Breakfast/lunch/Dinner, what are you having?

So today being Good Friday and all…

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns.
Fresh out of the oven…

This is one of the two times a year I eat anything remotely like this. The other day being Christmas.

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We've been doing these quite a bit, it starts with round slices of eggplant, seasoned, baked, then topped with, well, whatever you'd like, but the idea is a pizza kind of result. This is after the initial eggplant bake, but before going back into the oven with the toppings - which are a terrific marinara sauce, somet thick sliced mozzarella, fresh sweet basil and turkey pepperoni.

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DT said:
We've been doing these quite a bit, it starts with round slices of eggplant, seasoned, baked, then topped with, well, whatever you'd like, but the idea is a pizza kind of result. This is after the initial eggplant bake, but before going back into the oven with the toppings - which are a terrific marinara sauce, somet thick sliced mozzarella, fresh sweet basil and turkey pepperoni.

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They look aboslutely divine, and, I can only assume, taste simply delicious.
 
An Asian inspired dish: Poached (chopped) monkfish (fillet) in a broth that comprised chicken stock, plus a few dessertspoons of mirin, soy sauce, fish sauce, a generous dash of sesame oil, chopped chilli peppers, chopped coriander leaves, chopped French onion, and chopped cherry tomatoes; served with udon noodles.
 
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Thursday's dinner: Italian sausage and pasta:

This dish started with roughly chopped onions, finely diced carrot, and a full head of grated garlic (around 14 cloves), sautéed in olive oil (in an Italian - a large, Italian - copper sauté pan) until soft. Then, I added finely chopped pancetta.

Meanwhile, in the oven, I roasted two dishes of cherry tomatoes (seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, and a little sugar), drizzled in olive oil; I had plenty of cherry tomatoes to hand and needed to use some up.

Once the onion, carrot, garlic, plus pancetta, had softened and cooked down (the onions will take the best part of half an hour of slow cooking to achieve this state), I removed the casing from a pack of artisan Italian sausages, that had been delivered that same day, and chopped the sausages roughly, whereupon they were added to the pan, and sautéed.

When they were well on the way to being cooked, the roasted tomatoes were removed from the oven, and added to the remaining ingredients in the pan.

Pasta (fettuccine) was cooked in salted boiling water (to which a dash of olive oil had been added); several large tablespoons of the pasta cooking liquid were added to the sauté pan and stirred through, after which the pasta itself was drained and added to the pan, and mixed through.

A salad of mixed leaves (plus dressing - olive oil, cider vinegar, a little balsamic vinegar, sea salt, black pepper, French Dijon mustard, a little sugar) was prepared, (and served in a large, hand crafted wooden bowl), while a bottle of Italian red wine (Chianti) had been opened hours earlier, and was breathing away to itself while I was prepping and cooking.

Dinner was then served, with proper placings, a table cloth, mats, French cotton napkins, and solid, lead, cut glass crystal glassware for water and wine.
 
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Tonight was chicken broth with lots of ginger, garlic and chilis, along with a small can of coconut milk, kafir lime leaves and noodles. I served it with tempura shrimp and sweet potato fritters. Yum.
 
r.harris1 said:
Tonight was chicken broth with lots of ginger, garlic and chilis, along with a small can of coconut milk, kafir lime leaves and noodles. I served it with tempura shrimp and sweet potato fritters. Yum.
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Ah, sigh.

Yum, indeed.

My mouth is watering just reading that description: My kind of food.
 
Dinner comprised of a version of ratatouille: Roughly chopped (in large chunks) onions, courgettes (zucchini), red peppers, aubergine (eggplant), carrots (not canon, I know), and cherry tomatoes were each sautéed separately, in turn, (in olive oil), then placed - in turn, into a large, copper roasting tin, already drizzled with olive oil, where they were joined by two heads of garlic, several strands of saffron (which had been already immersed in a small quantity of water), sea salt, black pepper, and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

This then was placed in a preheated oven, where it spent the next hour (and was removed once, for a bit of stirring and basting).

Homemade aioli was also prepared: (Organic, free range, egg yolks, sea salt, minced garlic - from several cloves of new season's "wet garlic", - olive oil (slowly drizzled and whisked) and some freshly squeezed lemon juice).

Fillet steak (aged) was sautéed, and served rare.

An Italian red wine, and sliced French baguette were also served.
 
This evening's meal was an interpretation of the Portuguese dish, caldo verde.

In a large copper sauce pan, two free range, organic, chicken thighs (bone and skin attached - that is where the flavour lies) were added to a generous quantity of chicken stock.

Four large (peeled) potatoes, quartered - with the quarters sliced in two - were added to the stock (and chicken), and simmered for the best part of an hour.

Onions (white onions, and a large red onion), roughly chopped, were sautéed in olive oil, in a sauté pan, until soft, along with the chopped stem (still green) and six fat cloves (peeled, thinly sliced), of new season's "wet garlic".

Once soft, these were transferred to the copper saucepan along with the stock, chicken, and potatoes.

Several merguez (artisan, handmade) sausages were removed from their casing, broken into little pieces, and sautéed in the pan vacated by the onions and garlic. When browned, they, too, were added to the large saucepan to join the rest of the simmering ingredients.

After around 40-50 minutes (the potatoes were almost ready, the chicken cooked, the sausages succulent), a bowl of sliced (- that is, halved - and seasoned) cherry tomatoes were added to the simmering contents of the saucepan, as were several leaves of roughly chopped shredded spinach (stalk removed).

Once cooked (a matter of a few minutes), dinner was then served.
 
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Paella was the dish du jour this evening.

I started by sautéing monkfish (already cut into chunks) in olive oil, for a few minutes, in a large, Le Creuset cast iron paella pan. There, the monkfish was seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, and pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika; today, I used both "dulce" - i.e. mild, sweet, smoked, pimentón, and "piccante", i.e. hotter - pimentón), before being removed and put aside, placed in a bowl.

Next, diced Spanish chorizo (plus more olive oil), was added to the paella dish, sautéed, and removed in turn, with a slotted spoon, to its own dish. Some guanciale (instead of pancetta) - cut into small dice - met a similar fate.

Then, finely chopped onion was added to the paella pan, along with two or three anchovies (to dissolve in the olive oil); when they were softened (around twenty minutes or so), garlic (a full head, around 14 cloves, already minced, awaiting the feast in its small dish) joined them in the pan. This lot were seasoned (again) with pimentón.

When they had cooked down, I added a dish of grated cherry tomatoes (I had plenty to use up), already seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, and a little sugar.

Then, the rice (bomba rice, paella rice) was poured into the pan (always a satisfying moment), and stirred for around two minutes to coat it with the delicious oil and vegetables.

A glass of wine (white, I had some left from last night), and another small dish of saffron and its liquid were added to the pan, followed by stock (I used chicken stock, with a dash of Asian fish sauce for added flavour; anchovies have already dissolved in the oil).

After around twenty minutes, the monkfish chunks, chopped chorizo and guanciale that had been put aside were returned to the pan, and carefully placed under the stock.

The next ingredient to join the others in the pan came from a jar; Spanish piquillo peppers (with an intense sweet, smoked, flavour), which I sliced and then placed in the pan.

This was when the heat was turned off, and the dish covered for around 10 or so minutes before serving.

Dinner was served with lemon wedges, homemade aioli (garlic mayonnaise - egg yolks, garlic and olive oil) and a tomato salad (as I had no greens to hand), seasoned with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and a little sugar.
 
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This evening, I treated myself to a tweak on Pasta (Spaghetti) Carbonara, the tweak being that I omitted the pasta entirely, and had lightly scrambled (free range, organic) eggs, with freshly grated Parmesan - that is, Parmigiano Reggiano - (not Pecorino - I didn't have any, whereas a generous slice or hunk of parmesan can always be found chateau moi) and sautéed guanciale, sautéed in butter, and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
This evening, I treated myself to a tweak on Pasta (Spaghetti) Carbonara, the tweak being that I omitted the pasta entirely, and had lightly scrambled (free range, organic) eggs, with freshly grated parmesan (not pecorino - I didn't have any, whereas a generous slice or hunk of parmesan can always be found chateau moi) and sautéed guanciale, sautéed in butter, and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
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If you ever have the time and inclination to do so, I'd love to see some of your recipes posted here.
 
I am currently prowling online (and office, in cookery books) and looking around for a good recipe for both:

1: Salade Niçoise, and

2: Caesar Salad.

Obviously, the dressing matters enormously - and is probably the most important single ingredient in each of these salads, but, I would welcome any suggestions as to how fellow forum members treat these two dishes.
 
Finally an evening cool enough to venture back into stir fry territory... sliced onions, minced garlic, strips of red bell pepper, sliced crimini mushrooms, broccoli (flash-steamed a bit to keep the florets from being too crunchy), all over brown rice and served tossed with tofu diamonds that had been marianted in teriyaki sauce. Pretty good, and didn't take that long to prepare either. I usually have some cooked brown rice stashed in the fridge to use for meals like this.
 
Renzatic said:
If you ever have the time and inclination to do so, I'd love to see some of your recipes posted here.
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Okay, @Renzatic: This is for you.

@Arkitect and @lizkat may also derive some pleasure from reading these tales, memories, and recipes of Greece.
Scepticalscribe said:
Greek style lamb chops, Greek style lemon potatoes, a mixed green salad (homemade French dressing), and homemade aioli.

Recipes to follow later.
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My father loved Greece, and loved the culture and climate of Greece and he loved Greek cuisine. Or, rather, to be more precise, he loved certain, specific dishes he used to dine on, nightly, if and whenever possible, when holidaying in Greece: Namely, lamb chops (lamb cutlets, if we are aiming for a ambience that suggests a more cultured, elegant, civilised and elevated world, for, if Mark Twain could assert that "cauliflower is simply cabbage with a college education", then, well, I'd argue that cutlets are simply middle class - bourgeois - chops) with roasted potatoes, a salad, and wine.

Now, as he is no longer with us, - and hasn't been for the best part of two decades - I am unable to put this question to him; I do know that while he loved lamb cutlets (chops) and roasted potatoes whenever I prepared them for him (anytime my mother was away, and I donned my chef's apron, he requested lamb cutlets and roast potatoes for dinner every evening; luckily, I am partial to them, too, and we would also cheerfully drink wine together, and chat at length over dinner), somehow, it wasn't quite the same as what he had devoured with greedy relish, in Greece, which I knew he loved, but I wasn't so sure I was quite able to capture, or replicate, this dish in all of its Hellenic/Greek glory.

Okay, sunshine, antiquity, holiday atmosphere, all ensured that the experience was even more unforgettable, but, until recently, I had never really quite realised (for Greek cuisine is not considered to be on quite the same level as the more elevated interpretations of Italian, or French cuisine) that lamb cutlets (chops) in Greece are prepared in a quite specific way.

While the various descriptions of the recipes (for "Greek lamb chops") I consulted do differ, in actual fact, they don't differ by all that much. The ingredients and preparation are pretty much the same irrespective of which recipe is consulted.

However, every site I consulted informed me that "Greek lemon roast potatoes" were a non-negotiable accompaniment to Greek lamb chops.

Every single ingredient was purchased in the farmers' market (organic, environmentally aware, etc etc).

The trick - or treat - is that the lamb spends some time in a marinade. "Time", in this context, is as elastic as time is thought to be: Anything from twenty minutes, or thirty minutes, to twenty four hours.

And that marinade comes with some quite specific ingredients: They are: Grated lemon zest, lemon juice, (zest and juice of one lemon), minced garlic (and here, as always, I doubled - at the very least - the quantities suggested; in fact, I doubled the quantity of minced garlic of the recipe with the largest number - four cloves - of minced garlic, hence, I used seven or eight), olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, dried oregano (at least a generous teaspoon).

You prepare the marinade, wash (and dry) the lamb chops (cutlets) and then place them gently in a dish with the marinade, turning them every half hour or so. Today's chops spent around four hours in their marinade, before they were introduced to a sauté pan, where shimmering olive oil, with that wonderfully oleaginous texture of olive oil that has met and married something very hot, awaited it.

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes: Again, recipes vary, but not by much.

Here, the first dilemma is whether you parboil the potatoes or not, before roasting them; I've learned this the hard way: Parboiling cuts at least an hour off your actual cooking time.

So, peeled (or not, your choice, - some ferociously healthy types prefer not to do so - but, personally, I peel potatoes) and cut into thick wedges potatoes are added to salted, boiling water; today I used chicken stock, and parboiled (until "tender to point of a knife"), until almost cooked.

The potatoes were then scooped (slotted spoon territory) into a roasting dish, already drizzled with some olive oil.

And, to that were added some familiar ingredients: Lemon juice (half a lemon, I used almost a full lemon), a few dessertspoons of the delicious potato cooking liquid, several cloves (around eight, although most recipes suggest something along the lines of four) of minced garlic; a few teaspoons of dried oregano, - I didn't have fresh; fresh rosemary - I stripped a few stems of rosemary of their needles - and, of course, yet more olive oil drizzled over the potatoes. Plus sea salt, and black pepper.

This found its way into a hot oven (180-200C) for over an hour, taken out, and turned and basted after half an hour, whereupon it was returned to the oven, and more liquid can be added (olive oil, potato liquid, lemon juice) if it looks as though it may be running the risk of drying out.

While this lot were roasting, I prepared a green salad (mixed green leaves, purchased on Saturday at one of the organic stalls in the farmers' market) and my own homemade French dressing: Olive oil, red wine vinegar, a dash of Balsamic vinegar, sea salt, black pepper, Dijon mustard (I used a small - dainty - teaspoon, the sort that would not be out of place at afternoon tea served in an opulent, somewhat old-fashioned, 19th century city centre hotel, the sort of hotel barristers and judges would probably stay in while on cuircuit - with not quite a teaspoon of mustard), an unusually small amount (well, today, I had lots and lots of it to hand) of minced garlic, roughly a quarter of a really dainty teaspoon, and a large teaspoon of honey; and I added some chopped flat leaf parsley.

I also - because I was in the mood for it, had the ingredients to hand, and today, for some reason, I quite fancied this sort of cooking, although I do not doubt that this added dish, or element, did not make an appearance at a taverna table somewhere in Greece - prepared some aioli, that is, homemade garlic mayonnaise.

That called for three core ingredients, although there are versions with many more: The three ingredients are egg yolks (free range, organic; today, I used two, sometimes, when feeling very greedy, I have used three), and two very familiar ingredients, olive oil, and - yes, yet again - minced garlic (I contented myself with around four, fat cloves of freshly minced, new season's garlic for the aioli).

Separate (the verb, for this is an instruction) egg yolks and egg whites, and the former are added to a bowl where the minced garlic already awaits, the latter can be kept for some other delight; stir (a fork is fine); then, slowly, very slowly, add - as in drizzle - a trickle of slowly poured olive oil, stirring, and - eventually - whisking. I use a large hand whisk which works wonderfully well. Add some olive oil; whisk and blend; add some more olive oil, pouring in a slow drizzle, whisk and blend; and so on. The mayo will be glossy, rich and a deep (daffodil) yellow, and - when it emulsifies properly - will be almost solid in texture.

Dinner was delicious, and tonight, I shall probably repel vampires.
 
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