What are you cooking for dinner this weekend?

[Too Tall]

HST - Big old VSalon cheer for sharing this. I've had something very similar at the Four Seasons Hotel many yrs. ago. Truly a classic.

[jscottyk]

Pics to go with the recipe.

[Shinomaster]

Oh, that soup looks goooood!!! I could use a bowl right now.

[RIHans]

Starting Wednesday...

I'm the lunch chef.
I can't wait...I like the day shifts, Maybe race next summer?

http://theironworkstavern.com/

High end cooking, Back to my roots. Yeah!

[maunahaole]

Grilled fresh opah tonight. Did a little marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, chili oil, and jerk seasoning.



and after the flip...



yum. This is a do again. Need to make a mango or papaya salsa to go with this.

[Too Tall]

Congratulations my brotherman.
The first three things on the menu are favs. but we need to talk about the (cough) Lump Crab Cake...what the he!! it has "stuff" in it ewww.

Starting Wednesday...

I'm the lunch chef.
I can't wait...I like the day shifts, Maybe race next summer?

http://theironworkstavern.com/

High end cooking, Back to my roots. Yeah!

[maunahaole]

Hans - Listen to the tall guy re: crab cakes. He knows of what he speaks.

Best. Crabcakes. Ever.

[rydesteel]

This is from an old Bon Appetit cookbook. Very tasty, don't double, doesn't work well. Enjoy.
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts (me no likey you may)
2-3 RIPE bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk or yogurt (I like yogurt better)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. transfer to prepared pan. Bake until top is golden brown and split, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Serve warm, or sliced and toasted. Yumm, Frank

[Too Tall]

Yo Frankieboy, use overripe bannanas they taste is way better...you knew that.

I need some inspiration for NYE. We host a large party every yr. and am drawing a massive blank. On the short list are: high end grilled hamburgers with loads of insteresting things to stack on sourdough bread, large poached salmon served cold / boned and "dressed" with homemade saffron aioli / decorated with red / green peppers blah blah on bed of frishi lettuce.

Throw me a bone RIHans.

[rydesteel]

Hehe, this last batch I just sort of snipped off the bottom off the nanner and squeezed not much mashing required when they're ready. We keep lot's of bananas around the house so I've always got a few that are near black.

I've got a nice recipe for seared beef tenderloin. Salt, pepper, thyme, roll the loin in it to coat well. Sear over med high heat till well browned. Finish in a 350* oven for a few minutes till internal is about 125*. I serve with a salsa verde that has capers, red onion, cilantro, good olive oil,rough chopped and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Let it cool and slice very thin would make dandy sandwiches. Let me know if you need more details ;>). Enjoy the day. Frank

[Too Tall]

Hehe, this last batch I just sort of snipped off the bottom off the nanner and squeezed not much mashing required when they're ready. We keep lot's of bananas around the house so I've always got a few that are near black.

I've got a nice recipe for seared beef tenderloin. Salt, pepper, thyme, roll the loin in it to coat well. Sear over med high heat till well browned. Finish in a 350* oven for a few minutes till internal is about 125*. I serve with a salsa verde that has capers, red onion, cilantro, good olive oil,rough chopped and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Let it cool and slice very thin would make dandy sandwiches. Let me know if you need more details ;>). Enjoy the day. Frank

Nice, nope I've got it. Good idear there boss. Goes with the theme of MYO upscale sandwhiches.

[maunahaole]

TT - good source for burgers. I've had them. Way good.

http://www.beefhawaii.com/Order_Form.html

[Too Tall]

This one sent by my sis for the holidays. This is too easy and rsults in a spectacular cake.
================================
Sicilian Orange Cake

Ingredients :
2 large organic seedless oranges
6 eggs
1 ¾ cups ground almonds
1 cup sugar ( or less)
1 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt

1. Boil oranges ( peel and all)-40 minutes
2. Cut oranges in quarters and cool
3. Puré oranges in blender (no chunks)
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Beat 6 eggs until fluffy ( 5 min.)
6. Add : sugar, orange mush, ground almonds,1 tsb. Baking powder, salt
7. …fold in quickly but mix well
8. In a spring form pan ; or silicone mold
9. Bake about more or less 45 minutes (knife should come out dry)
10. Serve with either sifted icing sugar, whipped cream or drizzzle dark melted chocolate !

[rwsaunders]

Too Tall....can you say "Profiteroles"? Mrs. RW is in full swing for the holidays....pastry baking part 1 tonight.

[Too Tall]

I gained 5lbs just reading that last post ;) That's a tough act to follow.

[rwsaunders]

Profiteroles part two....boy were these things good with coffee....flaky with a chilled filling. Roast fillet stuffed with porcini mushrooms, vidalia onions and other goodies coming tomorrow.

[Dave Thompson]

I'm coming to your house for dinner!

[Tom]

The original recipe from an old Food and Wine magazine was for a single layer cake. Because my oven goes to 11, I double the recipe for the cake and make about 1.5 the recipe of the caramel sauce. I haven't figured out how to make it aesthetically pleasing because the layers aren't completely flat when the nuts go screwy (see below) but the best thing I've found is to cook the caramel down quite a bit and when it starts cooling and getting more viscous you can sort of knife it all over the side. It oozes and slides quite well then and you can fill in any crevice between the layers.

CAKE:

1 pound Medjool dates, pitted
1.5 cups water
2+ tablespoon unsulfured molasses
2 cup all-purpose flour (King Arthur is the best)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1+ teaspoon cinnamon
1+ teaspoon ground ginger
Salt
2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large egg
1+ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup walnut halves
1 cup pecan halves
4 tablespoons corn syrup

CARAMEL

1.5 stick unsalted butter
1.5 cup dark brown sugar
1.5 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the paper.

In a small saucepan, simmer the dates in the water over moderately low heat until the liquid is reduced by half and the dates are very soft, about 10 minutes. Scrape the dates and liquid into a food processor. Add the molasses and puree. Let cool.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with 1 cup of the brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients. Beat in the date puree.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake is springy to the touch. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack. Peel off the parchment paper, butter the paper again and return the paper to the pan.

Meanwhile, spread the walnuts and pecans in a couple pie plates or a cookie sheet and bake for about 9 minutes, until fragrant and golden. Let the nuts cool slightly, then chop them very coarsely. Actually, chop half of them pretty good and leave the others coarse. You'll put the finely chopped ones on what'll be the bottom layer.

In a small bowl, stir the corn syrup with the remaining 4 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Scatter the nuts over the parchment in the cake pans and drizzle the corn syrup mixture on top. Carefully return the cake to the pan (the same way it came out) and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then invert the cake onto a plate, replacing any nuts stuck in the pan. Ha, ha ha ha ha. ALL the nuts'll be stuck in the pan, but if you buttered the paper like we told you to, you can probably peel them off the paper in somewhat of the arrangement they were on there. If not, just get them off any way you can (and we all know how fun that can be) and stick them on the cakes. Try to form a dam of nuts right on the edge all the way around if you can do it.

MAKE THE CARAMEL: In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and sugar and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring. Off the heat, add the cream. Return the sauce to a boil and cook until reduced a fair amount, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the salt and let cool slightly.

Pick your bottom layer. Put it on a plate that's big enough to take up a fair amount of caramel overflow, nuts up. Slowly add caramel to the top of that layer until you have a reasonable amount of glue on there. You want to have a nice layer all over it as much as you can.

Put the top layer on top of the bottom layer, nuts up. Slowly put caramel all over the top of it. Pretty soon you have a decent lava flow of caramel coming off. As the caramel cools you can add more to the cake and take a knife or something and scrape the overflow back on to the side of the cake.

It goes great with black coffee and I bet a good brandy or something like that wouldn't be a bad accompaniment, either.

[M_A_Martin]

No photos...I was busy cooking Christmas breakfast for 9. I knew I was having three until a day or so ahead.
Menu went like:

Fresh squeezed organic OJ (to order by Dazza)
Omelets, plain and cheese (eggs courtesy of the quality control chooks)
Buckwheat crepes with garden fresh chard and mushroom filling,
Roasted sweet potato chunks with onion and red pepper,
Grilled tomatoes, bacon, and beef sausages,
Mary valley in-season fruit: red seedless grapes, cherries, plums,
Tea for Sunday (a nice tea with a touch of vanilla beans)
Fresh from the oven Scones, real rum balls, and sugarplums.

:)

[Too Tall]

Whomever recommended the Jim Lahey book THANKYOU it is great and results speak for his fine methods.

I feel redeemed as a breakmaker. I've been turning out perfect crusty loaves. GREAT method.

Having access to a beastly Lodgeware cast iron pot does not hurt ;)

mini-wheatloaf.JPG