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What is/was for dinner?
- Thread starter Gutwrench
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Navarin of Lamb is a traditional French dish, considered a classic, and is relatively easy to prepare.
However, this is a dish that does require time, and some planning, the sort of dish that requires a "mise en place", in other words, all of the gathering of the ingredients, and prep done, before you start cooking.
This is a one pot dish, and the ingredients are lamb (I used several gigot chops, keeping the bone and fat, roughly cut into large pieces, rather than the suggested shoulder of lamb, as I dine alone mostly, and that is better for a large gathering, or family), carrots, onions, garlic, tomato puree/paste, stock, a little white wine, anchovies (they bestow a divine flavour when melted into the olive oil), cherry tomatoes, peas, parsley, thyme, freshly ground black pepper, a little sugar, and potatoes.
One starts by browning the lamb pieces in olive oil on both sides, - you are not cooking them, merely browning them sealing them - in a large pot or pan, one to which you have a lid (a Le Crueuset casserole, or, as was called into service by me - a large Le Mauviel pan).
Remove the lamb, and put it aside in a dish.
This is when I added the diced anchovies, and stirred them through which allowed them to melt into the olive oil - anchovies go very well with lamb, and add a terrific umami taste to the dish.
Next, the pan plays host to the mire poix, the diced vegetables, onions and carrots, which are added, and allowed to soften; garlic (six fine fat cloves of new season's garlic), joins them, and, when that lot are nice and soft and translucent, so do the cherry tomatoes, the lot seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, a little sea salt, and the sugar (if using; sugar will soften the acidity of whatever form of tomatoes are used; at this stage, some will use a tin of tomatoes, as I would probably do in winter, but I had lots of cherry tomatoes to hand and used them instead).
This is when the meat rejoins them in the pan, and the tomato paste/puree (one or two tablespoons) is added and stirred through. White wine (a small glass) to deglaze, and the stock is added, along with some seasoning, if needed.
Bring this to the boil, replace the lid, and allow to simmer for the best part of an hour. After an hour - or 45-50 minutes - check the dish, the liquid levels, (add a little more water if necessary) and check the meat for doneness (by the time it is ready, you will want the meat falling from the bone).
This is when you add the peeled, diced - into decent sized chunks - potatoes, and let them cook in the casserole, something that will take a further twenty to twenty five minutes.
When the potatoes are ready, add the peas - they are traditional with this dish, - I used a mug (Le Creuset, naturally) of frozen peas which had mostly defrosted by the time they joined the pan, and allow them to heat through and cook, four or five minutes.
The dish is now ready, and is garnished with a generous quantity of freshly chopped parsley.
Delicious, and - as is the case with many such casseroles - it is even better the following day.
I served it with a glass of red wine, although a fairly robust white would go equally well with it.
Had St.Louis smoked spare ribs, garlic broccoli and some Mac n cheese for dinner. Smoked nicely with Applewood to get a nice crust and finished off with some knobs of butter and Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning wrapped up in foil for a few hours low n slow. Whew boy were those ribs tasty 
even if it did hit 102F.
even if it did hit 102F.
Made some Rotisserie chicken fajita salad with some guac, salsa and crema - partly because it was fast (and always delicious) but mostly because I wanted to use up some salad greens I had from the weekend. That and my wife just got back from the doc so as is the standard routine, I am now vicariously now low-carbing it for the foreseeable future.
Oh and I taught my 5 year old the finer points of a fudge icecream and peanut butter sundae.
Oh and I taught my 5 year old the finer points of a fudge icecream and peanut butter sundae.
Not dinner (but could be!) but for breakfast I decided after an early morning of lawn mowing and trimming to make some egg McMuffin clones for my wife n I.
They hit the spot for a quick pick me up before hitting the upstairs for some remodel demo work.
Before lawn care I made some cinnamon buns but those got eaten mostly by the boys while ai was outside mowing lol and I forgot to take a picture of them. Oh Wells that’s what they were made for.
Sautéed (and then braised) new potatoes, sautéed with diced onions and bacon (I used guanciale) - a French recipe I came across, served with homemade aioli (minced garlic, organic, free range egg yolks, and olive oil), and a salad of new season's cherry tomatoes and cucumber, drizzled with olive and freshly chopped herbs (parsley and chives).
I made for the Mrs n myself chicken ricotta raviolis in a porcini arrabbiata with some sautéed sliced garlic sliced zucchini and red onions in rendered bacon. If I was on my game I’d have picked up some pancetta or guanciale but as I was busy with other things fell back on my American streaky bacon . Finished it with a splash of heavy cream & pecorino.
And it was delicious.
For those curious, the kids got cod nuggets, French fries, broccoli and apple slices.
. Finished it with a splash of heavy cream & pecorino.And it was delicious.
For those curious, the kids got cod nuggets, French fries, broccoli and apple slices.
Just had dinner: I small portion of Copper River salmon that I grilled on a cedar plank, with a green leafy salad, a few slices of red bell pepper, green salad sprinkled a few drops of home-made Italian dressing, a cup of organic air-popped popcorn, and a warm glass of organic unsweet. 100% cranberry juice mixed with water (95% water, 5% cranberry juice). Also had two small cubes of watermelon for sugar intake.
That sounds delicious.
Cranberry juice mixed with sparkling water is even better, to my mind. Perhaps - also - with a slice or two of lemon.
Last night I had a hot and Spicy chicken dinner, with mashed potatoes and corn.
A summer vegetable stew inspired both by French cuisine and some Greek recipes I had read, a sort of cross between a version of ratatouille and a further cross between Greek 'tourlou', and 'arakas latheros'.
With this dish, fidelity to culinary tradition wasn't the point; rather, simply preparing something seasonal, and tasty - with vegetables that I had to hand and that I know that I like - was what I had in mind.
The ingredients are summer classics (onions, garlic - six fine fat cloves, - tomatoes, carrot, aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini), plus, perhaps surprisingly, potatoes and finally, peas rather than green beans, all diced into fairly small pieces, of roughly the same size), sautéed, (in olive oil), seasoned, and then simmered lightly in a stock for around 45-50 minutes.
With this dish, fidelity to culinary tradition wasn't the point; rather, simply preparing something seasonal, and tasty - with vegetables that I had to hand and that I know that I like - was what I had in mind.
The ingredients are summer classics (onions, garlic - six fine fat cloves, - tomatoes, carrot, aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini), plus, perhaps surprisingly, potatoes and finally, peas rather than green beans, all diced into fairly small pieces, of roughly the same size), sautéed, (in olive oil), seasoned, and then simmered lightly in a stock for around 45-50 minutes.
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Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
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Threw together some chili Mac for mah n’ pah.
Threw together pinto bean and beef baked tacos for the kiddos But oldest and youngest finished with some chili Mac of their own.
Threw together pinto bean and beef baked tacos for the kiddos But oldest and youngest finished with some chili Mac of their own.
So things got a bit backed up with the kiddos in the house and an unexpected phonecall from my wifes big sister so I ended up grilling the sirloin flap meat. The beauty of this cut is that it naturally is larger on one end than the other, so when you take the large side just to medium rare, the other end typically finishes at Medium well and guess what. My preference is MR and my wifes preference is MW, so it just works out
Sliced this very thinly against the grain and on the bias and paired it with some cheesey calabacitas that my wife put together before "the call" lol. BUT we didnt end it there. We grilled on the cast iron plancha some yellow corn tortillas and built out some very fine tacos.
and it was delicious and I am full.
Sliced this very thinly against the grain and on the bias and paired it with some cheesey calabacitas that my wife put together before "the call" lol. BUT we didnt end it there. We grilled on the cast iron plancha some yellow corn tortillas and built out some very fine tacos.
and it was delicious and I am full.
Yes, sparkling water sounds like a good idea to me, so I will have to give it a try. I enjoy taking a few zips of "lemon water" throughout the day, but I have haven't added lemon to "cranberry/water." I also add a few drops of lemon to the ginger-root tea I brew at home.
Most mornings, I will make (prepare) a large glass of citrus juice - a blend of lemon, orange, and grapefruit - usually one of each, perhaps two oranges if I am amply supplied with oranges, or, if blood oranges are in season, or, I simply want an orange-grapefruit blend - that I squeeze myself.
However, some mornings, I will simply squeeze two lemons, and then add (top it up with) some sparkling water, and that is a delicious and refreshing morning beverage.
Recently, at night, I will have a (black) tea with several slices of lemon, also recommended, and the glass of sparkling water that rests adjacent to me during the day will usually play host to a few slices of lemon.
I do love mashed potatoes and corn yum.
Especially when one may have a generous hand with butter; both corn and mashed potatoes greatly benefit from the addition of butter, and not just in generous quantities, but in veritably industrial quantities.
Baked some pecorino and garlic focaccia
and made some mortadella/ham/black pepper capicola sandies for dinner. Had some Dijon vinaigrette tossed arugula, thin sliced tomatoes and some cucumbers in there along with a thin coating of remoulade.
Kids ate fish nuggets, green beans and fruit salad.
and made some mortadella/ham/black pepper capicola sandies for dinner. Had some Dijon vinaigrette tossed arugula, thin sliced tomatoes and some cucumbers in there along with a thin coating of remoulade.
Kids ate fish nuggets, green beans and fruit salad.
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You can never go wrong with mortadella, greens, tomato/cucumber salad (plus, perhaps Mozzarella) and some very good bread.
Mouth-watering.
Speaking of salad, I served this with a tossed frisée and arugula salad with many of the sandwich in ingredients repeating in the salad to eliminate left over veg.