Saturday troll: What's for dinner?

To celebrate Jean's return from an onerous two days at Disneyworld to recruit grad students:

Lapin à la moutarde
mashed sweet potatoes
Brussels Sprouts sautéed with bacon and onion

1988 Comtes Lafon Volnay Santenots-de-Milieu

Not a bad way to cope with a cold turn to the weather...

Mark Lipton

You don't want to know, I'm batching it for a few days!

To celebrate Jean's return from an onerous two days at Disneyworld to recruit grad students:

Lapin à la moutarde
mashed sweet potatoes
Brussels Sprouts sautéed with bacon and onion

1988 Comtes Lafon Volnay Santenots-de-Milieu

Not a bad way to cope with a cold turn to the weather...

Mark Lipton

Was this a rabbit you raised or a market rabbit? My grandfather used to raise rabbits for eating and as a young girl playing at his farm, I made pets of the rabbits. It was a sad day when I realized that I was eating my friends. I've never had rabbit again!

an onerous two days at Disneyworld to recruit grad students:

You recruit grad students from Disneyworld?

Pickins must be slim huh..

Or is there a lot of chemical knowhow behind the scenes in that operation?

an onerous two days at Disneyworld to recruit grad students:

You recruit grad students from Disneyworld?

Pickins must be slim huh..

Or is there a lot of chemical knowhow behind the scenes in that operation?

Perhaps the Simpsons episode in which Lisa drank some of the water from the "It's a Small World" ride was more accurate than we would have thought?

Mardi cooked tonight as I was busy up until supper time. She made a Chinese-style dish of stir-fried noodles with pork, bok choy, and shiitakes. The recipe was from Food and Wine and the overall flavors were quite good. We both agreed, though, that the pork tenderloin needed to either be something more flavorful (shoulder, maybe) or left out entirely and that it needed more bok choy.

[Jenise]

mussels in white wine and cream
grilled lamb steak marinated in soy, dry sherry, garlic, rosemary, and horseradish
roasted yukon gold taters with herbs de provence
steamed brussel sprourts with bacon
washed down with a nice red

Mike old friend, is that YOU?

an onerous two days at Disneyworld to recruit grad students:

You recruit grad students from Disneyworld?

Pickins must be slim huh..

Or is there a lot of chemical knowhow behind the scenes in that operation?

ABRCMS

Mark Lipton

Was this a rabbit you raised or a market rabbit? My grandfather used to raise rabbits for eating and as a young girl playing at his farm, I made pets of the rabbits. It was a sad day when I realized that I was eating my friends. I've never had rabbit again!

Our favorite local market sells these rabbits. Though I have no problem with the concept of eating animals, I am more than happy to have someone else raise and butcher them. I can't help thinking of the "rabbit lady" in Roger and Me when making this dish, though.

Mark Lipton

ABRCMS

Mark Lipton

Interesting. No such equivalent in Political Science. At least that I know of.

I thought dinner was going to be Lentil soup, but after a trip to Costco to look at outdoor furniture (of which they had none--but loads of holiday decorations), and seeing one of their impressive seafood displays, dinner became scampi with dried red chilis with a nice crusty baguette to sop up the juices.

We'll have Karen's Lentil soup for lunch.

Scampi2.jpg

You don't want to know, I'm batching it for a few days!

C'mon Carl - fess up!

As I'm batchin' it also this weekend, I decided on pizza, homemade pizza even. Pizza purists, don't look! I made whole-wheat dough, topped it with a smear of jarred sauce, tossed on some sliced cremini shrooms, fresh jalepeno, Roma tomato, deli ham, fresh mozzarella slices (torn) and crumbled goat cheese. Totally forgot about the oregano in the garden that the frost hasn't yet whacked, or I would have added that.
I preheated a Pampered chef pizza stone in the oven, placed the dough on it when hot, and quickly added the toppings. When I peeked in the oven 10 minutes later to check on supper, the stone had cracked into 3 pieces! Can anyone shed some light on what I did wrong? This is the second stone I've ever had, and never got more than three uses out of either before it broke.

As I'm batchin' it also this weekend, I decided on pizza, homemade pizza even. Pizza purists, don't look! I made whole-wheat dough, topped it with a smear of jarred sauce, tossed on some sliced cremini shrooms, fresh jalepeno, Roma tomato, deli ham, fresh mozzarella slices (torn) and crumbled goat cheese. Totally forgot about the oregano in the garden that the frost hasn't yet whacked, or I would have added that.
I preheated a Pampered chef pizza stone in the oven, placed the dough on it when hot, and quickly added the toppings. When I peeked in the oven 10 minutes later to check on supper, the stone had cracked into 3 pieces! Can anyone shed some light on what I did wrong? This is the second stone I've ever had, and never got more than three uses out of either before it broke.

Sounds like a moisture problem. Did you put the stone in the oven cold and then turn on the oven? Did you put the oven on preheat or bake? How close to the burner?

[Jenise]

Since you ask.....but I won't tell you what wines I am matching with the food until I post notes, probably tomorrow.


Saumon et asperge en Croute with Fennel Salad

Wild Mushroom Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata

Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary and Pears with endives and raisins

Lamb Tagine with minted peas and couscous

Stilton and Walnut Tart with Pears stuffed with Stilton butter

And you made all five of these courses?

[Jenise]

Gorgonzola-stuffed chicken breasts

Recipe! Recipe!

As I'm batchin' it also this weekend, I decided on pizza, homemade pizza even. Pizza purists, don't look! I made whole-wheat dough, topped it with a smear of jarred sauce, tossed on some sliced cremini shrooms, fresh jalepeno, Roma tomato, deli ham, fresh mozzarella slices (torn) and crumbled goat cheese. Totally forgot about the oregano in the garden that the frost hasn't yet whacked, or I would have added that.
I preheated a Pampered chef pizza stone in the oven, placed the dough on it when hot, and quickly added the toppings. When I peeked in the oven 10 minutes later to check on supper, the stone had cracked into 3 pieces! Can anyone shed some light on what I did wrong? This is the second stone I've ever had, and never got more than three uses out of either before it broke.

Sounds like a moisture problem. Did you put the stone in the oven cold and then turn on the oven? Did you put the oven on preheat or bake? How close to the burner?

Started with cold oven and cold stone, set it to temp and let them heat together. There was some liquid from the tomatos that could have dropped onto the stone during cooking. The stone was out of the oven for maybe 5 minutes while I put the toppings on the dough. Could it have cooled too much in that time?

[Jenise]

last night's pork shoulder braised in sherry with prunes, which in fact I could eat all over again quite happily.

Did you use a recipe for that Jenise? If so, do you mind posting? It sounds right up my alley.

No, sorry, I just put it together, but no recipe but I can describe the steps. It was quite easy to make and delicious, something I'll make again.

(RCP) Braised Pork with Prune and Chive Sauce

Brown a lean rolled/tied pork shoulder roast on one side. Flip over, add another tablespoon of olive oil and two shallots, finely diced. Sweat those about three minutes then add about 1 cup of dry sherry and enough chicken broth to raise the liquid level to about 2/3 of the meat. Add two tablespoons of honey and several sprigs of fresh thyme. Simmer on your lowest setting for close to two hours, turning the meat about three times. When the meat's done, remove to a platter and tent to keep warm. Remove the fat layer from the sauce, add a handful of prunes, and turn up the temperature to reduce the remaining liquid by about half. Add another tablespoon or two of sherry to pop the flavor, and Improve the viscosity with cold butter or a short corn starch slurry. The prunes will plump up but remain a bit chewy. Add two tablespoons of finely chopped chives and a few cranks of black pepper. Return the meat to re-heat through, and serve over rice.

Start your rice when you start your meat: throw a small handful of pine nuts in a saucepan and cook over low-to medium heat until they turn golden on one side. Add two tblsp EVOO and 1.5 cups of unrinsed jasmine rice. Stir until all the rice kernels are coated and a few turn white, about three minutes. Add 2 cups of water, 1/2 tsp salt and two garlic cloves, sliced. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low, let cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and rest five minutes more. Then remove lid and toss the rice. It should be completely cooked (if it's not, replace the lid and allow to sit another five minutes). Remove the rice from the pan and move to a cool shallow microwave-suitable dish. Leave uncovered--the accumulated steam will evaporate as the rice cools, and the kernels will firm up. This important step makes the best rice possible--and a side benefit is that at this point, half an hour into cooking, your dinner's almost done. Later, reheat the rice in the microwave--again, uncovered. You'll have rice that's fully cooked but toothsome, kernels that are separate but which cling to each other well if, like me, you sometimes like to mold rice for plating--or ready to go to the table if you're serving family style.

Jenise, that sounds absolutely delicious, and I may try it the next time we have family over.

I've had the same problem with my stones. Same deal, always started them cold in a cold oven (they were fixtures in there, given my proclivities). Always three pieces, too.

If I put the dough on parchment, add the toppings, THEN open the oven and transfer the parchment to the stone, would that maybe prevent breakage? I'm told that Walmart has pizza stones for $7 or $8, maybe we could treat them as disposables?

Since you ask.....but I won't tell you what wines I am matching with the food until I post notes, probably tomorrow.


Saumon et asperge en Croute with Fennel Salad

Wild Mushroom Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata

Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary and Pears with endives and raisins

Lamb Tagine with minted peas and couscous

Stilton and Walnut Tart with Pears stuffed with Stilton butter

And you made all five of these courses?

Yup - started Friday afternoon and finished a half hour before the crew showed up, except for the stuff I needed to cook during the evening.

Used to do this all the time, but I'll tell you my back is feeling it today, standing for hours at a counter does it no good at all!! I'll post notes on the wines and mention the food in a bit.

If I put the dough on parchment, add the toppings, THEN open the oven and transfer the parchment to the stone, would that maybe prevent breakage? I'm told that Walmart has pizza stones for $7 or $8, maybe we could treat them as disposables?

That's what I do. I leave the stone in the oven all the time on the bottom rack. I preheat oven for around 30 min. I make my pizza on a piece of parchment on the peel (toppings and all), then transfer to the stone. I've had my first (and only so far) stone for a number of years and it's just fine.

Welcome to WLDG, Mike! Lots of friendly and knowledegable folks here.

Thanks Cynthia, yes I know about this group, I use to post alot here years ago and I'm finally coming back around.


-mike