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Frijoles demi-refritos/quasi sopa w sour cream

Riso verde

Greens

At this time of year Spring Valley Farm sells baskets of young chard mixed w other greens including an Asian variety that has distinctive yellow flowers. Tried them for the first time. When overcooked (or crowded in pan), the mixture turns into mush, alas. Still tasty. But it's unbelievably good and gorgeous when lightly stir-fried on high heat with spring onions and garlic. Probably amazing w Asian flavors instead of olive oil and red chili flakes.

The beans are the last of my supply of those grown by Farm at Sunnyside, originally cooked w aromatics that included a chipotle in adobo sauce. Only mashed some after cooking onions and garlic in a bit of lard, then added the broth reserved from original stint stovetop and more intact beans to cook down until there's only a little, thick liquid.

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Three young men from UNC, two recent graduates and a junior, dropped by to visit my daughter while one of them worked on getting a visa to go to China. They arrived at midnight and were going to stay over last night and then move on to a brother's apartment in Alexandria, but decided to hang out for another night--tonight. Two of the three of them are extremely skinny. They all guzzle espresso.

For dinner, I fed them (and us):

guacamole and chips

black bean soup with pico de gallo and sour cream

cedar-planked salmon

new potatoes with dill butter (little teeny potos the size of olives, found at Harris Teeter)

haricots verts with roasted garlic and lemon

2006 Kirkland Alexander Valley Cabernet

2005 Kirkland Rutherford Cabernet

pear tart with blackberry coulis and whipped cream

yet another espresso

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Gorgeous, m!

* * *

  • French breakfast radishes on top of 2 slivers of baguette that were spread w mashed avocado, lime squeezed over the latter which was then sprinkled w fleur de sel
  • Thin slices of fennel pollen salami (1 oz.)
  • Wedge of St. Pat (Cowgirl Creamery)
  • Thin slice of Humbolt Fog
  • Nicoise olives
  • Roasted asparagus, also sprinkled w fleur de sel
  • 1/4 glass of wine :sad:
  • Couple more radishes
  • Two warmed lengths of baguette, split
  • 3 blackberries
  • 2 raw almonds
  • 2 dark-chocolate covered raisins

I love cooking. Had forgotten, though, how good such a simple meal can be.

Lperry's recent post about a salad inspired by Orangette inspired me to glance at Chocolate & Zucchini where a photograph of the first item on my list seemed just the thing.

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Lperry's recent post about a salad inspired by Orangette inspired me to glance at Chocolate & Zucchini where a photograph of the first item on my list seemed just the thing.

I've got that blog bookmarked as well. I tend to go in cycles of blog reading, and I'm in one right now. There's something about a photograph that is more inspiring to me than a description. I've got those same French radishes in the garden, and I'm impatiently waiting for them to get big enough to eat. In the meantime, and back on topic, I dined alone last night so I ate all the tiny containers of leftovers out of the fridge.

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The fifteen minute prep time dinner:

Falafel wraps with arugula and cress from the garden (first harvest :D ), homemade turnip pickles, leftover tahini sauce, and some really nice sheep's milk feta from Trader Joe's.

Pineapple, meyer lemon, and vanilla sorbet pulled from the freezer.

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Wednesday:

Salad of frisee, red leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and homemade croutons; bottled ranch

Cheddar-chile bread

Red chicken posole

Leftover baked tostadas with sweet potato and black beans

Last night:

More chedddar-chile bread

Leftover salad

Leftover chicken and rice pilaf

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last night:

Aperol Sunsets

baby romaine and mache salad with avocado, orange segments and orange vinaigrette

lasagna bolognese* with mozzarella di bufala and homemade ricotta

apricot tart with blackberry coulis and vanilla creme fraiche

2001 ESJ Bassetti Vyd syrah (funk on the nose that didn't completely blow off until two hours after we'd finished dinner)

*bolognese sauce was made with chicken sausage and ground buffalo due to my daughter's return to meat eating while still eschewing pork. Instead of finishing the sauce with milk or cream, I used the whey from ricotta-making. Verdict: delicious!

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Y'all're makin me crazy. I have so many inspirations from these recent posts (strawberry balsamic! radishes and avocados!) I can't wait to start cooking again.

Wednesday: a bottle of magnesium citrate and two bisacodyl tablets

Thursday: black cherry jello (about half a cup)

Friday forecast = white rice, plain

Saturday forecast = real vegetables!

Sunday forecast = meat!!!!

Monday forecast - cheese!!!!!!!

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salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, feta, and kalamata olives, with a vinaigrette

christopsomos bread*

roasted leg of lamb with rosemary and thyme

baked eggplant

*a variation on the Artos Greek Celebration Bread in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice, with toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, raisins, and spices.

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Rhubarb bellinis

Maro crostini

Breakfast radishes on herbed fleur de selled butter

Softshell crabs on crossed strips of bacon w mustard creme fraiche and more maro and teeny tiny golden beets

(Left the pea vines behind at market after purchase)

Croaker coated w tiny basil leaves and flowers, en papillote, stuffed w sorrel, miso-butter paste and spring red onions

Sorrel purée

Tiny new potatoes, steamed, then rolled in bacon fat and roasted

Cherry clafouti

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It's difficult to follow those dinners with mine, a second try at pupusas. I was dining alone and figured I'd experiment on myself instead of Mr. lperry. I still can't get the knack of making them in my hand, so I cheated with the last one and pressed out each side separately. At least it all tasted good.

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Dinner for in-laws last night was Spanish themed.

Salad with endive, radicchio, Spanish olives, feta, marcona almonds and orange segments with a citrus (juice from supremed oranges) vinaigrette.

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Paella* with shrimp, kielbasa (couldn't find chorizo), chicken thighs and mussels. I used a comination of chicken stock, clam juice** and water (along with the juice of tomatoes and mussels) to cook the rice. The photo shows the paella in a 6-quart braiser--I should hav invited the neighbors.

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Dessert was buttermilk ice cream and berry reduction pictured above.

*paella recipe adapted from from Tyler Florence's Ultimate Paella, and Epicurious Seafood Paella.

** I had NO idea clam juice has so much sodium. I ended up using only about 1/3 of what one recipe called for (I subbed water and just guestimated on the total liquid amount for the amount of rice I used-turned out ok).

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margaritas made with really good blanco tequila (Herencia Mexicana) and Cointreau

chopped iceberg salad with bacon, tomatoes and buttermilk/blue cheese dressing

pan-fried buttermilk dipped chicken legs

creamed Florida corn

supermarket biscuits :D with sourwood honey

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feeding my husband's family--table outside for 9

Aperol Sunsets

chilled fresh pea soup with Greek yogurt and mint

grilled Afghan bread

2008 Tegerseerhof zweigelt rosé

charcoal grilled butterflied leg of Eco-Friendly lamb

(grilled spiced portobellos with goat cheese for the veggie nieces)

barley-corn-fava succotash

marinated lentils

roasted apricots

grilled asparagus

2001 Ogier syrah

rhubarb compote with creme fraiche and Dutch almond cookies

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feeding my husband's family--table outside for 9
Round One!

Did Post-Veggie dig into rosy meat in front of veggie cousins?

* * *

Spanish frittata (Red Apron's chorizo, fried potatoes, savory, chives and spring onions)

Stir-fry of mixed greens, flowers and green garlic

Strawberries

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family dinner al fresco #2

Boodles and Fever Tree G&Ts

roasted medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender chevre

camembert and crackers

green salad with mache, avocado, orange segments, shaved fennel and pine nuts, lemon vinaigrette

applewood smoked, herb-brined pork chops

South Carolina mustard bbq sauce

black-eyed pea cakes (entree for the veggies)

slow cooked collards with Maldon smoked salt

stone ground grits with cheese

2003 Pike&Joyce Adelaide Hills pinot noir

pineapple upside-down cake

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Salad with endive, radicchio, Spanish olives, feta, marcona almonds and orange segments with a citrus (juice from supremed oranges) vinaigrette.

3544553330_07375d07ed.jpg

I've had something similar at Jaleo. That is one heckuva tasty salad! (And a great photo too! :D )

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MIL's 92nd birthday dinner for 10

rum and Ting with lime and mint

white bean soup with creme fraiche, fennel fronds and chive blossom

grilled striata

2008 Las Perdices viognier

cedar planked Irish salmon with dill-chive butter

ratatouille with choice of garnishes: capers, kalamata olives, grated pecorino, basil, parsley, lemon

new potatoes

choice of 2008 Muga rosé or 2005 Dom. Richard Maniere Burgogne

raspberry mousse chocolate cake from Praline

prosecco of unknown origin

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(I'm starting to take some photos, but I have no idea if I'm doing this correctly at all.)

Crockpot: smoked turkey legs, Rancho Gordo mayacoba beans, and baby collards from Gardener's Gourmet.

After the long cooking, the turkey was falling off the bone, so I deboned and shredded/tore it for serving. Red Hatch chile from the pot for garnish.

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We started with a simple guacamole and chips.

3557531471_f5ca38896b.jpg

(

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simple supper for two:

oven roasted Eco-Friendly chicken, served with the rustic bread on which it rested in the roasting pan

room temp orzo salad with parmesan, pecorino, olives, roasted peppers, capers, basil and green garlic, dressed with olive oil and lemon

2006 Macon Loche

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I hope I'm not being too self-indulgent with my exploration of photos, but this is the salad we had last night: tat-soi from Gardener's Gourmet, radishes, campari tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, feta, and speck. The wooden bowl was my mother's "special" salad bowl, which is now quite battered from my overuse of it. The silver tongs belonged to my grandmother, I think; my aunt sent them to me a few years ago to use. They are also getting to be worse for wear.

post-212-1243270011_thumb.jpg

And this is the baked rigatoni we had with it (ground pork loin, tomato sauce seasoned with fennel and cinnamon, among other things, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan).

post-212-1243270161_thumb.jpg

(Thanks to KMango for the help with uploading photos. Changing browsers did it.)

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I'm going to get bored with the photography soon, I promise :D.

Last night we had lamb tacos. Flour tortillas, sliced leg of lamb, vidalia onion, garlic, parsley, anaheim pepper, roasted Hatch red chilies, and refried black beans. Served on a bed of baby greens.

post-212-1243361346_thumb.jpg

Sour cream added at the table, along with fresh peach habanero salsa

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Grilled pork chops with Dizzy Dust rub, and a wet dipping sauce consisting of: spiced rum, apple jelly, brown sugar, chilli flakes, molasses and apple cider vinegar.

Mashed sweet potatoes.

All in all a great success, but would have been better had I taken off the grill five minutes sooner.

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Bruschetta with buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes mashed with fresh thyme, grated onion and garlic, red wine vinegar, sea salt, and a dab of tomato paste

Cherries (I know it's too early in the season, but I couldn't resist... they're so preeeeeettyyyy...)

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whole wheat spaghetti* with bolognese sauce made with Eco-Friendly hot Italian sausage and TJ's ground beef

oven roasted asparagus

B&J's vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce

2007 Santa Cristina sangiovese

*all I had in the pantry. Predictably, Jonathan didn't care for it. I found the pasta to be a neutral vehicle for the intensely flavored sauce, which had slow cooked for hours yesterday, but he's a super-taster and has strong likes and dislikes. He ate it anyway, but I'm not a big fan of having people eat my food begrudgingly, especially after I'd put so much work into cooking the sauce. I'll be sure that I have DeCecco on hand next time.

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whole wheat spaghetti*

*all I had in the pantry. Predictably, Jonathan didn't care for it. I found the pasta to be a neutral vehicle for the intensely flavored sauce, which had slow cooked for hours yesterday, but he's a super-taster and has strong likes and dislikes. He ate it anyway, but I'm not a big fan of having people eat my food begrudgingly, especially after I'd put so much work into cooking the sauce. I'll be sure that I have DeCecco on hand next time.

You know, the whole wheat pasta thing is interesting. I'm a super-taster, but I like the nuttiness of whole grains, especially with bitter greens. I am one of those weird people who can taste the bitterness, but I like it. Too much brown rice and mustard greens as a child, perhaps.

Getting to the point, and in response to Anna Blume's comment, what I like about the better brands of whole wheat pasta is that the texture is very close to that of white pasta, and more importantly, Mr. lperry can eat it without going to sleep immediately after the meal. White pasta puts him in some sort of carb coma, and whole wheat does not. I've even sneaked it in on him just to be as scientific as I could. The only one that's been rejected so far is Harris Teeter brand, and I was with him on that one. Poor texture.

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Getting to the point, and in response to Anna Blume's comment, what I like about the better brands of whole wheat pasta is that the texture is very close to that of white pasta, and more importantly, Mr. lperry can eat it without going to sleep immediately after the meal. White pasta puts him in some sort of carb coma, and whole wheat does not. I've even sneaked it in on him just to be as scientific as I could. The only one that's been rejected so far is Harris Teeter brand, and I was with him on that one. Poor texture.
The brand I have is Ronzoni, which I like. I bought it after watching an episode of America's Test Kitchen, where they did a blind tasting of a bunch of different brands of whole grain pasta and the unanimous favorite was Ronzoni. It's one of the cheaper ones, too. I usually cook that one for me, and DeCecco for him, but unbeknown to me, I didn't have any DeCecco in the house--and, I admit, I didn't feel like a trip to the store when the pasta water was already boiling.
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I'm going to get bored with the photography soon, I promise :D.
Why would you stop? Please don't! I think posts with photos are much more interesting (and appetizing!!!).

Broiled mahi mahi and avocado fritter with lime dill vinaigrette and chilis

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