Had a friend coming over for dinner, but also needed to clean out the fridge before Xmas. This resulted in.... pork tenderloin stuffed with dried fruit (rehydrated in bourbon) over quinoa with sunchokes and fava beans, drizzled with a ham hock vinaigrette and balsamic (whew!). Many thanks to Cathal A. for sharing the ham hock vinaigrette technique with me.



Made some pear and gorgonzola flatbread to start and finished with some sticky toffee pudding, which I've been experimenting with for an Xmas dessert.

Oysters on the half-shell (see the What are you eating now thread), pan-seared chuck eye steaks, baked Peruvian purple potatoes, and sauteed sugar snap peas with shiitake mushrooms.

Tonight:
Bouillabaise, rouille, croutons
Green salad
Dessert: total yogurt, peach blossom honey, toasted walnuts

Tomorrow:
Crown roast, chorizo stuffing
Baked acorn squash with apples
Butter lettuce, spiced pecan & dried cranberry salad, dijon-thyme vinaigrette

Epoisses, Petit Basque, Humboldt Fog

Dessert: Claudia Flemings Guinness cake, spiced ice cream

Tonight:

Oysters, Gerish Island and Pepperell Cove
pate & cheese
Champagne, Michel Turgy Reserve Selection, Brut Blanc de Blanc

Veal Marsala
Roasted baby pattypan squash & leeks
Creamy polenta
Peter Michael "Les Pavots" 1992

Gewurtztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles 1983 (Lorentz)

[too full! scratched the] Chess pie

[SIZE=1]edited to add wines and delete dessert[SIZE=7]

Christmas Eve Dinner: Biba Caggiano's Tuna Steaks with Sweet and Sour Onions, roasted potatoes and a beet, pear and goat cheese salad with Balsamic vinegar dressing. The only reason I am telling you all this is because both Craig and I have had really bad colds for more than a week and haven't felt like cooking, or eating, much of anything.

We drank a bottle of Prosecco with this and it was quite festive and tasty at the same time.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Christmas Eve:
Shrimp tacos with fresh masa tortillas
Pico de gallo and guacamole

Pork and green chile tamales (we're, of course thrilled that the Bush family is also having tamales)
Squash, chile and tomatillo tamal for Veggieteen
Mole verde and red chile adobo
Frijoles refritos
Ensalada verde

Sticky toffee pudding

Tomorrow afternoon:
Caviar

Crab Bisque

Charcoal-grilled Sunnyside Organics VA Kobe rib-eye steaks
Haricots verts
Garlic mash

Epoisses, if we're up to it

More sticky toffee pudding

Monday:
Breather, but since we are a multi-culti family, we are lighting Chanukah candles. We do not, however, celebrate Kwanzaa. I remember when Ron Karenga invented Kwanzaa. Sorry, but I don't care to celebrate a "traditional" holiday that was actually dreamed up by a UCLA professor.

Tuesday night: crowd coming for

Potato latkes
Homemade applesauce
Sour cream

Charcoal-roasted Cornish game hens
Melange of roasted root vegetables

Salad and cheeses

Wine-poached spiced Seckel pears
Guiness Stout ginger cake, if I'm up to making it.

Prime rib
roasted yukon gold potatoes with garlic shallots and rosemary
veggie soup
robiola in chestnut leaf
3 year old provolone
raw milk aged asiago

dont know what I am drinking yet... need to go to the cellar and search.

Tonight:

Braised beef shanks
Mashed yukon gold potatoes
Roasted asparagus

Not sure if I'm baking a pie today or if the Christmas cookies will suffice. (My hands are still green from the food coloring for the icing...)

Well so far, we have dug into the 3 year provolone with a 1985 Ridge York Creek Cabernet. The Cebernet was wonderfully smooth and went down way too fast. Lucky for me I have the best part of a case of it left in the cellar. With the cheese it was a spiritual experience!

We are now firmly ensconsed in a bottle of Laurel Glen 1985 Cabernet. WOW! Its bigger and fuller than the Ridge, which I didn't expect. So far we have discerned cherries, purple raspberries, a little red plum, mushrooms, smoke and more. It too is wonderful with the cheese. The prime rib is between 80 and 100 degrees and the potatoes just went into the oven!

Chinese delivery with my wife but without family. At least I'm not sick anymore. And there's a pretty good place in Manassas.

Cheeses & pate
Rully "Maizieres" 2003, Vincent Dureuil-Janthial

Walnut-crusted rack of lamb
Mashed potatoes
Brussels sprouts roasted with chestnuts and applewood-smoked bacon
Echezeaux, 1990, Ann & Francois Gros

edited to say: We decided to save the elderly TBA till later in the week. We're wiped out! Also, the walnut crust on the lamb was a little bit bitter. I have to work on that. It was a Food TV recipe.

Last red- Caymus 1985 Estate Bottled Cabernet. Big and a little simpler, much woodier than the above two we started with. Still quite wonderous.

Generally, I observe the prohibition on posting while drunk, but I have had one hell of a week, so I am throwing caution to the wind.

This is to notify the world that, on Christmas freaking day 2005, for the first time in my life, I made the dressing. You heard it here first, people. I MADE THE DRESSING. In my family, this is a big f--- deal. Until this year, I have been entrusted only with sauteeing the vegetables for the dressing, but I have never staged the entire event. Yes, a few years ago, the sweet potato pudding was turned over to me, but the dressing had remained in my mother's amazingly capable hands. My brother, who recently started a catering business, has never made the dressing. Yes, he has chopped the celery, onions, and green peppers, but he has never finished the product.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time, I dug the turkey neck and giblets out of the turkey, held them in my hands, and then made stock of them. I also sauteed the vegetables. The best part is that I knew when they were done, based on texture, color and scent, not taste. Yeah, baby! In the end, my mother determined that the stock was good, but that I had not made enough of it. My solution? More butter! More salt! Everything will be fine.

I am happy to report that our holiday meal was one of the best we have had. My brother made the turkey, prime rib, string beans, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, key lime pie, apple pie and a mario batali appetizer and I made the stuffing/dressing/stuffing. It was one of the best meals we have prepared, and everyone raved about the stuffing (and, of course, the sweet potatoes)! Oddly, I am the culinary lightweight in the family. My father, a butcher at one point in his life, has his own recipes for, among other things, turkey sausage and scones. But, for one day in 2005, I reigned supreme with my cornbread stuffing festivus miracle!

And now, back to my drinking!

A birthday dinner for my girlfriend. We started with some spicy tuna tartare with sweet potato chips, then had my best stab at "Scallops ala Corduroy":



And the "caesar salad" (a parmesian flan) from the French Laundry cookbook:



Then, by request, some chocolate cupcakes with coffee buttercream, with homemade white chocolate peppermint-stick ice cream.

How sweet of you! She must have been thrilled, I know I would have been!

Congratulations! It's nice when it turns out well, isn't it?

But, where on earth did you get the idea that there is a "prohibition on posting while drunk?" Heck, if that were really the case, half the stuff on here would never see the light of day (including the Founder and Moderator of DR.com )!

Way to go, Chris and Monique! And, Barbara has a good point about posting.

Tonight I'm weary from shopping and laundry and getting ready for work tomorrow, so a simple dinner:

Cheese, goose liver pate, and paper-thin slices of Rovagnati Porchetta (from Wegmans' deli)

Andre et Mireille Tissot Cremant du Jura Brut 1995

Pan-seared dry-aged rib eye steaks
Caramelized sliced onions
Fresh peas in butter with tarragon

Ken Wright Cellars Elton Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 1998

I don't usually tell you what we make for dinner; it's just not that interesting and, besides, we can't figure out how to post pictures.

Nevertheless, tonight I fixed the rack of lamb I bought yesterday at the very chaotic Safeway. We ate dinner at a restaurant for NYE.

The problem was that our plans were sorta interrupted by an invitation to our building engineer's apartment during halftime of the Redskins game. It turned out that he had grilled some sausages and was liberally pouring libations. I left as soon as the game was over because I had grated potatoes and onions sitting in water, waiting to be made into potato Latkes. I'm not Jewish, but I DO get the urge to make these during Hannukah. Go figure.

I was forced to call and make sure that DH was sent home in a timely manner. After all, I had retrieved the fancy tablecloth and napkins from the drawer, polished the candlesticks, and opened the wine.

It was all just fine. I use Julia Child's recipe for the lamb and it was perfect, as usual. I love that woman.

Sunday, made a 7-pound roast chicken with "Moroccan spice rub" from Real Simple. Tasty. I was a little nervous about the high temp method (450) but it sure did work out just right. Leftovers have already made their way into yesterday's lunch of Samosa Soup and, tonight, will make another appearance as shredded chicken in some burritos or enchiladas.

How long did you cook it?

Recipe said an hour for a 3- or 4-pound chicken, in a roasting pan on the bottom rack of the oven, uncovered. After 20 minutes, pour a cup of water into the bottom of the roasting pan (I assume to keep the drippings from burning?) Then just leave it there until a thermometer in the thigh meat says 180.

I left it in an extra 20 minutes because of the size. Then let it rest for 15 or 20 minutes out of the oven. Worked like a charm.*

(*Except that I didn't put it on a rack inside the pan - I don't have one - at first, but after the pre-water 20 minutes I put a coil of crumpled foil in the bottom of the pan to lift the chicken up, and that worked fine. The rack is important.)

Thank you for the reply. I'm going to make it this weekend as you describe.

Bratwurst topped with sauerkraut and mustard, German potato salad on the side, washed down with Sprecher's Root Beer. Nice accompaniment of polkas played on the accordion.
Dessert will be caramel heathbar frozen custard.

It's Brat Nite at the Dairy Godmother (nee Del Ray Dreamery) in case you hadn't guessed.

I love that place - it felt like we were at a neighborhood picnic, only indoors

Orange Roughy steeped in a sweet curry broth, served atop of cranberry/pinenut rice pilaf with and a spiced orange reduction sauce.

Last night I cooked a "one-pot meal" for a school committee meeting. Of course, since there are always a few vegetarians who come to these gatherings, there were two "one-pot meals", but I now have two big Le Creuset Dutch ovens, so it worked out. For the veggies, I made a three-bean red chili, with kidney, black and cannellini beans, New Mexico and ancho chiles and my secret ingredients--diced kabocha squash for some sweetness, a bottle of full-flavored slightly bitter beer, and some chocolate--cocoa actually. And for the rest of us, I made posole, which was a huge hit. [For those who might never have eaten posole, it is a stew made with pork, roasted green chiles and white hominy corn.] I also added roasted tomatillos and some of of the white cannelini beans that I had pre-cooked for the chili. I had never put beans in posole before, but it really worked well, and extended the volume, which turned out to be a good thing because people were going back for seconds and thirds. I had a quart of veal stock in the fridge that I'd made a few days ago, so that went in along with a bottle of beer. I used canned Goya hominy. I've decided that I like it just as well with canned hominy as when I have found dried posole corn and used that. In California, I used to be able to get nixtamal (fresh lime-treated corn), which gives it the most authentic earthy flavor. But canned hominy works. I did both pots in the oven at 275 for three hours. The posole was served with chopped fresh cilantro, and it really was delicious--savory, spicy and with a great meaty, earthy depth of flavor. A number of people asked me for the recipe afterwards. That's always a challenge, because I can tell people what ingredients I used and how I made it, but I don't measure when I cook, I just eyeball things. I'm pretty sure I had bought six poblanos and a bit more than two pounds of pork shoulder, and the veal stock was in a quart container, but I added cumin and oregano several times and I don't know how many cups of onion, beans, water, etc.

[catching up]
Last Tuesday, Swordfish with Balsaminc Brown Butter Sauce, and mashed potatoes with minced parsley and baby garlic.

Thursday, sauteed veal sweetbreads with brandied mustard cream sauce (sauce from the Frog/Commissary Cookbook (an oldie but goodie from Philadelphia), with sauteed polenta rounds and Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon.

My husband's official birthday dinner:

Rack of lamb, coated with dijon mustard/garlick and then panko breadcrumbs stirred with olive oil.

Butternut squash ravioli (frozen organic) with a brown butter/balsamic vinegar sauce and toasted hazelnuts.

Frozen peas sauteed in butter with a little dried tarragon.

Before dinner we drank Adriano Adami Bosco di Giea Prosecco Brut.

With the lamb we drank Vosne-Romanee "Les Beaux Monts" 1er Cru 1993.

Last night's dinner: Yassa!
Don't leave out the Scotch bonnet, it really ups the flavor.

Last night: kasha varnishkes from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

It only called for a cup of bow ties which seemed to few so I made it with 2 1/2 cups and it seemed a better ratio.

Very simple except for the 4 pots I dirtied making it...

Jennifer

Tonight, posole (aka pozole - pork and hominy stew). Here's the basic recipe (I change the way I season it almost every time I make it, and I rarely measure anything).

Cut a 2 lb piece of pork (shoulder or loin, trimmed of some fat) into a few large chunks and place in a pot with just enough water to cover (with a bay leaf, a chunk of onion, and a dried habanero or two). Bring to a bare simmer, skim, and simmer until just barely cooked. Let the meat cool in the broth, then shred or chop the meat, and strain the broth.

Meanwhile, in some pork fat (I render it from fatback or salt pork; bacon would work, but it gives a different flavor) cook a medium sweet onion, chopped, and some minced hot peppers (I like serrano, about 4; adust for your taste). Add about 1/2 cup of paste made from dried ancho peppers and garlic (clean, seed, devein, fry, soak, puree the peppers) and cook for a few minutes. Add 2 20 oz cans posole (I get much better results with canned than dried), and season with cumin, coriander, black pepper, oregano, and a bay leaf. Add the strained pork broth and salt to taste. If it needs more liquid use chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and add the shredded pork; cook until somewhat reduced and thickened. (Sometimes I'll add homemade chicken boullion if needed to punch up the flavor). Roast, peel, and chop about 2 red bell peppers and 3 poblano pepper and add to the posole.

Serve in big bowls with lots of shredded Monterey Jack cheese or cheddar. (Many people serve it with separate bowls of chopped onion, cilantro, hot peppers, lime wedges, you name it. Sour cream is good with it, too. So are flour tortillas. Or corn bread. And a good Belgian ale.)

I had homemade wild mushroom soup (shiitake, oyster, porcini, hen-of-the-woods, enoki, and honey) made with cultured butter, shallots, sherry, and a mix of mushroom and beef stocks. Paired this with open-faced grilled cheese of sourdough and tete de moine with red pepper and oregano. souped up (ha!) comfort food.

Tonight is short ribs braised in coffee ancho chile sauce (Gourmet, January 2006), creamy polenta, sauteed artichoke hearts and roasted corn kernels, and a warm baguette. I braised the short ribs on Saturday.

Maple-chipotle chicken sausage sauteed with spinach, dried cherries, and onion confit. Served with brown rice.

The best part? I get home so dang early from the new job that I had time to go to the store and prep the brine for my entry in the Palena chicken project before I cooked dinner.

Last night: pumpkin risotto with toasted pepitas and duck confit

Pan-fried red snapper fillet with cucumbers and Lillet sauce, over my first batch of homemade whole-wheat linguini. (People who sell Durham flour within walking distance of here: Nobody) Next time could do without the capers...made the sauce a little sour. The cucumbers were almost pickly. Not badly so, but not what I was going for. Probably poach the fish next time. Served with Lillet.

I am cooking for the week:

Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme, Haricots Vert
Meatloaf, to be served with mashed potatoes and carrottes glacees
Ratatouille, for omelets with goat cheese
Gratin de Poireaux

I think I saw durum wheat flour at Shopper's Food at Potomac Yard the other day. It was in the international aisle.

Should have known! Oh well, I was more than happy with how the whole wheat turned out, and there will be plenty of pasta making in the future!

Had some friends over tonight for a rustic Italian meal.... Started with antipasti of rosemary and thyme focaccia, some cured meats, and roasted artichokes. Then, inspired by Palena's current gnocchi version, I tried some yukon gold gnocchi with a pork sausage ragu (with some homemade sausage that CrescentFresh, mdt and I made). I figured out that cake flour makes a much more tender gnocchi (don't know why I didn't think of this before). Still haven't figured out Ruta's full gnocchi secrets, though. I'm not sure how his 'yukon gold' gnocchi are stark white, when yukon golds have yellow flesh. Hmmmm.....



And then some ricotta fritters for dessert (as I got a fryer for Xmas):

Last night, chicken braised with pears and rosemary, over mashed potatoes.

Tonight, pan-seared loin lamb chops, creamy pumpkin polenta with toasted pepitas, and steamed baby bok choy.

Charcoal-grilled tri-tip, the last gasp of Sunnyside Organics VA Kobe Beef (sob!)
Oven roasted baby brussels sprouts with shallots and lemon
Steamed Basmati rice--'cause Veggie-teen was having Ashoka Palak Paneer as her main

Flourless Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake

2003 Venta Mazzaron tempranillo

This thread is both inspiring and somewhat embarrassing. In an effort to balance out my restaurant week fun and holiday food extravaganza, I've been on an omelette, salad and seared fish kick of late, peppered with the occasional crabcake. Shogun, I don't know why I've never thought to cook with Lillet but what a great idea. Yum, Lillet. Is it too early to have some now? And CJsadler, the gnocchi look incredible, I'm impressed.

Sometimes the simplest things are best:
Baby Greens salad (dressing was with fresh pressed walnut oil purchased in France last month and Balsamic purchased in Italy in September)
Trio of Cheeses: Epoisse, Raw Milk Camembert, amd Saint Felicien Exceptional (made only during the winter months with a higher creme content).
Homemade Fig Jam from France also.
Toasted Whole Wheat Bread
and a nice heavy Australian Shiraz.
(I am so blessed to be able to travel so much even if it is work)

Last night:
Panko-crusted skate wing, sauce remoulade
Pan-fried new potatoes
Broccoli puree
Mache salad with pear and pinenuts
Flourless Grand Marnier chocolate cake
2003 Joao Piret Portugese dry muscat

Tonight:
Polyface fresh ham steak pot roasted with fingerling potatoes, carrots, baby turnips and prunes
Sweet-sour braised red cabbage with juniper and caraway
More flourless chocolate cake with strawberries
2002 Domaine des Varinelles Saumur Champigny

Feeling lazy again -- two eggs sunny side up on smoked salmon, served with Wheat Thins. Sour cream glazed Krispy Kreme for dessert.

tonight i am going to try a fried penne recipe (basically penne cooked in butter, then water added until done and topped with parmesan), from the heavy joy of cooking-ish italian cookbook that everybody was buying last month. this is a fun book and the recipes provide a lot of latitude. desserts appear to be one of its strengths, and there are a lot of them, though i haven't tried any yet.

has anyone attempted the new york times magazie recipe a couple of weeks ago for scrambled boiled eggs cooked in water? i plan to tackle it, but first need to purchase a proper strainer and will serve it for dinner.

Last night, Oxtails braised in Red wine with parsnip puree.

Tonight, DiGiorno Supreme pizza, six-pack of Stella Artois (long day)

Tonight-- tuna melts with Whole Foods yellowfin tuna salad, some decent crusty bread, and emmenthaler.

Too tired to do much else.

Dungeness Crabs from the new WF, boiled new potatoes, and maybe some sauteed radishes and radish greens.

I'm going to make a suggestion here-- that we share only special deliciousness with each other in this thread, and self-edit on the fast food, take-out, frozen and ordinary fare. Much as I'm fond of y'all, I don't need to read about it when you eat fried eggs and frozen pizza...