Slow Thursday troll: What's for dinner?

Oh, right, blame ME, Mr. Socialist.

Ended up doing a spicy nasi goreng. I'm poking around the pantry for something to finish off the meal.

Back in the 19th century, the political term "liberal" used to mean a political philosophy that held individual rights supreme. The state and monarchy only have those rights ceded to it by the individual. Later on, the term "liberal" became perverted to mean "the welfare of the common good trumps rights of the individual". So the original "liberals" had to adopt the term "libertarian".

Libertarianism still believes that the the rights of the individual are supreme, and the state only holds those rights reluctantly granted to it for temporary expedience.

What we now call "liberalism", in contrast, believes in trampling individual rights in favor of the perceived "common good". The two ends--extreme "liberalism" and extreme conservatism--meet in the middle. Both believe in using the power of the state to coerce the public into adhering to their views. Both are anathema to individual freedom.

Here endeth today's sermon.

Back to the subject.

The Punjabi fenugreek chicken came out superb. As did the basmati rice. The salad greens were out of a bag (hey--this is New Hampshire in the winter; I have no other better option). Good dinner, and provided a much-needed warmth, given the rampant snowstorm outside.

-Paul W.

Had a beautiful bunch of mustard greens show up in the CSA basket today. Took some Italian sausage and cooked it up. Used some of the fat from that to saute the mustard greens along with some garlic and a little water. Finished it with a little balsamic vinegar. Put the sausage and the greens on polenta. Came out pretty well.

%^)

Had to get home to wait and see what was for dinner ...

Thanks to Mr. McQuade's heads-up, Kathleen fixed Bourbon-Glazed Salmon ... rice pilaf ... fresh green beans ... salad with bleu cheese dressing ... whole garlic bread ... topped it off with a piece of "Better-Than-Sex" cake ... oh - opened a bottle of Peachy Canyon's Incredible Red - went very well with the OUTSTANDING salmon !

Clink !

%^)

[Jenise]

Jenise, I have failed miserably at pairing wine with sauerkraut. I thought reisling would be a natural match for the obvious reasons but I thought the combination to be horrid. To my palate the kraut made the wine taste very asphalt/tar like.

Fred, I have a feeling that straight out of the jar, sauerkraut would perplex any attempt at matching, but if it's de-natured, if you will, toned down in combination with other wine-friendly ingredients, I've never found any problem at all. Reisling works great. I ended up actually squeezing some kraut and putting that on top of my pudding, then adding a layer of swiss cheese. The pudding ended up tasting just like a Rueben sandwich but with that lovely creamy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside texture that is so fabulous about bread puddings. Wow, was it good! I did make the cabbage, btw, but I sauteed it with green onions. And it worked wonderfully with the riesling.

Ala Gary Barlettano..

Spaghetti Aglio Olio...or in this case Linguine Aglio Olio.

So simple, so good. We changed this a bit to accomodate a poorer quality of available fresh garlic. But it works really well by making the oil an infusion.

I use about 3/4 of a cup of EVOO & add (dried @t this time of year) about a tsp each of red pepper flakes & oregano plus about 1/2 tsp of basil and parsley to the EVOO. Then 3-4 cloves of slightly crushed garlic.

Heat oil until garlic starts to brown and remove & dispose of cloves. Allow to cool and add to 1 lb of hot drained pasta. Serve w/ simple chianti and a good quality Parmesan Reg.

This has become a regular weekly meal for us.

Richard

[Jenise]

Richard, that's a dish I learned from this board years ago, and it's our answer to the predicament that sends others to the frozen pizza rack: always easy, always fast, but it has that one thing that frozen pizza doesn't: it's homemade.

So far a protein bar. I have a recording session tonight and will hopefully find time to eat before or after. A salad maybe?

rwj

For us it will some of the Spanish shrimp bisque left over from the winetasting dinner last week, then we'll have a pork tenderloin braised with garlic, tomatoes and fresh herbs over some fresh pasta and a little salad on the side. The dreaded "we have to wrap packages NOW" ultimatum has arrived.

Chicken fried steak, potatoes roasted with evoo and garlic, something green, probably steamed broccoli all washed down with cheap Lodi Cab.

[Jenise]

Ines, Spanish shrimp bisque sounds intriguing. What made it Spanish? Annabelle reports that your dinner was magnificent--of course, I expected no less.

Karen, what time's dinner? I can always refrigerate my rising pizza dough!

You would have loved it .... sadly we finished it all at lunch today.

fred,

Kraut, when paired with wine needs to be rinsed quite thoroughly (3 times) or more IMO.

It was sushi. Tekka Maki, Kappa Maki, and Nigri with tuna and salmon. It rocked.

Off to record.

rwj

Jenise, I've been meaning to report on the dinner as a whole but too busy with a convalescing mother (KirK's) and the usual holiday overload to do so. The bisque was made "Spanish" by the addition of lots of garlic, yellow and orange peppers, smoked paprika and a healthy dosage of solera sherry. The remainder was standard--shallots, tomatoes, a shrimp stock and of course, cream.
One of the biggest hits was something I didn't even cook-- a whole serrano ham from La Espanola that we partially sliced thin and piled around the ham for presentation. Went superbly with the starter bubblies. The remainder of the ham is hanging in the wine cellar and will be used for a multitude of dishes during the winter months. It was expensive, but I know I'll use every bit.

Thanks for the answers Jenise and Bob. My kraut dish was rinsed but just roasted with kielbasa. Maybe just not "denatured" enough.


Oh, and to answer the original question a couple of days late, mushroom stuffed ravioli with sage brown butter and roasted butternut squash with an el cheapo chard.

[Jenise]

Ines, the bisque sounds fantastic. Would you post the recipe? Sorry to hear that Kirk's mom has been ill--I know your hands are full with Anita (and Gunther) already. Hope she's going to be allright.

And great move on the ham. It IS worth it: look what Bob got me for my birthday this year.

OK, Jenise, so where's that ham from?

Obviously not Poland, since the tag is in Cyrillic script. That pretty much leaves Russia, Buglaria, and Serbia (maybe Ukraine?). [update--OOPS! Didn't look close enough. That typeface looked like Cyrillic in that small picture. I see now it's in Spanish.]

Inquiring minds want to know.

-Paul W.

Wow Jenise??!!

Isn't that a Serrano Ham? You have to keep us updated on what you do or have done with that.

Richard

That is a beautiful leg of pig, Jenise! Hell of a gift - Bob knows what he's doing!

Aha! I knew there was something missing from my ham. That stand--which is ubiquitous in Spain and Portugal, really does make it easier to carve the cured Serrano ham. We had some comical moments rotating it on a cutting board, wondering just where to start carving it. We ended up just sawing a hunk off the thickest part (and I was stupid enough to discard some of the valuable fatty rind, which should have been saved for making lardons, etc., but there's still plenty of it left. We then took that chunk and with a razor sharp knife, carved very thin slices from it, against the grain.

Too late right now, but I'll post the bisque recipe later in the week. I've got houseguests, a full schedule tomorrow and I'm recovering from a very hectic week full week of events.

[Jenise]

Bob ordered the ham from La Tienda apparently about six months before my birthday (in August) and they apparently reserved it, then mailed it later.

Mike, I knew you'd be jealous.

What did I do with it? I invited many people over to admire it, and then we ate it. Just nibbled off slices daily. Took about two months to finish it--kept well at Pac NW room temp, though I moved it into the wine cellar on a few hot days.

Ines, the stand helped A LOT. Of course, now I have a stand I can't bear to throw out, though I may never have another ham.