February 2006 - What are you Dining On?

Don't worry Hunter...I'm not itching to make any white clam sauce pasta from your grandmother...

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Don't worry Hunter...I'm not itching to make any white clam sauce pasta from your grandmother...

No Grandma - this one is all mine, but thanks for letting me know anyway.

An original recipe from ole' Hunter? Gasp...

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An original recipe from ole' Hunter? Gasp...

Most are. I throw in Granny for authentic effect.

If you post the recipe, be prepared for a barrage of questions including about a dozen on what kind of bread to serve with it.

Grilled rib eyes, haricot verts, sauteed mushrooms, and baked potatoes last night.

Started with an '03 Ramey Hyde Chard and finished with a '95 Karl Lawrence Cab.....

Similar menu:

grilled ribeyes
sauteed greenbeans in EVOO w/ onions and garlic
grilled baby bella shrooms marinated in balsamic
chianti classico

I had this cheese dish at the '97 Brunello Tasting in Philly that was wonderful. I've tried to replicate it, but only half successfully. I take equal amount of bleu cheese, marscapone and goat cheese. Mix into a ball, refridge for a few hours, and done. Good on its own, or with crackers, etc. So I had a little left over from this weekend, so I decided to use it.

Stuffed Boneless Pork Chops (grilled)

Chopped 1/2 small onion and 5 baby bella mushrooms.

Sauteed in some evoo until onions were soft.

Cut a pocket in the chops, stuffed with onion/mushroom mixture, and then with the aforementioned cheese spread.

Seasoned exterior of chops with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and used a "new grilling" method I read about on lobels.com (season meat, grill for a few minutes on each side - just long enough to sear the meat, then brush with EVOO and grill for a few mons more. You get that wonderful "steakhouse crust" on the exterior of the meat. Delicious.

I made a large pot of beef stew with a lot of rosemary in it, all with organic ingredients. I usually coat the meat with flour before browning it, but I read a recipe that calls for no flour and browning it in butter rather than oil, so I'm trying that to see whether if has any effect on the texture of the meat. Flour is put over the meat and vegetables at the end of the browning, before the stock is added, so it still plays its thickening role.

I don't usually use butter in preparing stews, preferring olive oil (mostly just to cut back on the cholesterol). Anyone stick mainly to butter for soups or stews?

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Flour is put over the meat and vegetables at the end of the browning, before the stock is added, so it still plays its thickening role.

I add flour just after browning, and before tossing the veges. Works loverly. Oh, and I'm a butter guy. For flavor.

PH

Risotto with wild mushrooms - morel, porcini, chanterelle, and shiitake.

A very pleasant bottle of 2002 Castello di Neive Barbaresco to go with it.

Great stick-to-your-ribs meal while dealing with -10C temperatures here in Toronto.

Last Night at one of my favorite restaurants:

Homemade Sausage and broc raab with rigatoni app
Veal Osso Bucco (always the best here)
Fresh Napoleon pastry

Friday, grilled NY strips while the weather is still clear and cold, and a couple of good Aussie reds-- '02 Shotfire Ridge Quartage (losing intensity quite quickly, time to drink these up), and '01 Rosemount Traditional (drinking well, excellent wine, about 92-3 pts).

Last night, ordered in Szechuan: General Tao's chicken, fresh prawns with assorted vegetables, hot & sour soup, and washed it down with the real king of beers-- Unibroue Maudite. Great match, great beer.

Last night, crab cakes and sauteed oyster mushrooms with hot french bread.

Tonight,Boeuf Bourguignonne, crab toasts and crab bisque. All homemade.

Korean take-away. Knot too bad at all.

Braised lamb shanks with celery root and white turnip mash.

I'll be having the leftover lamb shanks for a couple days. Nice!

Lambs shanks are rarely good the next day, especasillky now, with all that chicken flu going around.

Friday night -

Linguine with arugula, prosciutto, capers, red chiles, and garlic.

Last night -

Cracked crab, oysters on the half, chilled prawns, gumbo, clam chowder, seared ahi in a wasabi glaze, and prime rib. The "Seafood Extavaganza" at the club is always a hit....

We had 1.5" ribeyes grilled using lobel's technique, and they came out great.

hey, quit spamming lobel's.

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Originally posted by grunhauser:
hey, quit spamming lobel's.

My bad. I just didn't want to pass it off as my own, and then get in trouble... or have someone like you call me out on it.

tonight, home-made baked onion soup with Ementhal instead of Gruyere, then roasted Sockeye salmon with a litte butter and lime on a bed of baby bok choy steamed and then drizzled with a bit of oyster sauce (salty commercial stuff). Bottle of 2004 Cloudy Bay SB, a reminder that summer will be here in just 4 months.

Hunter's white clam sauce over linguine.

Garlic and rosemary seasoned pork chops on the grill. Yum....

Grilled cheese, baked beans and tomato soup.
I'm slumming tonight.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup was a standard in our house growing up. Our depression era parents served this as a bonus after a dinner of bread and gravy or Cheerios and bananas the night before....

PH

Wow Purp...I won't even ask you if you had a TV growing up.

No need to ask. My life is an open book. We got a black and white the year that color TV made it's debut!

PH

We had chicken tacos last night. Very easy... browned the meat, added the seasoning. Stuffed the shells with chicekn, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa and shredded cheese (Sargento's Mexican blend). Comfort food.

Nothing to speak of for 3 days - food or wine. Had the worst flu something I've had since I was 14 years old! Fever, chills, headaches - brutal.

I did bake some real good Italian Cookies last night though. I do them every once in a while. Maybe I'll post a recipe.

If you can't eat, ya might as well cook.

Recipes please!!!

Last night we had "Whiz With's". (Homemade of course).

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Last night we had "Whiz With's". (Homemade of course).

I don't know what those are. Something to do with cheese, I assume?

Oh... you've never seen the discussions about Philly Cheesesteaks btwn. me, PH and futronic?

At Pat's... the original Philly cheesesteak, it's the correct way to order if you want a cheesesteak w/ onions and cheese whiz (the original way). If you want provolone without onions, you'd say "Provolone without". Get it?

Yes, you did tell me that story. I didn't know the terminology.

I order all the "withs" on anything I ever get.
"without" is never as good or as much fun. When in Rome.....or in Philly.

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Originally posted by Hunter:
Nothing to speak of for 3 days - food or wine. Had the worst flu something I've had since I was 14 years old! Fever, chills, headaches - brutal.

I have been in the same boat, except substitute cough for the headaches and add body aches. I have been in bed before dinner the last three nights....

Tonight:

Stifado (Greek beef stew)
Greek Salad
Crusty Bread

For dessert:

Treadmill de la matin.....

PH

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Tonight:

Stifado (Greek beef stew)
Greek Salad
Crusty Bread

Sounds great, but I couldn't even smell that without losing my last bland meal right now. What a week!

Hunter,

I hear you, brother. I was there for the past week. I'm making up for last time now.... Get better quick. Grey Goose shots work wonders!

PH

Thanks.

Feel better Hunter. Soup and ginger ale for you kid.
Tonight porter house steaks, garlic mashed and fresh broccoli.
I'm celebrating a clean bill of health. I got back the results from a complete physical exam at the docs. Perfect blood pressure and a CHL of 131. Ya baby!
Only downer was the part when I heard the "snap" of the rubber glove and was told to roll on my side. owwoooo