Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[cjsadler]

Black bean soup

(Rancho Gordo black beans, ham hock)

Arepas with chicken and avocado stuffing

Wine

[Erin11]

Curried red lentil soup (shamelessly "borrowed" from Last Night's Dinner, a blog from which I get lots of inspiration for dinners)

Garlic naan (Trader Joe's frozen variety - not bad, but not great)

[zoramargolis]

Chris--Gobelsburger Gruner ROCKS!

Tonight:

Roasted kabocha squash soup

Roasted herb-brined Eco-Friendly chicken

(Veggie-teen had a roasted portobello stuffed with marinated lentils and mozzarella di bufala)

Stewed collard greens

Crispy corn bread from *The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook* with sweet butter and New Zealand rata flower honey

2006 Manoir du Carra Moulin a Vent

[mojoman]

Get rid of stuff in the fridge night. Dinner of champions

Fresh moz

Pumpernickel bread

Smoked turkey (OM or similar)

Blood oranges

Jack Daniels

[Xochitl10]

Kitsune udon: udon soup with a couple of triangles of aburaage tucked in the bowl and garnished with green onions. Kitsune is Japanese for "fox," and according to legend, foxes love aburaage, hence the name. We had more rice-bran-pickled carrots on the side.

[DanCole42]

Pan roasted swordfish with hoisin and fish sauce glaze

Black trumpet mushrooms with rice vinegar and toasted sesame

Beer

[zoramargolis]

Kitsune udon: udon soup with a couple of triangles of aburaage tucked in the bowl and garnished with green onions. Kitsune is Japanese for "fox," and according to legend, foxes love aburaage, hence the name.

So, foxes love field mouse. Duck egg. Shrew. Cat food. Is aburaage any of those?

[Xochitl10]

So, foxes love field mouse. Duck egg. Shrew. Cat food. Is aburaage any of those?

Aburaage is much, much better. It's a deep-fried sheet of tofu.

My theory is that it's called kitsune udon because the triangles of aburaage look like fox ears.

[zoramargolis]

Tonight's dinner:

Haddock filets with cilantro lime butter en papillote

Basmati rice

Haricots verts with roasted garlic and Meyer lemon

Pita bread--Veggie-teen had labneh with hers

Ambrosia with fresh pineapple, blood oranges, seedless muscat grapes, coconut cream and meringues

2006 Don Olegario Albariño

[Pat]

Chicken andouille sausages wrapped in puff pastry

Smoked salmon and dilled cream cheese on puff pastry squares

Broccoli slaw with dried cranberries and marcona almonds

[cjsadler]

Early St. Patrick's Day dinner:

Shepherd's Pie

Chocolate Stout Cake

(Had a couple of stout cakes now, with different beers, and I'm not sure the stout really does much. This concept seems delicious to me, yet the taste of the stout doesn't come through much at all-- ends up pretty much being an ordinary chocolate cake)

[Sthitch]

(Had a couple of stout cakes now, with different beers, and I'm not sure the stout really does much. This concept seems delicious to me, yet the taste of the stout doesn't come through much at all-- ends up pretty much being an ordinary chocolate cake)

I would save the stout for braising (and of course drinking). This winter I have used several different stouts to braise pork and lamb shanks. The beer adds a great deal of flavor to the meat and the reduced braising liquid. In January I used some of the braised lamb shanks and reduced and thickened braising liquid for a modified Shepard's Pie. The richness of braised meat and sauce really helped warm up a cold evening. I have found that Young's Double Chocolate provides the greatest amount of flavor for cooking.

[zoramargolis]

(Had a couple of stout cakes now, with different beers, and I'm not sure the stout really does much. This concept seems delicious to me, yet the taste of the stout doesn't come through much at all-- ends up pretty much being an ordinary chocolate cake)

Have you ever tasted the Guiness stout ginger cake from *The Last Course - the Desserts of Gramercy Tavern* by Claudia Fleming? The stout and molasses together add an intense dark richness with the slightest undertone of bitterness that makes the flavor amazingly complex and interesting.

I suppose if you really want to taste stout and not much else, you could make a simple yellow cake recipe and use stout as the liquid component. Then you would have a better sense of whether it has value as a cake flavoring agent on its own. I'm guessing that at the very least, you'd want to add some vanilla.

[DanCole42]

Meat and Potatoes

One of the first little pearls of wisdom I got from a professional chef on this board was from Michael Landrum: "Most great food is the product of specialized technique or equipment, or some deeper knowledge transformed into passion. Recipes rarely help."

Why was this more than ordinary "meat and potatoes"? Technique. Following tips from Cook's Illustrated, I had a juicy and beefy and caramelized NY strip, and mashed potatoes that were creamy and fluffy at the same time with a powerful rooty aroma and potato flavor. This is what food is supposed to be.

[jm chen]

Lots of leftover braised shredded beef from enchilada-making over the weekend, so last night I improvised a ropa vieja with leftover meat, leftover chicken broth, leftover chile colorado, leftover roasted yellow peppers, and leftover grape tomatoes. Tasted so good, next time I'll do it on purpose.

Served with green beans with dates, almonds, and Meyer lemon. That one still needs tweaking, but wasn't bad.

[Xochitl10]

Homemade pork gyoza

Miso soup with nameko mushrooms and wakame seaweed

Steamed rice

The last of the carrot tsukemono

[Pat]

Last night

butter lettuce salad with tomato, cucumber, chopped ham, and balsamic vinaigrette

broiled t-bone steak

stuffed mushrooms, more or less according to this recipe. I used whole grain bread crumbs and red onion instead of green.

Tonight I'm making a stuffed boneless leg of lamb with meat from Costco. After attempting to remove the netting, stuff, and then put the netting back on, I think I'm going back to cutting off the netting and using kitchen twine in the future. Unless there's a secret. Is there a secret to getting the net back over the lamb?

The stuffing is an enhanced version of the leftover stuffing from last night. There wasn't much, but I'm glad i saved it. The stuffing is last night's whole grain bread crumbs, garlic, onion, spinach, and ham...with more bread crumbs, garlic, thyme, parsley, proscuitto, and crumbled feta. Otherwise, just olive oil and black pepper.

I'm roasting potatoes and carrots to go with the lamb.

ETA: Everything came out well. My husband particularly loved the potatoes. I threw a couple of tablespoons of duck fat into the roasting pan to roast them . They were most excellent.

[zoramargolis]

New England boiled dinner:

corned beef

cabbage

carrots

onion

new potatoes

I should have had turnips and beets, too...

Dijon mustard, horseradish, cornichons

Marvy Market baguette

2006 Penfold's Koonunga Hill Cab/Shiraz

[monavano]

Pat, that netting seems elastic and always recoils on me. I use kitchen string-my technique ain't pretty, but it keeps things together. Speaking of which, I made:

WF pork loin stuffed with Cibola cranberry, buffalo and pork sausage, leftovers from a few days old Eve baguette and chicken stock (stuffing made before hand and refrigerated). I basted the pork with Maple syrup a couple of times while roasting.

Sauce-pomegranite balsamic, maple and chicken stock with a large sauteed shallot.

Sugar snap peas

Yams-they were supposed to roast with the pork, but evidently were not going to be done in time, so they were unceremoniously removed from the roasting pan and nuked, then mashed.

Dessert- Rachel Ray chocolate cups (there can't be a simpler chocolate fix) dressed up with mixed berries and whipped cream.

[legant]

Poached halibut with a garlic-ginger aioli

Potato and onion pierogi

Stone Cellars Chardonnay

Hershey's Dark Chocolate Bliss (trial pack)

[Pat]

leftovers...

puff pastry cups with smoked salmon and cream cheese

puff pastry with whitefish spread

stuffed mushrooms

steak and cheese sandwich

(leftover t-bone, sliced, on multigrain baguette, with fried onions, garlic, mushrooms, and melted p'tit basque cheese)

[monavano]

We have lots of leftovers in the fridge so we'll be either reheating dishes or morphing one dish into another. Yesterday, Mr. MV had a fantastic idea for leftover meatballs-meatball sliders- so, we bought individual rolls at Bonaparte Breads and Blue Ridge Dairy fresh mozzarella at Dupont yesterday to make them with. Terrific!

[zoramargolis]

Noteworthy dessert:

Sticky coconut-lime cake, based on a recipe from a friend's website. This recipe called for 12 T. of butter, 1 1/2 cups of AP flour, 3 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut, 3/4 cup of sugar, six eggs and no additional liquid. I modified it, using a cup of coconut flour in place of one of the cups of coconut shreds, an extra teaspoon of baking powder to lighten what looked to be a very heavy batter, some vanilla to enhance the lime zest which was the only flavor called for beside coconut, and added about 3/4 of a cup of almond milk to loosen the batter, which had turned out to be more like the consistency of bread dough, possibly because of the coconut flour substitution. I also baked it for ten minutes less than the recipe called for, and got a clean toothpick. Out of the oven the cake was soaked with a lime syrup--just heavy syrup with lime juice in the recipe, but I added coconut cream and dark rum. This was quite a hit. Very tasty, moist and light. I figured with all of that syrup soaked into the cake, it'd stay nice and moist for a few days. But we had some with tea when it came out of the oven late this afternoon, and we had some more after dinner. And I'll be very surprised if there is any left tomorrow. There's a midnight snacker in this house.

[squidsdc]

I printed out this gnocchi recipe in January, and just now got around to making it. I concur with Chris that it is quite delicious, but for this novice cook it was not very quick (even with the advance prep I did.) The good news is that this is a pretty resilient recipe and the advance prep does work! Thanks for posting the recipe, as it helped me to stretch and try something I've never done before.

Since I had purchased a lowfat riccota that had reached it's sell by date, I thought why not give it a try? So I stopped at the grocery last weekend to pickup the missing parts, but oops, forgot the parsley. I drained the ricotta last weekend, which had quite a lot of liquid in it. Then I added the egg, parmesan, panko, flour and oregano mid-week. I soaked the porcini and separated the broth and stored all in the fridge until Sunday night. I also had purchased baby broccoli to serve with the gnocchi. Come Sunday about 6, I started on the porcini sauce, substituting onion for shallot. I started out badly, forgetting my newly acquired knife skills and accidentally sliced the root-end off the onion. The onion pieces ended up larger than I would have preferred, but I guess there's always next time. It still tasted great--I added some dried thyme to round out the flavor of the sauce, which did so nicely, but will make a note to buy fresh next time.

The sauce was progressing, but I knew I would not be able to keep an eye on the reduction and attempt to form the gnocchi, and be able to eat at a reasonable time. So I asked my husband to help and he took care of rolling out the gnocchi. Turns out the ricotta was still too wet (probably 'cuz it was lowfat) so he had to keep adding lots of panko and flour to get it to be workable. Thankfully our combined efforts had us sitting down to dinner at 8:30. And we finished off the leftovers tonight. Next time, I wouldn't hesitate to use the lowfat riccota again with the same advance prep, but I may even prep the entire sauce the night before to be able to have this as a weeknight dinner...at least until I have a bit more experience and confidence!

[Sthitch]

Coconut Fried Shrimp and Hush-puppies. I have found that the cornmeal is what really makes a great hush-puppy, I have begun using the Anson Mills coarse yellow meal and my puppies have never been better.

[Xochitl10]

Noteworthy dessert:

Sticky coconut-lime cake, based on a recipe from a friend's website.

Zora, your cake posts make me happy.

[zoramargolis]

Zora, your cake posts make me happy.

The cakes make me and my family happy. My doctor, on the other hand, is displeased.

[monavano]

Puree of sunchoke soup with a drizzle of white truffle oil

Talapia with lemon pepper in parchment

Sauted chard- had DH make this and after my first sandy bite, I asked if he washed it really good before cooking it. Wash? Ummm ...no.

Leftover peach and sour cherry crisp (Frozen fruits from the markets last year. Still really good)

[Xochitl10]

Broiled Pacific cod, topped with seasoned miso (dengaku miso)

Hourenso no goma-ae (spinach with sesame dressing)

Hijiki (small, brownish seaweed), konnyaku, aburaage, and carrot simmered in a stock of dashi, sugar, soy sauce, sake, and mirin

Miso soup with wakame seaweed and tofu

Steamed rice

[zoramargolis]

Modified choucroute garnie:

Homemade pork sausages with garlic and red wine

Sauerkraut (canned, from Germany) braised with white wine, juniper berries, aromatic herbs, carrot and turnip

New potatoes

Mixed green salad

Bonaparte baguette

2006 Can Blau Monsant

[The Hersch]

I had an eggplant that needed using, it having been in the fridge for a week. Luckily, it was still totally edible. Sometimes they deteriorate at an alarming rate. I looked around on the Intertubes for ideas, and ended up making something inspired by several different recipes, which turned out stupendously delicious. I cut the bulbous sides off the eggplant and, I'm afraid, discarded those bits. Then I cut the remainder into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise (unpeeled), sprayed the slices on both sides with that spray-on olive oil stuff, and stuck them into a 375-degree oven (on a half-sheet pan) for fifteen or twenty minutes. Meanwhile, I cut up some very nice mozzarella into small bits, and mixed it with garlic put through a press, toasted pine-nuts, raisins that I soaked in vermouth (popped them in the microwave for 30 seconds), grated parmigiano reggiano, some cracker crumbs, salt and pepper, chopped fresh tarragon, and some sour cream. I think that's everything. Oh no, one more thing: I bought some wonderful, bright-green, very juicy Sicilian olives at the Italian Store the other day. I pitted a few of them and chopped them up and added them to the filling. Then I pulled the eggplant out of the oven, and when it was cool enough to handle rolled each slice up around a big wad of the mozzarella stuffing. I coated the bottom of a Pyrex baking dish with some plain, excellent passata seasoned with nothing but salt, put each involtino into the dish on top of the tomato sauce, and then poured a little more passata seasoned with salt on top of the involtini. I topped everything with some more cut-up mozzarella and then with some beautiful fontina valdostana, and put the dish into the 375-degree oven for about 25 minutes, till everything was gooey and bubbling. Oh my gosh that was tasty. It accompanied a lump of nice sirloin steak from WF.

[The Hersch]

Sauerkraut (canned, from Germany) braised with white wine, juniper berries, aromatic herbs, carrot and turnip

Let me second this by saying that sauerkraut needs juniper; I never prepare it without. And they have wonderful juniper berries at Penzey's. Zora: How long do you cook your sauerkraut? I find that to get it as soft and luscious as I want it, I end up cooking it for at least three hours. I also find that it needs some pork fat to reach its full potential. Although perhaps an incongruous choice, I often use pancetta for this purpose.

[qwertyy]

Grannysmith apple

Havarti

Triscuits

Jameson's, rocks

Meh. Don't seem to care too terribly much about food now (which makes the fact that I'm eating so much of it totally inexplicable).

[Pat]

Grannysmith apple

Havarti

Triscuits

Jameson's, rocks

Meh. Don't seem to care too terribly much about food now (which makes the fact that I'm eating so much of it totally inexplicable).

Sometimes simple is just the right thing, though I'd save the Jameson's for after dinner .

I was making dolma that were no way going to be finished in time tonight, so it was a quick improvised (and very good) meal of chicken andouille sausages, black beans, tomatoes, and fried egg, over corn tortillas, topped with grated mozzarella.

[qwertyy]

Sometimes simple is just the right thing, though I'd save the Jameson's for after dinner .

But the Jameson's is the only part that tastes good to me!

How are you making your dolmades? Do you have a new (to you) recipe, or is it tried and true?

[Pat]

But the Jameson's is the only part that tastes good to me!

How are you making your dolmades? Do you have a new (to you) recipe, or is it tried and true?

It's a new recipe, using cabbage leaves instead of grape leaves. The directions are not all that terribly clear either

It's late and I should go to bed, and now I'm wanting to dig out the bottle of Jameson's . I really only like it late in the day. It's like a bedtime story.

Even if the cheese and crackers doesn't taste great, keep it in the routine. What my parents often had as an appetizer was sardines on saltines. I think that usually went with beer or coke, but my dad had it with whiskey sometimes. The sardines were nothing special, but I can never find them the way they used to be. I guess that's in my head.

[TheMatt]

A bowl of Progresso lentil soup and some sourdough bread.

Hey, some of us are postdocs.

[zoramargolis]

Let me second this by saying that sauerkraut needs juniper; I never prepare it without. And they have wonderful juniper berries at Penzey's. Zora: How long do you cook your sauerkraut? I find that to get it as soft and luscious as I want it, I end up cooking it for at least three hours. I also find that it needs some pork fat to reach its full potential. Although perhaps an incongruous choice, I often use pancetta for this purpose.

Since the kraut was canned, it was already quite tender. But I oven braised it for a couple of hours, while I made the sausage mixture and stuffed the casings. It would have been okay with less oven time. And I agree with you about the pork fat. For a real choucroute garnie, it would have braised together with sausages and smoked pork chops. However, I wanted my veggie daughter to eat some of it, so I had to cook the kraut and the sausages separately. Even so, it was mighty good.

[bettyjoan]

During the past week or two, I've been in a cooking frenzy--in addition to the previously mentioned lamb burgers and black bean chili, dinners have included turkey and roasted red pepper meatloaf (really good), smoky corn chowder (amazing), and sausage with red peppers and onions (better the second day). I also pre-froze some individual servings of chicken quarters with a lemon, caper, and tomato sauce--I haven't cooked any of the servings yet, but hopefully it will end up being a better alternative to Let's Dish-type stuff.

Last night? I was hormonal and tired of the kitchen. Papa John's has never tasted so good...

[monavano]

During the past week or two, I've been in a cooking frenzy--in addition to the previously mentioned lamb burgers and black bean chili, dinners have included turkey and roasted red pepper meatloaf (really good), smoky corn chowder (amazing), and sausage with red peppers and onions (better the second day). I also pre-froze some individual servings of chicken quarters with a lemon, caper, and tomato sauce--I haven't cooked any of the servings yet, but hopefully it will end up being a better alternative to Let's Dish-type stuff.

Last night? I was hormonal and tired of the kitchen. Papa John's has never tasted so good...

I get the same way. Even though DH always cleans up or helps a lot, sometimes the last thing I want to do is drag out a pan. Those nights what I make for dinner is a phone call. Chinese, Thai, Dominos

[zoramargolis]

Salad with pan-roasted pear, Cashel blue cheese, hazelnuts, sherry vinaigrette

Oven-braised short ribs

roasted crimini mushrooms

baby beets

mashed Yukon Gold potatoes

2000 Dom. du Trapadis Rasteau Les Ardres

[monavano]

Last night;

Herb salad with the last of the campari tomatoes from Costco (these suckers last a good long time)

Barilla enriched pasta with chicken, onions, peppers, Spanish and kalamata olives in a marinar sauce. Melted the last of the Blue Ridge mozzarella on top.

Too full for dessert

Has anyone else tried the "higher protein" enriched pastas? The Barilla isn't bad, but I don't like the texture. It seems to cook faster and goes from al dente to falling apart quite quickly.

I have another box of fusilli that I have to use, but I don't know that I can get myself to continue using this "healthier" pasta.

[zoramargolis]

Caldo del mar--Mexican seafood stew with a base of shrimp stock, roasted poblanos, tomatillos, onions and garlic, with shrimp, scallops, monkfish, squid, crabmeat, Manila clams and mussels, garnished with cilantro, scallion and fresh lime

corn tortillas

2006 Dom. de Couron Viognier

Julia's Empanadas pineapple coconut empanada and Krispy Kreme lemon and raspberry-filled donuts

[johnb]

Chopped beef and grilled onion pizza, homemade crust, very thin, charred edge. Not bad if I do say so myself. Simple green salad with dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar, and Tiparos fish sauce.

My pizzas are getting better. I bought two cheap pizza stones and they seem to work fairly well. I do them in my electric convection oven set at its highest setting, which is convection roast at 550; takes about 1 hr. to heat up.

[legant]

Halibut marinated and roasted with a sesame-soy-ginger sauce

Cooked spinach drizzled with the same sauce

Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc

The surprise of the evening was the wine. One of those wines you sip and say Whoa. Really crisp; a nice counter to the ginger.

[mojoman]

My fiance is returning home tonight after a week on the Left Coast. I'm making some late night snacks.

Open faced rib-eye sandwiches (toasted ficelle, Boursin, steak, lightly pickled onions)

"Komi" dates

Ratatouille/feta on Ak-Mak crackers

Brie/raspberry preserve won tons

Blood orange confit w/ slivered almonds and whipped cream

[bettyjoan]

During my recent cooking frenzy, I pre-froze a bunch of chicken legs and thighs (in individual portions) with diced tomatoes, lemon juice, capers, salt, pepper, and a little bit of oil. Last night, I popped two servings in the oven at 400 degrees, and after about 50 minutes (and a few moments in the broiler), I had tender, juicy chicken with a light sauce and a great crispy skin. Way better than "Let's Dish"--I'll have to find more of these freeze-ahead meals for the future!

[zoramargolis]

Last night:

Charcoal grilled burgers on brioche buns with grilled onion

Grilled portobellos with P'tit Basque on brioche buns for Veggie-teen and her veggie friend

Homemade coleslaw with bosc pear and pear cider vinegar as the sweet/sour elements in the mayo/yogurt dressing

Ambrosia: fresh pineapple, mango, banana, blood orange, unsweetened coconut and coconut milk

2005 Norton Malbec Reserva

[Pat]

cream of potato and chile soup

braised pork shoulder with onions and tomatoes over couscous

[MBK]

homemade mushroom/prosciutto ravioli in a sage brown butter sauce

mac and cheese (gruyere, cheddar, parmesan) with bacon

seared sea scallops

a bite of a wegman's chocolate/peanut butter tart for dessert - no time to make homemade dessert!

a bit carb-heavy? sure. but a fun birthday dinner for a pasta-loving friend