Year of OOTC Dinners in Review

To see where we have been I have put together summary of the mains, vegetarian mains and deserts for the last 23 dinners.

1. Comfort and Joy - roasted tomato soup, chicken pot pie, mac and cheese and apple crisp

2. Hale and Hearty - carrot and orange mild curry soup, beef stew with dumplings, vegetarian chili and lemon meringue pie

3. Savoury Favorites - leek and potato soup, chicken with sausage, prunes and apples, quiche Florentine, lemon pasta and date squares / ice cream with chocolate sauce

4. Rancho San Andres - tomato Tex-Mex soup (with hominy), chicken with mole, chili-glazed sweet potato, Mexican red-rice, chili and cheese on rice, jicama and tangerine salad, pineapple upside-down cake / flan

5. Rosedale Dinner 1 - vegetable soup, shepherd's pie, mac and cheese and brownies with chocolate sauce

6. Saints and Scholars - celery and apple soup, brisket with caramelized shallots, champ, red cabbage and apples, pumpkin, spinach, walnut, basil and ricottta lasagna and prume torte & ice cream

7. Danforth Nights - white bean soup, souvlaki and tzatziki, roast potato and lemon rice, green beans with garlic sauce, spinach frittata, Greek salad and rice pudding

8. Christmas Dinner - roast turkey, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce with sausage and apple stuffing, chocolate pots de crème with whipped cream, berry-cream cheese squares, chocolate peanut butter bars and cherry surprise cookies

9. New Year's Eve Dinner - roasted tomato and red pepper soup, roast ham with raisin sauce, pommes Anna, mac and cheese, banana splits

10. Sausage and Mash at No 10 - roasted tomato and red pepper soup, sausage and mash, spanakopita, lemon pound cake with lemon butter icing and butterscotch swirl

11. Lasagne Night - Moroccan pumpkin soup, lasagna, penne al forno and apple crisp

12. Little India - roasted tomato soup, mughlai chicken with almonds and sultanas, aloo gobi, gujerati green beans, channa masala, cucumber wedges and carrot cake

13. Southern Warmth - Moroccan pumpkin soup, breaded chicken, baked potatoes, spinach quiche, mango crisp and berry jam white chocolate bars

14. Rosedale Dinner 2 - cream of vegetable soup, beef stew served over rice, strawberry shortcake with whipped cream and sprinkles

15. St Valentines Day - cream of celery soup, beef and pork lasagna, spinach, pumpkin, basil, walnut and ricotta lasagna, bread pudding

16. Potluck - onion and potato soup, potluck, spanokopita, walnut pie, lemon meringue pie

17. Dinner 17 - carrot, ginger and orange soup, shepherd's pie, savoury rice and cheese burritos, chocolate cake with blackberries and ice cream, white cake with coconut frosting

18. There is a Chicken in the Kitchen (Again !!) - celery soup, chicken parmesan Italienne, vegetarian chili, buttered rice with dill, corn niblets, pineapple upside-down cake with papaya and ice cream

19. International Women's Day - potato and onion soup, brisket in sauce, deep dish vegetable pie, fancy salad with jicama, orange and mango segments with cranberry vinaigrette

20. St Patrick's Day - celery and apple soup, chicken pot pie, kreatopita David, macaroni and cheese, tomato salad with herbed cottage cheese, mud pie

21. Easter Dinner - minted sweet pea and spinach soup, oven roasted, glazed ham on the bone, cheese quesadilla, salad with assorted tropical fruit and red currant garnish, chocolate pudding cake avec crème Chantilly et Oeufs de Pâques

22. Newfoundland and Labrador Anniversary - vegetable soup, Farmer's sausage, macaroni and cheese with ham, potato pie, coleslaw on bed of lettuce, Omaha bread pudding with whipped cream and caramel sauce

23. The Penultimate - tomato and rice soup, beef stew with mashed potato, salad with tropical fruit and honey-cranberry vinaigrette vegetarian chili, chocolate chip, nut and raisin bar with oreo crust and chocolate frosting

Potato Pie

See this link:

http://www.bellypleasers.com/potato_pie.html

Chicken Pot Pie (OOTC Recipe - Version 2)

75 lbs Chicken
10 onions, minced
3 heads celery, minced
3 heads celery, diced
4-5 carrots, per pan
½ cups fat for each large pan
1 ½ cups flour for each large pan
6-8 litres liquid, either milk or chicken/vegetable stock
2 to 4 large cans mushrooms
Pastry to cover

Rinse the chicken pieces quickly under cold water and fill 3 to 4 of the deep pans half full of chicken. Cover with cold water and put in the convection ovens to poach for about an hour at 350 0F – 400 0F. No need to cover.

Then lift chicken pieces onto those big shallow baking trays to cool. As soon as it can be handled, start cleaning any gristle or fat or bone off it. Cut or pull into nice large-ish pieces (large dice).

Put the chicken water into a big pot.

While chicken is cooking, sweat about 10 minced onions and 3 heads of minced celery in the big round pans to make a mirepoix – until soft and golden; distribute into the large roasting pans.

Someone should be peeling celery and carrots - say 3 heads of celery and 4-5 carrots per pan – cutting into small pieces and blanching them in a big pot half full of water till just done. Save the blanching water for the gravy.

Make gravy: you can use any chicken fat and butter to make a gravy starting with equal chicken fat/butter to flour; cook together till it looks like cottage cheese. It will take about 1 ½ cups of fat + 1 ½ cups flour – maybe more – for each large pan + about 6-8 litres liquid. You can use some milk too, and the chicken/vegetable water stock (You can also use the chicken gravy in the pantry). Season to taste.

You can add 2 to 4 large cans of mushrooms to this too; just drain and rinse them. If there are any bags of frozen pea around I suppose you could throw a cup or two in each pan. Distribute the vegetables and chicken in the pans; add enough gravy to make the mix nice and cover with saran. (Not tinfoil). Next day - cover with pastry and bake for about 20 minutes to cook the pastry and heat the pans.

Kreatopita - Version 1

http://www.krinos.com/ind_recipe.php?RId=38

Items to Use

As we approach the end of season for the OOTC Monday night dinners, we should make use of the following as soon as possible:

- Apples ~ 2/3 bushel (pantry)
- Rice - frozen in tubs (kitchen freezer)
- Monterey Jack cheese - 12 lbs (pantry fridge)
- Marscapone cheese - 10 lb tub, check date (pantry fridge)
- Orange segments - 20 lbs tub
- Mozarella cheese - 5 lbs unopened - check date (pantry frdige)
- Sausages - cooked and frozen - about 30 lbs (upstairs freezer)
- Scalloped potato mix ~ many boxes (pantry)
- Melonette squash - 2 large bags (upstairs freezer)
- Sauces ~ gravy and dessert sauces in tubs (all 3 freezers)
- Leftovers, not packaged (kitchen freezer)

Perhaps if someone could do a thorough check of pantry items, we can add to this list. And when cooking, lets all check the freezers before ordering / opening. Can we use these items in the last few dinners?

Red Wine Substitute (for braising)

Red Wine Substitute

Equal measure:

red grape juice
cranberry juice
apple cider
chicken broth
clam juice
flavored vinegar (or nonalcoholic wine (add a tablespoon of vinegar to cut the sweetness)).

We used this for the red cabbage with success.