Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Josh]

Union Market Banh Mi last night:

Grilled pork bavette and country pate from Red Apron, pickled vegetables and cilantro on a baguette from Lyon.

"Summer roll" salad with nuoc cham dressing.

Tart apple shrub soda

[Nervous Eater]

Union Market Banh Mi last night:

Grilled pork bavette and country pate from Red Apron, pickled vegetables and cilantro on a baguette from Lyon.

"Summer roll" salad with nuoc cham dressing.

Tart apple shrub soda

This is awesome! Will absolutely be doing this soon. Care to share your recipes re: grilled pork for your banh mi and summer roll salad?

[Josh]

Sure thing...I used this marinade for the pork, and grilled it whole, since the bavette is already pretty thin. It's really a great cut that I'll be using more often.

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/05/bun-thit-nuong-vietnamese-grilled-pork-with-vermicelli.html

The salad was just mixed greens, cilantro, mint, avocado, tomato, shallot, pickled daikon and carrot, with nuoc cham poured over. I'm sure there's a recipe for that on the above website, and tons of ways to personalize the dressing.

The only thing I would change is that the baguette from Lyon is a bit too big for this sandwich, so I'd look for a thinner version.

[Nervous Eater]

Sure thing...I used this marinade for the pork, and grilled it whole, since the bavette is already pretty thin. It's really a great cut that I'll be using more often.

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/05/bun-thit-nuong-vietnamese-grilled-pork-with-vermicelli.html

The salad was just mixed greens, cilantro, mint, avocado, tomato, shallot, pickled daikon and carrot, with nuoc cham poured over. I'm sure there's a recipe for that on the above website, and tons of ways to personalize the dressing.

The only thing I would change is that the baguette from Lyon is a bit too big for this sandwich, so I'd look for a thinner version.

Thanks a ton! I believe Lyon has mini baguettes though I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly. That said, definitely trying this over the long weekend.

[lperry]

Wednesday night was square sheets of rice noodles, carrots, and mushrooms in a gochuchang sauce and a soybean sprout salad. I love that salad, Ume wine, a Nouveau 2011 from Choya was opened, tasted, and deemed too sweet for consumption. I need to come up with a dessert.

[ol_ironstomach]

The thing about making infrequent Stachowski Market runs is that you tend to come home with a whole bunch of fresh items that need to be used in short order, so the next couple of meals looks like: sausage, sausage, steak, etc. Specifically last week: liverwurst sandwich, weisswurst, lamb and tarragon sausage, hanger steak, and fresh kielbasa, in about that order and with various sides.

Tonight, a one-bowl affair of shrimp gumbo filé. The air conditioner was broken for most of the day, so I wasn't up for anything that would require too much attention. Gubeen wanted grits with her shrimp, so I made some Palmetto Farms grits (picked up at South of the Border of all places) instead of rice.

[lperry]

Grilled portobellos topped with chopped mushrooms, thyme, chèvre, and pecans

Potato salad with radish leaf pesto

Socca on the grill, made with rosemary olive oil

[monavano]

Baby back ribs, slow cooked and caramelized under the broiler, creamy lime and cilantro slaw and

Zucchini, yellow squash, corn and basil gratin with gruyere.

[lperry]

^ You turned on the oven today? I've been thinking of some sort of portable, convection thing that I can plug in on the deck to make summer veg tarts and such without heating the house.

Yellow zucchini stuffed with minced zucchini entrails, shallot, aged gouda, and a pinch of nutmeg, cooked on the grill.

Romaine in a tarragon vinaigrette.

Bosc pear from MOM's (just excellent) with a little cognac, because after I tried it with raspberries and peaches, I can't stop putting cognac on fruit.

[Josh]

Salad of arugula, artichoke, sundried tomato

Cacio e pepe

Grilled swordfish and cherry tomatoes marinated in mint oil

Wildaire Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir

[darkstar965]

- Marinated grilled skirt steak (need Stachowski to start carrying this--tried there first) with a freshly-made chimichurri sauce*

- Thin-sliced crispy sweet potato chips

- Salad with cukes, tomatoes, red onion, a bit of diagonally-sliced carrot all dressed with Audrey Hepburn's vinaigrette

- Dolcezza gelatos bought in WF (which I think may have a different formulation from the product sold in the shops?!?!)

- A malbec not worth detailing

Farmers market most everything except the parsley (*), which has been taking over our yard with all the rain/sun so had to be dealt with in an aggressive manner .

[Fishinnards]

Earlier this week, Masoor Dal, Kerela ka Bhuna Gosht (actually memna with aloo added i.e. lamb and potatoes), Raita, tomatoes and onions with lime juice and roasted cumin, papads, pickles and rice

It's holy basil season, so we had to have some pad grapao (ไก่ผัดใบกะเพรา)

Since this weather is fantastic, I've been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. Thursday I grilled a chicken.( ไก่ย่าง ส้มตำ แจ่ว น้ำจิ้มไก่ ข้าวเหนียว) grilled chicken, green papaya salad, jaew, chicken sauce, sticky rice.

Yesterday, I grilled chicken Satay (the Thai version, สะเต๊ะไก่) with ajad (อาจาด cucumber pickle), plus Chinese broccoli with eggs, leftover pad krapao, vegetables and jasmine rice.

[dcandohio]

Last night:

Baby back ribs, started with a dry rub in the oven (with Guinness in the pan) and finished on the grill with homemade BBQ sauce.

Grilled yellow squash and zucchini

Salad of red peppers, cantaloupe, jalapeno, mint, basil and lemon juice.

[Tweaked]

Sunday dinner:

Ratatouille with toasted breadcrumbs

Green beans sautéed with garlic

Roasted potatoes with rosemary and thyme

Lemon couscous

[monavano]

Grilled and glazed chicken with sour cherry mostarda.

[dcandohio]

Cedar plank salmon on the grill (beyond trite, but so easy when I don't want to heat the kitchen) with a basil-caper topping.

Slaw of cabbage, carrot, red pepper, pickled turnips, pomegranate viniagrette.

Canteloupe slices.

[lperry]

Pole beans from Super H that I was hoping would have nice flavor, but they didn't, so they got a honey/mustard dressing.

Shanghai cabbage "tips" Euro style with olive oil and red pepper flakes.

Cantaloupe from the Del Ray farmers' market.

Bosc pear macerated in a little cognac then topped with homemade "Nutella."

[The Hersch]

Grilled and glazed chicken with sour cherry mostarda.

You made the mostarda? If so, recipe?

[monavano]

^

I riffed off of this recipe. I think there's a lot of leeway with this condiment. In the end, it's an agrodolce chutney.

I chose to go with Pommery mustard vs. mustard seeds, added some Banyul's along with balsamico, and threw in candied orange and lemon peel vs. cranberry.

I think it will last a bit in the fridge and will be served with a pork tenderloin pretty soon.

[lperry]

Home fries and eggs over easy. Mr. lperry had one of those days.

[The Hersch]

^

I riffed off of this recipe.

Interesting, thanks. One thing is a little unclear: the ingredient list calls for a cup of sour cherries and a half cup of dried cranberries. But the instructions say to "add dried fruit". Are the cherries in the recipe supposed to be dried? Did you use dried sour cherries? We happen to be living through the 10-day sour cherry season, and, unusually, I have both fresh and dried sour cherries in the house, having been given the dried ones when I was in Michigan for a wedding last week.

[monavano]

Interesting, thanks. One thing is a little unclear: the ingredient list calls for a cup of sour cherries and a half cup of dried cranberries. But the instructions say to "add dried fruit". Are the cherries in the recipe supposed to be dried? Did you use dried sour cherries? We happen to be living through the 10-day sour cherry season, and, unusually, I have both fresh and dried sour cherries in the house, having been given the dried ones when I was in Michigan for a wedding last week.

I think the sour cherries are meant to be fresh. I used fresh sour cherries and actually threw in a little bit of dried cherries that were in the cupboard.

[monavano]

Penne and (leftover grilled) shredded chicken in a sun dried tomato and mushroom sauce.

Curried cauliflower soup.

[lperry]

Last night was a dry-grilled mushroom and Sungold tomato paella, a romaine salad in a tarragon vinaigrette, and cantaloupe sorbet. Accidental vegan.

[dcandohio]

Neighbors are coming over!

Gazpacho courtesy of farmer's market bounty: multi-hued tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, cilantro, lots of garlic

A "Columbus," our version of a Cuban sandwich: marinated, grilled pork tenderloin; local bacon, swiss cheese and quick home made pickles.

Roasted potatoes tossed with basil (from our silly urban garden) pesto

Farmer's market peaches sliced on home made shortcakes. My partner used a Martha Stewart recipe for the shortcakes, which calls for cream cheese. They turned out well. I always default to the Bisquick box, because I am not a baker.

Lots of wine.

[MsDiPesto]

While replenishing hummingbird feeders today on the front deck, a neighbor called from across the street and asked me if I wanted an eggplant, grown by one of his employees. "Sure!" So tonight I cut it into 3/4" planks, coated the planks with olive oil and garlic, and grilled them. Creamy and charred deliciousness! Oh, and there was a ground pork/turkey cheezeborger on the side!

This was my first successful attempt at cooking eggplant that actually tasted good!

[zoramargolis]

wild salmon croquettes with remoulade sauce

three-bean salad (green, wax, kidney)

leftover rice

cherry pie with almond-oat crumble topping

butter pecan ice cream because there was no vanilla

2012 St. Supery rosé

[monavano]

CI's Peruvian Chicken, made on their recommended Norpro vertical roaster.

With spicy mayo.

Yum.

[porcupine]

Cold meal for hot weather:

chilled carrot soup made with gingerroot, a little onion, fennel broth, cumin, coriander, a few other things; dollop of homemade yogurt

cucumber sliced paper thin, tossed with s&p, minced tarragon, and sauvignon blanc vinegar

blueberries with a teeny bit of whipped cream for dessert

[zoramargolis]

I had half of a roasted eggplant and a box of crimini mushrooms that were approaching the "use-it-or-lose-it" stage, so i ground them together in the Cuisinart, and cooked the resulting puree down with onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, Mexican oregano, chile powders (ancho and chipotle) and cider vinegar to make a vegetarian mock chorizo, or "fauxrizo." The plan was to make veggie tostadas, but then I remembered a small amount of roast pork I had brought home from the Wine and Swine event Saturday night in Sperryville. I chopped the pork, heated it with homemade roasted tomatillo-poblano salsa and made a layered tostada with crispy corn tortillas, canned refried beans, the "fauxrizo," puerco en salsa verde, dressed salad greens, shredded cheddar, cubed avocado, chopped tomato and cilantro.

we started with guacamole and chips and a margarita

ended with a second round of almond crumb-topped sour cherry pie with vanilla ice cream

[lperry]

Summer rolls to use up the abundance of herbs: shiso, mint, lemon basil, and garlic chives.

White peach and plum wine sorbet.

[zoramargolis]

charcoal grilled, cherrywood smoked, herb-brined eco-friendly pork rib chop with ZQ sauce

smoked grilled corn

sauteed chard

grilled garlic bread

last of the cherry pie with ice cream

2011 Alexander Valley cabernet

[lperry]

Salad of butter lettuce (MOM's), feta, and Sungold tomatoes (garden) in a tarragon vinaigrette.

Tomato season.

[Josh]

It's turned into a meatless week for whatever reason.

Tonight:

Grilled squash, zuchhini, and onion marinated in what was left of my garlic scape pesto

Grilled polenta

All topped with a fresh batch of Marcella Hazan's butter and onion tomato sauce and a little basil. I could have taken down the entire pot of sauce myself.

[Fishinnards]

Last week we had some Indian food, tamatar murghi (chicken with tomato), green beans with garlic, dried chillies, and mustard seed, onions with lime juice and chaat masala, rice and pickle.

Earlier this week there was Thai food. Omelet (kai jiew ไข่เจียว), Chicken Satay (satay gai สะเต๊ะไก่), stir fried Chinese broccoli (pad kana ผักคะน้า), Grilled Chicken Salad (yum gai yang ยำไก่ย่าง), papaya salad (som tam ส้มตำ), green curry (gaeng kiew wan แกงเขียวหวาน), vegetables and jasmine rice.

Tonight, linguine con pesto, green bean frittata.

[Pat]

Last night:

Minimal nachos (cheddar and jack cheeses, Sriracha, sour cream)

Plain yogurt

Thursday

7th Hill Turkey sandwich (turkey breast, avocado, swiss, mayo, tomato, plus some kind of greens not mentioned on the menu; pizza dough bread)

[thistle]

Made a quick sauce w/ a Carolina Gold tomato & Ichiban eggplant from the garden, shallot, garlic, s&p, fresh thyme & oregano, & Kalamata olives-it's pretty tasty! Serving w/ salad, sausage, & Buitoni cheese tortellini...I'm not even hungry, eating leftover spinach/cheese frittata from breakfast....

[lperry]

We came home to a broken A/C that is now chugging along with a band-aid fix. Too hot for anything very solid. I'm putting together some simple hors d'oeuvres of Sungold tomatoes, quartered and marinated with balsamic, olive oil, and basil, and those will be piled on top of chèvre on some multi-grain rice crackers. Quantities of sparkling water on the side. At least the heat is producing some nicely flavored tomatoes and herbs from the garden.

[thistle]

I have a bowl of Sungolds on the counter, & I'm been snacking on them all day-even w/ a breakfast of spinach frittata...best tomato ever....

[thistle]

As soon as my son heard I slipped eggplant in the sauce, he didn't want to try it, but it really was good- the Carolina Gold tomato was acidic, I sautéed it w/ eggplant, shallot, garlic,,fresh thyme, oregano, s&p, & a splash of pork stock....thank goodness the kids are off on vacation next week & I don't have to please anyone....I may just eat out at Thai restaurants every couple of days....

[lperry]

I have a bowl of Sungolds on the counter, & I'm been snacking on them all day-even w/ a breakfast of spinach frittata...best tomato ever....

I remember in the garden thread you wrote you had six plants, and I wondered what on earth you would do with them all. I have three plants I put in the ground, then three or four more that volunteered and are starting to produce. I've already given away two heaping pints, and we are eating as many as we can. If you want an inspirational tomato plant that will hold you over until the big ones get ripe, this one will do it!

[johnb]

This evening it was mostly on the grill. Hanger steak that was salted and peppered and granulated garlic-ed, a nice big portobello mushroom cap, some fingerling potatoes, and some baby bok choy. Also some tomatoes with moz and basil. Pretty good dinner. The steak was just perfect and very tasty. The surprise hit was the baby bok choy, which grilled far better than I expected and was very nice. The small ones I did whole and the big ones I cut in half.

[lperry]

Salad of diced, roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, feta, and mint, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. All produce from the garden.

Peach sorbet.

[Pat]

Buttered popcorn

Dannon/Oikos key lime yogurt

The popcorn was a mix of some very old Rancho Gordo red popcorn, plus some other miscellaneous kernels from somewhere. Considering how old the popcorn was, it popped up pretty fresh. I was thinking it might be stale.

I didn't like the yogurt. Unfortunately, I bought three of them .

[monavano]

Meatloaf with mushroom gravy, braised lacinato kale with bacon, smashed new potatoes with buttermilk.

[zoramargolis]

last night:

caprese salad with mozz di bufala

charcoal grilled simply sausage rosemary lamb sausages

c-g corn

farmers market new potato and green bean salad

watermelon

2008 Monsanto chianti classico

[Fishinnards]

This weekend I made green curry using the second half of a paste I made last week when I found a frozen kaffir lime in my freezer from two years ago. I was going to use that in the curry past, but sadly it was no longer good. I once again had to use dried kaffir lime peel (which is still pretty aromatic). Incidentally, import food now has fresh kaffir limes on it's website, 12 for 20 bucks. This may mean we will see some in local stores soon.

Also, I can't stress enough how much I love Aroy-D tetra pack coconut milk. This stuff is so close to fresh made, it has no preservatives, easy to break to fry curry paste and the taste is really fresh. As long as I can get this stuff I'm never using canned coconut milk ever again. I've made my own and it's worth it in for the flavor, but this stuff is just so close to homemade and behaves properly when cooking. They sell both "cream" (first press), and "milk" (second press). I usually get the big boxes of cream, as I can always dilute it for the milk. They also sell little 8 oz. boxes of the milk, which is convenient for smaller dishes like lon. Highly perishable once opened, but will last about a week in a well sealed container in the fridge. Highly recommended.

Green curry

With pad krapao (with holy basil from the garden!) eggs with siracha, prik nam pla, vegetables and rice.

[zoramargolis]

Also, I can't stress enough how much I love Aroy-D tetra pack coconut milk. This stuff is so close to fresh made, it has no preservatives, easy to break to fry curry paste and the taste is really fresh. As long as I can get this stuff I'm never using canned coconut milk ever again. I've made my own and it's worth it in for the flavor, but this stuff is just so close to homemade and behaves properly when cooking. They sell both "cream" (first press), and "milk" (second press). I usually get the big boxes of cream, as I can always dilute it for the milk. They also sell little 8 oz. boxes of the milk, which is convenient for smaller dishes like lon. Highly perishable once opened, but will last about a week in a well sealed container in the fridge. Highly recommended.

Is this product available locally or are you ordering it online?

[Fishinnards]

Is this product available locally or are you ordering it online?

They carry it at Bangkok 54 Grocery and I think I've seen it at Duangrat as well. Bangkok 54 had it briefly at the beginning of the year and then it disappeared. It reappeared in May, and now they seem to have it on a regular basis. It's more expensive than canned, but cheaper than what's listed online in the link above. I think they go for a little under $4 a (33.8 oz.) box.

Incidentally, there's been a coconut shortage in Thailand due to pests. They are importing coconuts from Vietnam and Cambodia. It has had an impact on canned coconut milk quality. The Thai government has decided to release parasitic wasps to combat the caterpillars that are attacking the coconut trees. What could possibly go wrong?

[Tweaked]

Dad's freshly shucked oysters