C. sapidus

Tonight we made something resembling Fuchsia Dunlop’s farmhouse stir-fried pork with Poblano and Anaheim chiles. Quick, tasty, and perfect for a busy weeknight. Jasmine rice and cucumbers on the side.

Tonight we made (with a few substitutions) Fuchsia Dunlop’s farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers. We marinated lean pork in Shaoxing wine, dark soy, and light soy, and stir-fried the pork with Poblano and Anaheim chiles, bacon ends, sliced garlic, and salted black beans. Quick and easy, popular with the family, and I am developing a fondness for salted black beans. Farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (nong jia chao rou)

"The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.” - Jack Handey

Oh, that sounds really, really good.

Last night Mrs. C requested Tangerine Island dry-braised fish (ju zhou gan shao yu) with skin-on steelhead trout fillets. We made this once before with rainbow trout. We enjoyed the dish both times, but I preferred the rainbow trout version (steelhead tastes like salmon, which is not my favorite). I want to try this recipe with whole fish but our local selection is pretty limited.

Shaya: I see that you like your steaks still mooing and oh, that gratin! Marlene: I don’t see any broccoli on your plate to accompany the perfectly-cooked meat and potatoes. Meredithla: Mmm, crispy chicken skin, and the bread salad sounds delish. Tonight we dry-braised steelhead trout, adapted from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. The recipe calls for whole fish, but skin-on fillets work nicely. Chile bean paste, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, dark soy, chile flakes, and a cup of chicken broth are reduced to intensely-flavored oil (delicious over rice), and then finished with scallions, Thai basil, and a drizzle of sesame oil. One of younger son’s friends, a “picky eater”, stayed over for dinner and had several helpings of fish. Mrs. C sliced cucumbers, cooked coconut rice, and made a green salad with pear vinaigrette. She also baked a scrumptious strawberry rhubarb pie with cinnamon and a hint of cayenne. Apparently she has fond memories of eating fresh fruit sprinkled with chiles in Mexico.

Thank you, and likewise! Our 2-BR house is pretty crowded, but there is a nice, empty fixer-upper next door. I’m sure that you could make rhubarb pie there, and we would hardly be good neighbors if we didn’t volunteer for taste-testing. Let the record show that I am willing to trade breakfast for pie, especially yours.

Oh. My. Goodness. I want that market. Thank you for a) taking the trip b) taking prolific and mouth-watering photos c) writing with wit and insight, and d) posting all of this, especially while on the road. So, is the scud named after the missile or the chile? Heh - you don't sound very sorry.

Another breakfast that evolved: red curry scrambled eggs. I improvised the curry paste from ginger, garlic, scallions, and Thai chiles, and pounded everything in the mortar with salt. After cracking some leftover coconut cream, I fried the paste with palm sugar and fish sauce. When that tasted right, I lowered the heat and scrambled the eggs low and slow. This was the first time I improvised a curry paste, and the combination of soft eggs, rich coconut cream, sharp-aromatic curry, fragrant cilantro, and lime juice was absolutely delicious.

And you have put the Macro button to good use already.

Managing is very easy: I took the day off to work on taxes (that excuse only works once a year). Playing in the kitchen was a delaying tactic. A normal weekday breakfast is coffee, maybe supplemented by leftovers

Fibilou – Great spread, and nice job on the bagels and crepes. This started as a healthy breakfast and evolved. What it lacked in visual appeal it made up by being abso-freaking-lutely delicious (definitely a close-your-eyes-and-enjoy breakfast). Had I been dining in a restaurant, I would have licked the plate anyway. Roasted Poblano and Anaheim chiles, sauteed chayote, garlic and Jalapenos, finished with feta cheese, lime juice, cilantro, butter, and a touch of cream. OK, I’m suitably fortified to do my taxes now.

Priscilla: I hope you like the five-spice chicken, it is one of our favorites. Meredithla: Few things are funkier than funky chicken. Nice plan B! Infernoo: That pork looks insanely good. Ann_T: Your pictures are always so beautiful. We had stir-fried hot and numbing chicken (nice texture, OK flavor) over jasmine rice . . . . . . and Napa cabbage soup with dried shrimp and bay scallops.

Sheetz: Nice dinners, the pork shoulder looks particularly scrumptious (I am on a five-spice jag at present). Prawncrackers: Welcome, and thanks for sharing your xiao long bao. Tonight’s dinner was hot and numbing chicken (ma la zi ji), from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. Marinating the chicken, deep-frying it twice, and then stir-frying it took a long time. Unfortunately, the results did not justify the effort. The crunch of the bell peppers contrasted nicely with the plush texture of the chicken, but the flavors were underwhelming.

Kim – Thank you! I used Mai Pham’s recipe for grilled five-spice chicken (clickety) from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. You can use whatever chicken parts you like, just adjust the cooking time. The most important tip is to keep the grill temperature moderate. High heat will turn the delicious marinade into charcoal. Your Easter dinner is gorgeous, especially those beautifully layered potatoes. One of these days I may have to break down and get a mandoline. Best wishes for a speedy and successful recovery.

I’m pretty good at tuning out the world when I have a nice plate of food in front of me. One notable exception springs to mind, a rare post-kids date with Mrs. C. About half-way through the meal, a group was seated at the next table. The restaurant was crowded, so switching tables was not an option. Why would we want to switch tables? A gentleman in the group was wearing an unprecedented amount of aftershave. From the moment that he sat down, everything that we ate tasted like aftershave. Blech. In a strange way, I’m glad that this happened. We will probably never forget the date, and the memory still makes us giggle. Overall, the amusement probably outweighs the loss of half a meal. I mostly felt bad for the gentleman – condemned to travel through life like Pepe le Peu, oblivious to his olfactory effects on others.

Same here. Cook three meals, kick back for three meals, and take our Lear jet to a restaurant once a week (hey, you said that money was no object ). The hard part would be finding a personal chef that makes the kind of food that we like. Um, and learning to drive the Lear jet.

Goulash and burritos and enoki and bacon and pork belly and kimchi stew and red curry and duck and ribs and more ribs and caipirihnas, oh my! I haven’t made goulash forever, and should. We grilled 5-spice chicken wings and sliced up some eternal cucumbers. Mrs. C is out of town, so I made coconut rice as a treat for the boys. We also snacked on very ripe Peruvian mangos while dinner was cooking. A plate of wings . . . . . . and wings on the plate.

Thank you, Susan. I have not done many oven braises, so I appreciate any information on internal and external temperatures. I thought that 300 F sounded high, but I usually follow the recipe fairly closely the first time. I do recall reading that braising temperatures should be lower than what Molly Stevens specifies in All About Braising, but the consensus(?) on what temperature to use slipped out of my brain. The recipe called for "stew meat", so when Mrs. C went to the store and described what we were doing the meat guy went into the back and cut what looked like a well-marbled roast. I was expecting something more fatty and gristly, and probably should have a) dialed back the temperature and b) checked the braise more frequently. Ah, well, live and learn. Anyway, it didn't keep the three of us (Mrs. C is out of town for a few days) from consuming mass quantities.

Ah, thank you Miz. D. And now, we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Wow, too many gorgeous dinners upon which to comment, but I’m enjoying all of them vicariously. We had meat and potatoes, Hunan style. Details on Chinese eats at home, what did we cook?

Anyone who starts out their blog with green curry is OK by me (not that you need my approval or anything). Cool tip on the rice, too. I need to try that. I am insanely envious that you were able to take a Thai cooking class from Kasma Loha-unchit. Palm sugar: I have tried both kinds, and prefer the type that comes in a jar. The brand that I buy is sealed with a waxy layer, which would keep out floating flies (or at least preserve them nicely). I am not certain, but aren't the soup-filled dumplings called char siu bao? Your kitchen looks beautiful so far, and I eagerly await the big reveal. Your house looks way cool, too. I hope the mere threat of the sword is effective on the CONtractor, and that no actual dismemberment will be necessary. If hubby does use the sword, take pictures for use in future home renovation projects. Blog on!

More from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: slow-braised beef with potatoes (tu dou wei niu rou). I made this on Sunday, and heated it up for dinner tonight. Star anise, cassia sticks, and ginger provided a heady aroma, dried chiles and chile bean paste added a warm glow, and a little rice vinegar sharpened everything up. These fragrant and mildly spicy red braises have become family favorites. The recipe called for braising in the oven at 300 F, but the liquid was bubbling too vigorously. Although I lowered the temperature to 275 F, the meat turned out a little dry. Next time I will probably start the oven around 250 F and adjust from there.

Susan: Thanks! I like Ms. Dunlop's latest book a lot, and I also liked her previous book on Sichuan. The three recipes we have tried from the new book have turned out wonderfully. Yes, we tasted Tuesday’s dinner. I cooked the meat a bit too long, but the flavors of the sauce were amazing. I like the way that Ms. Dunlop gives directions. Rather than giving cooking times, she typically gives endpoints like “stir-fry over medium heat until it smells wonderful”, or “cook over a high flame until the liquid is nearly gone”. The author also writes more freely in this cookbook. Most recipes have an associated story, many offer fascinating cultural background, and several are hilarious. Ms. Dunlop seems to like her veggies, and includes a wealth of varied vegetable dishes. Many of the meat recipes do involve a deep-frying step, though. If you are a big fan of Sichuan peppercorns, you may prefer Ms. Dunlop’s Sichuan cookbook because few of the Hunanese recipes use Sichuan peppercorns. I highly recommend either of Ms. Dunlop’s cookbooks.

Doddie: I would love to dig in to your steak and sprouts! Tryingsomethingnew: Mmm, shaking beef. Percyn: Quite the meatfest – everything looks good, especially the yakitori. Except for the soup, tonight’s dinner was from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Hunan cookbook: dry-braised rainbow trout; stir-fried bell peppers with black beans and garlic; root vegetable soup; and jasmine rice. Details on Chinese eats at home. Mrs. C made the soup from beets, carrots, turnips, slaw, rice vinegar, dill, and vegetable stock. The boys inhaled two bowls each, with a dollop of sour cream.