What's for Dinner? Part 82 [old]

[LindaWhit]

Figured I'd start a new thread (even though I just had leftover pork roast tonight). So - what's on your breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner tables? :-)

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Tonights dinner was simple Udon w/cut up chicken thighs, tofu, icicle radish, & eryngi mushrooms. I made the the soup out of home made chicken stock, soy sauce, menmi, ajishio, and mirin. Not traditional, but very tasty :o)

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com...

[mamachef]

Not to mention, visually stunning - that's one gorgeous bowl of soup, BombayUp!

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Thank Mama :o)

[LindaWhit]

Cashew Chicken for dinner tonight (it has carrots and celery in it, so those will be my veggies - and served over basmati rice). Trying to keep dinners simple, quick and tasty to allow for evening packing. This will accomplish all of that, plus give me enough for work lunches.

[onceadaylily]

Keep your eyes on the prize, lady!

And mamachef started a new thread here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/778059

[mamachef]

You are a doll; thank you.

[onceadaylily]

You are welcome. Eh, you got enough stuff on your plate. You just copy and past the url from the new thread into a post in the old one. After you post it, just go up to the original post and hit 'report', choose 'other', and then ask the mods to mark it as OLD.

[twilight goddess]

I am always so satisfied when I can make something delicious, simple, on a budget, and carry it over for work lunches.... YES.

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

Good Old Fashion Burgers last night....seasoned simply with salt, pepper, mustard and ketchup topped with a nice slice of Bermuda Onion and pickles!
Side a tater tots and i was Happy Girl!

[mamachef]

There is just nothing like a great burger, is there?
Ok, for what it's worth, I started a new WFD thread. I've been waiting for the opportunity!

[LindaWhit]

Gotta remember to post the link, like OADL did! :-) (Also, click "report" on the original post and ask the Mods to add "old" to the subject line.)

[mamachef]

Thank you LW! Somebody added the "old" already. Now how do I post the link?

[LindaWhit]

I thought you were quicker than than the Easter Bunny in adding that "old". :-) And I see OADL helped below with the URL link of the new thread.

[buttertart]

Did somebody say bunny, Bunny?

[mamachef]

.......Somebunny sure did....
: )

[LindaWhit]

HEY! I've only got THREE cawwats in my veg drawer...and two are going to be used for tonight's dinner!








Time to stock up. ;-)

[buttertart]

I'd say get the foodservice-sized bag!

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Love tater tots!

[haiku.]

Last night was a stirfry (sliced chicken cooked in some pepper spice, blanched greed beans, julienne carrots and marrows, sliced green onion and glass noodles in a chilli/sweet chilli/soy/lime sauce).

Tonight will be some yellowtail fillets cooked in a tomato & marrow (zucchini to some) sauce. I'll probably add some olives and peppers in there too.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

When you mentioned marrow...I thought you meant bone marrow :o)

[haiku.]

That's why I figured I should clarify ;)
We call them marrows, but I know they're known as courgettes and zucchini in other parts of the world.

[gembellina]

Oh asparagus, how I love thee, especially when you are early and on special offer! Chicken roasted with whole shallots, lemon and thyme, and asparagus dripping in butter on the side. Heaven.

Though a strange thing happened when I was roasting my chicken leg: after about 25 mins I stuck a knife in to check if it was done, and i don't know if I hit an artery or what but a fountain of bright red blood came out! I put it back in for another ten mins and it all cooked away but I've never encountered that much blood in a chicken leg before, has anyone else?

[Harters]

Thee has already found UK sparrow grass, gemb?

And on offer? Tell more.

We saw some in Kent over the weekend but it looked really manky.

[gembellina]

Yes indeed, in M+S - some from Wye Valley, some from Herts. It wasn't the most asparagussy version I've ever had so maybe they were a bit quick off the mark, but it was certainly nice and green and crisp and of medium fatness. Being M+S, it was still expensive (2 packs for £4, a pack being about 10 spears) but I was still very pleased, thinking I would have to wait another month or so. My parents report only 3 spears on their plants so far, which they're not willing to share!

[Harters]

Ohhh. The Wye Valley stuff will be the Chinn family. They grow this early crop under glass (or plastic cloches). But it really is early, innit? Must get myself off to Marks & Sparks, then.

As for tonight - tortilla, salad, crusty bread.

[buttertart]

You are killing me, all we have at the mo is the wretched South American stuff that's not worth buying.

[sunflwrsdh]

Monday night.....is a great night to be a Grammy, but never such a great night for dinner. We did have a slight improvement tonight, though....my sister-in-law and I were able to talk the budding gymnasts/tap dancers/ballerinas into the food court at the Mall, (where there is a bouncy place!) instead of McDonald's. So....mall food court Chinese, a little lo mein, half an eggroll and lots of chinese vegetables. Better than McDonald's:)

[gembellina]

There's definitely a special place in my heart for food court chinese!

[pnkpssyct]

Shepard's Pie with Buffalo and pork. We LOVE this meal and try to mix it up now and then.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

So, I just started a blog with most all my meals...Please check it out:o)

I believe tonight's dinner will be Teriyaki Chicken with rice layered with soy sauce dipped nori.

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com/

[TheHuntress]

Love the blog, gorgeous pics!

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Thank you Huntress!

[onceadaylily]

Welcome! Word of warning though . . . the eyes in the sky discourage participants from directing others to their blog, *unless* you've detailed the recipe you were speaking of in your post. If you've done so, you could use the blog as a sign-off without potentially getting your post nicked from the thread. I like to see you here again. :)

ETA: "Since my friends were posting about their kids on Facebook, I started posting what I was making for dinner. I don't have any kids, so I decided to post what I was passionate about...Food!" I *like* you. Good blog.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Thanks for the tip onceadaylily... I'm usually on the LA threads and sometimes on homcooking, much more of a lurker on homecooking, I think I need to be on here more:o) I just love Chowhound, I think I've been on here for close to 10 years now!

Thanks for the encouragement of my blog :o)

[AdamD]

Garlic fried rice, home made vegetable gyoza, sesame spinach, miso soup and carrot/daikon salad (vinegar dressing).

[onceadaylily]

Welcome back, AdamD . . . and a few voices who have been absent lately.

Garlic fried rice, huh? I've never made it, but . . .that would work in quite a few applications, I think. Is the sesame spinach just wilted spinach with toasted seeds tossed in, or with sesame oil (or both)?

[AdamD]

hey hey
Garlic fried rice is great with everything-especially steak! Blanched spinach tossed with a sesame paste made in a suribachi-sesame seeds, soy, sugar and sake.

[linguafood]

Well, after having eaten my way thru Boston and Cambridge, it's back to the stove for me!

I had to cancel band practice tonight due to some icky crud in my chest/bronchiae, and will take it easy the next few days - got a gig on Friday...

Here's hoping that tonight's tom yum goong will do its usual magic and make me better. A whole bunch of shrimp shells are currently steeping/boiling in water to get a good shrimp base. After straining them out, I'll add some store-bought tom yum paste, kaffir lime leaves, chopped up lemon grass, garlic, fish sauce, and lime juice to taste, maybe also some sliced fresh chili peppers if the paste itself isn't spicy enough.

In go a half red pepper left over from yesterday's pork stir-fry, thinly sliced fennel that was hanging out in the crisper all by it's lonesome, red onion, shiitake, and last but not least some fat shrimpees.

Here's hoping it'll do the trick.

[Breadcrumbs]

Welcome back linguafood!! Thanks for taking one for the team w your jaunt to Boston and Cambridge!! ; -) I hope you're feeling better.

[twodales]

Hope it did the trick linguafood and that you are feeling better.

This is what I make when I have a cold. I love the hot soup, the spice and the fresh crunchy bits. I've been meaning to make it with chicken too but haven't done so yet.

Spicy Noodle soup w/ Shrimp and Coconut

1 small onion, roughly chopped
2-inch piece of ginger (about 1 ounce), peeled and sliced
5 cloves garlic
2-3 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and roughly sliced
1 T freshly ground coriander seeds
1 t freshly ground cumin seeds
1/2 t ground turmeric
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 t light brown sugar
2 T peanut or veg oil
Shells from the shrimp
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can coconut milk ( can use light version)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 t kosher salt

For the soup:
6-7 ounces rice noodles (flat like tagliatelle)
1/4 English cucumber
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and dried
1 fresh chili (jalapeno or serrano). stemmed and sliced into rounds
1/2 c fresh cilantro, roughly chopped or torn
(1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped or torn) optional
1 pound shrimp (31 to 40 per pound) shells removed and reserved, deveined
4 lime wedges

Soup Base: Put onion, ginger, garlic, chilis, lemongrass, coriander, cumin, turmeric, fish sauce and brown sugar in a food processor. Puree to make a past, scraping down the sides as needed. Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the paste and saute, stirring often, until it softens, becomes very aromatic, and deepens in color, about 8 minutes. Stir in the shrimp shells and cook until they turn pink, about 2 mins. Add the broth, water, coconut milk, lime juice and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and return to a clean pot.

While the soup is simmering. Prepare the noodles by immersing them in boiling water and removing the pan from the heat. Let noodles sit for 5-10 minutes, until tender. Drain, rinse and split among 4 large or 8
smaller bowls.

Slice the cucumber into matchsticks. Toss with sprouts, chilis (if using them) and herbs.

Just before serving, add the shrimp to the broth and simmer until just cooked, about 3 minutes. Ladle the soup over the noodles. Top with the bean sprout mixture and a lime wedge.

I didn't like the mint but you could add scallions or cabbage-y bits too. Also, adjust the spiciness by adding/deleting the chilis.

[linguafood]

sounds fabulous, twodales!

i do feel a tad bit better. the tom yum came out.... yum-my '-)

good to be back.

[Rubee]

That does sound fabulous. I'll have to try that ASAP.

[sunflwrsdh]

It does sound fabulous and very Weight Watcher friendly! Thanks for posting:)

[Phurstluv]

I spent quite a few years back there, hope those east coasters treated you well. Any favorite places to eat that you visited?

[linguafood]

See my review on the Greater Boston Board. Erbaluce was the big winner. It was really, really good.

[Phurstluv]

Will do. Glad you found some awesome eats, Boston is such a great town!!

[Rubee]

I've been cooking a lot of Mexican lately with E's brother Mike and girlfriend visiting this past weekend including albondigas (a variation of a Diana Kennedy recipe) in chipotle sauce with sopa seca de fideo (fideo pasta toasted and baked with tomato, garlic, chili and seasonings). We also had delicious homemade chiles rellenos that Mike brought in a cooler from a friend he knows in Juarez, Mexico.

Last night was Movie Night (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and I always like to make a nice dinner and cocktails. We started with chiles rellenos with sopa seca and warm tortillas, the cocktail was a Greyhound with fresh squeezed ruby red grapefruit, and dessert was Gina DePalmas "All of the Lemon Tart". Lunch today was a chile relleno burrito with a Caesar salad.

[Breadcrumbs]

omg Rubee, I'm totally salivating here! What an exquisite meal and then the burrito the following day . . . you're killling me! Which book is the DK recipe in? I need to make that and haven't cooked from my recently acquired books as yet. I'm alway drooling when your BIL is visiting!!

[The Drama Queen]

The Greyhound looks very interesting. Just got my first taste of a Cosmo but this one looks good to me since I'm a grapefruit lover. Will get the recipe off the net. Thanks for the yummy photos.

[Phurstluv]

Hi Rubee! That all looks so fabulous, especially the chile rellenos and greyhound, one of my favorite drinks, with the fresh squeezed. Good to see you around!!

[onceadaylily]

Rubee, fantastic photos, gorgeous menu, a new drink for me to investigate, and one of my favorite movies. Ah, good travels, Liz.

[sunflwrsdh]

Beautiful as always, Rubee!

[Rubee]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Breadcrumbs - it's from "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico". I posted a report with details and link to the recipe below:

Albóndigas en Chipotle Quemado
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6913...

[Breadcrumbs]

Fabulous, thanks Rubee, I have to give this a try as this was one of the books I added to my collection at Christmas.

[chef chicklet]

Rubee, good grief what a beautiful layout of delicousness!

[chef chicklet]

Kind of a strange dinner last night that turned our rather scrumptious (or so we thought!)

My dh grilled a nice tri tip to medium rare-and it came out perfectly. Deciding we didn't want too many starches.... what to have. I make a salad of arugula and a little iceberg lettuce, with tomato cucumber, thin radish and thinly sliced scallion. I put out to dressings one blue cheese and the other was the Trader Joe's orange cirtrus and champagne vinagrette. WOW, I had the TJ, and I can't say enough nice things about it, I placed the tri tip which was salty and peppery on the bed of arugula, and the citrus dressing worked so nicely. My husband loves the Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese, okay it's not as good as mine but it'll do. He was very happy. The other littlr surprise was I needed starch or bread. So I decided to play with some cornbread. I by sheer accident made a very nice moist cornbread. With buttermilk, creamed corn ( I know the expiration date had passed but oh well 8 ) ), flour and yellow corn meal, hot sauce, and green onions, oh and butter. Wow. I will try try try to recreate the recipe if anyone cares. It's the kind you can eat with a fork, I've had a couple tiny petite four sized squares of it this morning,and wow it's really good. In between a corn bread pudding but not really and corn bread-just moist but not weepy. Super good. You can really taste the hot sauce, I'll add more salt next time. But for sure this is the stuff that needs to be placed in the bottom of a deep bowl, and filled with your best chili, or blackeyed peas or bean of your heart. I think I could even grill it and get a char for tiny appetizer because it stays together. hmmm.
I think I'm finally on to something here...

[mamachef]

It sounds almost spoonbready, and it sounds just delicious. I'd love to have the recipe if you re-create it. thanks!

[Phurstluv]

That sounds great, chef chickie!! Do let us know when you've got the recipe down.

[onceadaylily]

Wow that sounds good. A third for that recipe if you are able. I love bean dishes served on top of cornbread, and am always trying new recipes for the bread but haven't fallen in love with any yet.

And I haven't had spoonbread in years! I used to love that packaged stuff the company-like-Jiffy-but-not-Jiffy used to sell. Washington?

[chef chicklet]

@mamachef, @Phurstluv & @onceadaylily,thanks for asking!
(ps) our new and first girl! little granddaughter was born 4-8 & is named Lily-Anne so oadl, I think of you now when I say her name now!

Anyway. It's a smiley kinda day over here!
I do have most of it written down, but I was thinking about this morning thinking I didn't add egg, but I did, two egg whites. So yes, I need to go back in time and make sure it's perfect. I'll have it ready by tomorrow.
Don't know if you recall, but I've been looking for a corn pudding recipe with jalapenos for quite sometime now. This isn' t it ofcourse, but my gosh it's really good, and my dh keeps telling me too. I like my usual cornbread which is more cake like, but this is "different."
Are you gals fans of corn/polenta/cornmeal like me? I do I just love the earthiness of cornmeal or polenta. It just takes me to another time. Crazy huh?
Ps. dear Phurstluv, I have found that my new Japanese family is sooo into food as we are. The mother wants me over to teach her to make scones, mind you she speaks almost no English. What an opportunity! I thought of this cause we've said we' d love to cook together somday. If we ever make it down to DisneyLand.....!!!
andOadl, I love Washingtons packaged cornbread mix, it's pretty darn good!
Mamachef, I don't know what spoon bread is supposed to look like, is it really soft like a polenta?

[LindaWhit]

Many congratulations to the parents and grandparents on your granddaughter's birth!

[buttertart]

Lovely baby! Congratulations.

[onceadaylily]

Oh, what a beautiful baby! Look at that contented smile. I'm sure you'll love Lily-Anne (my mother has been, for the most part, pleased with her model). Ha, we spell Anne the same way!

I remember your posting about the search for the perfect corn pudding earlier this year, and love how you kept playing with it to find something that isn't 'it', but thrilled you anyway. Can't wait to try the recipe!

Congrats, chicklet!

[mariacarmen]

congrats CC!! so sweet. and your new corn pudding recipe is eagerly awaited. i have only ever made the jiffy mix version, with the tons of sour cream and creamed corn. i'm not knocking it, because i love it, but yours sounds like it will be reach whole other level of creamy corny goodness.

[mamachef]

Hey, I want a grandbaby of my very own! You lucky chicklet you! Congrats to all, esp. Mom and Dad. And What a Shayna Punim! (Beautiful face, in Yiddish.)
Spoonbread is.....pretty much what you've described; a cross between a pudding and a bread. Dense and moist, but not heavy. Brown on top, but not too brown. This is a recipe I got in Ky. and it's the best I've made: (you'll need parchment and a stand mixer)
4 T. unsalted butter, divided (3 T. melted, 1 softened to grease 9" round cake pan)
3 C. milk
1 1/4 c. finely-milled white or yellow cornmeal
1 t. baking powder
1 t. fine salt
2 well-beaten eggs
Grease 9" round cake pan with softened butter. Cut parchment to fit bottom of pan, place parchment inside and then grease the paper, too. Set aside.
In lg. saucepan, bring milk to a boil, whisking occasionally, over high heat. While whisking, pour meal in in a steady stream, whisking steadily 'til incorporated. Remove pan; cool to room temp. Heat oven to 350; transfer cornmeal mixture to bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle. Add melted butter, baking powder, salt and eggs and mix on med. until uniform and aerated, roughly 15 minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and puffy, about 1 hr. and 20 minutes - test w/ toothpick or skewer, which should come out clean. Serve immediately, with lots of butter. Some folks like molasses, syrup or gravy on these; I don't use them.
Yep, I love all grains, but cornmeal and grits hold a very dear place in my heart; plain, savory or sweet, grits casserole w/ cheese and sausage, baked polenta, grilled polenta, flour-dipped and fried, whatever. Love love love 'em.
Hey, don't even worry about a language gap. re: your guest. I've understood recipes that were communicated to me without one word of English passing between me and the giver. I've said it before: food and cooking is an international language.

[Rubee]

So beautiful! Congratulations.

[sunflwrsdh]

Congratulations, she is beautiful!

[Phurstluv]

Awww, congratulations on that beautiful new granddaughter!! How exciting and fun! And you better get a hold of me if you come down my way! Have fun teaching your new Japanese family how to make scones!!

[onceadaylily]

Well, it was too damned hot in my kitchen last night, so I nixed the soup and bread. I poked around in the fridge for something to play with, and came up with Brussels sprouts, and decided to toss them with some pasta. The sprouts were shredded and sauteed in a mix of oil and butter, with a little balsamic vinegar and thyme, and then mixed with some chopped black olives. The olive and sprout mixture was then tossed with a thin spaghetti that been dressed with two eggs, a bit of cream, salt, pepper, and some parmesan, and topped with toasted breadcrumbs.

The pasta could have used an extra egg yolk, and a bit more Parmesan, but was still very good. The boyfriend had a greater appreciation for it than I, and ate four bowls. Soup tonight, I suppose. The temperature has dropped back down to the fifties, and it's safe to turn the oven on.

[ChristinaMason]

I'm making a beef roast. Last night I chopped up some garlic, parsley, sage, and crumbled rosemary and mixed that with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce to marinate the meat. Today it's cooking low via CI's method. I just found out I don't have to work tonight, so I'm looking forward to making yummy sides a bit later.

[mamachef]

Yorkie Pudding, maybe? With some herbs? And a little kosher salt sprinkled on top? And some roasted onions? and and and.....

yum. Oh, here's a tip. Whenever I roast meat or chicken, I wrap a full bulb of garlic (top sliced off) in foil and roast it right along. Instant appetizer, spread on bread or crostini.

[ChristinaMason]

All scrumptious suggestions! We had it thinly sliced and tucked into ww pitas with tomato, raw-milk local cheddar, mayo, dijon, and lots of ground black pepper. Steamed broccoli with olive oil, salt, and pepper on the side. And some castelvetrano olives (the big, buttery bright green ones from the Whole Foods olive bar). And some pretzel crisps with more cheddar.

Hey, I worked out today :)

[JungMann]

I hosted a game night Saturday, so I worked out a menu of small bites that would keep us going through the night with hands free to mind our cards. I made an easy appetizer of cream cheese with Pickapeppa as well as labneh which I topped with olive oil, sea salt and a Lebanese-style za'atar. Our hot dishes included samosas and sausage balls brought over by guests along with my contribution of lamb kheema quesadillas, crab cakes and duck fat fries served with a Japanese-style curry dip and Dutch patatje oorlog, peanut sauce mixed with mayonnaise and diced onions.

For our one heavy dish, I made rellenong manok, the Filipino dish of deboned chicken, stuffed with chorizos, hams, pickles and then roasted. Meat stuffed with meat proved a little heavy after loading up on beer and fried snacks, so the leftover half of the chicken went towards dinner on Sunday night along with some fresh garlic bread.

[buttertart]

Sunday night was a veal stew (shoulder cut up, bones saved and put in for body, onion, garlic, 1 plum tomato and a tb of tomato paste, Cognac, s&P, water and a Maggi beef cube, braised for a couple of hours and some cut-up Italian frying peppers and sliced Turkish olives stuffed with lemon - the stealth flavor-kicking ingredient - added 15 mins before serving. The sauce was thin so I thickened it a bit with cornstarch slurry.
Noodles with poppyseeds and a Belgian endive and walnut salad with.

[buttertart]

Another dinner party on Saturday night, for a friend's birthday.
An impromptu duck liver paté with my melba toasts to start (the 2 ducks I got had gorgeous big livers - fried up a big shallot in duck fat, did the livers until pink, flamed with Cognac, salted and peppered, blended in blender with 2 tb butter and about 1/3 c whipping cream until very smooth, chilled - faux gras, pretty darn good).
The Dorie Greenspan tomato and strawberry with fresh mozzarella and basil salad to start (this is a TERRIFIC dish, everyone including my no tomatoes or strawberries willingly consumed spouse loved it).
Roast duck (cleaned and trimmed and roasted for an hour or so completely wrapped in aluminum foil on a baking pan at 325, packages opened, ducks salted and peppered and 3 cloves of garlic put in their cavities, put back in oven on a rack for another couple of hours - the enclosed roasting causes them to "sweat" their fat and the open roasting crisps them - I poured the juice and fat into the giblet and neck broth I had going already).
Buttermilk mashed potatoes topped with a big pat of butter and a sprinkle of paprika a la Mom, sautéed broccoli.
Maida Heatter's New Orleans chocolate cake with an interesting icing (for the interested: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7769...).

[mamachef]

Both your dinners sound absolutely staggeringly delicious, lady. I'd love to know what Dorie dresses that salad with? It sounds phenomenal. And if you ever can't find good strawberries, try fresh peach chunks - they work gorgeously with tomatoes too.

[buttertart]

Oh my goodness I bet they do, I would LOVE that.
She says to use just a drop of balsamic (which I hate) or other vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil - you're supposed to have top-quality tomatoes and strawgerries. My tomatoes were ehh so I cut them up and macerated them for a couple of hours in salt and a tsp or so of Sherry vinegar, then tossed them with the strawberries etc, then took them out of the juices they had thrown and drizzled olive oil on top.

[Phurstluv]

What a great idea, what you did with your tomatoes. As I was reading this I was thinking about how to do it when tomatoes are just not that great. We have delicious strawberries already here, but it will take a few more months before the native tomatoes will be any good. And I adore Sherry vinegar, I will try that next time!

[buttertart]

It really helps them. Put just the smallest dash of sugar in too.

[sunflwrsdh]

+1 on the thanks for the tomato idea....tomatoes won't be great here till at least July!

[sunflwrsdh]

Oh my goodness! What an excellent sounding meal, buttertart! The kind I'd love to cook and eat, and I happen to have access to good basil and strawberries, so that salad is definitely going on the list!

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

The weather went back to the coolish side in N. California so I took advantage and made a roast. I made the six-hour pork roast from epicurious, white beans w/roasted tomatoes and steamed/roasted artichokes. To accompany it I had a a 2008 Joel Gott Cabernet Sauvignon. I think it matched well with herbs and the acidity in it surprisingly complemented the artichokes. I probably would have went with a lighter bodied wine, but the bottle was already open and asking to be consumed. Overall, it was a nice rustic dinner that worked easily around my projects this afternoon. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[TheHuntress]

Well Mr. Huntress had to go to the back end of nowhere again for the day after someone kindly rolled a bulldozer on one of his sites (how do you DO that?!?). So for tonight I thought it would be lovely to have a homely roast chicken coming out of the oven when he gets home, with some roast potatoes, maple glazed roast pumpkin (if I can get maple syrup) and maybe some peas. Just something good (and easy for me to manage!) after a long day,

[mamachef]

Huntress and Rabaja: ladies, thank you so much for your good wishes from the bottom of my heart.
Huntress: since I know you're pumpkin-eaters, I've got a recipe at home for Keuben Stampf, which is a complete baked chicken/mashed pumpkin/pan gravy dinner; would you like to have the recipe? Sounds up your alley; it's delicious.

[TheHuntress]

Yes please! I would love it! Especially now it's finally cooling down a bit it's a perfect time to be cooking pumpkin.

[LindaWhit]

Wait - was someone was "doing donuts" with a bulldozer and rolled it over? :-D I do hope Mr. H was able to right the dozer and get back to a wonderful dinner!

[TheHuntress]

:D Something like that. Mr. H does the investigation, so I'm curious to know how one rolls a dozer. Chicken didn't turn out as well as I would have liked - there was only one free range bird left at the shop today and it was the size of an ostrich. It just didn't cook that well, sadly, but hey the potatoes were awesome and tomorrow's another exciting day in the kitchen!

[mamachef]

I am feeling lucky and grateful. My son's condition is improving slowly. I'm back at UCSF with some good home-cooked food (great breakfast, thank you honey!) and a loooong nap and shower under my belt. Things are looking up a bit. I woke up to the hum of the dryer, a good-smelling house, and a husband attending The Church of the Golf Channel and dozing. In the kitchen; a packed insulated bag and a six-pack cooler with a post-it: Don't Open Til Hungry. All right, I can follow the rules. So, I've staked out my claim on my corner of paradise here, and this is what's for dinner:
A container of clam dip (retro - cream cheese, cottage cheese, chives, canned clams, dill, lemon juice and pepper) and a Big Grab of Ruffles.
A thermos of meatballs in sweet/sour sauce. (I'll be honest here; I knew about these because the crockpot was still on low when I went into the kitchen, and I looked. They're great.)
A baggie of garlic Triscuits and a few wedges of Laughing Cow cheese.
A baggie of marinated artichoke hearts and olives
A ton of napkins.
And in the cooler? On ice, two cans of pepsi, two airline bottles of Stoli, one mini-bottle of sparkling white, and a small bottle of red grapefruit juice. He even remembered to pack a plastic glass so I can mix a cocktail. So, between Mike's improved condition, a good book, the 'puter, frequent check-ins at the nursing station, and all this grub, this day is turning out much better than expected.

[rabaja]

That is the sweetest care package (and care given) I've heard of in a long time. Warms my heart. Congrats on your son's improved condition. Sending good thoughts your way.

[TheHuntress]

Oh I am glad to hear about your son. I hope he continues to get better :)

[LindaWhit]

That is so sweet of your DH! So glad your son's condition is improving - hope you enjoyed the day and the grub!

[buttertart]

Smiles and love.

[onceadaylily]

That is so good to hear, Marci. What a beautiful picnic from your amazing guy. You all know how to take care of each other. Your family is in my thoughts.

[mamachef]

This is a huge thanks for all the loving and supportive responses I received either here or in private e-mail over this long, hard weekend. I hope you all really understand that it was so helpful to feel held up like that. This is such a good community of caring people, and I am so lucky to get to experience it.

I do have to work tonight, but I've got a very cheaty meal worked out. Albertson's fried chicken, chive and sour cream mashed with gravy, sauteed zucchini with garlic, tomatoes and black olives, and a salad. I hear there's a pot of vegetarian Minestrone still in the freezer, so that with a loaf of garlic bread and some of that salad will feed my veggie friends, and there's dinner, in about 2 hours flat. Thank goodness it's not a per-hour job - I'd be sooooo broke!

[roxlet]

What a great care package and great news that his condition is improving. Bottoms up!

[Phurstluv]

Aww, so glad to hear your son's health is improving. Love the care package, I love a good clam dip!!

[mariacarmen]

What a guy. You give that big lug a kiss from me! and i am sending constant good thoughts toward your boy.

[sunflwrsdh]

That is so sweet! And I'm so glad to hear that your son is improving!

[sunflwrsdh]

Beautiful weather here in upstate NY today...close to 70, and we completely enjoyed it! My husband created a new seasoning blend and grilled some boneless skinless chicken breasts, and I made a Rachael Ray rigatoni carbonara, which we sliced the grilled chicken into. A beautiful salad, of mixed baby greens, and baby spinach, some matchstick carrots and cucumbers, thinly sliced red onion, some sliced strawberries, and toasted pecans. Husband's home made whole wheat baguette. Little teeny tiny berry tiramisus ( really, about 1 tablespoon in each) I served them in cordial glasses. Very enjoyable meal.

[Phurstluv]

Sounds lovely! Think I may need to look up that pasta dish, sounds right up my family's alley!

[Phurstluv]

The pork sirloin roast is in the oven on a bed of sliced fennel, and I just added some sliced leeks and my house smells great. Another half an hour to roast left. Asparagus will also be roasted, and then tossed with some balsamic. A quick & dirty version of scalloped potatoes, in the oven for 20 and we're done. There is chocolate buttermilk cake for dessert, which I sneaked some for breakfast, and it was tasty & moist. My youngest wants to garnish his with Nestle crunch bars & whipped cream. Ah, youth.

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds great, phurstluv! Your youngest sounds pretty creative, if you ask me! lol

[meltygarden]

bah, so much for plans. Dinner never happened. I was halfway through cooking when a tornado hit our area. Lost power, didn't get it back until just recently. So, last night's dinner is finishing cooking now. I threw it in the fridge last night before we went out to help the neighbors.

[Sue in Mt P]

Oh no. Is everybody ok?

[meltygarden]

we're ok, i don't think anyone was hurt, and we only lost a couple of potted plants from the back deck. our neighbors had their car crushed by a tree, and someone down the street had their entire roof of their shed come off and fly past our house. two billboards were snapped off at the base, lots of business signs were knocked down (walgreens, cvs, taco bell, two different grocery stores, etc). it was pretty crazy. we rescued one of my daughter's friends, a little girl 12 years old, who was running down the street in the rain after her house got hit by lightning. she was home alone at the time, her mom had gone to the store and could not get home for all the trees down. we picked her up and drove her to her grandfather's house. my husband, being a photographer, and myself being a paramedic, we immediately got into the car and starting circling the area looking for people to help and things to photograph.

[Phurstluv]

Hope that your area was spared and that you'll be back in the kitchen again soon.

[sunflwrsdh]

Hope everyone is ok!

[LindaWhit]

Oh my goodness - so glad to hear that everyone's OK!

[Harters]

Bon soir.

It had to be ultra easy as it had to be bought from one of the mini supermarket outlets at the motorway services as we were driving north from the ferry port this afternoon.

So, a ready cooked chicken (for me), new potatoes and I also bought a bag of ready-prepped mixed veg which just needed a few minutes steaming. Followed by some cheese we bought at a farmshop in Kent.

And, for herself (who is a most unwilling eater of chicken), breaded sole goujons and bagged mixed salad.

We're at a family thing tomorrow so "real cooking" starts again Tuesday.

[buttertart]

Deja de retour, mon ami? Sounds like a nice getting home repast.

[Harters]

Yep. Had a great week. Did all my "war stuff" and had some great eats.

I may have a new "best ever favourite restaurant" - an absolute stunner on the middle of nowhere in Belgium, near the French border, called "In de Wulf".

And there was a great dinner in Calais on Friday night. And another one on Saturday back in the UK at the Sportsman in Whitstable.

[LindaWhit]

Welcome back, Harters! Sounds like your trip to France and Belgium was wonderful - how great is it to find a superb restaurant in the middle of nowhere? :-)

[buttertart]

That is a thrill indeed, will always remember finding one in rural Quebec that advertised "Mets Canadiens et Chinois" (...in 1974 or so, you can just imagine...) and the mets Canadiens turned out to be classic French cuisine of the highest order with a wine list to match. Must get to the Sportsman at least one of these days,

[Harters]

Have to confess this was not a random "find".

The place is Michelin starred and I'd seen it tipped several times on blogs and on egullet.

[LindaWhit]

Well, you can pretend the Internet didn't exist and you just happened upon it. ;-)

[roxlet]

Tonight we are having a "longing for summer" dinner. Our neighbors, who usually spent a month in Montauk each summer, were longing for the clams casino that they usually get at a fish shack out there. The DH saw a sack or really fresh clams at the restaurant depot, so that's what we're starting with. Second will be hot smoked salmon with green goddess dressing, scalloped potatoes and broccoli. Dessert is blood orange mousse with orange butter cookies. I also have a bunch of rolls in the oven (adapted from The Italian Baker recipe for rosemary rolls, but without rosemary)since we also defrosted a smoked turkey that we made in the fall and that was taking up too much room in the freezer. For cocktails, we will have rum punch or margaritas. Just serving some mixed nuts with cocktails.

[bg031]

Dinner tonight: rice, roasted broccoli and chicken stew with tomatoes.

[mariacarmen]

so little cooking being done by me. running out to a dinner & a concert last night, quickly roasted a chicken, first sprinkled heavily with a combo of sumac, crushed fennel seed, toasted chili flakes, copious amt. of kosher salt, and fresh coarsely ground black pepper. 450 degrees, 50 minutes - done. Golden, crispy-skinned, smelling like heaven. Boyfriend had it with egg noodles and asparagus leftover from skinny taste poached egg recipe. Deemed it good. Dinner out for me again tonight....

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds great, Mariacarmen....a good roast chicken is a great accomplishment:)

[onceadaylily]

I finally was able to whip together the skordalia and baked ricotta last night, and it was fantastic. The boyfriend was raving about how good everything was. I feel like I am on a stage, holding my trophy, but knowing that the credit isn't all mine, and have to give 'the speech': "And I would like to thank Mamachef and Breadcrumbs for encouraging me to make my own ricotta, Alkapal for suggesting I take it a step further, and Nothingswrong for telling me to go Greek. This one's for us, guys."

But, seriously, the baked ricotta and skordalia were amazing together. And making my own ricotta was so easy, and quite fun, and so delicious. I had to stop myself from sneaking the curds, since I had just enough to make one batch of the baked. I am likely the only person who takes to facebook on a Saturday night to brag about making ricotta . . . it didn't feel lame at the time.

Tonight, I am proving myself a contrary sort of girl again, and using this eighty-degree day to make a batch of soup. I have some cabbage to use up, and settled on a recipe (from an interesting food blog I just found) for cabbage and mushroom cream soup, with the addition of onions, and likely a bit of extra ginger and garlic. I have a baguette to use up, so garlic bread to go with. It's going to be warm in here after I'm done, but my inner girl scout remembered to buy Sierra Nevada, and so, I am prepared.

http://purvasdaawat.blogspot.com/2008...

[Phurstluv]

Good for you girl, I may have to take a look at this cheesemaking process. Being lactose intolerant, this ought to be interesting.

[Breadcrumbs]

Congratulations oadl, so glad your ricotta was a success!! I laughed out loud when I read about your "Saturday night fun!!!" Sounds like something we'd do too!

[vafarmwife]

Grilled thick cut pork chops, roasted red potatoes, corn on the cob, and coleslaw

[Cherylptw]

Dinner was a turkey sandwich with white cheddar, let, tomato, red onion, jalapeno mustard on wheat bread accompanied by a pasta salad with veggies (carrots, cukes, onions, bell peppers, celery), chopped hard boiled egg, fresh chopped basil & Italian dressing and a few Sicilian style potato chips...oh, and a blueberry muffin for dessert.

[JerryMe]

Chicken enchiladas from 'found' chicken in the freezer. I'm getting rave reviews. Some leftover tortilla chips w/ chipotle sauce in the back of the frig. OM - The cleaning out the kitchen has been rewarding.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner was made by my husband, while I napped after some medical procedures, (which went well) He made the first of the season Cornell grilled chicken, served with egg noodles and broccoli. Delicious!

[mamachef]

I am glad that you're okay and things went well, sunflowrsdh. Love that Cornell chicken.

[sunflwrsdh]

Thanks mamachef. Cornell chicken is one of our favorite warm weather foods:)

[Breadcrumbs]

Hi sunflwrsdh, long time no see. . . the COTM threads are taking up all my time so I'm just catching up here!!! I had to Google Cornell chx....sounds so yummy!! I found the "original" recipe on-line. Is that what you use?

[sunflwrsdh]

Hi BC,
Pretty much the original recipe, but we have cut down the salt considerably with pretty good results. It doesn't taste exactly the same, but still good, and the original really calls for a lot!

[Phurstluv]

My kitchen smells great, I just baked the chocolate buttermilk cake, thanks to ChristinaMason! That is for dessert, with a raspberry/blackberry sauce, whipped cream, and my little one's addition, crumbled Nestle Crunch bars on top!

Dinner will be tacos and cheese pizza. Trying the 8.99/lb taco mix from the lovely butcher shop. My older one is not as fond of tacos, much prefers pizza. It's movie night and they were so good at the resto last night, I wanted to spoil them a little!

And just a quick word about lunch, I had finally grilled up those chicken thighs that marinated for 2 days in a lemongrass marinade I found from Guy Fieri. They came out tasty, my oldest gave it a thumbs up. I made a quick lo mein to go with and I heated up my plate from last night's resto - spaghetti with mushrooms, peas & favas. Really tasty.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gu...

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds great Phurst..the cake and your lunch! I bought some chicken thighs today.will look for that marinade, and great idea to have them with lo mein!

[mamachef]

The taco meat: pre-ground and seasoned? was it good?

[Phurstluv]

Both and it was great. I didn't have to do a thing but unwrap the butcher wrap and plop it in a hot pan. Love that. And my mistake, it was only 6.99 /lb, which is expensive but I don't have as much access to butchers as we have more supermarkets than old time markets with a butcher shop. So I would def get it again.

[LindaWhit]

It's been a busy day - packing, meeting with a moving company to estimate the move; picking out more paint samples, meeting with an upholsterer to see if it's worth reupholstering a chair and hassock that used to belong to my Grandma, and a few other odds and ends.

Fishing in the downstairs freezer pool, I snagged some meat sauce which will be augmented with additional sweet sausage and chopped/sauteed red bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Spaghetti & meat sauce, small side salad, and garlic bread is WFD. :-)

[sunflwrsdh]

Dinner sounds good, and I hope you decide to reupholster Grandma's chair and hassock. My husband's Nana gave me a beautiful rocking chair, and I have now had it reupholstered twice, and I love rocking my grandchildren in it. Gives me the same sort of satisfaction that comes from cooking our old family recipes:)

[meltygarden]

If it quits raining long enough, I'm going to crank up the grill and do hamburgers stuffed with blue cheese. On the side some spinach and garlic fried rice and the first salad of the year from our garden, with baby butter lettuce, sugar snap peas, pea tendrils, and whatever sprouts I thin out from the carrots, beets, broccoli and cabbages. If it doesn't quit raining, I'll mix the garlic into the ground beef and make meatballs to simmer in a tomato-olive-caper sauce and serve that over the spinach rice.

[The Drama Queen]

meltygarden, I don't care if it's raining or not, I'm coming to your house for dinner. Seriously you gave me something to try. I've never had hamburgers stuffed with blue cheese. On my list for next week.

[LindaWhit]

Sounds great - either cooked on the grill outside or inside if you do have rain!

[The Drama Queen]

I had forgotten how good my German Roladen was so that's what's on for tonight. With horseradish mashed potatoes and gravy, this is one of my favorite dishes. I always make enough for leftovers cuz it just gets better.

[Breadcrumbs]

How did your Roladen turn out DQ? My best friend is German and her Mom makes a pretty fabulous Roladen too!!

[LiveRock]

Just about to get started on a Coca Cola Ham a la Nigella Lawson. I wanted to come up with a unique ham recipe for an Easter post on my blog and this one may just fit the bill. Not sure yet on the sides but leaning towards a pot of greens & potatoes.

[Cherylptw]

Yum on the ham & the sides which sound like a perfect match!

[LiveRock]

The greens didn't look great so I went with smashed new potatoes with green onions and roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar. Nigella's Ham in Cola turned out really nice...flavorful and tender. I'll be writing it up for my blog this week but here is the recipe & a photo.

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/h...

[Breadcrumbs]

LiveRock this looks fabulous, what a lovely plate. In Canada a Ginger Ale ham is very common and we serve peas on the side. I love mixing pea shoots and fresh peas together, so tasty and a great presentation too!

[alliegator]

Crab Fried Rice, and lots of it! It'll be an early dinner as we're going to a Brewfest thing nearby, and I heard that at the same event last year, there was no food on offer.

So I made a big bunch of jasmine rice last night and it's cooling now to be turned into enough fried rice to line our stomachs before, and dig into after all the beer.

[Breadcrumbs]

Mmmm allie, I wish I'd had some of your rice, how wonderful it sounds. . . made me salivate!! ; - )

[Cherylptw]

Had company in for dinner on Thursday: Swiss steak - onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic simmered in a combo of beef stock, tomato juice and red wine. Made home fries and fresh green beans sauteed in olive oil and just a sprinkle of seasoning salt & Mrs. Dash onion & herb blend. Dessert was mascerated strawberries over butter pecan ice cream.

Tonight started with dried lima bean soup with ham then went on to a steak sub with grilled onions and piled high with cornmeal coated & fried tomatoes...jalapeno mustard. Baby Ruth bar for dessert.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

My mouth is watering.Your company was very lucky. The steak sandwich sounds great too.

[roxlet]

The DH is hard at work on something called shrimp bog, which is a Carolina dish made with shrimp, bacon and rice. We're about 20 minutes away, and it sure smells good! BTW, it's from Pig: King of the Southern Table.

[LindaWhit]

HELLO!!!

Shrimp. And Bacon.

Heaven.

[roxlet]

It was actually just OK. The DH bought some slab bacon that didn't seem as smokey as it should have, and it was a bit too soupy. He'll try it again with some alterations...

[LaLa]

it is very important to use long grain rice in any bog dish. We make chicken bog a lot...delish!

[roxlet]

How soupy is it supposed to be?

[LaLa]

it is not soupy....it should be more sticky...like sticks to the fork with a creamy taste

[Sue in Mt P]

Chicken bog: hurricane food! I love bog.

I just got some pasture raised chicken yesterday at the Charleston Farmer's market (yay It's open again!) so I might make me some. Tonight I'm having early beets, peas and potatoes-really little ones. I'm so happy spring is here.

[Phurstluv]

Was excited all week to go to this new butcher shop opening up in West Hollywood, run by two women, with local (or as in NoCal) pasture raised products. Braved traffic to get there when they opened. Such a clean store, and all of the meat looked unbelievable. It was only their fourth day open so they did not have a lot of stock; completely out of chicken, which was actually okay with me since I was thinking more about veal, lamb & pork. Did not see any veal, but beautiful pork & beef roasts, tiny "chicken steaks", lamb racks, chops & sirloins, housemade sausages and ground meats, also a case of dry aged beef roasts, gorgeous stuff. I came away with some spicy pork & kimchi sausages, a lb of seasoned taco meat, and a 4# sirloin pork roast. We'll see how we like it and may order some Easter lamb from them, since they take special orders.

So I'm about to salt and rub the roast with some fresh rosemary & thyme, maybe some garlic. Let it sit until Sunday, then roast it slow. Picked up some leeks, asparagus, and fennel to roast with it. Well, that's Sunday's dinner. Tonight we are back out into the traffic to meet my DH for a nice Italian seafood dinner with the family in Beverly Hills. Trying to keep on top of the manners thing for the boys, ought to be fun, with lots of Pinot Grigio, my favorite.

[onceadaylily]

Lucky you! I keep meaning to research the options in my area. Pork and kimchi sausages . . . wow. Have fun tonight, and enjoy the family and the wine.

[LindaWhit]

Congrats on finding a new butcher close to you, Phurst! I cannot WAIT to move - there's a butcher within walking distance of my condo that a coworker who lives in the same town says is great.

I cannot wait to have a grill again and have some great beef/pork/chicken/WHATEVER to throw on that sucker! LOL

[Phurstluv]

YAY! Good luck with the move!

[roxlet]

That sounds like a wonderful butcher!

[TheHuntress]

I get so excited in a good butchers and that one sounds great. Hope it turned out well.

[Phurstluv]

I know, so do I, I could barely go to sleep the night before!!

[mamachef]

Huntress, Phurstluv: I once landed a job by telling the chef, "a bushel of raspberries EXCITES me!"

[buttertart]

A bushel of raspberries is one of the most glorious things I can imagine...

[sunflwrsdh]

A bushel of raspberries is an amazing thing to contemplate......jam, shortcakes, waffles, cakes, pies, and what else would we do with them?

[TheHuntress]

A bushel of raspberries would excite me too!

Don't know if saying that would land me a job, but I did get my current job even after I told the interviewer "I do enjoy mental health, but for all the wrong reasons" LOL Probably how I ended up in major trauma.

[mariacarmen]

ohhh kimchi sausages! do report back on those, willya?

[Phurstluv]

will do.

[onceadaylily]

What a fun and busy week we've had. We ate out quite a bit, and actually won one of our auctions. We are now the proud owners of two tin bread cabinets: http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/tin-bread-bin,-home-comfort-bread-and-cake-cabine-1-c-4tg2afjc31

I also managed to find an old Mcdonald's glass that has Grimace on it. We had those glasses when I was growing up, and Grimace was my favorite of the set. The boyfriend, however, has declared it 'his' juice glass, because his parents never bought the glasses, and it's his turn. ;

)

I guess cheese-making is in the air today. I'm trying my hand at making a batch of ricotta, so that I can make baked ricotta. I have a loaf of ciabatta that will be baked until crispy, and served with a bowl of bruschetta toppings (tomato, garlic, basil, and olive oil), and the baked parmesan. I was going to make a batch of skordalia to go with as well, but the boyfriend has asked for that wilted spinach and potato salad again, and that is just too much starch for one meal. Skordalia tomorrow, then. I'm a little tired of that salad, frankly, but I do like to make the man smile. And he did buy me bread cabinets.

http://gourmetgirl1.blogspot.com/2008...

[LJS]

Love the look of the bread cabinets!

[onceadaylily]

They're pretty cool. Smallish, about two feet high, but a kitchy touch for our dining room. And, set atop a buffet table, a nice little storage area for place mats and napkins. Apartment-dwellers do well to bring their own storage to a place, I've found.

I'm still pretty excited about Grimace. I have open shelving in the kitchen, and every time I walk by him, I smile, remembering how much care and creativity my dad used to employ in making the milkshakes he served us in those glasses. The Fruity Pebble milkshake was a keeper. :)

[mariacarmen]

congrats on your wins! that recipe looks awesome, and thanks for that food blog.

[onceadaylily]

Thanks! I first found that blog when I was gifted with that pasta machine (that I still haven't used yet . . . geez). This was the recipe: http://poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/2...

I like her style.

[twodales]

Skordalia? Do you have a recipe that works? I have tried to make it but it turned out like gummy glop. Maybe it was the type of potato I used? I usually carry it out from a Greek place in Niles. It is excellent with the fried zucchini and very garlic-y. Any tips you would care to offer?

[onceadaylily]

I haven't ever made it, but another hound (nothingswrong) has generously offered some guidance here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/772101#6445776

And my rather large Mediterranean cookbook is MIA (all I can find is the 'healthy' one, and you can bet this dish wasn't in there), so I went online, and found this recipe, to get a handle on the proportions: http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/re...

I'll let you know how it turns out. I'll likely taste it first and then decide if I want to include cream. I think the texture alone would dictate that.

But my dinner plans tonight are on hold, people. The boyfriend wants to go out again (he has spring fever for sure) since he doesn't have to get up early tomorrow. He's blowing our grocery budget, but sometimes making do is half the fun in the kitchen.

[LindaWhit]

Enjoy the dinner out, and we'll be looking forward to the "making do" in the kitchen!

[twodales]

Thanks for the skordalia info. I hope it works out for you. I love garlic so I am a total softie for Greek specialty. Also, thanks for the great site. I'll have a good explore when I have a bit of time.

[onceadaylily]

That is an interesting website. I like the food history section. I reported back to nothingswrong on the skordalia, if you're interested: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7721...

[sunflwrsdh]

The bread bin is beautiful!

[Breadcrumbs]

oadl, I'm so excited for you . . . congratulations on your auction win!! Your cabinets are lovely! I know just where you're coming from w Grimace. mr bc is a big Foghorn Leghorn fan and I can still see the grin on his face when I brought home a FL glass from one of my yard sale ventures!!

Can't wait to hear about your ricotta as well, no doubt I'll see something down thread. I'm just catching up on all my CH reading!!

[LindaWhit]

OK, so the bottom of the fridge is cleaned out so I've got to cook something. Tonight will be Chicken Udon with Spicy Peanut Sauce. Can't find my recipe online from having posted it before, but it's got chicken (obviously!), udon noodles, asparagus, red bell pepper strips, carrots, and a great peanut sauce. It'll give me some lunches through the weekend while I'm packing. :-)

[buttertart]

Sounds like good fodder for that kind of work! Been there, done that last year, how nice it is when it's over. And...kitties!

[mariacarmen]

wait, what? Linda's having Kitty Udon? i missed that....

Tonight we're having a skinnytaste recipe of asparagus and poached egg over pasta with parm regg, with a side of my own freshly made MOZZARELLA!!! such a proud mama i am. love how it looks, behaves and tastes just like it's supposed to! hope we can find some good flavorful tomatoes to go with, with some fresh basil.

[mamachef]

Are you near Rainbow, or anywhere near the Haight?

[mariacarmen]

rainbow yes... but really on a budget. think cherry toms will have to do.

[sunflwrsdh]

Nice! Your own home made mozzarella....awesome!

[TheHuntress]

Ooooh, home made mozzerella! I hope it's as fantastic as it sounds.

[mariacarmen]

They are, to varying degrees, Faboo!

[TheHuntress]

Fabulous is definitely the word!

[roxlet]

Wow! What a fun thing to make, and these look terrific!

[bg031]

Looks soooooooo good!

[mamachef]

Look at this!OMG! i want some!

[Breadcrumbs]

Linda that chicken sounds wonderful and how exciting to be packing now!

[Glam Foodie]

We had medium-well rib-eye steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, and a big spinach salad with beets and mushrooms. We dressed the salad with some aged balsamic and some BEAUTIFUL imported olive oil from my in-laws, as well as some sea salt and black pepper. My waistline is going to HATE me but my new hubby and I loved every bite!

[rabaja]

That sounds fabulous, and worth every bite. Mmmm, rib eye. Come on, Summer!

[LJS]

Not cooking a darn thing today or tomorrow...kitchen is in BIG renovation mode. So instead of 'pork adobo' or "chicken marsala', its a different list of decisions (well, they are actually all made and we are just enduring the wait to get to the delicious result).

Artic lime Corian countertops and built-in sink with swans-neck tap/faucet

Bright white cabinets with ceramic 'vegetable' drawer pulls from Lee Valley

Buttermilk yellow walls, with 'Vintage Claret' trim

Hand-painted vegetable, fruit, herb tiles from Harborview Farm (Little Deer Isle, ME)

Original plank pine floors (re-varethaned)

All this is inspired and will be accessorized by our collection of vintage retro-'Italian' kitchen 'kitsch' linens from the '40s and '50's-some were actually my mom's

So, it is going to be a very short grocery list here for a while and lots of take-out. But I like to think it is a recipe for a dream-come-true that is really being cooked up!

Enjoy your cooking, my CH pals...I am reading your descriptions today, alternately drooling and asphyxiating from paint fumes!

[LindaWhit]

Sounds like it's going to be a great renovated kitchen, LJS - enjoy when it's done - we'll all want to know the first meal cooked in the new kitchen!

[onceadaylily]

How exciting! Your care for this project shows well in your descriptions. You are going to have so much fun getting to know the new kitchen. Going in for that first cup of coffee (or tea) in the completed kitchen is going to make you feel giddy. It sounds wonderful.

[mamachef]

It's really windy and chilly here today after a night of rain - but I won't complain since it's not raining Right Now.
I have oodles of ground round in the freezer at work, and I pulled it intending to make a spaghetti dinner, but today somehow feels like a true meatloaf day. So WFD at Chez Fellas is a pretty basic loaf (or loaves, as it were) but I'm going to trick them out with cumin, coriander, garlic, shallots, and cardamom, and use some pomegranate molasses from home to glaze it. A pan of glazed carrots aside, and another few hotel pans of scalloped potatoes because I need something to make a breadcrumb topping for. I did my usual "what's up call-in" this morning, and was informed that they'd had a slider party last night which party involved cutting slider buns out of regular hamburger buns, thereby leaving around 40 "bun rings." House rule is: We Don't Throw Good Food Away, so it's either crumb topping or some kinda funky mixed bread pudding, and right now I don't feel like making dessert. It could change, but the potatoes are first and foremost. And dinner at home, remarkably, is identical to the one above - I'll make our portion there and carry it on back with me.

[Phurstluv]

LOL , funny to picture all those saved bun rings! It will def work for a "funky" kind of bread pudding or do a french toast thing that sits overnight & then baked!

[rabaja]

Last nights staff meal was an interesting mix of baked salmon, lamb chops, sausage and peppers and bibb lettuce salad. The salmon was delicious, and I am going to try to re-create it tonight at home.

I have this friend at work who is an excellent cook, but everytime I ask her how she cooked something I get the, "Oh, it's just salt and olive oil" answer. Really? Because that what I'm putting on my salmon tonight and I'm roasting it as instructed at 450F. It better be as good as hers was, because my piece of wild salmon from Bryan's was $14!
I have high hopes.

Sides will be an herby tabbouleh and fat asparagus spears. May add a steamed artichoke if I'm still hungry.
I'm picking up my friends 14 year old tomorrow morning. She and I will hang out together until her mother and another 14 year old join us Saturday. She's a good eater, so I see thai or mexican in our future. And possibly an animal style from In n'Out, which I've yet to try.
Sounds messy, I can't wait.

[LindaWhit]

I hope you don't cook it for that long, rabaja. Ever since I purchased wild salmon from Seabear.com, this is the way I've always cooked it:

http://www.seabear.com/RecipesTips/Co...

"Slow Down! - Slow cooking seals in the juices, particularly for wild salmon. In an oven, bake at 300º for approximately 25 minutes (less for whitefish). When grilling, let the coals burn down, or place the grill up high. Seafood is done when it turns translucent to opaque, and flakes begin separate easily with a fork. Your seafood will keep cooking even after you remove it from the heat."

[onceadaylily]

That is advice I'll be using soon, Linda. Most recipes I've read call for fifty to seventy degrees higher for fish, and I've not really been satisfied (stove top has netted me better results, but more mess). Thanks for sharing the link.

[rabaja]

Thanks for the tip Linda! In hindsight I think she did it at 450 because it was an almost forgotten part of our staff meal -or maybe the ovens were that high for other things. In any case I will tru lower and slower tomorrow for lunch or a snack.
After a rather heated discussion with my landlord this evening I lost my appetite, put my fish and asparagus back in the fridge and called my Father in tears.
I really hope I don't have to move at the end of Summer, I am so in love with this place! A fireplace, a tamale man, the cat is happy...why's she gotta be crazy???
Thank goodness I'll have the distraction of a 14 year-old tomorrow. That should keep me distracted, and I know she likes her salmon too, so we can share a snack.
Is it just me, or are five wine barrels of thorny bougainvillia next to my PATIO FURNITURE just a tad unreasonable? She has nowhere else to put them, she says. Hello, welcome to Craigslist!

[LindaWhit]

Awww, I'm sorry about the landlord issues. :-( I know what you're dealing with (although mine's not been crazy; just my upstairs neighbor has been but the landlord never dealt with it!)

Enjoy your salmon and asparagus *today*. And ignore the bougainvillea for now.

[mariacarmen]

Rabaja, you've been enjoying your living situation so much, it's been so nice to hear, that i'm really sorry this is happening! i hope you don't have to move either! enjoy your 14-year old charge, and the animal style! it think that's actually pt. friendly!

If i ever get to make fish again... hmmm, next girlie get-together maybe.....i'm going to try that tip too.

[ChristinaMason]

I've been trying to work more meatless and seafood-based meals into our rotation. Yesterday I bought everything necessary to make these black bean and sweet potato cakes from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/261977/s...

However, I'm not really feeling the "Latin" flavor today...hubby made some soyorizo eggs, and the strong cumin-garlic is putting me off. I think I'm going to take the recipe in a more South Asian direction instead by subbing some toasted curry powder for the spices. (And yes, I realize curry powder has a strong cumin base; it's still different enough.

)

Since I'm out of lime, I think I'll serve these with DH's fresh batch of Greek yogurt and tuck them into toasted pita pockets with butter lettuce and tomato slices.

[rabaja]

Yum. Anything tucked into a toasted pita pocket with butter lettuce, tomato and greek yogurt sounds really good to me right now.

[ChristinaMason]

They were good! A little weird, but good. I added some chopped mint and a touch of sour cream (I just wrote "sour scream," lol) to the yogurt. A little schmear of mango chutney in the pita, and they were good to go.

I also pressed some panko onto the patties before broiling. Can't really see them crisping up otherwise.

[Breadcrumbs]

I'm just getting caught up on my Chowhound reading CM and those MS black bean cakes look really scrumptious. I'll be interested to see down thread whether you eventually made them.

[ChristinaMason]

Indeed, I did! See above...they were good, maybe not "great," but we enjoyed them.

[roxlet]

Las night I made Pollo Picante, a recipe I pulled off the net somewhere when I was in Egypt. It was part of our regular rotation, but I hadn't made it in a while.
Put some olive oil in a pan, and fry some crushed garlic until brown, then remove. Put in the chicken pieces skin side down, and brown until they release from the pan, turn and brown the other side. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and chopped parsley, and stir. Add white wine, and boil vigorously for a minute or so. Turn down the heat, add halved oil cured garlic and capers, cover and let cook until done. Serve with rice. I also served my baked ratatouille with this, and it was a very nice meal. This chicken dish is almost like putanesca but without the tomatoes, and the DH made a good suggestion to add some anchovies next time to deepen the umami qualities of the sauce.

[mamachef]

Putanesca Blanca, then: and it sounds absolutely delicious. I don't love chicken w/ tomatoes, for some reason (always, my cacciatore is a white one) but I love cooked tomatoes as a side dish to it, especially sauteed with zucchini and a bit of garlic. I'm making this soon; thank you!

[buttertart]

Sounds right up our street too, especially since tomatoes are a hardish sell at our place.

[roxlet]

Sorry I made a mistake in the recipe -- you're adding halved oil cured olives, not garlic!!!

[rabaja]

I was wondering about that garlic...
It sounds really good! I will pull out my stash of salt-cured anchovies for this.

[mariacarmen]

mamachef: i want you to try this recipe to change your mind, because i usually feel the exact same way:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

Very simple but yet tasty dinner….Chicken Marsala with crimini mushrooms served on top of sautéed cabbage laced with garlic chips

[mamachef]

I came home to a lovely suprise dinner. Mr. found some gorgeous globe artichokes at the market, and stuffed them with shrimp, breadcrumbs, herbs, garlic and zest, and then braised them in white wine. Crazy good. He also pulled off one of the better roasted chickens I've had lately: all succulent, with REALLY crispy skin - his secret for that is compound butter under the skin, but he freezes the butter so it doesn't melt immediately, and it causes the skin to pull slightly away from the meat so it has a chance to get super-crispy while the slowly-melting butter bastes the meat.....and it was perfect with rapini and a glass of something white we bought at the discount store.

[buttertart]

That frozen butter trick is a goodie. Miss cheap and gorgeous artichokes. Snif snif.

[mamachef]

Please don't tell him I told. : ), and enjoy trying it out.
Oh, if you leave "cheap" off, they were GREAT artichokes. But he figured since the wine was cheap, the food budget could handle the arties.

[buttertart]

Try around $3.00 a pop for the old and tired ones here, usually.
Used to get great wine at that discount place by E&Js on San Pablo - we were there just when all the tyros had gone into winemaking and were coming up bankrupt, so the wine was just about given away.

[mariacarmen]

that sounds amazing. i'm going to try that butter trick.

[Breadcrumbs]

Just getting caught up on this thread mamachef, the COTM seems to take all my "free time" for Chowhound it seems! Boy do those artichokes sound fabulous...sorry I missed them!! ; - )

[Cherylptw]

Fried Chicken, home fries, broccoli with parmesan red bell pepper sauce. Mini sugar dusted donuts for dessert.

[TheHuntress]

Well it's almost trying to be Autumn outside today and between the slightly cool change in the air and the improvemnt in my knee (on only 1 crutch now) it can only mean soup! I have been desperate for cooler weather as I love everything about Winter and we only ever get about 3 days of it here. So, on my stove I have tons of lamb stock in the making ticking away nicely. I have just realised typing this that I have no way of straining it until Mr. Huntress gets home tonight. Ah. Maybe I can ask one of my neighbours to help. (Yes, I am an idiot). So anyway, I'll find a way around that little obstacle later and then I'll turn the stock into some kind of lamb and vegetable soup with beans and maybe some pasta if I'm in the mood.

I can't believe I didn't think about how I was going to drain the stock!

[LindaWhit]

Oh, I love lamb, and I love the idea of using bones for a lamb stock. It would make a lamb & barley soup/stew have an incredible depth of flavor. I hope you're able to get it strained with the help of a neighbor!

[TheHuntress]

Well I had a half a leftover roasted shoulder I didn't want to waste, so I used that and some lamb shanks as well. It does make for a fantastic, hearty flavour and then the meat shreds really nicely off the shanks to go into the soup or stew or whatever you want to use it for. My only problem being is my Finnish Lapphund puppy goes nuts for lamb and she sits in the kitchen for the whole day staring at the pot with soft eyes.

[mariacarmen]

WHY don't i have people around me who like lamb??? damn them all to hell. that does sound wonderful. Poor pup, throw him a scrap!

[mariacarmen]

oops, i meant why do i have people around me who DON'T like lamb.

[sunflwrsdh]

I have exactly the same issue, mariacarmen! My daughter doesn't like lamb, although, you know, enough of the rest of us do that I probably should just cook it for us and throw on yet another chicken breast for her.

[mariacarmen]

i'm talking NO ONE. my bf will tolerate it, but neither my sister or dad like it. sad, really...

[gembellina]

Not that I'm not interested in your dinner, but more importantly I just googled to find out what a Finnish Lapphund looks like - so cute!

[TheHuntress]

Well the stock is fantastic, I left it for 6 hours and I now have a bowl of lovely tender lamb to put into the soup. As Mr. Huntress is coming home from a week up in the back end of nowhere I also decided to make an apple, plum and berry crumble with double cream.

There is no way the pup will miss out - lamb is her all time favourite. Maybe you need a lappie mariacarmen? :D Finnish Lapphunds are gorgeous gembellina, a wonderful breed. Our girl is extra special as her colouring (domino sable) is quite rare - I believe there are only 6 of her kind in Australia. She is like a little fluffy wolf :)

[mariacarmen]

i'd ask for a picture but last time we all posted pics of our furries and they shut us down!

[onceadaylily]

Ha, I remember that. But one could always make the picture of the furry one's own avatar for a day or so.

And . . . um, I had a garlic bagel with cream cheese and nova lox for dinner. No, but really, seriously good lox. Almost thirty bucks a pound, but I'm still feeling the afterglow.

[TheHuntress]

One lamb loving fur pup avatar! But this pic was taken when we first brought her home and she's now a year old - I'll have to look for a better one.

But to keep it on topic the lamb soup was a great success and I have a ginormous pot of it, so there's lunch today and forever. My boy rang his grandmother yesterday and asked to stay over their house (without telling me) so I am now free all weekend! Which means going out and enjoying myself and trying not to get into trouble (hee hee). So for dinner it will be anywhere that does a good blue steak and good drinks. Excellent!

[LindaWhit]

She's adorable, Huntress! Glad the soup turned out well - and enjoy your alone weekend AND your steak and cocktail(s). :-)

[mamachef]

LW, I rushed through your post and read, "enjoy your steak cocktails." :)
That's one precious poochy, btw.

[onceadaylily]

That is one gorgeous creature! Enjoy your steak, Huntress, and the Friday night freedom.

[gembellina]

aaahh so cute and fluffy! enjoy your steak =)

[buttertart]

Glad you are feeling better and are up and cooking again. (That little face is the closest dog I've seen to the world's cutest animal, the red panda! Adorable.)

[mariacarmen]

TH - sweet pup!! you and she can share the lamb soup all weekend. have fun with the steak and cocktails!

[sunflwrsdh]

Enjoy!

[mariacarmen]

the afterglow - love it. that sounds like an excellent dinner. i remember being in new york a couple years ago and absolutely swooning over some Russ & Daughters whitefish - when you got good fish, it's absolutely priceless.

[onceadaylily]

We were just going to get a half pound of the belly, but the devious deli man came around the counter and handed me a generous piece of the pricier nova. "It's very nice today," he said innocently. Damn him. I have nova dreams on a lox spread budget.

[mamachef]

I tried to download a pic. of Betty Crocker for my avatar but it's totally locked in copyright hell and can't be used, or at least not by me, yet.

[twilight goddess]

broccoli cheddar soup -- I am going to try for this simple-and-delicious-lookingrecipe which seems to be the Panera version of this soup (with 200 reviews -- see link below)

Sauté onion. Make a roux, add the chicken stock. Add broccoli, carrot, and the sauteed onion. Simmer together. Add extra sharp cheese. Stir in a touch of nutmeg. Puree or not.

How does that sound? Anyone add anything else? I do like the pure simplicity of this recipe... but I am open to any other ideas/additions.

http://www.food.com/recipe/panera-bro...

[twilight goddess]

Just zipping around on epicurious broccoli soups, and I think I made this one a few winters back. So I might add a red bell pepper here, maybe the next time though. This epi version is a "chowder" and calls for potato (meh) red bell pepper and for spices 1 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp dry mustard.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[Phurstluv]

I did basically the same soup last Friday, no carrot, though. I think it was Emeril Lagasse's. Oh, it called for cream, never mind, but I add lowfat milk instead.

[bg031]

First post for this kind of thread:)
Just made roasted veggies and baked some frozen steakettes, but did Ina Garten's Tagliarelle with truffle butter for the first time, and I must say it tasted so yummy. Have only tried two recipes from her Back To Basics book, but both turned out well!

[LindaWhit]

Welcome, and that pasta sounds wonderful!

[bg031]

Thanks, LindaWhit...hopefully can post regularly:)

[Phurstluv]

That looks good and sounds tasty too, I need to look into that cookbook!

[Breadcrumbs]

Welcome to this thread bg and what a lovely-looking dish. I'm a big fan of Ina but haven't tried that dish as yet. I'll add it to my list. Not sure if you've seen the COTM (Cookbook of the Month) thread yet but a few of months ago we cooked from Ina's books and you can still participate if you wish. Here's a link to the main thread in case you're interested:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/737725

[bg031]

Thanks, Breadcrumbs:) I might just post in there. I really do love this cookbook. It's my first one by her, and am quite impressed.

[buttertart]

LindaWhit - leftover pork roast is nothing to be sniffed at, I think it's brilliant cold and makes one of the best sandwiches ever.
Had a plate of thinly-sliced cold roast loin of pork and sliced avocado with a mesclun salad at brunch at the Bay Wolf in Oakland a million and a half years ago and still remember it very fondly. Obviously.
My father (who knew his chow) far preferred it cold to hot.

[LindaWhit]

That's what I've been having for lunch this week so far - Arnold's Deli Thins, slightly warmed in the toaster oven, schmeared with garlic-herb cheese on both pieces, and topped with thin slices of leftover roast pork, strips of roasted red pepper, and lettuce. And Fritos alongside. :-)

[buttertart]

YUM!!!

[mariacarmen]

double yum! no Fritos INSIDE that bad boy?

[LindaWhit]

LOL!!! No, I didn't go that far. The Deli Thins wouldn't have stood up to the crunchy salty strength of Fritomania. They were alongside. :-)

[buttertart]

What is better than a Frito? Not very darn much.

[LindaWhit]

Seriously. It's been my go-to salt craving for at least 30 years. :-)

[buttertart]

I only allow myself to eat Scoops at my sister-in-law's once or twice a year...just too good.

[roxlet]

My son picked up a couple of mini bags at a Deli in NY last week to tide him over until dinner. I had a couple, and how good are those? I also introduced him to the concept of a Frito Pie, and he's ready -- any time anywhere.

[buttertart]

Sign me up too, I like them better than tortilla chips.

[LindaWhit]

I don't go with the Scoops - they're too much for me. Just the reg. Fritos.

As for tortilla chips I've tried the sweet potato ones made by Food Should Taste Good (someone posted about them on a WFD thread), and they are SERIOUSLY good with a mango salsa! In fact - that's part of WFD tonight. Not sure what else, but sweet potato chips and mango salsa started me off. :-)

AND I'll be able to watch the Top Chef: All-Stars Reunion tonight since I bagged out of the get-together I was thinking of going to. I'm way too tired tonight to be out having a glass of wine and then driving home from the city. So I get to watch the uproar at the reunion. :-) (Won't try and stay awake for TCM3 tho.)

[mariacarmen]

AND you have no summarizing duties! enjoy your night! i may start a thread on TCM3, but no way will i summarize. i can't keep up while watching! you are the queen at that.

i remember reading about those sweet potato tortilla chips, sound great. i used to love dunking fritos in Orange Crush. and you're right, BT, Fritos are better than most tortilla chips out there. Tho i do like Casa Sanchez's.

[buttertart]

I like the reg ones too. And the king size (do they still make them)? Must look for those others, thanks for the tip!

[twodales]

I prefer the scoops when I make buffalo chicken dip... for obvious reasons.

[buttertart]

The vice of choice for me is my sister-in-law's magisterial taco dip aka 7-layer dip.

[haiku.]

Ended up adding a tuna pizza to the butter chicken pizza last night. Very good.

Tonight will be smoked haddock pie with a mashed potato crust instead of pastry. Haven't had it in ages, so rather looking forward to it.

[JungMann]

What's your secret to a good tuna pizza?

[haiku.]

No secret, really. I just used a bit of dijon mustard on the base, used a mix of Mozarella and Cheddar (what I had on hand), some flaked tuna from a can (in sunflower oil, not brine) as I can think of better applications for fresh, and added some sliced onion and pineapple chunks. Oh, garlic and chilli too, of course.
We enjoyed it, so I called it good :)

[Phurstluv]

Smoked haddock on mashed potato crust sounds great. So you use leftover mashed or fresh? Bake it all together?

[haiku.]

It's a great use for leftover mash, but I made it specially for the pie in this case.
Poached the smoked haddock fillets in milk (and a touch of cream as I had some leftover on hand). I also made some leeks and then cooked some mushrooms. Made a roux, added the milk (strained) from the poaching, then added the flaked fish, leeks and mushrooms to the mix once thickened. Some people add cheese, but I didn't. This went into a glass dish, which I topped with the mashed potatoes (and made some raised patterns with a fork so these could get nice and brown). It was then baked until the top was a light golden brown.
A rich dish, but one we enjoyed thoroughly.

[gembellina]

Lots of fish lately, as I did a fishmongery and cookery class at the weekend. Made a seafood laksa, whole marinated and grilled mackerel, bream en papillotte with leeks and pernod, and plaice stuffed with prawns and dill. Really tasty, really interesting to learn some fishmongery skills, and served to reinforce what I always forget which is that fish really isn't difficult to cook.

However I am a bit sick of it now so WFD is leftover spinach and coconut dal. The weather has turned quite spring-like but I'm not quite over my cravings for warm, rich and spicy stews.

[Breadcrumbs]

Delicious sounding meal and very interesting class gembillina. My Grandfather (who passed before I was born) was a fishmonger then later ran a fish (and chip) shop. Did they teach you any filleting? Sorry to be so later posting . . . I'm way behind in reading threads, the COTM takes up most of the free time I have for fun things like Chowhound it seems!

[gembellina]

It was a very interesting class. You're lucky to have those skills in your family - did your grandfather pass any of his knowledge down to your mum/dad? We did a bit of filleting but he decided to show us how to fillet a round fish with the head still on which apparently is the most difficult way to do it. Mine ended up a bit raggedy around the edges so I might still get the fishmonger to do it! The best thing was the flat fish as I've never cooked or indeed eaten any of those before. I now love lemon sole!

[rabaja]

The weather turned cold and Chinese Chicken Salad no longer appealed, so I made a quick ma pa tofu with asparagus added. Over brown rice, it was delicious.
I love that dish and am so happy to have found Dunlop's books. It is seriously my favorite quick meal lately.

[gembellina]

Another CHer raving about mapo tofu - I really must get around to making it! Good to know it's quick, that's the thing about Dunlop's recipes that sometimes puts me off, as an unfamiliar cooking style can look quite intimidating and involved.

[buttertart]

I find Dunlop's recipes to be very straightforward and among the easiest I've ever seen in well over 30 years of Chinese cookbook perusal and cooking - just jump in, they're really a breeze. And very rewarding. I made a redcooked beef from Land of Plenty (the one with daikon radish, but I substituted chestnuts) that took maybe 15 mins max active work - most of that cutting up the meat - and was absolutely stellar, both as a dish in itself and last night over noodles.

[Rubee]

Another fan of the Dunlop ma po tofu. I think the first time I tried it, I made it at least every couple of weeks for months. It makes a great weekday lunch because it heats up well. Haven't had it in a while - need to get to the store for some chili bean paste.

http://www.chow.com/photos/156761

[Breadcrumbs]

Rubee that looks delicious! This is one of my absolute favourite dishes but I've never made Dunlop's recipe. I just picked up some fresh, locally made tofu on Saturday so this is on my list this week. I'm so excited!

[gembellina]

Ok, you've convinced me - that looks great! Might give that a go on Friday =)

[mariacarmen]

the aforementioned cheese in a class - well, curds, so far, we go back tomorrow to turn it into mozz. i tasted the curds in all stages of development and had a mouthful of the whey, and i'm feeling a tad... nauseated may be too strong a word, but not far off..... maybe just too much richness at once? dunno, never been put off by any kind of food unless it was bad, and usually that didn't happen until much later. but it was fun and i'm not afraid!