Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[youngfood]

Cathal Armstrong's Skillet Roast Lamb Loins w/ Herbs

Roast Brussel Sprouts

2005 Torri Mor Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Chef Armstrong's recipe was simple and swell. The Torri Mor seemed like it could use a few more years.

[cjsadler]

Cathal Armstrong's Skillet Roast Lamb Loins w/ Herbs

Where'd you find the lamb loins (or tenderloins) at?

[goodeats]

Omuraisu is fried rice mixed with ketchup, wrapped in a thin omelette, then topped with more ketchup. Some people love it, others hate it, I found it comforting in much the same way hash is.

Oh drool. Very jealous, especially when the quality of rice is still much better there than here. Must be the water + rice. Not that it's hard to make at home, but I haven't found any place here that makes it as good.

That's comfort food for me, as well as ketchup fried rice. Ah.

[cjsadler]

From my long-neglected Babbo cookbook, 5 Autumn 4 Winter Vegetable Salad (leeks, butternut squash, parsnip, sunchoke... with goat cheese and honey toast)

Chicken Francese with polenta and kale

[youngfood]

Where'd you find the lamb loins (or tenderloins) at?

It wasn't a perfect fit, but P St. WFs had lamb loins.

[Pat]

baked brie topped with peach pepper jelly and coated with pecan crumbs; baguette slices

medium-rare t-bone steak

baked potatoes and butter

creamed spinach

[Dave Pressley]

...made some stock...After a couple of hours, I strained it and froze to make it easier to get the fat off.

I learned a trick years ago from Chef Weidmaier (when I was his poissonier/saucier at the late Cafe on M) for getting fat off small or home production stocks--freeze a few large metal ladles while your finely-strained stock is cooling in the fridge or in an icebath. After the ladles have gotten extremely cold, dip the bottoms of the ladles into your stock. The fat will cling to them as you pull them out and you won't have to deal with unnecessarily frozen stock.

I still use this method frequently at home and it always works extremely well.

[zoramargolis]

Last night:

Pan seared Eco-Friendly pork rib chops

Chunky quince and onion hash with dried cranberries, fresh rosemary and cherry balsamic vinegar

(Veggie-teen had a roasted portobello stuffed with *rice pilaf, *beluga lentils, mozzarella di bufala, capers and *marinara sauce, pecorino romano)

*Baked cheese grits

Sauteed beet greens

2006 Beaujolais Dom. Dupeuble Pere et Fils

*creative use of leftovers

[rkduggins]

Broiled miso cod

Soba noodles dressed with mirin and sesame oil vinaigrette tossed with roasted shitake mushrooms and fresh scallions

[monavano]

We seem to be getting sick, so I pulled a few pounds of chicken backs out of the freezer and made some stock (using star anise and szechuan peppercorns, ginger and carrot greens, in addition to my typical onion-carrot-celery-bay leaf mix). After a couple of hours, I strained it and froze to make it easier to get the fat off.

Once I did my best to skim the fat, I made a soup with the stock and some water, adding more onion, celery, and carrot, plus garlic and shallot. At some point I added black pepper and salt, plus a bit of dried marjoram, since it seems lemony to me, and I thought that worked with what I was doing. I chopped up some leftover duck breast and soaked shiitake, oyster, and wood ear mushrooms. Those went in near the end of the cooking time (30-40 minutes from the end), with the strained mushroom soaking liquid. It ended up being a sort of hot and sour soup (with rice vinegar, hot pepper sesame oil, and pepper flakes), topped with red onion slivers and cilantro. It was a very satisfying soup.

Unless he is desperately sick, my husband has a solid appetite, so I also made some penne with creamy poblano sauce, topped with romano. I wasn't sure how well that worked--he loved it, me more "meh"--but I haven't done a thorough grocery shopping trip recently and that was my best backup.

Pat, I've never tried freezing it to get the fat off. After straining, I put my stock in the refrigerator (usully overnight) to get the fat to congeal and float. Then I skim it and put it into containers to freeze.

How does freezing help get the fat off?

The chicken stock I made this weekend had very little fat after refrigeration. I was surprised. When making it this time, instead of placing the chicken, herbs, spices, vegetables into a pot with cold water and heating, I placed just the chicken parts in and allowed it to come to a boil, at which point it scummed up big time. Once I removed the scum, then added the rest, it remained pretty clear throughout simmering. I wonder if boiling the chicken first helped me to get the fat off somehow.

Anyway, the frozen ladle trick sounds interesting-I'll have to remember to give that a try.

Tonight will be braised boneless leg of lamb over egg noodles (made previously and steeping in juices now). The lamb was tied, seasoned and browned. The braise was a mirpoix, bay leaf, tomato paste, rosemary,thyme, plum jam, Malbec and beef broth. The dish braised at 325 for almost 3 hours.

[Pat]

Pat, I've never tried freezing it to get the fat off. After straining, I put my stock in the refrigerator (usully overnight) to get the fat to congeal and float. Then I skim it and put it into containers to freeze.

How does freezing help get the fat off?

Usually, I put it in the refrigerator overnight and then skim the fat off, but I had decided to make the soup at the last minute for that night. It would have been smarter to take the skin off to minimize fat going in, but I didn't think of that at the time. I had hoped freezing would speed up the fat separation/congealing process so that I could have a quick turnaround and make the soup that night. It did separate into a distinct layer within 2 hours, but it wasn't congealed. It still enabled me to get a lot more fat out than I could have otherwise in such a short time.

Either that soup was a miracle preventative/cure or we were just both having a really draggy day and not actually getting sick. We had lots of wonderful soup and felt fine the next day. I prefer to think it was the soup that made us feel better .

Tonight will be braised boneless leg of lamb over egg noodles (made previously and steeping in juices now). The lamb was tied, seasoned and browned. The braise was a mirpoix, bay leaf, tomato paste, rosemary,thyme, plum jam, Malbec and beef broth. The dish braised at 325 for almost 3 hours.

I almost bought a boneless leg of lamb yesterday at Costco, but I decided I already had enough meat. I'll probably pick one up on my next trip there, though, and will file this idea away for then.

[monavano]

I see, you didn't freeze it solid but tried to expidite the cooling. Got it

I got the leg of lamb from Coscto (about 4.5 lbs) and walked away from the red meat at that point, thinking it was enough richness and more chicken would be a better choice for us. Cholesterol and all that.

[Pat]

I see, you didn't freeze it solid but tried to expidite the cooling. Got it

Yes. I guess could have been clearer in my phrasing, but I knew what I meant .

I got the leg of lamb from Coscto (about 4.5 lbs) and walked away from the red meat at that point, thinking it was enough richness and more chicken would be a better choice for us. Cholesterol and all that.

That was my choice in reverse. I'd already picked up a package of 3 t-bone steaks and 2 hunks of chuck for pot roast. I picked up the lamb and thought, eh, overkill. We split one steak last night, and I froze the others. I'm making one of the pot roasts tonight or tomorrow and freezing the other..

After Costco, I stopped at Harris Teeter and was drawn in by "buy one, get one free" on pork loin ends. I'm planning to wrap and freeze both of those, or I might cut the smaller one up for chili. I've largely depleted the meat in the freezer, so I'm slowly restocking.

[tripewriter]

One of us (she) has a broken leg, the other (me) a serious head cold. Too much pizza delivery was only making matters worse. Stir-crazy and in need of some serious comfort, I cooked up a pot of faux Pho, comprising

one diced yellow onion

salt & pepper

bouquet garni

ginger

one lb. ground turkey

two Tbsp. coconut oil

tamari

seasoned rice vinegar

3 quarts filtered water

vermicelli, broken in half

frozen string beans, broken in thirds

fish sauce

hot sauce

lime juice

This was some damn fine eating, considering that it was not made from stock and that most of it came from the pantry and freezer versus the produce aisle.

[Heather]

Soup: vegetable stock, broccoli, parsnips, shallots, garlic, a little cumin and coriander. Puree with immersion blender, add black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil at the table. Delicious, but an unappetizing color.

Grilled cheese on Atwater rye.

[Pat]

Apple and Manchego salad with Marcona almonds

Pot roast with potatoes and carrots

Mini baguette with soy spread

It was a rough afternoon and I started the pot roast kind of late. I'd been planning to do something a little fancier with it but just ended up making a plain old pot roast. It came out well, though, and was good comfort food. The salad was quite good, better than I expected. I'm annoyed, however, that I can't find the original magazine version even though I know I have that issue of the magazine somewhere in my house .

[mdt]

I finally cooked from Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table and made Devil's Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks and Dijon Mustard. I did not have any leeks on hand at home so I made braised carrots. Not the simplest of recipes, but damn good.

[zoramargolis]

I finally cooked from Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

I love that book!

Last night was minestrone, cooked long enough that the potatoes and cannelini beans broke down a bit and made it nice and thick, and garlic toast. And a red wine from Umbria--2004 Fattoria Colsonto Ruris--that I got at Arlington Whole Foods.

[DanCole42]

Bacon cheeseburger pizza

Pizza margherita

[Pat]

pulled pork sandwiches

macaroni and cheese

[Xochitl10]

Udon served in homemade tsuyu with sliced green onion and kamaboko

Sides of takuan and "spicy, cheddar cheese" stuffed chikuwa (fish paste shaped around a thin, round bamboo stick, then grilled)

[monavano]

Last night I went old school with Sicilian Chicken and a side of pasta (which reminds me of a lot of the Italian-American restaurants in Philly).

[legant]

Spinach and orzo soup with turkey meatballs

Texas toast

[Pat]

Beef vegetable soup made from leftover pot roast (with peas and tomatoes added to the potatoes and carrots)

Leftover macaroni and cheese

The broth from that pot roast was so good that it seemed destined to be turned into soup. I added several spoonsful of mac and cheese right into my soup bowl and ate it all together .

[Pat]

Baked chicken legs

Rice Pilaf

Baked peas

[monavano]

Pan seared lamb chops which were marinated in red wine, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, thyme, rosemary and garlic. The marinade was reduced in the pan (with some more red wine and butter) while the lamb rested. Parmesan asparagus-evoo, s&p, parmesan then baked at 425 degrees and finished under the broiler. Mashed potatoes given a healthy dose of Alouette garlic and herb spread.

...I have to figure out how to reduce my photos

[Erin11]

Sunday dinner was:

Roasted chicken with stuffing (stuffing made with white bread, kale and the usual suspects [onion, celery, sage])

Roasted cauliflower

For the chicken, I tried a new (to me) method I saw recently on America's Test Kitchen. The stuffing is placed on aluminum foil in the roasting pan of choice and then the spatchcocked bird is placed over the stuffing. I really liked this method and found it made the post-roasting carving of the chicken much easier. Will definitely continue to use this method in the future.

Monday dinner was:

Impromptu chicken noodle soup to (hopefully) ward off the cold I seem to have caught.

[The Hersch]

Damn! Another reason I forgot for switching from the G'town to P St. WF. Went back to G'town this weekend where there's never has pork butt.

Have you asked for pork butt at the Glover Park (!) WF? I was there a couple of weeks ago, and there was nothing like that on display in the case, but I asked if I could get a piece of pork shoulder between one and two pounds, and the guy went into the back and came out with a very nice 1 2/3 lbs. piece a couple of minutes later. I made it into goulash (lots of onions and paprika, and a lovely thick-walled red bell pepper peeled (with the wonderful Messermeister serrated-blade vegetable peeler), cut up, and added for the last 20 minutes or so of cooking).

[Xochitl10]

Aburaage (deep-fried sheet of tofu) stuffed with a simmered mix of sliced shiitake, carrots, and burdock root, minced chicken, and cooked rice noodles, then tied off with a strip of gourd and simmered itself in a stock of dashi, sugar, and soy sauce. Mmmmm.

Spinach steeped in dashi and soy sauce, topped with katsuobushi flakes

Steamed rice

[Pat]

striata baguette with olive oil for dipping

baked rigatoni with basil-tomato-roasted pepper sauce with two meats; cinnamon and black pepper; grated Romano

[Anna Blume]

Have you asked for pork butt at the Glover Park (!) WF?

It's true that Glover Park Hardware is further south than the WFM on Wisconsin, but I was at the latter store tonight where all the signs refer to the Georgetown Whole Foods, man. When in Rome... A rose by any other name... Etc. Cachet?

* * *

Dinner afterwards:

Slice of turkey meatloaf w prunes (cf. bacon thread) reheated w ketchup (WFM)

Baked potato (organic from Safeway) w a Plugra butter (Trader Joe's) and dollop of homemade yogurt

French green beans w Meyer lemon and a little butter

No dessert

[zoramargolis]

Seafood stew with monkfish cheeks* and fresh Maine sweet shrimp*, fennel, leeks, asparagus and pasta

Toasted Firehook baguette

2006 Tittarelli Torrontes

I stopped in at BlackSalt market yesterday, and found * for sale-- $7.99 per pound for the fresh head-on shrimp and $13.99 per pound for the monkfish cheeks. The deal was sealed when Scott offered to shell the shrimp for me, which I gladly accepted because these shrimp are quite small, and a pound of them=a LOT of shrimp. I asked to keep the heads and shells, which I used to make shrimp stock. Three large monkfish cheeks weighed a half-pound, and I cut them up into 1" cubes. They were firm-tender and very flavorful. The pasta was cooked lasagna noodles that didn't fit in the lasagna pan last night, which I cut into spoon-sized pieces. The shrimp were as advertised--sweet--added at the last moment, so they didn't get overcooked. The stew was finished with creme fraiche, a splash of Pernod and some fresh basil. Shlrrrp! Aaaah!

[Pat]

Green salad with balsamic anchovy vinaigrette

Pizza bread* using striata baguette pieces

Leftover baked chicken legs, rice pilaf, and peas

*Homemade pizza sauce from the freezer, roasted red and yellow peppers, and fontina cheese

[The Hersch]

It's true that Glover Park Hardware is further south than the WFM on Wisconsin, but I was at the latter store tonight where all the signs refer to the Georgetown Whole Foods, man. When in Rome... A rose by any other name... Etc. Cachet?

Yeah, well the real-estate folks used to call places like 13th and T NW "Dupont Circle", but it didn't make 13th and T Dupont Circle. They used to call Beekman Place, across 16th St. from Meridian Hill Park, Dupont Circle, too. They probably would call the eastern part of Georgetown Dupont Circle if they weren't calling it Georgetown. Anyway, not only is the Glover Park Whole Foods not in Georgetown, it's separated from Georgetown by the whole intervening neighborhood of Burleith. I'm put in mind of the Abraham Lincoln anecdote, where he asks how many legs a dog has if you call the tail a leg. They answered "five", and he said no, four, calling the tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. Calling Glover Park Georgetown doesn't make it Georgetown.

[mojoman]

Turkey club from Ambrosia

[mojoman]

Tomorrow, I'm doing a small dinner party for a couple of vegetarians.

Watercress/citrus salad

Dates in the Komi style

Leek and potato soup with crispy shallots

Gnocchi w/ brown butter/sage sauce

Grapefruit-Campari granita w/ confit lemon

Deconstructed eggplant "Parmaschnitzel"

"Hot chocolate" w/ confit blood orange whipped cream garnish

I'm thinking of doing a pineapple caviar or ravioli amuse (alginate) but can't get a good recipe.

[The Hersch]

Deconstructed eggplant "Parmaschnitzel"

What exactly would that be? Sounds like it might be interesting.

[mojoman]

What exactly would that be? Sounds like it might be interesting.

I make a nice marinara sauce (I like the ATK recipe).

I make some Parmagiano frico.

I slice and degorge eggplant. Then flour, egg wash, and panko crumb. Shallow fry.

I serve a ramekin of the sauce with some frico pieces jammed in there. Arrange the "parmaschnitzel." I also let some fresh moz come to RT, slice, and arrange to provide the moz component.

[zoramargolis]

Last night:

Split pea soup made with smoked salt for the vegetarians who would be eating it and with added crumbled Niman Ranch bacon for us. About a half-hour before the soup was done, I added 2/3 of a bag of frozen peas for added depth of pea flavor-- the vegetable brunoise base included onion, leek, garlic, carrot, parsnip and fennel, finished with Meyer lemon zest and juice.

Marvy Market baguette

Trader Joe's Goat Brie

Streusel-topped blueberry tart with vanilla ice cream

2006 Erath pinot noir-- "that looks like rosé, Mom"...

[bettyjoan]

Tonight was lamb burgers (mixed with fresh mint, paprika, and cinnamon) with spinach, red onion, and feta salad (just tossed with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then piled on top of the meat). I got the recipe from this month's Bon Apetit magazine--very yummy! Served with steamed broccoli and plain ol' water, since we're trying to watch our girlish figures over here!

[Pat]

green salad with anchovy-balsamic vinaigrette

cordon bleu-ish chicken

baked sweet potatoes with soy spread and maple syrup

[rkduggins]

Last night:

Sazerac

Oven-roasted cod with garlic aioli

mustard and cumin crusted roast potatoes

rainbow swiss chard with golden raisins

[bettyjoan]

Last night may have been the most complicated dinner I've ever attempted (I'm usually a fan of quick, easy, one-pot kinds of recipes). It was black bean chili with crispy pork and poblano salsa, from this month's Bon Apetit magazine. Perhaps someone with faster knife skills and more counter space would have been more efficient, but I started working at 4 PM and didn't sit down to eat till 8 PM (and that didn't account for the overnight soaking of the beans).

The chili was really tasty, with great oniony garlicky cumin-y kick, though it never achieved the thicker consistency that I associate with chili (it was more like black bean soup). Next time I'll cut the amount of water and maybe substitute a good stout for part of it. The pork was good and tender, but it almost seemed unnecessary--the beans were filling and flavorful enough on their own. I had never worked with dried beans before, and I've gotta say, I'll never go back to canned.

The highlight of the meal was the poblano salsa--though I was cursing my broiler and wishing for a gas range while I was trying to roast the peppers. After roasting, de-seeding, and chopping, I added diced white onions, salsa verde (canned), toasted cumin seeds, and fresh chopped cilantro. Yummy! I topped the chili with that, some sour cream, and a little pepper jack cheese.

[MelGold]

Turkey meatballs & whole grain rotini with homemade a pesto and roasted garlic red sauce.

It was even better as leftovers for lunch today (the rest of the sauce is hitting the freezer tonight).

[Erin11]

Chicken pot pie - used up the remainder of the roasted chicken from last week. Delicious and the perfect thing for me as I'm on the tail-end of last week's head cold as well.

[Xochitl10]

Azami made dinner last night: roast pork and green onion chahan (Japanese fried rice). Served with a side of rice-bran-pickled carrots and a giant bottle of Sapporo Black Label beer.

[zoramargolis]

Had a large container of blackberries from Costco starting to go by, so this afternoon, I made a seedless blackberry compote, and then baked pastel vasco, a Portugese pound cake with blackberry compote inside--recipe from *Sunday Suppers at Luques* by Suzanne Goin. When Veggie-teen came home from school this afternoon, she about swooned from the intoxicating aromas emanating from the oven. The cake is flavored with dark rum, orange juice and zest, vanilla and almond extracts and has a LOT of butter in it. I glazed it with a very fragrant New Zealand honey. The blackberry compote was cooked with sugar, a vanilla bean, a small shot of brandy, and lemon juice.

Dinner tonight:

Spiced lamb meatballs

Baked homemade ricotta en cazuela

Spiced carrot puree with dukkah

Labneh with zaatar

Hummos

Cucumbers with yogurt and garlic

Marvy market baguette

Pastel vasco with vanilla ice cream

2006 Epifanio

[Pat]

chicken andouille sausages with onions and garlic

brown rice

tiger's eye beans from Rancho Gordo

I cooked the beans in the crockpot, which I hadn't tried before. Since it was already pretty well into the day, I started them on high, figuring I'd get a head start and then turn them down. I waited too long to check, and after 2 hours on high, they were at a hard boil and had been for some time. They were already starting to break open. I turned them down to low for 2 hours and then kept them on warm until dinner. They tasted fine but were fairly mushy from overcooking . I had no idea beans could cook that fast.

[Pat]

multigrain baguette slices with a deli assortment:

homemade cream cheese spread with capers, dill, and horseradish

smoked salmon*

proscuitto

whitefish spread*

cucumber slices

red onion slivers

green olives with pimentos

My husband also had a leftover piece of the chicken cordon bleu-ish.

*from Costco--Blue Hill Bay, distributed via Acme in Brooklyn

[zoramargolis]

Mushroom-asparagus-leek quiche

Balsamic marinated cippolini onions

Mesclun with avocado and pine nuts

Garlic toast

2006 Susana Balbo Crios Torrontes