Jump to content

Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog


JPW

Recommended Posts

Spicy pork and tofu soup with cilantro and Hatch chiles

Summer* rolls (Bibb lettuce, shrimp, mango, scallions, cilantro, rice noodles)

Fried cauliflower with fish sauce, garlic and pepper

*Or are they spring rolls? The uncooked ones in the rice paper wrappers. They tasted fine but I still can't manage to get them wrapped correctly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A sort-of leftover meal last night

Mango half stuffed with chopped nectarine, cucumber, and cilantro

Green chile cheeseburger on potato bun

Home fries

Pan-grilled corn on the cob pieces

I had kept part of the mango I used the other night for my summer rolls. The one half still had some flesh left in it, though it was partially scooped out. It made a really nice bowl for a fruit salad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wed: Fresh, never frozen chicken from Evensong Farm (purchased in Maryland), Zuni'ed w the tomato-potato gratin from Suzanne Goin's cookbook which I adore. New Morning Farm's red and green Zebras went into the gratin and were delicious, especially since they get salted (ergo juiced a bit) prior to assemblage. New Morning's wonderful Jade green beans, too. Quaker Valley's Concord grapes as dessert. Really a great way to mark late summer.

Thurs: Each time I reheat eggplant parmigiana, I wonder why I bother to eat it the night it's baked.

Tonight: Perfect salad of spun and chilled Romaine, shredded chicken moistened w reheated pan juices from Wed. and fresh lemon. Avocado. Slivers of orange-green bell pepper. Garlicky, irregular torn croutons. Dressing of grainy mustard, creme fraiche, lemon, white wine vinegar & olive oil. Damson plums.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ What did you do with the Damsons? I made some chutney one year, but don't really know what else to do with their astringency.

Damsons make flavorful plum preserves, but the ones I saw at the Dupont market were too damned expensive: $10 a quart? really?

last night:

Mediterranean seafood stew, base made from ripe tomatoes, shrimp shell stock, aromatics, white wine and Pernod

with monkfish, littleneck clams, mussels and U-15 shrimp (all seafood purchased at A&H in Bethesda)

Spanish shortgrain rice

sauteed yellow pattypan squash with garlic and Meyer lemon

ciao bella pistachio gelato

2011 La Cana albariño

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damsons make flavorful plum preserves, but the ones I saw at the Dupont market were too damned expensive: $10 a quart? really?

If it was at the same place that instructs you not to whine or steal, okay. I got mine from the nice, cute guy who was charging shoppers $6 q when I swept up one of the last boxes and like most farmers, always gives discounts for bulk purchases.

lp: I ate mine straight. Remember, I am not a super taster and prefer this plum cooked or in combinations. Damsons are also wonderful in cakes (e.g., Dorie Greenspan's).

Intentions are to use up heavy cream and fresh cheese I froze (hope it's okay; something like cream cheese) to make a simple cheesecake in Nigel Slater's Ripe w chilled, cooked Damsons spooned on top. The author calls it a "sharp sauce," so he's mindful of the source of your hesitations, but says that the "deeply creamy" texture of his uber-simple cc calls for the "knife-edge sharpness of damsons or passion fruit". He likes savory preps (game, duck, ham...) and anything creamy since curdling effect of juice doesn't bother him. Complements recommended: red wine vinegar; ginger; almonds; cream cheeses; aniseed and star anise & cinnamon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night:

Heirloom tomato, romaine, and feta salad with creamy poppyseed dressing

Baked halibut with Ritz cracker topping

Cauliflower with cheese sauce

Fresh lima beans with butter, salt, and pepper

Monday night:

Romaine salad with heirloom tomatoes, carrots, celery, cucumber, radishes, and avocado

Leftover shrimp and vegetable spring rolls with ponzu sauce for dipping

Leftover green beans

Steak and cheese sandwich with caramelized red onions, sauteed mushrooms, and lettuce

Sunday night:

Warm soft pretzels with mustard and honey for dipping

Bacon-wrapped ricotta-stuffed figs over arugula with bourbon-glazed pecans and cherries

Grilled porterhouse steak

Grilled baked potatoes

Green beans with butter, salt, and pepper

Saturday night:

Sausages, roasted red onions, and mashed potatoes

Buttered fresh lima beans

Friday night:

Salad of red and green Boston lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, tomato, pimento stuffed green olives, avocado; balsamic vinaigrette

Bean and cheese burritos with refried beans and roasted Hatch chiles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night was a colorful garden dinner with steamed Romano beans tossed with coarse salt and butter, and roasted purple fingerling potatoes and Scarlet Nantes carrots with thyme. I think this is year four for the garden, and I finally have figured out the varieties that work best in our yard and deliver the best flavor too. I wish the Romano beans had a longer season. Maybe i'll be organized enough to stagger plantings next year.

The past couple of weeks I've been dining solo and trying to fuel a significant number of miles on the bike, so I've been going with pasta / legume "salads." Orzo, black beans, and feta in a chipotle lime dressing, penne, chickpeas, and feta in a lemon, mint, olive oil dressing, etc. I'll probably move to pasta e fagioli soups for the cooler months. The combination of complex and simple carbs has been perfect for keeping my energy up and even on long rides.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ What did you do with the Damsons? I made some chutney one year, but don't really know what else to do with their astringency.

My mother, who loves things German, used to make an excellent Bavarian specialty known in German as Zwetschgenkuchen (Zwetschgen being damson plums). There are a zillion recipes for it over at the Google. The "Kuchen" (cake) is actually a yeast dough.

There's also a well-known German tongue-twister that goes like this:

Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen zwitschern zwei Schwalben.

Zwei Schwalben zwitschern zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen.

(Between two plum branches two swallows twitter.

Two swallows twitter between two plum branches.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ What did you do with the Damsons? I made some chutney one year, but don't really know what else to do with their astringency.

Acht! Ich habe ein grosse Mistake fachten! Having cooked these babies, I do believe they be plain ol' ordinary Italian prune plums. Mislabeled? Mistaken one for the other when purchasing? I will investigate tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have to say I wish I had real Damsons for the sauce I just made. Lemon juice perks it up a bit, of course, but the IPP's are rather blah in a simple prep of softening w sugar and a little water. Adaptation of Slater's egg-free, unbaked (well, I did a briefly baked crust) cheese cake is quite lovely w Keswick quark and Clear Spring heavy cream, two things I was trying to find a way to use up. (Rest of dinner pretty ordinary and not worth documenting for posterity or Don.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

last night:

lettuce/tomato salad with green goddess dressing

eggplants stuffed with merguez sausage, rice, mint, thyme, cilantro and chopped ripe jalapeño served in a spiced* fresh tomato/pomegranate coulis, topped with yogurt/goat cheese sauce and z'ataar

ripe bartlett pear

2010 Castle Rock pinot noir

*finally found a use for the vadouvan I picked up at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet, also cumin, harissa, fresh ginger and lemon grass powder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night:

Fish sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, and caramelized red onions

Corn on the cob (from Watkins' new farmers' market) with butter, salt and pepper

The fish sandwiches were made from the last of the Pacific wild halibut I bought at Costco. That was expensive but delicious, buttery, melt-in-your mouth fish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

last night:

ramen made with TJ's packaged fresh rice noodles, miso/dashi/duck stock (didn't have pork bone broth in the freezer), baby bok choy, kim chee, asian spiced beef meatballs with Annie Chun's go chu jang sauce, poached hen egg and cilantro.

sliced fresh peach and Kate's chocolate chip cookies

Pacifico

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eating from the garden, so local, organic, and ultra-fresh. :) Friday was a roasted cherry tomato risotto made with fresh goat's cheese and steamed Romano beans on the side.

Tonight was penne pasta (the gf brand from Costco - OK, but TJ's is better) tossed with roasted eggplant, mint, and feta in a lemon / olive oil dressing. Steamed Romano beans with butter and salt on the side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Risotto w zucchini blossoms, basil and parmesan

The last gasp of field basil was heard at the markets yesterday. Leaves are thick and gnarly, not in a good way, and very few farmers were selling the herb. Chicken stock was from a small batch made last week w two roasted carcasses and the necks that Evensong's processor keeps on the birds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A gratin consisting primarily of bicolor corn, accented with some shallots, diced zucchini, orange bell pepper, bacon, heavy cream, and Isle of Mull cheese; topped with panko. Used small amounts so that the corn flavor predominated. This dish was so much better than it had any right to be. Served with a salad of mesclun, orange heirloom tomato, and avocado.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On impulse, I bought a package of naan from the Whole Foods bakery yesterday. I heated the bread in the oven and then served it as a wrap for chunks of leftover spicy tri-tip steak and some fresh green beans, all sauteed in walnut oil with minced shallots. This was an excellent quick meal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish I had real Damsons

By the way, and this may be old news to many, but the word "Damson" is a corruption of "Damascene" -- that is, of Damascus, Damascus being the Latinized name of the city in Syria. For once, apparently, the attribution of a food to a place is accurate; the "damascene plum" actually was introduced to Europe via Syria, at least according to the OED. This stands in stark contrast to the name of the fowl commonly seen on American tables on the fourth Thursday in November, which in English is called turkey from a mistaken belief that it originated in Turkey, and in French is called dinde or dindon from a mistaken belief that it originated in India, and in Portuguese is called peru from a mistaken belief that it hails from Peru. I don't know the derivation of the German word Pute for turkey, but I can tell you that a couple of decades ago I was with two Portuguese teen-agers who found the German word hysterically funny, for presumably obvious reasons.

I see in Wikipedia that in Hindi the turkey is called Peru, borrowed from Portuguese, while in Turkey they call it hindi!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

last night:

rack of lamb, pan-seared, then finished in the oven

braised kale

Suzanne Goin's potato-tomato-caramelized onion gratin (long story made short--I made this the night before, following the timing rec for 2 hours at 350 then 20 min. at 450. unbelievably, the potatoes were still underdone. so last night, it spent another 2 hours in the oven, after overnighting in the refrigerator. and it was delicious.)

last of the season sliced peach

2010 X Winery Amicus syrah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whole pastured chicken from Walnut Hill Farms, stuffed with a quartered lemon and a halved head of garlic, brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper, roasted (a 5-pounder sourced from the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sunday)

Green beans chopped fine (1/4 inch), sauteed in butter, tossed with zest of one lemon and one lime, and 1/4 cup of snipped chives

Texmati rice cooked in homemade chicken stock and white wine with sauteed onion and garlic, baby spinach mixed in with chopped tomato and feta cheese

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night was potato soup hit with the immersion blender until semi-smooth.

Tonight, inspired by the Plenty thread, I used Ottolenghi's recipe from the Guardian as a guide for a lentil / eggplant dish. I got to use eggplant and herbs from the garden, mirepoix and roasted cherry tomatoes from the freezer, leftover red wine for a deglazing, and lentils from the pantry. I love no-shop meals. Plus, it was really good. I need to peruse his column.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

first time cooking pork belly (eco-friendly): herb-brined for 36 hours; braised in smoked turkey stock and aromatics; weighted overnight; sliced and pan-fried until crisp; drained and then re-cooked until glazed with a mixture of soy sauce, honey, garlic, chili-sesame sauce, oyster sauce and lime juice.

served over wide rice noodles in a pork braising liquid-miso broth with sauteed shiitake mushrooms, scallions, green beans, sliced ripe jalapeno, cilantro and kim chee.

J came home wanting "comfort food," disappointed that we didn't stop at Popeye's near the Tenley Metro station before we came home. What I served up was sort of pan-Asian comfort food, however, which "hit the spot": savory, sweet, sour, spicy, and shlurpy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your pork belly sounds delicious, Zora! The first and only time I bought pork belly raw was at an Asian market in Rockville, urged by a Chinese-Canadian and with plans to make Molly Steven's recipe for red-cooked pork belly from All about Braising. Very ignorant of meat cuts at the time, I did not know it was the source for bacon and was absolutely horrified at how fatty it was. Trepidation ended with that dish. I still have some braised pork belly in the freezer from last winter. It's about time for it again.

That and soup. Shallow, wide bowl of quick chicken soup w carrots, leek, mushrooms, lemon, parsley and arugula tossed in at the end to wilt. Wedge of skillet cornbread. Apple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

first time cooking pork belly (eco-friendly): herb-brined for 36 hours; braised in smoked turkey stock and aromatics; weighted overnight; sliced and pan-fried until crisp; drained and then re-cooked until glazed with a mixture of soy sauce, honey, garlic, chili-sesame sauce, oyster sauce and lime juice.

served over wide rice noodles in a pork braising liquid-miso broth with sauteed shiitake mushrooms, scallions, green beans, sliced ripe jalapeno, cilantro and kim chee.

J came home wanting "comfort food," disappointed that we didn't stop at Popeye's near the Tenley Metro station before we came home. What I served up was sort of pan-Asian comfort food, however, which "hit the spot": savory, sweet, sour, spicy, and shlurpy.

Weighted to dry out the skin for crisping?

Funny enough I have a 'porchetta' pork belly in the oven right now. Seasoned with kosher salt, toasted and crushed corriander seed, fennel seed, hot red pepper, and black peppercorn, then slathered with a paste of fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic (lots) and olvie oil. Rolled and tied with twine. Skin out (obviously).

Its been in the fridge for two nights, slow cooking it now, then taking it out to raise the oven to 500 to crisp the skin nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night was yet another repeat of the quintessential lperry late summer garden dinner, roasted cherry tomato penne (chèvre, basil, balsamic) and steamed Romano beans on the side (butter, coarse salt.) The beans are making another go of it with a valiant attempt at flowering, but I don't know how the bees will do pollinating in this cool weather. Fingers crossed for a few more meals' worth of fabulous pole bean flavor.

Tonight was a quick pasta y fagioli using pantry staples and the last container of mirepoix from the freezer. Time to cut the celery and pull the last carrots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When are you going to give up on the summer plants? I ask because I've already ripped out the tomatoes that didn't produce-that was everything besides the Sungolds. Peppers are still producing, but should I just try to replant for fall crops? Is there enough time? I might try & move some of the herbs inside, in a window...next year, maybe I'll figure out a better planting calendar..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stir-fried Chinese long beans, sweet frying peppers, baby eggplant, and broccoli

"Chinese noodles" (ramen-style wheat noodles bought from Whole Foods)

Scrambled eggs

I don't make this kind of meal very often, and this was better than I expected. The peppers, eggplant, beans, and broccoli were all from farmers' markets. Also in the stir-fry: onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and hot pepper sesame oil. Scrambled eggs made a great accompaniment to the vegetables and noodles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When are you going to give up on the summer plants? ...

When they freeze. I've still got tomatoes, beans, celery, leeks, carrots, peppers, and eggplants producing along with all the herbs. The cantaloupes and squash have all died, and the watermelons were a bust this year, but I got six or seven butternut squashes off one vine, so I'm pretty happy. I have tiny plants of radishes, turnips, and beets and just put out seeds for arugula, mâche, and winter lettuces. By the time it gets really cold, the greens plot will be thinned to 2 x 4 feet for my cold frame. Some of it will crash and burn, probably, but that's OK, and if I have green tomatoes to pull off the vine in November, that's OK too. I kind of figure if I'm stressing about the garden, I'm missing the point of gardening, so I try to have enough things going that there is a decent amount of success.

^ Pat, that stir fry sounds good. I should try long beans next year - they have great texture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Pat, that stir fry sounds good. I should try long beans next year - they have great texture.

I got the long beans at one of the outside vendors at Eastern Market that sometimes has interesting varieties of beans. I hadn't cooked them before but they were easy enough to prepare, and I really liked the texture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tuesday:

fideua with eco-friendly chorizo, charcoal roasted eggplant, various red peppers and ripe chiles, fresh tomato sauce, chard, the usual aromatics (onion, garlic, pimenton, cumin, saffron, bay leaf, thyme), and smoked turkey stock from the freezer.

Wednesday:

slow roasted coho salmon served over rice noodles, baby bok choy, green beans and green onion in a broth of shrimp stock, chicken stock, dashi, white miso and soy sauce.

where in the world will I go tonight? maybe Mexico, since I bought veal tongue at WF yesterday, and poached it in the pot of chicken broth I made with the chicken backs purchased on the same trip. tacos de lengua might be tasty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dinner from the garden and freezer. A pizza crust from the Happy Tart made crispy on the grill, topped with golden chard, chèvre, and a bit of balsamic, Romano beans on the side. I was pleased to have the chard - I thought the plants had given up the ghost, but the recent rain has them growing again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

last night:

hearty soup made with Spring Valley Farm's fresh bird's egg/cranberry/borlotti beans (same bean has several names) with eco-friendly smoked turkey leg, lots of veg and aromatics. cooked until the beans started breaking down and made the soup really creamy, and the smoked turkey meat got super tender, and had given up its smoky flavor to the broth.

served with crispy corn bread from the Lee Brothers' southern cookbook, butter and honey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on Sunday, I found a small bone-in pork shoulder at eco-friendly. no sooner had Paul taken it from the cooler and set it into the ice, I snatched it up and it was mine. since rain was in the forecast for the next couple of days, I decided against smoking it and tried something new that has been in the back of my mind for a long time: David Chang's Momofuku bo ssam. The pork was cured for 24 hours with a dry salt/sugar brine (I added white pepper), and then rinsed and slow roasted in a 300 degree oven for many hours. the recipe called for an 8-10 pound roast, and this one was between 5 and 6 pounds, so I cut back on the time, which worked fine. The meat is then slathered with dark brown sugar and a bit more salt and put in a very hot oven for a few minutes for the sugar to caramelize. the meat is pulled off the bone by the diners, wrapped in bibb lettuce leaves with two sauces--fresh ginger and scallion sauce and a chili-garlic-fermented black bean-oil and vinegar sauce (and I added fresh cilantro stalks to the platter of lettuce leaves), and served with white rice and kim chee.

parts of the skin were a bit too hard to chew easily, but other parts shattered under the teeth in a pleasing, burnt-sugary-porky way and the meat was tender and succulent. actually a simple dish to produce, if one is used to brining a day in advance. and fun to eat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going through a "pantry challenge" few days, but I also have a garden and a freezer to work from, so things haven't been to weird. There have been a lot of lunches out, so we've been doing small plates at dinner including:

Roasted root veg and green peas (freezer) in a chipotle / lime dressing

Guacamole with sun gold tomatoes and papaloquelite (garden), chips

Spaghetti romesco (freezer) with romano shaved on top

Banh pho noodles tossed with slivered carrots and orange peppers (garden) in a peanut / lime dressing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couldn't decide what I wanted on Tuesday so I did a mish-mash of ingredients that turned out surprisingly well: orecchiette with fried bread crumbs, garlic, lemon, parsley, lots of black pepper, and pecorino romano.

Last night, posole made with a Cedarbrook Farms pork shoulder that had been in the freezer for a long time, and skillet cornbread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couldn't decide what I wanted on Tuesday so I did a mish-mash of ingredients that turned out surprisingly well: orecchiette with fried bread crumbs, garlic, lemon, parsley, lots of black pepper, and pecorino romano.

Not sure how this could be anything but good, unless you somehow messed up the seasoning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...