What's cooking?

Tonight, dinner for friends who leave soon for France:

Scallops with bay leaf and sherry cream sauce broiled on the halfshell
Joel Roblechon's (I know I've butchered that spelling) Bacon and Potato 'Cake'
Romaine and fresh fennel salad with lemon-walnut oil salad
Broiled figs with roquefort, garlic, hazelnut and lemon zest topping
Wines will be a roussanne from a vineyard in Seattle, YES, Seattle, and an Eric Texier 05 Cotes du Rhone

Wow - sounds great, and the wine should be delicious with that.

A nice pasta sauce made from organic beef, lots of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, red wine, onions, garlic, oregano, French Thyme, over some multi-shapes of rustic pasta. A nice green salad with vinaigrette made from roasted walnut oil, and a zinfandel vinegar.

Tried my hand at pulled pork today with a 7 lb pork butt. Came out very well, and an 88 Pape Clement went nicely alongside.

cauli1.jpg

Today: roasted whole cauliflower basted with brown butter.

Baby back pork ribs, basmati rice, with peppers, onion, turmeric, garam masala, chile powder, fresh tomatoes, lemon juice and cilantro. A stir fry of young broccoli, sugar snap peas, and orange bell peppers.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice job of cooking whole brains Salil!

I will be making Jenise's Braised Chicken with Porcini Mushrooms for dinner tonight.

-Paul W.

Seasoned and grilled rack of lamb, Italian Eggplant, pear, arugula, toasted pecan salad with toasted walnut and champagne vinegar vinaigrette.

Couscous Royale tonight, made with three kinds of sausage (sweet Italian, lamb and red wine, and lots of merguez), carrots, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, tomato, chickpeas, almonds, pine nuts, and a spice mix that involved half the cabinet. Add some quick-cook organic whole-wheat couscous and it was so there.

But I will admit that, in large part, it mightily resembled making gumbo.

[Robin Garr]

A ragout of mushrooms and onions with thyme over creamy mashed potatoes. Great with Pinot Noir!

The 2011 vintage of apple butter is in the crock pot.

Couscous Royale tonight, made with three kinds of sausage (sweet Italian, lamb and red wine, and lots of merguez), carrots, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, tomato, chickpeas, almonds, pine nuts, and a spice mix that involved half the cabinet. Add some quick-cook organic whole-wheat couscous and it was so there.

I understand the convenience but something about taking all that effort for the sauce and then using quick-cook couscous seems funny. (Of course I eat the quick-cook whole-wheat couscous 2-3 times per week).

Does anyone know if this rapid cooking couscous is popular these days in Northern Africa? I've had folks laugh at my 'Americanized' version of couscous, but it was mainly men who were proudly attached to the slow cooking methods of the women in their family. Like many places across the world, I imagine those women are increasingly excited to find time-saving options.

I understand the convenience but something about taking all that effort for the sauce and then using quick-cook couscous seems funny.

I had enough else to do.

I've had folks laugh at my 'Americanized' version of couscous, but it was mainly men who were proudly attached to the slow cooking methods of the women in their family. Like many places across the world, I imagine those women are increasingly excited to find time-saving options.

Bingo! In the end, laddies, it's just itty-bitty pasta, however it's made. It can be cooked hard or soft or al dente but the whole towels, oil, rubbing thing is unnecessary.

An organic chicken baked in the oven with a mixture of honey, butter, curry and mustard. The chicken is cooked at 375º, turned and basted often. This glazy saucy mix turns into an oozy, caramelized coating that is so yummy. I am serving it with plump soup barley sautéed with leeks, shallots and French Thyme, cooked in chicken stock. White wine and porcini mushrooms are added near the end. Haven't decided if I want a veggie or a salad to go with this.

Karen,
That sounds so simple yet delicious..As for us, it will be chicken cacciatore w/ fusilli, salad..all to be washed with a Pedroncelli Sauvignon Blanc and a Sangiovese from Niner Estates.
-Shaji

Salil, that Califlowerr is one of my favorite things in the world to eat.

Tonight we are having some friends over for dinner. We've been kind of stressed with work, so my friend made me promise to not go through a lot of trouble (even though cooking actually relaxes me), so I picked up our favorite pecan crusted pork rib chops from Fresh Market (they are seriously good). All you do is bake them until golden. I just made some applesauce with rosemary from a variety of apples we had on hand. Then we'll have roasted baby carrots and patty-pan squash and a wild, red and brown rice blend that I'll add some golden raisins to. Oh, the salad will be mixed greens and sliced pear with shaved Vermont cheddar cheese and a pear vinaigrette.

Store bought ice cream and shortbread cookies for dessert.

[Jenise]

Tonight we're going to a soup party: everyone brings a soup to share, and a six-cup muffin tin to sample the various soups in. The hostess is providing salad(s). So having fallen under the spell of Austrian knodel last week, I'm inventing a charcroute-flavored broth with bits of smoked pork, sauerkraut and green beans for color that one scoops over a hot butter-browned herb-flecked knodel. Will be a great way to use a lot of my garden's fresh herbs before the cold winter kills them off.

Tonight we're going to a soup party: everyone brings a soup to share, and a six-cup muffin tin to sample the various soups in. The hostess is providing salad(s).

What a great idea for a party. Will be copying this soon!

Last night we had a total of eight kids and grandkids over for some chow. Grilled four boneless sirloins rubbed with Morton run over charcoal and mesquite; and roasted 5 lbs of mixed small but not fingerling potatoes in bacon fat; and served all with a salad made from the garden that hasn't been nuked by the weather yet. Two potatoes and a few slices of steak was all that remained.

[Jenise]

Tonight we're going to a soup party: everyone brings a soup to share, and a six-cup muffin tin to sample the various soups in. The hostess is providing salad(s).

What a great idea for a party. Will be copying this soon!

It worked out great! And the party was held in a garage--our friends recently built a bar on wheels, wherein the top surface is a laminated door, that they roll into the middle of the room after they back the cars out, shut the door, and turn on the music. They've even mounted a TV on one wall so that if there's a good game on, like last night, that can be on too. Perfect place for a soup party--drips are no problem!

I think this is a wonderful idea as well. Always looking for ways to get people who like to cook and eat together without them feeling intimidated. Easy on the hosts as well. How did the soups fare re : temperature ? Would be concerned that with that many offerings they would cool.
We have a February Dipping event with people bringing anything from bagna cauda to shabu-shabu in addition to the usual cheese, meat and dessert fondus. It has to be something substantial, not just snacky dips.

[Jenise]

I think this is a wonderful idea as well. Always looking for ways to get people who like to cook and eat together without them feeling intimidated. Easy on the hosts as well. How did the soups fare re : temperature ? Would be concerned that with that many offerings they would cool.
We have a February Dipping event with people bringing anything from bagna cauda to shabu-shabu in addition to the usual cheese, meat and dessert fondus. It has to be something substantial, not just snacky dips.

Pretty much everybody but me brought a thicker, stew-like soup involving barley (moose and barley stew!), lentil or beans, and they all came in crock pots. The host anticipated this and had a big surge protector type of multi-power thingie for everyone to plug into on the soup table. I skipped that because even though I thought I'd blown the dumplings at the point I left home, I knew matters would only get worse if I kept it hot (though I combined the ingredients, I deliberately did so at cooler, room temperatures). I only heated it up for service, so I went conventional. All of which would have been a good ploy if this had been a contest, as my soup was the most different in just about every way possible.

I love the idea of a 'dipping event'. I may have to copy that!

Made some really good turkey mini-meatloaves last night. I got inspiration from a meatloaf recipe Jenise posted quite a while back where she added mozarella cheese to the mixture that gave it nicle little pockets of moisture. I chopped up some of those little marinated fresh mozz balls that I had on hand, along with the marinade. Also added a little Romano cheese, some fresh breadcrumbs, an egg and some whole fennel seeds. Served with whole wheat pasta, and jarred Rao's Marinara Sauce. It was on sale for once so I thought we'd try it. It's a little watery, but very nicely balanced--as a true "gravy" should be.

[Robin Garr]

Autumn stew, warming and hearty, with warm potato rolls and Sierra Nevada "Tumbler" autumn ale.