C. sapidus

Lawless Cooks – That looks and sounds delicious! Vietnamese tonight: Catfish simmered in caramel sauce, with black pepper, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, scallions, and bacon. The fish was simmered hard for nearly an hour, and emerged tender and delicate. Mrs. C, not a catfish fan, approved. Jasmine rice to go with. Pickled bean sprout salad: Mrs. C made this – bean sprouts, carrots, and scallions, quickly pickled in a brine of sugar, salt, vinegar, and water.

This thread continues to inspire! Leftover potatoes fried with hot sauce, eggs, and Mexican oregano.

Broccoli puree and carrot soup would hit the spot. Prawn – Thanks! Licking your iPhone voids the warranty . . . Pollo en escabeche, red chile rice with black beans, unpictured salad

Tonight’s theme was garlic and red chile, slowly fried in olive oil. Shrimp with garlic and red chile, cumin, paprika, cayenne, S&P, and parsley. Served with spaghetti aio e oio and our usual salad. I will admit to licking the ridiculously compelling sauce off the plate.

Thank you, Patrick. Your bean dishes, and Soba’s, are quite lovely. Antwaan – beautiful fish! Prawn – so do you like pork? Paul – That is a gorgeous picture Indian chicken with spinach (Saag murgh): Chicken marinated with garlic-ginger paste, yogurt, mint, fenugreek leaves, paprika, red pepper, garam masala, and nutmeg. The chicken was cooked with brown-fried onions and finished with milk and garam masala. Patak's hot mango chutney on top. Mixed vegetable pilaf with peas, carrots, fried onion, chiles, cumin, black cardamom, garam masala, coconut milk, and cilantro.

Kim – Looks like it was shrimp night all around. Soba – I’m glad you didn’t run out of lentils, and your oysters had my mouth watering. Chipotle shrimp (camarones enchipotlados) – sauce of chipotles in adobo, tomatoes, garlic, and the ancho chile paste from earlier in the week (ancho, guajillo, and chipotle chiles, roasted garlic, cumin, cloves, Mexican oregano, black pepper, and chicken broth). These are the flavors that I crave – deep, complex, aromatic, and sneaky-hot. Red chile rice (arroz rojo) – with white onion, chicken broth, and more of the ancho chile paste. Jazzed-up refried beans from a can, our usual salad, and Mrs. C made guacamole.

Chicken, lemongrass, and potato curry: Fried paste of lemongrass, ginger, and onions, flavored with curry powder, black pepper, and chile flakes, and then simmered in coconut milk and chicken stock. Served with store-bought ciabatta bread and an unpictured salad.

Winter makes me crave dried Mexican chile sauces. Ancho-marinated roasted red snapper, Oaxacan-style: Sauce of roasted garlic, cumin, cloves, Mexican oregano, cider vinegar, sugar, and a mix of ancho, guajillo, and chipotle chiles. Garnished with sliced radish, cilantro and a sauce of the chile paste with chicken stock and sautéed onion rings. Arroz blanco: Our usual, with white onion, garlic, and chicken stock. Mrs. C made the unpictured salad.

“With dried candied lemon peel.” It does have some lemon flavor, but not enough to be particularly noticeable against pasilla chile sauce. Queso fresco would have been my first choice . . .

Kim – Nice morning bun! I gotta learn to bake some day . . . The kitchen was sorta empty this morning, but we did have pasilla and guajillo chiles, onion, garlic, Mexican oregano, eggs, and, um, lemon Stilton. That’s enough to approximate one of my favorite breakasts – Diana Kennedy’s huevos al albanil. Hit the spot – even without tortillas.

ScottyBoy - looks good! Fried grated coconut with beef, with shallots, garlic, tamarind, coconut cream, brown sugar, coriander, and bay leaves Cucumber and pineapple pickle, with shallots, chiles, sugar, and lime juice Stir-fried vegetables with fermented black beans, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil Basmati rice

Thank you, Kim Nyonya fish, cabbage and egg stir-fry, and coconut rice. The fish was steamed with ginger, pickled mustard greens, shredded black mushrooms, soy sauce, sesame oil, chicken stock, cilantro, scallions, and chiles. Will make again. Mrs. C had much of the prep done by the time I got home. I could get used to having a sous chef!

I thought that was percyn's "egg" rule Dejah – Your Thai salmon cakes look fantastic! Have you tried steelhead trout instead of salmon? Steelhead is similar to salmon, but milder. Kim – I always like your salads, but Gorgonzola and spiced pecans sounds particularly good. I wish I could find some good half smokes around here! Butternut squash and sweet potato simmered in coconut milk – with cashews and flat-leaf coriander (again after the picture – doh!). I hit a few of the squash with a stick blender to enhance the coconut milk. Beef stewed with tomato, star anise, and lemongrass (Bo kho) – with five-spice powder, fish sauce, ginger, onion, bay leaf, brown sugar, fish sauce, and carrots. Garnished with flat-leaf coriander after picture time. Jasmine rice to go with.

Patrick – Thank you! We haven’t made tortillas in a while, but one of the local Latino markets sells pretty good corn tortillas with no preservatives. They even puff up when we heat them over the flame. The taco recipe is from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen

dcarch – Gorgeous! Tacos of creamy braised chard, potatoes, and poblanos (tacos de acelgas guisadas con crema), with white onion, Mexican oregano, thyme, chicken broth, and crème fraiche, topped with queso and Tapatio salsa Steamed corn tortillas and cowboy beans to accompany

Dejah - Your lamb looks absolutely delicious, and I remain jealous that you can get fresh green peppercorns!

Patrick, I thought your Malabar shrimp looked familiar – that Camellia Panjabi recipe is a good one, and yours looks fantastic. Steamed fish fillets with sautéed garlic and ginger – with red chiles, fish sauce, soy sauce, and a little sugar. Stir-fried Napa cabbage with garlic, fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, cooked in the oil from sautéing the garlic and ginger. Coconut rice and eternal cucumbers

Chicken was wonderfully tender. Sauce needed a bit more flavor to my taste - next time I'll increase chiles, soy sauce, and vinegar. Younger son and Mrs. C liked the sauce and chicken as is. I am interested to try the other version of Gen. Tso in RCC and compare. Kouign - That sounds delicious! I love that combination of flavors.

Dinner from Revolutionary Chinese Cooking General Tso’s chicken (Taiwan version) – Chunks of chicken thighs, marinated with light and dark soy sauce, egg yolk, potato flour, and peanut oil, and then deep-fried. Stir-fried garlic, ginger, and dried chiles with a sauce of tomato paste, potato flour, light and dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and stock, boiled to thicken, tossed with the chicken, and then finished with scallions and sesame oil. Steamed snow peas with ginger – with salt and chicken stock. Simple and good. Jasmine rice and unpictured salad.

Eggs with chipotle, tomato, onion, and garlic on corn tortillas

Kim – No searing, just roasted in the oven. Pickled green tomatoes sound very fun, and happy birthday to Jessica! Emily - That sounds really good! Improvised sorta-Thai meal here. Red curry fish – with ginger, garlic, shallots, coconut milk, Thai basil, and slivered lime leaves. Cucumber salad – with Thai chiles, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, and ketjap manis plus lemon juice (best sub for tamarind I could think of . . .) Coconut rice – younger son’ favorite carbohydrate source

Tai bai chicken (tai bai ji) – with a twist. Dried chiles, chile bean paste, scallions, chicken stock, Shaoxing wine, dark soy, Sichuan peppercorns, sugar, and white pepper, plus I accidentally added chopped garlic and ginger, all simmered down to concentrate the flavor and then finished with scallions and sesame oil. Wonderfully fragrant and very spicy! Fish-fragrant eggplant (yu xiang qie zi) – Deep-fried Asian eggplant with scallions, simmered in a sauce of chile bean paste, ginger, garlic, chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, and sesame oil. Jasmine rice

Munchymom - Starting out the day right, eh? Jason – Nice! Are those pickled red chiles? Fettucine with tuna, garlic, and cream sauce. Younger son had seconds, to my great surprise.

Rotus - Thank you. Both chicken dishes are from Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen (highly recommended!). The first is "garlicky oven-roasted chicken", and the second is "chicken and ginger simmered in caramel sauce". They should be readily available via search, but if not shoot me a PM.

robirdstx – Classic! Akuri with shrimp on leftover coconut rice. Slow-scrambled eggs with fried onions, garlic, chiles, lots of cilantro, cream, and ghee. Rich!