C. sapidus

Nontraditional keema with ground chicken, onions fried caramel brown in ghee, garlic, ginger, bird chilies, curry leaves, turmeric, garam masala, lime juice, and flat-leaf parsley. I make keema quite often, and Mrs. C said this was her favorite yet. Spinach with ghee, whole cumin, cayenne, and turmeric, cooked down with bone broth. Microwave lime-cilantro rice to go with (quite good, so am happy to be lazy until it is gone).

You could also make a jalapeno hot sauce with some of your bounty.

Can you describe your experiences with Walmart parking lot camping? Are you allowed to set up outside the RV, or are you expected to remain inconspicuous? Are there designated areas and/or times for campers? Is it a comfortable experience, or a little creepy? No campfires, I assume? 😉 Thanks!

Thanks, that sounds good @gfweb! For the leftovers tonight I added more S&P, more walnuts, and a sprinkling of green chile powder that a friend made in Maine. Definite improvement, although a jolt of acid might have been nice, too. All About Braising has a recipe for red cabbage braised with maple and ginger. Gotta try that.

Open range sheep ranching in Montana was prevalent from the 1800s through the early 1900s. Overgrazing on public lands led to range closures from the 1940s through 1990s, so production shifted from sheep to cattle. Sheep ranching article in Bozeman Daily Chronicle (clicky)

Liquid nitrogen (LN) is commonly used in biomedical research laboratories. LN hazards include extreme cold, oxygen deficiency, rapid expansion/pressurization, and oxygen enrichment. To work safely with LN, employees need training, personal protective equipment, excellent ventilation, and (in come cases) oxygen monitors and alarms. I would guess that LN safety standards are less stringent in restaurants, food vendors, bars, and home kitchens. And of course no one is eating LN in the lab. Fun fact: ingesting 30 ml of LN can perforate your stomach! For more: A Qualitative Risk Assessment of Liquid Nitrogen in Food and Beverages (clicky). Quick summary: Food-related LN injuries are rare but often severe. One of the standard recommendations for LN is to wear loose-fitting cryogenic gloves and pants without cuffs. Anyone who does not understand why should not be handling LN. Please keep yourselves and your guests/customers safe.

That would be fantastic, if not too much trouble. 😀

Son is from Russia. When he came home at 6 yo (speaking no English) we asked if he wanted pasta for dinner. He looked horrified. We later learned that "pasta" meant toothpaste. What we call pasta is "macaroni." From that perspective, any kind of pasta can be used in mac & cheese. I was never a big mac & cheese fan until I had some at a wedding reception in South Carolina. Holy crackers that was good. I have been chasing the dragon ever since. Mac & cheese with gochujang sounds delicious.

Red cabbage braised with onions, garlic, and port wine, then finished with flat-leaf parsley and toasted chopped walnuts. I will make this again, but jazz up the flavor a bit. Cod cooked with some sort of marinade, courtesy of Mrs. C. She grew up eating freshly caught so she has a way with fish. Microwave lime and cilantro rice, not pictured. Hey, I had a 5:30 vet appointment.

Spinach scrambled eggs with chiles, garlic, feta, cumin, and Mexican oregano. Store-bought sourdough toast.

Shrimp patia: Shrimp poached in a sauce of fried onions, chile-garlic-cumin paste, ground cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, and garam masala, with tomatoes, tamarind, brown sugar, and curry leaves. Rice pilaf with broccoli and caramelized onions: Spices included green cardamom, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Broccoli was steamed with a tadka of whole cumin and black mustard seeds fried in ghee.

Yes, the fatty top of the can is coconut cream. I had a container of coconut cream that I've been trying to use up, so I used it as a sub for half and half when mixing up the eggs. Cracking the coconut cream to fry the sausage and aromatics would have been a good idea. Maybe tomorrow I'll make Thai curry breakfast tacos.

Breakfast tacos with sausage, chiles, garlic, coconut cream, and feta.

Liquid nitrogen (LN) expands about 750x when it turns to a gas. This why LN containers are always vented. If you put LN into an airtight container, the 750x expansion of LN to gaseous nitrogen can cause the container to over-pressure and explode. It sounds like you understand the risks, but for the benefit of others: I would advise against putting LN into an airtight container. Could it be done safely? Yes, but the consequences of a mistake could be severe. It is also important to have good ventilation when working with LN to avoid creation of an oxygen-deficient atmosphere. One can buy cylinders of gaseous nitrogen. This would be a much safer way to create an inert atmosphere, should you wish to do so. But wouldn't vacuum sealing accomplish the same thing?

Making amends after a vegetable-deficient breakfast: Zucchini with chorizo, tomato, white onion, garlic, red chilies, and Mexican oregano, topped with feta cheese. Green rice with spinach, cilantro, Thai basil, chicken stock, and leftover coconut cream.

Welcome! Sounds like you are making the best of your situation. We have had a couple of house guests with celiac recently, so I hope to learn more. I look forward to your contributions!

Had a new non-stick pan and a new brand of Mexican chorizo to try so I made chorizo and egg tacos with feta, onion, garlic, cumin, etc. No veggies and not even the slightest nod towards healthy eating.

The mushrooms were firm and not mushy. I prepare mushrooms that way by stir-frying in a dry pan (no oil) until a good bit of their water is driven off and they start to "squeak". Maybe the Voltaggios have some modernist way to accomplish similar results. The sauce was light - no cream - so I would guess something like sherry, butter, clear broth? I was hoping for something like the mushroom terrine with sherry-cream sauce they used to make at Hagan's Tavern, a (sadly closed) restaurant in the foothills near town. This was lighter but still hit my taste buds nicely. Does that help?

In-laws are staying in DC so we drove down to National Harbor for a meal at the Voltaggio brothers’ Steakhouse. I started with a crabcake done right (all crab, no filler, set on a base of something pickled and tangy). Main course was BBQ beef short rib (spoon-tender with a kiss of smoke and a BBQ sauce glaze). Carrot cake for dessert. All quite delicious. We ordered appetizers to share: sherry mushrooms, broccolini, and a fancy potato salad. The mushrooms were particularly nice. Afterwards we drove down to the Pentagon 9/11 memorial, which is quite moving at night.

When I first started learning to cook, this was my strategy. Make a huge quantity of something and eat it for days. One of the first dishes I learned was lasagna. Eating lasagna for days in a row completely ruined lasagna for me.

Yup, gfweb has it right. Old Bay all the way!

Wisconsin relatives were in town so we went out for beer, coleslaw, and . . .

Preethi does a great job of blending tough ingredients like reconstituted dried chilies for Mexican sauces, or lemongrass, ginger, galangal, etc. for Southeast Asian spice pastes. I mostly use the different-sized blender jars, which are handy for grinding up smaller or larger quantities. Before I got a Preethi (with its 550W motor) I used to kill regular blenders in a year or so. Love me some rhubarb pie, and yours looks fantastic!

Potato rendang: Someone (KennethT?) posted about rendang and I have been hankering ever since. Paste of lemongrass, shallots, garlic, Holland and bird chilies, fresh turmeric, ginger, and galangal, all whizzed up in the new Preethi.* Simmered with coconut milk, Thai basil, baby Yukon gold potatoes, and lots of time. Stir-fried spinach with onion, garlic, ginger, and chilies. Good stuff. * My old Preethi blender performed admirably for at least 15 years, but recently bit the dust. Its replacement worked well tonight.

Seh bak, according to ‘Cradle of Flavor’