Dinner! 2011

More veggies, centering around fried green tomatos, but including fried okra, fresh corn and a ripe tomato slice. I didn't bother with meat this time!

I always tend to think of fried green tomatos as a Southern "thing." Can those of you in other geographies chime in on that?

I first heard of them in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe." At that stage, I still didn't know what they were. On attempting the BBQ recipes in Modernist Cuisine, they had a recipe for them (which was probably one of the easiest of the whole set). I made them up and they are delicious. They now have a home in Sydney but are most definitely not native.

More veggies, centering around fried green tomatos, but including fried okra, fresh corn and a ripe tomato slice. I didn't bother with meat this time!

I always tend to think of fried green tomatos as a Southern "thing." Can those of you in other geographies chime in on that?

I first heard of them in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe." At that stage, I still didn't know what they were. On attempting the BBQ recipes in Modernist Cuisine, they had a recipe for them (which was probably one of the easiest of the whole set). I made them up and they are delicious. They now have a home in Sydney but are most definitely not native.

Here in Southern California I had the same first experience as nickrey. They turn up on some menus but are not a part of the local cuisine. I never see green tomatoes for sale even at the farmers market or farmstand

I always think of green tomatoes as a late fall harvest, when there are still unripe fruits on the vine, but the weather is threatening a frost and you want to salvage them. Faced with that problem, you need to come up with inventive ways of cooking them, since they aren't worth much raw. Hence fried, pickled, green tomato pie, etc. At least that's when we ate green tomatoes when I lived on a farm. But I suppose if you love fried green tomatoes there's no reason not to pick them that way on purpose.

Try this also: Fry green green tomatoes.

There are many GWR (Green When Ripe) tomatoes. There are green even after they have ripen. They are delicious. Green ketchup, green pizza.

Some green tomatoes:

Lime Green Salad

Aunt Ruby's German Green

Green Giant

Cheroke Green

Green Pineapple

Green Zebra

dcarch

Tonight we tried sous vide brisket. It was about 2lb 6 ozs after trimming all the fat away (and it was extremely lean to begin with). Sous vide at 130F for 44 hours - no seasoning in the bag, just the meat. Then a quick sear on the BBQ:

The whole piece after searing:

And after slicing:

We ate it plain, no sauce, just with salt and pepper. It wasn't dry but not real juicy either. It was tender for brisket, but not meltingly tender as I had hoped. The taste was, well, brisket. Nothing amazing. When we eat the leftovers I plan to make a mushroom sauce.

More veggies, centering around fried green tomatos, but including fried okra, fresh corn and a ripe tomato slice. I didn't bother with meat this time!

I always tend to think of fried green tomatos as a Southern "thing." Can those of you in other geographies chime in on that?

Same - the movie fried green tomatoes bought them to my attention, never seen them in the Uk but they sound amazing, and i my mind as Southern as Grits, biscuits and hush puppies - how do you prpepare them? Are they egged and dipped in cornmeal? Are they literally underripe green tomatoes or a special variety? Does it work with regular tomatoes or is that missing the point?!

Where to begin..fantastic seafood from a bunch of people, but I particularly like ScottyBoy's fish tacos and those fantastic scallops from bmdaniel.

On the meat front, Twyst's shortribs look DELECTABLE and C. Sapidus and dcarch, your meals are astoundingly beautiful as usual. And that brisket, mgaretz! Also, some beautiful vegetable preparations there, Kim Shook, Panaderia Canadiense and kayb.

Yum. I've missed so many good meals!

Dinner here was all about sausages and scallops; I bought some very interesting octopus sausage (!) and turned it into a mini appetizer with a seared scallop and some chervil:

Then fried up some chorizo, deglazed with sherry and mixed with some very barely cooked scallops as a textural counterpoint. This was a flavour and texture sensation, but needed the very lemony salad served with it.

Octopus sausage, coOoOOol

Mmm...that duck soup looks cottony! We will be having spinach and ricotta calzones. I made the dough from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day recipe. The dough sat in the fridge for three days. I was concerned that it would be too sticky to roll well, but it worked nicely, although this is the second calzone, the first was decidedly less photogenic due to my lack of dough shaping skills. I don't know how they taste yet, they're supposed to sit for 10 min so all the skin in your mouth doesn't melt when you bite into them...

RRO, that octopus sausage looks pretty tasty, it's something I haven't seen before. What was the binder? Was it more like a headcheese type formulation, or did it have somthing else holding it together?

Love the duck soup, DanM!

RRO, that octopus sausage looks pretty tasty, it's something I haven't seen before. What was the binder? Was it more like a headcheese type formulation, or did it have somthing else holding it together?

I hadn't seen it before either..it's quite interesting. Salty and oceany. The only ingredients listed are octopus and salt so I presume the binder is whatever natural collagen/gelatine/chitin?? octopuses have. I love that the product name is "Tenerezze di polpo" - tenderness of octopus!

Dinner here was more tuna. Since it's skipjack and not as purely delicious as other types of tuna, I decided it wouldn't suffer from a tartare treatment, so made three flavours:

*Mayo, sriracha, and crispy fried shallots

*Mirin, soy, sesame oil and sesame seeds

*Avocado, lemon juice, diced chilli and hazelnut oil

Served with wonton wrappers, fried till crispy, for scooping.

mgaretz - That brisket intrigues me. Is there something you would do differently next time to improve the results? It looks really good - though it's a little unnatural to me to see a sliced brisket that's that pink. Getting used to the capabilities of a sous vide machine is a little strange when you've grown up slow cooking everything in a smoker.

rarerollingobject - I saw your post and decided I am going to start learning how to make tartare this weekend. I'd say it shouldn't be that difficult, but I've said that about a lot of things and been completely wrong. Anyway, your post is just another example of why this thread is so great: the moment I think I know something about cooking, I can come over here and realize just how much I don't know.

kayb – thanks for the bacon jam recipe – I can’t wait to try it. BTW, your veg plate is lovely. Do you use all cornmeal on your beautiful fried green tomatoes? I usually do part flour or panko, but I really like the look of yours.

Ben – your scallops are gorgeous – what a sear!

Dejah – your broccoli slaw is just beautiful! I love broccoli slaw, but haven’t gotten as creative as you did – I’m in love with the idea of yours! I saved your description for later.

Bruce – I’ll trade one of my sandwiches for a wing and one of your Mrs.’ lovely little potatoes! Shall we meet at Pope’s Creek and share a pile of crabs?

Soba – I have a whole set of those knives and they get used a LOT!!

Jan – the liver is spectacular! I am a big fan of liver, but the family is NOT, so I don’t do it much. The sauce/gravy looks delicious, too.

RRO – I agree with Scotty – octopus sausage is cool! And serving a scallop on top is genius!

Nikki – You can’t really make fried ripe tomatoes the same way – the flesh just melts into nothing. Too bad, because they would taste spectacular!

I’ve barely cooked at all this week. It’s funny how when things in life get crazy, the first thing that gets jettisoned is cooking (something I love) instead of laundry (something I hate) . Tuesday night was sandwiches, salad and corn again:

Egg salad and ham:

A sandwich I loved in England and tried to recreate. The combination of the egg and ham is wonderful (think of ham and deviled eggs at Easter). When I had it in England there was also a layer of sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Tuna and cheese:

if anyone has found a google ref to that Polpo please post it.

Id love to find it somewhere.

thanks

NikkiB, I use unripe tomatos; most of the farmers who have tomatos at the farmers' market will also pick a few green ones for the customers who just want to fry them. I slice and soak them in an egg-milk mixture -- they won't soak up much, but it seems to improve the texture and taste -- and then dredge them in cornmeal that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. You could, of course, vary the seasonings any way you wanted. I actually used the left-over cornmeal from shaking up the okra.

Kim, I used to use a mixture of flour and cornmeal, but I find when you're frying a big batch, you wind up with a lot of burnt flour sludge in your pan that sticks to the last one.

Katie,yes, we always had a lot of fried green tomatos at the end of the season, when frost was due. That was also when Mama canned "green tomato pickle," which, best I recall, included chopped tomatos, jalapenos, onion and I'm not sure what all else. It had a sort of sweet-sour-hot taste. Daddy loved it on hamburgers and hot dogs.

I use green tomatos as part of my trinity when I'm cooking Cajun, because I don't like either celery or bell pepper.

Dcarch, I've never had a green-when-ripe tomato. I'll have to look for those.

mgaretz, lovely brisket!

I did not feel like doing any grocery shopping last night, so I looked for something to make with what I already had at home - potatoes and black kale from my CSA, and a couple of frozen fish filets. I looked up these ingredients in Eat Your Books (which is a lot of fun; it's like recipe roulette and you never know what you are going to get!), and I ended up making a fish pie adapted from a Jamie Oliver's recipe.

My husband cringed at the idea of a casserole-type dish, but it proved tasty and comforting.

The cheese sauce was made with carrots, onions, heavy cream, cheddar cheese, lemon juice, and parsley.

It's not super photogenic but here it is.

mgaretz - That brisket intrigues me. Is there something you would do differently next time to improve the results? It looks really good - though it's a little unnatural to me to see a sliced brisket that's that pink. Getting used to the capabilities of a sous vide machine is a little strange when you've grown up slow cooking everything in a smoker.

Like I said in the original post, when we had the leftovers last night I made a mushroom sauce and that improved them a lot. People over in the sous vide forum made some suggestions - higher temp and/or longer time. But next time, I think I will try a different cut. Now that brisket is an "in" cut, it sells for the same price as sirloin! I do want to try a london broil (top round).

Thanks for the hints on the fried green tomatoes Kayb - the relish sounds amazing too, will be giving that a whirl for sure!

rarerollingobject - I saw your post and decided I am going to start learning how to make tartare this weekend. I'd say it shouldn't be that difficult, but I've said that about a lot of things and been completely wrong. Anyway, your post is just another example of why this thread is so great: the moment I think I know something about cooking, I can come over here and realize just how much I don't know.

Tartare couldn't be easier! Just hack it up and flavour to taste. I mean, I'm sure there are treasured techniques for cutting against the grain, or pre-chilling, or something, but I ignore all that and just choppity chop. Post back with your creations!

if anyone has found a google ref to that Polpo please post it.Id love to find it somewhere.thanks

The manufacturer's page is here. I got it through an Australian online deli (ideli.com.au) but I'm sure the manufacturer could advise if there are distributors in your area.

Dinner here was a simple one; found these lovely padron peppers at the farmers' market and fried them simply in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Although, you know how 9 out of 10 padrons are supposed to be sweet and mild and it's that last 1 of 10 that's hot enough to blow your head off? 10 out of 10 of these suckers were hot as hell. But addictively tasty. There was much swearing and chortling at Chez RRO last night, as we all cheerfully sustained slight chemical burns to the mouth.

Then had a simple smoked tomato and roasted garlic soup, non-artistically drizzled with worcestershire sauce and olive oil.

Today I made a New England boiled dinner. I know, I know it is much too hot to be doing that kind of meal but who knew two weeks ago that it would be so hot. That is when the kids asked me to make corned beef and it takes two weeks to cure brisket into corned beef. So it was ready today and got made. There is the corned beef plus carrots, potatoes, turnips, mushrooms, cabbage and couscous. Not shown are chilled beets and a three bean salad. Dessert was left over yesterday's birthday cake.

Recipe for the corned beef at http://normmatthews.blogspot.com/

New England boiled dinner is so underrated. Especially its Italian counterpart, bollito misto -- which is probably my favorite of all Italian dishes (and that's saying a lot).

Tonight ...

This is 1 cup cow's milk ricotta cheese that's been drained of its whey for over 8 hours, mixed with approx. 1/2 cup flour and a pinch of salt, a couple of grinds black pepper and a small pinch of nutmeg. Break up any lumps with a fork and make a well in the center.

Add 1 egg.

Starting from the inside of the well, beat in flour with a fork until you eventually get the dough to cohere and form a small ball. The dough is really that yellow, due to the eggs I used (courtesy of Quattro Game Farm at Union Square Greenmarket).

Divide dough into quarters. 2 quarters will be make sufficient ricotta gnocchi to serve one person.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface. Not enough flour and your dough will stick. Too much flour and your dough won't cohere properly.

Dough should be about 1/2" in diameter. I've included a pen cap for comparison so you can see the desired thickness.

Cut into 1/4" pieces. I skip the rolling with a fork tines step ... I'm cooking for myself, plus I think that step is a waste of time.

Ricotta gnocchi, with heirloom tomatoes, baby pattypan squash and tomato confit.

Gnocchi were sautéed in a little melted Beurre d'Isgny shortly before service.

Again, I've been lax in downloading the camera...

Asparagus is back! Asparagus is back! This, of course, means there's really no excuse not to eat it at almost every meal. This is oven-roasted turkey with (of course) asparagus, and a chilled Melloco-Potato salad under avocado dressing. Melloco are Oxalis tubers, one of the trinity of Andean non-potato tubers; the ones in this region are red (they come in a wide range of interesting tones, though).

After 3 weeks without seeing the sun, it's very cold at this altitude and soup is a regular feature of the menu. Mixed stocks soup (chicken and turkey) with fresh veggies, and fresh quinua-herb-cheese bagels.

It's technically too cold here right now to be thinking about hamburgers, but dang it! I had a craving. So, here's one of our family's takes on them - smothered in colby-type cheese with mushrooms sauteed in King of 5 Spices sauce with a dash of garlic, on the leftover quinua-herb-cheese bagels from soup night, and accompanied by home fries and a nice pickled salad. Kim - you'll note that down here we do fries right - with mayonnaise!

edit- a good spellar is me! Also, how could I forget the turkey and Melloco salad?

PC, that is possibly the most artistically condimented (I don't think that's a word, but you get my drift) burger bun I've ever seen! Great looking dinners.

SobaAddict, I'm going to make some ricotta gnocchi soon. Made some once with gluten-free flour for my gluten-intolerant daughter; it wasn't bad, but a bit heavy. I think perhaps my ricotta wasn't drained enough, and thus took too much flour. Do you boil before you saute?

RRO, a Mexican restaurant here roasts peppers like that and puts them out on the counter as a "help yourself" item. Shameful admission -- I love 'em with queso.

Last night, we had steak, which I had cooked a bit overdone; still trying to get used to the new gas grill; grilled yellow squash brushed with truffle oil and sprinkled with sea salt; and a baked sweet potato puree with honey chipotle butter and smoked Gouda.

Headed out tomorrow to Tampa for five days, so hoping for some excellent Cuban fare while I'm there.

Bruce – I’ll trade one of my sandwiches for a wing and one of your Mrs.’ lovely little potatoes! Shall we meet at Pope’s Creek and share a pile of crabs?

Kim - I haven't been to Pope's Creek since I was about 12 years old, but it is near and dear to my heart as the first place I ever ate crabs. If we ever head down that way, I'd love to dispatch some crustaceans with you.

. . .baked sweet potato puree with honey chipotle butter . . .

Kayb - that sounds really good!

Various friends and teenagers stopped by for dinner. One guest was from Mexico, and made a delicious, chunky guacamole and some zippy roasted tomatillo salsa. We also set out sliced tomato-mozarella-basil for a pre-meal nosh.

For dinner, we served beef rendang, beef sate, Mrs. C's salmon with a soy-ginger-maple syrup glaze, Vietnamese cucumber salad, cabbage salad, incredibly sweet corn on the cob, and jasmine rice. The only survivor was beef rendang, which made a lovely breakfast.

Beef rendang and jasmine rice

Well.. Just to hot to cook in side..

So I'm baking in my Weber, it take a bit of adjusting to get the temp @350

But made baked stuffed Egg plant ( far shot ) and Baked basil potato Gnudi with Parm and Fontina cheese

Good for you

the Webber outside when its hot does a fine job as an oven

add a few big chunks of wood on a flavor bar and you now have a smoky oven!