Warm potato salad
Bacon lettuce tomato (ahi) tuna sandwich on multigrain baguette

Winter Vegetable Curry from Fields of Greens. Strangely, the first vegetable called for is "fresh tomatoes". Must be a California thing.

Potato salad (cold this time; lots of vinegar)
Fish Tacos
Refried Black Beans

Roasted beet salad with sumac and homemade goat cheese
Roasted eggplant, chickpea and tomato stew--a riff on a recipe from Paula Wolfert's _The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean_
Merguez meatballs (lamb) with minted yogurt sauce
Chickpea crepes
Carrot and squash puree with dukkah (Egyptian nut-spice powder)
Cucumbers in yogurt
Mixed olives

2004 Beryna Alicante

Chocolate pastries from Marvelous Market (our dinner guests' contribution to the meal)
Spiced tea

leftover braised green cabbage
wine merchant steak (the recipe is viewable on page 85 here)

I've been making the steak recipe for years. It's one of my standards for the winter.

Smoked arctic char with frisee salad, roasted beets and tomato
--Fresh char was salt/sugar cured for 4 hours and hot smoked with applewood chips in the Cameron stovetop smoker
2003 Venosa Terre de Orazio Dry Muscat

Osso buco with gremolata
Risotto
2004 Argiano Rosso di Montalcino

Cheese plate: La Tur, gorgonzola picante, Manchego, Appalachian tomme, Bosc and
Comice pears and home made membrillo
2004 Saggi Columbia Valley Red (Sangiovese, Cabernet and Syrah blend)

Meyer lemon tart

Buttered egg noodles
Braised chicken thighs
Green beans from last summer (still haven't finished cleaning out the freezer)
Wine sauce


...all layered in a glass lasagna pan for serving. This was great comfort food.

Lentil soup, from the Bouchon recipe. Kids loved it.

Pan-fried Panko encrusted trout
String beans almondine
Tater Tots

Flounder stuffed with tomatoes, spinach and shallots
Sesame Spinach
A (not so perfect but it did the job) Manhattan

As usual, entire menu sounds wonderful, but I've got one huge roasted beet left, sumac in the freezer and a tiny log of goat cheese.

Please tell me more.

Pork shoulder braised in white wine and water (did not discover the lack of chicken broth until dish was ready to go in the oven) and finished with fresh thyme
Fried polenta
Steamed green beans

Pretty simple, really. I just made a little mixed lettuce-frisee-mache salad (any greens will do), dressed it lightly with a lemony vinaigrette, peeled and sliced the roasted beet, sliced some cucumber and plated the greens, beet and cucumber slices, and a slice of chevre log. Then I sprinkled sumac on the beets. The sumac isn't a very forward flavor--it just adds an extra tang to the beets.

Two recipes I tried over the weekend in hopes of adding them to this Saturday's dinner party menu:

"Bombay sliders" with garlic-curry sauce

French lentil soup

Both turned out great. Love the garlic-curry sauce on the turkey burger. I may add bacon to the soup as well.

Because one of the dinner guests doesn't eat meat, I will likely be making the lentil soup with vegetarian stock requiring lemongrass that should be "stemmed and pounded" -- what does that mean? Never cooked with this ingredient before.

Roasted deviled chicken thighs
Pan-fried Polenta cake
Vegetable melange (brocolli, corn, red peppers) w/ mustard-parmesan butter

I'm always impressed when someone actually tries the recipes beforehand!

Lemongrass can be found at WFM in Glover Park/Gtown as well as Asian stores. You need to peel away the outer layer(s) of stalk to get to the tender part just on the lowest part of the stem. Often recipes require you to slice this into very thin rounds to release the flavors and that would work. Pounding requires the use of a mortar and pestle--or mallet and heavy-duty wax paper.

BUT, I wouldn't use lemongrass for a French lental soup.

You don't really need it especially when you have the acidic element of the tomatoes. You can make a perfectly good lentil soup without stock at all, just be sure to make the soup at least a day ahead for the flavors to mellow and merge. I'd use lots and lots of garlic and dump a cheese rind from Parmesan in the pot when it's cooking if you've got one, but water is fine as is a little soaking liquid from dried porcini. A combination of Le Puy lentils, little black Belugas and the cheap, ordinary ones is nice, too. The latter are good because they dissolve and get mushy while the others soften but stay intact, so you get different textures and it's pretty. Drizzle with olive oil and float croutons (fry slices of country bread in olive oil, rub cut cloves of garlic on them & break them into rough pieces or cut them up) in it.

Lemongrass is a wonderful, fragrant ingredient you might enjoy trying for something else--it doesn't have to be Asian necessarily--and I've had a good vegetarian lentil soup that has tomato, lemon, greens and cayenne, so it's not that the soup wouldn't be any good with a lemony flavor, but.

The vegetable stand next to the bakery at Eastern Market also sells lemongrass. The stalks are much longer and cheaper than at WF. You can also buy it jarrred at some Asian groceries.

Cut off the woody tops, and pound the tender part with a mortar and pestle.

AB, the lemongrass is for the stock, not the soup. I think it sounds good.

Sounds great. How do you prepare these? I've got some thighs at home and I have not decided how I am going to cook them, yet.

Isn't the stock going in the soup?

The chicken? Really easy. Mix equal parts mustard, oil and brown sugar; add hot sauce to taste. Coat thighs with this mixture, dredge in bread crumbs, place on rack and bake till done.

Yes, but the lemongrass will have a lower profile as a stock ingredient. The finished soup won't have chunks of lemongrass floating around in it, unless it doesn't get strained, an outcome I refuse to even consider.

Tonight was quesadillas filled with refried black beans, smoked salmon, pickled jalapeno slices and jack cheese, topped with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream. Very satisfying.

creamy seafood fettucine with bacon bits, peas, toasted almond slices, and Parmesan.

Pizza with marinated mixed mushrooms, roasted red and yellow peppers, sun dried tomatoes and four cheese blend.

Charcoal roasted herb-brined chicken (from Sunnyside Organics)
Cheese grits
Grilled asparagus
Sauteed maitake mushrooms (Hen-of-the-Woods)*

2002 DuBouef Fleurie Cuvee Prestige

Blackberry panna cotta

*these are typically $19.99 a pound at WF and Balducci. I found them at Trader Joe's (in good shape, too) for $2.99 for a sizable mushroom. Each one (I bought two) weighed at least 1/3 of a pound.

I noticed them, too. What are they like? Truly distinctive? They look as if they'd be rather mild in flavor.

I'm waiting for the store to carry chanterelles...

Maitake is a delicious, delicate textured mushroom. More intense 'shroomy flavor than oyster mushrooms have. Not as perfumey as a chanterelle (my favorite) or as meaty as a morel. And nothing like a bolete/porcini. But definitely worth it at $2.99.

Brined (not by me!), panko crusted pork chops
basmati rice
asparagus
mango chutney and mixed veg pickle
vanilla ice cream, with salted caramel sauce

In my first post-cassoulet meal (I’ve been eating cassoulet leftovers since Wednesday’s blowout):

Broccoli, corn, and cashew stir-fry
Panko-crusted swordfish with a herbed (dill, basil, tarragon) cream sauce

Scott left this morning on another 5-day business trip, and I didn't feel like getting creative. We had the last of the homemade refried beans (they had been in the freezer) with tortillas, sour cream, cilantro, shredded lettuce, tomatillo salsa, and a nice sharp cheddar. Vanilla ice cream with raspberries for dessert.

And a half a bottle of Coted du Rhone for me after successfully getting the kids to bed.

Corned beef brisket shepherd's pie (shredded and chopped braised brisket, roux-thickened braising liquid gravy, sauteed portobello mushrooms, frozen green peas and leftover mashed potatoes)

Vegetarian shepherd's pie (sauteed portobello mushrooms and French lentils, roasted red pepper gravy, frozen green peas and leftover cheese grits)

2005 Molly Dooker Two Left Feet

Zora: Thanks for responding to question about mushrooms.

Ever tried the vegetarian shepherd's pie in Moosewood's international cookbook of oh, a decade or so ago?

It's time-consuming since you have to freeze, thaw, then squeeze and crumble tofu before mixing it with ground toasted walnuts, sauteed onions, soy sauce, lemon juice, thyme... Sounds repulsive, huh? Damned good, especially with mushroom gravy beneath layer of corn (family thing) and mashed potatoes. Lighter. I'll make it instead of the carnivore's ground beef version that Brits do, though not instead of leftover roasted lamb, brisket...

Oh, here's the recipe: at the restaurant's site.

Coted in Panko? Brined?

Too tired to care about typos.

Made this beef stew yesterday. Humdinger of a recipe! Tasted great, sopped up the extra sauce with a little bread.

I have avoided the Moosewood empire, and own no specifically vegetarian cookbooks, in hopes, I suppose, that my daughter's vegetarian period would be brief. I wasn't even sure that she would be home for dinner last night. Our shepherd's pie was already in the oven when she appeared, and I just improvised with what I had at hand. I chopped up a portobello and sauteed it with shallot in a mix of butter and EVO, and stirred in some cooked French lentils that were in the fridge. I made some "gravy" in the blender with roasted red peppers from a jar, some orange and lemon juice, shallot and roasted garlic, and a squeeze from each of two tomato paste and harissa tubes. This was mixed with the mushroom-lentil mix and it was spooned into a small casserole dish. Green peas were sprinkled on top and since I had used all of the mashed potatoes on our dish, I spread leftover cheese grits over the peas and dotted the top with some butter and put it in the oven. It baked for about a half hour. Our shepherd's pie was really delicious. Hers was very good--the lentil-mushroom mixture worked as an ersatz fleisch, and the roasted pepper coulis turned quite tasty after baking with the veggies. It would have been completely different, if I hadn't had these particular ingredients on hand.

Tonight we had a composed salad of roasted asparagus, cauliflower and beets, olives, tomato, cukes and olive oil-packed tuna on a bed of mixed greens (frisee, mache, spinach and butter lettuce) dressed with a Meyer lemon-mustard vinaigrette.

2005 Huber Gruner Veltliner

yesterday: green chicken curry w/ okra, eggplant, peas and peppers
today: pork and chicken adobo

both were delicious

Last night:
Burgers on the grill
Haricots verts vinaigrette

Tonight:
App for a starving teen who couldn't wait for dinner to be ready--bruschetta on ciabatta with red pepper coulis, mozzarella di bufala, olives and oven-dried tomato

Eco-friendly boneless pork loin chops, pan reduction sauce with dijon mustard, capers and cornichons
Braised swiss chard
Pan-roasted cippolini onions
New potatoes

2005 Castle Rock Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Pear almond crisp with vanilla ice cream

Part of a meal last night was a salad served with a great super-quick appetizer that Jacques Pepin has in the new Food and Wine: Fromage Fort. Take 1/2 pound of assorted cheeses (I happened to have some blue, fontina and goat that needed using up) and put in a food processor with 1/4 cup white wine and 1 clove garlic. Spread on toasted baguette slices (he says to broil the cheese, but mine was a bit too soft for this). Delicious.

Had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night and I wanted to make lamb. Finally took a trip to the Lebanese butcher in Falls Church and was wondering why it has taken me so long to get there. I was going to go to Halalco but it was closed. Bought a shoulder and had it cut into very thick slices.

Pot of mussels to start and served with the Muscadet from the tasting thread and a loaf of crusty homemade bread.

Lamb shoulder braised in vinegar with sides of rapini and wheat berries with mushrooms and dried cranberries. Served this with 2003 Jacques Puffeney Pinot Noir Arbois.

Dessert was johnnycake cobbler with blueberries.

Oven-braised brisket (whole brisket found at Magruder's Vienna store for $1.69 a pound on Tuesday)
Squash kibbe with spiced feta and brown butter
Braised kale

2002 The Shadow

Forgot to mention that lunch yesterday was shad roe with Niman Ranch Bacon. Shad roe of good quality was found at Magruder's for $6.99 a set. that's the cheapest I've seen it around here in years.

Did the brisket have the full fat cap on it?

No, much of the fat was trimmed off. I had to do very little trimming. Jonathan had a hot, open-faced brisket sandwich on pumpernickel toast for lunch today. It was even tastier today than last night--not surprising, since I'd included a cupful of homemade marinara sauce in the braising liquid, which made a nice, rich dark brown sauce after it was reduced.

Tonight:
Charcoal-grilled, lavender-brined chicken
Grilled portobello stuffed with marinated sun-dried tomatoes, olives, spice blend and P'tit Basque cheese for vegi-teen
Grilled asparagus
Oven-roasted fennel and fig slaw with lemon and honey
Israeli cous-cous pilaf
Marinated green olives

2005 La Pepiere Muscadet

Zora, can you tell us more about the squash kibbe? That sounds both interesting and delicious.

It's a recipe from Anna Sortun's book, _Spice, Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean_. Since the recipe is copyrighted, I won't provide it word for word. If it is available at the library or on Amazon, the recipe is on p. 106 and 107.

It's a bit complicated, with several steps, but essentially it takes pureed roasted winter squash, like kabocha, butternut or buttercup– mixes in sauteed onion, pepper, paprika, Mediterranean 5-spice, brown butter and bulghur wheat. You spoon the mixture into a small baking ramekin and then bury a walnut-sized ball of feta that has been mixed with 5-spice, sumac, Aleppo pepper and parsley in each ramekin, covering it over with squash mix. Then you bake it.

To make the brown butter, you very slowly melt a stick of butter in a heavy-bottomed pan until it clarifies and turns pale brown. Then you strain it. All of the recipes I've seen for brown butter describe the aroma as "like roasted hazelnuts" but to me it is butterscotch. Essentially, what happens is that you are caramelizing the milk sugar. But it is heavenly, and mixed with the natural sweetness of the squash, it makes the kibbe really rich and delicious.

Tonight I made "Warm French Lentil Salad with Smoked Sausage" which appeared on the back cover of the March 2007 issue of Fine Cooking. It was...OK. <shrugs> Certainly inoffensive, but I expected the vinaigrette to pack more of a punch. Instead it was bland. Bummer.

green salad
leftover pot roast
braised greens (escarole and chard) with hot pepper flakes

Pizza an Unequal 5-Ways:
Large section -- sausage & bacon w/cheese (for the big boys)
Small section -- bacon & pineapple w/o cheese (for non-dairy boy)
Small section -- bacon & pineapple & sausage & roasted cauliflower w/o cheese (for non-dairy mom)
Small section -- roasted cauliflower & pineapple w/cheese (for me, a combo not to be repeated!)
Small section -- sausage & bacon w/o cheese (as a back-up for non-dairy boy, but eaten by big dairy boy who eats everything in sight)

Dessert:
Nocciola (hazelnut) frozen-custard from the Dairy Godmother (Highly recommended -- my new favorite flavor!)

Jeebus. How big was that pie and what sort of barrier did you use to separate all the sections? Did you build some sort of fence to keep the cheese from contaminating other parts?



Stoner moment from back in the college dorm days-- "Hello, Domino's? I'd like a large pizza, 1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 sausage, and 1/2 extra cheese..."