C. sapidus

Patrick – Thanks! The recipe was from Kasma Loha-Unchit’s wonderful (but sadly out of print) Dancing Shrimp, as is tonight’s dinner. Oh, and your beans look killer. Kim – Ribs and scallops would make an unconventional surf ‘n turf, but right now I’m craving prosciutto-wrapped fish. Paul – Nice pho! Thai shrimp salad – blanched shrimp, tossed with sliced lemongrass, shallots, cilantro, mint, and a sauce of lime juice, fish sauce, roasted chile paste, sliced bird chiles, and sugar. The lime juice finishes “cooking” the shrimp, like a Thai ceviche. Mrs. C prefers the texture of chopped shrimp, so that’s what I did and she had seconds. Stir-fried yard-long beans - with fermented black beans, sliced garlic, rice vinegar, chicken stock, and sesame oil. Coconut rice – to welcome younger son home.

Twyst – A big shout-out for your gorgeous soft-shell crab. One of my favorite foods, and too soon gone. Soba – Scientific names always enhance a meal. Beautiful stuff, particularly the shrimp dishes. Dinner for one tonight, so I tried a new recipe from Dancing Shrimp. If Kasma calls it spicy . . . Southern-style spicy tamarind bay scallops with crisped shallots and garlic –Dried chiles, fresh chiles, and Sriracha for heat; Maggi and fish sauce for umami/salt; tamarind and brown sugar for sweet/sour; fried shallots, garlic, and onions for savor; scallions, cilantro, and more chiles for garnish. Served on a bed of lettuce, and enjoyed with jasmine rice.

Percy – Your scrambled eggs always looks so appealing Soba – Nice egg, but the sides are to die for Tortillas and scrambled eggs with onion, garlic, salsa, and pickled jalapenos, topped with Tapatio salsa.

Rod Rock – Thank you! Sriracha mayo and a potato roll worked for me, but tadziki or green chutney would go nicely, and seared ginger raita would have been killer. Kim – “Man-Pleasing Chicken” Lotsa work, not much cooking for me lately, other than a tasty but not particularly photogenic chicken stir-fry last night. Still, enjoying everyone's meals vicariously.

I asked myself the same question. Ended up cutting the burger in half, and wrapping each half in the tortilla. With benefit of hindsight, it would have made more sense to break up the burger and cook it in a little sauce.

Kate – Thank you, and likewise – octopus, avocado, and rye sounds like a perfect breakfast Xilimmns – Beautiful omelet, and morels in cream sauce must have been a delightful filling Leftover spicy burger, fried egg (cayenne, S&P), fried tortilla, and Red Death Ghost Chile sauce. That should hold me until dinner.

Heidi – Thank you, I hope your tuna turned out well. dcarch – Thanks, and beautiful Mother’s Day meal. Slipper burgers with onion, garlic, ginger, chiles, cilantro, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne, grilled over charcoal. Served with potato rolls and Sriracha mayo. Younger son made the unpictured salad.

Requeson revuelto con salsa de jitomate (ricotta scrambled with tomato sauce) - a loose interpretation because I have been making this a long time, with fried white onion, garlic, and salsa. Corn tortillas warmed over the fire, and a splash of ghost chile sauce.

PastaMeshugana – Thank you kindly, good sir For Mother’s Day, Mrs. C requested seared tuna, so Vietnamese seemed appropriate. Pan-seared tuna steaks – briefly marinated with lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, and oil before searing on a cast-iron pan. Served with coconut rice Ginger-line dipping sauce – grated ginger, lime juice, sugar, and fish sauce Vegetable garnish plate – Red-leaf lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, mint, and cilantro

Xilimmns – beautiful French toast Kim – I was tempted to make your baked eggs again this morning, but opted instead to clean out the vegetable drawer, leading to: Parsi scrambled eggs on toast, with ghee, onion, chiles, garlic paste, cilantro, and fenugreek leaves.

Such a nice variety of lovely meals! Peas, peppers, and prosciutto sauce with cream and parmesan, tossed with penne pasta. Sauteed zucchini rounds with onions. Younger son liked the zucchini better than the pasta (which had “weird flavors”).

The optimal ratio depends partly on the type of rice, and partly on the cooking method. We make jasmine rice enough to have two standardized methods: Rinse rice, drain, add 1.25 parts water to 1 part rice by volume. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover, and cook on the lowest setting for 15 minutes. Fry rice in oil or ghee (often with onion and garlic) until chalky, add 1.25 parts water to 1 part rice by volume. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover, and cook on the lowest setting for 15 minutes. Basmati rice is aged, so it seems to absorb more water compared with jasmine rice. Some people boil rice uncovered until air holes appear, and then cover the rice to finish. This method needs a higher water:rice ratio because more of the water boils away. Bottom line – there are quite a few ways to cook rice, so it would be helpful if people described their cooking method along with their rice:water ratios.

Franci, you obviously know your way around a kitchen so it is nice to hear a bit about your cooking and cultural background. I look forward to following along this week, and hope the congee does its work so that you can enjoy it as much as I’m sure we shall.

Kim – Thanks! Nice stir-fry, and it looks like you fed your visiting friends well. RRO – Looks mighty tasty, but I had to google Morcilla. Chipotle meatballs – meat loaf mix with mint, garlic, eggs, and panko for the meatballs; chipotle, tomato, oregano, and chicken broth for the sauce. Boys liked. Sopa ranchera – chicken broth, strained after simmering with garlic, onion, cilantro, pepper, and thyme. Shredded chicken, sliced jalapenos, diced tomato and onion are lurking in the broth, along with minced cilantro, cubed avocado, crème fraiche, and a squeeze of lime. With crusty bread to dip in the soup, it tasted better than it looked.

Kim – I am so glad (and a little relieved ) that you liked the pork. Grilled chicken – marinated with lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, black pepper, sugar, and oil before grilling over charcoal. Sweet chile sauce added post-picture. Cabbage and egg stir-fry – with garlic, fish sauce, black pepper, and soft-cooked egg. Jasmine rice to go with.

EnriqueB – Thanks! Anyone who combines fish sauce, lemon rind, and parmesan is my kind of cook! That duck rice looks good, too. Franci – Thank you, I hope you and your family like the asparagus. Chicken stir-fried with lemongrass and chile – with cabbage, shallot, curry powder, fish sauce, sugar, and coconut milk. Served with jasmine rice and our usually unpictured salad, pictured.

Patrick – thank you! This was a quick meal, so we used our tub of Mae Ploy red curry paste. When I make the paste from scratch, I usually make something between the recipe in Thai Food and the recipe that Austin posted here a few years ago. Speaking of Thai Food, Mr. Thompson suggests boiling the peanuts before making the paste – perhaps that would avoid your aversion to peanut butter. Otherwise, you could probably make a delicious Penang-like curry without peanuts – basically a very thick, salty, and sweet red curry with lots of Thai basil. By the way, the Persian dishes that you have been posting look fantastic, but I don’t know enough about Persian cooking to comment intelligently. Sure! Marinade ingredients: 1 cup coconut milk ¼ cup fish sauce 6 garlic cloves, minced 6 cilantro roots (or stems), minced 2 Tbsp soy sauce 3 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp white pepper 1 Tbsp ground coriander seed Vietnamese chicken curry with sweet potatoes – this had that typically Vietnamese gentle-complex flavor. BSCT marinated with salt and curry powder; seared with minced shallot, garlic, and cayenne; simmered with chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, onion, lemongrass, and ginger; and then garnished with scallions, cilantro, and Thai basil. Crusty baguette to soak up the delicious broth. Asparagus and shiitake mushroom stir-fry – dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for 8 hours and then stir-fried with fat asparagus and finished with a sauce of the mushroom soaking liquid, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Younger son took his usual token amount of vegetables, and then kept helping himself to more. Success!

kayb - I love Scotch eggs RRO - percyn may have stricter standards, but I would pass on eggs for home-cured salmon and cherve. Omelet with smoked gouda, cayenne, S&P. Buttered toast. Cheese version of the “money shot”

b]Kouign Aman – Thanks for the kind words. Nice jiaozi! dcarch – I have stir-fried a lot of chicken, but it never looked nearly that pretty. Kim – I like assertive salads, and yours looks like it would fit the bill. Beef panang, coconut rice, eternal cukes, unpictured salad. The curry made an excellent salad dressing.

dcarch – Thank you, and wow, that lamb is a work of art! Also wow – monkfish is pricey in NYC. I was fortunate to find it on sale for about half that price. Soba – Thanks, that means a lot! Your meals always inspire me to try interesting things with vegetables. I am severely jealous of your greenmarket – our main farmer’s market opens in a couple of weeks, but it will never be confused with Union Square.

Kouign Aman – Looks like fun for children of all ages. Paul – If Mrs. C was on death row, your pistachio-crusted halibut and ramps might be one of her last meals. Stir-fried pork and tomato – with roasted sesame oil and roll-cut Anaheim chiles and bell pepper. Mrs. C found a deal on pork chops, so I hacked them up with a cleaver. Very therapeutic after a day at work. Mixed vegetable stir-fry – with Napa cabbage, snow peas, Shiitake mushrooms, smashed garlic, fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, and black pepper. We dry-fried the mushrooms beforehand to keep them firm. Coconut rice – with brown sugar and lime leaves.

Gorgeous fish and shellfish dishes, I would be delighted to be served any and all. And speaking of fish . . . Goan monkfish curry with coconut milk and tamarind – with onions, garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and dried chiles, garnished with cilantro. Cauliflower pilaf – with black cardamom, onion, ginger, chiles, garam masala, coconut milk, and more cilantro. Mrs. C made the unpictured salad.

Nice curry omelet, percyn. Wait, I thought we were all following your lead. Inspired by Kim, I tried shirred (baked) eggs for the first time. I can see this being a great brunch dish! Both were baked with smoked Gouda, scallion, butter, cream, smoked paprika, and cayenne, with a quick broil to crisp the panko Adding sliced tomato and a gratuitous yolk shot On buttered toast

dcarch – Thank you. Your dinner is up to its usual high standard. What do hosta shoots taste like? Mmmm, shrimp – kudos to percyn and robirdstx mm – scrambled eggs, eh? Methinks there is more to that story. Pan-fried cod with garlic and fermented black beans; dry-fried green beans; corn; and jasmine rice.

Kim – Thank you, I hope you like the pork. Breakfast for dinner is always a good idea, and that croissant looks particularly good. Dinner from 50 great curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. Visiting teenaged boy (formerly a picky eater) chowed down happily. Parsi chicken curry – with a fried spice paste of onion, garlic, ginger, dried chiles, cumin, coriander, sesame seed, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom, simmered with tomatoes and coconut milk, and then finished with vinegar and garam masala. Cauliflower with ginger – with cumin, cayenne, and garam masala. Simple and good. Basmati rice – with a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cardamom, clove, and turmeric