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Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


JPW

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Last night was a tomato paella with some medium-sized cherry tomatoes from the garden. These will be one of the few from this year that I plant again.

Tonight was an early, all garden dinner.

Multicolored carrots with brown butter, honey, and thyme.

Steamed "Grandma's Mushroom" pole beans with butter and coarse salt.

A grill-roasted beet, beet greens, and feta salad in a walnut oil/sherry vinaigrette.

A falanghina. Feudi San Gregorio, probably.

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Leftover tomato, cucumber, red pepper, salami, and buffalo mozzarella salad with vinaigrette

Chicken tacos (blue and yellow corn tortillas) with romaine, tomato, red onion, jalapeno, jack and cheddar cheeses; sour cream

Pinto beans

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Leftover tomato, cucumber, red pepper, salami, and buffalo mozzarella salad with vinaigrette

Chicken tacos (blue and yellow corn tortillas) with romaine, tomato, red onion, jalapeno, jack and cheddar cheeses; sour cream

Pinto beans

Fresh Fig Salad. We bought some figs at our farmers' market and cut them into quarters. We marinated them for 10 minutes in a mixture of diced shallot, honey, balsamic vinegar, vegetable stock, and olive oil. Then we put them in arugula and crumbled goat cheese. It was very, very good.

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Paula Wolfert's recipe more or less for an Eastern Med. dish. Rings of okra flavored w bell & hot pepper paste approximating something w Aleppo pepper, garlic, ground beef, ground coriander, tomato paste and lemon are about it (plus oil to fry, salt, pepper and a little sugar). Not at all slimy w good, fresh okra.

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Penne alla panna con carciofi e porcini

Salad of red leafed lettuce, one yummy [name vs. assessment] pepper, haricots verts and red onion

Handful of plums

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Not brave enough yet to try the paw paws I picked up at the farmers market on Sunday. I'd start a new topic, except how many people (besides earnest locavores and trendy restaurateurs) are interested in North America's indigenous fruit? George Washington liked them chilled for dessert. Other suggestions welcome, though not jokes about post-operational cats, please.

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Not brave enough yet to try the paw paws I picked up at the farmers market on Sunday. I'd start a new topic, except how many people (besides earnest locavores and trendy restaurateurs) are interested in North America's indigenous fruit? George Washington liked them chilled for dessert. Other suggestions welcome, though not jokes about post-operational cats, please.

Yum! They are like cherimoyas or guanabanas (same family.) You can chill and eat, or make sorbet or ice cream. Make sure they are really soft ripe, though.

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Yum! They are like cherimoyas or guanabanas (same family.) You can chill and eat, or make sorbet or ice cream. Make sure they are really soft ripe, though.

I think they will take some getting used to. Custardy consistency is something I ought to appreciate. Huge seeds in small fruit w little flesh.

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Great dinner tonight, thanks to Ottolenghi's Plenty:

Tamara's ratatouille

Butter-fried canary beans w sumac

Sourdough whole wheat

Honey-roasted peach w vanilla whipped cream

Favorite part, honestly, was the unsweetened whipped cream made from Clear Spring's heavy cream. Can't remember any better cream ever in my life. Second favorite: the ratatouille. Made w carrot vs. parsnip and entire small butternut squash, skipping potato. Technique and combination of vegetables great: you fry vegetables incrementally in two groups (I mixed olive oil and canola), then combine all to simmer for half an hour, then roast in hot oven for another half an hour. Love the resulting textures and imagine flavors will be even better tomorrow. Includes haricots verts which are a nice touch.

Beans based on a recipe for dried lima beans. Also substituted slivers of red onion for scallions, skipped the sorrel and snipped chives for herb; chevre vs. feta because that's what I had. Again, like the method--sort of refried beans without the mashing.

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Not brave enough yet to try the paw paws I picked up at the farmers market on Sunday. I'd start a new topic, except how many people (besides earnest locavores and trendy restaurateurs) are interested in North America's indigenous fruit?

A renewed interest, posted in WaPo. Very timely, AB!

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Oven roasted split chicken breast with Herbs de Provence, garlic powder, s&p and a pat of butter. Roasted on a bed of carrots, celery and onions. I allowed the vegetables to caramelize a bit before adding stock to the pan so we'd have a nice jus at the end.

Spring Valley green beans with caramelized shallots, white wine vinegar and butter (kind of a buerre blanc).

Smashed Yukon potatoes with buttermilk and cream cheese.

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Last night:

Brown sugar bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cheddar and cream cheeses

Chicken tacos with pinto beans

Planned for tonight:

Toasted cucumber-prosciutto-cream cheese finger sandwiches

Homemade tortilla chips and guacamole

Mixed green salad with pickled peaches, tomatoes, toasted pecans and blue cheese or feta

Bacon-wrapped figs

Lamb cumin meatballs

Eggplant Orzo with Toasted Hazelnuts

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You are quick! I had a window open and was just about to search for the link! I'm interested enough to search out the pawpaw at a farmer's market this weekend.

Wish the article were more informative and based on local/personal experience. Window for purchase isn't big, but I got mine last weekend at the Dupont Circle farmers market from Farm at Sunnyside; one of the guys bothered to climb the trees in the exquisite surroundings and brought them to town. The only other farmer I've seen forage paw paws is Eric of Country Pleasures (also at Dupont Circle). The article does mention a few other farmers markets in the area and I know I saw Good Fortune Farm pull up to America Eats 1-2 weeks ago since José Andres got it in his head that he needed the native fruit there.

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Wish the article were more informative and based on local/personal experience. Window for purchase isn't big, but I got mine last weekend at the Dupont Circle farmers market from Farm at Sunnyside; one of the guys bothered to climb the trees in the exquisite surroundings and brought them to town. The only other farmer I've seen forage paw paws is Eric of Country Pleasures (also at Dupont Circle). The article does mention a few other farmers markets in the area and I know I saw Good Fortune Farm pull up to America Eats 1-2 weeks ago since José Andres got it in his head that he needed the native fruit there.

The article mentioned a local grower, Stanton Gill, plans to have them at the Kensington Farmers Market on Saturday and the Olney Farmers Market on Sunday, which are both accessible to me. Hopefully I'll be able to get to one of the markets this weekend, and hopefully the rain will not interfere!

(and with that post I'm batting a thousand!)

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Yum! They are like cherimoyas or guanabanas (same family.) You can chill and eat, or make sorbet or ice cream. Make sure they are really soft ripe, though.

My first impressions: 1) yuck and 2) lots of effort in separating minimal flesh of fruit from huge seeds in small pawpaws. As to the yuck-factor, one of the farmers who spoke to the author of the article in the Post says there's a gene in the fruit that determines whether it will be sweet or bitter upon ripening. At his place, they test for taste and then cut back the plants that prove bitter and retain only those that are palatable.

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Dinner last night:

Scrambled eggs and buttered, toasted Walnut-raisin sourdough from Atwater's (first purchase--wonderful loaf!)

Bartlett pear. Sigh. Fall. Not going for peaches anymore.

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Last night I made roast beef and a potato, squash Parmesan casserole/tart that didn't use eggs or cream, but was very good. We were watching Mad Men all afternoon (just started from the beginning on Netflix instant) and I was laughing that my husband got the best of both worlds, I work and make dinner. But nothing near as complex as what they make except on some weekends. Although if he comes home and dinner isn't made he understands he is expected to order take-out or delivery or take me out.

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Finally made something I've always wanted to try. Linguini Aglio et Olio. Some Trader Joe's herb and garlic linguini, 3 cloves of garlic (pre-minced), olive oil, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes. I added some grated parmesan, and it was delicious. Followed by a salad of butter lettuce, arugula, cherry tomatoes and a little white balsamic vinegar.

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Finally made something I've always wanted to try. Linguini Aglio et Olio.

Ahem. I'm sure your dish was delicious, but, as Marcella says:
Romans say "spaghetti aio e oio" as though it were one word, and they would as soon expect another pasta to be in the combination as the moon to change its course.
-- Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, p. 170
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Salad supper:

lettuce, cucumber, tomato, chick peas, feta, olives, tahini dressing

pan-grilled sausages

whole -wheat sourdough with butter & Maldon salt

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer

Blood orange sorbet

This is probably the last of the hot weather. I'm looking ahead to soups, stews and cornbread. :mellow:

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This is probably the last of the hot weather. I'm looking ahead to soups, stews and cornbread. :mellow:

Well, I jumped the gun since there has been a small cabbage in the back of the fridge for a couple of weeks now and I've had enough slaw:

Marcella Hazan's winter meatballs w garlicky "braised" cabbage and a couple of tomatoes

Lemon-glazed carrots w chopped fennel fronds

Concord grapes

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This has been a pretty haphazard week, eating the last of the leftovers I left for my husband to have while I was away and doing quick shopping for new provisions. I usually make detailed shopping lists based on menu plans, but the only things I had planned when I put my list together were stuffed zucchini and a potato gratin. I was tired and wanted to get enough food for a few meals without detailed planning. I picked up a tuna steak at the Eastern Market fishmonger for Tuesday night's dinner and planned grocery shopping for the next day.

Whole Foods had no ground lamb when I went on Wednesday but I was set on making stuffed zucchini. I improvised by buying ground beef instead but really wanted lamb for my zucchini that night. So I stopped at Union Meats at Eastern Market later in the day and bought ground lamb too. The butcher there told me there has been a lamb shortage for the past two years (also leading to higher prices). I buy lamb often enough that I should have been aware of this, I'd think, but I had no idea until the butcher at Whole Foods said they were having trouble getting lamb. When I brought this up with the second butcher, I got a very detailed explanation. He also told me about the three places they get their lamb from, and they are all relatively or very local.

Since I already had ground beef and needed to use that quickly, the next night I opened a package of hotdogs that had been in the meat drawer since a previous shopping trip, made up a small batch of chili, and we had chili dogs. (I had bought hotdog buns at Giant figuring I'd just make regular hotdogs with what was in the refrigerator.)

Whatever it was with me and ground meat, I'm not sure, but I also had impulsively bought sausages at Whole Foods--both pork chorizo and something called Santa Fe (I'm figuring they have chilies in them :mellow: ). I had bought poblanos for no real reason and I thought I might roast them to put in the chili, but I used jalapeno instead, so last night was baked chiles rellenos with chorizo and mushrooms.

Shopping without a real list for the first time in a while has definitely reminded me of the value of a list. I really bought some pretty random stuff :unsure:.

Tuesday

Seared peppered tuna steak

Leftover eggplant with orzo

Wednesday

Leftover romaine and tomato salad

Lamb and rice stuffed zucchini

Thursday

Chili cheese dogs (Wellshire uncured franks on Martin's potato rolls)

Utz Potato chips

Friday

Chorizo-and mushroom-stuffed roasted poblanos with Monterey Jack cheese

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chapatis, butternut squash (with tomatoes, chillies, cumin seeds and mango powder), chana dal (with fresh chillies, ginger, garlic, onion, cumin, lemon, and cashews) green beans (with tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, chillies, and tamarind), potatoes (with garlic, ginger and fennel seeds), yogurt (with shallots and roasted cumin). Founders Breakfast Stout.

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Yesterday I made a lovely lasagna using a turkey bolognese (Marcel Hazan recipe), homemade ricotta (milk, cream and lemon juice), mozzarella and marinara made from Garner's seconds. I also tried out lasagna noodles made from semolina and Jerusalem artichoke flour (Whole Foods).

Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

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EF sirloin of veal made into a roulade. I cut the bone out, pounded it and stuffed with Blue Ridge smoked mozzarella, provolone and spinach. Seared then simmered in marinara.

Rabe with chili flakes and Pecorino.

Rosemary potatoes.

A nice salad to start, topped with cubed South Mountain Creamery sundried tomatoes cheddar-- this stuff is good!

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Meatloaf sandwich on toasted English muffin (with banana peppers a little bit of mashed potato)

Mini chili dogs on potato rolls

Okra in tomato sauce with hot pepper flakes

Grilled swordfish and orzo with feta, black olives, and sun dried tomatoes. But the star was a salsa made with mango cubes, diced and seeded cucumber, red onion, fresh mint, and a hit of lime juice. Delicious and incredibly healthy. Would not be found at America Eats.

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Saffron-dried cherry scones with butter

Frisee and baby arugula salad with yellow pear tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots and toasted pecans; poppy dressing

Pot roast with potatoes, shallots, and carrots

I haven't made pot roast in a long time, and this came out really well. I feel like I cooked it forever, starting on the stovetop and finishing it in the oven. It was just absolutely falling apart tender and delicious. The liquid was red wine and boxed beef stock.

The scones had been in the freezer since they were leftover from the spring picnic. They were all right but a little worse for the wear after four months in the freezer.

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Turkey thigh burger w red onions and tzatziki

Sylvester's succatash w fresh pole lima beans and herbs

Honeycrisp apple

Grilled swordfish with lemon pepper seasoning and olive oil cooked three minutes on each side

Brussel sprouts in a mixture of shallots, fresh dill, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, and olive oil

Tabbouleh from Nourish Market

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Last night, mostly Indian restaurant food (i.e. Punjabi food). Murgh tikka (chicken kebabs) dusted with chaat masala, Baigan Bharta (roasted eggplant), Dal Makkhani (creamy spiced beans), basmanti rice with swiss chard, green tomato chutney, and chapatis.

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Today I'm harvesting a bunch of my holy basil to make drunken noodles for a neighborhood block party.

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Small dinner party with my parents and their best friends...

* Butternut squash, sage, and ricotta crostini

* Assorted TJ's dips (the caramelized onion disappeared the fastest), served with carrots and crackers/pita

* Goat cheese and pear stuffed pork loin

* Spinach salad with pears, sunflower seeds, baby heirloom tomatoes, and pea shoots, with TJ's champagne pear gorgonzola vinaigrette

* Salted caramel brownies

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Ooh that looks fantastic... You don't have a recipe do you? I have lots of small cherry tomatoes I need to use.

Pad kee mao (drunk stir fry) can be made lots of different ways. You can have it without noodles and serve it with rice. You can stir fry it with rice instead of noodles. Some people add baby corn, bean sprouts, or other vegetables. I prefer lots of holy basil. As a noodle dish it is usually served with condiments (white sugar, dried hot pepper powder, chillies in vinegar, fish sauce). You can also throw a little Chinese rice wine or whiskey in there. It should be really spicy hot as well, because it's for the drunks. :mellow:

Here's how I make it. All measurements are approximate.

1/2 lb. Fresh rice noodles (comes in 2lb packages @ Bangkok 54) sliced into 1" wide strips and separated

3/4 cup packed holy basil leaves (substitute Thai basil and/or mint)

1 T peanut oil (or any vegetable oil)

1 T chopped garlic

1 T sliced shallots

5-6 (or 6-8) chopped small hot Thai chillies (prik ee nu) (add more if you want)

1/4 lb. ground or chopped meat (chicken, beef, or pork)

1/2 tsp. ground white pepper (or black pepper, or fresh green peppercorns)

1 1/2 tsp. oyster flavored sauce

2 tsp. Thai sweet dark soy sauce (or chinese dark soy and more sugar, or kecap manis)

1 tsp. palm suger (or reg sugar)

1 1/2 T fish sauce

5 cherry tomatoes, halved (or more)

2-3 red or green long chilies (prik chee fah) sliced (optional)

Heat oil in a frying pan or wok on high heat. When hot add the garlic and then the shallots. Stir fry for about 30 sec or until fragrant. Add the chopped prik ee nu and fry till you cough or sneeze (30 seconds). Add meat and fry till browned and almost cooked. Add sugar, pepper and oyster sauce and stir. Add soy and fish sauce and stir. Add basil and stir till wilted and immediately add noodles and tomatoes. Stir till noodles are soft (about 30 seconds). Add prik chee fah chilies and serve.

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building my blood count back up: first dinner I've cooked solo in a few weeks.

seared veal liver with caramelized onions, criminis, bacon, pan reduction sauce with balsamico, marsala and veal stock

baked potato

I'm glad you're able to get back into the kitchen more. Liver, onions, and bacon was one of my dad's favorite meals. He had an ulcer and generally avoided onions, but would eat them with liver.

Tuesday night:

Radicchio, fennel and Belgian endive salad with oranges and almonds; sherry-orange vinaigrette

Tortellini soup

Roasted cremini mushrooms

Roasted yellow beets with rosemary

last night:

Antipasto salad [leftover radicchio salad with provolone, prosciutto, and roasted red peppers]; sherry-orange vinaigrette

Garlic toasts

Chicken breasts stuffed with roasted red pepper strips and garlic-chive Boursin cheese,

served over beet greens cooked with garlic, balsamic vinegar, and bread crumbs

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