I know there are plenty of good cooks here. Let's see what's for dinner. I'll show a few dishes I've done at work recently.
Orange-teriyaki grilled swordfish sandwich with rice wine slaw, pineapple salsa and wasabi crème fraîche.
Seared lamb loin chop with truffle-parmesan risotto, seasoned peas and a minted cabernet sauce.
Classic french dip au jus, roasted rare, with horseradish crème fraîche and house-cut fries.
Pan-seared Chilean sea bass with mango salsa served over wild rice and roasted asparagus. So simple.
This ain;'t your mom's meat loaf. Fresh ground angus meat loaf, basil-ricotta smashed potatoes and grilled vegetables with a garlic-mushroom demi glace.
Seared filet mignon with roasted vegetables, grilled mushrooms and a rosemary-red wine reduction served with roasted red pepper smashed potatoes.
Bagel and smoked salmon, served for brunch.
Halloumi, blackberry, fennel & spelt salad
Paprika chicken, charred corn & avocado salad. Yoghurt & dill dressing.
Red currant jam 2022.... Both sweet and tart, as usual... We're eating it as a topping for vanilla ice cream.
A peh. Proper food. None of that namby-pamby langoustine muck.
Happy Easter to those who are celebrating!
Here is my Potica, (pronounced poh-TEET-sah). It's the most delicious roll, prepared with light brioche dough and filled with a rich, tasty filling. I made two filings, the very popular nut, and the other with tarragon and creme fraiche filling.
It's traditionally eaten here on all holidays Easter, Christmas, and other celebrations like birthdays and weddings.
Also, all-natural colored eggs. Beetroot and spinach didn't work as I had hoped for, so no pink and green, but plenty of brownish... But still, they look quite nice. 😊
Nobody been eating recently?
Last nights dinner: hasselback squash stuffed with sage & thyme. Crumbled feta.
I got a homemaking cheese machine for Xmas, started tonight with the easiest recipe, Greek yogurt. I just mixed milk with a small container of yogurt, and all I have to do is wait 12 hours...
Will report tomorrow morning. 😊
is 9,22 pm 25th dec too late to bung the turkey in the oven......?
i grossly overestimated how much food two people and two cats (plus strays} need
Hazelnut Cake for my mother in law's birthday... 🎂🍾
The gingerbread house finally got completed - it took forever! I have no idea how they make things like this for bake off in an hour or so! For a first effort, I am quite pleased with it.
Going to see the birthday boy today but, sadly, their child minder tested positive for Covid on Thursday so we have to be in the garden. Just hope it isn't wet and/or windy!
Homemade baguettes... The French theme is purely accidental... 🇫🇷 🙂
Sunday Brioche before...
And after...
Today was Christmas baking day (a bit late!) and, as I was stirring the pudding mix and making a wish I realised that I didn't need to wish for the thing I have been wishing for for the last 20 years, as this year it happened! My son is finally settled and happy - long may it continue!
Last nights vegetarian Wellington. Pic doesn’t do it justice: potato, beetroot, mushroom & feta wrapped up in puff pastry.
I made this. Sweet potatoes with sage and garlic and cream. An Ottolenghi recipe.
I have a Victoria sponge cooling, which is definitely not worth a photo and would see me evicted from the Bake Off tent! It will be OK once I have put some jam in it and covered it in icing sugar!!
This mornings batch of bere bannocks:
@MagicRatAFC I have to, can't help myself.... 😋
In Greece, they eat fried fish with Skordalia, a garlic and mashed potatoes dip, seasoned with olive oil and vinegar...
It's delicious, if you love garlic, and makes you switch tables, if you don't. 😁
You people are all Philistines!!!!!
We solved that problem. 🙂
Fried fish is served with potato salad here. It's actually a very good combination, healthier than chips, also.
Salt and sauce? You've spent too much time in Edinburgh I'd say.
Mushy peas are green...... therefore healthy.
Ask science.
Is that.......a side salad..........with fish and chips??????
That has to contravene a law surely?
,Mushy peas, onion rings at a push, or it's sacrilege.
In the interests of reviving a favourite thread, earlier this week I attended a face to face meeting at a client, for the first time in several months. I met people in person for the first time who I've worked with via phone and mail for nearly a year...
A bonus was a free lunch at the canteen which had to specially reopen for the meeting. Nothing wrong with a spot of good old fish and chips... Really very tasty for a canteen nom too. 😊
Since we don't have a gardening thread...
Here's two zucchini, two days ago they were still small, and I haven't picked them up.
Now I've got two monsters and have to figure out what to do with them. 🙂
When we were in Burma a few years ago, in one shop they brought around a jar with black bits -- toasted ants with chilli and lime, I think it was. I took a pinch when offered, and it tasted ok, like the spices only. I watched when they offered it to my husband, and he took some too. I was very proud of him. 😂
No ladies come back!!! Is this better? 😉
I'm out of this thread for a while... 🙄
If you could put a coin or a thumb in the pic it would give a sense of scale. The fellas I'm talking about are pretty small - 20 to 25mm approx. If that guy is significantly bigger maybe I was eating the babies?
Is it just me or is that actually quite a cute looking cricket? More attractive than your average insect.
We are talking about these guys, yes? 🤔
Mrs D used to be bring the occasional bag of chocolate coated crickets home. Must admit I was quite partial to them.
First attempt at beremeal bannock-scones. Maybe a touch less salt next time, but reckon would be just grand with cheese and a chutney. Might have a go at rhubarb and date......
I'm a complete choco-holic.
It's worth a splurge on the good stuff every once in a while.
I recall spending a ludicrous sum of money in one of the Godiva stores in New York years ago.
I specifically remember these chocolate coated strawberries.....man alive they were awesome.
I visited my favourite chocolate shop whilst I was in London - insanely expensive chocolates, but I would rather have one from there than a box of regular chocolates.
Tried a new recipe this evening - tuna steaks with green beans dressed in a herb, anchovy & caper sauce. Very nice, though I say so myself!
Pan-seared Chilean sea bass with a roasted potato and vegetable medley and lemon cream sauce.
Ok, I’ve got one to contribute! I just read a biography of Paula Wolfert and was inspired to try one of her duck recipes. So I bought a whole duck, removed the wing tips, backbone and breastbone myself, and made this. It cooks for 3 and half hours, plus some extra for finishing, and the sauce is made from the bones with onions, bit of tomato paste, wine and chicken stock, and the juices from cooking the meat, along with some olives. My first time in my life cooking a duck.
Ummm.....
Does this look any better? I can only say it tastes like heaven on a plate, even if it looks like something else entirely...
Bocca round two!
Farinata (like a pancake) with runner beans, anchovy, lemon and pine nuts (not roasted) and foccacia with tallegio cheese.
I would hire you if you presented that plate as your demo.
Do you roast the pine nuts or are they raw?
Another take away cook at home yesterday evening - turbot with olives, tomatoes, pine nuts and olive mash with Camogliesi al rhum to follow (these are similar to profiteroles, but much better)
No work today, out riding my bike, so why not? California's claim to burger fame. The world renowned In-N-Out Double Double, fresh-cut fries and a cold Coke.
Ahhh, yes. First glance at the pic (on my phone) I thought it had a crust.
AJ that looks the business......but isn't it a cheese quiche?
Ok, here you go.
For the basic cheesecake which serves 4 (I halved it as they suggest it is not good cold or reheated)
200g full fat cream cheese (Philadelphia)
200g feta, crumbled
100g soft goats cheese
3 eggs
ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients together in a food processor and transfer to a lightly buttered baking dish.
There are various vegetable preparations which can be used in addition. I used roasted and skinned peppers with basil and olives. Other suggestions are sliced and roasted aubergines, roasted courgettes with mint or invent your own.
Half submerge the vegetables into the cheesecake mix and bake in the over at 190/170 fan for 25 minutes.
Dead simple!
Savoury cheesecake - absolutely delicious and a doddle to make!
Dandelion Salad... I'm interested if anyone else eats dandelion?
There are two basic rules, the plant should be young, and picked in a non poluted environment.
It is bitter, but not as bitter as rucola.
It grows wild in the meadows, it's not unusual to see people picking it in the spring. Traditionally, the salad was made with boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and cranklings.
We only use pumpkin seed oil, which is another local (regional) speciality.
I feel like one happy cow every time we share this for dinner..
Something of a family tradition, chocolate fondue. Sorry the children's heads are missing - their mother would excommunicate me if I posted pictures of them!
Bacon-wrapped sea scallops with maple cream sauce, roasted potatoes and wilted spinach with pine nuts.
Both the photos and the food looks amazing Chef. Nicely done.
Had a professional photographer out to shoot my menu.
@Jerseyfornia please can you tell me what bread & butter pickles are? I am reading a series of detective stories at the moment and the hero seems to have a liking for them!
I sense a day's gargantuan consumption ahead......
And here's my Ricotta and Tarragon Cheese Cake.
Happy Easter!
My natural coloured eggs, I used beetroot, red cabbage, onion peels, blueberries and turmeric. White eggs and regular.
Some specials for Easter brunch. Lemon ricotta crepes with berries, crab cake Eggs Benedict and the kid's Easter basket breakfast.
Spring has sprung! First meal in the garden. Chicken wrapped in Parma ham with lemon, rice salad and a very nice bottle of sparkling rose.
Candy apple pork loin chop with basil smashed potatoes and sauteed haricot verts with red pepper and roasted pine nuts.
That looks some serious eating there Rick.
You're right about a burger, just all you need sometimes.
To this day the best burger I've eaten was in "Windows on the World" just a few weeks before 9/11.
My wife and I had lunch there, I chose the burger and it was just awesome.
I often wonder about the waiting staff and bartender, just all the people we spoke to (the Scottish accent always seemed to prompt extended conversations), if they were working a few weeks later...........
My new Firehouse Bacon Burger.
Half-pound Angus patty, melting aged cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, peppered candied bacon and seasoned crispy onion straws - drizzled with barbecue sauce and a locally-sourced bourbon mustard on a cool bed of lettuce and tomato. Accompanied by sweet potato fries. Introduced this tonight to a very warm reception.
Sometimes all you need is a good fucking burger.
Went to a restaurant for a sit down meal for the first time in an age last night, for a work function.
It was Portuguese themed and I ended up choosing a chicken and prawn curry because I always try have something out I wouldn't normally eat at home.
Restaurant was nice, staff were lovely and friendly, the food looked good (most had the usual, steak and chips, meh) but my curry just lacked... something. It should be about flavour, not heat, and so many places seem to get that wrong. It was nice, but not wow.
Italian Apple cake - haven't tasted it yet, but it looks good!
Pesky wabbitt!!!!!
Carl took a rifle and fetched us dinner from the woods...
Just kidding! I don't think I could have lived with a hunter...
Rabbit Stew, before and after.
The dish looks delicious but i am also envious of the blue sky! It's been grey here for a very long time...
Pan-seared beef filet with cherries and a peppered raspberry-red wine reduction.
One of my favourites this evening, mussels with linguine and walnut parsley pesto - a bit fiddly but definitely worth it.
@karenburke247 I made the chicken tagine today and it was really good. Thanks for the recipe, it's definitely a 'keeper'!
Pancakes for dessert - do other countries have pancake day/shrove Tuesday or is it a British thing?
This evening's treat - marmalade bread & butter pudding!
Sobering figures from the local Foodbank - during 2019 we supplied food to 1031 children, during 2020 it went up to 2048.
Maybe this should be on the politics thread, but it is about food.
Fresh steamed green-lipped mussels in a saffron white wine and cream broth.
The friend in Ipswich who was doing the Moroccan cooking Zoom with me ALSO could not find aubergines - she blamed Brexit too!
How well do you maintain family cooking traditions, and how successful you are at combining them?
When I started cooking, I used to phone my Mom, aunts, grandmothers.. for advice, whenever I stumbled upon a culinary dilemma.
After I'd met Carl, I added his family's recipes and have included his relatives as my cooking influence.
Even though both families cook quite similarly, I think I managed to combine what was best from both, and hopefully, this lovely process will go on...
I tried two new recipes yesterday, both from Nigel Slater (who is probably my favourite food writer) in Sunday's Observer. Both turned out to be rather good and will get transferred to the 'keeping' folder.
Baked aubergines & beans with gochujaga
Yoghurt mint ice cream with melted chocolate, which turned crisp as it hit the ice cream. Yummy!
Bacon naan with cream cheese, coriander and tomato chilli jam, courtesy of Dishoom At Home.
We saved the Tonno e Fagioli for tomorrow, as we decided we couldn't eat it all.
This evening's 'finish at home' - absolutely wonderful!
Main course, Cacciucco, which is a fish stew, comprising mussels, clams, monkfish, cuttlefish & prawns, with toasted bread.
Dessert Torta Della Nonna, I don't know what was in this, but it was heavenly!
Ten thousand dollars worth of food delivered today.
The walk-in was barren this morning.
My crew will have the kitchen ready for service in 16 man-hours or less.
One of my friends gave me a zoom cooking class with a cook in Casablanca, Morocco, since we had been planning a trip to Morocco just when the pandemic hit. The class was today, so it was me in Canada, another friend in the UK, and the cook in Morocco. We made chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon, and eggplant ”salad” (more like a dip).
It was delicious!
More great pasta from Padella At Home tonight - Fettuccine with nduj, mascarpone & Amalfi lemon. Burrata and cured fennel salami antipasti. Fantastic quality and value from this great London restaurant.
We have a birthday meal coming this week from Bocca Di Lupo, where our anniversary meal came from. Whilst browsing the website, I saw their Valentines Special, which included two bars of chocolate - one called 'Sex' and one called 'Optimism' not sure why I find this amusing - if I had to choose...
During one of our trips to Italy, we observed an elderly lady preparing Focaccia in a local bakery. She was pouring the oil in generous amounts over the top, and then she rubbed it slowly and almost erotically all over the large square dough. During that time, and it went on for a couple of minutes, she was enthusiastically talking about the importance and benefits of olive oil. She was so energetic and loud...
After she'd put the tin in the oven, she said: "Never waste it!", lifted her skirt, and rubbed her thighs... 😊
Sticking with the current pork theme, here’s a pic of my Spanish pork, pepper salad and olive mash effort. It was well received. Only issue I had was the volume of oil, butter and cream supposed to go into the mash. Ended up halving quantities to avoid a highly calorific soup!
Last nights payday treat was pork ribs from our favourite restaurant whom we support as much as possible. You phone your order, when you collect you sanitise and then pick up your food from an isolated table, all sealed up and in a brown bag you just take and go.
Along with the ribs (generously meaty, soft, sticky and juicy with their Mozambican marinade) they give you delicious fries and rice cooked in a coconut cream.
Apologies but I was salivating and got stuck in (of COURSE you have to eat them by hand) so I did not take any photos...
This was really very good - a recipe I got from a newspaper. Roasted spiced vegetables with mashed butter beans.
The diet starts tomorrow. Rib eye, (suitably oiled and salted!), chips, macaroni cheese and creamed spinach.
Marmalade making in the Jones household today (mostly Mr J I admit!)
I don't have s picture, but my favorite pork fillet recipe is quite easy to prepare.
I rub the fillet with salt and olive oil the night before.
(as I do with all meat, basically. Just had a discussion with Carl about when to salt the steaks. Some say after the meat is done, but for my taste the salt only stays on the surface that way - would love to hear your opinions)
On the next day I rub the fillet generously with herbs Provencale, and wrap it in Pancetta. I use cooking twine to fix the Pancetta.
Next I just take a pan and cook the meat on all sides on high temperature, then I flip it into the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size. I use the thermometer, because it still needs to be pinkish and moist inside.
The end result looks fancy, and the taste is delicious. I will take a picture next time. 🙂
I don't eat much meat, but pork is my favourite by far.
Got a nice bit of pork fillet lined up for Saturday evening.
I eat more pork than any other meat apart from chicken.... Bacon, decently cut chops, rashers, an occasional roast... LOVE pork.
Well, it's come to pork.
Simple pleasures. Bread making day - a couple of wholemeal loaves.
That looks "affa fine" as they say where I come from.