I am making one of my most, most, most favorite dishes tonight.

[Shakespeare]

Am I the only one who gets excited just anticipating what I'm going to be cooking (when it's something I especially love)?

I love chiles rellenos. Really, really love them. I think they're one of the most perfect dishes on earth--mild but flavorful peppers wrapped around cheese, and swaddled in a super-light egg batter...yum yum yum yum yum.

My poblanos finally decided to ripen, so tonight we're having pollo asado that's been wrapped up for two days in a great chili/citrus marinade(DH has grill duty), chiles rellenos and frijoles refritos. I roasted and peeled/seeded the peppers last night to get that task out of the way, and they're sitting in a ziploc in the fridge waiting for me to get home and stuff them with jack cheese. I've been positively giddy all day just thinking about it!

And later this week, I'm making a super-comfort-food, super-hearty beef and barley soup with cheddar/garlic biscuits (the clone recipes from Red Lobster) to go with, and I'm looking forward to making that, too.

What dishes do you look forward to preparing?

[NMDemDist2]

1. I felt like crap today, but my dinner made me feel much better

I had a London Broil marinating in the fridge since it came out of the freezer Saturday,

grilled it up (perfectly too, red in the middle and crusty on the outside) and served it with Horseradish sauce, Cottage Cheese, sliced tomatoes, avocado, corn on the cob and the last of this weekend's home made bread

I didn't look forward to it, but it was wonderful! simple and on the table in 30 minutes.

I love Chili Rellanos though, they sound great!!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. Ohhhh,

my little buddy isn't feeling well?

That just sucks.

<sobbing again>

Until you're feeling better, I'm going to do the Chicken Dance, just to entertain you:

[NMDemDist2]

7. yup

that's a chicken dancing

:yoiks:

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I can't honestly say I have any one 'favorite' dish, but there are many ..

.... I look forward to as I prepare them. In no particular order:

Beef barley soup
Home made egg macaroni with an olive oil based condimenti
Home made pizza
New England Clam Chowdah
Crab Cakes (Chesapeake style)
Marinated eel (a truly marvelous old Italian tradition)
Veal Marsala
Nathan's Kosher hot dogs done on a griddle, not a grill
Sooooooo much more ........

[Shakespeare]

5. I don't have just one, either....

Somebody in the lounge just posted about making chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes, and that immediately went on the menu list for next week.

My favorites fall somewhere between "found" items (hey! I forgot how much I love to make <insert dish name here>!) and comfort food (see, chicken fried steak).:9

A couple of weeks ago, my favorite dish was a romaine and cold roast beef salad with blue cheese dressing. Yum.

Chicken marsala is also on the menu this week, and hubby has made me promise to make him veal piccata soon.

Food is art, food is love. ;-)

[Stinky The Clown]

6. "...... food is love."

Ain't dat the truff!

And at my age, there are days when it's better than sex, too!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. Sour and hot soup

On a cold day, when I fix this, all else is forgotten. Everything in the world is fine, because of this soup. It is absolutely that good.

Hurry, winter. . . . . . . . . . . .

[ernstbass]

8. I'm on a Thai extravaganza currently

I have a stack of recipes to go through. Results have been delicious thus far. Looking forward to my favorite Mediterrranean beef stew as the weather gets cool - it's loaded w/ cumin and olives. If I'm in the mood to cook, I love to prepare anything.

[wryter2000]

9. Chiles rellenos

I'd love to have the recipe for your batter. I don't like the one I tried.

One of my favorite things is to have a serving of pesto thawed out on the counter when I get home. Cook some thin spaghetti. Grate some Costco Parmegiano reggiano and open a bottle of red wine.

[Shakespeare]

12. Here's how I make them.

This recipe came about after tweaking/experimenting with a couple of recipes I found. This should give you a nice fluffy, eggy batter (which I assume is what you're looking for).

4 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking powder
flour

4-6 pasilla chiles (any mild chile will do, but I think pasillas are the best--the right size, and a great mild flavor)

4 (or so) cups grated monterey jack cheese

oil for frying (canola or sunflower work great)

Roast peppers, either under a broiler or on a burner top until skin is evenly blistered. Close peppers into a paper bag and allow them to "sweat" and cool, then peel and seed them (I usually do this the night before). Carefully stuff grated cheese into the cavity--you should have a slit along the side where you de-seeded them--and gently press the pepper around the cheese, closing everything up and compressing the cheese a bit. Pat the outside of the peppers dry with a paper towel, coat them in flour (this helps the batter stick to them later), then put them uncovered on a plate in the fridge while you work on the batter (re-chilling them seems to help keep the slit in the pepper from opening during frying, and keeps the cheese on the inside where it belongs).

Have your oil heated to the correct temperature before you start the batter (around 365 degrees). This is the most important tip I can give you: do NOT mix up your batter until you've got everything else ready (the oil heated, the peppers stuffed and coated with flour), otherwise the whites may begin to break down. Whisk the yolks, salt and baking powder together; set aside. Whip the egg whites to soft-peak stage. Carefully fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites, then dip the peppers into the batter, coating completely, and put them immediately into the oil to fry. When peppers are a light golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

I like to top mine with a warm ranchera sauce and grated cheese. The sauce I do is a quickie--heat a cup of diced canned tomatoes (or fresh ones that have been peeled and seeded) and a half cup of salsa. Use an immersion (stick) blender to do a rough puree on the sauce. Voila.

[anitar1]

10. To me, this is exciting, as Chili Rellanos are my favorite

also. there is just nothing like the taste. Granted , they are a lot of work but so worth it.My #1 favorite food is Mexican with Italian a close second. I love growing peppers, although I did not this year. Fortunate ly, there are a lot of farms around here, where one can buy produce.

[MrsMatt]

11. Summer linguine

The original recipe was found on the back of a Creamette's pasta box about 20 years ago - we've since refined it to our tastes.

Fresh mozzarella, fresh chopped tomatoes, fresh basil & garlic in olive oil tossed with hot pasta.

Broiled lamb chops and spaetzle.