C. sapidus

Gouda omelette, leftover BBQ beans, and rye toast

Nothing fancy for July 4th. Mrs. C pan-fried Alaskan rockfish and made a Tartar-like sauce. I gussied up stovetop beans with chorizo, onion, garlic, mustard, BBQ sauce, etc. Bourbon barrel pickles to go with.

Keema matar, made with ground lamb, onion, garlic, and chiles, tomato and yogurt, and spiced with cumin, coriander, cayenne, and garam masala, finished with lemon juice and peas. Would have added cilantro if we had any. Basmati rice, with cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, bay leaf, garlic, and chicken stock, topped with onion greens.

Seared bay scallops with roasted chile Poblano rajas, onion, chile Serrano, and garlic, finished with heavy cream and cilantro.

Seared scallops with mushrooms and mashed sweet potato: Mash boiled sweet potatoes with butter and heavy cream. Sear mushrooms in ghee with a sprig of rosemary and remove. Sear scallops in butter with rosemary and remove. Deglaze the wok with Shaoxing wine, add heavy cream, and reduce. Season with S&P. This was the "last meal" for our house guest. She had the choice of this or keema. I think she chose well (even though I love keema).

Crab quiche, made with jumbo lump crab meat, bourbon smoked gouda, soft feta cheese, and heavy cream. Mrs. C air-fried baby okra to go with (not pictured).

Guests for dinner so Mrs. C picked up jumbo lump crab. Clockwise from bottom right: Tartar sauce Gertie's crab cakes, shallow fried in ghee Carrot and endive, cooked down for 60+ and 30 minutes in butter, respectively Street corn from the seafood place Green beans with almonds, courtesy of dinner guest Coleslaw, also courtesy of dinner guest

I made chayote al vapor for a potluck yesterday. Simple and delicious, just chayote, serrano chile, salt, and cilantro. To make a more substantial (and spicy!) lunch from the leftovers I sauteed white onion, chorizo, and pickled jalapenos, tossed in the chayote, and finished with feta cheese, fish sauce, and Mexican oregano.

Spicy soft-scrambled eggs with onion, garlic, chile serrano, pickled jalapeno, tomato paste, and feta cheese. Served with toasted rye bread. Egg and tomato tastes good but rarely looks appealing.

Sometimes it is fun to start with what's in the refrigerator and improvise an Indian-ish curry. This one started with a wet spice paste of ginger, garlic, and red and green chiles, pureed with chicken stock and fried in ghee. Added dried fenugreek leaves, turmeric, and every ground dry spice beginning with the letter "C" (canela, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cloves, and cayenne). Seemed a little thick so I added coconut cream with chopped fresh spinach. Finished with cubed zucchini and feta cheese.

Shrimp and zucchini al mojo de ajo: Saute garlic and onion, blend with chicken stock. Sear shrimp in the garlicky oil and remove. Sear zucchini, add cilantro, Mexican oregano, and the garlic puree, and cook down. Add shrimp and leftover walleye, finish with lime juice, and serve over leftover green rice. Pretty tasty for a night when neither of us had planned a meal.

Hope you like the rice, @YvetteMT First time making bulgogi. Marinated thinly-sliced NY strip steak with soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, black pepper, and blended Asian pear, garlic, ginger, and onion. Grilled over charcoal, and served in lettuce leaves with soybean paste dipping sauce (fermented soybean paste [doenjang], gochujang, garlic, scallion, honey, toasted sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds). Spicy cucumber salad on the side, with garlic, scallion, thinly-sliced onion, soy sauce, hot chile flakes, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Quite nice.

Yes, char on the gas burner, wrap in a kitchen towel to steam, and the skin rubs off pretty easily.

Welcome! I can't help you with baking, but I expect others here can and will.

Huachingo a la Veracruzana, but made with fresh walleye rather than red snapper. Saute white onion, garlic, flat-leaf parsley, and piquillo peppers. Add crushed tomato, S&P, chopped green olives, sliced jalapenos en escabeche, and some of the chile vinegar. When the sauce is cooked down, add the walleye fillets, poach in the sauce, and top with capers. Walleye was from a local fish market. Mrs. C grew up eating freshly-caught walleye, and approved. Looks like we will be sending more business their way. Arroz Poblano: roast Poblano chiles and blend with white onion, garlic, spinach, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, and Mrs. C's freshly made chicken stock. Fry the rice, add puree, and then cook the rice in chicken stock. A favorite.

Shrimp and spinach curry with onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, ground coriander, ghee, and yogurt, finished with a tadka of paprika and dried chiles sauteed in butter. Recipe is for saag paneer, but shrimp substitutes nicely. I cooked this while Mrs. C was out of town - she says that spinach curries remind her of things she cleaned up when she worked as a nurse.

Sauteed onion, garlic, zucchini, and roasted chile Poblano mixed with leftover chuu chee bay scallop curry from last night. I enjoyed the vegetable-enhanced version more than the original.

Chuu chii curry bay scallops. Red curry paste was half commercial and half homemade (I was missing some key ingredients). Made with cooked-down coconut cream, so very rich. Fried rice with shiitake mushrooms and roasted Poblano chile.

Yes, chopping with a cleaver takes longer but I do prefer the texture. Using pre-ground meat is faster, and still yields a delicious meal when time is tight. Life is full of choices.

Improvised catfish curry with zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, and leftover sweet potato. Curry paste was shallots, garlic, long red chiles, frozen lemongrass, ginger, shrimp paste, and lime zest, with ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Sauce was coconut milk seasoned with tamarind, fish sauce, brown sugar, and Thai basil. Outcome seemed shaky but it turned out well in the end.

David Thompson says that sticky rice is best soaked for several hours (typically overnight), but in a pinch you can soak sticky rice in warm water for 30 minutes. I have not tried this so I have no opinion.

This meal was in the "slap it together quickly" category. Not sure we even have any sticky rice in the house. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I enjoy sticky rice but make it rarely, probably because it is more of a production.

Larb gai, from 'Larb Laab Larp" (clicky)

Larb gai, from 'Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook'. Easy to find this recipe because the pages stick together. Poach ground chicken with sliced shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, and minced ginger (sub for galangal powder). Mix in roasted rice powder and minced cilantro and scallions, and cayenne. Serve with mint, Boston lettuce, and microwave cilantro rice. Mrs. C said that she "would happily eat variations on larb several times a week in the summer." I asked her to remind me of that regularly.

Sometimes using up odds and ends leads to a fun meal. We had de-boned Costco chicken, some chipotle en adobo that needed using up, and sad-looking potato rolls. Sauteed and pureed the chipotle with garlic and cumin seed. Mixed with mayo, S&P, and chopped Tony Packo's sweet hot pickles. End result: probably my favorite chicken salad ever (caveat: I rarely have chicken salad, so competition is low 😉).