Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper -- what are you cooking? - Page 21  

made some GOOD BLT's for dinner/lunch today. I'm going to cry when I can't get good tomatoes in the winter...

Tonight I'm making Bucatini all'Amatriciana with guanciale and an older
Pecorino Toscano.

Were in the States did you find guanciale? I believed it was only available in Italy (Rome) unless you made your own. Using Pancetta is the only way I've ever seen it made.

I work for a sorority at University of the Pacific. These girls are picky. Last friday night I made:

Ginger/ Soy Pork Loin
Wasabi mashed potatos
Chili stir fry
Sesame white rice....

I have almost no leftovers to work with on monday!:roll:

Mario Batali's dad, Armandino, started Salumi Cured Meats some years ago. I understand he's retired from the day-to-day running of the business, but the company lives on and is doing well:
Guanciale

La Quercia
Home - La Quercia, LLC

Niman Ranch
Niman Ranch: Guanciale

Chris Cosentino's company, Boccalone
Cured Meats

Salumeria Biellese
Cured Meats

There is supposedly another company local to my area, but I've not confirmed that they sell guanciale, so I won't mention them.

Edit: OK here y'go:

The Fatted Calf - San Francisco & Napa
Fatted Calf Charcuterie

Also, Esposito's pork store on 9th Ave in NYC

The product is also available through several sources in the Los Angeles area, but I've not dealt with them. I'm sure that you can get it from any place that sell's Niman-Ranch products and Salumi products. La Quercia provides product to several on-line retailers, one being Zingerman's.

These are just the places I know of or that I have purchased from - I'm sure there are plenty more.

Thanks for the reply Shel. I've been trying to find it for years. Guess I'm just not looking in the right places.

You're quite welcome.

The next item you have to get is imported Italian pasta, made with Italian wheat, drawn through bronze dies for additional texture, and which has been dried at lower temperature for a longer period of time. The flavor and texture is superior to any commercial pasta you've had, guaranteed! One brand is Rustichella d'Abbruzo, which I've been using for about twenty years. I mention it because it has a good distribution and it is a quality product. Around here it's not as expensive as some other artisanal pastas. It can also be purchased on line.

Bigoli Nobili is another excellent choice, although I don't know if it's available as bucatini. This pasta has been around since the 1400's, and the spaghetti (in the yellow box) is exquisit. The price is quite good - I pay $3.90 for 500g. Some of the on line stores mark it up to over $7.00 plus shipping, but others sell it for about that same price.

had to use up some left over goat cheese...

so grill(panned) peach, with some sugar, goat cheese, cinnamon, and some balsamic.




then some pan seared duck breast, with potato gnocchi and sauteed spinach

The missus likes her duck a little more done than I do!


She's working on it though. Wasn't the best dish i've ever put out, and nothing compared to the last similiar duck meal I did, but i wanted to experiment with the potato gnocchi (sauteed in duck fat)

Humm, great pictures & meal RPMcMurphy

Tonites supper,

I m not feeling like cooking this past week, so I bought a( Presidents Choice ) Penne Rigate, which was excellent, perfectly seasoned & not to salty ;)


Good nite everyone

Pasta, vegetables, some meat and/or cheese, and then some hot sauce, curry mix (Penzey's has how many of those?), or freshly grated pepper...that leaves a lot of room for variety, and is also what I eat a lot.

A very simple supper - the classic spaghetti Cacio e Pepe made with Bigoli Nobili spaghetti, a nicely aged Pecorino Romano, and fresh ground Lampong pepper. Along with that there was a plate of gorgeous ripe and very fresh tomatoes, Brandywine and dry farmed Early Girls, sliced thin and drizzled with some early harvest Bariani olive oil and a squirt of lemon juice.

My dinner was similar - sea shell pasta with a couple of mashed anchovy fillets mixed in, topped with very nice homegrown tomato dice from a friend's house, a few blobs of fresh cow's milk mozzarella and a sprinkle of oregano. The tomato and cheese were lightly warmed in a medium hot skillet with a splash of wine after crisping up some diced pancetta. It was some cheap merlot that I drank along side - it was red, and tasted sort of like a decent wine. All in all a simple but very satisfying meal.


mjb.

Tonite I had a two simple grilled cheese & chicken noodle soup with nachos, :p and a glass of milk ;)

Tonite,

I had 3 burritos, garnished with: strong cheddar, romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, guacamole, spanish onion, red bell pepper & jallapino & minced veal, humm, what a pure delight ( for my tastebuds at least ), a real feast for me

It is 53 degrees and raining today. Good day for a pot roast. I have a 7 bone chuck roast that I browned in the bacon fat from breakfast then stuffed with garlic and scallion and seasoned with S&P and cayenne in the oven at 275 for a long slow cook. Around 3 or so I wall add potatoes and carrots and let it cook until its nice and falling apart done.

Boy, that sounds so good - it's cold here and something warm, delicious, and comforting would be great. I just whipped up a bowl of spaghetti with a quick homemade sauce that was OK (pretty good, actually), but it pales in comparison to pot roast.

NRatched made some porkchops marinaded is i think..sambal? some hoisen? (i dunno i wasn't allowed in the kitchen) and some fried rice, and some bok choy

Returning to the fray after a burst of initial activity a couple of months back.

I did an asian fusion roast chicken. Rubbed the skin with a combination of five-spice, extra cinnamon, lime juice and zest, sesame oil and fish sauce. Stuffed the cavity with a halved lime, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger and some coriander (cilantro) root.

Served on jasmine rice with steamed bok choy and a red curry gravy made from pan juices, stock, coconut milk and red curry paste.

The chicken was delicious, but I had a particularly fiery batch of red curry paste, so the gravy was a touch too robust.

That sounds delicious! I have rarely found something too hot for my taste--I wish I could have tasted it for myself to agree or disagree on the level of heat.

The gravy was delicious on its own, or with the rice and bok choy. The main problem was that it swamped all the fragrant notes in the chicken meat - less so for the skin.

Next time round, I would either do the gravy with a 'straight' roast chicken, or serve the asian chicken without a gravy (and off the rice). Maybe a nice dipping-style sauce on the side.

I've frozen the left over gravy for another day - i'll let you know how it goes!

If your taste buds are used to heat, you don't taste the picante' as much and you taste other things more. However, there is such a thing as too much heat for sure. When I've used too much red Thai curry paste, the salt overload is what got to me.

I just ate the leftover chicken as my lunch - sandwiched between two bits of sourdough with baby spinach and a scrape of riesling/lime/ginger jelly, and the floral notes coming out of the chicken were magnificent.

Next time round, I'll try a lot less paste!

Maybe it's my screen settings but the carrots in the rice look radioactive.

LOL Phil:bounce:

They look normal to me. Just like pieces of fluorescent chalk.

Tonight I made some soft shell chicken tacos, nothing too special. Oddly enough, though, when I walked into the store I had my mouth set on whipping up some crab salad with a batch of hand whisked mayo.

Anyway, I get what I need for the tacos, I'm in the kitchen working on them and my wifes comes home. She walks in the kitchen and exclaims "You're making them already? Great!" Of course I didn't really know what she was talking. Turns out that she had sent me an email, which I had not yet read, requesting enchiladas in the near future.

So now I know why I made the sudden switch from crab salad to Mexican food - just simple spousal intergalactic telepathy.

mjb.

If only it always worked out like that. :roll:

went out last night. great french place called Chez Catherine. I had seared Foie Gras for app. and a duck main (magret and confit)

Ribs ribs ribs ribs

Had to share our dinner experience last night. We grilled spare ribs on the outdoor grill and they were so amazing that we kept congratulating ourselves up until bedtime.

I rubbed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Then we placed them on the grill with mesquite wood chips, closed the lid and let them smoke for about 40 minutes. The smoke flavor was so intense and the ribs were juicy and tender but still sticking to the bone a little (I love it when you have to work for it). No sauce necessary. When I packed the leftovers after they had cooled down completely they were still juicy! Unforgettable ribs!

Served with real baked potatoes topped with chive butter, and a salad made with arugula, balsamic vinegraitte, walnuts, and parmesan shavings.

Tonite, I had 3 kefta veal kebabs with mixed vegetables on my BBQ, and one sloppy joe in a tortilla, great dinner it was

Ninja, that just reminded me . . .

Comfort food for me sometimes is sloppy joe or my mom's bbq pork, in a hamburger bun. My mom's from near Chicago, and barbeque to her is a seasoning more than a cooking method, and I am all for my Mom's bbq her way, and her sloppy joes. yummmmm