DANG that looks good!

Glad you found the Swai.

Gorack, the tamale photos are wonderful. We have been thinking about doing tamales for the first time but we never got past the thinking stage. Your photos may push us to get started. Very nice! Thank you! --Joy

Thanks Joy! They weren't nearly as difficult as I though they would be. I really had no reference point as far as what the dough consistency should be other than making pizza dough.

I read a few websites about it and "a thick peanut butter like consistency" is what I went with. Though, it wasn't quite that sticky as I was able to spread it on the husks with my hand. I had started out using a spatula to spread it but I found as I went along that taking a glob of it in my hand and just mashing it down on the husk and spreading it with my fingers was a lot easier.

I'm looking forward to doing them again with some other meats, fruit and nuts. But, after seeing how much crisco goes into them I think I'll give my arteries a break for a few weeks.

Pasta!

mhill95149 wrote:Pasta!

I really like this set mhill!

Jeff

salmon wellington tonight

Stuffed peppers. Red bell peppers, stuffed with ground beef, corn, green chilies, rice and cheese. Topped with greek yogurt, green salsa and scallions.

As kid commitments preclude celebrating Valentine's Day on the actual day this week, I made lobster bisque (Tyler Florence recipe off TFN) and Baked Hot Chocolate (WSJ recipe from a week or so ago) for my Valentine Saturday.

The bisque turned out really great...so great that I plan to add it to the soup rotation, though I may switch to shrimp as a cost-saving measure.

The baked hot chocolate turned out more like pudding than I expected. The WSJ writeup indicated the top layer should be cake-like, the middle layer pudding-like and the bottom layer much like the center of a chocolate lava cake. What I got was one consistency - pudding - though it was delicious!

Perhaps those with experience in hot-water-bath baking can suggest what went amiss? I baked the maximum :20 minutes but perhaps should have baked longer?

here's the baked hot chocolate recipe:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 65048.html

And the bisque recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle ... index.html

Thanks!

Davooda

Carrot Soup w/ Sesame & Chives


Carrot Soup w/ Sesame & Chives by MsLynnB, on Flickr

Davooda wrote:As kid commitments preclude celebrating Valentine's Day on the actual day this week, I made lobster bisque (Tyler Florence recipe off TFN) and Baked Hot Chocolate (WSJ recipe from a week or so ago) for my Valentine Saturday.

The bisque turned out really great...so great that I plan to add it to the soup rotation, though I may switch to shrimp as a cost-saving measure.

The baked hot chocolate turned out more like pudding than I expected. The WSJ writeup indicated the top layer should be cake-like, the middle layer pudding-like and the bottom layer much like the center of a chocolate lava cake. What I got was one consistency - pudding - though it was delicious!

Perhaps those with experience in hot-water-bath baking can suggest what went amiss? I baked the maximum :20 minutes but perhaps should have baked longer?

here's the baked hot chocolate recipe:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 65048.html

And the bisque recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle ... index.html

Thanks!

Davooda

Have you checked the actual temperature of the oven? Just because it's set at 350, doesn't mean that's the temp you're getting. Did you use the same size cups and fill them with the same volume? Make sure you're not filling up your bain marie (water bath) more than 1/2 way up the sides of the cups. Did you use very hot water, near boiling? I haven't made this particular recipe, but I've made lemon pudding cakes many times and the water definitely keeps the mixture below the water level a pudding. And lastly, definitely test before pulling them out of the oven. The recipe states the tops should not be glossy.

thanks knitgirl - I had to "punt" and use coffee mugs as I didn't have ramekins of the correct size. The shape of these is very narrow at the bottom - so it's likely I put too much water in the bain marie.

And the water was very hot though not near boiling.

The tops didn't look glossy though they weren't matte either...kinda like satin finish paint.

I will try again with correct ramekins and following your suggestions - thanks much!

Oven temp was a steady 350 according to my in-oven thermometer.

Davooda

I wonder if the thickness of the coffee mugs would also come into play, I would think you might get some residual cooking going on. Let us know how they turn out next time. I think I might give them a try one of these days.

Will do - and the bisque was really very good, if you are inclined to try that sometime!

Davooda

I wish I could post the pics... maybe tomorrow- but I'm making an aged 20+ oz bone in ribeye from Joseph's finest meats. It looks amazing and I'm so excited. Happy bday to my honey.

We're also having 1/2 dozen raw oysters and baked potatoes

mussels from the new Palatine Mariano's


A 2 lbs. bag which my wife and I can split. The 5 lbs. bags from Costco are just too big for the two of us!

(I like the shaky camera look for this photo..)

Grilled jerk chicken, and grilled asparagus. Eating it as I write. Damn good eats.

variation on this recipe for garbanzo beans with tomatoes
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... ika-242113
with pork chunks instead of chicken breasts
also roasting asparagus in the oven at the same time, and serving with salad and whole wheat bread.

Fuchia Dunlop's Hot & Numbing Chicken, AKA Ma La Zi Ji. Absolutely delicious, with perfect balance.

Last night we stayed in and celebrated my girlfriend's 30th birthday and my getting a new job. The photos are just ok -- eating was the priority.


Appetizer: Chorizo, Salami, Sopressata, olives, cheeses, grapes, roasted peppers, garlic & rosemary bread.


First Course: Scallops with a salad lf arugula, cherry tomatoes, shaved Parmesan and mustard vinaigrette.


Main Dish: Dry aged ribeye, sauteed asparagus, mashed potatoes with cheddar-horseradish cheese and and fried scallions.


Molten chocolate cake with blackberry compote

Cooking on the weekends is all I have time for. I work and attend grad school most evenings so little time to cook during the week.

Last Saturday we did a recipe we saw on America's Test Kitchen. Pasta with leeks and asparagus. The pasta was actually sort of fried and boiled with brothy. The recipe itself was a bit of work to follow. It came out great. My husband adored it but I just did not care for it. There was a ton left over and he finished off most of it. Loved to see how happy he was. We also had tried a hand in baking fresh clams. That turned out so so.

Last night we baked some tilapia filets in olive oil, lemmon pepper, old bay and garlic. Very well done. We are not fish people so I was pleasantly surpised at how good it came out. With a side of rice and Cuban black beans, it was a nice compliment to the fish.

Tilapia Friday is giving away to Cevapcici Saturday. Going to home make some cevapcici sausages and eat it with homemade kalamata olive foccacia bread with kajmak, feta and avjar. Looking forward to this.

I made a coriander-crusted pan seared salmon (on sale at TI for $5.99/lb. this week)--I have a superblast setting on my gas stove, with some red potatoes and dill, and steamed brocolli drizzled with kosher salt.

@mhill95149: Speaking of Salmon, your dish looks outstanding. Can you post the recipe for what you did on 2/10 - the Salmon Wellington?

Last night grilled up a nice porterhouse & N.Y. Strip from Dave's meat market in Yorkville. Simple salt, garlic powder, black pepper seasoning. Did some NOLA style bbq shrimp, sauteed shrooms, and a baked potato to round it out. Tasty steaks, but not cheap, the porterhouse was $18, about 1.5 lbs.





Tonight i have some babybacks from C.P.. Meats over in New Lennox to try, their brats might be the best around(restocked my supply of these), figure ill also do a slab of trimmed spares. Might actually drag the WSM out vs smoking on the kettles.

Homemade veggie burgers, cuban black bean soup with homemade tortilla chips. Jamaica and ginger soda [home made], and sweet corn bread with a jalapeno pepper jam. Dessert....not sure...vegan strawberry sorbet [homemade]

I'm smoking a couple meatloaves based on the Ole Man Jim's recipe. About half the meat is ground chicken so we'll see how they come out.
I'm also doing a rack of baby backs. Once the WSM is dragged out of the garage, it's easy enough to rub some ribs real quick and stick them on. I'm using Magic Dust on them. The wind has proved challenging but now that the fire is made and the food is on, the worst is over. The temp is holding pretty well at 250-275 for the last two hours.

Family dinner tonight

Ham with an apple cider glaze


Mac & Cheese


Bacon Cheddar Biscuits


Boston Creme Cake


Cherry Pie

Sweet Potato Hash w/ham, red peppers, green onions and sage

Broiled saba (mackerel - on sale at H Mart $2.28/lb. and gorgeous) brushed with soy sauce/brown sugar/toasted sesame oil, steamed baby bok choy ( on sale 68¢/lb. at H Mart) brushed with the same glaze as the saba, Japanese short grain rice, and Japanese cucumber salad.

I just got done hacking apart the fish and it was far easier than I anticipated, looking forward to dinner.

Sometimes simple is good. Fresh from the oven roasted garlic & rosemary bread served with a roasted pepper & tomato soup.

First try at Kimchi Jjigae, recipe loosely adopted:

If anyone has specific tips for making this home I would love to hear them for my next try.

Ingredients:

200 grams of Pork belly (about 1/2 pound)
4 or 5 cups of chopped kimchi
1 tbs sugar, 1 tsp of hot pepper flakes, 1 tbs hot pepper paste
onion, green onions
half a package of tofu
sesame oil and water


In a shallow pot, put some chopped kimchi and juice.
Add sliced onion, hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, sugar, and green onions, and pork belly (or tuna).
Pour water over top until all the ingredients are submerged.
Close the lid of the pot and boil it 25 or 30 minutes. (first 10 minutes will be high heat and then turn down the heat over medium heat)
Add some tofu and boil it 5 minutes more and put some sesame oil right before serving.

pasta-5390.jpg by Mel Hill Photography, on Flickr

Lasagna, 11 layers of turkey bolognese, spinach white sauce & ricotta/ mozzarella, 10 layers of homemade pasta.
baked in a regular bread pan so I could use lots of layers.