What's For Dinner #6 - Feb 2016. The Hunker Down Edition

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

Tonight’s dinner is based on a magazine recipe we’ve had for years titled the “Harman Loaf”.

It’s a “celebrity” recipe, although I hesitate to use the word. Harriet Harman is a member of the British Parliament and was ,until last year, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. I am not a fan of her, but I am a fan of this recipe.

You make a beef stew. We actually now just make our normal stew, rather than the recipe one. Meanwhile, you slice off the top of the loaf and hollow it out, leaving a wall about 1cm thick. Stew goes in the loaf, top goes back on and bakes for 20 minutes, so the bread heats through and goes crusty. Just needs something leafy to go with it.

[Salsailsa (Ailsa Konzelman)]

Yum! That sausage sounds amazing.

[Salsailsa (Ailsa Konzelman)]

It’s so frustrating when you watch people make poor decisions repeatedly. I agree, $60 on three dinners that you “cook at home” is a lot.

[bear]

@Harters

You make a beef stew. We actually now just make our normal stew, rather than the recipe one. Meanwhile, you slice off the top of the loaf and hollow it out, leaving a wall about 1cm thick. Stew goes in the loaf, top goes back on and bakes for 20 minutes, so the bread heats through and goes crusty. Just needs something leafy to go with it.

Harters, that sounds like the ultimate comfort food. Stew and bread, perfect for this frigid New England weather we’re having.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

bear

If you wish to make Ms Harman’s version for reasons of authenticity, then it’s a combo of beef, onion, bacon, mushrooms, carrots, Marmite, tomato puree and Guinness.

[bear]

@naf

Hi bear, you should link your lovely ravioli dish in the Cooking of the month - dumpling.

Thanks for the suggestion, naf. I did join the discussion.

[biondanonima]

@catholiver

An acquaintance of mine was talking about one of those companies where they deliver everything you need for a specific meal. $60 for 3 dinners. I thought was a ridiculous amount of money but expressed only mild dismay. That’s rare for me

Yes, these services make NO sense to me - for that price, you might as well eat out and save yourself the trouble of cooking and cleanup. Shopping for food and picking a recipe takes far less time/energy (for me, anyway) than cooking and cleaning. I have a couple of friends who have tried the services and they both complained that the portions are FAR too small for two adults - one friend said that she feeds herself (a small woman with a fairly small appetite) and one 8 year old, and that she usually still has to supplement with an extra vegetable side. I don’t understand the attraction.

[Frizzle]

Dinner in a tin.

I’ll be busy tonight finishing up the Calabrian pickle so the bloke’s on dinner duty.

I’ve got a tin of duck legs encased in duck fat. I’ll get him to crisp the skin up in the oven and make a lentil salad with some greens to go with them. We’ve got a couple of pomelos in the fruit bowl so segments might get added to the salad too. The only snag in the plan could be the utterly woeful state of my tin opener, there’s a whole lot of lid to open.

[WeezieD]

I ran across several “unstuffed” cabbage roll recipes on Paleo sites while looking for something to do with a cabbage (and no rice, starches, etc.) and it sounded good enough to turn the oven on (wish I could share the warm weather with those of you who need it.) Instead of the suggested spices and seasonings I opted for ras el hanout and it was a good move- it’s delicious!

[mariacarmen (maria ascarrunz)]

hey all, with a nudge from lingua, trying to not be lazy and post here more regularly. starting now.

marathon-ish day in the kitchen. pork shoulder i slow cooked yesterday for 7 hours (rubbed with fennel, brown sugar, granulated garlic & onion, chili powder, s&p, olive oil and a few squirts of sriracha) got pulled and sits in the fridge for tacos one night this week. froze half for another time.

made my first ever jambalaya, really nice and spicy. i used diced chicken and duck/bacon sausage. also for later this week, and froze half of that too.

had Italian in mind for the BF tonight, as he cooked Asian for me twice this week, and even ventured into the land of crustaceans! i wanted to do an antipasti platter, but i knew it would be too much food, so we had it for lunch instead. blackened a red bell, peeled and then marinated it in aranciata rossa vinegar, slivered garlic and olive oil. garlicky cannellini bean puree went over some toasted ciabatta, then topped with the red peppers. salumi was fennel, mortadella, and a prosciutto/salami combo. jarred marinated artichokes and some garlicky olives and castelvetranos, and slices of untoasted ciabatta finished us off. there was more of that bean puree
for dipping.

dinner was meatballs with a shit-ton of parm regg and then simmered (no browning) in Marcela Hazan’s onion/butter tomato sauce, with the previous addition of sauteed minced
carrots/celery. soooooo good, all of it. the bf’s homemade bread of yesterday sadly did not fare very well, but made it into the meatballs with milk. all that went over polenta - chicken stock, butter, parm regg, and a bit of milk made it very creamy. finally, topped with roasted cauli florets tossed in olive oil and then rolled around in parm regg. side salad of toms, more of those peppers and their marinade, garlic, and parsley.

nice to see you all! now if i can ever figure out how to read all these lovely posts and comments…

[Frizzle]

@mariacarmen - some great looking meals MC. Missed you and has been wondering what had happened post Portugal.

[Frizzle]

I found a back up tin opener and got the confit duck open only to burn it under the grill.

Despite the slight char it was surprisingly good for tinned fare and the bits of skin that crisped were sensational. If I try it again next time I’ll use tongs to hold it under the grill at different angles so more of the skin crisps.

[naf]

@Frizzle

a tin of duck legs encased in duck fat.

This will be my dinner in a few days when the fridge ran out of fresh meat. Very handy and yummy.

[naf]

@mariacarmen

pork shoulder i slow cooked yesterday for 7 hours (rubbed with fennel, brown sugar, granulated garlic & onion, chili powder, s&p, olive oil and a few squirts of sriracha) got pulled and sits in the fridge for tacos one night this week. froze half for another time.

Hi Maria,

Sounds delicious all your meals.

Do you have the recipe for this the pork? I’m trying to look for very slow cooking (during my absence when at work), 7 hours seem ideal!

[naf]

My meal last night, pan fried veal liver topped with a cider vinegar sauce and onion confit. Served with cucumber, red onion, spicy sesame leaves salad and potatoes sautéed.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

@Frizzle

I found a back up tin opener and got the confit duck open only to burn it under the grill.

Still looks pretty good to me, Friz.

My only experience of even vaguely similar was not good at all. That was tinned cassoulet we got from the Carrefour supermarket at Calais, on the last trip to France (another is planned for May, so will have to be more discerning - hopefully finding the duck legs)

[naf]

From my experience, the duck confit in tin found in supermarket, even the generic supermarket brand are usually acceptable, but not cassoulet or choucroute, those are prepared dishes, I preferred to buy them from artisans, and usually they are sold in glass jars, not tins, and not in supermarkets.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

@naf

usually they are sold in glass jars

Supermarkets in the Pas de Calais and across the border into Belgium often have quite good selections of stuff in glass jars. I’m quite fond of “potje vleesh” (or “pot jevleesh” as it’s called in the Pas de Calais)

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

Upcoming …macaroni cheese with courgettes & bacon.

A very longstanding meal at Harters Hall that originates from a Delia Smith recipe. It comes from St Delia’s 1985 book “One is Fun”.

[naf]

@Harters

My only experience of even vaguely similar was not good at all. That was tinned cassoulet we got from the Carrefour supermarket at Calais

For cassoulet, I find La Belle Chaurienne (tin) is eatable (talking more about the beans than the meat). And you can find them in most supermarket in France. The better one you need to go to a specialist store.