C. sapidus

Blueberry freezer jam and butter on potato bread.

Our boys love cucumbers, so our “everyday salad” is sliced cucumbers sprinkled with a little salt. Lately we have been serving tossed salads (various kinds of lettuce and/or spinach, cukes, scallions, excess herbs, maybe some slivered green mangos, tomatoes, feta cheese, or nuts) with dressings from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday. So far we have tried lime-cilantro dressing and roasted garlic, chile, and balsamic vinaigrette. Perhaps I’m odd, but I’ve never been crazy about vinaigrette so I’m playing with different additions. I love using variations of nuoc cham as a salad dressing. Nuoc cham is simple to make: mash up garlic, chiles, and maybe ginger in the mortar; mix in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar; dilute with water and adjust seasonings to taste. We don’t do this everyday, but we frequently make Thai or Vietnamese salads with grilled or stir-fried meat or fish and some combination of lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, green mangos, red bell peppers, basil, mint, cilantro, shallots, chiles, ginger, etc. Add rice, and you’ve got dinner.

"Major char" For our next attempt with the Javanese grilled chicken I plan to 1) pay attention and 2) turn down the heat and cook the chicken longer. Kecap manis has a lot of sugar, so lower heat should cook the chicken without carbonizing the sugar. If that doesn't work, I'll try painting on the kecap manis towards the end (like one would with sugary BBQ sauce). Ya done good!

David: That lamb looks worthy of a killing. Shaya: Aww – happy half-birthday to, um, zippermouth. Roasted banana ice cream sounds scrumptious. We will have house guests for much of July. Since they are not terribly adventurous eaters, we decided to have a last fling from Thai Food: stir-fried beef with coriander, cumin, chile jam, and deep-fried shallots; trout braised with caramel, celery, and fish sauce (not pictured); grilled banana chile salad with poached chicken and shrimp; cucumber relish; and jasmine rice. More pictures and information on Thai cooking at home (clicky).

Octaveman: You lucky dog – lots of Thai recipes call for kaffir lime zest or juice, and we can’t get kaffir limes around here. Send them to me? Tonight’s dinner was from Thai Food. I have considered the portions in this book rather small, so I wanted to test Mr. Thompson’s assertion that a curry, soup, salad, relish, and rice would feed four. Not to kill the suspense, but the combination fed four quite nicely (especially since two of the four had been eating blueberries all afternoon ). I was really happy with how dinner turned out, and the boys liked everything except the grilled banana chile salad (which might have been my favorite if I could choose a favorite). Stir-fried beef with spices (neua pat nahm prik pao kaek) – This is street food rather than a curry, but I wanted something simple. Thinly-sliced chuck steaks were marinated with fish sauce and toasted, ground coriander and cumin seeds. We stir-fried the beef quickly, lowered the heat, and mixed in roasted chile jam and deep-fried shallots. Delicious, nutty, just the right amount of spice. Grilled banana chile salad with poached chicken and shrimp (yam prik yeak pao) – Grilled banana chiles and shallots mixed with sliced shallots, mint, scallions, and a dressing of palm sugar, lime juice, roasted chile powder, and fish sauce. We poached and then shredded chicken in half-strength chicken stock, poached the shrimp in the stock, and then used the stock for the braised trout (below). Next time I will probably commit fusion and use Poblano chiles. Trout braised with caramel, celery, and fish sauce (dtom kemp la keun chai) – We fried the spice paste (cilantro stems, salt, garlic, white pepper), added palm sugar, heated until the sugar caramelized lightly, and then cooled the pan with fish sauce. We then poured in the chicken/shrimp stock (from the dish above), slipped in the trout, and added boiling water to cover. We simmered the mixture very slowly until the trout was done, and then finished the dish with cilantro, white pepper, and sliced shallots. The chicken and shrimp-enriched stock really made this dish. Cucumber relish (ajat dtaeng gwa) – eternal cukes, shallots, and thinly-slivered ginger and chiles in a sweet and sour syrup. That’ll be tomorrow morning’s breakfast. The ginger was a bit overpowering - I'll use less next time. Edited to 'splain better.

Kim: A month without a computer – ouch! LittleLea: Welcome to the fun – your dinner looks scrumptious. Doddie: Thanks for the information. Beautiful meals all around, really. After working around the house today we made a simple summer dinner: grilled chicken with chipotle rub; white corn from a local farm; and a salad of romaine lettuce, scallions, and roasted Poblano chile with a dressing of roasted garlic, roasted chile, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Blueberries for dessert. Mrs. C and elder son picked about three gallons at the same farm where they got the corn. She hopes to recreate last year’s amazing freezer jam, and I’ll probably make a blueberry crisp or crumble.

Doddie: Why thank you so much, and back atcha! So, do tell about the chicken afritada – it looks delicious – and I’m interested to hear about Philippine mangos, too. Shaya: Beautiful dinners as always. Tonight we made chorizo fried rice with canned tomatoes, canned red curry paste, eggs, fish sauce, scallions, and a whole (albeit small) head of garlic. Eternal cukes, reasonably good supermarket tomatoes, and lime wedges on the side. Speaking of citrus, my birthday presents from Mrs. C arrived: dwarf kaffir lime and Meyer lemon trees. We had a potted kaffir lime tree at the old house, but it was infested with scale insects so we left it behind. I’m really looking forward to having a constant supply of kaffir lime leaves again.

Thank you, Susan. Our Asian market usually has green mangos in stock. We used butterhead lettuce for the salad - Rick Bayless suggested that it matched up well with the cilantro-lime dressing.

Shalmanese: Fuchsia Dunlop has a recipe for red-braised saffron milk cap mushrooms in Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. Great blog so far, and I’m looking forward to your dinner party.

Live It Up: Happy birthday to you and hubby. Looks like you had a delicious (and labor-intensive) feast! Tonight we had caramelized minced pork from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, lettuce and green mango salad with cilantro-lime dressing, and very ripe mangos. Details on Vietnamese Food (clicky).

Tonight we made caramelized minced pork (thit heo bam), from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. This was remarkably easy and very popular with the family – a perfect weeknight meal. The only ingredients were ground pork, onion, fish sauce, caramel sauce, sugar, scallions, and oil. The pork was done in the time it took to steam the rice. The family made lettuce rolls with the pork, rice, and green mango slivers.

Ooh, I have and adore all of those books. Why not start participatory threads on cooking from Authentic Mexican and from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet? Yes, please come wallow in coconut milk and shrimp paste with the rest of us.

You may wish to peruse this thread: Chinese cookbooks, what's your favorite? Many have recommended Barbara Tropp's Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. If you get this book, try to avoid using the term "velvet." Don't ask.

Mrs. C loved this version (minus the orange bitters, which we don’t have). I like fairly tart drinks, so the 3:1:1 version with a small spoonful of simple syrup made from "sugar in the raw" is my favorite so far.

Dejah: OK, I'm salivating here, big-time. Beef rendang plus a veggie stir-fry, veggie salad, and jasmine rice sounds like an apt combination. I have always admired your talent for balancing meals. I am surprised that even a “small container of leftovers” survived.

Smithy - good question! When asked whether they liked mustard, both boys answered with a resounding “No!” I’m bummed, because not using turmeric would limit Indian food rather severely. Although now that I think of it, the boys devoured turmeric-containing sate quite happily. Dejah – I’m looking forward to your beef rendang. Celebration rice plus rendang could be coconut milk overload, though (not that coconut milk overload is a bad thing . . .). Live it Up and Terila - Hey, the more the merrier. Please do join in - you will not be sorry!

Percyn:That sounds delicious. We enjoyed leftover Shan-style pork larb on organic iceberg lettuce with a squeeze of lime juice. Susan (Snowangel) is right – larb makes a wonderful breakfast.

Doddie and Wendy – beautiful meals from the both of you, and thanks for the kind thoughts. Tonight the contents of the fridge dictated a mish-mash of Mexican and Vietnamese dishes: chipotle shrimp; grilled eggplant with scallion oil; and green salad with cilantro-lime dressing. The shrimp and salad were from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday. I borrowed this book from the library, and the salad dressings looked like so much fun that I bought it. I'm looking forward to cooking more Mexican food on weeknights. The shrimp would have been better with cilantro, but I used it all up in the salad dressing. Younger son's friend stayed for dinner, so I also stir-fried shrimp with salt, sugar, and ancho chile powder. The family made "shrimp rolls" with garlic bread, shrimp, and cilantro-lime dressing.

I finally found Maraschino liqueur (Luxardo, even) in a local liquor store. We made two versions of the Aviation – 4:1:1 and 2:1:1. My favorite probably lies somewhere in between. Clearly, further research will be required. I appreciate all of the information on this thread.

If you want something more elaborate, you could try green mango salad with grilled beef (goi xoai voi bo). Quite delicious.

David: I have enjoyed your enthusiastic foodblog very much. With your long commute, I am amazed that you manage to cook such remarkable meals. Thank you for sharing your week, and for providing a knowledgeable tour of your food-rich part of the country. I am looking forward to the rest of your foodblog, and (after you take a well-deserved break) to your contributions on Dinner!

Thanks to everyone for the sympathy – you are all very kind. Tonight we grilled hamburgers with thick-sliced onions for the boys and their friends, and made pork larb for the grownups. More info on Larb Laab Larp, the Thread (click).

Tonight we made Shan style pork larb (larb moo tai yai), from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. The spice paste included lemongrass, galangal, Thai chiles, roasted sesame seeds, and roasted garlic cloves. We minced pork blade steaks with a cleaver and stir-fried the pork with shallots, scallion greens, cilantro, and mint. We served the larb over lettuce with fish sauce and a squeeze of lime. This was very good, but I’m still looking for the ultimate larb.

Nooooo! Ah Leung’s helpful suggestions and quirky sense of humor have helped make the China and Chinese Cuisine forum one of my favorite places to hang out. Even though I prefer chile-laden dishes from Sichuan and Hunan, Ah Leung’s pictorials inspired me to learn more about Chinese food and cooking methods. Our meals have benefited greatly from his generous spirit. I hope that better circumstances will soon allow Ah Leung to resume his valued contributions.

Whoa – I missed a few days, and there are way too many beautiful dinners to comment on. Doddie: Happy anniversary! (better late than never) Welcome Shelby and LaCookrasha – thanks for joining in the fun! This was a weird and disjointed week – our white dog died suddenly, so cooking was not our top priority. Anyway, tonight’s dinner was green mango salad with grilled beef (from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table), celebration yellow rice (from Cradle of Flavor), and cucumbers. I also grilled NY strip steaks for the boys and one of their friends.