What's for dinner tonight?

[Robin Garr]

Hey! This new forum has so many old buddies in it who ought to be jabbering excitedly ... why's everyone being so quiet?

Let's kick things up a bit with a traditional "What are you having for dinner tonight?"

I always have a hard time when somebody else starts one of these because I never know what I'm going to do until later in the day. I'm no planner. But I have a box of Eberly's chicken thighs and just got Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook out of the libe (after a great trip to Babbo last weekend), and I'm almost certain that I'll bring these two resources together in some way.

How about you?

I'm taking a hands-on cooking class at Ramekins in Sonoma, limited to 11 participants, and the menu is:

Cibreo’s herbed Ricotta Soufflé
Tuscan Toast with traditional Chicken Liver Pâté (Crostini di Fegatini)
Tuscan Toast with baked Sausage and Cheese (Crostini con Salsiccia e Formaggio)
Dolce Follie’s Baked Sweet Red Onion Soup - with pecorino cheese and bread (Zuppa di Cipolla)
Roast Duck Breasts prepared like Roast Pork (Anatra Porchettata)
Caramelized small Onions - with balsamic vinegar and honey (Cipolline Agro-Dolce)
Stewed Artichokes with Orange (Carciofi all’Arancia)
Layered Pie with Almonds, Red Pepper Jelly and Orange Marmalade (Crostata Calabrese

The teacher is Judy Witts Francini, a former California resident who now lives outside Florence and who is teaching a number of classes at Ramekins prior to a trip up to Seattle for the IACP Annual Conference. I've taken her market-cooking class during a prior trip to Italy and had a blast.

I should've started fasting last month for this meal.

[Robin Garr]

Oh, wow!

Glad to see you got into the forum, too, Chris. Password problem all solved?

Hi Robin, yes, logged in just fine and thanks for your assistance. Hope to lurk a little less and post a little more.

Hey look! I made it.....

No clue what I'm doing for dinner tonight.... just trying to find a good place to land here.

I'm not usually a weeknight cooker given my schedule, let my wife handle those duties... But I'll be cranking up something this weekend, and it's a long weekend at that, I'm taking Friday off.

[Robin Garr]

Hey look! I made it.....

Glad you're here, Scott, and hope you come up with something more interesting for dinner than Mickey D's!

I don't dip that far down the evolutionary scale during the week, Robin. But oft times not too much higher... my wife having "learned" to cook at the elbow of her mother, a fine woman of Dutch heritage, armed with nothing more than a salt shaker and a full-roll boiling pot of frozen veggies! The Schwann-man used to be a regular visitor.

These new digs are really nice and comfortable as a regular visitor to several forums using similar tools.

%^)

Two times during the year, Kathleen and I refer to this day as "Survivor Thursday" ... it's the only weeknight we watch a bit of tele - Survivor and CSI ... as such, it is a non-cooking night ... instead we order in a pizza and open a fun bottle of grog and, GASP, actually eat in front of the TV ... keeping to our life-style change back in '94, the pizza is always some kind of veggie type, usually with pesto and garlic, and just enough cheese to keep the ingredients from falling off the pizza ... Chris at Round Table knows all about our "diet" and does a good job of keeping the cheese to a minimum ... pizza with Survivor and, GASP again, ice cream with CSI ... aw - it's only Healthy Choice ice cream ... a few calories sure but very little fat/saturated fat ... not bad, BTW, if you've never tried it ... the wine will probably be either a 2004 Tobin James Chateau le Cashflo or a NV Sacred Stone Red Blend ... great pizza wines ... by the end of Survivor, I'm sure the Midnight Cellars Full Moon Red will have settled down from it's 500 mile journey home and I can't wait to try that with pizza ...

Hey Robin/Jenise - ask this question again on a non-Thursday sometime ... I'll probably be ready with something on the "lemony" side !

Clink !

%^)

%^)

Two times during the year, Kathleen and I refer to this day as "Survivor Thursday" ... it's the only weeknight we watch a bit of tele - Survivor and CSI ... as such, it is a non-cooking night ... instead we order in a pizza and open a fun bottle of grog and, GASP, actually eat in front of the TV ... keeping to our life-style change back in '94, the pizza is always some kind of veggie type, usually with pesto and garlic, and just enough cheese to keep the ingredients from falling off the pizza ... Chris at Round Table knows all about our "diet" and does a good job of keeping the cheese to a minimum ... pizza with Survivor and, GASP again, ice cream with CSI ... aw - it's only Healthy Choice ice cream ... a few calories sure but very little fat/saturated fat ... not bad, BTW, if you've never tried it ... the wine will probably be either a 2004 Tobin James Chateau le Cashflo or a NV Sacred Stone Red Blend ... great pizza wines ... by the end of Survivor, I'm sure the Midnight Cellars Full Moon Red will have settled down from it's 500 mile journey home and I can't wait to try that with pizza ...

Hey Robin/Jenise - ask this question again on a non-Thursday sometime ... I'll probably be ready with something on the "lemony" side !

Clink !

%^)

Mmmm.....pizza!

Thursday's not much of a cooking night for us, either. By the time I get home with Angela (the 14-year-old), my wife has usually scarfed down a bowl of ramen noodles and is on her way out to French class. That means I have to balance the role of chef with that of Totalitarian Dictator of Homework Production for both Angela and Isabella (the 7-year-old). On top of that, the housecleaner comes tomorrow morning so we need to get the house straightened up enough for her to get in the door!

So it'll be rotisserie chicken, quiche from the store, or maybe pasta with either pesto from a jar or homemade ragu from the freezer.

Good to see you here, Bill!!!!


Mike

Two times during the year, Kathleen and I refer to this day as "Survivor Thursday" ... it's the only weeknight we watch a bit of tele - Survivor and CSI ... as such, it is a non-cooking night ... instead we order in a pizza and open a fun bottle of grog and, GASP, actually eat in front of the TV

Looks like NCAA hoops is showing instead of the usual Thursday lineup tonight, Bill.

I promised myself that I would try not to let some much leftover food go to waste so tonight is leftover night. George gets his pick between a flank steak galantine or 4 different pizza treatments (the crust made BTW with lots of soy flour which I'll not do again) and I'm opting for some Thai tofu thing I made on Tuesday.

I promised myself that I would try not to let some much leftover food go to waste so tonight is leftover night. George gets his pick between a flank steak galantine or 4 different pizza treatments (the crust made BTW with lots of soy flour which I'll not do again) and I'm opting for some Thai tofu thing I made on Tuesday.

Hi Kim,
Having a touch of diabetes for a couple years now, most of the pasta I eat is one called Dreamfields which someoow looks and tastes like regular pasta and is made to the same recipe as regular. Some corporate secret how they do it. I have urged the company to market the flour they make their pasta from which would allow us to do bread and pizza dough and a miriad of other stuff.

Glad to see you Kim, as I said in the subject line and I hear that Joel et al have confirmed that there will in fact be a Mo'Cool 2006, have you heard anything at all?

Bob H.

I have urged the company to market the flour they make their pasta from which would allow us to do bread and pizza dough and a miriad of other stuff.

There's a soy flour based pizza dough recipe from that guy on FoodTV who does the Low Carb and Lovin' It show which I've not tried. I winged it on this dough and it just didn't quite make it texturally.

Glad to see you Kim, as I said in the subject line and I hear that Joel et al have confirmed that there will in fact be a Mo'Cool 2006, have you heard anything at all?

Good to see you too, Bob. We hear that MC is on so we'll see you in August with your wine in tow.

Bob H.

We are having a dinner guests tomorrow night, so today was prep day. I managed to grab a lovely roasted turkey breast right out of the roaster at our local meat market. Baked potatoes and a fresh veggie sauté and we'll not go hungry tonight.

In the typical theme of "can't get home, gotta work," it's Uva Trattoria in Napa tonight. Since I've been suffering thought the depradations that the Czechs, Austrians, and Slovenians laughingly refer to as "food" for much of the past few months, this is a step up, if not quite Stupid cuisine.

Maybe I can cook next week...

Leftovers tonight--the last of a batch of Thai Green Curry I made: chicken with eggplant, green peppers, and basil, over basmati rice.

-Paul W.

In the typical theme of "can't get home, gotta work," it's Uva Trattoria in Napa tonight. Since I've been suffering thought the depradations that the Czechs, Austrians, and Slovenians laughingly refer to as "food" for much of the past few months, this is a step up, if not quite Stupid cuisine.

Maybe I can cook next week...

Hey, at least you're back in the country. And in California, no less!


Mike

Good to see you here, Bill!!!!


Mike

%^)

Thanks Mike ! Great to be here ! And great to see you here, too ... looking forward to some good food chats and recipe exchanges ...

Clink !

%^)

Two times during the year, Kathleen and I refer to this day as "Survivor Thursday" ... it's the only weeknight we watch a bit of tele - Survivor and CSI ... as such, it is a non-cooking night ... instead we order in a pizza and open a fun bottle of grog and, GASP, actually eat in front of the TV

Looks like NCAA hoops is showing instead of the usual Thursday lineup tonight, Bill.

%^)

The first time in a coon's age we've eaten pizza at the table ... but as an avid NASCAR fan, I'll bow to the college basketball fans and not be too disappointed ... back in front of the boob tube next Thursday !

Clink !

%^)

back in front of the boob tube next Thursday !

Me too! I'm having Survivor withdrawal.

[Jenise]

most of the pasta I eat is one called Dreamfields

Bob, you once talked about doing blood tests before and after a Dreamfields pasta and regular pasta to see what kind of difference you could measure, did you ever do that? I wonder about it every time I see that product at the store.

[Jenise]

You asked yesterday? Okay, I served kind of an Italian country meal:

puff pastry bundles stuffed with braised radicchio, tellegio cheese and black truffle

plate of olives and pickled okra

roast chicken with turnips, carrots and braised black kale

The wines were 2004 Ruffino Orvieto, 97 St. Innocent O'Connor pinot, 92 Ridge Monte Bello, and 79 and 86 Gruaud Larose.

We really suffered.

We really suffered.

You just have to stop punishing yourself like this.

[Jenise]

We really suffered.

You just have to stop punishing yourself like this.

It's going to get worse. The wines were courtesy of a friend who came around yesterday afternoon to ask if he could store several boxes of wines in my cellar for a few weeks. "Sure," I said, "and since you're here, why not stay for dinner?"

He's coming back tonight.