C. sapidus

Double salad dinner tonight. Shaking beef - cubed NY strip marinated in soy and oyster sauces, seared with garlic over high heat, and then tossed with Thai basil, red onion, and pineapple. Dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and bird chiles, served over watercress and sliced tomatoes. Gosh I love meat salads. Cucumber salad, with a dressing of rice vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, sliced shallots and bird chilies, and cilantro. Store-bought baguette to sop up the juices. Mrs. C dipped her bread in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Last night Mrs. C picked up dinner supplies from a middle eastern store. Some sort of spicy cured sausage, labneh, tzatziki, pitas, etc. Sausage and labneh omelet with sauteed onions, garlic, and long red chiles.

Available ingredients dinner – Preethi (blender) got a workout tonight. Chicken with ancho, cream, and tequila sauce. Garlic, Mexican oregano, rice vinegar, and S&P to round it out. Sauce was good, chicken was bland. If I make this again I shall marinate the chicken. Green rice with homemade chicken stock, onion, spinach, garlic, Mexican oregano, and green salsa. Also reheated baked sweet potato (not pictured).

Grilled 5-spice chicken: Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder, turmeric, sugar, and oil. Just before grilling add toasted and ground star anise. I got a little over-enthusiastic with the grill, but I shall blame the 25-50 mph winds. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Vietnamese fried rice: This was interesting - no egg. Stir-fried onion and garlic, add the sauce (fish sauce, sugar, and Sriracha), and then the rice. I subbed Sriracha for the ketchup that the recipe called for. No regrets. Soy-lemon dipping sauce, with bird chiles, garlic, and sugar, pounded in a mortar and diluted to taste. Recipe called for lime but lemons seemed most in need of using, so . . . Mrs. C steamed broccoli with garlic, which was tasty.

Runner-up in the world's fattest omelet competition. Filling was spinach, onions, bird chiles, dou ban jian, ginger, fish sauce, and feta. I call it a spanakohmygod omelet.

Excellent suggestion, thanks! Unfortunately I noticed the missing ingredient at the last minute.

Beef larb: ground beef browned with sliced shallots, lime juice, and fish sauce, finished with cayenne and chopped cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. Would have added roasted rice powder if we had any. Thai emeralds dressing also served as dipping sauce: lemon and lime juice, bird chiles, cilantro stems, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar. Romaine lettuce, tomato, and carrot salad. Jasmine rice to go with.

Thanks! I definitely prefer the warm spices in the syrup, but I have also put spices in the nut mixture (along with the rose water). This time I used a strong simple syrup (1.5 parts sugar to 1.3 parts water) but it turned out sweeter than I like. Next time I will go back to using 1:1 simple syrup.

Following morning - baklava close-up.

I am decidedly not a baker but I do make baklava. Usual method is a mash-up of Baklava, Baklawa by ChefCrash (clicky) plus another recipe and some improvisation. I like to enhance the syrup with cinnamon or canela, cloves, lemon zest, honey, and maybe some cardamom. Used pecans for the nut filling, mixed with sugar and rose water. I used to bring baklava to potlucks at work. We will be seeing some former co-workers on Friday and they specifically requested baklava. Hope it doesn't disappoint. Just out of the oven - we shall see how it tastes in a couple of days.

Broccoli needed using up so I sautéed it with garlic, black soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice wine. Mushroom, sweet potato, and Poblano chile tacos, cooked with chorizo, onion, garlic, three kinds of chiles (finger red, Serrano, and Thai bird), and cilantro, and then topped with feta cheese.

We completely redid our kitchen almost 20 years ago, and remain very happy with the results. Pictures and extensive discussion here: Since the renovation we have replaced the refrigerator (planned) and diswasher (not planned). We also opened up the dining room to the foyer and living room, which makes the house feel much more open at the cost of slightly reducing storage. Recently we added a floorstanding wire rack for big pots, onions, garlic, etc. on the wall beside the microwave. I hope some of that might help, and best wishes for your renovation!

Stir-fried curry beef with green beans (pad ped nuea). Ground beef with green beans, red bell pepper, roasted Poblano chile, garlic, Panang curry paste, sliced Thai bird chiles, fish sauce, and white pepper, finished with tamarind, chile jam, Thai basil and cilantro. Jasmine rice. Quick and easy but packed with flavor.

Weighing makes sense, but I just encircle long pasta between thumb and forefinger to estimate volume. Short pasta gets eyeballed. But most of my cooking life included at least one household member who would happily finish off any extra pasta.

Those campsites look very nice. Rotating pedestal grill is a clever idea, so it is a shame that the wind did not cooperate. We bought a bare-bones work van and the boys tricked it out as a camper van so that we can travel with the dogs. We have driven the van to Maine and Cape Cod so far, mostly just camping in friends' driveways. We have a 3-day trip planned where we will test out staying at an actual campground and a Harvest Host site. Hoping to work out as many glitches as possible before longer trips this summer. I am learning a lot from your posts. Thank you!

Ha. We had one for years! I loved being able to grab lime leaves any time. Once we figure out how rooms with sunny windows will be arranged, I plan to get another kaffir lime tree.

Clean out the fridge vegetable Panang curry-inspired lunch. Broccoli, mushrooms, and roasted Poblano chile for the veg. Onions, garlic, long red chiles, Thai bird chiles, Panang curry paste, tamarind, and fish sauce for the flavors. Half a can of coconut milk. Finished with chile jam, cilantro, and Thai basil.

Mrs. C made a Reuben casserole. Layered corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese, with a cracker crust on top. Homemade thousand island dressing with Sriracha subbing for ketchup. Sorry, no picture but it was really good.

Leftover mackerel and rice, with sautéed mushrooms and red chiles.

The spoon rest thread reminded me of this discussion, so I did a search. We still wash bamboo spoons in the dishwasher. Yes, the same ones. For the past 14 years. I am happy to report that all remain in perfect working condition.

^ Yep, whatever is at hand, usually measuring cups, prep bowls, and empty cans.

Rice cooked with half coconut milk and half chicken stock is my preference. You can cook it in pure coconut milk - kids preferred it that way - but I think it tastes lighter and more interesting with chicken stock mixed in. Mrs. C grew up in Wisconsin with clean-flavored, lake-caught fish, so mackerel is a bit of a jump.

Pan-seared mackerel with red onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauce was black and regular soy sauce, black pepper, sugar, and rice vinegar. I need to remember to use that topping on, well, just about anything. Mackerel is not Mrs. C's favorite fish, but she was tolerant. Javanese cucumber and carrot pickle, with shallots, sliced Thai chiles, rice vinegar, and sugar. Coconut rice with galangal, lemongrass, bay leaf, and Mrs. C's chicken stock.

Very nice! We were surprised to see how elevation noticeably greened up the landscape in the desert southwest. I suppose higher elevation squeezes a smidge more rain out of that arid atmosphere. Guessing that neither of your advanced degrees involved folding camp chairs.

My favorite cookbook quote: "When in doubt, add fish sauce." - Kasma Loha-Unchit Lime zest is probably a more common substitution for kaffir lime leaf, but I felt like experimenting. Pakistani young lady has cooked often at our house, and we have wide-ranging food discussions. I learned that I have been misusing chutneys and mispronouncing lots of Pakistani and related north Indian dishes. 🤣