C. sapidus

Boys are home and invited friends over, so I BBQed pork butts for 12. Mrs. C made potato salad with bacon and chorizo, I added mustardy Cole slaw and BBQ sauce. Potato rolls to go with.

More meals for the boys' visit: Bombay curry: Marinate boneless, skinless chicken thigh chunks with garlic-ginger paste. Make the spice paste of garlic, ginger, dried red chiles, peanuts, cumin, coriander, white poppy seed, canela, cloves, and turmeric. Saute onions and curry leaves, add the chicken and spice paste, and then simmer in coconut milk and chicken stock. Halfway through remove the chicken (to avoid overcooking) and add halved baby potatoes, Finish with tamarind juice. Sambal ulek to spice it up as desired. Braised Savoy cabbage: Saute minced onion with sliced jalapeno, sequentially add ginger-garlic paste, cayenne, turmeric, crushed tomato, and sliced Savoy cabbage. Braise until done. There were fights over this. Mrs. C made a delicious loaf of sourdough bread.

Boys are visiting so we have been doing our holiday cooking this week. On Xmas day we will be dropping eldest and GF at the airport, then visiting with friends. Tomorrow should be fun - a bunch of the boys’ friends will be stopping by for dinner so I plan to BBQ a couple of pork butts and do pulled pork with all the fixings. Best of all, the electrician stopped by today and installed Mrs. C’s present to me - fixing the wonky under-counter lights! I could not have asked for anything better.

Dinner from ‘My Bombay Kitchen’ Mulligatawny: Toast white poppy seeds, coriander seed, cumin seed, cinnamon stick, cloves, turmeric, and uncooked basmati rice, then blend with cilantro, jalapeños, almonds, garlic, and ginger. Brown-fry onions, add the masala, and then simmer with Mrs. C’s chicken stock and cubed chicken thighs. Finish with coconut milk and serve over basmati rice. Optional lemon wedges for squeezing. Butternut squash with curry leaves: Toss butternut squash cubes with garlic, olive oil, and snipped dried red chiles. Strew with curry leaves and roast in the oven. Always surprisingly good for how simple it is. Mrs. C made a particularly good loaf of sourdough bread, which was wonderful with the soup.

Breakfast concoction for a full house: This started as a simple breakfast and kept growing as more expressed interest. Separately sautéed shrimp, mushrooms, plantains, and green beans. Fried crumbly chorizo with onion and garlic, added some sambal ulek from last night, and finished with chopped parsley, Mexican oregano, and garam masala. Scrambled in eggs and feta and mixed everything together. Younger son said it was too spicy. I told him he needed to build up his tolerance before coming home for a visit.

That is interesting, using the cobek (which I do not have) and hot oil to "fry" the sauce. Lucky you, having home-grown chiles. I miss our vegetable garden, which is now buried underneath the new sun room. I was happy with the flavor and heat level, but I'll use Holland chiles next time if they are available. Thank you, I was hoping to get your perspective on the meal. And now I know that kuning means yellow.

Dinner from 'Cradle of Flavor' Malaccan beef and vegetable stew (Semur daging lembu): Basically a European stew with Malaysian flavors like shallot paste, star anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, black soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Red onion, carrots, sliced green beans (sub for peas), and potatoes cooked separately and added just before serving. Jasmine rice to go with. Very popular, no leftovers Sweet-sour cucumber and carrot pickle with turmeric (Acar kuning): Salt matchsticks of cucumber and carrot with sliced shallots and red Fresno peppers and let sit for a couple of hours. Meanwhile make a flavoring paste of shallots, garlic, macadamia nuts (sub for candlenuts), ginger, dried red chiles, and turmeric. Saute the paste and simmer with rice vinegar and sugar. Rinse and dry the quick-pickled vegetables and mix with the sauce. First time making this but it won't be the last. Javanese sambal (sambal bajak / ulek): Shallots, garlic, red Fresno peppers, palm sugar, and a fried disc of dried shrimp paste, all blended "to the consistency of cooked oatmeal." Fry until reduced, darkened, and the oil begins to separate. Good stuff, will make again. I owe Fresno peppers an apology. International market usually carries red Holland chiles, and I was very disappointed to find them out of stock. I reluctantly substituted Fresno chiles, which are often bland. Not this batch!

Gertie's crab cakes, tartar sauce, and green bean salad. Mine was the first (and worst) - I swear the other crab cakes looked better. Served with croissants for those who wanted a crab cake sandwich.

No idea, sorry! When the can showed up I wished I had observed. Last night on the road, bourbon shrimp appetizer with a crab cake-topped salad with nice greens and plenty of walnuts. I’m in Delaware so it seemed safe to order a crab cake lol. No pics, sadly.

Me neither! It was very cleanly done.

These had melted cheese inside, but crispy cheese on the outside sounds amazing. Sorry about the embezzling restauranteur. Looked like Peekskill has a few good Mexican offerings, and a nice wine and liquor store where I got restaurant recommendations. Many restaurants were “closed for the season” this time of year, so you may want to do your Peekskill restaurant tour in the summer.

Road food on a cold day in Peekskill NY - pork birria tacos with jus, corn and chorizo, and Modelo Especial

Roasted chile Poblano, roasted red bell pepper, and red onion salad with Parmesan vinaigrette, served with butter lettuce Red chileatole with mushrooms, chicken, and zucchini. Soup base was toasted ancho chile paste, sauteed white onion, and sauteed garlic, blended with homemade chicken stock.

That is extremely kind of you to say. Thank you! I usually only eat two meals a day, so late breakfast/early lunch needs to last until dinner.

Scrambled eggs with chorizo, (over-enthusiastically) roasted sweet potato, chipotle in adobo, shallot, and garlic. Yogurt for richness, cumin and Mexican oregano for aroma.

I'm always happy with Thai curry. Green, red, panang, jungle, yes please! Improvised dinner tonight. We had Mexican chorizo, yogurt, and chiles in the fridge, and shrimp and spinach in the freezer. Sauteed cubed chorizo and removed. Seared shrimp in the rendered fat and removed. Browned sliced onion, added minced garlic and chile serrano, and then mixed in the dry spices (ground coriander seed, cumin seed, cardamom seed, black pepper, turmeric, cloves, and canela). Deglazed with chicken stock, added spinach, roasted/diced chile Poblano, and yogurt, then simmered for a bit. Mixed in the shrimp and chorizo and finished with fish sauce and garam masala. House guest made bulghur, and we had tatziki from Mrs. C's trip to the Syrian market. Sliced up some cukes and called it a meal.

Leftover Desi murgh (special chicken curry) enhanced with minced chipotle, fish sauce, Mexican oregano, and crumbled feta. Improved an already tasty dish, imo. When I tried to top with an over-easy egg I learned that our formerly non-stick pan no longer performs that function. 🙄

Pakistani recipes tonight, from 'Curry Cuisine' Special chicken curry (Desi murgh): Slowly saute sliced onions until dark golden brown, remove, and puree. Saute garlic and ginger paste, crushed tomato, Greek yogurt, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seed, ground coriander seed, cloves, black cardamom, and curry leaves (sub for bay leaves). Add chicken thighs and water and simmer. When the chicken is done, uncover and simmer until the oil separates. Finish with cilantro. Mixed vegetable curry (Subzi curry): Saute onion, garlic, crushed tomato, turmeric, cayenne, and cumin seed. Add cubed potato, cauliflower florets, and water, and simmer until done. Finish with cilantro. Recipe should have had ginger slivers but I used it all up on the chicken. Oh, well, it was popular.

Scrambled eggs with roasted chile Poblano, onion, garlic, serrano chiles, cumin, thyme, Mexican oregano, and feta cheese

We have way too many mugs but these are notable. My mother used to pick up mugs from local craft fairs and these were two I kept from her collection. We have mugs from some, uh, unusual federal sites. I got the CDC mug for giving a pre-conference lecture there. Sorry, hard to read the lower right but that is from Camp David, the presidential retreat. This mug has seen some adventures in the past 25 years. It has a rubberized bottom and survived a several-block trip on the roof of my car. Eventually I figured out that the driver next to me was not being rude, he was letting me know I was about to lose a coffee mug. The mug also survived a car crash that caused several thousand dollars worth of damage without spilling a drop of coffee.

What I had: Opened cans of coconut milk, crushed tomato, and chipotle in adobo. Spinach and shrimp in the freezer, and Mexican chorizo in the fridge. Usual procedure after that. Sear shrimp and remove. Fry chorizo and remove. Saute sliced onion and minced garlic, fry dry spices (coriander, cumin, cloves, canela, black pepper, cardamom seed) then deglaze the pan with blended chipotle and tomato. Simmer with spinach and a roasted chile Poblano then finish with fish sauce and coconut milk. Spicy, rich, and aromatic, but I knew this would not be a pretty meal.

Where did you have these crab cakes? With regard to the title of this thread, sorry but I have never used bechamel in crab cakes. Not opposed to the idea, just never tried it. But I am curious whether these were Maryland-style mostly-crab cakes or whether the filler played a larger role.

I gave Red Dog a pink collar when she was 1-yo because everyone called her "he". Within a week the collar was mud brown. She's just not a pink collar kinda gal. Hope the pink collar works better on Scoutie. One of my favorite things I ever ate was a duck salad at a long-defunct local restaurant. Wish I had paid more attention to how they made it, but I think it was a warm salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing and some mushy but flavorful cheese. 🤷🏼‍♂️

A friend came over for dinner and I cooked a couple of South Indian dishes from 'Curry Cuisine' Kerala lamb: This was interesting in two ways. First, it was prepared like a Malaysian rendang - starts like a stew but the liquid cooks down to a spicy, aromatic glaze. Second, it contains a spice paste of grated coconut, sliced ginger, minced garlic, curry leaves, bay leaves, canela, cloves, and black pepper, all dry-roasted until the coconut browns. Other ingredients included shallots, ground coriander seed, cayenne, and turmeric, and a tadka of mustard seed, more curry leaves, and sliced chiles, quickly seared in hot oil. Mixed vegetable curry (rasa kayi): Carrots, potatoes, green beans, and cauliflower with lots of minced onion and sliced serrano chiles, flavored with ground coriander seed, cayenne, and turmeric, plus a spice paste of garlic, ginger, serrano chile, crushed tomato, and fennel seed. When everything is cooked swirl in coconut milk for richness. Very popular. Microwave cilantro rice to go with.

Potato soup with chipotle, crushed tomato, onion, garlic, chicken stock, cilantro, and a dollop of Greek yogurt Black beans with bacon, garlic, crushed tomato, ancho chile powder, roasted chile Poblano, and cilantro