Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[zoramargolis]

Fresh creamed corn, grits and cheese

Mixed mushroom ragout (crimini, oyster, shiitake, porcini)

Green beans

Grilled shrimp (leftovers from Friday)

Heirloom tomato and basil salad

Ch. Vendange Manuelle Rose de Loire

Deconstructed/reconstructed peach pie (bottom crust, filling and top crust baked separately, then assembled just prior to serving, as suggested by David Hagedorn in the WashPost--worked out GREAT!)

Vanilla ice cream

[amyblues]

Cooked dinner for friends who just had a baby, so I snagged a little bit of the extras for dinner last night:

Green beans with butter and dill

Rosemary roasted potatoes

Flank steak in a red wine vinegar, soy, garlic, honey marinade.

For dessert, two white nectarines and some red cherries. I love summer fruit.

[JPW]

Crab cakes with a creamy dijon mustard sauce over baby arugula dressed with said sauce. (NB-Snider's was selling lumb meat for $10/pound)

The second half of a bottle of Avondale Rose

[DanCole42]

Steaktastic Dinner for Dan's Better Half's Employees

TO START:

-Limonated Chips & Salsa

-Crudite (which rolls off your tongue a lot better than "veggie dip platter")

STEAK:

-Dan's Double F (Flat iron and Flank) Chintalian Marinated Grilled Steaks

-Would-Make-Michael-Landrum-Proud High Heat, Double Char NY Strips

SIDES:

-Three Cheese Potatoes Gratin w/ Baconated Bechamel

-Creamed Spinach w/ Baconated Bechamel & Truffle Salt

-Baguette from Firehook (What? I can't make EVERYTHING from scratch)

STEAK TOPPERS:

-Bleu Cheese Crumbles

-My Attempt @ Ray's the Steak's House Specialty Mushroom Cream Sauce (but I ran out of the "cream" element as I used up too much of my Baconated Bechamel on the sides so the 'shrooms ended up just being lightly creamed and heavily Sherried creminis & Pennsylvania honey mushrooms)

-My Best Ever Bearnaise Sauce (which I had to make twice because the first batch, despite not having any evidence of curdling or breaking, tasted more like runny eggs than bearnaise) (the second batch, unlike every other bearnaise I've ever made, neither broke nor curdled when I microwaved it for my leftovers)

DESSERT:

-Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies a la Dan (a recipe I've been honing for the past 16 years)

TO DRINK:

-A 2000 Bordeaux

-Coronas

-Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonade

[giant shrimp]

sauteed wild alaskan sockeye

purslane and arugula salad

the salad goes well with the fish, following a recipe from the new york times that has been distributed at the dupont farmers market for the past couple of weeks. the peppery arugula provides a nice foil to the lemony purslane. the two are tossed with one cup of chickpeas, two tablespoons each of lemon juice and olive oil, a spoon of capers, a sliced scallion, a clove or two of diced garlic, and a couple pinches of sea salt. i used the "polish" variety of garlic, which is a little salty and mild. (the recipe calls for a cup of arugula and one to two cups of purslane; you can just use purslane leaves if you don't like the stems. tear the arugula if the leaves are large, which they tend to be this time of year, and chop the purslane into one-inch stems.)

purchased on monday, the breadline ciabatta loaf that found its way into our bread basket was light but hard, not totally stale, the crust a potential tooth breaker. i am going to soak what i have left for a pesto, and it should do an okay job of serving that purpose.

[zoramargolis]

purchased on monday, the breadline ciabatta loaf that found its way into our bread basket was light but hard, not totally stale, the crust a potential tooth breaker. i am going to soak what i have left for a pesto, and it should do an okay job of serving that purpose.

If you have some super-ripe, juicy tomatoes, consider using the dry bread for panzanella. My daughter and her vegetarian friends went crazy for it last week.

[giant shrimp]

If you have some super-ripe, juicy tomatoes, consider using the dry bread for panzanella. My daughter and her vegetarian friends went crazy for it last week.

sounds like a good idea. i think i am going to eat just about nothing but tomatoes next week. if breadline turns out not to be a consistently reliable source of stale ciabatta, then i'll buy two loaves and on the first day make this:

http://static.ecookbooks.com/recipes/a/abigtomatosandwich/

(however, it can make for considerably sloppier eating than the panzanella.)

[grover]

A couple of week ago, I watched America's Test Kitchen and they were making a skilet Lasagna.

All of sudden I craved for it and cooked it on last Sunday.

Appetizer: Spring mix salad

Entree : Skilet Lasagna

Dessert : We went to Dairy God Mother and had sorbet.

Somehow either Safeway or Giant didn't carry 8 oz. Ricotta cheese, so I had to get a 15 oz. one.

I used 8 oz. of it. What should I do with the leftover?

Please give an advice. (I looked for the recipes and realize ravioli is not good for me because I don't have a pasta machine)

[zoramargolis]

if breadline turns out not to be a consistently reliable source of stale ciabatta, then i'll buy two loaves and on the first day make this:

http://static.ecookbooks.com/recipes/a/abigtomatosandwich/

(however, it can make for considerably sloppier eating than the panzanella.)

This sandwich recipe looks really good. I bought a container of imported Bufalo mozzarella at Costco yesterday, used 2/4 balls last night with tomatoes and basil. And this would be a worthy dish for the rest. The mozzarella was good--better than expected. Very fresh tasting and creamy, packed in a tub of water. Four balls for $9.99 seemed very reasonable to me, given that I have paid $7.99 for one.

Marvelous Market also has ciabatta, albeit inconsistently.

[mdt]

Tomato, onion, and fennel salad.

Arctic Char with potato scales

Mashed potato with shrooms.

As for the extra ricotta. Spread it on some nice bread and cover with slices of tomato then some S&P and a little EVOO.

[zoramargolis]

Fresh black truffle risotto-- it was unanimous around the dinner table--the best risotto we'd ever eaten (sorry Joe H.). I used a variation of the French Laundry Cookbook recipe--with riso baldo instead of carnaroli. I made mushroom stock yesterday, with shiitake, oyster and crimini stems, dried shiitake, King Oyster and porcini mushrooms, aromatic veg including fennel tops, white wine, fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaf (the FL Cookbook calls for stock made from button mushrooms only). Instead of whipped cream called for in the FLC, I used some creme fraiche, and of course black truffle instead of white. But it was magnificent. Ooh-mommy!

Charcoal grilled ribeye

Charcoal grilled portobello for veggi-teen

Tomato salad with EVO, balsamico and basil

1995 Ch. Merville Saint-Estephe (a gift from a friend with a wine cellar)

Vanilla ice cream with warm lavender-vanilla-El Rey chocolate ganache

Life can be good...

[jm chen]

Open-faced steak sandwiches with roasted garlic and Cato Corner Womanchego, with a side of broccoflower.

[porcupine]

Last night:

a big bowl of heirloom tomates dressed with olive oil and sea salt

fennel and clementine salad with blood-orange olive oil dressing

Cheeses: Mt Tam, St Pat, Tipsy Cow, Cave Aged Marissa, Bleu de Causses

salami Toscana

black olive spread

baguette and boule

Avondale rose

Dessert: Meyer lemon-mascarpone ice cream

[shogun]

Really excellent grilled/pressed sandwiches made from farmer's market stuff: Multigrain bread, heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, homemade pesto and basil.

But that's simple. The point is we have farmer's markets here! I don't know why, but I really wasn't expecting that! Guess they are common enough 'these days', just never heard that we had one. Was even at a decent hour: 12:30 to 5.

[legant]

Balsamic-glazed pork chop

Sauteed bok choy

potatoes (okay, okay... they were tater tots)

[Xochitl10]

We had friends over for some New Mexican food last night:

Margaritas made with old-school Cuervo silver tequila and Luxardo Triplum

Aviations made with Tanqueray and Luxardo maraschino

Corn chips and salsa

Hatch green chile cheeseburgers

Black bean and white corn salad

Poundcake with fresh berries and cream

[sunshine]

Last nite, we tailgated before a DC United game (DC lost 5-2 to LA Galaxy, suck). We had:

Guacamole and salsa with chips

Bratwurst and assorted Aidell's sausages cooked on a charcoal grill with mustard

Thin sliced zucchini and squash with parmesan cheese

beet and heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese dressing and crushed toasted pistachios

Raw carrots and vegetable chips with herb cheese dip

sesame crackers

Salsa sun chips

fake crab salad

Texas sheet cake

Lots of beer - Yuengling, Bud, and Sam Adams

Tonite, Hungarian Goulash, because I have to use up some chuck that's been in the freezer. Using the tried the true New Joy of Cooking recipe.

[hillvalley]

OK. I have certainly heard of fried squash blossoms (and even attempted that myself a couple of years ago), but never broiled. Is there a trick to this?

Not really. I stuff the blossoms, but them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes. The cheese sort of melts and the blossoms cook just enough to take away that raw flavor. It also works best if the cheese mixture is on the colder side.

BTW-the easiest way to stuff the blossoms is to put the cheese into a baggie, cut of a corner and use it as a pipping bag.

[Al Dente]

A sack full of boiled chicken heads and an entire bottle of Patron Anejo. A guilty pleasure of mine.

[zoramargolis]

A sack full of boiled chicken heads and an entire bottle of Patron Anejo. A guilty pleasure of mine.

For the former--Do chickens have cheeks? If not, that's mighty slim pickin's

And the latter--I hope that's a very occasional pleasure, because Patron Anejo's mighty expensive, not to mention the cost of a liver transplant...

[Al Dente]

Actually, I made the following in an effort to get my wife to enjoy fish:

Pan-seared halibut filet with a "sauce" of sorts that I made by sauteing white onion, chopped lobster mushroom, shallots, and then deglazing with a little white wine and a LARGE yellow tomato with seeds and all.

Two sides-- roasted asparagus, and kick-ass roasted potatoes. The "kick-ass" came from tossing some split yukon golds in EVOO and then roasting for about 15 mins. Then I threw in some finely sliced shallots, and squeezed about a 1/2 bulb of roasted garlic into the pan. Stirred it all up and put it back in the oven for more roasting until done. The shallots came out browned and crispy. Mmmmm.

[Erin11]

I tried a new recipe Friday night that riffed off of a dish I saw on the Food Network's "Everyday Italian":

Lightly coated orange roughy filets in flour w/ salt and pepper and seared in a nonstick skillet. Removed the fish, then added some more olive oil to the skillet with 3 cloves minced garlic. To the garlic I added some tomato puree and heavy cream. Then I added some baby spinach. When the spinach wilted, I added the fish back into the skillet to warm through. Served the fish over creamy polenta mixed with grated parm/reggiano cheese. I was very pleased with the results.

[txaggie]

Last night's dinner was a bacon and onion tart and a salad. Simply delicious. cjsadler was testing the tart recipe for Cook's Illustrated.

[zoramargolis]

Dinner with friends and my neighbors, who provided a small package of venison marked "tough" by the person who had butchered and wrapped the meat. So, despite the weather, I did an oven braise with reduced red wine marinade, homemade mushroom stock, aromatic veg and herbs. Since there were seven carnivores and one vegetarian eating, I served:

First: La Quercia prosciutto and Sharlyn melon

2005 Pazo Senõrans Albarinõ

Main: Oven braised venison, charcoal-grilled ribeyes and portobello mushrooms, polenta with fresh corn, green beans

2003 Sebastiani Alexander Valley Cabernet

Cheese: Le P'tit Basque; Le Pie d'lAngloys boursault; Bayley Hazen blue

2003 Torbreck Woodcutter's Shiraz

Dessert: Blackberry-peach pie (made by the neighbors); pound cake (Balducci's) with black cherry-Italian plum compote and creme chantilly.

[shogun]

Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

Orzo treated in a very risottoesque manner ended up getting a little extra toasty because...well...glass-top electric ranges bite

[Pat]

I'm a couple of days late posting this, but I recently made the corn fritters with roasted tomato from the Aug 16th Post, and they were fabulous. I served them along with linguine with pistachio pesto (the pesto recipe is in the pesto thread).

The recipe is probably only up until tomorrow, so I'm hurrying to post this. Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomato

[hillvalley]

Leftover NY Strip from Ray's turned into bluecheese steak hash

Panzanella

Broiled squash blossoms stuffed with herb goat cheese

Roasted Tiogo corn sprinkled with truffle salt

Skinny Cow chocolate ice cream sandwich

[brr]

grilled pork chops w/ a brandy/apricot glaze

grilled shrimp w/ a penzeys spice rub

tomato/basil/mozz salad

grilled corn

raspberry peach cobbler made w/ raspberries picked at Butlers on Sunday

[giant shrimp]

rustic tomato pie

lettuce, spinach, cucumber and tomato salad with persian star garlic

poggio al tufo rompicollo maremma toscana 2004

the pie is from a silver spoon recipe, basically sauteed spring onion, herbs and tomato sandwiched between layers of crustless whole wheat bread in a baking dish and soaked from the top with slighly eggy milk and romano pecorino shavings. there are lots of ways to enjoy tomatoes when they are bountiful, and this is one of them. from my limited experience cooking out of this book, i would say the best way of approaching the recipes is with latitude and doing what you think is best. for instance, one pound two ounces of tomato is called for, why so exact a measurement who knows, when the amount of tomatoes could easily be doubled, and i believe i did. i substituted fresh marjoram for dried oregano, a favorite in this book, because it was on hand. and i used three eggs in maybe one and a quarter cups of milk instead of the one egg and three-quarters cup called for. i also used more than the specified two ounces of romano, which cooks until it is golden and makes this dish distinctive. also, half an hour in a 350-degree oven didn't quite do it. my pie took more time and i turned up the temperature 25 degrees toward the end.

the persian star garlic in the salad, minced raw, tasted close to the polish variety and in a blind taste test i am not sure i would be able to tell the difference between the two. this is disconcerting because i am planning on working my way through roughly eight varieties in coming weeks and learning how to distinguish among them. it's a small aspiration that may turn out to have been wildly ambitious.

[zoramargolis]

Charcoal-roasted eggplant gazpacho

2005 Quinta da Alorna Rose (Portugal)

Oricchiete pasta with fresh tomatoes, capers, roasted garlic, basil and reggiano

NV Dover Canyon Renegade Red (Paso Robles)

Peach cobbler with creme chantilly

[Pat]

The bonus to driving to visit someone at Sibley today was stopping at Blacksalt on the way back. I bought a gorgeous tuna steak, which was so thick that I had the man behind the counter slice it in half lengthwise. I'm marinating the steaks in an Asian type of marinade with soy sauce, mirin, garlic, mustard, pepper, soy balsamic dressing, and scallions. I emptied out a bunch of bottles and jars. Before throwing on the grill pan, I'm dredging them in sesame seeds, and I'm serving them over polenta.

I also bought some dry pack scallops that looked wonderful. I've got half a dozen and they are going to be sauteed briefly and served on greens with baby corn, green beans, yellow baby pear tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, lime juice and olive oil (s+p).

[Pete]

Last night was leftover night:

Gazpacho with grilled shrimp.

Cheese course including Epoisse and a smoked cheddar

Note: stinky cheese + refrigerator = stinky refrigerator

[Pat]

Tonight is gazpacho and penne with pesto and smoked salmon.

[zoramargolis]

Note: stinky cheese + refrigerator = stinky refrigerator

Put an open box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda in your refrigerator. It absorbs/eliminates the odors.

[The Hersch]

Note: stinky cheese + refrigerator = stinky refrigerator

I have a very pungent limburger in my refrigerator. I put it inside a little plastic food container -- Rubbermaid or something -- and put the lid on tightly, and it hasn't caused Stinky Refrigerator at all.

[Pete]

Put an open box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda in your refrigerator. It absorbs/eliminates the odors.

I have a very pungent limburger in my refrigerator. I put it inside a little plastic food container -- Rubbermaid or something -- and put the lid on tightly, and it hasn't caused Stinky Refrigerator at all.

We had already put the cheese in a rubbermaid container and have an open box of A&H in the fridge yet the fridge still smells like feet. Oh well. Maybe we need to double-up on the baking soda and give the fridge a good cleaning. Thanks!

[jm chen]

Last night: broccoflower soup with Worchestershire breadcrumbs. Would've been better if my stick blender hadn't broken mid-way through, but it was still pretty good.

[Xochitl10]

Columbuses (Columbi?) -- Appleton's White Rum, lime juice, apricot brandy. We used Barack Palinka, the only apricot brandy we had on hand. Verdict = unbalanced and meh. The drink was greatly improved by adding a splash of simple syrup, so methinks the BP was too dry for the drink.

Beef fajitas

Rice

[giant shrimp]

spaghetti with zucchini and basil

galileo lunch grill pork shoulder sandwich with rabe

max's peppermint ice cream

from deborah madison, as usual, the zucchini is cooked with thinly sliced garlic in half a cup of olive oil over medium heat for 20 minutes until it is way soft and starting to brown in many places. a half cup, or more, of creamy milk is added for the final 10 minutes, and the squash you end up with is custardy. add the pasta and toss with a handfull of shredded basil (i used purple, maybe t.s. should practice on this to start overcoming his aversion to licorice), and half a cup (at least) of grated parmesan and romano.

the sandwich was good, but would not have been worth the $20 that don rockwell was willing to shell out for it. (the bread to pork ratio was a touch too high although the contents tended to be disgorged nevertheless.)

warning: this is an excessively filling meal, so for dinner tonight i am planning to reminisce about last friday's cowgirl creamery pasta: penne tossed with fiore sardo (we went for the older of the two available, redolent of ancient smoke and meat), mozzarella di bufalo, salami, fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil.

[Barbara]

Balsamic-glazed pork chop

Sauteed bok choy

potatoes (okay, okay... they were tater tots)

Thanks for linking to this recipe. I made it last night and it went straight into the rotation. Easy and FAST! (Not to mention quite tasty.) I started on the chops as soon as I put the TATER TOTS in the oven and the whole thing came together at the same time.

[Pat]

Tonight will be mixed green salad, garlic toast, and beef stew with fresh tomatoes, corn, squash, green beans, and carrots. It feels odd to be making beef stew on Labor Day weekend, but this weather seems suited to it.

[hillvalley]

I went a little tomato crazy this weekend.

Saturday-Tomato soup with quartered yellow cherry tomatoes that was inspired by Chef Power's version

Sunday-I spent a good part of the day making a roasted tomato sauce for the freezer and dinner was a BLT shmorgasboard: three kinds of bread, two different versions of mayo, three kinds (at least) of "yuppie" bacon, six types of heirloom tomatoes and three kinds of lettuce. The combinations were endless....

Tonight-orzo with sauteed golden teardrop cherry tomatoes, piave cheese and lots of basil and roasted corn with butter and truffled salt. Dessert is seedless orange watermelon topped with vanilla salt.

[legant]

Sauteed pork chops* with hoisin sauce

perorgies (influenced by recent trip to Philly)

steamed broccoli

Le Petit Ecolier topped with dark chocolate

*Nothing like gnawing on a pork chop bone.

I'm with Homer on this one:

Herb: While you're here, I want you to make yourselves right at home. Anytime you're hungry, anytime day or night, Cook will make you anything you want.

Homer: Even pork chops?

Herb: Absolutely. We have a tennis court, a swimming pool, a screening room--

Homer: You mean, if I want pork chops, even in the middle of the night, your guy will fry 'em up?

Herb: Sure. That's what he's paid for. Now, if you need towels, laundry--

Homer: Wait!

Herb: Maids--

Homer: Wait, wait, wait, wait! Let me see if I've got this straight. It's Christmas day, 4:00 a.m., there's a rumble in my stomach--

Marge: Homer, please!

Herb: (Laughs and grabs Homer around the shoulder.) Your old man sure loves pork chops!

Bart: (Laughs) He sure does, Uncle Herb.

[deangold]

Dry aged t bone from WFM Silver spring accompanied by a garnet sweet potato and a three mushroom ragout (bluefoot, oyster and crimeni). Laurel Glen 1984 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Life is good.

[mdt]

Dinner 1:

Pan roasted duck breast with savory blueberry sauce

Polenta

Yellow squash and zucchini bake (squash mixed with freshly grated pecorino romano, egg, olive oil, fresh herbs, bread crumbs, and some ricotta baked)

Blueberry cobbler

2001 Norman's Old Vine Grenache

Dinner 2:

Sirlon Tip Roast (purchased at the Arlington Farmer's market from Smith Meadows Farm) roasted atop some fennel and served with pan gravy

Carmelized onions and roasted tomatoes

More squash bake

Red Sqare (a washed rind from Tasmania)

End of the Blueberry cobbler

2004 Baudry Chinon

[Pat]

Last night was shredded pork sandwiches (can I call it pulled pork if it's not done on a smoker? ) on sesame kaiser rolls, corn on the cob, and baked beans. The pork sandwiches were fabulous and worth the time investment.

I cooked the pork in a dutch oven for most of the day (about 9 hours), starting on top of the stove and then for about 7 hours in the oven at lower heat. I started out with pork shoulder that I dredged in flour with sweet and half sharp paprika, yellow and brown mustard seeds, white and black pepper, kosher salt, and adobo seasoning. After a quick browning in some oil, I threw in some sliced onion, crystallized ginger, and half a bottle of pale ale (I added most of the bottle eventually). It cooked and cooked and cooked until I could pull it apart with a fork. I finished it with a little white wine vinegar and some barbeque sauce. I was going to make homemade but ran out of steam and used some Whole Foods 365 sauce that I keep on hand.

[jm chen]

The bufala mozzarella from Cowgirl Creamery is a revelation. Saturday, we dined lightly on mozz salads to feature it: his with three kinds of tomatoes from Star Hollow Farm, and mine with nectarines, Bayley Hazen blue, and cubed membrillo.

Last night: the Zinfandel pot roast with glazed carrots from All About Braising, plus roasted purple Peruvian fingerlings. Dessert: itty-bitty Seckel pears poached in the rest of the wine.

[legant]

Toasted pita bread salad (chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, feta + a 4-3 ratio EVOO and BV vinagrette + lightly salted, toasted, torn pita bread chips)

[Heather]

The weather yesterday inspired me to make our first fall soup: Lentil with keilbasa and lots of veggies. Sourdough bread from Whole Foods.

I have now determined that the bread at Silver Spring WF sucks as badly as the Rockville location.

[JPW]

I have now determined that the bread at Silver Spring WF sucks as badly as the Rockville location.

Breadline baguettes at Snider's.