What are you eating?

[toledobass]

I hear you on the eating factory raised stuff, but I guess my point was that basically in any restaurant in the US, if you wanna eat your pork pink,  you should be able to do so without fear. 

You can get some good pork here:  Heritage Foods.

Allan

[SonicMan46]

Here's Dinner from a few days ago:

Tuna-Salmon Tatar with Wasabi-Powdered Cucumber Pins and Minced Spring Onions.
Topped with Black Sesame Seeds.

Jens - great looking dish - agree w/ Allan!  But, I've usually had this type of food as an appetizer!  You must have had more for dinner?     Dave 

[SonicMan46]

Well, just returned from a January routine - wife's (Susan) birthday - she loves an 'overnight' in the area w/ a great dinner - in the past, we've gone to the Fearrington Inn/Restaurant, but she wanted a change this year!  This time decided to spend a couple of nights at the Umstead Inn & Spa in the Raleigh/Cary area - had dinner there both nights at the Herons Restaurant in the hotel - selections below (wish that I had pics):

First Night:

Seafood Ceviche - Kona Kampachi, Baby Clams, Mussels, Taylor Bay Scallops, Sweet Prawns, Citrus Fine Herb Marinade, Orange Olive Oil  - this was delicious & unexpected; each marinaded and served in a pile w/ the prawns on sticks; in fact, ordered the same the next night!

Sautéed Monkfish w/ Seared Diver Scallop, Celery Root Puree, Glazed Vegetables - my main course; monkfish wonderful & one of the biggest scallops that I've ever been served, and cooked just right!

Lobster "Soup" - Butter Poached Cold Water Lobster, Lobster Cream, Roasted Root Vegetables - Susan's main dish (tempted to order this the second night, but was just light & wonderful for her!)

Second Night:

She Crab Soup for Susan (one of the best we've tasted!) - same ceviche for me (just needed a 'second dose'!)

Roasted Breast of Pheasant   w/ Rösti Potatoes, Port Wine Sauce - rarely have this bird, but the breast is just a little pink & gamy - had this w/ a glass of Pinot Noir from Oregon; some nice 'hash brown' type potatoes and Brussel sprouts (which I love!) - great combination!

Pistachios Crusted Rack of Lamb - Potato Dauphine, Gingered Carrot Sauce - Susan's choice & a great one!

If you're ever in the Raleigh area of North Carolina, this restaurant is a definite recommendation!  Not cheap, but a treat!

BTW - for lunch on our 'free' day, we lunched at the Wahsington Duke Inn & Golf Resort on the Duke campus in Durham - our first visit (just to see if we might want to return) - just a wonderful piece of property & a delightful brunch lunch - likely will give the place a more 'detailed' stay - 

[jlaurson]

Jens - great looking dish - agree w/ Allan!  But, I've usually had this type of food as an appetizer!  You must have had more for dinner?     Dave 

Usually... sure. But when you are a gourmand (borderline glutton), and you pack roughly 200 to 250g of Tuna and Salmon into your "appetizer", then you get away with having that as dinner and be satisfied. (Although I think I nashed something, later that evening.) 

Second Night:
She Crap Soup for Susan (one of the best we've tasted!) -

Hmm... then it's not an editorial comment but a typo?

[SonicMan46]

Usually... sure. But when you are a gourmand (borderline glutton), and you pack roughly 200 to 250g of Tuna and Salmon into your "appetizer", then you get away with having that as dinner and be satisfied. (Although I think I nashed something, later that evening.) 

Hmm... then it's not an editorial comment but a typo?

Sorry - typing too fast & thinking of the food, I guess - She Crab soup is certainly correct! 

[SonicMan46]

Well today (i.e. Jan 21) is Susan's birthday! Of course, I just took her to a 2-night stay @ the Umstead Hotel (as already discussed a few posts ago) w/ some fine meals; tonight we just had a 'snack dinner' - some 'real' cheeses (which we rarely eat @ our age) - just a special treat for us!  some 'smoked' fish - salmon & trout (the latter one of my favorites), along w/ crackers/breads & dill sauce & cream cheese - accompanied w/ a bottle of CA sparkling wine - Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir - just wonderful, light, & delicious! 

[toledobass]

nice work my man.....Happy Birthday to Susan.


Allan

[Anne]

Went to a baby shower Saturday and Cranberry Tea was served.  Everyone wanted the recipe and I am passing it on to you.  It was delicious!


Cranberry Tea

1 c. white sugar
2 c. water
3 sticks cinnamon

Boil the first 3 ingredients for 10 mins.

Then add the last 3 ingredients.

2 qts. cranberry juice   (I use the light and it turns out okay)
2 pts. pineapple juice
3 Tbsp. lemon juice (can also use lemon slices and float in the pot--and/or)

Can be made ahead of time and heated when ready to serve.  Makes 1 gallon.

[SonicMan46]

Went to a baby shower Saturday and Cranberry Tea was served.  Everyone wanted the recipe and I am passing it on to you.  It was delicious!....

Anne - sounds tasty, but I'd probably 'spike' that w/ a liquor, such as Grand Marnier -    Dave

P.S.  hope that you're healing well - 

[Anne]

Anne - sounds tasty, but I'd probably 'spike' that w/ a liquor, such as Grand Marnier -    Dave

P.S.  hope that you're healing well - 

You are the expert on the additives.  I will pass the suggestion to my sister.  Thanks!

The healing is progressing.  For some reason the injury hurts now where it had not before.  I am quite surprised how strong the pain is.  In any case, Dr. Chouinard told me today to begin exercises and cutting down on use of sling.  Instead of weekly appointments starting now they will become monthly appointments.  I did not know this before apparently Dr.C is quite renowned nationally and has published things; I don't know what.  Dr.C. specializes in shoulders; I was lucky with that too.  There are 12 doctors in that group - all orthopedic in some way or another.  Word has it that the local hospital would like to become the U of M hospital of the North.  Thanks for inquiring about my shoulder.

[SonicMan46]

The healing is progressing.  For some reason the injury hurts now where it had not before.  I am quite surprised how strong the pain is.  In any case, Dr. Chouinard told me today to begin exercises and cutting down on use of sling.  Instead of weekly appointments starting now they will become monthly appointments.  I did not know this before apparently Dr.C is quite renowned nationally and has published things; I don't know what.  Dr.C. specializes in shoulders; I was lucky with that too.  There are 12 doctors in that group - all orthopedic in some way or another.  Word has it that the local hospital would like to become the U of M hospital of the North.  Thanks for inquiring about my shoulder.

Anne - glad to hear that you're 'mending' - good luck, as always.  Yep, those orthopedists, esp. at academic centers, really get pretty specialized - the 'hand' surgeons will probably start to sub-subspecialize in individual fingers, not to mention toes for the 'foot' doctors! 

[bhodges]

Well today (i.e. Jan 21) is Susan's birthday!

Just saw this and did a double-take, since Jan. 21 is my sister's birthday, whose name is...Susan! 

--Bruce

[SonicMan46]

Just saw this and did a double-take, since Jan. 21 is my sister's birthday, whose name is...Susan! 

Hi Bruce - yep, coincidence!  BTW, my 'Susan' was born near NYC - at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, NJ - now I suspect you guys are younger than us, but I hope this is not another association!    Dave

[Jay F]

I was ten chips into a bag of Salsa flavored chips from Trader Joe's when I saw this thread. They taste baked (the worst idea in chips in my lifetime) and probably have no salt. Bleah. I'm not going to finish them.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mrs. Rock made chicken cacciatore this weekend. There were several cups of chicken stock left over so tonight I made Curry Mee (coconut curry chicken noodle soup). We've discovered mature sweet Riesling goes really well with spicy Asian food. We drank a 1999 Riesling Spätlese from Weingut Pfeffingen, one of the world's greatest white wine estates:




Sarge

[SonicMan46]

Last night, a 'new' experience for the both of us - Halibut Cheeks - now I love halibut, but have never sampled the cheek muscles (below some pics of their 'expected' location) - our son sent us a holiday gift certificate from Seabear, a company that we have used for years (overpriced but the products are superbly packed & delicious) - well, the order included halibut, smoked scallops, trio of smoked salmons, and HALIBUT CHEEKS!

Susan just pan fried the 'cheeks' w/ a little butter and light seasoning - served w/ a veggie; the meat is really white, firm, and flaky - texture similar to a crab or scallop and just great flavor - we have another package and will try a different recipe next time, but I believe that we've added a new seafood option to our dining! 

 

Sorry, but I hate to be redundant, but we had a couple of orders of Halibut Cheeks, described and shown above - last night, we tried our 'second' order - these are not cheap (unfortunately!), but just a delicious meat - almost like a mixture of fish/chicken breast/veal in terms of texture & taste; thus, just a wonderful possibility for recipes - I'm having Susan order some more and we're going to try them w/ different 'chicken breast' and 'veal' recipes - e.g. veal piccata is a fav of mine - maybe a choice; but bottom line we've found another 'meat' that may be adaptable to a wide range of cooking experiences - any comments?  Dave - 

[SonicMan46]

Sarge - that dish looks wonderful (and comment on the wine, I'm assuming superb!) - tonight, Susan made a 'chili bean' dish (no meat) - we're trying to get some more veggie dishes into our diet - a variety of beans & some HEAT - quite good - leftovers for another meal - may add some 'bison ground beef' as an option.

But, need to explore more of these Alsatian & German wines, like them 'dry' - BTW, have you tried some of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs w/ these more spicy dishes?  I find that if a wine selection is preferred (i.e. vs. beer) that this has been a great choice for these spicy oriental dishes - interested in your thoughts!  Dave 

[Sergeant Rock]

Sarge - that dish looks wonderful (and comment on the wine, I'm assuming superb!) - tonight, Susan made a 'chili bean' dish (no meat) - we're trying to get some more veggie dishes into our diet - a variety of beans & some HEAT - quite good - leftovers for another meal - may add some 'bison ground beef' as an option.

I need to eat more bean dishes. We love them when I make them...I just don't very often.

But, need to explore more of these Alsatian & German wines, like them 'dry'

As we've discussed before, finding good dry German wine in the States is difficult. Few are imported. Most is consumed in Germany or exported to Japan. The price of the best examples have really escalated too. We just received the new wine list from a favorite vintner (Reichsrat von Buhl, one of the Pfalz's Three Bs  ). His grosses Gewächs (Grand Cru) Riesling is going for €29 ($37) and €49 ($62) a bottle now    That's still cheaper than most Grand Cru Burgundy, and cheaper than many Alsation Grand Crus too, but it's out of our price range now....by the case anyway. Of course there are still many vintners with reasonable prices so we aren't likely to go thirsty 

- BTW, have you tried some of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs w/ these more spicy dishes?  I find that if a wine selection is preferred (i.e. vs. beer) that this has been a great choice for these spicy oriental dishes - interested in your thoughts!  Dave 

I haven't. We have had Sauvignon Blanc with sushi but with spicier, hotter southeast Asian dishes we usually have beer or a mature sweet German wine (even Auslese from the Mosel works well). The age cuts down on the sweetness and old Riesling sometimes takes on a coconut component to the taste that goes really well with Thai dishes.

If I can find a good NZ Sauvignon Blanc (always a problem here) I'll give it a try, maybe the next time we have Vietnamese spring rolls--not spicy by themselves but fiery when dipped into Mrs. Rock's special sauce 

Sarge

[Brian]

Just had some chicken mole, the celebrated Mexican recipe, to which I appended some cayenne pepper and cumin, along with mushrooms and onions. The sauce ended up rather too watery, but generally otherwise a success, I think.

[bluevelvet]

My roommate is making bulgogi, a Korean dish consisting of marinated beef. He's Korean and a chef....but I don't think he'll be sharing tonight. The girlfriend is over. :/