C. sapidus

Dinner from Madhur Jaffrey's 'Quick and Easy Indian Cooking' Chicken in a cilantro, spinach, and mustard sauce (hare masala vala murgh): Fry bay leaves, green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and dried red chile. Sear skinless chicken thighs and simmer with yogurt, yellow raisins, cayenne, s&p. Blend jalapeno, ginger, cilantro, and spinach, mix with grainy mustard, and simmer with the chicken until done. Good stuff. Indian mashed potatoes (mash aloo): boiled red potatoes mashed with half-and-half, butter, minced jalapeno, garam masala, s&p, lemon juice.

Me neither. I try to wear a shirt that matches the color of the sauce. 😉

I had to look that up. No, I think a reach-in pig would require torch work. Different set of skills and equipment entirely. Plus a much higher risk of burning down our garage . . .

Mrs. C has taken a hard dive into the world of fused glass since retirement. She has been working with glass for decades - stained glass, mosaics, etc. Most of her creations have nothing to do with eGullet, although she has been making lovely plates for her siblings and in-laws. Eventually we might even get a set. 😉 Anyway, I was the beneficiary of this lovely salt box. I like the idea of having salt on the counter, ready whenever something on the stove needs a pinch.

Pakistani meal tonight, from 'Curry Cuisine'. I have been looking for a good Pakistani cookbook and forgot that this one has a few recipes. Palak gosht (spinach and lamb curry): Sautee onions until browned. Add garlic and ginger paste, crushed tomato, cayenne, cumin seed, and turmeric, then saute until the oil separates. Add stewing lamb and water and braise until the lamb is almost tender. Add spinach and braised until tender, then remove the lid to reduce. Top with minced jalapeno and ginger. Would make again. Basmati rice: I did this "properly" - rinse the rice, soak 30 min (2:1 water:rice), and then drain, reserving the soaking water. Fry black cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and cumin seeds in ghee, add the reserved water, bring to a boil, add the rice, simmer uncovered until the top is rife with steamy air holes, and then cover and finish over very low heat. Podina (mint) raita: Greek yogurt with minced mint leaves and jalapeno. House guest prefers not-too-chile-hot so this came in handy.

Welcome @wishtoBakeforall0513! Other than wishing to bake for all, we would love to hear about what you like to cook (and bake, of course).

Catfish sandwich with thinly-sliced jalapenos and what was supposed to be dill remoulade. The catfish was rubbed with a mix of Pickapeppa sauce and a mango-habanero salsa, dredged in flour, beer battered, and then shallow fried. Don't recall using beer batter before, but the fish was tender and the batter crisp (if a bit dark). I bought dill for the remoulade but for some reason used dill pickles instead. So, tartar sauce. Warm red cabbage slaw with bacon and drippings, mustard, celery seed, black pepper, balsamic vinegar, and sugar to balance. Would make again.

Pork ribs rubbed with "magic dust" and baked in the oven. Coleslaw with onion, yellow mustard, rice vinegar, a little sugar, and mayo to balance. Canned beans gussied up with mustard, smoked paprika, ancho powder, and sauteed onion, garlic, and bird chiles.

Blue crabs are not unique to Maryland but I have never had good steamed blue crabs or crab cakes outside Maryland, Delaware, or coastal Northern Virginia. Steamed with Old Bay, piled on brown paper-covered tables, wooden hammers to crack the claws, a bowl of Maryland crab soup (clear, red), and a bucket for the shells, gills (“devil’s fingers”), and whatnot. The mindset is that picking crabs is an excuse to spend time with people whose company you enjoy. Oh, and drink beer. For the brave, slurping the crab “mustard” (you don’t want to know) is a special treat. “Pit beef” is a Baltimore thing. Beef, usually top round, cooked rare or medium rare over charcoal, sliced thinly, and served on a kaiser roll with sliced raw onion and “Tiger sauce” (1 part horseradish and 2 parts mayonnaise). Probably my least favorite form of BBQ but pretty tasty. “Half-smokes” are a DC thing, traditionally half beef and half pork sausages with a closely-guarded mix of spices. Another thing the DC area is known for is Ethiopian food. I expect that this can also be found in Ethiopia 😉 but the DC area has one of the largest expatriate Ethiopian communities and the food is uh-may-zing. Best enjoyed with tej, an Ethiopian honey wine.

I am a fairly adventurous eater, and not everything has been a favorite. A Russian grandma once loaded my plate with cold slabs of lard doused with her homemade hot sauce. Cold lard was not great, but the hot sauce was flavorful and I cleaned my plate. The only two things that I consistently do not like are honeydew and cantaloupe. Most folks seem to love them, and I try them every few years just to confirm, but there is a sickly-sweet taste that puts me off.

I never liked mac and cheese until we went to a friend's wedding in South Carolina. Host family prepared all of the food, and the mac and cheese was a revelation. Great BBQ also. I was the wedding photographer, for better or worse. This was my favorite picture from the reception.

Green eggs and roasted Poblano chiles. Sauce was onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, and spinach, cooked down and pureed with coconut milk. Solids were scrambled eggs and roasted/cubed chile Poblano. Not everyone finds this color . . . appealing . . . but for me, it means flavors that I love. Also, we have way less stuff in the fridge.

Clean-out-the-fridge fried rice, with chorizo, ginger, shallots, jalapeno, roasted chile Poblano, fermented black beans, garlic, shrimp, cilantro, and soy sauce.

"Five-flavored" shrimp with toasted sesame seeds (gkoong hab roet). The five flavors are hot (roasted dry chiles), sour (tamarind, rice vinegar), salty (fish sauce), sweet (sugar), and bitter (fried garlic and shallots). A whole head of garlic sacrificed its life for this meal. Jasmine rice to go with. Mrs. C air-fried carrots with chipotle and whatnot. Nice texture and flavor. This was a wing-it meal on a snowy day. I always have shrimp in the freezer, and we get carrots for the dogs.

Thank you so much for taking us along on a spectacular trip, @KennethT! You have inspired me to cook some food that I love. Your last meal looked scrumptious. I would have had a hard time not ordering rendang. 😃