What's for dinner?

[Jenise]

Duck breast here, pan seared and served in a pan sauce made from vinegar, sugar, orange and grapefruit segments. Grilled asparagus on the side. Probably a reisling with that.

Going out to our favorite Chinese place in Albuquerque tonight in anticipation of the Lunar New Year tomorrow. Yea!

Pheasant cooked in a pot with wild mushrooms, cider and veg/herbs. Rustic!

Halibut -- since I have a rather large piece (i.e. a half fish, fillet), I will cook it two ways: coated with oatmeal, pistachio nuts and panko crumbs, lightly oiled and baked; Vera Cruz style with herbs, capers, tomatoes, onions, white wine, crushed red peppers and garlic and baked 'til flaky. Will have the pistachioed tonight with a homemade remoulade sauce. The Vera Cruz style will be next week's lunch a couple days and dinner one night. Will probably have both with a Pinot Grigio.

Going out for an Italian dinner at a great local restaurant to celebrate Valentine's Day. We stay away from the madness on "the" day. I love their veal picatta, but the fish is always great.....maybe I'd better take a look at the special.......

CW, nice new pic!

We're eating Italian in some foo-foo place in the City, courtesy of a major chemical company that wants my business. Last night, it was a mock chicken jalfrezi, spiced green beans, and basmati rice.

Going out to our favorite Chinese place in Albuquerque tonight in anticipation of the Lunar New Year tomorrow. Yea!

Which Chinese place?

We're eating French tonight to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The owner is going to fancy up a table for my favorite wife, and he's going to sing a couple of songs, with me accompanying him on the piano. (If I sang, he would lose all his business.) Report tomorrow.

Meatloaf. Not a very sophisticated dish, but it was nice on a cold, damp day like today.

1kg meat; 200g mushrooms; as many onions and garlics as you can handle and beaten to a pulp and baked at 175C for an hour. Served with mashed sweet potatoes.

Lasagne and homemade bread. A 2001 Nalle Zin is in the queque.
Life is very good.
Bill

We're eating French tonight to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The owner is going to fancy up a table for my favorite wife, and he's going to sing a couple of songs, with me accompanying him on the piano. (If I sang, he would lose all his business.) Report tomorrow.

Larry,
HAPPY 40th.
Makes me feel like a rookie at 32 Years.
Best,
BP

[Robin Garr]

Chicken thighs (don't laugh! ) marinated in juniper berries, fresh thyme sprigs, garlic and olive oil, then sear-roasted; on the side, farfalle in a very light tomato <i>crema</i> with finely diced roasted green pepper.

And Dry Creek Taylor's Vineyard 2004 Sauvignon Blanc Musqué alongside.

Grazing on appetizers at a Mardi Gras party!!

Italian sausage, simmered in red wine. A sauce made from the reduced red wine, peppers, and tomatoes. Whole wheat rigatoni.

Broiled trout on baby spinach with baby steamed carrots on the side. A "mystery" Pinot Noir -- Janet said she loved it -- we have a modest bet that I can't guess what state it is from.

More anon.

Happy 40th Larry! Regards, Bob

Going out to our favorite Chinese place in Albuquerque tonight in anticipation of the Lunar New Year tomorrow. Yea!

Which Chinese place?

We're eating French tonight to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The owner is going to fancy up a table for my favorite wife, and he's going to sing a couple of songs, with me accompanying him on the piano. (If I sang, he would lose all his business.) Report tomorrow.

Happy 40th Larry, that is a great year! We celebrate our 44th this June.
Do you have children? Our three kids love that we've been married this long. In fact, our youngest son had a list of "must have" items in choosing a wife. On the list was to marry a girl whose parents had a long marriage. He did it! He said he felt it would double his chances for a long and successful marriage. I hope he is right.

Which Chinese place?

My usual ABQ dining companion has been going to Szechwan up on Juan Tabo since they opened (20+ years ago?). We are treated like family there.

We thought about dropping by and buying you and your bride a drink, but didn't want to interrupt your romantic evening!

Congratulations to you both.

Congrats, Larry!

We had a pork roast with a glaze made up of soy sauce, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, red wine, ginger, cinnamon, and a few other things I don't remember right now. Fennel potato gratin on the side. Pear crumble with Pernod ice cream and candied fennel for dessert.

Mike

Happy 40th Larry! WOW! Makes our 5 yrs seem like a day...LOL!

Normally we have spaghetti Bolognese (since it's Sun) but my husband has the day off tomorrow and he is going to a hockey game today/tonight...so I am going to probably make lentils with sauteed baby spinach, garlic, and basmatti rice.

Thanks for the congrats, gang.

Our night out was quite successful. My wife asked where she could sit so she could hear me play. They surprised her by whisking her to a reserved table that had been set up with a vase of flowers and a lighted taper. She nursed a glass of Vouvrey while listening to me.

At the end of my gig, the owner came out and sang "Sento nel core" and "Edelweiss," with me accompanying. I saved Edelweiss for the end because it was played for us in an Innsbruck hotel on our honeymoon and has sentimental meaning for us.

When I joined my wife, I surprised her with a ruby ring (the 40th anniversary stone). Then we ordered French Onion Soup, which was outstanding. For entrees, I had a fillet grillee with baby carrots and spinach terrine; Edie had boeuf borguignone a l'orange. Yum! Outstanding food and a great night. And Edie's still aglow this morning.

BTW, Edie says it was better than our 30th anniversary, when we went to the Outback.

Awww. Larry, how romantic! No wonder she's still smiling this morning.

With age comes wisdom. Besides, I've grown kinda fond of her.

[Jenise]

Larry, congratulations on your anniversary and good on you for making it an event to remember.

Karen, congratulations on raising a son who takes marriage so seriously, too few do these days.

Ian, so the pheasant is roasted or braised? I've not had any luck at long-cooking pheasant, so I have resorted to removing and pan-frying the breast, and turning the rest into a stock. I'd love to hear more about your preparation.

Robin, your admonition was too late, I had already laughed. Sounds like a great meal.

Otto, meatloaf is comfort food, but treated with respect it can be as gourmet as any other food.

Jo Ann, I'm intrigued by the idea of using oatmeal as a coating for fish. I realize it's not entirely on its own there, but what does it bring to the mix that's better than panko and nuts alone?

Mike F--great dinner. Did you make the candied fennel?

I did make the fennel. I'll post on it in the IOTM thread.



Mike