Some of you may know where I cribbed this entire menu. Family, a family friend and our recently widowed neighbor and maybe a son or daughter of hers, whoever isn't dog sitting for the other son.
- Potted shrimp on pumpernickel toast with carrot/celery/radish salad and wine
- Beef tenderloins with herbs on them and a red wine reduction sauce
- Rutabage/potato gratin
- Braised fennel with orange
- and wine
Got no pitchers but . . . had about 80 people over for my annual Chanukah thing last night. About 40 pounds or so of brisket, french style green beans with garlic and a little sea salt, "mac" (orecchiette) and cheese (sorry -- served on a separate counter if that helps), and latkest made by me, apps, bread, and desserts were store bought. Great party, but I'm really sore. As Mel Gibson (feh) characters have said in three or four languages: I'm gettin' too old for this shit.
Got no pitchers but . . . had about 80 people over for my annual Chanukah thing last night. About 40 pounds or so of brisket, french style green beans with garlic and a little sea salt, "mac" (orecchiette) and cheese (sorry -- served on a separate counter if that helps), and latkest made by me, apps, bread, and desserts were store bought. Great party, but I'm really sore. As Mel Gibson (feh) characters have said in three or four languages: I'm gettin' too old for this shit.
Nice pull ;) You cook your latkes how? Eighty people is a large number to crank out latkes. Yrs. past I've handled the family/friends latke-fest consisting of < 30 people and it was insane with 4 pans working.
Nice pull ;) You cook your latkes how? Eighty people is a large number to crank out latkes. Yrs. past I've handled the family/friends latke-fest consisting of < 30 people and it was insane with 4 pans working.
So next year you'll come and watch if you want. I start cooking latkes well before anybody arrives. The first 5 or 6 dozen or so are waiting on baking sheets to be warmed and crisped in the oven (400 degrees re-crisps, just don't overdo it). The next LARGE run of grated stuff also is waiting. I've discovered over the years that the standard grating disc on the cuisinart produces what I consider just about perfect pieces of tater for latkes. It helps to have a second sink near the stove. I mix batches in the sink three large cuisinart bowls at a time. Grate the potatoes,dump it all into the sink, salt liberally (and I mean generous/wasteful lefty liberally) with coarse Kosher salt. This will help pull moisture from the potatoes. Rinse with cold water and press. Then mix 3-to-1-to-1 shredded yukon gold potatoes, zucchini, and sweet onions, all grated with the same disc, a little black pepper, and enough eggs and matzo meal to bind. I form pressing into a slotted spoon, so that some extra moisture falls back into the bowl and the threads of shredded veggie are nicely bound together. Just a little sprinkle of sea salt and one twist of the white pepper grinder on top. This year I had one grill pan covering two burners augmented by a large skillet, so I was able to do about 15 or 16 at a time. I'm getting another one of those two-burner grill pans for next year. The best piece of equipment, really, is the new hood. 1100 cfm with the duct running straight up through the attic and out. Let me tell you, every time you fry up two hundred potato pancakes or so, you want this type of ventilation.
Yeah, it's a lotta people and a little crazy, but it's a nice party and sort of an event and I cannot stop.
Wow. This past yr. I fell on a set of ancient wagner cast griddles 18"X8 that should help me get the deed done when the going gets tough.
After the new yr. our kitchen is getting torn out by yours truly and a latke-fest worthy vent was one of the "must have" items to be replaced.
football and frites. grilled hanger steak, grilled asparagus, homemade frites and bernaise. I love grilling when it's 20 degrees out. Watching a compelling niners/saints game, waiting for the pats/broncos game. GO PATS!!!
We had a chicken -- organic, free-range, and happy as a dead bird could be -- that needed cooking and the wife asked for Coq au vin. Who the eff makes that anymore? Ok, so it's a chicken, not a coq, and I'm fuzzy on the process, but we've got an ancient copy of Craig Claiborne's NYTimes cookbook, from 1066 or 1789 or whatever. We're ok on the herbs. Plenty of french wine. Mushrooms. Don't have the little onions, but sliced onions will be fine. So let's see . . . cut the bird into pieces, dredge the pieces in flour, and brown in 8 tbs butter -- yes, a whole stick -- and right off the bat we are back to the '70s. Encore du beurre. I sorta kinda followed the recipe -- figured the mushrooms, onions, and garlic needed a quick saute in the pan before the wine went in; used a bit extra wine, etc., but mostly stuck to the process. And, and . . . holy lipids that was good. Spare bits out of the fridge this morning? Still so good.
Kinda not hard to make it taste good when it is cooked in butter and wine. French peasant food + classic recipe = win.
I'm doing a grilled sirloin in chimichurri sauce for sunday afternoon bbq crew meeting. Some new additions (old friends who are back in town - we have a high percentage of academic types) this time around. There has been a rumor of some oysters for the bbq as well.
Made up some skewered chicken on the grill. Marinade and baste with a mix of miso, sugar, beer, soy sauce and cayenne. Came out nice and was well received by our crew. The marinade carmelized up nice on the grates, got a nice char. The marinade could be a good base for other flavor as well - it easily could take some more heat, the miso and sugar has enough to handle more of another component. Definite make again.
Yesterday made some burgers with crispy onions & fries that turned out excellent.
For the burgers, bought freshly ground prime beef from the butcher. Mixed the beef with some chopped rosemary and a little salt & pepper. Formed 8oz patties and seared over very high heat for a couple minutes per side until rare. Remove from heat, put some slices of cured lard on the burger, and put in a barely warm oven to keep the burgers from getting cold.
For the fries, sliced the potatoes into strips (~0.25") and rinsed them under water (to get rid of the starch). That done, first fried the potatoes at 280*F until very lightly brown (wanted to use duck fat, but forgot to pick some up at the butcher). Removed and then cooled in the refrigerator. While the fries cooled, fried some *very thinly* slice onion 'ribbons' that were tossed with corn starch (we used these as a crunchy burger topping, but tasty on their own).
Once the onions were finished, brought the oil temperature up to 300*F and finished cooking the fries.
Assembled everything on a plate all pretty like.
And forgot to take pictures because I was too busy eating and drinking Ruthless Rye.
Yesterday made some burgers with crispy onions & fries that turned out excellent.
For the burgers, bought freshly ground prime beef from the butcher. Mixed the beef with some chopped rosemary and a little salt & pepper. Formed 8oz patties and seared over very high heat for a couple minutes per side until rare. Remove from heat, put some slices of cured lard on the burger, and put in a barely warm oven to keep the burgers from getting cold.
For the fries, sliced the potatoes into strips (~0.25") and rinsed them under water (to get rid of the starch). That done, first fried the potatoes at 280*F until very lightly brown (wanted to use duck fat, but forgot to pick some up at the butcher). Removed and then cooled in the refrigerator. While the fries cooled, fried some *very thinly* slice onion 'ribbons' that were tossed with corn starch (we used these as a crunchy burger topping, but tasty on their own).
Once the onions were finished, brought the oil temperature up to 300*F and finished cooking the fries.
Assembled everything on a plate all pretty like.
And forgot to take pictures because I was too busy eating and drinking Ruthless Rye.
Now THAT is a banging good dinner. I'm stealing your onion trick.
FWIIW I did a classic mussles/white wine/garlic/butter dealio a little while ago and for the fries I did a double soak in water. First fry was a no color 325F oil for a few mins, cooled them off than 375F. It is way too much trouble without a deep fryer but hey that's d@mn good eats.
Now THAT is a banging good dinner. I'm stealing your onion trick.
FWIIW I did a classic mussles/white wine/garlic/butter dealio a little while ago and for the fries I did a double soak in water. First fry was a no color 325F oil for a few mins, cooled them off than 375F. It is way too much trouble without a deep fryer but hey that's d@mn good eats.
Well, I stole the onion idea from my neighborhood restaurant that uses them on all burgers. The trick is to cut the onion lengthwise (the north south axis?) and then slice the ribbons using a mandoline by slowly rotating the onion east-west. Should end up with super thin onion slices. If it helps google "tobacco onions" to get an idea of what they should look like.
I am thinking about a mexican feast - maybe some home made black beans and spanish rice, with some vegetables smothered in a chile sauce. Or maybe some chile? I am craving hot, spicy food lately. And I will be enjoying my girlfriends delicious chocolate brownies
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Re: What are you cooking for dinner this weekend?
Originally Posted by dang
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