What's the best thing you've made lately?

a week ago i made my third and best batch of Rillons - also called Rillauds - a Tourangelle specialty. we had a loire themed dinner at my house. someone else made homemade Rillets as well. got the recipe from google.fr after hitting the 'translate' button at the top of my page.

[Jenise]

This sounds very simple but the flavors were great, Grill chorizo sausage, place on a soft lightly toasted roll, top with carmelized red onion (with a little honey and balsamic), chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime right before eating. I did not make this up, there was a variation in food and wine with merguez sausage and a cilanto/lemon topping. It was awesome and such an easy party food, i lined them up on a tray and with the lime wedge on each one and it looked great. F&W paired with a zinfandel but we drank with Becks dark and it was excellent !

That sounds terrific. Would be a great appetizer at a zinfandel tasting, wouldn't it?

Welcome to our kitchen, Yvonne!

Shrimp pie - 1 lb.frozen shrimp, half-can of red curry paste, a handful of chopped onion, a handful of chopped sweet red pepper, a handful of sultanas, three eggs, 3/4 cup half & half, one frozen deep dish pie shell.

It was quick,easy,and somewhat to my surprise, very tasty. It might be a bit on the spicy side for some palates.

edit: With green salad and semi-dry Vignoles.

Last night, after sharing a big bottle of Shiraz with a couple of friends, I had a hankering for a huevo ranchero, which I quickly made after they left. Mmm, mmm. One of the best dishes in existence. So good, I'm going to make another for breakfast.

Turkey stock! The best I've made, I do believe. We grilled a Zacky bone-in turkey breast (8lbs) over the weekend. I had two huge turkey wings waiting in the freezer, along with chicken backs I've saved. Lots of carrots, celery, onion, whole head of garlic, lots of thyme and parsley springs, a little sage come from my garden and into the pot. I added water and the rest of Swanson's chicken broth in the refrigerator, salt and pepper, and let it simmer for 5 hours. I ended up with 14 cups of the most delicious stock. Saved enough meat off the breast to make a bunch of Weight Watcher enchiladas for dinner last night, very yummy, as well.

I made pandi kari, a pork curry from Coorg in Karnataka, for the first time last night. Delicious.

-Paul W.

Paul, could you share that recipe? I'd love to try it myself.

Despite my family originally being from Karnataka, I've never yet tried pork in any of their regional styles. (I've had a couple of Keralite pork curries and dry stir-frys that were amazing though.)

Salil,

I just posted the Pandi Kari recipe.

Enjoy,

-Paul W.

Here is a shot that I pulled this morning. Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza single origin bean from Brazil. Roaster-Counter Culture Coffee.

Fazenda Brazil Espresso.jpg

Made gnocchi for the first time this morning using the A16 recipe for ricotta gnocchi. I cooked one, they are very flavorful and light in texture. Excuse the lack of uniformity, it took me a while to improve my rolling technique. I froze them and will serve them for dinner this week. Suggestions for sauces would be appreciated.

[Jenise]

Made gnocchi for the first time this morning using the A16 recipe for ricotta gnocchi. I cooked one, they are very flavorful and light in texture. Excuse the lack of uniformity, it took me a while to improve my rolling technique. I froze them and will serve them for dinner this week. Suggestions for sauces would be appreciated.

Those look plenty uniform enough for me, Greg. The last thing you want is for something you worked so hard on to look like they're machine made, right? As for saucing, no recipes to offer--in general, anything that works on pasta works pretty well on gnocchi too, but perhaps my favorite of all for gnocchi specifically copies something I had in an Anchorage, Alaska, restaurant, where the gnocchi were dressed with a bechamel flavored with garlic, parsley and gorgonzola.

For a tasting of 2004 Barolo and Barbaresco I held this week, I made a risotto with salsiccia and radicchio based on a recipe by Martin Bartz of Berlin Kitchen. Quite a success and a very nice match to the extraordinary wines.
Cheers,
Anders

Finally got around to serving the gnocchi tonight and they were very good. Light, yet toothsome, with excellent flavor. We had a salad with greens, carrots and tomatoes from the coop with a Meyer lemon dressing. A 2006 Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo went well with the dish, especially the marinara.

Made a standard risotto last night but used my home made turkey broth and small chunks of butternut squash....so delicious.

We are at the peak of duck season here so I made some braised duck chili rellenos for a football party over the weekend. Even my friend's wife that claims to hate duck found these to be very good.

We are at the peak of duck season here so I made some braised duck chili rellenos for a football party over the weekend. Even my friend's wife that claims to hate duck found these to be very good.

Not a big relleno fan myself, but that sounds delicious.

We are at the peak of duck season here so I made some braised duck chili rellenos for a football party over the weekend. Even my friend's wife that claims to hate duck found these to be very good.

Dave, do you have a recipe? Those sound amazing.

Carrie,

I do not have anything written down that I can copy and paste but I will try to assemble a loose recipe and post it.

This was excellent. I bought good quality cheeses and baguette. After hearing Ruth Reichl tell NPR it was one of her faves, I had to try it.


RCP: Roast Pumpkin with Cheese “Fondue”

Serves8 (main course) or 12 (side dish)
Active time:25 min Start to finish:2 hr
November 2008
As the pumpkin roasts, its skin becomes gorgeously burnished, while inside, slices of baguette, Gruyère, and Emmental coalesce into a rich, velvety concoction that is utterly fabulous served with a scoop of tender pumpkin flesh.

View more of our favorite recipes from this issue.
1 (15-inch) piece of baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices (7 oz total)
1 (7-lb) orange pumpkin
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 1/2 cups coarsely grated Gruyère (6 oz)
2 1/2 cups coarsely grated Emmental (6 oz)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.
Toast baguette slices in 1 layer on a baking sheet in oven until tops are crisp (bread will still be pale), about 7 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle (3 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; reserve seeds for another use if desired). Season inside of pumpkin with 1/2 tsp salt.
Whisk together cream, broth, nutmeg, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl. Mix together cheeses in another bowl.
Put a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkin, then cover with about 1 cup cheese and about 1/2 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top, using all of cream mixture. (You may have some bread and cheese left over.)
Cover pumpkin with top and put in an oiled small roasting pan. Brush outside of pumpkin all over with olive oil. Bake until pumpkin is tender and filling is puffed, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Cooks’ note: Pumpkin can be filled 2 hours before baking and chilled.

Last night, after sharing a big bottle of Shiraz with a couple of friends, I had a hankering for a huevo ranchero, which I quickly made after they left. Mmm, mmm. One of the best dishes in existence. So good, I'm going to make another for breakfast.

Larry, I made huevos con chorizo for my B-fast Monday morning. I used two jumbo eggs, about 2-3 ounces of crumbled chorizo, 1/3 cup of caramelized, chopped onions, and 2T of chili sauce I had made with some of the roasted maters I have been making. So far I have roasted about 75 pounds of maters. 75 pounds of fresh becomes about 15 pounds of roasted tomatoes, and the bonus is about 11/2 - 2 gallons of roasted tomato juice. Major yum!

Edit: I know the huevos con chorizo is much less difficult than your rancheros, especially since I baked a sheet of buttermilk biscuits instead of toasting tortillas.

Carrie,

I do not have anything written down that I can copy and paste but I will try to assemble a loose recipe and post it.

That would be great, Dave, thanks. No hurry, though. We're making our cross country trek next week and I'm sure it'll be a few weeks before I do any "real" cooking.
Thanks again.

This was excellent. I bought good quality cheeses and baguette. After hearing Ruth Reichl tell NPR it was one of her faves, I had to try it.


Roast Pumpkin with Cheese “Fondue”

Wow, Karen! That sounds like one heck of a rich and delicious dish. How many does that recipe serve?

Serves 8 main course, 12 side dish. It is rich and I would never serve it as a main course. Delicious.

Last night I made French onion soup, asparagus and baked chicken breast (in a South American-style) pounded thin and rolled up with a filling of mushrooms, shallots, green pepper, diced ham, strips of cooked egg white, raisins and sesame seeds on the outside, with a chimichurri sauce.

Three hours to make and 15 minutes to eat. It ain't fair somehow. But it was sure tasty.