C. sapidus

Crema de elote con polly y Poblano: Corn pureed with fried onion and garlic, ham stock, milk, and corn starch, strained, and then simmered with roasted chile Poblano and cubed chicken breast.

Mrs. C’s ham stock featured prominently in tonight’s meal. Corn soup with chicken and chile Poblano (Crema de elote con pollo y Poblano): Corn, milk, corn starch, and fried onion and garlic, pureed and strained, and then simmered with ham stock, cubed chicken breast, and roasted chile Poblano. Cilantro garnish. I adore corn and chile Poblano, and the ham stock came through nicely. Mexican red rice (arroz rojo): Shortcut version with enchilada salsa, ham stock, corn, and peas.

Patrick, elder son shares your views on peanut butter, fwiw. Election night meal from Thai Food. Red curry of scallops (chuu chii hoi shen): We also added shrimp, cut up to the size of bay scallops. Paste of dried red chiles, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, cilantro stems, white peppercorns, and roasted shrimp paste. Coconut cream and chicken stock, simmered to concentrate and then finished with cilantro and slivered lime leaves and red chile. Gentle and delicious. Stir-fried asparagus: Smashed garlic, soy sauce, pinch of sugar, and white pepper. Simple and very good. Coconut rice: With chicken stock, light on the coconut milk. Eternal cucumbers

Words to live by. I have had snapper fillets become dry, so I was very happy with how the whole snapper turned out. High-heat-then-simmer seems to be a good way to cook delicate marine critters. Hmm, I have seen gritty chard, but fortunately have not run into "muddy". Swiss chard is one of the few leafy greens that the boys like, so . . .

Here is a link to the recipe from Splendid Table: http://www.publicrad..._eggplants.html Edit: Oops, wrong recipe. Cut up red and green bell peppers (we often use mildish chiles like Anaheim or Poblano) into squares. Stir-fry peppers until tender and remove. Stir-fry sliced garlic and rinsed fermented black beans, add peppers, and season with salt and a splash of rice vinegar and chicken stock. Finish off the heat with sesame oil.

Sounds good. With minor modifications you could also make fish-fragrant eggplants from Land of Plenty. Ms. Dunlop says that the sauce can be poured over prawns or squid, so it should work with doufu. Stir-fried peppers with black beans and garlic (from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook is one of our staples.

Dejah – Everything looks delectable, especially the ribs. What kind of crab do you use in your soup? Dinner from Land of Plenty Fish braised in chile bean sauce (Dou ban xian yu): Red snapper marinated with salt and Shaoxing wine, and then fried to crisp the skin. Sauce of chile bean paste, ginger, garlic, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, and chicken stock. Simmer the fish in the sauce until done and remove. Finish the sauce with cornstarch and scallions and pour over the fish. Snapper turned out tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Jasmine rice to go with. Stir-fried Swiss chard with garlic (Chao han cai): I added a little chile bean paste for extra flavor, and I’ll probably do that again.

Kim – Nice to see you back. Great-looking biscuits! The best breakfast starts with yesterday’s dinner. Fried egg, Sriracha, leftover Chiang Mai curry and rice.

Let’s see if we can revive this thread – I love seeing everyone’s Thai meals. Patrick – Apologies for the long-delayed response but I agree, the “dry red curry of lobster” is very versatile, and one of my favorites. Made a curry paste tonight for the first time in quite a while – recipes mostly from Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook. Chiang Mai curry: Beef sirloin simmered in coconut milk. Spice paste made in the Preethi - lemongrass, dried chiles, shrimp paste, fermented soybean paste, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, shallots, curry powder, and tamarind. Mrs. C, the peanut sauce fiend, added peanut butter to hers (also very good). Thai chef salad: Hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, sliced shallots and red chiles, green-leaf lettuce, and a dressing of cilantro, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice.

I like the recipe "Chinese greens, Thai style" in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. Parboil the greens (not always necessary for baby bok choy), and then stir-fry with garlic, fermented soybean paste (dao jiao), fish sauce, and maybe a little pepper. Add water and cover at the end if needed. Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook has a good recipe for braised bok choy with chestnuts. RCC also has a recipe for "stir-fried peppers with black beans and garlic" that adapts readily to many vegetables. For me, fermented beans of some sort make a vegetable stir-fry highly satisfying.

Hassouni - Gosh that sounds delicious. Farmhouse stir-fried pork with Anaheim and cubanelle peppers, bacon, sliced garlic, and fermented black beans. Recipe from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. With its remarkably high flavor / effort ratio, this dish appears frequently. Sorry about that . . . Baked sweet potato with lime-cilantro butter The lime-cilantro butter was also delicious on the pork.

Quoth David Thompson in Thai Food: “. . . no matter how refined, delicate or complex dishes may be, they are merely accompaniments to the rice. Without rice a meal would be incomprehensible . . .” “To the Thai, rice is the meal.” That said, you might try some of the Thai street foods for your clients – sate, crying tiger, BBQ chicken, fish cakes, or prawn cakes. For the starch, you could try noodle dishes such as pad Thai or pad sii eew. Really, though, Thai food belongs with jasmine rice (or sticky rice for some regional dishes). Any chance of your clients making an exception on the rice front?

Product is called "crab paste in soya bean oil". Normally one would use it in crab fried rice, but scallop fried rice seemed close enough. A very well seasoned cast iron wok. Seasoning would always peel off when I used a carbon steel wok, but I can beat on a cast iron wok with metal implements without any visible effect. Full disclosure - black bits were probably more a result of sugar in the dark soy sauce combined with inattention.

Thank you, rod rock! A little fuel before cleaning up after the storm. Scallop fried rice: Bay scallops fried with garlic and dark soy; leftover rice, crab paste, roasted chile paste, fish sauce, and an egg.

No, just stir-fried in a fairly generous amount of oil, which gets flavored with the dried chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, etc. What do you use to make your lobak goh? I think I've quite enjoyed that at dim sum. Anyway, I am sure that your Chinese and non-Chinese students consider themselves very fortunate.

Dejah – Yum! I always enjoy seeing your meals. It has been too long since I cooked a Chinese meal . . . Dry-fried chicken (Gan ban ji): Made with leeks rather than celery. No Sichuan chile bean paste (dou ban jiang) in the house, so I improvised with fermented soybean paste and Sriracha. Not quite the same, but good nonetheless. Steamed peppers with black beans and ginger (Dou chi zheng jian la jiao): Cubanelle and Anaheim peppers, roll-cut and steamed with chicken stock and sesame oil. Jasmine rice and eternal cucumbers

I need a boring weekend to make Massaman curry. I am always disappointed when I order it in restaurants, but it seems like something I would love and yours looks fantastic. Thanks for the incentive!

Agreed – all of the dishes looked fantastic, but that one jumped out A considerably more pedestrian meal here. Elder son came home to vote, so I made a couple of his favorites. Caramelized minced pork, from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. I needed to make a fresh batch of caramel sauce. Served with jasmine rice. Stir-fried green beans with fermented black beans and garlic plus a little rice vinegar, chicken stock, and sesame oil.

Huevos rancheros with bay scallops and queso fresco

Kalypso – I looked up the recipe and that sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing! Requeson revuelto a la Mexicana (ricotta scrambled like Mexican eggs) – An old favorite from Diana Kennedy’s The Art of Mexican Cooking. I usually double the Serrano chiles, and this time I also added a chipotle in adobo. On corn tortillas with queso fresco

PanCan: I just caught up with your adventures and I am enthralled. I love the tropical bus Bingo! I wish we had thought of that when our boys were younger. I want that Pulpo en Salsa Mani Coincidentally, I recently met an old acquaintance who has been running a shrimp farm in Ecuador for the past few years. More seafood!

Norm: Beautiful brisket! It is a daily pleasure to see everyone’s creations here. Fried shrimp po’ boy: Three-station prep for the shrimp: 1) flour mixed with Cajun seasoning; 2) egg wash; 3) flour and corn meal. Deep-fry the shrimp and serve on lightly broiled Italian rolls with Cajun mustard, mayo, bread and butter pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and Tapatio hot sauce. Avocado slices available if desired. Quoth younger son: “I don’t like shrimp but this was good stuff.” First time making po’ boys but not the last. Do any po’ boy experts have suggestions for improvement? No Cajun seasoning or Cajun mustard in the house, so we consulted the internet and mixed some up. Also fried up the last of the green tomatoes, using the same breading as the shrimp.

All About Braising by Molly Stevens is an excellent resource for general information about braising, different cuts of meat, cooking vessels, etc. Fantastic recipes, too. Excellent eGullet thread: http://forums.egulle...-molly-stevens/

rod rock – Thank you Andrew – Pretty! Peperonata – Continuing out quest to use up stuff from the garden . . . whatever largish, mildish chiles we grew this year, braised with red bell peppers, onion, anchovies, and red pepper flakes, and finished with balsamic vinegar, black pepper, and parsley. Over pasta with cubed Andouille sausage.

Franci – Thanks! Beautiful golden breading on your pork. Continuing with the “use up stuff from the garden” theme. Surprisingly, younger son seemed to enjoy the mostly-meatless meal. He must have been hungry. Fettucine and pesto with potatoes and green beans, with ricotta mixed into the pesto. I see much pesto in our future. Braised endive with prosciutto, with chicken stock and heavy cream