buzzd wrote:
last nite was beef stew

phatphingers like tapppytalk

Nice looking piece of meat !!

Canadian Foodie wrote:[

Nice looking piece of meat !!

Bet you say that to all the cooks.

kenji wrote:

The GP wrote: (The last few times I made pasta, the smoke detector system has gone off. I refuse to make pasta again until we figure out a fix.) .

How close is the detector to the kitchen? Generally it should be mounted at least three feet away from any doorway in a kitchen, and if it's in the kitchen itself that's an improper place to have it.

It's in the connection hallway just outside the kitchen proper. Our detectors are hard-wired and original to the construction. I've only set them off when I make pasta and I've had some other smoky cooking experiences.

A nice, steamy, creamy New England-ish fish chowder with cod & plenty o' bacon. And real cornbread, too. Not that nasty pre-packaged boxed stuff. With plenty of butter.

farmers market pork chops!
on the grill

I plan to bust out Chris Cosentino's grandma's pork ragu tomorrow. I had it at Incanto in SFO a couple of weeks ago, and it was just delicious, and I was lucky enough to find his (well, her, really) recipe in the NYTimes. I might make the handkerchief pasta, too, as that is what it was served with at the restaurant, but I have some good Italian-made orecchiette on hand, so I may just go with that, instead. He serves it with a fried duck egg on top now, too (a fine addition, suggested originally by one of the waiters), but I'll just go with a modest chicken egg, as that's what I have on hand.

This was a couple of days ago but we are still benefitting from leftovers. I made mushrooms stuffed with Italian sausage and ricotta cheese while husband worked on linguini with fresh mussels and a mushroom alfredo sauce all choked down with some adapted garlic bread.

taking advantage of this kind weather..

Inboden's 2011 Grand Champion brats off the Weber kettle tonight,

Curious how they stack up to Ream's, Wurst Kitchen, & Johnnies.

SueF was at a business presentation this evening, so it's Bachelor Chow Advanced Class time.

I did some grocery shopping at Mariano's Arl. Hts. this afternoon (taking the glorious afternoon off for working on our hallway floor and paint project, biking and shopping), and spotted a 1 lb bag of mussels. Something I don't eat at home because Sue doesn't like them. Oh, and asparagus is on sale too, which she doesn't like either. Also got an 8" demi-baguette (which she would like) to soak up the mussel broth.

So I raided the freezer: I had a partial can of coconut milk there, a couple thai chiles, (1") sliced galangal and (3") lemongrass, thai basil and kefir lime leaves. Add a couple cloves of garlic, all of which were shredded on a microplane (except for the coconut milk and leaves) and stirred together a teaspoon some (Chinese) shrimp paste. You could certainly sub with commercial thai curry paste, but really, it's no bother with a microplane.

A half a medium onion sliced thin and sweated in a dutch oven with a little oil, then added the paste ingredients and stirred until it started sticking to the pan. Deglaze with about 1/3 C leftover champagne, 3/4 C coconut milk, then add the mussels, leaves (plus a little more genovese basil from the garden), a splash of fish sauce, some fresh cilantro, half a (drained) can of straw mushrooms, and about 10 stalks of asparagus. Bring to a boil and cover for about 7 minutes on low.

Wow. Probably a little too much liquid (I'm much too full right now), but I'd hate to give any of it up.

JoelF wrote:So I raided the freezer: I had a partial can of coconut milk there, a couple thai chiles, (1") sliced galangal and (3") lemongrass, thai basil and kefir lime leaves.

Impressive freezer stash Sounds like a lovely supper!

JoelF wrote:... Deglaze with about 1/3 C leftover champagne...

I don't get this "leftover champagne" thing.

Sounds like you pulled together a great meal!

Just finished a big bowl of the aforementioned Incanto pork ragu, topped with the fried egg. Works very well with orecchiette, the leftovers of which should stand up well to reheating. HIGHLY recommended. The addition of the fresh herbs at the end (I chucked in some bonus fresh-picked thyme, too) is geniusness.

Been trying to cook more healthy dinners lately. In addition to trying to reduce my portion size of "meaty protein" I'm having 2 green veggies (one of which can be a salad) and one starchy side (which can be squash).

So here are a few recent things:

This salmon was GREAT (and super as leftovers)

Salmon with chipotle glaze
1 chipotle chile (about) from canned chipotle chiles in adobo, plus some extra liquid from the can
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
(modified from this recipe )

Puree, smear on salmon (should just lightly cover around a pound of salmon fillets). I cooked this on a cedar plank, but you could easily bake in the oven or grill directly. For the side dish, I sauteed a little garlic and chopped red bell pepper, then added brown rice, wild rice and quinoa (about 1 cup grains total), added about 1/4 cup of leftover white wine, then added a can of Rotel tomatoes, and about another 1/4 cup of water, then covered and let steam. I threw in some lime juice once it was finished cooking.

Whenever I grill, I try to make more than one meal's worth of food so I have lunches and some to freeze. This time I also used the grill to cook some roma tomatoes that I made gazpacho out of the next day. I cored them, and just put them along the sides next to the plank. I did around 7 big tomatoes. Once they had cooled I slipped off the skins and put them in a container in the fridge. The next day I used them in this gazpacho recipe -- though my quantity of tomatoes was only about 1/2 of what was called for, so I halved the recipe. I also didn't have white wine vinegar so I used 1/2 red vinegar and 1/2 sherry (not sherry vinegar), and I didn't peel the cucumber. I used a Trader Joe's tomato-veggie soup as the base instead of tomato juice, and it seemed fine. Like the picture, I garnished it with a little extra chopped onion, red pepper and cucumber.

Another success was this chicken recipe

I cheated by putting the rosemary and garlic and lemon pieces into my little chopper doohicky, so they were chopped, not sliced, and I used less oil and boneless skinless thighs. I also subbed white wine for the lemon juice, though I did use the peeled lemon chunks. I also recommend serving with something to sop up the tasty juices. I think if you tucked some potato chunks in and around the chicken they would be pretty yummy. I served it with oven sweet potato fries, which are always excellent.

My final new thing this week (so far!) was this Chicken with Chickpeas and Tomatoes recipe. I didn't have cherry tomatoes, so I just chopped up the last of the roma tomatoes. I think next time I'd chop up the chicken breasts, or use thighs, or use chopped thighs. It wasn't dry, but it was kind of solid and bulky and didn't seem to get much flavor into the chicken. Maybe I should marinate the chicken in the spiced oil from the day before, or the morning before I go to work. But we really liked the chickpea and tomatoes, particularly mixed with the yogurt. I might try to do this without chicken and with fresh green beans mixed in instead next time.

In case you don't have an idea what to make for dinner:

This is NSFW

http://www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/

Queso fundido, with homemade chorizo and home-grown poblano and Anaheim chile rajas. Awful damn good.

We are going to grill up some veal shoulder blades marinating in the fridge with rosemary, sage, basil and Italian seasongs with gralic in some olive oil and wine. One the side we have garlic baked potatoes made in the crockpot. Also some bella mushrooms stuffed with Italian Sausage and ricotta chese. Mr. KajmacJohnson and I will be sharing it with a few family members. It's going to be a feast.

Protein abondante tonight at the Davooda crib.

2011 Central Illinois venison tenderloins, whole, fresh cooked rare. Dab of Melissa's Habanero steak sauce on the plate.
Ream's chorizo links
Colorado elk loin chops from the 2010 hunt - almost gone! Making jerky from the sirloin roast later this week.

Sides...immaterial, really, Neanderthal that I am

Davooda

I made broiled chicken thighs tonight. First time cooking boneless thighs in an electric oven, so they'll be perfect next time around.

Recipe goes...

1 1/12 pounds of boneless/skinless thighs

1/4 c soy sauce (I used nama shoyu)
2 large garlic cloves minced
1/2 nob of ginger minced (about 1 tsp)
2T rice vinegar (also may be called rice wine vinegar on the bottle)
2T brown sugar
a couple dashes of chili flakes

2T sesame seeds

-Marinate the thighs in ingredients above minus sesame seeds for a few hours or over night. (I marinated for only an hour and it didn't quite hit the spot)

-Turn the broiler on. Lay out the thighs skin side down and broil for about 7 minutes, flip and broil another 5-7. Sprinkle on sesame seeds and toast (broiling times vary a ton, I broiled on high and it went quickly, watch it without opening the oven)

They were great, easy to make and perfect for leftovers.

Pork tenderloin with leeks & cream.

Greenwood Farms chicken stuffed with muledriver (serrano-garlic) sauce and roasted. Pinto beans with chorizo, rice, and tortillas. Mmmm.

cooks illustrated version of Mac & Cheese

Jerk wings tossed in a mango-habanero sauce. Simple and delicious.

Let's see, tonight I'm working on a fall menu:

Pimms cup cocktails made using ginger beer
Curried pumpkin soup with toasted sunflower seeds
Whole roasted branzino stuffed with lemon, thyme and rosemary
Fennel, potato gratin
Gluten free brownies with frozen kefir (experimenting with gluten free meals)

Should be fun!

DD pizza, with artichokes, shrimp, mushrooms, and goat mozzarella. Good for what ails you!

Grilled Pork Chops (marinated in Mojo, glazed with Orange Chipotle)
Corn Salad (corn, avocado, cilantro, tomato, maybe red bell pepper)
Asparagus sauteed with red onion (and mushrooms for the DH but not for me)

Tomatillo chicken stew based on http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomatillo_chicken_stew/.
White rice steamed with galangal, diced peppers, cumin pods and a short cinnamon stick.
Black beans with bacon and home jarred tomatoe sauce, onion and cumin to be served with fresh ricotta and sliced avocado.

I wasn't sure what to make tonight.....until I looked at the calendar.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2 ... pasta-day/

Ron

meatloaf mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy! cant wait, I have had a taste for it for weeks.

Fried rice with some of the Char Siu I picked up today at Sun Wah.

leeks, shallots, garlic (just a little) butter, white wine, S&P finished with some heavy cream