Rainy Day Dinner

Gotta love it when you can just show up and watch someone else cook the whole meal. Once in a while I let go of kitchen control and let it all happen without me.
Porkchops with a homemade sauce and cornbread were on the menu and were fantastic. Eric will correct me if I'm wrong but they were spice rubbed and pan fried and retained a good deal of moistness. The sauce was also excellent, not too vinegary and with a good pepper kick which paired well with the '02 Meritage from Jefferson. (How very within the theme). Watermelon for dessert completed the southern comfort meal.
Alas no picture today since we re all hungry and just dug in while indulging Lisa in her Hills obsession.

Just like at the Leaky Cauldron

In honor of the release of the 7th Harry Potter book we did a variation of the british Fish and Chips classic. Since we like to go a little overboard we tried two cooking methods. Lisa procured fresh flounder filets from Wegmans and they were both pan fried and baked in the breading. The good amount of cornmeal in with the breadcrumbs in the coating added a little extra crunch. Red potatoes were simply roasted in some olive oil and kosher salt and came out with a nice crunchy side which was amusing to pry off the foil. Blanched green beans and cherry tomatoes add a little color and soak up the grease in the dish. A MND first, Rock Bottom Raccoon Red beer accompanied our magical feast instead of the usual wine and worked rather well.

The final verdict went to the fried version as it was both faster to make and resulted in a moister fish.

Salade Nicoise

E had a great idea for a hot muggy summer meal: a full meal salad! This was a great combination of butter leaf lettuce, hardboiled eggs, delectable seared tuna, tomatoes, green beans, boiled poatatoes and herb dressing. The potatoes were definitely one of the stars, infused with the touch of dry vermouth and vinaigrette while they were still warm

created a great combination of sweet and tart with the herbs taking the last note of the bite.
For dessert, E painstakingly whipped up a chocolate mousse to die for (and I'm not even a chocolate fan).

E can you update with the wines we paired with this?

Roast Pork and Ratatouille

Technically this was a Saturday night dinner (mon Dieu, how gauche!), but I wanted a chance to try posting pictures. This drool-worthy specimen includes a roast pork loin stuffed with French bread croutons, roasted garlic, and dried apricots, a cauliflower and endive gratin, and baby romaine salad with H's famous soy sauce/balsamic vinegar dressing. The other L joined us for dinner and a movie. C'etait magnifique!

Longtime eater, first time poster - just testing this out, since I've never done it before!

This is backdated but I didn't want to waste a picture

The only MN dinner hosted at my place featured a fantastic dessert concoction by L. Back on our Virginia wine tasting/picking up adventure, we were privy to a winery regula describing his cookie creations, we were so intrigued by the idea, that we had to try it out at the first opportunity.

So, sugar cookie cups made in mini muffin tins, topped with a grilled peach. Very pretty, very tasty, paired nicely with a vanilla icecream and some raspberries. More variations to come as L perfects the cookie shell concept