Dinner Saturday, April 26?

[Jeekinz]

....my fingers smell like thyme?



weird.

[Robo410]

made a pot of lamb chili with cashews

ground lamb, bay leaf, onion garlic celery carrots, chili powder, chipotle flakes, crushed tomatoes, black eye peas and black beans, cashews, salt and pepper

served over rice, side salads ... easy simple fresh and yummy

[buckytom]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

....my fingers smell like thyme?



weird.

better than kermit's fingers...

no thai for me. i went home. read "duck on a bike", "johnny appleseed", and "harold and the purple crayon: race cars".

now back at work. i'm guessing souvlaki again, from big nick's on 77th and broadway. their tsatsiki is like crack.

[babetoo]

Originally Posted by babetoo

cornish game hen, baked, got to use up potatoes and cream spinach. maybe mix together? one more veg.

gave most of pineapple cookies to my son and his two grown sons to take to dodger game. few left for dessert




babe

way to hot to bake hen, cut in half, rubbed with soft butter and garlic. cooked about 20 min in microwave,cover with wrap. last five min took off wrap and spooned sugarless orange marmlade on it. was really good, slice of great bread and that's it. it is still 84 degrees here.



babe

[luvs]

yins dinners sound great. my dinner was raviolis & garlic bread. yum.

[Bilby]

Ye Olde but a Goodie... a Fry Up!!! Eggs, bacon, fried cherry tomatoes, baked beans and fresh bread and buttter..... Yummy!!!

[Bilby]

Originally Posted by buckytom

... their tsatsiki is like crack.

mental picture of BT snorting tsatsiki!!!

[VeraBlue]

For Jeekinz....

I rubbed the pork hocks on Thursday night with fresh rosemary, chopped garlic, old bay and brown sugar. Wrapped them, and left them till about 3pm on Saturday. I seared them on high in a small cast iron pan, added 1/2 cup white wine, then finished them in a slow oven (315) till about 7pm. Since dinner wasn't till 8, I removed them to a plate, kept in a warmer, left the liquid that accumulated and sautéed the spinach in that. The beets were peeled while still raw, wedged and tossed with a crushed garlic clove, about a tablespoon of honey and grated orange zest. Wrapped that in foil and baked for about 45 minutes at 350. When I plated it, I placed the beet wedges on half the spinach, and the hock on the other half.

The cod was cut into 7oz portions, dipped in melted butter that had zatarains creole seasoning and chopped fresh parsley. Then I pressed the fish into finely chopped walnuts, both sides. Put that back in the fridge to help the nuts stick.

The relish was made of one plantain (yellow with lots of black), diced, one mango, diced, one shallot, chopped cilantro, and I happened to have a roasted ear of corn leftover...I used those kernels, too. First, sautéed the shallots with the plantain in 2T butter for about 10 minutes (medium heat), added the corn and cilantro for a couple of minutes, then added the mango. I kept that in the warmer, also.

The fish was seared on both sides in hot melted butter/olive oil, then finished for 15 minutes at 350. The rice was just plain basmati. I plated the rice center of the plate, placed the fish on top, put the warm relish on top of that and then sprinkled with more cilantro and a few chopped walnuts.

The cream bruleé was 8 egg yolks, 2 c heavy cream, 1/3 c sugar and a vanilla bean. Egg yolks and sugar and bean seeds were whipped till thick, and then the cream was added. I baked them in ramekins in a water bath 300 degrees for an hour. Cooled for the rest of the afternoon, then topped with brown sugar. I have a kitchen size blow torch for bruleé, but the broiler or a salamander would work, too.

My observation is that the spinach was too weak a component for the strength of the sauce that was created by the rub/wine and pork fat. I chose spinach because, originally, it was going to be a salad bottom, not cooked in liquid. Once I changed my mind for the spinach, I was wishing I'd purchased collard greens, instead. A much heartier green, they would have held up much better. The spinach wasn't a total failure, the flavour was wonderful, but they lost lots of texture, where the collards would have retained much of their shape and consistency.

I also made a loaf of bread with dried cranberries and walnuts, which was an excellent compliment to both courses. It was a double braid and brushed with melted butter when it came out of the oven.


Why did your fingers smell like thyme?? What did you make?

[Jeekinz]

I'm definately printing that out. Thanks. I'm not really a walnut fan though. What else could I use? Or should I just use the walnuts?

Originally Posted by VeraBlue

Why did your fingers smell like thyme?? What did you make?

LOL, I just figured it out. I pan basted the medallions with butter and sprigs of fresh thyme. Since my hand was over the pan so long, the thyme must have infused into my skin, lol.

[VeraBlue]

If I were to change the walnuts (and I used walnuts because that is what I had enough of in the freezer), I'd have used either pecans, hazlenuts or macadamia nuts for that particular flavour combination.


There are worse things hands can smell like, then thyme, yes? Personally, I hate the way my hands smell after handling raw celery.