Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[lperry]

Our generous families and friends have seen to it that we are overrun with food gifts right now, and I have zero space in the fridge, so tonight was:

Most of an edible arrangement

Toasted Pugliese bread from Costco with Wensleydale cheese (with cranberries) (thinking of Wallace)

Various chocolates and Pirouline wafers

[Nichole]

I made bacon jam last night for a Holiday Hangover Brunch party I'm going to tomorrow. I had a bit left over that wouldn't fit in the jar, so I decided to pan sear sea scallops and top with a button of the bacon jam. I set the jam-topped scallops on a dollop of mashed sweet potato.

While the flavors went together nicely, and each element on its own was excellent, the whole thing was a bit too sweet (the bacon jam has brown sugar and maple syrup in it). I thought the spice in the jam (Eros Pista, a Hungarian hot pepper paste) would offset the sweetness of the scallops and potatoes, but I think if I make this meal again, I'll need to add some heat to the mashed sweet potatoes.

I can't wait to have the bacon jam on French toast tomorrow though!

[monavano]

Braised beef stew with Quail Creek potato bread. Man,the smell in my house lingers today. Along with the floured, seasoned and browned cubed chuck, I added onions, garlic, carrots, whole baby onions, celery, peas, butternut squash, thyme, oregano, tomatoes and tomato paste. Oh, and a pinch of chili flakes.

I find that I'm using the chili flakes in many dishes to punctuate the flavors. Just enough "wakes up" the palate, without making the dish "hot".

[zoramargolis]

Last night, my neighbor hosted a surprise 50th birthday party for his wife. It was a "bring whatever you want" potluck, with the resultant mishmash of offerings, homemade and purchased, from Middle-Eastern kebabs to sushi to Dunkin Donut holes. My neighbor requested that my contribution be braised shoulder of venison (he provided the venison). As with the last time we did this, I marinated it for two days in a cooked wine marinade. This time we sawed off the head of the humerus before marinating, since I knew that needed to happen for the shoulder to fit into my braising pot. I added the usual umami-boosting embellishments: brandy, tomato paste, soy sauce, powdered porcini, anchovy paste, and deglazed with balsamic vinegar and dry marsala. It went into a 225 oven for five hours. The difference this time was that after five hours, I was able to easily separate the meat from the bones, and cut it into small cubes (at a stand-around-and-shmooze dinner, sliced meat that required knife and fork would be impractical). I strained, degreased and reduced the braising liquid by half, then returned the cubes of meat to the pot. Then it went back into a 180 degree oven until it was time to eat--about three hours later. The resultant "venison stew" was buttery-tender and the sauce had huge depth of flavor. I made a big pot of fluffy polenta for the meat and sauce to sit on. Very big hit.

[DanielK]

Stachowski Brand veal bratwursts, cooked in onions and Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Sauteed portobello mushrooms

Steamed broccoli

Cheese bread

More Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Ciao Bella Key Lime & Graham gelato

[lperry]

The holiday season detox dinner.

Poached eggs and wilted spinach on toast with balsamic vinegar and coarse salt

Sectioned grapefruits

1/3 cranberry liqueur, 2/3 German sekt

[KMango]

still simmering on the stove, but soon to be enjoyed, is...

goat curry, inspired by but modified heavily from jaffrey's lamb with onions recipe

-used curry leaves instead of unavailable green chiles

-ground coriander and dried ancho together as a substitute for my empty container of cumin

(listening to project pitchfork's "time killer")

(the aptness of which is not lost on me)

(since i am using a pressure cooker)

[flygirl]

Small dinner party, agm and nqd in attendance with two other friends:

http://52mealsinoneyear.blogspot.com/2009/12/id-like-wafer-thin-mint-another.html

[lperry]

Tonight was spinach and chick peas (espinacas con garbanzos) made per Madhur Jaffrey's recipe in World Vegetarian. It is supposed to be served with other tapas, but we had it over toasted bread as a light meal. Really nice in the cool weather, *and* I used a cookbook. Double points.

[bettyjoan]

Had a small cocktail party on Saturday night, and here's what I served (heavy apps, basically):

* Chili-spiced almonds

* Smoky chipotle hummus

* Warm caramelized onion dip (this was, by far, the most successful dish of the evening)

* Sesame-crusted salmon with orange-miso sauce (a close second)

* Prosciutto crostini with fennel slaw

* Spiced beef empanadas

* Tomato and ricotta tartlets

Also served a couple of shi shi cocktails, including a rosemary lemon drop and a sparkling pomegranate. All in all, delicious and fun!

[bettyjoan]

By request...the recipe for the warm caramelized onion dip (it originally came from Cooking Light magazine, but I fiddled with it a bit).

* Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 large onions (chopped) and 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme; saute for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook 20 more minutes, until all of the onions are deep golden brown. Remove onions from heat.

* Add 1/2 cup light sour cream, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup reduced fat (NOT fat free) cream cheese, 1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco, and 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire. Stir until blended and cheese melts.

* Serve with slices of crusty French bread.

You could certainly use full-fat dairy products all the way, but even with the light varieties, the dip was really rich and creamy.

[KMango]

Cinnamon-Raisin Mochi Grainaissance squares

(pizza stone bakes these to chewy perfection)

(local honey elevates to just shy of decadent)

[lperry]

Cleaning out the fridge resulted in:

Whole wheat penne and roasted crimini mushrooms in arugula pesto

Chevre on toast

Fruit from an edible arrangement

[Pat]

Spiced Nuts

Quesadilla filled with Refried Black Beans, Guacamole, and Jack and Humboldt Fog Cheeses

Surf and Turf (Cumin-Rubbed, Pan Seared Prime Ribeye over Crab Rice Pilaf)

I really loved that crab pilaf. It took quite a few meals to eat it all, but it didn't lose any of its flavor or freshness. It also became a soup and a frittata along the way .

When I was making the nuts, I couldn't find ground cumin in my spice drawer and so started pulverizing some seeds with my mortar and pestle. Then I located the already ground spice and set the seeds aside. Later I came back to them, crushed them some more, and mixed them with some kosher salt and black pepper as a rub for the steak. That echoed elements of the curry powder already in the pilaf without being overwhelming. It made a good pairing. I was kind of pleased with myself over my surf and turf special

[monavano]

Spiced Nuts

Quesadilla filled with Refried Black Beans, Guacamole, and Jack and Humboldt Fog Cheeses

Surf and Turf (Cumin-Rubbed, Pan Seared Prime Ribeye over Crab Rice Pilaf)

I really loved that crab pilaf. It took quite a few meals to eat it all, but it didn't lose any of its flavor or freshness. It also became a soup and a frittata along the way .

When I was making the nuts, I couldn't find ground cumin and so started pulverizing some seeds with my mortar and pestle. Then I located the already ground spice and set the seeds aside. Later I cam back to them, crushed them some more, and mixed them with some kosher salt and black pepper as a rub for the steak. That echoed elements of the curry powder already in the pilaf without being overwhelming. It made a good pairing. I was kind of pleased with myself over my surf and turf special

Can you share the recipe for the Crab Rice Pilaf?

[Pat]

Can you share the recipe for the Crab Rice Pilaf?

I found it two different places online. The intro to this version confused me, since I couldn't tell if it was the newspaper writer's version or the cookbook version. I made it based on that recipe. Then I subsequently found this version, which looks the same and seems more clearly to come from the book. (I disagree with the blogger at that second link who thinks this was not flavorful enough.)

[leleboo]

Seared wild salmon with a white wine/butter/chive/lemon sauce

Sautéed haricots verts with garlic

I threw the sauce together willy-nilly, insofar as I was pretty much starving (note to self: when you have a 7pm call, do not eat lunch any earlier than 2. kthxbai) and it came out really well, although I had less wine and more lemon than I thought and so it was a touch on the lemony side. Fine by me, though; the wild salmon was very rich, and they worked together well.

The conference call I had to run went long -- as always -- and the Médoc was too damn good (although I should have decanted it). Had to finish dinner with a California cab, which was fine, but a poor showing after the earlier wine.

[zoramargolis]

thick pork loin chops, sauce charcutiere

mashed potatoes

braised red cabbage with pears

2007 Dom. Grand Nicolet (cdr from Weygandt)

[Pat]

Homemade Tortilla Chips and Guacamole

Pane Pugliese

Spinach and Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce and Mascarpone

I layered slightly undercooked ravioli in a casserole with a mascarpone-Monterey Jack-egg mixture and tomato sauce and heated it all through. The excess cheesy sauce was fantastic scooped onto slices of the bread. (This was the second loaf from a Costco purchase, which I had frozen. Reheating in the oven for a bit improved the texture of the bread a great deal. The first loaf had seemed underbaked.)

[Anna Blume]

I picked up some of Nathan Anda's half-smokes and was wondering how to make them into a meal that doesn't include buns, chili, fries, etc.

I've never eaten a half-smoke before and was just thinking of them as a type of sausage that might be good during the weather that's coming our way.

* * *

Last night: remnants of an egg-salad sandwich in transit.

Celery sticks

Leftover roasted squash (bumpy-pumpkin look-alike the size of an acorn squash), reheated

Apple slices w peanut butter

2 slices of dried mango

Last of the Blue Ridge honey-vanilla yogurt w roasted quince

5 shards of a wonderful homemade toffee

Apple Cinnamon herbal tea

Tonight's plans: braised lamb shoulder chops on bed of puréed golden turnips with sautéed chard or Tuscan kale.

[ol_ironstomach]

Wrap in pastrami. Grill. Profit.

[The Hersch]

I picked up some of Nathan Anda's half-smokes and was wondering how to make them into a meal that doesn't include buns, chili, fries, etc.

Pretend it's a Regensburger Bratwurst and grill, fry, or even boil it and serve with sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, and mustard. (I highly recommend the Bubbies brand of sauerkraut, which Whole Foods carries, albeit unreliably.)

Wow, I wish I'd known the Scots did Hanukkah years ago

There are Scottish Jews, you know. I did a seminar many years ago with a very interesting professor who was both Jewish and Scottish. You can hear him give a lecture on "The Idea of Europe" here.

[zoramargolis]

Pretend it's a Regensburger Bratwurst and grill, fry, or even boil it and serve with sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, and mustard. (I highly recommend the Bubbies brand of sauerkraut, which Whole Foods carries, albeit unreliably.)

braised green cabbage with onion, or red cabbage with onion and apple would go very nicely in place of sauerkraut.

[Pat]

Dates stuffed with cheese (Mirabo with walnuts)

Toasted Pane Pugliese

Chicken cutlets

Mushroom* risotto

*White button and shiitake

[leleboo]

Chicken* in balsamic-blackberry-shallot gastrique

Sautéed zucchini with garlic and rosemary

Rosemary-olive oil peasant boule

*yeah, boneless skinless breasts. I'm cleaning out the fridge before leaving town. With luck I'll find something for dessert that makes up for the bland/fat-free nature of dinner's main course.

[monavano]

Cooking all day!

Chicken soup with farina dumplings

"Monster Cookies" (and that concludes my holiday baking, whew)

Beef Satay with green beans and bell peppers over rice, garnished with cilantro, basil and lime.

[Pat]

Last night:

Buttermilk dinner rolls

Salad (romaine, radicchio, cucumber, mushrooms, avocado, tomato, and smoked Gouda) with Ranch dressing

Beef stew with mushrooms

Saturday

Buttermilk dinner rolls

Celery stuffed with smoked Gouda and prosciutto

Meatloaf

Baked potatoes

Broccoli

[lperry]

We had two, one-dish dinners recently, both with asparagus and mushrooms. Friday was paella, and last night was whole wheat penne with an herbed chevre sauce. I'm hoping to get out to the store today.

[Xochitl10]

Spinach and cheese cannelloni with pesto

[LauraB]

Sweet potato and pinto bean chili with fire-roasted tomatoes

Baby arugula dressed with lemon/garlic vinaigrette

[DanCole42]

NY strip with eggless rosemary bearnaise

Roasted leeks and carrots with maple cured bacon

Fresh baguette with cultured butter and sea salt

Tylenol PM Cold

[KMango]

...Tylenol PM Cold

I assume that was not for the snap of citrus flavor...

Feel better soon.

[lperry]

Broccoli, mushroom, and goat brie quiche in an olive oil crust

Spiced pears

Sourdough bread from Best Buns

[Anna Blume]

Huge salad of arugula and mixed salad greens (Tree & Leaf) w pimenton-shrimp (WFM, wild-caught in ME, tiny but good), fennel and clementines w shallot vinaigrette

Slab of warm gingerbread, chilled applesauce and glass of milk

[The Hersch]

NY strip with eggless rosemary bearnaise

Sauce bearnaise is an emulsion of egg yolks and butter flavored with vinegar, shallots, and tarragon. What, then, is an eggless rosemary bearnaise? (Excellent cold medicine, by the way: lemon juice, sugar, gin, boiling water.)

[DanCole42]

Sauce bearnaise is an emulsion of egg yolks and butter flavored with vinegar, shallots, and tarragon. What, then, is an eggless rosemary bearnaise? (Excellent cold medicine, by the way: lemon juice, sugar, gin, boiling water.)

An eggless bearnaise is made by emulsifying the sauce in the absence of eggs.... sort of like a beurre monte, but with flavoring. And no, it's not something I just made up

If anything makes this "not a bearnaise" it's my use of rosemary.

Not sure what else to call it...

(Woohoo! My first post from my brand new Droid!)

[Pat]

Leftover romaine/radicchio salad with Ranch

Buttermilk rolls

Spatchcocked Cornish game hens roasted over polenta

Steamed broccoli

[Heather]

roasted whole Spanish Mackerel

steamed asparagus

rice

[leleboo]

Stuffed mushrooms (lamb, rosemary, garlic, Worcestershire)

Salad with chive-Dijon vinaigrette

(yes, I'm using up my perishables before going away, why do you ask?)

Dessert: cinnamon crumb muffin repurposed as cake, because I said so.

[goodeats]

Slow-roasted chicken

Pureed roasted sunchokes from Heinz

Roasted carrots from New Morning Farm

Edited December 23, 2009 by goodeats

[zoramargolis]

osso buco with Meyer lemon gremolata

chanterelle risotto

steamed broccoli

homemade Valrhona truffles

2001 Villa La Selva Felciaia

[Pat]

Leftover salad

Cornish game hens over polenta

Steamed broccoli

[bettyjoan]

Roasted chicken with rosemary and onions

Steamed snap peas

Crescent rolls

[The Hersch]

An eggless bearnaise is made by emulsifying the sauce in the absence of eggs.... sort of like a beurre monte, but with flavoring.

I'd call it a beurre blanc with rosemary.

[zoramargolis]

dinner cooked with my daughter, who isn't a vegetarian anymore and has become enraptured with Southern food, now that she lives in North Carolina.

buttermilk brined crunchy fried chicken per American Test Kitchen's method

mashed potatoes and celery root

collards and kale with eco-friendly bacon

buttermilk biscuits with butter and sourwood honey

Bell's brown ale

[lperry]

I started out to make the chickpea salad with tahini dressing from Orangette, but changed my mind halfway through and made chickpeas, roasted sweet potatoes, and sweet onion in a lemon and olive oil dressing spiced with garam masala.

Spiced pears

Sourdough bread with butter

[Flavortown]

Christmas Eve (aka no meat) dinner with the family:

Linguine Aglio e Olio

Crab Cakes with Dijon Mustard and Chipotle-Lime sauces

Fried Shrimp

Caramelized Sea Scallops (my contribution - made according to Thomas Keller's recipe in Ad Hoc at Home, then finished with a pan sauce of white wine, lemon, butter, and parsley)

Fresh Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies

The last, lonely scallop:

[Pat]

Last night:

Sweet Potato Rolls

Spicy Cream of Tomato Soup

Alderwood Smoked Ham

Roasted Acorn Squash with Sage, Egg, and Pecorino

Baked Green Peas

Cranberry Bundt Cake with Meyer Lemon Curd

The rolls are from a James Beard recipe. I loved the way they turned out, soft and fluffy, and dotted with little flecks of sweet potato.

The soup was adapted from a Michael Symon recipe. (I omitted the blue cheese the recipe calls for this time since my husband doesn't really like it).

Ham via Costco. Rather than go through the whole process of heating it to the correct internal temperature, I decided to serve it unheated, since it's precooked and doesn't actually have to go in the oven at all. It was delicious. it's a good thing it's so versatile, since we're going to be eating it for a long time .

The squash was from a Frank Ruta recipe, which I think was linked here at some point.

The peas were made the way my mother used to make them. (Put 1 lb. frozen peas in a casserole dish with a tablespoon or so of water. Top with several pats of butter, salt and pepper. Cook at 375F for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover for the first 30 minutes.)

Cranberry cake recipe is from Sundays at Moosewood. Tasted good but a bit too sweet. I made the lemon curd from a recipe I found online, and it came out perfectly.

[Xochitl10]

Cheeses: Buttermilk blue from somewhere in Wisconsin; Grayson (a soft, washed-rind cheese) from Virginia, and Mezzo Seco (a dry, semi-hard mild cheese) from California, served with crackers

Cocktail: 4:1 Maker's Mark and anisette, garnished with clementine rind. Needs tweaking.

Dinner:

Slow-roasted pork shoulder seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and dry mustard

Kale sauteed with minced garlic and salt, finished with a squeeze of lemon

Roasted Red Pepper-Potato Cakes, from the White Dog Cafe cookbook

Green leaf lettuce tossed with toasted slivered almonds and ginger/orange vinaigrette

Dessert:

Homemade Japanese cheesecake made by a friend from her family's recipe

[Pat]

Crackers and Cheeses [Humboldt Fog, gruyere, Spanish blue I forget the name of, and Cabot 3 yr aged white cheddar]; Caramelized Onion Dip (recipe from Barefoot Contessa) with Utz potato chips and baby carrots

Cornbread with bacon (Peter Reinhart, Bread Baker's Apprentice]

Oyster pan roast

Herb-crusted beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce

Roasted potatoes

Roasted shallots

Creamed spinach

Sweet potato cake (made by a neighbor)