I don’t know what’s for dinner, but I’ve just mixed up some pasta salad. Penne pasta, diced roasted chicken, fresh chopped spinach, a wedge of gorgonzola cheese (diced/crumbled), red grapes, and mayonnaise.
I hope it’s good, because there’s a lot of it.
Onion soup. I used my food processor for most of the chopping this time, only hand-cutting the last couple of onions to have some strings. Even so, it was a lot of onion-chopping. My eyes are still stinging a bit every time I go in the kitchen.
Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup at Panera.
The power was out, and in western Washington that means you don’t want to go driving around, and I didn’t have anything thawed to grill … so a PB&J and wine.
Where? Fortunately, we have a backup plan for hot food.
It was over here in the wilderness … you know, wrong side of the Sound 
We’re having a dinner party on Friday, casual but I want to impress. Two of our guests eat gluten free. I’m thinking Zuni Cafe style roasted chicken on salad, with the croutons replaced by roast cauliflower. Maybe real croutons on the side. (They’re the best bit…) I’ve made the chicken tons of times before, and it always comes out great. I think I’ll probably do two small (3lb-ish) chickens for 6 people, so we have plenty of leftovers. Maybe some olives and nibbly things beforehand. Maybe butterscotch panna cotta for dessert.
What do you think? What am I missing?
An overt carb, but I’d like to think that we can all get by without those, these days.
Dinner tonight is pan-fried pork chops with mustard sauce, uninspired green salad, and my first-ever cheesecake. Philadelphia style, flavored with vanilla and lemon, with a cinnamon-pecan crust.
I made pot roast.
I was never able to make a good pot roast until I encountered John Egerton’s great history/cookbook SOUTHERN FOOD, first published in 1987. He includes a pot roast method supposedly popular in Kentucky and Tennessee. That is SOME GOOD pot roast.
I used a 3 pound piece of chuck (half of it leftover for sandwiches, yay) and surrounded it with onions, fingerling potatoes, multicolor local carrots, and Japanese turnips. Sauteed the turnip greens with olive oil and lemon as a side dish.
Grilled Cheese, tomato soup, and some of the Greek pastries Mom brought over!
Salmon filets pan-fried in butter, lemon, and pepper, green beans, brown rice.
We finally finished off the pot roast last night.
Tonight I’m re-heating the rotisserie chicken I didn’t use for the gorgonzola-chicken pasta salad. There are two thighs, two wings, two legs, and a big piece of skin. (I claim the skin!) I think I’ll try it with some Sriracha and some tzatziki.
I like Cajun salmon. Here’s a recipe for the rub by the ex of a former Doper, which he included in his cookbook.
1 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 TBSP chilli powder
Big pinch pepper
Big pinch salt
That’s for about a pound of salmon. I make enough to fill a jar, so I can make Cajun salmon without having to mix the rub each time.
Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF. Cut the salmon into two-inch squares (appetiser-size), or into serving-size filets. Press both sides of the salmon into the rub. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron frying pan to just below smoking. Cook the salmon in the hot pan, flesh-side down, for up to four minutes. Turn the fish and cook skin-side down for two minutes. Put the pan into the hot oven for about four minutes. Try not to over-cook. Good with mac’n’cheese, and green beans.
The other way I make salmon is to sprinkle filets with a little kosher salt and some dill (fresh is best). Wrap in foil. Put into a 375ºF oven until almost done. Open the foil for the last five minutes or so. (Or just leave it wrapped. Your choice.) In the meantime, make a Béchamel sauce. While it’s thickening, add a goodly amount of dill (fresh is best). Season with salt. When thickened, add fresh lemon juice to taste. The lemon-dill Béchamel is good over the dill-salmon, and accompanying asparagus.
:::goes into kitchen to see if it’s still on the stove:::
Same here. Just no greens. Thanks for the tip on Egerton.
Oh, you’ll love Egerton!
No real recipes with ingredients lists and strict measurements; he just tells you how to MAKE things. The section on barbecue should be studied like Talmud – I’ve produced delicious BBQ in a damn KITCHEN OVEN following his advice. The book is mostly history, and includes yummy quotations from literary sources.
Unfortunately, John died a few years ago.
Tonight: spaghetti and garlic bread, with a homemade brownie and vanilla ice cream topped with a little raspberry jam for dessert.
Halibut poached in white wine with Bechamel sauce, rice pilaf, steamed spinach and a green salad. Old fashioned chocolate pie with whipped cream for dessert (I made this for a gathering yesterday. Leftovers.)
Last night was pizza using part of a rotisserie chicken, so tonight we finish it up and are having Chicken Tortilla soup with biscuits. Yum!
Last night it was going to be hamburgers. Then while browsing through the cookbooks to plan the Thanksgiving menu I happened across Wisconsin Sausage Soup, which as far as I can tell, is beer cheese soup with kielbasa.
Cheese? Check.
Guinness? Check.
Kielbasa? Check.
Various other ingredients, including onion, carrot, flour, butter, chicken broth, garlic (they said one tsp. I laughed and added two cloves)? Check.
Nice and thick and I added a grating of fresh nutmeg as a garnish. Yum yum yum.
Shades of John Thorne. Talking about food rather than just recipes.
I own a book that you might like. Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie. by Bill Neal. Not just recipes. All about Southern Baking.