jygach wrote:Is it too late to join the group? If not, I would like to attend dinner and bring food to share.

Thanks.

Jyoti

Jyoti, you're on the list. We capped this at 12 people, so we still have room for others.

I'm hoping that I can make it in April. So far, the dates of the first two exchanges haven't worked with my calendar.

in for dinner and will make "spiced beef corn bread cobbler"

Event is now closed, with current participants locked in.

David Hammond wrote:Event is now closed, with current participants locked in.

Sorry to hear that. I planned on bringing butter poached lobster tail over seared fois gras topped with 24 karat gold sprinkles. Oh well, maybe next month. Actually, this does sound like something I should participate in. I'll shoot for next time, schedule permitting.

Unless I read the list incorrectly, it looks like ymas has been counted twice. So, according to my calculations there would be room for Steve's lobster extravaganza

Jyoti

stevez wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Event is now closed, with current participants locked in.

Sorry to hear that. I planned on bringing butter poached lobster tail over seared fois gras topped with 24 karat gold sprinkles. Oh well, maybe next month. Actually, this does sound like something I should participate in. I'll shoot for next time, schedule permitting.

Just don't try peanut butter poached lobster. We want to survive this winter.

My dish will be töltött káposzta (aka Mama B's stuffed cabbage).

The list looks fantastic this time. Looking forward to the bounty.

I am bringing:
Slow-Roasted Pork with Fennel, Tomatoes, and Olives

Jyoti

Hi all - foodie1 has most graciously agreed to deliver my dish and pick up my shares which I'll get from her later on Monday. Directions for the lentils are just heat and eat. For some reason, they're a bit more cardamom heavy than I remember so if you don't like cardamom, you might not like them so much. There's also some heat, but pretty moderate, depending on your standards for hotness. The date I wrote on the label is the date by which you should eat or freeze it.

So, even though I multiplied the lentil recipe by 5 which was supposed to give me 20 servings (!), I thought the portions came out a bit skimpy. Not wanting to be stingy with my contributions, but with no time to shop or cook much today, I improvised an extra something with what I had in the house. I've included a small roll of slice and bake cookies - simple organge-scented. You should get about 8 or so cookies which you can enjoy as a small sweet treat any time. Here's what you need to know about them:

The dough can be kept wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month. If you freeze the log, defrost it in the fridge for easier slicing.

To bake, slice log into 1/3" rounds. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet 1/2" apart. If you don't have parchment, I'm assuming you can put them on a lightly greased sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes until they are set but not browned. Cool on cooling rack.

The caveat is that this is the first time I've made this recipe. So they could be great, or they might suck or be just OK. Let me know how they turn out. So sorry I will miss you all but I have to teach some U of C students about sex (insert jokes about sex lives of U of C students here...). Have an extra slice of pizza for me.

I would think we'd want to eat the lentils with some sort of grain to make a meal anyway, rice or whatnot, so I wouldn't worry too much about it being skimpy (unless you mean REALLY skimpy but thanks so much for the cookies!

Just a reminder - if you got one of my containers, with the bright white labels that say "label once" in teeny tiny black print: use a white plastic eraser to remove the writing. Use a sharpie to write on them, if desired. They are designed to stay on through washing, heating, freezing, etc.

Hi all - So sorry I missed the dinner and good company last night and many thanks again to foodie1 for delivery and pick up for me. Opening my bag when I got home was like a food-lover's Christmas! I have to say, I love opening my freezer and seeing such a terrific assortment of meals for the next few weeks. One question - the tortilla chips - I'm assuming they go with the pozole? Or was it another dish? And do I just eat them along side, crumble them in? Anything else I need to know about them?

Hi,

The tortilla chips accompany Leek's chicken chili, though you are free to improvise!

I agree on the Christmas aspect, because you are going home to try stuff you might not otherwise make yourself.

FYI - there was discussion given the volume of food everyone has to make, that ten rather than twelve would make a better cut-off.

GAF will host in March. I offered to host in April.

Thanks again for initiating this great idea!

Regards,

I had GAF's tagine for breakfast this morning, and it was exceptional. The meat was perfect: pink at the center, moist, and full of flavor. Glad GAF made the effort to get the right kind of lemons; they added a lot.

Cathy2 wrote:The tortilla chips accompany Leek's chicken chili, though you are free to improvise!

Turkey chili, but yes. Just to have with. I was a bit concerned maybe my portion was small

I'm eating the stuffed cabbage now. Very good, though not quite like my mom's - hers was more sweet and sour.

Anyway, this is a huge portion! I probably won't be able to finish it all in one go.

Last night was a lot of fun. Taking home a bag of goodies was very exciting - though, clearly, we appeared to be in need of procedural guidance as to how to take one of each dish. It was funny watching us pack, unpack, count, recount. I'm sure practice will improve our skills

Jyoti

Ate Jyoti's slow-roasted pork dish for lunch yesterday. A home run!

The olives and fennel created a very interesting flavor combination. It was well-seasoned, and the meat was perfectly cooked. Yum. (Recipe please.)

RAB wrote:Ate Jyoti's slow-roasted pork dish for lunch yesterday. A home run!

The olives and fennel created a very interesting flavor combination. It was well-seasoned, and the meat was perfectly cooked. Yum. (Recipe please.)

So glad you liked it. Here is the recipe adapted from the one in Maria Helm Simensky's recipe in The Vineyard Kitchen.

Slow-Roasted Pork with Fennel, Tomatoes, and Olives
1 tablespoon fennel seeds - toasted
2 medium yellow onions - sliced into 1/4 -inch slices
2 large fennel bulbs - sliced into 1/4-inch slices
5 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
salt/pepper
5-8 tablespoons olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cups pitted mixed olives
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
a little crushed red pepper

-Heat oven to 325 F.
-Season meat. Heat a large braising pan. Add 3 tb. oil. Sear pork in batches in single layers. When done, drain fat from pan.
-Add 2 tb. oil to pan. Add onions, garlic, fennel. Saute until wilted - about 15 minutes. Add white wine and reduce by half. Add tomatoes, olives, bay leaves and fennel seeds. Add meat back to pan and place, uncovered, in the oven.
-Roast 2-3 hours.

Serves 8