C. sapidus

Beef curry with spinach. Beef chuck (sub for lamb) was cubed and marinated with pureed ginger, garlic, jalapenos, yogurt, and cumin. Fry black cardamon, cloves, and bay leaf, slowly sautee onions, and then add ground coriander and cumin. Simmer with the meat and marinade, crushed tomato, and tomato paste. When almost done, mix in pureed spinach and sprinkle with ground nutmeg. Tasted better than it looked - I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. Turmeric rice with black cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon stick, topped with scallions. Sliced and salted cukes.

Zucchini and shrimp with a yogurt and chipotle sauce. Separately seared and removed shrimp and cubed zucchini. Sauteed onions to deglaze the pan, then added cumin seed, garlic, fish sauce, and minced chipotle in adobo. Mixed in yogurt to tame the heat, and finished with Mexican oregano. Kind of a Mexican yogurt curry.

Papas chirrionas (potatoes with pasilla chile sauce). Toast pasilla chiles and blend with chipotle in adobo and crushed tomato (sub for tomate verde). Cube, boil, and fry potatoes, add sliced onion and garlic, and then add the blended sauce and cook down. Finish with Mexican oregano and feta cheese, and serve on corn tortillas. Send-off breakfast for elder son, who is on his way to the airport.

Elder son requested grilled five-spice chicken for his last dinner. Drumsticks were slashed and marinated with ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder, turmeric, soy sauce, oil, and toasted and ground star anise. Somewhat over-enthusiastically grilled over charcoal, but stayed nice and juicy after resting. Since I had the grill going, I quickly marinated zucchini with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, oil, salt, and black pepper

No, look what YOU made ME do . . . also jumbo lump. To be fair, elder son was visiting . . .

Hacked-up omelet with bay scallop, white onion, and long red chile. Plain for elder son, who is visiting. Topped with feta for me. Fried plantains, burned black like Mrs. C prefers. Tasted, as they say, better than it looked.

I suppose I should call this "zucchini-enhanced crab dip". Zucchini - cubed, salted, rested, seared, and removed. Sauteed chorizo, shallot, jalapeno and bird chiles. Mixed in the zucchini and leftover crab dip. Tasty, but still pretty heavy.

Heading back from Havre de Grace, MD, so I had to stop for crabcakes at Conrad's Crabs and Seafood Market. The fresh seafood looked amazing, wish I had brought a cooler. Crabcakes with mustardy tartar sauce. Good, but maybe I should have splurged for the jumbo over backfin. Crab dip - very rich, this would have been better for sharing

I am so glad that you are home and recovering well enough to cook up some delicious meals.

I was craving a spicy breakfast, so . . . breakfast tacos with chorizo, zucchini, and egg, plus white onion, garlic, jalapenos, bird chiles, Mexican oregano, and Thai basil. Finished with a little heavy cream and feta to somewhat tame the heat.

Soooo . . . I ordered a bunch of spices from Penzeys, including a big bag of the extra bold peppercorns. Received a notice that my credit card was declined (Penzeys must have had an old one on file). OK, no problem. Placed the order again, this time it went through. I never received a confirmation of either order so I sent Penzeys an email. Received a robo-reply with no useful information. Today, I received not one but two boxes from Penzeys. Yup, both orders went through. Never did receive an order confirmation. I now have a years-long supply of extra bold peppercorns, Sarawak white peppercorns, green cardamom, cassia, canela, . . . So you may be seeing a lot of Indian cooking from me.

More leftovers: pulled pork with homemade BBQ sauce and coleslaw on a potato roll. Baked beans. No complaints.

Leftovers for lunch: dum aloo (potato curry), collard greens, and beet salad (from a guest at the potluck)

Dum aloo (potatoes in spicy yogurt gravy): Peel, poke, and fry whole potatoes, remove. Brown fry onions, add minced ginger and ground cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, and garam masala. Return potatoes to the pan and simmer with crushed tomato and yogurt. When the potatoes are done, finish with heavy cream. Very rich and full of flavor. We made this for a potluck, and most disappeared. Even so, we have a fridge jam-packed with leftovers. No cooking for a few days, most likely.

Mrs. C did a fused glass crafternoon with friends, and they stayed for dinner. Clockwise from bottom center: BBQ pork butt, rubbed with 'magic dust', smoked overnight in the Weber bullet, and then finished in the oven with a glaze of the BBQ sauce. Served with potato rolls, for those who prefer a traditional pulled pork sandwich with BBQ sauce and coleslaw. One guest said she would "skip the roll so she could eat more." BBQ sauce made with ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, celery salt, 'Soul Sucker' hot sauce, and ginger. Coleslaw made with green cabbage, onion, yellow mustard, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and mayonnaise to taste. Chow chow, homemade by one of the guests Baked beans, made with canned navy, pinto, and black beans, BBQ sauce, chorizo, onion, red bell pepper, chile Poblano, hard cider, molasses, yellow mustard, cider vinegar, and burnt ends from the pork butt. Collard greens, made with smoked ham hocks, red bell pepper, chile Poblano, cider vinegar, molasses, black pepper, hot sauce, and celery seeds.