingerroot & salt
• Stuff all the slits in the skin with prosciutto & slivers of shitake sautéed briefly in peanut oil, the fresh a substitute for dried black mushrooms; since I forgot to tell the fishmonger to clean the bass through the gills (ha!), I also stuffed the belly
• Place fish on steamer tray (or chicken-roasting thingy on top of steamer grill) inside wok. Pour on soy sauce and cover tightly till done
• Wipe out wok, pour in toasted sesame oil & when warm, use it to drizzle on fish
• Cover with shredded scallions & gingerroot

Thai-Style Chicken Soup (Cook’s Illustrated, Jan/Feb 07) with Jasmine rice.

Pretty good. Anything with coconut milk makes my knees go weak.

[Okay, now my Epicurious.com-styled comments: Couldn’t find lemongrass so I used Gourmet Garden’s lemongrass herb blend. Wasn’t too crazy about it, but it worked in a pinch. I think actual lemongrass would have added the extra “kick” needed.

Does red curry paste lose its potency? Don’t know how long that bottle has been sitting there: although the recipe called for 2 teaspoons, I added 4 teaspoons and still couldn’t get the “pow” that I wanted. Finally add a (very) generous splash of Sriracha; that did the trick.

I was out of lime juice (forgot to check the freezer before going to the store) so substituted lemon juice.

Could/should have added broccoli or spinach to get in my serving of green vegetables. And, varied the mushrooms. Shitakes would have been a nice addition.

Oh! And, I really need to work on my knife skills. Or, get my knives sharpened. I was really hungry and a bit careless slicing the chicken and mushrooms into uniform, consistent slices. Rather big chunks of each. (Yet, nothing goes to waste; I’ll be making chicken stock next weekend.)

It has been a while since I’ve had Tom Khaa Gai, but this version worked for me. Four forks. If (when!) I do this again, I would try roasting the chicken, shredding it and then adding it to the soup. Would have preferred the chicken with a bit more “umph” yet realize this may distract from the overall flavor of the soup. Who knows? This may become my I’m-sick-and-need-comfort food. (Let’s be real – anything with coconut milk is de facto comfort food.)]

wanted to use the leftover Niman Ranch ham steak from Fridays split pea soup so came across a nice and easy white bean soup/stew recipe

saute some garlic in oil, add a can of tomatoes, 2 cans canneloni beans, ham, chicken stock and some pepper - bring to a boil, reduce heat, stir in baby arucola until wilted....serve with bread/toast.....tasted great and I have it for lunch today

Homemade roasted turban squash soup
" baba ghanouj
" hummos
Olives

Felafel sandwiches in pita with yogurt-tahini sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, cilantro and hot sauce
(I went to Shemali's--in the same Foxhall Square building where Ace Beverages is located--and found their own homemade felafel dough in the freezer. It was very tasty, spiced with onion, garlic, fresh parsley, cumin and fenugreek.) J. called them "Middle-Eastern tacos."

Pistachio baklava from Shemali's

2005 Grove Mill Pinot Noir

White bean- escarole- mushroom soup with veal meatballs

Bosc pear crisp

2005 Borgo Nuovo Nero d'Avola

gougeres
red lentil vegetable stew
mixed cabbage slaw with dried cranberries, chopped apple, and creamy vinaigrette
Andouille sausages simmered in beer

Jasper Hill farm Winnemere cheese
Gorgonzola
Jasper Hill farm Constant Bliss
Bread
2003 Zenato Valpolicella ($9.99 @ CW)

whats not to like?

I made lentil soup for dinner a few day's ago and I think it turned out remarkably well. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

* 1 lb lamb merguez sausages (mine were homemade )
* 1 cup lentils
* 2 cups beef broth
* 2 cups water
* 1 14oz can tomatoes (diced, of if whole then hand crush)
* 2 carrots, cut into small dice
* 1 small onion, cut into small dice
* bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
* whole cumin and coriander, toasted and then ground into a powder. About 2 1/2 tbsp total of powder.
* 1 tsp red chili powder (cayenne)
* 1 tbsp harissa (I would think it's optional but I had some leftover from making the merguez)
* salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the whole sausages in a little olive oil just long enough to brown them, then slice them into 1/3" pieces and brown the cut sides. Set aside.

Using the same sautee pan, sautee the onions and carrots until soft and browned. Add a little salt to extract the moisture and help deglaze the sautee pan. Meanwhile, bring the lentils to a boil in a pot with the beef broth and water. Once it hits a boil, back down to a simmer and add the carrots, onions and tomatoes. Season with add'l salt, pepper, cayenne, harissa (optional) and ground cumin/coriander. Continue to simmer until lentils are soft (about 45 mins).

Once the lentils are soft, ladle off about 1/3 of the lentils into another bowl and puree with a stick blender. Add it back to the pot and stir in the sausages. Simmer for at least 30 mins to let the lamb flavour permeate. Toss in the parsley shortly before serving. Goes well with whole wheat buns.

That does sound really good, especially with the home-made lamb sausages! I'd be tempted to throw in some slivers of raw spinach right before serving leftovers.

* * *
And since the avatar & personal info to the left creates a lot of blank space after a two-line post, I'll share, too. I can't say I've ever eaten a sardine knowingly before last year. After discovering fresh ones on ice at WF and decapitating and gutting the glossy little things, I've even found myself buying those flat little tins when they're on sale at the supermarket even though I've always associated them with little old, slight-shouldered men in brown cardigans who sit on the edge of their chenille bedspreads to sew the leather buttons back on when they get loose. Finally used up a fennel bulb with one of these cans last night by making the following:

Orange salad (thin rounds) with fresh mint, slivers of red onion, red chili flakes & cured black olives drizzled with olive oil

Pasta di sardi, a Sicilian dish with chopped onion, fennel, sardines, anchovies, plumped currants, pinenuts and toasted breadcrumbs, traditionally made with bucatoni. You boil the fennel bulb whole first, until most of it is softened, reserving the water to cook the pasta.

Zora, how do you make your baba ghannouj? Sudanese style is one of new addictions, with its (I think) tiny-diced tomatoes and red peppers and a good deal of spice; the texture is more tapenade than dip. I've made one attempt to replicate it and was profoundly unsuccessful.

Mine was very UN-tapenadish. I roasted a whole eggplant until it was squishy and collapsed. Then scraped the pulp away from the skin into the blender with a few cloves of roasted garlic, about 1/4 cup of tahini, some harissa and salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and some lemon zest and a tablespoon or two of Greek yogurt. It was very creamy with a slight sweetness from the roasted eggplant and a back note of spiciness.

Zora - Do you make your harissa from scratch? If so, can you share your recipe. I was disappointed with the stuff I made last week. Kinda bland...

Nah. I've got a squeeze tube of the stuff--can't recall exactly where I got it. Rodman's maybe?

Corn and Crab Bisque
Shrimp Creole
Coconut Cupcakes
Pralines

Wine
Guiness
Martinis

No solids?

Tonight we're having homemade refried beans (from Zora's recipe), shredded stewed chicken, lettuce, salsa verde, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream on homemade flour tortillas.

Last night was Braised Green Cabbage from a Molly Stevens recipe (excellent) and slices of baguette with smoked salmon and proscuitto.

Lazy Cheaters Pulled Pork Sandwich

With a craving for pulled pork at 7:30 Saturday night, I of course wouldn't have nearly enough time to braise, BBQ, or what have you the pork in time to eat at a reasonable hour (7:30 already pushing it). So I cheated - I used a food processor to try to simulate the texture of pulled pork, and was mildly successful. Next I sauteed the "pulled pork" in an iron skillet before passing it into some hot, homemade BBQ sauce for about 30 minutes. Then I toasted a kaiser roll and, lacking coleslaw or even mayo, spread on some chunky blue cheese dressing. The effect was mouth watering, delicious, and ridiculously easy.

I love challenging myself to cook something with whatever random ingredients I have on hand. I think it's a great way to push one's culinary creativity.

My BBQ Sauce

Sweate (halfway between a saute and a sweat) some onions and garlic in skimmed fat I had frozen from my balsamic braised short ribs. Then add:

A few chunks of frozen braising liquid from the aforementioned short ribs
V-8 juice
Soy sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Liberal amount of ketchup
Maple syrup
Molasses
Oregano
Ancho chili powder
Cayenne chili powder
Paprika
Kentucky bourbon
Salt
Pepper
Faux pulled pork

Put on a high simmer for 30 minutes to reduce by 25-50%, then right before serving add another splash of the bourbon. Probably the best BBQ sauce I've ever had.

Heap the BBQ pork on a toasted kaiser roll smeared with blue cheese dressing.

In retrospect, I'm not sure the pork needed the separate saute. Given that the pork was sitting in my freezer door for god knows how long, I figured better safe than sorry. These were lean pork loin chops, not quite fatty enough, so I also added some sliced pancetta to the mix.

A couple of weeks ago, cjsadler, legant, a non-DR.com friend, and I got together for dinner to celebrate Chris and Louise's February birthdays. The theme was Italian, and each person was assigned a course (or two).

Louise was in charge of the appetizers.

Besan foccacia


An Antipasto platter


Deviled eggs


The first course was a mushroom soup made by Eric.


The main course was lamb stew (Binni) with creamy polenta (Chris).


The side was Louise's cauliflower with tomatoes and olives.


And for dessert, I made the Tiramisu cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours.

Txaggie forgot to mention: Eric has a wheat allergy. We challenged ourselves to create a non-wheat Italian meal. The cake was the only "wheat" item. And, I was more than happy to eat Eric's portion of the cake. (This proved to be the exception to the "no cake for breakfast" rule. )

[The eggs were made with sour cream, capers, rosemary and sun dried tomatoes.]

Salmon and spinach in mustard cream sauce (heavy cream, Boetje's mustard, mayo and white wine vinegar)
Diced potatoes (sauteed in olive oil, finished with salt and pepper)
Pinot noir to drink

I made a snowy day crockpot vegetable bean stew yesterday. The seasoning was a bit off, but it was otherwise good and hearty. (I added dried herbs about 2/3 way through to keep them from cooking down too much, but they didn't cook off quite enough .)

Eaten after the kids went to bed:

Spaghetti with a drizzle of olive oil*, fresh parm, truffle salt, pepper, and a runny egg.
Butter lettuce and cucumber salad.
Hot chai and a syrup biscuit from Harrod's.


*(the last of the good stuff from Nice gifted by Waitman & the Mrs )

Buttermilk fried chicken (fried portobello mushroom for Veggie-teen)
Pan-crisped cheese grits cakes
Braised kale with Frank's hot sauce
Buttermilk biscuits with Toigo apple-peach blossom honey

2005 Tamar Ridge Pinot Noir

very simple fish dish but tasted great and a good quick mid week dinner

season some flounder fillets and place in baking dish

mix together some panko, parmesan, olive oil and melted butter.....sprinkle over fish

cook 15 mins at 425