January 29, 2008 - Jef's Thai Flavor Explosion

Last night I made Coconut Red Curry Pork with Snow Peas and Mango in a stir fry. I like adding fruit to a spicy meal. It gives the meal a little extra boom BOOM! Jackie helped me out and made Mystery Rice. We think it was probably Jasmine, though we weren't sure since it's container was unmarked. Jackie did a good job though, that rice was the perfect moistness and none too crunchy. Pat served 2 bottles of Pinot Noir. He was told the flavor from the first "will punch you in the face" and so it did, with a distinct stawberry and cherry flavor. The second was from France, had a subtle cherry taste and was my favorite of the two.

Highlights from my first dinner night:
1) Getting Steve to pickup rice with his chopsticks
2) Speaking entirely in common French terms for a good 5 minutes
C) Playing "What do the 'chinese' characters on Pat's bowls look like?"
Some examples include:

- Sasquatch with Christmas Tree on Head

- Man Crossing the Finishline in a Wheelchair Race

- Midair Fish Collision over Pirate Ship

Here is the recipe I used for the meal.

Below is a musical rendition of highlight #2

January 22, 2008 - Steve's Mexican Ta-Ta's

Here is what I made tonight. It pretty much owned everything ever considered delicious by mankind, and also the French. I was inspired by Mexico and also Mexicans. The Jef, aka 1 F Jef brought over some Mexican Cervezas and a brown ale that paired well with the food ( At least, that is what the beer guy at State Line Liquors told Jef. )

Almond cheese salsa (more like a dip than a salsa, more like awesome than dip.)
Chicken for a King (consider the chef)
Mexican Rice (with tomatoes and cumin)
Chipotle Mashed potatoes (Pat was lucky and found the whole chipotle. This means he spends an hour on the toilet tomorrow morning.)

Overall, this meal is pretty easy to make. If everything is chopped and prepped ahead of time, it is really no big deal. There was no spinach in this dish, so I'm sure Jackie didn't like it.

Chil Cook-off

Here is Pat's winning recipe from the chili cook-off. While they were both delicious, I preferred Steve's due to the fact that it was beanless. The bread from Serpe's added the perfect compliment to the spicy chili. Who doesn't love Serpe's?

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chili-con-Carne-II/Detail.aspx

January 17, 2008 - Jackie's Asian Beef

Dinner Menu:

Skewered beef in a ginger marinade

Beef loin in a garlic chile marinade

Spicy green beens

Rice

Thoughts:

Jackie was a little concerned about the meal, but overall it went very well. Steve enjoyed the ginger marinade quite a bit as did the other diners. The green beens were very spicy and delicious. 4 bottles of wine and a game of cranium accompanied the meal.

Recipes:

Skewered beef in a ginger marinade:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_15736,00.html

Beef loin in a garlic chile marinade:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_26964,00.html

Spicy green beans:

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/ss/chinesebeans.htm

Orzo and rice:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Orzo-and-Rice/Detail.aspx

January 8, 2008 - Pat's Fish

Dinner Menu:

Spinach and roasted beet salad with ginger vinaigrette

Glazed fingerling potatoes and baby vegetables

Whole fish baked in sea salt

Thoughts:

For the first dinner I thought that it went well. The roasted beets were very good along with the potatoes. The turnips cooked along with the potatoes were nice and went over well. The fish needed a little more time to cook as the inside was not quite done, but for those who like sushi it still tasted good.

Recipes:

Spinach and roasted beet salad with ginger vinaigrette http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103247

Glazed fingerling potatoes and baby vegetables
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/1222190

Whole fish baked in sea salt
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241114