Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Pat]

Salad (butter lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, vinaigrette) last night, plus leftovers: baked chicken thighs, moong dal, brown rice, and tofu.

[deangold]

Due to the huge breakfast, we had Shilla Bakery cookies, Atwater Cheddar and crackers. 

Anxo CIder mixed with local strawberry syrup

Hops Out Suns Out Solacae IPA.

[captcourt]

Grilled ribeye, adjusted wedge salad (used up the last, starting-to-wilt romaine heart in the fridge) with bacon/blue cheese dressing/extra blue cheese/little tomatoes), salty baked potato.  Beverage of gin, elderflower liqueur, and (I think) seltzer.  Too exhausted yesterday to really focus.   

[youngfood]

20 hours ago, Mark Dedrick said:

Grilled soft shells and asparagus last night. It was delicious. 

 

Thank god for Fiona.  We've enjoyed these sautéed a couple times recently and picked up sandwiches she's made with them too.  It's never occurred to me to try grilling them though -- any tips?  

[Mark Dedrick]

46 minutes ago, youngfood said:

Thank god for Fiona.  We've enjoyed these sautéed a couple times recently and picked up sandwiches she's made with them too.  It's never occurred to me to try grilling them though -- any tips?  

Fiona is the best. 

For grilling, it's pretty straightforward. I painted them here with some melted butter and Old Bay, and grilled for about three minutes per side. Just make sure your grill grate is clean, and oil it right before you put them on so that you don't have sticking. 

[deangold]

We have had some very rich dinners and breakfasts/lunches recently. Today's dinner was simple.

We finished off the greens shoyu pickle.

Soy Pickles of Jicama, turnip, kohlrabi, carrot

Mugs of dashi broth.

Bowl of local strawberries covered with Dahi yougurt and a few drops brown sugar rich simple syrup {for the flavor and not the sweetness. 

Cheddar from Atwater & Stone ground wheat crackers.

Shot of Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, neat. 

[Pat]

Last night was more cole slaw, pork cutlet sandwiches on homemade French bread (provolone, marinara, banana peppers and pickled jalapenos), and spiced sweet potato fries.

[Katya4me]

Tonight was smoked wings. My husband had his with mango habanero sauce and I had mine plain.  I also roasted asparagus with coconut oil spray, salt and pepper. Once roasted, I sprinkled it with Parmesan. 

[deangold]

I put the pork roast into the oven for a low and slow roast to 140 degrees. it took far too long to get there so we instead settled for the last two sirlon steaks cooked on the yaki niku grill served with lime wedges, salt, wasabi and Tamari. So good even if I let them get a little too close to medium. 

Tomato salad w/fresh lump crab. Tomatoes from Barajas and spring valley, good for hot house but I need some grown in dirt tomatoes soon! A little sliced purple spring onion, olive oil and balsamico dressing, salt pepper and Grotto spice rub {we just finished making an 8 quart batch and have enough ingredients for 16 quarts more. We used to use this on practically everything at the grotto.} 

The last of the Atwater rosemary bread. The first of their whole wheat sourdough.

A big bowl of Barajas strawberries with Dahi youngster, 

Solace beers: Juicy Lucy DIPA and hops out suns out IPA. 

 

[Pat]

Braised lamb merguez sausages, lima beans, cremini mushrooms, onion, garlic, and rosemary
Lemon mascarpone polenta served with dollops of creme fraiche and lemon wheels

The polenta came from the freezer (bag label: Dec. 2010). I figured it was going to need a flavor boost, so I went with extra lemon. I squeezed juice over the rectangle of polenta and laid wheels on either side while I reheated in a cast iron pan. I also sprinkled some grated Pecorino over each side. The polenta browned lightly and stayed pretty intact. But I think I flipped it over one time or two too many, so it started to crumble a little. Remarkably good. The creme fraiche was a nice component. And the lemon wheels were tasty as well. (I had a lemon I'd removed all the peel from previously that i used for this.)

[Pat]

Last night I made French bread pizzas with the last of the homemade bread: mushroom - cheese pizzas with two kinds of mushrooms, three kinds of cheese, and two sauces. We also had baby arugula salad dressed with a lemon and white balsamic vinaigrette. The arugula was good on top of the pizza.

Mushrooms were trumpet and cremini. Cheeses were mozzarella, chevre, and Parmesan. The sauces were marinara (base) and pesto (dotted on the top in the last 5 minutes of baking).

[deangold]

Friday night:

A former Grotto customer got in touch with me to cook him 8 orders of crab pasta, some to eat last night and some to put in his freezer. Profish just happened to have the first of season crab that wasn't stupid expensive. So I made him his and made a little extra crab sauce which is leeks {chinese from H Mart} sauteed in butter & olive oil, heavy cream, salt, pepper, grotto spice rub, tamari, double golden fish brand sriracha. We got about 3 cups worth out of the batch and had 1# 5 oz of lump crab. 

We made crab pasta grotto style. Not having a pasta machine any more, we used Opera brand pappardelle. I cooked the pasta just short of al dente while I heated the sauce. As the pasta was ready, I blended in a cup of pasta water and added the 5 oz lump crab and let the pappardelle finish cooking in the sauce 3 minutes. 

We licked the bowl. Well, I used my finger and my more refiens wife used a bit of bread. 

Negroni:

Me: Del Maguey Mezcal Vida, Luxardo Aperitivo Americano {aperol equicalent}, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, Bitter truth Choclate bitters, Jerry thomas bitters. A home run!

Kay: Gordon's London dry gin, Luxardo bitter {Campari equivalent,} Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, Bitter Truth celery bitters, Angoustera Orance bitters.

2 glasses of Schofitt Pinot Blanc Auxxerois Cuve Catherine 2001

 

[deangold]

Saturday night we go thru our refrigerators and try and use up everything from last week's farmers market. This last weekend, we were careful to only preorder what we could use in exactly one week. It was a perfect plan until we got to the market: Oh, two bags of cukes, I mean it's just two bags. A box of potatoes? Sure. A box of Sweet potatoes? Of course. Tomatoes look so good and they are healthy. And I mean those spring purple onions are adorable. Did I mention the green and yello ball zucchini at Barajas?

So tonight we had lots of stuff to move through and we got to about half of it.

Chard two ways: The leaves we sauteed with lots of microplaned garlic and a splash of lime. The stems got steamed and then put in a cast iron oval topped with crab pasta sauce {cream, leeks, spice rub, tamari} panko bread crumb, ramp butter, parmigianno reggiano, All baked till bubbly and browned on top. This was outstanding and I am sure it was healthy as heck. 

Zucchini and yellow 8 ball zucchini sauteed in olive oil, mint and garlic with lemon juice and roasted sichuan peppercorn. mint & garlic olive oil.

Purple Broccoli from Lind Vista was broccoli raab style. I peeled and steamed the stalks. Then I pan fried them with garlic, ginger & green onion, Thai fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, potato starch and hon dashi slurry. I put the veggies in a dish, deglazed the pan with a little water to get up all the potato starch burnt bits and let it thicken and then returned the raab to the pan to make a glistening coating.

Baby red potatoes steamed, sliced in half and grilled on the yaki niku grill with the left over scallion greens. Topped with homemade ramp butter.

Asparagus rubbed with olive oil, grotto spice rub, salt & pepper, ten grilled on the yaki niku grill. 

Kay made Negroni to start: Gordon's gin, Luxardo aperitivo Americano {aperol knockoff,} Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, bitter truth celery bitters. Kay had Gordons, Luxardo bitter {campari equivalent,}  Cocchi rosa, Bitter truth cucumber bitters and Bitterman's orange cream citrate bitters. 

Finished our bottle of Schofitt Pinot Blanc Auxxerois Cuve Catherine 2001.

Dinner!

Chard stem gratin, red potatoes. purple broccoli, zucchini, red chard

Chard stem gratin, purple broccoli

Asparagus on the Yaki Nikku

Asparagus cooking, wine, chard stem gratin

Schoffit 2001 Cuvee Catherine

[Pat]

Romaine salad with Campari tomatoes, anchovies, duck bacon, and white balsamic vinaigrette
Steak with red wine sauce (shallots, trumpet mushrooms) and chopped cilantro garnish
Macaroni and cheese with peas
Corn on the cob slathered with pesto

Way back in 2005, we renovated our kitchen and 1 1/2 baths. In preparation for being kitchenless, we acquired a basic refrigerator - top freezer for the basement that we would keep as extra cold storage once we had a new kitchen. It's served us well for 15 years, until recently: the gasket on that freezer is failing. The door keeps popping open, so I check it obsessively to ensure it's staying closed and sufficiently cold inside. Then I noticed the refrigerator wasn't staying as cold as it should be. So, I cranked the temperatures down for both freezer and refrigerator until we could get a new freezer gasket shipped and try to repair it. All was good for a few days...until yesterday, when I discovered that all of the high water content items froze solid in the refrigerator.  It sure is cold in there.

Six romaine hearts (Costco!) is a lot of frozen lettuce to be salvaged. I'm planning soup today but didn't have the energy to make the turnabout for that yesterday when I found the rock solid lettuce encased in ice. Separating the leaves and drying them in towels, I rescued about 14 inner romaine leaves that were not highly translucent and were still crispy enough for salad. It was lightish-green-sort-of-yellow middle leaves that survived most intact (you know, for reference, should you find yourself in this situation...).

[dwt]

6 hours ago, Pat said:

The door keeps popping open, so I check it obsessively to ensure it's staying closed and sufficiently cold inside.

If I lived closer I'd drop off a bungee cord for you. I like to keep a couple on hand as they do come in handy, like when a raccoon was getting into our garbage can -- lashed the lid on and attached one end of the cord to a porch railing (She had been climbing onto the railing and then knocking the can over popping the lid off. Then she and her kids would feast).

Last night I made house-cured pork loin chops from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. I only brined the chops for 24 hours and would like to try a longer soak next time. They turned out well, if a little sweet for my taste. I first cooked them low-and-slow in the Weber kettle to get a little smoke flavor and then seared/finished them on the gas grill. Sides were steamed fresh English peas with a couple carrots thrown in, and leftover penne in a simple tomato sauce.

[Pat]

Well, the lettuce soup experiment worked. It turned out great results, in fact. I was a little surprised. I sweated a chopped onion in a big pot, added some crushed garlic for a brief spell, then wilted 5+ heads of romaine torn into pieces. I added the lettuce in three batches and let it cook down a few minutes. Then I added chicken broth to cover, some dried thyme, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes and simmered for a while. Next into the mix was a small chopped potato. When that was close to done, I added the last of the peas I'd opened yesterday for the mac and cheese. When they were done, I cooled the soup a bit and then pureed in batches in my ancient Oster blender.

The soup was a beautiful green color. I made it early, refrigerated it, and reheated to serve but it would be good served chilled as well. Served with creme fraiche.

The rest of the meal was soft flour tacos, using the leftover steak, onions, bell and jalapeno peppers, scallions, black beans, pepper jack cheese, avocado, and more creme fraiche

The final item on the menu was green bell peppers stuffed with leftover macaroni and cheese and baked. The peppers were another casualty of the refrigerator temperature. I removed the very tops and used them for the tacos, cleaned out the membranes and seeds, and did my very best to get them as dry as possible before stuffing They pretty much had the consistency of peppers that had been blanched before using but spent a little too long in the water. So, if you ever accidentally freeze some raw bell peppers...

[deangold]

Continuing the things, we are close to thru with our over-shopping from last week. 

Crabcakes were the star of the night. Lump crab, about 10 oz, a small handful panko, 3 tablespoons homemade roasted garlic mayo, salt, peppepr, grotto spice rub. We made these last night and let them firm up inthe fridge. Pan fried in olive oil till brown, flipped, finished in the Breville oven, then returned to the pan which has homemade ramp butter in it and turned to coat, with the remaining drizzled on. Given the coloring, you cant see the ramp butter because I let it brown inthe skillet,

Sides were asparagus and spring onions on the cast iron grill, olive oil, salt, pepper, grotto spice rub & new potatoes steamed, sliced and browned on the cast iron grill, with ramp butter.

Drinks:

I started with an afternoon Pimm's. This is just about the last of Andrew's Pimm's from last year. My batch this year is just about readdy to bottle so good timing.Juice of half a lemon, 1/2 oz Gordon's gin, splash of ginger ale. Kay had one too as we cooked dinner while I had a Jake Parrot Inspiration: old overholt & Cocchi americano bianco. 50/50 on the rocks w/ a few drops lemon juice, a splash of soda. Quite refreshing and delicious.

With dinner we enjoyed a cenatiempo bianco gran tiefo which is made from Campanian aglianico. Delish!.

Spot enjoyed a leaf of catnip from our brand new garden. He was suspicious then he licked the leaf. Then he dropped it. Then he fell over and nibbled on it. The he had a fight with the air {I think he won} and another with the carpet {looked like a draw to me} Another couple of fights with air and carpet respectively, then a wobbly trip back to bed. We opened his can of pizza and he came out rapidly if unsteadily and devoured part of it, took a nap and came for the rest. He is still stoned off of his considerably reduced butt. His musical selections tonight: "CatDad, can you move faster on that pizza?" and "GIVE ME A GREENIE CATMOM!" had a certain wobble to his notes. But like Charlie Parker's famous Parker's Mood when he was strung out an heroin, it had a poignant beauty,

 

[Pat]

Arugula salad with orange bell pepper, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber; white balsamic vinaigrette
Lentil sausage soup
Baked salmon fillets with pesto
Buttermilk - scallion mashed potatoes

The soup recipe is from Ina Garten, from Barefoot in Paris, and also on the Food Network site. It's a wonderful, delicious soup but very labor- and time-intensive, especially so because I'm slow at chopping vegetables. I use turkey kielbasa for the soup. I made ~ 1/2 - 2/3 of a recipe this time because it makes a huge amount.

I've been planning to make this for some time, dating back to earlier quarantine times when the weather was cooler, but it took a while to acquire the kielbasa and then I couldn't find leeks. Finally got the leeks yesterday, just as the sausage hit its use or freeze point. The soup is really more suited to cooler weather, but I finally got all the ingredients! Yay. Well, my carrots were frozen by that time, but they worked out okay.

[deangold]

The other day I completed the low and slow potion of cooking a small pork shoulder end of the ribs roast. Last night I put in the shoulder at 450 {the highest setting on our Brevillle as our main oven heats the apartment as much as it cooks food} WHen the pork reached 145, we took it out and let is sit for a few minutes.

The pork was deeply brown, very tasty but I think a bit lower final cook temp would ahve made it better. On the other hands, the rib bones we cut off were amazing! We dipped the meat into soy and wasabi. Our side was a overnight salt pickle of cucumber, Asian pear, Chinese cabbage outer leaves. All in all, a simple but very tasty dinner. Dessert was a couple of chocolate cookies from Atwater. The cookies are obviously defective as we bought 6 on Sunday and they disappeared by Monday night. I do not know how that possibly could have happened.

The wine was the rest of the Cenatiempo Bianco. 

 

[ktmoomau]

I have not been on DR  as much recently between work getting really busy and then just spending so much of my time for work staring at a screen already.  

Last night was- apple, turkey summer sausage/bologna, swiss cheese and crackers.

The night before was shrimp and veggie skewers on the grill with a lemon, garlic, butter marinade/sauce.  With grilled potatoes by from our renter.  We had a nice dinner to celebrate his girlfriend being able to go do her residency.  Although we will miss having her around.

Saturday was leftover "bbq" chicken sandwiches with bacon, provolone and a spicy aoili I made, and the last of the greens.

Last week was the aforementioned oven "bbq" chicken thighs (rubbed with bbq seasoning and then basted with bbq sauce while cooking.  Mac and cheese and cooked greens.

[deangold]

A wonderful Valentino's Special Pizza. It was a stuff our faces with carbs kind of day.

Champion Missile IPA and Solace Hops out suns out IPA. 

Spot sang "Someday my pizza will come" for about an hour leading up to dinner. Pizza was served. He avoided getting stepped on as I brought him his pizza, as he likes to get underfoot from the moment I grab his can to the moment I put his bowl down. He particularly loves to dance on his foot mat, where we put the bowl, as we try and set it down on the food mat. He slept soundly to show his appreciation of the pizza. He had a particularly generous late night snack of dry chow as we had a communication failure and overfed him. He not only did not appreciate the mistake in his favor, but weighed out his nightly portion and said I better get this fudging amount tomorrow or someone will get shredded with the claws of doom, that is if I have the energy to do so. We are not afraid. And he doesn't even eat fudge!

Overnight he climbed onto my nightstand and pulled over my insulin pen needles thinking they were greenies. He was so upset that he failed to clean up after himself. I might have been lucky, as who needs pen needles well covered in kitty litter. I have to take this on faith from what Kay describes and the tell tale sealed pen needles on the floor. She claims I woke up and trid to clean them up but I have no memory of this. Nor of spot standing on me as he did his dirty work. Of of him showing me his butt hole. 

[Pat]

Despite there being some pasta on the menu at lunch, dinner tonight was pasta: Farfalle coated with pesto and topped with Italian chicken sausage meatballs and vegetables* in Rao's marinara sauce. Grated parmesan.

 

*Broccoli, mushrooms, orange bell pepper, onion, and garlic

 

[deangold]

Leftovers. Mostly. 

Slow roasted pork crisped in a very hot oven, served cold w/wasabi & soy. Sauteed zucchini & yellow squash w/garlic & mint, sauteed chard, purple broccoli, and a new dish, steamed purple caulifower from Linda Vista farms. We were supposed to get white but they ran out so they gave us a bunch of the purple. I steamed it and then doused it in lemon juice, simichi pepper and sancho. . Raw it was quite tasty. Cooked it was slightly bland cauliflower, but very pretty

The drink is makkoli draft.

Very tasty and super easy. 

Spot had pizza. Very easy and very tasty.

Especially as I did all the work from opening the can, to avoiding stepping on him, to almost getting eaten as I placed the bowl on the dining mat, to cleaning the bowl.

And the thanks I got? He slept the rest of the night in his bed on the side he sometimes lets me sleep on. But at least this week the bedroom use bill goes to Kay. 

[dcandohio]

Salmon fillet from Trader Joe’s broiled with Caesar dressing on top. Leftover roasted sweet potatoes and steamed green beans. For my taste, the combination of salmon and sweet potatoes is a winner. 

[Katya4me]

We like the Trader Joe's herb pizza dough, so we will generally buy a few bags and toss them in the freezer.  Occasionally, a bag will drift to the bottom of the freezer and get forgotten.  We've found 2 of those so far this spring.  Last night's dinner was pizza w/ a lightly freezer burned dough.  Toppings were baby bella mushrooms and spicy Italian sausage, Mexican blend cheese and after it baked, I drizzled over top, a little of the honey habanero sauce that we still have lots of.  Dessert was 2 frozen chocolate chip ice cream mochi balls. 

[deangold]

Late night snack last night, or early one this morning, was some of my strawberry rum gelato. OMG good! 

Dinner tonight was more of the same with some steamed potatoes with ramp pesto instead of the pork. The purple cauliflower was much better cold but still not going to wind up in our rotation. The cahrd and broccoli were great. We finished off the squash earlier in the day

Kay got out her Martini chops and did a great job: 4 Brokers to 3 Dolin dry, stirred until the can is frosty, Peychaud's aromatic & Angostura Orange bitters. Strained perfectly into chilled glasses, served with huge cocktail olives from Spain. She done good!

Strawberry Sorbetti. 

[Pat]

Mixed greens with nectarines, peaches, and walnuts; citrus vinaigrette
Leftover lentil sausage soup
Leftover mac and cheese
Black bean, bell pepper, tomato, and fontina frittata

[Katya4me]

Last night was a veggie lo mein.  Bell peppers, baby bok choy and carrots were the veggies, but that wasn't enough veggies, so I used daikon radish noodles.  Still have lots of the mango habanero sauce, so I added that to the lo mein sauce instead of sugar and we had a bunch of Thai basil in the fridge so added some of that at the end.  I should have added the noodles after I took it off the heat, but otherwise, very happy with how it turned out.

[dwt]

Last night was pan-seared arctic char with a ginger/soy/mirin glaze, served with lime slices and chopped scallions. Sides were steamed green beans, and farro sautéed with shallots in olive oil, the pan deglazed with dry white wine (Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc) and then finished with a simmer in 50/50 water and chicken stock. The rest of the wine wound up in our glasses.

[deangold]

Kay had to go to DC so we ate some takeout from Federalist Pig. Our first time. Best BBQ by a good margin inside the beltway. Does not begin to compare to run of the mill BBQ or the best old school in LA like Dr Hoggly Wogleys Tyler Texas BBQ. More detailed description on their thread. 

Detailed description

A late addition: the last of out strawberry sorbetti. That was a good batch!

We tried a sour IPA from Norfolk Va's O'Conner Brewing Sour Batch Kids IPA. Sour as advertised but not much more. I am not a sour beer kinda guy I guess.

Solace Partly Cloudy hazy IPA. Really good but it is $14.99 for a 4 pack at Trader Joe's. Sun's Out Hops out is 18.99 for 18 at Harris Teeter. I like the Suns Out more. 

Spot? What do you think. Complaints! Complaints! Complaints! He IS a cat, after all. Kay and Spot are cuddled up on Spot's bed taking a nap. I am posting to DonRockwell.com. Sorry Don, but Spot has me beat!

[dwt]

Tonight was skewers. First up on the grill: skewers of cremini mushrooms, red bell pepper, and vidalia onion tossed in olive oil with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and chopped fresh rosemary (I'm going to jinx myself, but I feel compelled to mention my rosemary plant is looking particularly healthy this year). Then big fat sea scallops, tossed in olive oil and minced garlic, with paprika, salt and black pepper generously applied. I served the veggies over greens, dressed however the customer chose. Just a simple meal which probably tasted better because it was consumed outside on a beautiful evening with the best person I know.

[Katya4me]

Last night I made a Spanish tortilla for the first time.  My husband visited Spain with his dad and brother last August.  One night, he decided to order a tortilla and the below arrived at their table.  They looked at it, got out their phones and were like, so that's what a Spanish tortilla is.  He told me about it when he got home and said he liked it, so I've been curious to make it since then.  I followed the NYT recipe and decided not to risk the flip, so I popped it in the oven to finish the cooking process.   It's a very simple recipe but I very much enjoyed the taste.

I served it tapas style.  We had a bit of cured chorizo and salami in the fridge, along with some mozz balls and Thai basil.   Made a bit of a vinaigrette for the mozz balls with the basil and dinner was served.  Dinner afterwards was a bike ride to the newly reopened local frozen custard place for a waffle cup w/ the flavors of the day: caramel swirl & maple bacon.   

[Pat]

Last night
Leftover mixed greens with nectarines, peaches, and walnuts; citrus vinaigrette
Leftover lentil sausage soup
Tofu, broccoli, mushroom, onion stir-fry and brown rice

[deangold]

An all veggie meal. Grilled asparagus w/lemon & olive oil; grilled purple spring onion, Mr Stripey tomato & red onion salad w/basil, oregano & Thai mint from our herb garden, balsamico & olive oil; Grilled ball zucchini, green & grey, rosemary, thyme. oregano from the herb garden; zucchini & golden zucchini grilled w/ green onion, chive, epazote & cilantro from the garden. No t pictured: sweet potato baked w/ramp pesto. 

drinks: Soju, yogurt drink, strawberry syrup Korean cocktails, lightly blended.

Spot polished off his pizza and then his chow. I predict he will walk all over Kay to get greenies and an early breakfast. I might get shown his butt hole. 

[Pat]

Salad of butter lettuce, Campari tomatoes, radishes, cucumber; toasted walnuts; tahini vinaigrette
Leftover lentil sausage soup
Asparagus with fried eggs and Parmesan
Creamy cauliflower mascarpone gratin

The cauliflower dish was wonderful. I found it while searching for ideas for using mascarpone (which I grabbed on my last pre-quarantine trip to Trader Joe's). I didn't have the fresh herbs called for so used parsley for the fresh herbs and supplemented that with some dried oregano. (I have the dried versions of the herbs called for, but liked the oregano better with parsley.) Recipe is going into the keeper file.

[dcandohio]

I had some hot Italian sausages in the freezer that I wanted to defrost, and my neighbors had gifted me with a giant sweet onion. So of course I thought about sausage with peppers and onion. 
I texted my neighbors and told them to come over for a very low-key dinner party. 
I defrosted all of the corn maque choux that I had made earlier in the month. 
I wanted to grill the sausages, but the weather interfered so I just put a ton of peppers and onions in a roasting pan and put the sausages on top and put it all in a hot oven. While we chatted and ate potato chips, everything cooked; and then I put the broiler on to kind of give everything a nice brown crust. 
I zapped  the defrosted corn in the microwave. 
It was one of the better dinner parties I’ve ever had, because it was so low-key and we had a great time. 

[Pat]

Tonight was baked chicken breasts with honey bbq sauce, charro beans, and fried potato-scallion patties.

[deangold]

We took out a container of greens soup made from radish, turnip, beet greens and kale, cream, lots of seasonings. The soup is a rough puree with some noticeable roughage but quite delicious. All it needed was a drop or two of soy sauce to freshen it. 

Cold veggies from last night rounded out the dinner. Grilled asparagus, spring onion, two preparations of summer squash, sweet potatoes w/ramp pesto.

A shot of bourbon neat after. Evan WIlliams 1783.

[Pat]

Last night was leftover tofu, broccoli, mushroom stir-fry over brown rice (plus cashews), more lentil soup, and a nice salad. Salad was romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, chevre (husband) or blue cheese (me), with sliced leftover chicken on top. Bottled vinaigrette.

[Katya4me]

Last night was a carrot noodle stir fry.  We swapped in baby bok choy for the spinach and tossed in a jalapeno as well. 

[deangold]

A bag of really good Korean pork dumplings advertized as potstickers but steamed with hot oil, black vinegar & soy dip.

Romaine salad w/anchovy, parm reggiano, sherry vinegar, roasted garlic rosemary oil. 

The last of the greens soup. 

Makkoli. Anxo Cider with strawberry syrup. Makkoli. 

Spot had a concert he performed. It featured new and old favorites.

"Someday my pizza will come."

"Feed me more Damnit!"

"Nessun Dorma"
{Can anyone deny the poignancy of these lyrics: No one sleeps when I am hungry and it is 2 hours until feeding time. At dawn, I shall be victorious! victorious!! victorious!!!}

followed by "WHAT??? Its 12 hours till you are feeding me more?"

Spot accepting his adoring fans:

His production values continue to increase! He now does multimedia {singing and tripping and begging} in multi venues!

[dwt]

Phoned it in tonight. Spaghetti alla carbonara with steamed frozen peas on the side. I used WF 365 organic smoked bacon which paled in comparison to the flavor contributed by the speck (La Quercia) I used for the previous iteration of this, one of my go-to dishes. But that's one of the charms of making carbonara  dish as a home cook. On rare occasion I score an "A", other times it ranges from blah to passable.

[deangold]

I had a rough day and was not feeling well so Kay did all the cooking. I gave some instructions.

We had some Japanese salt pickle working in the fridge made with kohlrabi and radish leaves. The Kohlrabi leaves were very tough so they have been sitting for several days. We did some with lemon slices and that was what Kay picked out. First she squeezed out the juices. Next was sliced baby Kirby cukes from the farmers market. Then she flavored it with an Asian pear dressing we had used before on a similar pickle. She added some soy sauce and persimmon vinegar. Came out perfectly and just the thing to sooth my stomach.

Left over sweet potato with ramp pesto, served cold.

Strawberry gelato with fresh strawberries. 

Kay made me a 4 to 3 Gibson with Plymouth, Dolin Dry, and a pair of bitters: Peychaud's aromatic and Angostura orange bitters. Kay has a tendency to under bitter martinis but this time she hit it right on. I get the cocktail onions from one of my old suppleiers, IGF. They are small but very tasty with more than just a brine flavor. 

I scored a bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and one of Redemption Rye. These are hard to come by at the VABC so it was a lucky day. Also, the High West Double Rye was on sale for 15% off, so I was forced to buy one too. I will quality control all three tonight. I am in no mood for more booze, but you know, quality control is important. Only half of the last sentence is true. 

Spot, in recognition of my not feeling well, was an asshat to Kay, and not me, tonight. I did not follow the details but he finished his pizza in record time. Usually it takes him 3 or 4 hours to finish half a can. Tonight, first shot and the bowl was almost licked clean. 

[deangold]

7 hours ago, deangold said:

I am in no mood for more booze, but you know, quality control is important. Only half of the last sentence is true. 

Just to report back for scientific purposes.

Buffalo Trace is a warm, lighter bourbon. I look forward to mixing with it.

High West Double Rye is a smokey big mouthful of spicy rye. Outstanding. Almost Islay scotch-like smoke.

Redemption Rye is a more delicate, lighter style. Very tasty and quite a good buy at $33. {22 at Macarthurs. This is going to be my house mixing rye when I am out of Old Overholt.}

Now that my palate was calibrated on rye, I went on to consider Templeton and Willet Family Reserve. again for science.

The Templeton was light and sweet. While this rye has grown on me, it still does not justify its price IMO.

The WIllet was very round and less spicy than the High West. Fuller and rounder than the Redemption. I think the High West is my favorite, with the Willet Redemption behind. But with the redemption $22, The High West $29 to $35 and the Willett $59, the Willett is going to be a rare treat.

I was checking pricing on Willett and the big takeaway is that my favorite spirits are $7 a bottle cheaper in DC. Worth a trip.This is not going to be a good thing for my wallet.

 

[Pat]

Green salad (romaine, tomatoes,  radishes, cucumber); viniagrette
Wine-braised chicken with mushrooms
Steamed broccoli
Leftover brown rice

This was a solid, satisfying meal. That is all.

[MarkS]

Grilled chicken Breasts

Roasted Brussels

My take on Peruvian green sauce.  Chicachurri made with Jalapenos.  Awesome

[deangold]

Korean BBQ inspired dinner. 

Local pork belly unseasoned and done in the yaki niku grill.

Roasted local veggies: purple cauliflower, kohlrabi, daikon, red radish, broccoli, carrots from Linda Vista, Barajas, Spring Valley. All seasoned with olive oil, grotto spice rub, S & P.

Doenjang, gochujaru paste, salt & sesame oil. 

Japanese salt pickle with leaves {kohlrabi, radish and outer Chinese cabbage,} slicing cukes, soy, mirin and persimmon vinegar dressing. 

Baby new potatoes from Spring Valley. We wound up toasting them on the grill and making Ssam. Potatossam with doenjang and gochujang are amazing!

Linda Vista romaine leaves. 

local cherries from Spring Valley. 

Flattened garlic to go on the grill. Garlic ssam are as good as the potato ones. 

A few shots of soju and a bottle of makkoli.

[Katya4me]

Last night's dinner was sweet potato fried rice with crab. It was my first time making "rice" from sweet potatoes and I really liked how it turned out.

[Pat]

Romaine, tomato, cucumber; vinaigrette
Bean soup made using leftover charro beans and their liquid
Mushroom, leek, and kale pie with mascarpone, chevre, & fontina

 

[deangold]

Softshells. Spot thinks we are cooking then to torture him. 

Pan sauteed dusted with flour & Grotto spice rub. Served with spaghetti w/homemade ramp butter & ramp pesto.

Bread courtesy of DanielK's wife.

Wine was Alcesti Bianco from Sicily. Nice, simple white to go with the spicy and rich crab. A higher quality wine would have been lost. 

Spot was so put off his food by our tormenting him that he finished all his pizza, ate all his evening chow, and told us he would see us at 3am.