Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[Pool Boy]

We made some pizza on the grill tonight. A classic margherita and another with plenty of oregano and garlic. P-U! Yes, we stank. Should have taken a picture.

[Xochitl10]

A bowl of steamed white rice with soy sauce. Not feeling so great after a day of Japanese road food (teriyaki chicken and a potato/mystery cheese gratin from the 7/11; giant steamed pork bun tasting mostly of onion).

[Pat]

Salad Nicoise

Veggie Lasagna

Multigrain Bread & butter

[Anna Phor]

Dinner tonight -- Cold (Vaguely) Middle Eastern Things. Hummus, cold green beans in a tomato sauce, a salad of tomato, feta & olives, roasted zucchini paste. Horrid bread from Safeway.

Summer pudding.

[hillvalley]

Gaspacho with a lot of lemon thyme and roasted squashblossoms stuffed with goat cheese

Dessert was suppose to be berries and cream over angel food cake but I ate all the berries so it was just cream and cake

[MelGold]

Hot dog, doritos and a bottle of water with a few peanuts my father made me finish off...fourth row right behind home plate at the Glory game. If you guys haven't come out yet, it's the perfect way to spend a sober summer evening!

[rkduggins]

Improvised pasta sauce: saute two cloves of garlic and one chopped onion in olive oil. Add 10 oz sliced mushrooms and saute til brown and beginning to release liquid then crumble over half a chicken bullion cube. A few generous glugs of leftover rose to deglaze the pan. Allow liquid to reduce season with Sezchuan pepper and salt, stir through half a carton of creme fraiche and toss with pasta.

Eat until stupefied on the couch because the dining table is still staged for potential condo buyers.

[txaggie]

We were experimenting with scallops this weekend.

Dinner on friday was seared scallops with pearl pasta, papaya and avocado salsa and a chipotle honey vinagrette.

Lunch on Sunday was scallop-shrimp burgers with roasted cauliflower. I attempted to make homemade hamburgers buns but they ended up tasting more like sourdough kaiser rolls.

[Chocolaterie Wanders]

Eat until stupefied on the couch because the dining table is still staged for potential condo buyers.

lmao

We had our black bean dip last night (black beans, garlic, onions, red peppers, sour cream, chipotle pepper, kinda mashed up) with steamed carrots, broccoli, cucumber slices and roasted pita chips. We alternate this with substituting the black bean dip with hummus ....

Can you tell we are on a diet?

[MBK]

Had my first guest over for dinner chez MBK a Paris. And perhaps it was the G+Ts, champagne, or wine talking, but apparently my roast chicken au jus, turned artichokes with vegetables jardiniere, and pommes byron are not half bad! Success! This bodes well for dinner parties at my house once I return to DC.

[Mrs. B]

Had my first guest over for dinner chez MBK a Paris. And perhaps it was the G+Ts, champagne, or wine talking, but apparently my roast chicken au jus, turned artichokes with vegetables jardiniere, and pommes byron are not half bad! Success! This bodes well for dinner parties at my house once I return to DC.

Marn,

I have been following your blog with delight (and not a small amount of envy). I'm sure you knocked their socks off and can't wait for the 1st invite upon your return.

What are pommes byron? and I have a cute little chicken from Cibola in the fridge for dinner tomorrow and would love to hear any roasting hints you have picked up.

Stephanie

[MBK]

Marn,

I have been following your blog with delight (and not a small amount of envy). I'm sure you knocked their socks off and can't wait for the 1st invite upon your return.

What are pommes byron? and I have a cute little chicken from Cibola in the fridge for dinner tomorrow and would love to hear any roasting hints you have picked up.

Stephanie

Not to worry, you and Waitman will definitely get an invite upon my return!

Pommes Byron is basically potato puree piped into a nest of sorts, filled with bechamel sauce and gruyere, and baked. (It's the side dish we made with herb-crusted roasted pork, shown here.)

As for the chicken, I'm sure any tips I've learned are tips you already know. They involve trussing, butter, turning the chicken every 15 minutes, and stuffing the cavity with herbs and garlic. Just for fun, a photo.

[Mrs. B]

As for the chicken, I'm sure any tips I've learned are tips you already know. They involve trussing, butter, turning the chicken every 15 minutes, and stuffing the cavity with herbs and garlic. Just for fun, a photo.

Looks very good to me and those potatoes have me salivating (not the artichokes in this pic, the piped potatoes in the other one - no diss intended for the chokes btw).

What temp did they suggest cooking the chicken at - high to low, or constant? Herbs including? (I'm doing a happy dance that the chervil is finally growing in my garden).

OT how's the weather?

What appliances are in your apartment?

[MBK]

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QUOTE(Mrs. B @ Jul 3 2007, 04:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks very good to me and those potatoes have me salivating (not the artichokes in this pic, the piped potatoes in the other one - no diss intended for the chokes btw).

What temp did they suggest cooking the chicken at - high to low, or constant? Herbs including? (I'm doing a happy dance that the chervil is finally growing in my garden).

OT how's the weather?

What appliances are in your apartment?

If you want the potatoes recipe, let me know. The base is not a straight potato puree, it doesn't have the milk/cream and does have a couple of egg yolks (to make it slightly more like a dough so it stands up to the preparation).

I can't remember exactly, but I think we cooked the chicken at 180 (celsius - which translates to 356 F). Used garlic, bay leaf, thyme, parsley. Pretty standard traditional stuff

Don will get mad b/c this is OT, but ... weather is very strange ... hasn't really broken 70 degrees many days since I've been here; has rained (just an afternoon shower) almost every day ... I'm not complaining, because my flat doesn't have a/c, so the mild temps have been great. Unfortunately, I only packed summer clothes, but that's what the sales are for, right?? And, as for my kitchen set-up in my flat, all I have is a microwave, fridge, dishwasher, and two-burner electric stove. No oven. Makes cooking (and reheating) here a chore, but I cook plenty at school so it hasn't bothered me at all.

[legant]

Dinner on friday was seared scallops with pearl pasta, papaya and avocado salsa and a chipotle honey vinagrette.

Dah-um! How'd I miss that dinner invitation??!!

[monavano]

MBK,

The Pommes Bryon look so delcious. Do you pipe the mashed potatoes onto a silpat or the like? Then transfer to a plate?

[MBK]

MBK,

The Pommes Bryon look so delcious. Do you pipe the mashed potatoes onto a silpat or the like? Then transfer to a plate?

Oh, the French traditionalists don't use silpats! We piped them onto a baking tray covered w/ parchment paper. Made a well in each one, filled with a bechamel/gruyere mixture, topped with a little shredded gruyere, and into the oven to brown.

Funny that you are all focusing on that dish -- honestly, while they were good, I didn't love them as much as straight up pommes purees. Now those, I could eat for weeks...

Tomorrow's class? Day one of forcemeats. The fun begins

[Xochitl10]

Tomorrow's class? Day one of forcemeats. The fun begins

Possibly veering off topic for the dinner thread but . . . what are forcemeats?

[MBK]

Possibly veering off topic for the dinner thread but . . . what are forcemeats?

Wikipedia says this. If any of the better cooks on the board wants to chime in, please do. I'll note that we're learning not to grind it many times to make a smooth consistency, as wiki says ... we do one coarse grind and maintain some texture.

We'll be learning a duck/pork terrine, stuffed veal, and stuffed chicken breasts.

[Pat]

Oh, the French traditionalists don't use silpats! We piped them onto a baking tray covered w/ parchment paper. Made a well in each one, filled with a bechamel/gruyere mixture, topped with a little shredded gruyere, and into the oven to brown.

Funny that you are all focusing on that dish -- honestly, while they were good, I didn't love them as much as straight up pommes purees. Now those, I could eat for weeks...

Yours looked really gorgeous in the photo. Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home has a recipe for them calling for potato cakes to be topped with either sour cream, creme fraiche, or whipping cream and gruyere. I think I like the idea of the bechamel/gruyere mixture in the well better. This is on my list of dishes to try now. Thanks .

[porcupine]

Last night: bruschetta, I guess you'd call it. Toasted slices of sourdough bread on one side, flipped them over, rubbed with garlic, topped with squash blossoms and this weird Wisconsin Parmesan-like cheese (very good and interesting in its own right, but not that much like Parm), broiled until cheese melted. Topped each with a mixture of roasted and finely chopped red bell pepper, zucchini, and eggplant that had been tossed with almost-pesto (basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, but no cheese).

Squash blossoms and basil came from my garden.

Tonight (recent trip to Penzey's has re-ignited my interest in Indian cooking):

lamb with whole spices

black dal

saffron rice

spinach cooked with spices.

Gin and tonic to start

experimental cinnamon-chocolate swirl ice cream to finish.

The lamb is from Madhur Jaffery's An Invitation to Indian Cooking; it's an interesting dish, simply cubes of lamb browned in oil with cinnamon, cardamom, clove, bay leaf, and peppercorns, then covered and allowed to cook dry, so to speak. It comes out very well browned and aromatic. The dal was from Neelan Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes. For the spinach I tossed whole cumin, fenugreek, and coriander in hot oil, then added the spinach and tossed until just wilted. Not exactly an Indian technique but it worked well with the other dishes.

New favorite spice: black cardamom. Although not called for in the dal recipe, it made the dish fantastic by imparting a subtle smokiness. I've been using this stuff in a lot of dishes, including my afternoon tea. Not from Penzey's btw - I picked it up in Montreal last summer. Would love to find a local source.

[rkduggins]

I've seen it at Penzey's on Rockville Pike.

[porcupine]

I've seen it at Penzey's on Rockville Pike.

Thanks.

[bioesq]

We've bought them at Indian Spices and Appliances, 3000 North 10th Street in Arlington, but that was a few years ago. You might also check the Bethesda Co-op, where they carry the green cardomom pods in bulk-- 301-320-2530. That's an easy drive.

[legant]

Wikipedia says this.

Uhm... I'm confused: meatloaf? sausage? scrapple? charcuterie? See here.

[laniloa]

My favorite summer spinach salad. Crisp some pancetta and then carmelize shallots in the grease. Whisk in a little white wine and wilt the spinach. Toss in some toasted pines nuts and sliced peaches.

[monavano]

Center cut pork chop with a sour cherry and port reduction.

Mushroom risotto

beans from the market

[Xochitl10]

4:1 Bombay Sapphire martinis

Salt-grilled whole blue mackerel

String beans dressed with a toasted black sesame seed, sake, sugar, and soy sauce mixture

Steamed white rice

[Anna Blume]

My very first gravlax made with wild Sockeye and flavored with fennel fronds from Heinz's plants and crushed Juniper berries.

Mustard sauce courtesy of the "Search Inside" feature on Amazon.com. Cf. Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit. I made a variation on his recipe, but kept the "secret" ingredient which is strong coffee. Excellent.

Also baked black bread to serve with it along with a chilled cucumber & red onion salad with (light) sour cream. The last of the cherries in the fridge were dessert.

[Xochitl10]

We made okonomiyaki (sort of a cross between a pancake and a frittata) again, this time with thinly sliced pork cooked on top. Washed it down with Kirin Original beer.

[Xochitl10]

Dry Old Overholt Manhattans

Broiled salmon

Kabocha squash simmered in dashi, soy sauce, and ginger

Sauteed snow peas tossed with toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds

[porcupine]

I have been awaiting this day for months. Leave home for work 0540, return at 1900, walk dog, stop in garden, collect the following: four tiny new zucchini with blossoms still on, 4 Black Cherry tomatoes, 2 Carmello tomatoes, 1 Sunny Goliath tomato, a few leaves of basil. Cook fusilli in boiling salted water while zukes simmer in good olive oil; add blossoms and chopped tomatoes and basil; toss with cooked pasta and a glob of ricotta.

Summer has arrived. Heaven.

[Xochitl10]

Akita sake

Sukiyaki including beef from Aomori Prefecture (our neighbor to the north), green onions, grilled tofu, kuruma fu (wheat gluten formed into the shape of a tire), and shirataki (noodles made from konnyaku, a starchy Japanese yamlike plant)

Vinegar-pickled Japanese cucumber and carrot

Lovely, tasty chocolate/coffee cream filled cake from the really good local patisserie

[zoramargolis]

Last night:

Ratatouille (cold, made on Tuesday and rested overnight in the fridge)

Mozzarella di bufala

Sliced peaches

2006 Mulderbosch Rose´

About as summery as a supper gets

[porcupine]

Sugar crash on the way home from a long day at work required a roast beef sandwich, fries, and diet Coke from Roy Rogers.

I feel dirty.

[zoramargolis]

Tonight:

Happy hour at home:

Michel Richard's recipe "faux gras with parsley gelee"

Roasted artichoke hearts with lemon

2006 Avondale Rose´

Dinner:

Charcoal grilled, spice rubbed tri-tip

Roasted corn off the cob

Creamed spinach

2005 Onix Priorat

Peach-sweet cherry crisp with vanilla ice cream

[Xochitl10]

More of the giant bottle of Akita sake, steamed rice, and two recipes from the cookbook "Japanese Homestyle Cooking," by Tokiko Suzuki.

Cucumber and Wakame with Sanbai-zu (mixture of dashi stock, vinegar, soy sauce, and vinegar):

Nibitashi (simmered dish) of Lettuce with Young Sardines:

[Heather]

Last night:

Shrimp cooked with cilantro, chilies, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, palm sugar, and lime juice. I usually make this with Thai basil, but that's impossible to come by on the Eastern shore.

steamed jasmine rice

heirloom tomato salad

fruit crisp with sour & sweet cherries, peaches, and blueberries topped with brown sugar, butter, flour, and oatmeal.

Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Altenbourg, Cuvée Laurence, 2002. Waitman got this at Schneider's. It was perfect with the shrimp.

Tonight:

Cubanos (grilled marinated pork loin, ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mayo, on cuban bread bought at the farmer's market yesterday)

cole slaw

maybe a little tequila

Not bad for a crummy beach house kitchen. We're blaming any and all screwups on the electric stove.

[porcupine]

Zucchini pappardelle with garlic, basil, tomato, wild boar prosciutto, and an aged pecorino called Prima Donna; with Avondale rose of cabernet sauvignon.

I've been picking the zucchini really small (3 inches or so long), but still, the crop almost overwhelmed me this weekend. So I used the mandoline to slice them almost paper thin and very wide - like pappardelle - and cooked them gently in olive oil and garlic until just pliable, then mixed in the other things. Small amounts of everything, except the cheese - obscene amounts of that.

This one's a keeper.

[DanielK]

Herbed cucumber salad, made with cukes and herbs from the garden

Corn on the cob, picked from the stalk, in the pot moments later, and barely cooked

Fruit salad, made with the last of the raspberries from the garden, the last of the cherries picked last weekend from the farm, and the blueberries we picked today at the farm

I love summer.

[zoramargolis]

and an aged pecorino called Prima Donna

I was under the impression that Prima Donna is an aged gouda, a cows milk cheese from Holland, which is intended to be a Parmesan-type cheese. I could be mistaken, however.

We had an out of town visitor for dinner tonight. (Veggie-teen is currently in Ecuador.)

Amuses:

"Faux gras" chicken liver mousse with cucumber-parsley gelee

Roasted artichoke hearts

Marinated roasted red peppers

Olives

2006 Muga Rose´

First:

Roasted golden beet salad with mesclun and home made lavender chevre

Main:

Charcoal grilled lamb loin chops. marinated in EVOO, garlic and fresh thyme

Roasted fennel

French lentils with roasted garlic and basil

2001 Edmunds St. John Syrah Bessetti Vineyard

Cheese:

Nancy's Hudson Valley Camembert

P'tit Basque

Blue de Basque (sheep milk)

Rolf Beeler Tomme

Homemade membrillo, fresh figs, Medjool dates

Dessert:

Black raspberry and apricot tart with vanilla whipped cream

Orange pekoe tea

[porcupine]

I was under the impression that Prima Donna is an aged gouda, a cows milk cheese from Holland, which is intended to be a Parmesan-type cheese. I could be mistaken, however.

You're right. I confused what I actually bought with what I meant to buy.

[txaggie]

We had dinner with legant and a non-DR.com friend on Friday. When the four of us get together, we pick a theme in advance of dinner and everyone prepares a course. The original theme for Friday's dinner was softshell crabs but after calling around for softshells and learning that they were either to $$ or frozen, the theme changed to crabcakes.

Starters were a tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad (Eric) and a soup made from legant's CSA items (tomatillos, onions, garlic, peppers, cream).

The main course was crabcakes (cjsadler) with a red pepper slaw (cjsadler) and corn pudding (txaggie).

Desserts were a lemon blueberry tart (legant) and ice cream sandwiches - brown sugar cookies and vanilla swiss almond Haagen-Dazs (txaggie).

Saturday's dinner was made from Friday's leftovers.

Crab cakes with fresh corn polenta and tarragon oil

And to drink...

[DanCole42]

Hickory Smoked Baby Back Ribs w/ Balsamic Fig BBQ Sauce

Corn Muffins w/ Maple Butter

10 Year Eagle Rare Bourbon

Several "firsts" for me last night.

1) First time smoking anything. I used my 22" Weber Kettle... briquettes on one side, topped with some hickory chips soaked in beer, cider vinegar, and water. Holding them back were two loaf pans filled with water, apple cider, and balsamic vinegar. I put the food to be smoked on the other side directly under the vents. Into the vents I stuck a candy thermometer. The whole apparatus required almost NO interference from me - I added maybe ten briquettes during the entire four and a half hours, and it maintained a perfect 250-275. I used about three cups of wood chips.

2) First time making a BBQ sauce. I took some fresh figs, halved, and grilled them directly over the hickory chips, then simmered them for four hours until they melted in a mixture of balsamic and cider vinegar, ketchup, dijon mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bourbon, maple syrup, and a ton of other crazy crap. After four hours, it was thick and sweet and delicious.

3) First time making ribs. I wanted to use spare ribs, but Wegman's wasn't getting them in until Tuesday, so I went with the baby backs. Put on my homemade rub, then stuck it in the fridge for a few hours. Then onto the smoker for four hours. In the last 20 minutes or so, I brushed on the BBQ sauce.

4) First time making corn muffins. They didn't puff up like I'd expected, but they were sweet and moist, and the maple butter was AWESOME. Even my wife, who doesn't usually like cornbread/muffins, had seconds.

The ribs came out PERFECTLY, with a rich hickory flavor. The meat was falling off the bone and the smoke line looked like someone had taken a pink highlighter and traced a ring around my ribs. The sauce was sweet and tangy and HORRIBLY sticky. The muffins were the perfect accompaniment.

My Weber is amazing. I'm DEFINITELY doing this again.

[Al Dente]

a mixture of balsamic and cider vinegar, ketchup, dijon mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bourbon, maple syrup, and a ton of other crazy crap

Little known cocktail recipe:

Bloody Kentucky Colonel

1 part bourbon

3 parts ketchup

1/2 dill pickle

Tbsp pickle juice (optional)

In a rocks glass, muddle your pickle until pulpy and bruised. Combine bourbon and ketchup in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and pour over abused pickle. Garnish with maraschino cherry.

[qwertyy]

I've been picking the zucchini really small (3 inches or so long), but still, the crop almost overwhelmed me this weekend.

Julia Child has an excellent zucchini recipe in The Way to Cook, which is easy enough to just spitball and a good way to use up all that extra squash you've got hanging around:

Slice some onion and drop it in a saute pan with one part white wine and one part chicken stock. Simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, grate some zukes and toss them in a colander with a bit of salt. Let it drain for about 10 minutes, then wrap it in a towel and squeeze out all the excess juice. When the onion mixture has cooked down some, stir in the zucchini, some black pepper, and a dash more salt. Turn heat to high and stir together until all juices are gone. You can, at this point, stir in a bit of butter or cream, but I think this makes such an excellent, fresh summer side dish as is, I never bother. I [heart] Julia.

[DanCole42]

Little known cocktail recipe:

Bloody Kentucky Colonel

1 part bourbon

3 parts ketchup

1/2 dill pickle

Tbsp pickle juice (optional)

In a rocks glass, muddle your pickle until pulpy and bruised. Combine bourbon and ketchup in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and pour over abused pickle. Garnish with maraschino cherry.

[jm chen]

Saturday we had a dinner party based around making sure we drank a particular bottle of 1992 Ridge Montebello before we move house next week. Tasty stuff.

miniature Philly cheesesteaks (wiz wit) as an appetizer

steak au poivre with brandy cream sauce (recipe from CI's The New Best Recipe)

corn w/butter and cream

pasta salad brought by guests

zucchini carpaccio salad w/arugula and romano (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

brownies, strawberries, vanilla ice cream

Then last night we had:

chicken breasts with fennel and lavender salt

polenta

cream sauce with garlic scapes, edamame, green peas, and mint

So good.

[Xochitl10]

Japanese curry rice and a green salad. Japanese curry is more like a curry powder-roux based stew than Indian curry; also, less spicy and sweeter.

More sake from the seemingly bottomless bottle of Akita sake.

[legant]

First time making a BBQ sauce. I took some fresh figs, halved, and grilled them directly over the hickory chips, then simmered them for four hours until they melted in a mixture of balsamic and cider vinegar, ketchup, dijon mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bourbon, maple syrup, and a ton of other crazy crap. After four hours, it was thick and sweet and delicious.

What, if anything, would you do differently? Would you cut down on the amount of sugar? Did the combination of brown sugar and maple syrup render it "HORRIBLY sticky"?