What's for dinner?

[Menolly]

Johnsonville bratwurst "grilled" in the Showtime
(I use the large basket rather than skewer them. Need to keep them from drying out!)
Then simmered in Warsteiner and butter for 30 minutes
Served on hollowed out poppy seed kaiser rolls toasted in the oven
with Guldens Spicy Brown, Vlasic kosher dill stackers, and a slice of raw sweet onion

With it is another salad of spring greens, chevre, craisins, celery, carrot, cucumber and grape tomatoes dressed in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar then sprinkled with grated pecorino romano cheese, kosher sea salt crystals and freshly ground mixed peppercorns

I know iQuestor can attest to my brats.
I'm unsure if aliantha tried them at danlo's.

[aliantha]

I did -- they were tasty!

[JazFusion]

Johnsonville bratwurst "grilled" in the Showtime
(I use the large basket rather than skewer them. Need to keep them from drying out!)
Then simmered in Warsteiner and butter for 30 minutes
Served on hollowed out poppy seed kaiser rolls toasted in the oven
with Guldens Spicy Brown, Vlasic kosher dill stackers, and a slice of raw sweet onion

With it is another salad of spring greens, chevre, craisins, celery, carrot, cucumber and grape tomatoes dressed in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar then sprinkled with grated pecorino romano cheese, kosher sea salt crystals and freshly ground mixed peppercorns

I know iQuestor can attest to my brats.
I'm unsure if aliantha tried them at danlo's.

Mmmmmm......brats. I am highly jealous, even though I'm having something yummy myself.

Tonight's menu: pork chops stuffed with stuffing, swiss cheese and sauteed spinach; and served on the side: broiled asparagus with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. As if the meal couldn't get any better, we'll also be having fresh wheat rolls from the oven and a spring mix salad with a dijon balsamic vinagrette salad topped with some crumbled gorgonzola.

Sometimes it's good to be the cook. (ok, all the time)

[Menolly]

Oh, that does sound good on a late autumn day...

Tonight we decided on Chinese buffet.
No Mongolian bar-be-que at this one, but the sushi is not bad for an all-you-can-eat freebie with the meal.

[Savor Dam]

Dinner out with my new manager. We are in Ohio for the kickoff of my new project.

Smoked brisket, baked potato, broccolli. Unsweet iced tea instead of the beer I would have ordered if it were not a business type of occasion.

[Menolly]

A little brisk for Gator Town this morning; we're currently at 51°F with the windows wide open.
Today I'll use all of the poultry bones I've been saving for several months, and make a 20 quart stock pot full of stock.
Dinner will then be matzah ball soup with egg noodles. yummy...

[Savor Dam]

Yum, indeed.

Do I detect a hint of dill in the aroma of that soup?

[Menolly]

Yum, indeed.

Do I detect a hint of dill in the aroma of that soup?

But of course.

Pretty sure I have mentioned before my love for dill in nearly all things.

[Vader]

Today the family (in-laws, parents and sis) came to our place for Vader's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This year I prepared two soups (creamy tomato and a beef consommé with noodles, carrots, celery and custard royale). I also prepared a cold/warm buffet with various kinds of finger food.

Tomorrow is with the in-laws in some fancy restaurant and the day after with my parents for the traditional turkey.

[Menolly]

The highlight of tonight's Chr-stmas feast will be the standing rib roast which has been dry aging since Sunday. It is looking nicely aged. I'll probably lose close to a half a pound of fat and outer meat when I trim the excessively dry bits off before roasting, but we bought to compensate for that.

Yorkshire Pudding batter is combined and resting until being poured in to the heated cast iron skillet while the roast rests later this afternoon. Potatoes and garlic will be peeled later and made in to mash, and the frozen Birds Eye green peas will be heated through, served in a light butter and dill sauce. I'll also make Cabernet Au Jus and horsey sauce from grated white horseradish, sour cream and a shot of worcestershire sauce.

A tossed salad of frisee, grape tomatoes, craisins, cucumber, carrot, celery, green pepper and chevre, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamico, fresh cracked mixed pepper and a sprinkling of kosher sea salt flakes.

Egg nog with 12 year old Appleton Estates to close the night.

[Menolly]

We have about two pounds of rib roast left, and smaller servings of the peas, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire Pudding. Beorn left to spend more time with his grandfather until Wednesday night, so Hyperception and I will finish off the sides on our own. I'm eating what is left of the salad for lunch.

This morning I went out and picked up a selection of mixed wild mushrooms: crimini, shitaki, and oyster, as well as a pound of white button mushrooms. I'll season up a pound of the planned over roast and brown the seasoning, then make it even more tender by simmering it for stroganoff. The recipe I have calls for 3/4 cup of beef stock, but I have some cabernet au jus left which I will begin with and then add beef stock to.

So dinner tonight for Hyperception and me will be rib roast stroganoff with wild mushrooms served over egg noodles, mashed potatoes or Yorkshire Pudding and green peas. The rest of the roast will be frozen until next week. Beorn was not happy that I was making stroganoff while he was away.

That's my boy...

[Menolly]

Found fresh "all-natural" Butterball turkeys today at Publix for 59¢/lb. Bought three 15 pounders at that price. Saved one to brine and roast later (we did standing rib roast for Chr-stmas; last turkey was at Thanksgiving, so it will be a treat yet again), and had the other two cut in to parts. Then found Perdue whole turkeys in the meat case (not frozen, but not marked "fresh" either) at Sam's Club for 53¢/lb. I passed on those, as they are injected with up to 8% "turkey broth" solution.

Since Beorn is visiting his grandfather, I think tonight I'll do up the four wings for Hyperception and me.
Leftover mashed potatoes and green peas, and yet another tossed salad with chevre, craisins, and dressed with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamico.

[Vader]

Sort of free style Chinese noodles with stir fried vegetables and beef.



It was not even filet, but due to the marinade (including Chinese rice wine and corn starch) the meat was as soft and tender as cream after being stir fried for literally seconds in a blazing hot wok.

[Menolly]

mmm...
on a similar track here
doing shrimp fried rice again tonight.

[aliantha]

Leftover turkey rice soup that I'd made before we left for Denver. It's *always* better after it's sat for a few days...

[Vader]

Tonight I'm cooking Persian.

Tschello (cello) - a safron rice with golden brown crust. I spice it up with almonds, carrots, raisins, orange cests and barberries.

Meat balls (seasoned with dill, yoghurt, tumeric and garlic) simmered in a tomato-safron-pomegrante sauce with pistachio and walnut.

They might be weirdos politically (well, some of them) but their food is delicious.



My wife is going to kill me one of these days because everything that leaves the kitchen gets photographed first ... she said the last time she had WARM food was shortly after fire had been discovered in the Pleistocene.

[Menolly]

I slept until 9:30 this morning, so I jumped up, peeled and sliced the potatoes and carrots, layered them in the crockpot with half a head of peeled garlic cloves. On top of that I placed half a frozen bone-in turkey breast, from one of the two 59¢/lb. turkeys I had cut in to parts on Boxing Day.

I combined a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup with 1/4 cup of dry sherry and an envelope of onion soup mix, then spread that on top of the turkey. Covered it at 10:00 am and let it cook on Low while I checked out the clearance at Dillard's, Target and Wal-mart.

At 6:00 pm I scraped the soup off of the top of the turkey breast into the juices the turkey generated, then placed the turkey on a broiler pan. Put it under the broiler for seven minutes, rotating a quarter turn once, to brown the skin.

In the meantime, I removed the potatoes and carrots to a warmed bowl and dotted with butter and dill weed while turning the crockpot to high to heat the juices. By this time, I took the turkey out of the oven to rest for a few minutes.

I added about seven sliced fresh mushrooms to the juices in the crockpot, then used a ziplock bag to combine another quarter cup of dry sherry and a couple of heaping teaspoons of flour. Whisked that in to the simmering juices, and seasoned with some granulated garlic and dill weed. Sliced the turkey breast, and put the platter of meat, the bowl of potatoes and carrots, and the boat of gravy on the table.

Dinner was well received.
Good thing we did standing rib roast for Chr-stmas

[Savor Dam]

Yum. Those slow-cooker recipes always sound so good in your descriptions (and your techniques are so clearly explained), Menolly!

Ours was spaghetti. The way my father taught me to make spaghetti sauce is an all-day process, but since I am only home on weekends anymore and did not get up until late today, there were some shortcuts. Still, I took time to prepare the base of sauteed onion, pepper and crimini mushroom, build up the (quicker) sauce, add portobello mushroom sausage slices, and some zinfandel and let that simmer while we dismantled the tree. Combined with whole wheat pasta and some freshly grated parm...not too shabby.

The tree? Definitely shabby. Used a different tree lot this year, won't use them again. Past trees were fresher and lasted longer/better, holding their needles all the way from arrival until their time at the curb. This one literally shed a carpet of needles on its way out of the house. One positive note: the boy is doing a great job vacuuming them up without having to be told or micromanaged. Woo hoo!

[aliantha]

Erm.

New Year's dinner is one of the traditions that has taken a serious beating at my house. My mom always made ham and the fixin's.

Many years ago, I figured out that my little family is pretty much done with groaning-board feasts by New Year's. After Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, another big meal is more than they're willing to face. Soooo the ham morphed into ham sandwiches and sides.

Then I started doing lowfat cooking, and Magickmaker quit eating red meat anyway, so I've been making a little turkey ham. It's enough for a couple of rounds of sammiches for us, plus a little extra to throw in an omelet or something later.

Usually I buy the turkey ham well before the holiday and chuck it into the freezer. This year, what with one thing and another, I didn't start shopping for the turkey ham 'til this week -- and nobody had any.

So -- sigh -- this year it was lunchmeat sammiches (ham or turkey, your choice), cole slaw with a vinegar-based dressing, black-eyed peas with spinach for me, sweet pickles, black olives and Kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and raw sugar snap peas, and sugar cookies for dessert. Magickmaker assured me she was okay with it, as she doesn't really like turkey ham anyway. Bah!

[Durris]

I'm trying a new entree from _Great American Vegetarian_: hominy baked in cheese sauce with mild green chilies, cumin and a touch of Nigerian cayenne. On the side, a variant of Ipsy Wipsy Tomatoes from one of the SFWA cookbooks (with tarragon vinegar, Mediterranean-spiced sea salt, and fresh rosemary, rather than oil/vinegar/basil).