C. sapidus

This isn’t a recipe thing, just a shortcut when dinner is not the top priority 🤷🏻‍♂️

Grocery store. Giant Eagle, if you have them near you Jhinga shrimp curry, spinach raita with cucumbers, Mrs. C's shishito peppers, and microwave basmati rice.

Available-ingredients dinner: deboned semi-frozen chicken thighs, marinated with soy sauce and spices, and then seared in batches and set aside. Fried white onion, deglazed with chicken stock, and then simmered the chicken with more chicken stock, spices, and the tomatillo-chipotle sauce from a couple of days ago. Mexican oregano and cilantro to finish. Originally intended as taco filling but it morphed into stew. Leftover sweet potatoes and microwave rice to go with.

Zucchini and green beans with toasted garlic, finished with lime juice, Mexican oregano, and cilantro. Blender salsa with toasted morita (chipotle) chiles and roasted tomatillos and garlic, finished with a little sugar. I have been hankering for tomatillos lately and this hit the spot. Mrs. C cooked store-made salmon patties in the air fryer, and made a quick tartar sauce with mayo, Old Bay hot sauce, and fire pickles.

@heidihhas always been one of my favorite posters. She was always kind, sharp of mind, and interested in many topics. She will be deeply missed on this site and (I am sure) in real life.

Those butter tarts look scrumptious @Ann_T Dry-fried mushrooms, roasted Poblano chile, and leftover pork loin with onion, garlic, chiles, cumin, and black pepper. Finished with cilantro, Mexican oregano, Meyer lemon, and Salvadoran crema. Obligatory runny egg shot 🙂

Leftovers became pipian rojo tacos

For some reason cooler weather makes me crave Mexican food. Weird. Pipian rojo: Chicken, baby potatoes, and green beans with a sauce of toasted ancho chiles, sesame seeds, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and tomatoes. Rice with roasted Poblano chiles to go with. Platanos! Burned, just the way Mrs. C likes them

Stopped by the Latino market. I can never resist hot tamales at checkout Dinner was Mrs. C's always-tender pork loin medallions, accompanied by sauteed chayote with fried garlic and Meyer lemon.

Yes, crab cake. Pretty good crab cake, too. But of course homemade crab cakes can contain big hunks of crab meat that would be financially nonviable for a food truck.

Ejotes con huevos (green bean with eggs) mostly from Suana Trilling's 'Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico.' Never made this before but my improvised green bean and egg concoctions are pretty darn similar.

Butternut squash sounds delicious

^ Lots of good advice there. I also roast over a high flame on the gas stove, but I just pop the roasted Poblanos in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Paper bags are also great for sweating charred Poblanos, but the bowl / towel method seems to work just as well. I don't bother turning Poblanos with the stem, just lay them on the burner and turn off the fire when I need to rotate the chiles. I used to rub the skins with oil when I roasted Poblanos under a broiler, but I prefer the dry gas flame method. Maybe I should try the oil + gas flame for comparison.

Gingery cauliflower soup, from Madhur Jaffrey's 'Quick and Easy Indian Cooking'. This is a long-time favorite. Stir fry onion, ginger, and garlic, and then add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne. Mix in cauliflower florets, peeled and cubed red potato, and the last of Mrs. C's turkey stock. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, blend, and then finish with heavy cream.

Leftovers from yesterday's South Asian feast Beef karahi, carrot salad, and kachumer (onion and cucumber salad) on a tiny plate Gingery cauliflower and potato soup

A friend from Pakistan cooked a tender, flavor-packed beef karahi, accompanied by naan and a cucumber and onion kachumer (salad). The karahi reminded me of a halal version of the pork carnitas I made the other day. No chance of leftovers. I made gingery cauliflower and potato soup, and a seared ginger raita with fresh and sauteed ginger. Mrs. C made a lovely curried carrot and cashew salad. Mulled fruit juices to go with. Lovely evening. Very few leftovers. No pictures, sadly.

Stopped by a brewery and was pleasantly surprised to see a seafood truck

Carnitas tacos. Needed to use up a bone-in pork butt but no time to run the smoker. So carnitas. White onion, garlic, orange juice, orange zest, pickled jalapenos, Mexican oregano, black pepper, and Coca-Cola. Carnitas in progress made the house smell amazing. In the background, Mrs. C’s roasted acorn squash with brown sugar and warm spices. Both of our mothers used to make something similar.

I would totally stop at a place called 'Taco Monster', especially for the chili pepper claw marks. 😁

One of my work friends hunted exclusively for doe because he was hunting for meat rather than display. I'm sure he had plenty of trophies from his younger days lol. I'm not a hunter but I have been the beneficiary many times - venison, squirrel, rabbits, goose, pheasant, etc. 😋

Improvised green curry shrimp with spinach, cilantro, peas, and green beans. Curry paste from a tub, supplemented by shallots, garlic, lemongrass, green chiles, and ginger. Coconut milk and turkey stock for the liquid. Finished with palm sugar, lemon juice, and fish sauce. Jasmine rice.

Starting point was Fuchsia Dunlop's Liuyang black bean chicken, a favorite. Added dry-fried shiitake mushrooms, cubed zucchini, and turkey stock, and skipped the deep-frying. Everyone preferred this variation. Flavors included fermented black beans, ginger, red chile flakes, and a head of garlic. Jasmine rice to go with.

Palak paneer, with spinach, dried fenugreek, green chiles, ginger, garlic, and the last of the homemade paneer. Topped with slivered and fried ginger. Yum Palak paneer is the dish that first piqued my interest in Indian food. According to the internet saag paneer is more of a dinner course, and palak paneer is more of an appetizer. I think I prefer the simpler, easier to make palak paneer.

Pollo en escabeche with carrots, white onion, garlic, pickled jalapenos, cider vinegar, homemade turkey broth, and a mix of allspice, black pepper, and Mexican oregano. Mrs. C’s cabbage salad Borscht, leftover from dinner with Russian friends. I added a dollop of yogurt to mine

I had no idea this product existed. How is it? Zucchini, Poblano chile, and green bean tacos with toasted garlic, white onion, jalapeno chile, Meyer lemon and Mexican oregano. Zucchini was "sweated" beforehand to keep the texture firm.