Home Cooking Dish of the Month: September 2012 Nominations

[L.Nightshade]

Welcome to the nomination thread for the September 2012 Dish of the month!

As Dave MP expressed in the August thread, "The idea of Home Cooking Dish of the Month is to collectively cook as many versions of the dish as possible within the month… reporting back with details about recipes, and photos of the dishes we've cooked."

The Dish of the Month for August was Quinoa Salad, and you can read and participate in that active discussion here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/861003
You can also find some interesting discussion and suggestions in the August nomination thread here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/859431

Now it's time to start considering what dish you'd like to prepare and compare in September. The field is wide open; you can select an old favorite dish, or something you've never tried. When you nominate, keep in mind that we'd all like to try cooking the dish, so extremely complicated dishes with obscure or out-of-season ingredients, while exciting, may have less likelihood of garnering sufficient nominations and votes. When it comes time to cook, you can use recipes from books, from the internet, from friends and family, or, you can invent your own. You can prepare, and report on, as many different versions as your time and imagination allow.

When you are ready to nominate a dish, please type your dish in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Nominations will be open until August 25th at 8pm Pacific time (11pm Eastern time, and 3am August 26th GMT). After the close, the dishes with the most nominations will move on to the voting thread. Once the votes are tallied, the winning dish will be announced and there will be a thread where all participants can post reports and photos.

Everyone is welcome to join in and help decide what we'll be cooking in September!

[L.Nightshade]

The voting thread is now up here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/865191

[L.Nightshade]

Nominations for the September Dish of the Month are now closed!

It's Saturday night, and I'm doing dinner. Rest assured, I'll have the voting thread up later tonight, or tomorrow morning. I'll post a link to the voting thread here when it's up.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

[nomadchowwoman]

Thank you LN; you are the best1

[rabaja]

MEATBALLS!

Thank you!

[Hank Hanover]

MEATBALLS

[gingershelley]

I am kind of having to turn the tide to the finicky member here, and since HH want's meatballs, I think I might be able to get on board with that.

As long as Hank H. promises to give POSITIVE feedback, and not just tough love in his posts.

Since all kinds of food products can be meatballs according to the comments here about COTM, etc. about what kind of 'balls' might be cooked... shall we call it BALLS OF FOOD? With special pride of place to MEATBALLS?

I would vote for the wide ranging idea of force-meat made into balls, of all kinds, probably cooked in a sauce, or, er, served in one separately cooked. Wide ranging, but specific enough to me to comprise a worthy Dish Of The Month....

FORCE-MEAT MADE INTO BALLS, MEAT OR VEG. There, I have voted my final vote:)!

[L.Nightshade]

Just a reminder...
Nominations end this evening, 8pm pacific time.
If you've yet to enter your nomination, now is the time!
Please remember to put nominations in ALL CAPS.

[blue room]

This thread has been as bumpy as Mr.Toad's Wild Ride! (No, I'm not nominating wild toad.)

I hope the passion will overspill into some fine platesful !

[gingershelley]

You mean we are not going to have Frog's Leg's as our dish OTM? :)! Tho that would be delicious!

[yayadave]

Is September too late for TOMATO PIE?

[The Dairy Queen]

Tomato pie! How perfectly, fleetingly seasonal!

~TDQ

[dkennedy]

What is tomato pie? Is it a tart? A quiche? Or something else entirely?

[The Dairy Queen]

It's a savory pie usually with tomatoes, cheddar cheese and mayo (no eggs). It's a terrific way to use up the glut of tomatoes that happens at the end of the season. Here's a classic http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pa... I first learned about it here on chowhound, from yayadave, I think! It's better than you think!

~TDQ

[dkennedy]

Hmmm. Will need to check it out!

[Gio]

Here's a Virginia Willis recipe for Tomato Pie...
http://half-bakedbaker.blogspot.com/2...

[yayadave]

Here's another entry with a nice discussion:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/0...

Even if it's not a DOTM, it's worth making about now.

[dkennedy]

How could I not know about tomato pie, I wonder....

[yayadave]

That's one of the reasons we hang out here.

(suitable emoticon HERE)

[HillJ]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000...

I find tomato pie can be a watery mess or the crust comes out soggy because of the tomatoes. Any tips to address that?

Which is why a tomato gratin is more to my liking.

[Gio]

Peel, seed, and juice the tomatoes before chopping , blot with paper towels, use more tomatoes to compensate.
OR
Salt sliced tomatoes and drain in a colander.

[yayadave]

Would you think to salt them and put them in a colander to drain and then blot them - sorta what you would do with egg plant?

Oh! Dat's wut U said!

[HillJ]

I also have read about that method over what Gio described earlier but then you're either left with the salt or the task of rinsing them which again means liquid. I think the parm layer is a brilliant fix tho.

[nomadchowwoman]

Like Gio, I slice the tomatoes (thin) and blot them on paper towels until they've given up most of their moisture. Then I sprinkle a layer of parmesan over the bottom crust.

Often I make a tomato tart, using puff pastry and nothing but parmesan cheese, blotted tomato slices, and basil. Sometimes, I'll add olive slivers and/or anchovies. It's good, too.

[HillJ]

thanks nomadchowwoman, I love that tip about adding parm on the bottom crust. Big fan of anchovies myself.

[nomadchowwoman]

It's a tiny club--although I didn't know anyone else who loved them until I found CH. My husband is a recent convert to the white ones, but only on salad.

[karykat]

I have always found tomato pies to be watery no matter what I did. The layer of cheese is supposed to keep the juice from the tomatoes from permeating the crust, but it never worked for me.

I finally found the secret in Bread and Chocolate: an upside down tart. You put the tomatos on the bottom of the pan, then cheese. I think she used some tapenade in there too. THEN you put the crust on top. She used puff pastry. Bake. Invert. And serve before it has time to get soggy. I made this for a gathering and it was sensational.

I'm not spotting my copy of Bread and Chocolate right now, but if anyone wants more details, I'll find it and let you know.

[HillJ]

I appreciate the heads up karykat. Thanks.

[gingershelley]

I LOVE tomato pie! I believe there is my classic go to in Victory Garden cookbook. But, I don't think it's range is wide enough for dish of the month status.

But a good reminder for a dinner to be made with it as centerpiece. Thanks Dairy Queen!

[MplsM ary]

I like Sara Moulton's Tomato Pie: http://saramoulton.com/2011/08/tomato...

My favorite thing to make for a dinner party. Ever.

[yayadave]

Thank's for that. I'll bet that mustard adds some zing.

[MplsM ary]

You don't really notice the mustard oddly enough (and yes, it's kind of a lot of mustard!). It does round out the flavors and makes it even more tomato-y somehow.

[dkennedy]

I think I am going to try and make this one. Thank you for the link. Favorite thing to make for a dinner party ever is a ringing endorsement.

[The Dairy Queen]

That does look really good!

~TDQ

[jpr54_1]

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/...
this looked delicious

[HillJ]

I've made that dish several x's and it's fabulous.

[deet13]

How about TERRINES?

They can be as rustic or extravagant as the cook can make them. They can contain any veggie or meat combo, and can be made with beef or starch based gelatin.

One of my favorite terrine recipes is here...
http://fxcuisine.com/Default.asp?lang...

[mariacarmen]

waaahhhh - that recipe looks so wonderful, but we're SOL in CA!

i'd be up for TERRINES.

[deet13]

Here's a Coconut Panna Cotta and Pineapple Gelée Terrine:
http://www.alacuisine.org/alacuisine/...

Looks like an interesting choice for a desert, or maybe an appetizer.

[HillJ]

Pretty too. Terrines are really beautiful.

[gingershelley]

For me, deet13, that is ranging too far afield, and as LN, our organizer might say; we are then not focused on a "dish' we are all cooking? But instead a wide-ranging structure for a cooking method?

Not what I want in dish of the month.... More to concentration on a concept to compare and contrast how we get to similar/dissimilar end results.

[gingershelley]

Hey, MC, are you multi-voting? I thought you were down with au gratin?

Tho, must confess, meatballs is fascinating as I don't make them often, as apposed to many CH'rs. meatballs may bring me back from my gratin brink...

[soypower]

Yes, MEATBALLS! That's a dish I can definitely get behind. :o)

[Heidi cooks and bakes]

I LOVE this idea. I love the cookbook of the month, but with working and life, I just never seem to be able to participate at the level I would really like to. I think with the dish of the month, I will be able to try more recipes, rather than being overwhelmed by a whole cookbook of potential recipes.

My vote is for MEATBALLS!

Good job keeping the conversation going in the right direction L.N!

[jpr54_1]

SALSA
MEATBALLS

[HillJ]

MEATBALLS, nice idea.

[dkennedy]

MEATBALLS!

[blue room]

Yes, I would enjoy MEATBALLS month too. I know many are trying to use summer vegetables, but with meatballs you'd serve vegetables too, almost certainly.

jpr54_1 , would you say that meatballs cancels your earlier suggestion for hamburger?

[jpr54_1]

yes

[Gio]

Just for clarification:
Would this be meatballs made just with ground beef or may the meatballs be made with ground poultry and other meats too?

[jpr54_1]

the meatballs could be made with any product

this would give lots of variety

[blue room]

Yes, I agree.

[HillJ]

Including vegetable, grain, fish and fruit-based burgers. Then color me happy!

[blue room]

Well, meatballs, not burgers, but fruit-based burgers? Please explain!

[Gio]

Haven't you heard of appleburgers, BR? J/K

[HillJ]

Maybe you need to get out more Gio, J/K..

[blue room]

I think we should at least rule out cake pops!

[The Dairy Queen]

Hey, that's just "meat"balls on a stick, which is totally legit! Especially for those if us in full Minnesota State Fair mode...

~TDQ

[blue room]

You know, for a long time I thought your avatar was a big caramel corn popcorn kernel -- but you explained one day it was ice cream from your State Fair --
am I remembering this correctly? (I can see it as ice cream now -- you know how those little pictures are...)

[The Dairy Queen]

Wow, stellar memory. Yes indeedy, my avatar is a pic of the honey sunflower seed ice cream sundae from the MN State Fair (which is trending worldwide twitter right now, if you care about such things #MNStateFair). It is ice cream made especially for the fair every year with honey as the sweetener. The "sundae" is also drizzled with honey. It's really delicious and you can only get it for 12 days a year. The UofM Dairy Lab that does a knock off of it other times of year, but it's only open for a couple of hours on Weds afternoons, which I can almost never get to.

Somewhere someone here on the home cooking board has provided a link to a honey sice cream I intend to try to make at home one of these days... ETA: ah, here it is: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3292...

Hmmm...are ice cream balls meatballs?

~TDQ

[blue room]

Honey-sunflower seed sounds lovely! Usually university extentions are happy to provide recipes? Maybe not if it is a Fair attraction.

Haha -- I think to pass something off as a "meatball" you need to be able to stick a toothpick in it, call it a protein, and eat it in two bites or less!

[The Dairy Queen]

Cream+ Sunflower seeds is definitely a protein, no? :) Well, if I"m going to be shamelessly Minnesotan, certainly Spam bites are meatballs, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ca...

(Interesting: I wonder if the UofM would share the recipe for the ice cream.)

~TDQ

[HillJ]

blue room fruit based burgers work really well with fish. So far I've enjoyed mango, pineapple, star fruit and blueberries worked into fresh fish that's been shaped into a burger and grilled. There's room for experimentation and my own recipes are still evolving but the taste is surprisingly delicious.

[HillJ]

http://thesaucychoppers.blogspot.com/...

And on the meatball front something as simple as this. Delicious.

Small burger equals meatball :)

[deet13]

That's a pretty wide spread...

I guess that means that a mini meatloaf could fall under the meatball "clade"?

[HillJ]

hi deet13,

The ingredient list for making meatballs, sliders, meatloaf, meat burgers do crossover. Meatballs of the non-meat variety even more so.

For the purposes of this thread, voting for meatballs (which I have) would mean (if I've gotten it right) cooking them to your liking. Meatloaf is not on the list so far. Are you considering entering it?

edited to please.

[L.Nightshade]

I'm sorry if I'm micromanaging here, but please don't capitalize when you are using the name of the dish in conversation, or when you have already nominated. It makes the count that much more difficult.
Nominations and votes are made in capital letters so that the coordinator can scan the thread and easily count. We've more than one conversational mention of meatballs now in capital letters. Just once please!

[HillJ]

edited to pls and yes I have been a bit micromanaged during this thread but that's how the meatball tumbles.

[deet13]

Nah, it was just a matter of curiosity. Actually, I nominated terrines below.

[HillJ]

I see that. Love a good terrine.

[rabaja]

it should be all meatballs, don't you think?
Beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, tofu....
That would actually be a fun dish to play with, and might even inspire me to play around with those great japanese chicken meatballs with the water chestnuts I used to get in SF.

[Gio]

Oh yes, that was my thinking too. Just wanted to make sure. Tofu sounds interesting as do vegetable and grain meatballs.

I recently bought The Meatball Shop Cookbook by the chef and owner of the famous NYC restaurant...

http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/9...

[The Dairy Queen]

I bought that book, too! Sounds fun, doesn't it? Have you cooked anything from it yet?

LN, I'd vote, but I can't imagine my track record for DOTM will be any more consistent than for COTM...so, I'll abstain for now. Thanks for coordinating, though.

~TDQ

[L.Nightshade]

I understand your plight, DQ. But even if you don't vote, do check the outcome. The winner may be something you can easily fit in to your schedule!

[The Dairy Queen]

Definitely! I just don't want to be responsible for influencing the outcome,but I still might try to cook!

~TDQ

[Gio]

Hi DQ. I haven't cooked anything from the meatball book yet. It arrived at the same time as several other books including the present COTM, Raising the Salad Bar. Aside from a variety of meatball recipes there are recipes for side dishes, salads , and desserts. Quite a bundle for such a small book of 99 recipes.. If meatballs wins the DOTM it will be fun to cook from it.

[nomadchowwoman]

I'm loving the idea of meatballs--so many directions, possibilities.

I am NOT loving the idea that I know feel I MUST have that meatball book--regardless of the outcome of the vote. ; )

(But it's small, right? and would just take up a little space?)

[HillJ]

http://www.themeatballshop.com/index.php/recipes
http://www.themeatballshop.com/images/uploads/MEA_People_110711.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/67498686/Re...

The owners have always been generous with their recipes.

[Gio]

Just for the record, the recipes in the first link posted are not from The Meatball Shop Cookbook. They've been submitted by readers of the web site and patrons of the restaurant. They're certainly of interest though...

[nomadchowwoman]

Yes, I noticed that--but what a treasure trove.
I'm sold on the book after a glance at its TOC.
And since my husband loves meatballs, I'll justify it: a gift for him.

So my nomination is for MEATBALLS.

[HillJ]

Right. I was hoping my comment under the links would explain the reason I posted them. Meatballs seems to be a contender...

[The Dairy Queen]

It's small and very cute. It's indexed on EYB if you want to see the listing of recipes it has...

~TDQ

[Gio]

It's only 9 x 0.7 x 9 inches. That's not big in my estimation. Think Fightin' Irish Balls with corned beef, ground pork; cooked potatoes; green cabbage; whole grain mustard, or Gobble Gobble Balls with ground turkey; garlic croûtons; dried cranberries; bread crumbs; sage; ground cinnamon... hmmmmm.

[blue room]

Both Martha Stewart
http://www.marthastewart.com/275686/meatball-recipes/@center/854190/comfort-food-recipes
and Alton Brown
http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/del...

have meatballs recipes too -- almost all look good to me!

[L.Nightshade]

I have never heard of the Meatball Shop or the cookbook. What an appealing idea; it looks quite fun. Thanks for the mention. This thread could get as dangerous as the COTM for cookbook acquisitions!

[MelMM]

Oooh, yes. I could get into MEATBALLS.

Our upcoming COTM has a recipe for a "meatball" made of eggplant. I guess that would still count?

[blue room]

I was wondering if "My Calabria" contained anything that would fit both COTM and the Dish of the Month! (My copy of the book still a few days away.)

[L.Nightshade]

According to EYB ,there is one recipe for eggplant meatballs, and one for pork meatballs.

[MelMM]

Those pork meatballs are wonderful. I haven't tried the eggplant ones.

[blue room]

When I first saw the "Introducing the Dish of the Month.." post it referenced the original restaurant version. Some of the dishes suggested there:
sorbet or Italian ice
gazpacho
goat stew
cold sesame noodles
Cuban sandwiches
tres leches cake
Very specific dishes tried, and each poster tells about a favorite.
I figured Home Cooking Dish would be the same -- a specific dish cooked, and each cook tells about a favorite.

I think a group activity should have structure and details to make it interesting -- like a parade as opposed to recess on a playground. Both participants and onlookers can enjoy.

[L.Nightshade]

I think what you describe is pretty much what we are shooting for: A specific dish, but we each cook versions during the month and report. We can cook and report on an old favorite, or a new experiment.

[blue room]

Okay, one dish ("dish" loosely defined, democracy will prevail) and everybody brings their best to the table.

The nomination list is already *bazillions* haha many are called but few are chosen.

By the way, thank you for taking this on, L.Nightshade.

[Dave MP]

I think that this nomination thread is purposefully unstructured, since it allows people to brainstorm ideas. The voting thread will be very structured—each person gets one vote for the Dish of the Month.

It's totally fine for people to not participate in the brainstorming, and just wait to vote in the voting thread. It's also fine for people to brainstorm and not vote (although I would encourage everyone to vote, since each vote really does count)

While quinoa salad may not be a dish that interests everyone, I personally have been quite impressed with the thread so far. There are some great food photos, some interesting recipe ideas (both published ones and original creations), and lots of great tips on how to cook/prep quinoa.

Like L.Nightshade says, this is all in its infancy, so we can see where things go. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the September voting thread! And many thanks to L.Nightshade for taking the reigns on this!

Dave MP

[rabaja]

CAPONATA

[linguafood]

CAPONATA

[Gio]

Love it ! And it's an easy transition from chiambotta/ ratatouille or a vegetable gratin...

ETA: Can I suggest CAPONATA too?

[HillJ]

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes...
the inclusion of grated unsweetened chocolate is a must.

[Gio]

Well... Mario includes chocolate in his recipe but my mother, aunts and grandmothers didn't, so I haven't. I suppose I could try it but it isn't appealing to me...

[L.Nightshade]

Interesting. I use cocoa powder in mine. You can't taste chocolate, but it adds a deep, mysterious dimension.

[mariacarmen]

that sounds luscious....

[Gio]

I imagine chocolate would add that hidden depth of flavor to the dish... it's used in Mexican savory sauces as well.

[HillJ]

I like the CAPONATA suggestion and it's just as broad a choice as AU GRATIN.

[L.Nightshade]

Gio - if you are asking if you can enter another nomination, then yes! You can name as many dishes as you like in the nomination thread, only one in the voting thread.

[HillJ]

That's what I thought. At this point so many suggestions appeal, let the chips fall where they may. I'm interested in this being fun and delicious.

[Gio]

Thanks LN... I thought I was getting a little ahead of the process

[deet13]

You can't go wrong with a platter of CHOUCROUTE GARNIE.

One of my favorite French meals.

[blue room]

Well, I saw that apple pie was suggested, not just fruit pie. And then, even narrowed to tarte tatin. Or tomato soup, not just soup.
"Gratin" could mean both fresh zucchini gratin or a gratin of ham and eggs.
Which is fine of course, but to me, is apples and oranges -- if this is your goal:
"The idea of Home Cooking Dish of the Month is to collectively cook as many versions of the dish as possible within the month…"

However, you could think of spaghetti as one dish, lasagna as another dish -- or you could say "pasta dishes". It seems like every food can be so specific and so general, this is hard. Just egg dishes, or specifically scrambled eggs? I'm not sure how narrow it should be to optimize the compare and contrast benefit and purpose of the thread.
The "Dish of the Month", on which this is based, is a restaurant thread. Several versions of "Asian Fried Chicken" have been discussed there. Also "Channa Bhatura" -- several versions.

[carminabee]

I haven't been extremely active or vocal prior to this, but I would find the most appeal in a thread of this sort to be very specific; not just soup, but everyone's idea of their very best clam chowder or tomato bisque. Also, maybe the majority of commenters are far and wide but here in California, September is still mostly full on summer for us, so the idea of super hearty winter fare seems a bit premature.

Yikes, now I've thrown in 4 cents; hope that's okay :)

[HillJ]

4 cents? Gosh I've got at least 5 bucks in threads going :)

Doesn't matter to me what's decided actually. I think many of the suggestions are not only doable but fun. Home Cooking Dish of the Month isn't some sort of contest or challenge...right, just some cooking fun.

So whatever is voted on it's going to be interesting. I always learn something new on CH!

[hambone]

as long as you don't expect change.

[mariacarmen]

i like your 4 cents, and pretty much agree...

[L.Nightshade]

I'm in agreement with you too, carminabee! It would be hard to do comparisons with a very broad category. I'd like to see the dish be as specific as possible, and still invite group involvement.

I've also been a bit surprised at the hurry into winter. Up here in the Northwest, we'll just be starting to get good tomatoes, and still getting most summer vegetables, and the weather should be very moderate. But it's a little hard to get everyone on the exact same seasonal page when people respond from all over the globe. I think the dishes that work in the most geographical areas will sort themselves out with the most nominations and votes.

[HillJ]

http://promos.hayhouse.com/momenergy/...

L.N, you make an excellent point about seasonal. I'm still very much in summer mode both in NJ & CA. I've been following this salad list all summer and enjoying the heck out of it.

[gingershelley]

With you on this one LN, I sure don't want to rush to braises and stews - for instance, I wouldn't want to do squashes until October, and would put braises and stews all the way to January!

All for keeping on the more summery produce train for September....

[HillJ]

blue r, I once participated in a cooking opportunity where we had to make a restaurant dish as written and then re-intrepret it in our own way. Peking Duck. It was a challenge! But I loved the challenge.

[hambone]

My initial thought was CHILI but I could also be happy with au gratin.

[HillJ]

CHILI is a good one hambone. So many variations on ingredients, heat, styles.

[hambone]

Plus, if we master it by the end of September... we'll be set by the time football season gets interesting.

[HillJ]

Or keep warm all thru late fall & winter. I've been dying to try a dessert chili dish but I've been waiting for a crowd to help me enjoy it.

[Hank Hanover]

I'll go with chili. Lot's of room for variation. It can be a main or a side dish. At least it isn't quinoa, ratatouille or some other yuppified dish.

[mariacarmen]

how do you figure quinoa is a yuppiefied dish? just because people outside of south america have discovered a new ingredient and are excited about it? it's a grain used by hundreds of thousands of poor-to-middle class people as a staple. just because people here have found new uses for it doesn't make it yuppified. have you tried making it? i remember you posted once about shallots being a sort of yuppie onion or something. they're certainly nothing new either.

i'd imagine that ratatouiile also has a similar, humble beginning. after all, it's just roasted veggies.

[Berheenia]

Awe blame it Fox News or another media mogul - remember when they said real men don't eat quiche? Rubbish!

[Gio]

2013 has been declared International Year of Quinoa by the United Nations.. Blame the ancient Incas.

[Breadcrumbs]

...ancient Incas in polo shirts! ; - )

[Hank Hanover]

Ma'am... My email is on my profile. If you would like to argue about it, email me and we can argue "Hell of the cross". Unfortunately, chowhound will not allow us to argue on a thread.

Oh and yes ratatouiile's beginnings are indeed humble, old and French.

[mariacarmen]

no one is arguing, i was asking a question - a couple of them. if you don't want to answer, that's fine.

but i am practically laughing out loud at the thought that CH doesn't allow people to argue on a thread!

[Hank Hanover]

My objection to quinoa salad being the subject of last months dish is based on my lack of interest in exploring it. Apparently, a lot of people really weren't interested. The entire months thread had 89 responses. Out of that there were 33 recipes and a discussion about whether to rinse quinoa or not. All the others were simply statements like "oh that looks good". That seems like a pretty lackluster response to me. It is my position that if another more popular dish had been chosen, there would have been a better response. I have not tried, eaten or cooked quinoa and have no interest in doing so. In my opinion, it is a ridiculously priced grain.

As for my term, "yuppified", I have used it, specifically, to present a negative tone. If you wish to give it a positive tone, may I suggest "trendy"?

[L.Nightshade]

Hey Hank, it doesn't look like you were involved at the time, so you may not realize that last month we went through the same process. Quinoa salad had a clear majority of the voting public, that's how it got to be the Dish of the Month. August was the first month, so a lot of people may not be aware of the DOTM yet. Give us a little break here on the quinoa, and keep suggesting great dishes that will get us all cooking in September!

[Hank Hanover]

I know you did. I watched silently as quinoa salad was voted in. I have decided that maybe I can influence the decision away from dishes that I am not at all interested in.

[soypower]

I know what you mean, Hank. I was so excited about the concept thinking it would be like eGullet's cook-offs and then we got Quinoa Salad. I still played along since my bf incidentally asked for a quinoa salad.

I think leaving it too broad like 'gratin' ends up making the discussion too scattered and in the end, not very edifying. Also worrying too much about ingredients being difficult to acquire for some people is not necessary since that is what makes these things interesting. I'd love to hear someone say, 'i used worcestershire sauce instead of hoisin in my cha siu since we don't have access to that ingredient in Yemen.'

I'm not saying we should do the exact same thing as eGullet (because I suppose I should just go there for that) but I think looking at some of their sucessful cook-offs would help get things started here...

The cook-off index starts at the 3rd post down.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/11676...

[dkennedy]

Thank you for supplying the link for the egullet cook-off. It will be an enjoyable read.

[HillJ]

The egullet cook off is fantastic. Frankly many CH's participate over at egullet and that's a great thing because both sites benefit from the treasures found.

[L.Nightshade]

What do you see as the essential difference between the cook-off there and the DOTM here? (Aside from the fact that they've been doing it a lot longer and we've only done one dish.) There are a lot of very general dishes in that list. They've even done gratin, ratatouille, and ceviche, for example, three of the dishes we've had under consideration. I'd be interested to hear why you think the cook-off is more successful, and specifically, what you think would improve this project.

[soypower]

You're right. I didn't see that they did 'gratins' as one of their cook offs. I think that the more specific dishes give people a better chance to compare methods and incorporate ideas in their cooking. Perhaps it will just take a few cook-offs for us to get this thing going.

[HillJ]

L.N., since you have gotten all of us interested in participating, perhaps narrowing the choices by offering say six up front would help move the choices along and we could begin to focus on recipes. Instead, we wind up with a list of dozens and discussing why one is more appealing than another....doesn't VOTING take care of that?!

I've seen the words "too broad" several times on thread and yet several broad suggestions have been offered. Au Gratin is open to intrepretation sure but also has roots in some very traditional methods and ingredients. Same can be said of ratatouille, pie, soups, most of the suggestions made here. I thought having a broad choice would allow for a great many recipes shared.

Yesterday, participating sounded FUN. Today...well, this is all beginning to sound competitive and off topic....not fun.

[L.Nightshade]

It still sounds fun to me, but I know exactly what you mean.
My interest in the Dish of the Month stems from my involvement in the Cookbook of the Month. In case anyone is unfamiliar with that, we select a book every month, cook from it, and report on our efforts and impressions.

The idea of the DOTM is similar, but we'd all be cooking the same dish: old favorites, new discoveries, and our own inventions. I love the idea of seeing what people come up with, reading about their recipes, and hopefully seeing some photos. I see this as an active, participatory thread, where people cook during the month and share their impressions, not just post links to some recipe they've tried in the past. This is not a competition! Just a community project.

I think that it would be ideal if we had a fairly specific dish. There is not much to compare if we are just cooking "soup," or something equally broad. It also feels more challenging to me to work within the framework of a specific dish, instead of a thousand possible dishes inside of a big category.

So you may have noticed that I've been trying to rein in the suggestions a bit, getting more of a dish, and less of an ingredient. But I am not in control of what people post! So suggestions are still going to be varied.

Keep in mind that this project is in its infancy. Dave MP started it last month, and people are still actively reporting in the very first thread: quinoa salad. From here on out, we're just building this together.

In case anyone wonders, I am not a mod, nor do I have any official standing at Chowhound. I just completed coordinating the Cookbook of the Month for six months, and I thought this would be FUN!

[HillJ]

Thank you L.N. that's what I was hoping you'd say. And, thank you for stepping forward and leading what I hope will be fun, educationally delicious and inspiring.

[soypower]

I hope my posts are not putting anyone off on this idea. I am personally very excited about it and look forward to seeing how it develops. I was just disappointed about the selection as someone will always be whenever we pick something. That is to be expected. Despite the words 'cook-off' in the eGullet forum, those discussions don't come off as competitive so I hope that doesn't put anyone off either.

Basically, I really hope no one is discouraged from participating since things like COTM and DOTM benefit the most with input from as many people as possible.

[Hank Hanover]

I'm not sure it would work but we could take this in a slightly different direction. You could take a broad approach like... main ingredient; type of dish; technique so an appropriate entry would be Pork; main Dish; Stirfry. That sounds kind of interesting. Lots of variations; bound to see some very interesting dishes that appeal to a large audience.

I would like to see recipes and pictures, perhaps, from people that cooked the chosen dish. I would prefer not to see things like " I made this recipe once. It was pretty good." Better would be someone trying a twist on a recipe and reporting back on how it turned out. That is something that would be enjoyed by all, even the people that didn't get around to cooking one of the dishes.

[HillJ]

Keep in mind that this project is in its infancy. Dave MP started it last month, and people are still actively reporting in the very first thread: quinoa salad. From here on out, we're just building this together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question: Will the individual topics under this project remain active forever? IOW, once the month of August ends will the Quinoa Salad be closed to new comments but still available for reading and the next month begins? Or, will each month continue on its own with overlapping projects?

[L.Nightshade]

I imagine it will be like the Cookbook of the Month. One may go back and report on those threads in perpetuity. If you a made a spectacular quinoa salad years from now, you could go back and report it.

If this concept takes off, I would eventually love to see an index of the dishes, like we have for the COTM.

[HillJ]

Great. Yes, indexing would def. be helpful. Thanks.

[HillJ]

Until you mentioned egullet and the cook offs, it didn't even occur to me that CH's new HCDM is even intended to be a cook off. But with comments like yours soypower, maybe having a better idea of what CH has in mind is needed.

I was looking for fun and new recipes and energized experimentation.

Your statement: 'i used worcestershire sauce instead of hoisin in my cha siu since we don't have access to that ingredient in Yemen.' is spot on and I had already figured such comments would follow naturally once the Sept vote was in.

[L.Nightshade]

Just a reminder that if you are nominating a dish, please put it in all capital letters. Otherwise it can be difficult to tell whether it is just a conversational mention.

[blue room]

So *anything* under browned crumbs is a gratin? That does seem pretty broad, for the purpose here. Or should I be thinking mainly of vegetables cooked that way?

[HillJ]

LOL blue r, couldn't the same be said of what's under the pie lid, or in the risotto pot? It's always about the intrepretation, right?! So when you say pretty broad I must ask isn't that the point of home cooking a dish with the input and creativity of this thread, and all of our CH kitchens? If not, I've mistaken the point of this entire community idea. ??

[L.Nightshade]

I'm not sure gratin is really even a dish, as much as it is a technique. But I think we've come to see it as a baked dish with crumbs, and usually cheese. I think it has to be something you cook in a gratin-type dish; I don't think that putting some crumbs on a cheeseburger would qualify! So, anyway, it does seem a little broad, but I think it would work for the DOTM. And it's something that could have a lot of variety, so participants might want to try more than one version.

[HillJ]

See now I understand it to be both but leaning more in the direction of a dish because so many gratin variations beyond crumbs and cheese exist already.

[Gio]

In my little pea brain "gratin" means vegetables, butter, cheese, bread crumbs ,etc.
Fruit treated in a similar way is a "cobbler." Hold the cheese.

[HillJ]

Unless it's an apple or apricot gratin, where cheese is a component to the dish.

[Gio]

Ahhh... I was thinking of cheese on the side rather than incorporated. I've never made either an apple or apricot gratin. I love apricots so I'll have to... Look it up. Thanks HJ.

[Gio]

Look what I found: apples, potatoes and cheese. Who knew. Leave it to Emeril.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/em...

Couldn't find any cheesy apricot gratin recipes, though.

[Breadcrumbs]

Figs, pears, gorgonzola....perfect w wine

[Gio]

Yes indeed, but is that a Gratin or fruit and cheese platter?

[HillJ]

Is the cheese in the dish done au gratin or is the fruit and cheese placed on the same plate? Riffs include the use of some form of cheese, topping, main in single or combination baked together.

http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/2...
any fruit au gratin (just one example)

[Gio]

The apples, potatoes and cheese (Gruyere) are baked together...
"2 pounds red bliss potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 pounds Rome or Winesap apples, peeled, cored, and very thinly
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces)"
Per the link upthread...

[HillJ]

I saw, sounds delish. I love crisp apples & yukons together.

[hambone]

Shave and sauté some fennel, add to that and you are good to go!

Hmmm. I think I know what I'm doing later this week.

[mariacarmen]

RISOTTO
GRATIN
already voted for tarte tatin

[carminabee]

What about ratatouille? I'm still inundated with squash, tomatoes and eggplant, all previously suggested but this is a specific dish, and one with enormous variations, dare I say even au gratin?

That's my 2 cents :) RATATOUILLE

[L.Nightshade]

You read my mind, or at least part of it:
Right now I'm thinking about the nighshades we'll be seeing in September, and RATATOUILLE comes to mind again. I could thow my self into a myriad of GRATIN dishes; that has appeal. As does RISOTTO, perhaps narrowing the field to something like vegetable risotto, or a seafood risotto. Mmmm. The beginning of fall, starting with a Blue Moon at the end or August!

[HillJ]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/288918
When I think of risotto, this thread always comes to mind! The variations are endless that's for sure.

[HillJ]

RATATOUILLE, that's an interesting suggestion. Done au gratin style-delicious. Loads of variations around the globe too. Fun.

[Gio]

Of course mentioning ratatouille reminded me of the Italian version... Chiambotta.
However I like the idea of a gratin..
so I'll suggest AU GRATIN.

[HillJ]

Dear Gio, Just the mention of Chiambotta makes me smile. Memories....

[dmjordan]

I've never had it before but Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for it recently. I'll have to give it a try.

My vote too is for AU GRATIN.

[Hank Hanover]

Does it really matter? Last month we ended up with quinoa salad.

[HillJ]

On the first go round, one person recommended quinoa and three people agreed. But on the 2nd round, more people voted for quinoa salad than the other suggestions. Picking one dish can be challenging I suppose. I did pick up a few new ideas for quinoa and I'm not a huge fan of gritty salads....

[gingershelley]

I think I am good with 'Gratin' choice for the thread for Sept..... there are so many ways (books you can cook) about veggies, possible meat addition's for a gratin to be made that is very Delicious.

All kinds of fresh farmer's-market goodies, squashes, eggplants, tomatoes etc. that I could include in a pan of delicious food.... I like this idea, as it would integrate many cookbooks and version's of making food that is fresh.

Much more exciting than quinoa salad, just sayin'...

[HillJ]

Last night I made an artichoke kale au gratin with lemon, panko, soft blue cheese and bacon. Tonight we used the leftovers as the filling for a simple egg dish. I would really love to experiment alot more with gratin dishes; especially spicy ones and learn more about regional versions.

[L.Nightshade]

Oh goodness. That dish sounds lovely!

[herby]

HillJ, your post brought to mind very tasty kale salad that I had this summer - it was a take out and the person who brought it had no idea of what was in it... I thought that the kale was blanched, shocked, drained and thinly shredded to make it taste so very refined. There was a yummy dressing and maybe a few finely shredded veggies but not many and some nuts/seeds.

[HillJ]

You know herby, kale's a tricky one. I've loved it and disliked it. In the dish I described above the kale added a bitter to the richness of the cheese that worked. But the salad you're recalling is hard for me to picture. What was the yummy dressing made with?

[gingershelley]

I ended up making an eggplant gratin last night inspired by this discussion; grilled a sliced, salted drained eggplant, a yellow zuch and a green one sliced thin on the mandolin, grilled lightly too. Layered up the eggplant in a shallow casserole with fresh sliced tomato, the thin squash ribbons, 1/2 of a quick saute of a diced tomato, tbsp. of paste from the tube, a couple cloves of garlic, a couple shallots, 1/2 cup of tomato puree from the freezer. A layer of ricotta mixed with an egg, a dash of cream. Spread that over the chunky quick sauce. Last of the sauce up top. Layer of crumbs, garlic and parm over top and into the oven for 1/2 an hour until all hot and bubbly. Very good! Set up nicely, not heavy, all the veggy flavors melding together, but identifiable too. The thick-sliced fresh tomatoes were still juicy. Low in fat, also...

Leftover's for lunch!

[HillJ]

Oh that sounds fantastic, gingers! Wow.

[gingershelley]

Super good. Hope the overview was enough of a 'recipe', between us cook people:)

[Berheenia]

I like anything with cheese on it so GRATIN is my vote. Yours sounds so good! I don't know what my feelings will be for zucchini come September or I would vote for ratatouille which I usually dust with some grated parm romano blend.

[HillJ]

Sure was! When folks ask for or talk about a one pot dish, your eggplant gratin is what I would make. I love layered dishes that also become the surprise ingredient in the next days dish. Repurposed. Yeah, great way to use summer produce.

[gingershelley]

Thanks Hillj, and Berheenia, this was easy,and very good.

[MelMM]

That's it, LN, keep us in line. Keep us specific.

I'll nominate TARTE TATIN.

[L.Nightshade]

Hahaha. I'm cracking the old whip over here!
(and love tarte tatin!)

[mariacarmen]

oooh i second tarte tatin, as i've never made one and always wanted to...TARTE TATIN

[lilham]

I have a few TARTE TATIN recipes I'd like to try. This gives me an excuse to do it.

[jpr54_1]

GROUND MEAT

Hamburgers-
bison
elk
lamb
veal

[L.Nightshade]

Is your nomination for hamburgers jpr? I see "ground meat" as more of an ingredient than a dish.

[jpr54_1]

HAMBURGER

[L.Nightshade]

Hey folks...
I think we need to be a bit more specific than just nominating an ingredient. There could be a million "squash dishes" or "apple dishes." For the time being, let's see if we can narrow it down to an actual dish, for example squash soup, or squash pancakes, or ratatouille. Or apple pie, or apple chutney, or apple bread.

[blue room]

I was wondering about that -- lilham mentioned it too -- so
I'll change my nomination to STUFFED WINTER SQUASH DISHES. If still too broad, let us know!

[HillJ]

That's why I recommended AU GRATIN. There are hundreds of ways to go. And I'd love to see CH's ideas on this dish.

[wyogal]

Which is why I said APPLE PIE (in case it was missed the first time I posted it)

[HillJ]

Even homemade PIE would open a host of possibilities.

[L.Nightshade]

Not to worry HillJ and wyogal, and no need to re-nominate. I caught and counted the au gratin and the apple pie nominations the first time around. I was only speaking to the people who named an ingredient and not a dish.

[wyogal]

:)

[Breadcrumbs]

Love the idea of squash and my second thought was eggplant. The latter is not one of mr bc's favourites so I've been trying various recipes to win him over. I especially like that dishes like eggplant parmesan or melanzane alla mozzarella make for great meatless meals. I'll nominate:

EGGPLANT DISHES

SQUASH DISHES

[wyogal]

APPLES: APPLE PIE
Although I love winter squash, I do more of that in October. School is starting up, and apples are such a natural for September

[HillJ]

Given the time off year, garden harvest and fall produce I'm going to suggest AU GRATIN. How would you prepare an au gratin dish?

(In the culinary arts, the term au gratin refers to a dish that is baked with a topping of seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese. The au gratin topping should be golden brown, which can be achieved by baking or by placing the dish under a broiler.)

Sweet, savory, spicy?
Apple, potato, tomato, zukes, squash...endless recipe ideas I'm sure!

[blue room]

Don't forget blow torches for browning too!

[HillJ]

Cool! Could be fun!

[blue room]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHX0pv...

It would be fun, at least once, to do it!

[HillJ]

JC was one in a ga-zillion!

[herby]

Happy to get behind AU GRATIN - great dish for September when gazillions of veggies are begging to be cooked.

[gingershelley]

I like this idea HillJ!

Allows for a wide variety of dishes.... tho maybe too broad?

[HillJ]

ah but better to broad than too narrow. The season is ripe for using up the summer produce/early fall harvest. I'm making a white corn and zuke gratin with a fish dish for dinner tonight.

[blue room]

I was going to put Birthday Cakes out there (spans the seasons), but I like the squash idea better.

I'll say WINTER SQUASH DISHES.

[pikawicca]

September is still prime tomato season here, so I'll nominate TOMATO SOUP.

[dkennedy]

I'll second the nomination for TOMATO SOUP in all its variations. I can't think of anything I'd like to read about more than everyone's take on their favorite tomato soup recipe. I already know which one I will be submitting. Would be too bold to nominate it as a GRILLED CHEESE/TOMATO SOUP COMBO? If not, let me make two nominations at once.

[pikawicca]

On the menu tonight, Cold Tomato Soup

2 pounds tomatoes, quarter
1/4 c. EVOO (the good stuff)
1 T. red wine vinegar (ditto)
1/2 t. kosher salt

Puree in food processor, strain, chill, serve in mugs that have been in the freezer for a bit. Delicious, and took all of 5 minutes.

[Gio]

I think I may join the group in September so I'll say SQUASH - the denser the better for my liking: Hubbard, Buttercup, Kabocha, Acorn, Pumpkin and the like.

Second thought was APPLES.

[HillJ]

Like the way you think, Gio! I'd be happy with either squash or apples.

[lilham]

Same here. I'd be happy with squash or apples too. I assume we can nominate more than one thing. So SQUASH.

[lilham]

It's blackberry season here in September. Something to do with blackberries would be good. Be it savoury or sweet.

[blue room]

lilham, nominations need to be in CAPITAL LETTERS.

[lilham]

I wasn't sure if we could nominate an ingredient. But seeing other nomination for vegetables. I guess I'll nomimate BLACKBERRIES.

[magiesmom]

I love STUFFED CABBAGE variations in fall.