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Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


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Thai-inspired* soup with squid, Maine sweet shrimp, English peas and rice noodles

*used as many ingredients and subs as I had on hand to make a green curry (coriander seed, cilantro, white pepper, jalapeño, ginger root, tamarind paste, fish sauce, lime zest and juice), fish stock and coconut milk. Big hit.

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Rock shrimp cocktail

Romaine salad with grape tomatoes, black olives, feta, and vinaigrette

Baked chicken breasts

Broccoli

Manchego cheese grits

The "rock shrimp cocktail" was just the remnants of the roasted rock shrimp with chiles, served cold. Very good.

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BLTA salad: butter and red-leaf lettuces, scallions, avocado, quartered cherry tomatoes, and, of course, BACON, in mustard-red wine vinaigrette.

Consumed while watching the Academy Awards and multi-chatting (read: snarking) with good friends. The perfect end to a perfectly lovely weekend.

(That salad was so good I'm tempted to make it again tonight, I have to say.)

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Green salad: chopped romaine, cucumber, avocado; vinaigrette

Rib eye steak sandwich with brie, roasted red peppers, bacon, and avocado

Cape Cod potato chips

Put 1 garlic clove, 24 large basil leaves, 16 sun dried tomatoes, 1 cup non-fat ricotta, 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt, and a few grinds of pepper into a food processor. Served with whole wheat capellini and a salad consisting of non-bagged arugula, two avocadoes, and some shaved parmesan with olive oil and balamic vinegar.. Very tasty and nutricious and very little sodium.

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Porcini risotto topped with a shiitake/crimini "marmalade" made with shallots, red wine, balsamic, and agave nectar.

Cipollini onions braised in the same red wine mixture.

Romaine salad with radishes in an herb vinaigrette.

Whole wheat toast (bread from Caboose) with chêvre.

Mr. lperry loved the onions, but I'm not sure I'm an "onions as a side dish" person. They were overwhelming to me somehow.

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Porcini risotto topped with a shiitake/crimini "marmalade" made with shallots, red wine, balsamic, and agave nectar.

Cipollini onions braised in the same red wine mixture.

Romaine salad with radishes in an herb vinaigrette.

Whole wheat toast (bread from Caboose) with chêvre.

Mr. lperry loved the onions, but I'm not sure I'm an "onions as a side dish" person. They were overwhelming to me somehow.

Sounds delicious! Could you post the recipes for the risotto and topping and the herb vinaigrette?

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Sounds delicious! Could you post the recipes for the risotto and topping and the herb vinaigrette?

Thanks - it was pretty good, and I apologize in advance because I didn't really use recipes. The mushroom marmalade idea is originally from here. I use agave nectar or honey instead of sugar, don't finish with butter (I use just enough to sauté) and don't add the garlic. I also like it better with a higher red wine to vinegar ratio. The risotto I made tonight was just a basic one with white wine, shallots, and dried porcini. The herb vinaigrette is walnut oil, herb vinegar that Mr. lperry brought back from somewhere, Dijon mustard, and a smidge of honey to balance the vinegar. It all goes into the bowl, gets whisked together, and then I throw in the greens to toss.

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panko-crusted salmon and tuna cakes (made with canned wild salmon and olive oil packed tuna)

remoulade sauce

savoy cabbage braised in butter and veal stock

garlic and chive mashed potatoes

TJ's mini mint ice cream sandwiches

2010 Susanna Balbo crios torrontes

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Egg tagliatelle with bolognese

Garlic toast

So, I'm trying something new - an entire week of meals from an episode of Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day" show (on Cooking Channel). Basically, she shows you 5 meals that you can cook (or at least par-cook) on Sunday so you can have dinners that are easy to prepare on busy nights. My husband and I have been so crazy lately that I figured what the hell. The bolognese was actually quite good - nice and thick and meaty. I made a double batch (as was suggested during the show) and froze some servings for a future use.

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Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day," meal #2...

Beer-braised chicken thighs (in a spicy tomato-pepper sauce)

Couscous

Chicken thighs are definitely the way to my heart. I hate to admit it, but the RR meals have been tasty so far, AND it's been a dream to be able to reheat (instead of full-on COOK) after long days at the office.

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Steamed broccoli with butter

Beef brisket burrito

Baked chicken breast

Rice pilaf

Lazy tonight- but very good

Crab Cake from Black Salt--preheat oven to 375, bake for 11 minutes, remove from oven for three minutes and turn, return to oven for 11 minutes: the result is a golden crabake

Beets from Nourish--beautifully cut red beets with onion, vinegar, and parsley

Arugula, avocado, shaved parmesan salad with oil and vinegar

Haagen Daz mango ice cream

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roasted eco-friendly marrow bones a la Fergus Henderson (with parsley salad and Maldon salt on grilled baguette)

oven roasted herb-brined eco-friendly chicken wings with Western NC bbq sauce

bubble and squeak (made with leftover mashed potatoes and braised savoy cabbage)

2009 Montebuena Rioja

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Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day," meal #3 -

Sausage, kale, and lentil soup

Crusty whole grain dinner rolls

This soup was really tasty (and spicy), though the lentils didn't quite get cooked enough. I'll have to simmer a little longer before storing next time.

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Pecan Meadow's flat iron steaks, gas grilled and finished in the oven (quite thick). Absolutely delicious--I'm looking forward to seeing them at the 14 St. market soon!

Risotto (vialone nano-I think I like carnaroli better) with sweet potato and Pecorino.

Sauteed mustard greens with caramelized onions and bacon.

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charcoal grilled yogurt-marinated eco-friendly goat rib chops

mujaddara (a mixture of basmati rice, French lentils, and caramelized onions) topped with spiced yogurt (cinnamon, cumin, coriander, aleppo pepper, chopped fresh mint, lemon zest and juice)

pan roasted carrots with butter, honey and cumin

tzatziki

2006 Flavium bierzo

mujaddara ROCKS! I can't begin to tell you how delicious and satisfying this dish is. (We each had three teeny-tiny rib chops, about two bites each, so the meat was almost a condiment on the plate.) the spiced yogurt topping is a bit labor-intensive, otherwise the hardest thing about the mujaddara was baby-sitting the sliced onions while they slowly caramelized, which took about a half-hour. The French lentils were from Trader Joe's, The basmati almost cooks itself.

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That sounds interesting. What sort of green chiles did you use? And what sort of cheese?

I was following a recipe that called for canned chilies and Parmesan and extra sharp cheddar. The only extra sharp cheddar I had was Giant brand, so that was not too distinguished, but I used Parmigiano-Reggiano and canned Hatch brand chilies. I don't remember the heat level on them and the can's already out with the recycling. If I make this again, I'll use some of the Hatch/NM chilies from my freezer and a better quality cheddar.

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Yes, that was it.

I think that's what I'll have for dinner. I have all the ingredients on hand except elbow macaroni. I'll use penne or ziti or something. Oh, and I don't have the optional fresh nutmeg, but I wouldn't put that in something I was going to eat anyway.
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I think that's what I'll have for dinner. I have all the ingredients on hand except elbow macaroni. I'll use penne or ziti or something. Oh, and I don't have the optional fresh nutmeg, but I wouldn't put that in something I was going to eat anyway.

Heh. I love nutmeg and put it in pretty much anything with a cream sauce :) . This would probably be fine with any pasta you'd put in mac and cheese.

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Heh. I love nutmeg and put it in pretty much anything with a cream sauce :) . This would probably be fine with any pasta you'd put in mac and cheese.

I loathe nutmeg and don't put it in anything I intend to eat. I made the mac and cheese with ziti, and with panko instead of fresh breadcrumbs, but otherwise pretty much as written. Made about half the recipe amount, but used a full 4-oz can of green chiles, because I didn't want to deal with the unused portion, and that worked out fine. Very, very good.

Edit: Oh, I used Black Diamond "Extra Old" cheddar, which is wonderful, and added a little vermouth to the cheese sauce.

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spinach salad with mushrooms, red pepper, tomatoes, goat cheese and bacon

catfish dusted with flour & sauteed in canola oil with a little of the bacon drippings

baguette with butter and sea salt

fresh pineapple

I'm drinking a Costieres de Nimes rose. I would tell you which one,but that would require getting up & going in the other room to look at the bottle.

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I loathe nutmeg and don't put it in anything I intend to eat. I made the mac and cheese with ziti, and with panko instead of fresh breadcrumbs, but otherwise pretty much as written. Made about half the recipe amount, but used a full 4-oz can of green chiles, because I didn't want to deal with the unused portion, and that worked out fine. Very, very good.

Edit: Oh, I used Black Diamond "Extra Old" cheddar, which is wonderful, and added a little vermouth to the cheese sauce.

Sounds delicious :)

Last night:

Romaine with prosciutto, cucumber, and vinaigrette

Gougeres

Braciole over egg noodles in tomato sauce

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I owe Iliane as well as Hunter/Engineer/Uncle Marty for two delicious dinners in a row:

Venison medallions encrusted w juniper, pepper and thyme

(Sauce: white wine, more crushed juniper berries, chicken demi-stock vs. veal and cream)

Mash of rutabaga, Emily's turnips & potato

Green Wave w garlic

1 inch thick, cooked in 2 minutes each side, perfect and tender. Had a 15 oz. backstrap vs. 1.5 lbs. as formerly reported, so enough for 3 meals. Second, tonight w same sides, latter expanded w spinach and green garlic. This time w morel sauce, no cream. (Dried morels are $239.99 a lb. at WFM!!) Meat withstood a brief reheat; still tender.

******************

Lperry, if you're still reading: have you ever seen Peter Berley's cookbooks? Two of the best dinners I had this week were from his second vegetarian cookbook. I just found the recipe online in Kim O'Donnel's old column for the Post: Spicy Coconut Soup w Sweet Potatoes and Crispy Tempeh. It's probably been decades since I've bought tempeh, but it's really great w this soup!

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Lperry, if you're still reading: have you ever seen Peter Berley's cookbooks? Two of the best dinners I had this week were from his second vegetarian cookbook. I just found the recipe online in Kim O'Donnel's old column for the Post: Spicy Coconut Soup w Sweet Potatoes and Crispy Tempeh. It's probably been decades since I've bought tempeh, but it's really great w this soup!

I've never seen his books. For the past few years I've been on a cookbook diet due to limited space and guilt over lack of use of the books I have, so I've deliberately avoided the cookbook aisle at stores. I'll check out his website. Thanks!

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last night:

chuletas de puerco en salsa ranchera (pork chops from eco friendly, pan-seared and then braised in rustic tomato- chile- onion- tomatillo sauce)

white rice and La Costeña refried beans

diced avocado and cebollas en escabeche (pickled onions)

buttered corn tortillas (Mission brand)

mini Momofuku crack pies

Pacifico

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This weekend, we had Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day," meals #4 and #5.

Friday - Lamb and orzo stuffed peppers with a homemade tomato sauce and goat cheese

Sunday - Tomato and garlic puttanesca (over egg pappardelle)

The stuffed peppers were awesome - super flavorful, and the peppers maintained a great texture despite being steamed, cooled/stored, and then reheated.

The puttanesca was meh - it was the one thing that seemed to get LESS flavorful as it sat in the fridge. Oh, well - 4 out of 5 ain't bad!

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