What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

Japanese eggplant from the garden, slant-cut and sautéed with onions, garlic, green peppers, a little diced tomato and a light miso-curry sauce, inspired by a dish at Louisville’s new Roots Heart & Soy restaurant. 

Fiori fritti. Tonights version is stuffed with ricotta and a Georgian seasoning heavy on the fenugreek - Utskho Suneli. The same seasoning in the batter. Wonderful.
A few days ago, stuffed with minced monk fish, garlic, basil, ricotta. I'm a fiori fritti maniac these days....can't experiment enough !
It's a good thing that I fry NOTHING the rest of the year !!!!

Buffalo burgers for dinner topped with a slice of d'Artagnan duck bacon and sharp NY cheddar. With some potatoes roasted with rosemary and Riesling on the side.

Shrimp on the barbie. And a vegetable mix cooked in the perforated pan.

[Robin Garr]

Spaghetti topped with a simple mushroom sauce and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

Grilled rib eye steaks. Vegetable mix (mushroom, carrot, broccoli).

Barolo.

Pappardelle Pasta with an heirloom tomato sauce I made this morning. Salad consists of romaine hearts, palm hearts, celery hearts with leaves, pickled sweet banana pepper slices with mint and a lemon vinaigrette. I will finish baking a loaf of Pugliese Bread and spread some fresh garlic butter over the warm slices. Old Moon vino.

[Robin Garr]

Savory sage corn cakes. I was so happy with them that I posted it separately as a RCP:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40697

[Jenise]

Tonight our neighborhood wine group is hosting our annual crab feed. I'm taking a pasta salad that will be full of bits of flaked king salmon that we smoked last week, chopped fresh rosemary and a honey-mustard vinaigrette. I'm also baking chocolate chip cookies to serve with port at the after-party I'm hosting!

Bison burgers cooked in a sauté of sweet onions, and a combination of sweet peppers and jalapeño. A touch of butter and Worcestershire for seasoning. On the side, a fresh grilled corn, cherry tomatoes, avocado, torpedo onions and sweet basil with champagne vinegar vinaigrette.

Parmesan crusted cod and fresh bay scallops with roasted chunks of butternut squash, red bell pepper and red onion.
My favorite salad of fresh baby arugula, dressing of lemon zest, a little juice, olive oil, sea salt, coarse black pepper and a tiny bit of sugar, tossed with parm-reggiano and raw walnuts.

Parmesan crusted cod and fresh bay scallops with roasted chunks of butternut squash, red bell pepper and red onion. (It was pretty. )
My favorite salad of fresh baby arugula, dressing of lemon zest, a little juice, olive oil, sea salt, coarse black pepper and a tiny bit of sugar, tossed with parm-reggiano and raw walnuts.

[Robin Garr]

"Lengua" enchiladas, and good ones, too. Did I mention that the "lengua" is made out of seitan? 

Gene wanted a bbq roasted chicken that sits on its butt. We have a gadget that you can put wine/beer into the tube and fill with herbs. The chicken is placed over this tube and sits upright while cooking. Ours has a perforated circle that one can place potatoes, carrots, etc. To go along with the chicken, I prepared a mix of onion, garlic, sage, rosemary, Japanese eggplant, Tromboncino Squash, Chinese Long Beans. They will get a quick sauté, and then I'll throw in a little fresh lemon juice with homemade tomato sauce.
The sauté is just starting in this picture. I'll cook partially, and then finish tonight.

Spaghetti topped with a simple mushroom sauce and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

I like the deep color of your sauce Robin, care to tell us how it got that way?

[Robin Garr]

I like the deep color of your sauce Robin, care to tell us how it got that way?

No secrets, Bob. Lots of browned onions, mostly - the Maillard effect is your friend - along with natural mushroom juices concentrated by reduction. There may have been a tiny shot of ponzu in there as well, I don't remember for sure, but it would have added more umami than color.

[Robin Garr]

Thai coconut-peanut green bean curry. 

By myself tonight, so I thought I'd try out the savory corn cakes Robin posted. I went with a chili-lime version, leaving out the sage and adding a good dose of a chili powder I use for rubbing ribs and the zest from a lime. Served them with yogurt that had a good dose of lime juice added in. They came out beautifully, although I'd definitely go with sour cream or crema to top instead of the yogurt.

Thanks for that one, Robin!

[Robin Garr]

Thai coconut-peanut green bean curry.

Sort of a recipe, or a guide at least ...

Brown a bunch of thin-sliced onions and some finely diced green pepper and minced ginger and garlic; add peeled and chopped tomato, salt and black and red pepper and a little dab of Thai Red Curry Paste from a jar, gulp. Meanwhile, blanch green beans until crisp-tender while the onion-tomato mix simmers into a sauce. Drain the beans and blend them with the onion-tomato mix, pour in a smallish amount (1/2 cup?) of coconut milk and mix in a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter. Don't boil after this point but simmer gently until the flavors blend, and finish with a shot of ponzu and lime juice. Serve with steaming white rice.

[Jenise]

Tonight: a tomato paella.

Hey, want to tell you all about last night's dinner: a number of us were grousing on Chowhound about the fact that nearly every good restaurant in town has closed down. That led one person to bravely invite the rest of us to dinner as a start to making our own dinner group for fine dining. So last night we dined with new friends Linda, Mike, Jessamyn and John, and there are two other couples who want to join us but couldn't last night. We're thinking we might do it the way a similarly-formed Vegetarian dinner group in town handles it: there are many members, and each month someone volunteers to host. That host then says they can take six or ten or name a number, and the first to sign up get the nod. I'm hosting next month.

Anyway, it was a lovely meal but more importantly dinner with kindred spirits with a depth of geeky culinary knowledge and hands-on experience that I'm not used to being around but absolutely delighted to find.

[Robin Garr]

Our green beans are coming on strong  Today's harvest, Romanos, blanched and combined with stir-fried onions and green peppers, tomato, garlic and ginger in a lightly spicy sauce of white and brown miso, ponzu and lime.

Vegetarian dinner group

But, what would you eat after the first three gatherings???

Last night's dinner was chicken jambalaya with andouille sausage.

-Paul W.

Do you ever get a craving for something...one that happens all of a sudden? Hamburger and noodles! Two days ago, I wanted hamburger (we use Bison) in a red sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes, onion, garlic, wine, and sweet peppers. So, I made the sauce this morning and will add the egg noodles later. Also, craving an array of tomatoes, lots of heirloom of different colors, and cherry types, marinated.